Another Day Continues
He's somewhere he's never been. A corridor he doesn't recognize. The walls and doors are metal. Lights hang from the ceiling and wires are lined all across the wall, stretching all the way to the end of the hallway. He looks around and sees he's by himself.
He feels himself rush down the corridor until he reaches a doorway. He sees a stubby man in a machine with mechanical arms coming out of his back.
He recognizes him as Otto Octavius.
"The world needs to burn for not appreciating my genius!"
He feels his blood boil when he hears that and lunges at the man.
There is a light that blinds him and he suddenly finds himself lying down. He is having a hard time breathing. He can vaguely see a breathing mask on his mouth and nose. He tries to move but finds it to be painful to do so. He looks up and sees Tony and Steve looking down at him with contempt.
He sees their mouths move but no sound comes out.
"Peeteer."
He hears a grainy voice coming from somewhere.
"Peeteer."
He realizes that it's his voice.
The two gentlemen look down at him. Both are in shock before Tony's gaze becomes hateful and Steve's becomes concerned.
A figure steps up from behind them and he sees it's someone in his Spider-Man outfit. The man removes his mask and Peter sees himself staring back at him. But something is different. His eyes show so much malice and contempt.
A cruel smile forms on his face before he leans down and whispers, "Goodbye, Peter Parker."
(Clock Tower)
"Spider! Snap out of it!"
He breathes heavily as the world around him returns and he sees Black Cat crouched in front of him on the Clock Tower's clock with her hands on his head. The parade below is still going on, the crowd cheering and air horns going off, and the world is still in one piece.
He blinks before he grabs her hands gently in assurance and slowly takes them off his head, "I'm fine," he says as he lets go of her hands and turns away from her to try to make sense of this new vision.
"That didn't look fine!" Black Cat makes some sporadic gestures, "Your eyes glowed and you were burning up!"
He whips his head in her direction in shock, "I was?!"
That did not bode well for him. If this is a sign of the Phoenix force coming out then he is in big trouble. Especially if certain people start to sense it, 'Like the X-Men.'
"There was some smoke coming off you!" Black Cat says in hysteria as she tugs at a singed part of his costume, "The hell was that?!"
He goes quiet for a moment before he looks away and responds, "Long story," he can feel her annoyed frown, obviously not too thrilled at him hiding something from her, "But I think I found out what caused that bad tomorrow."
Black Cat asks the obvious, "Was it you catching on fire?"
Spider-Man shakes his head, "No, It was-"
"Spider-Man!"
Crap! He's just remembering that he's got Tony and Steve involved in this mess.
He presses his earpiece, "Sorry Cap. Had another incident."
"Incident? What do you-?" Cap figures it out and pauses for a moment before he refocuses, "We'll deal with that later. It's four minutes past the deadline now. What happened?"
Trying to make sense of what he's just gone through, Spider-Man silently finds himself struggling to explain what happened. That vision was different from the other two. Besides his smoking, he felt more connected on an emotional level.
After a few moments of silence, he says, "Turn off the door."
"I'm sorry?"
"Trust me. We don't need it anymore," Spider-Man in a serious tone, "I'll call you guys back."
He presses a button to turn off his earpiece and looks down at the crowd in the parade. The world almost ended and they are all blissfully unaware that it was all because he wasn't around for a whole day. He wasn't there to do what he did every day.
'And if that's the case, how do I keep my promise to Uncle Ben,' he thinks in frustration as the crowd cheers, 'How am I supposed to put Peter Parker before Spider-Man without letting the world pay for my selfishness?'
And that's just a personal problem. His other problem comes in the form of Otto Octavius. How that man burned the world for the pettiest of reasons. But also because he didn't see Spider-Man in the papers. For some reason that set him off.
'But how do I know that?' Spider-Man wonders in worry, 'That wasn't in the vision. But it's like I just know that it was Otto that burned the world. And why.'
"Ahem," he hears Black Cat clear her throat and looks to see she is staring at him expectedly, "Well?"
He doesn't say anything immediately. He thinks about telling her but doesn't know how to begin. He looks away before he says, "It's a long story," his spider-sense triggers, "hold that thought."
She frowns in annoyance but stays quiet as he looks down into the streets where his sixth sense is telling him there is danger. He focuses on an alleyway where he sees a costumed figure looking at the parade before quickly going back into the alleyway.
He looks back at the frowning thief and says, "I'll tell you everything but first we got something else to deal with."
She does not look pleased. She looks about ready to throttle him, "…You better tell me everything."
(Sixth Avenue)
Silvija Sablinova, more popularly known as Silver Sable, rides inside a convertible limousine and waves at the crowd as they cheer her and her people on. The woman in regal attire, a fur-lined coat with tactical gear underneath, is genuinely happy at all the people celebrating her country. So many of the citizens in the crowd are proud descendants of her homeland. She can tell by looking at them and seeing they have characteristics that come from being Symkarian. And it would be an even more enjoyable experience if it weren't for one factor.
Her company in the car.
"Look at these people! All coming out to see their beloved mayor!"
J. Jonah Jameson. The mayor and former editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle.
'And the most arrogant blowhard I've ever met,' Silver thinks with a roll of her eyes, 'How this man was elected mayor is a wonder to be sure.'
Ever since she arrived in the city to participate in the parade she has had to deal with this man and the people on his payroll. And while they seem to be polite enough, they were just constantly boasting about how great their city is and how lucky she is to be in it. Then of course they brought her many "souvenirs" to take back home to show her people so that more may come to the city.
And that was all just on the first day.
She has dealt with politicians before but Jameson certainly is a new breed. Other politicians try their best to show respect and honor to her and her people, while Jameson seems committed not to. Man hasn't been intentionally disrespectful but he has been bordering the line. Just self-promoting and gloating about all the good he's done for the city.
'An example was when he boasted that when he began his administration, he created a task force whose sole purpose was to hunt down and arrest Spider-Man,' Silver recalls as she continues to smile and wave at the cheering crowd, 'That was certainly a waste of resources.'
She never understood what it is that Jameson truly despises about Spider-Man. The man is a vigilante, true, but he wasn't an evil man. He genuinely wishes to help the everyday ordinary citizens of his city. He doesn't ask for anything in return, not even a thank you, and all he does receive is grief. But he doesn't let that stop him from doing what he feels is right. If Sable were being honest, if he were in her country, she would make sure he was heralded as a hero for all the good she knows he'd do.
A red and blue figure from the corner of her eye catches her attention, "Speak of the devil," she unintentionally mumbles.
"What was that?" Jameson hears something from her but keeps on smiling and waving to his adoring people.
"Merely complementing your city's cleanliness," she says before she looks at him inquiringly, "On an unrelated topic, you made sure this route is secure, yes?"
The man puffs up his chest and boasts, "By the best of the best this city has to offer! They're second to none when dealing with problems that arise!"
'I'm sure,' she thinks with a roll of her eyes before she signals her men to keep their eyes peeled. If Spider-Man is around, trouble tends to follow, 'Maybe that's why Jameson despises him?'
That would actually explain everything.
Spider-Man lands on another building just above the front of the Symkarian parade with Black Cat landing beside him.
She looks down at the parade before she turns her gaze to her Spider, "What're we looking for?"
"My spider-sense is telling me something is about to go down here," the Queens-born hero tells her as he searches the crowd.
Black Cat thinks about possible scenarios, "Attacking an international parade with political figures means it's usually about politics."
Spider-Man nods in agreement, but he's not entirely focused on what's in front of him. The vision he had. He doesn't understand how but he knows it was Otto that was responsible for the bad tomorrow. The man burned the world down out of pure pettiness and he did it because Spider-Man was gone for the day. The vision didn't tell him that, but he somehow just knows the reasons behind Otto's actions.
'As far as that last bit though, I'm clueless,' he thinks as he recalls that freaky image of himself saying goodbye to him, 'Another clone maybe?'
God, he hates clones. Not the clones themselves, but more the concept of them.
"They don't look friendly," he hears Black Cat say prompting him to look at her before turning his attention to the direction hers is in.
And sees a group of guys all dressed the same and gathered in an alleyway. White masks, shirts, and pants. With some tactical gear like belts with multiple pockets and guns. And in the entire group, one guy stands out the most since he has a mace for a hand.
"They look familiar," Spider-Man says as he scratches the top of his head curiously, "But I don't recognize them."
Black Cat doesn't recognize them either and she looks at the one she assumes is the leader, "Hammerhand there is probably the shot caller."
"That's a mace," Spider-Man says before he starts to ramble, "You know I find that to be dumb. He's the leader and he stands out. But all the goons got to follow his color scheme. It's like, 'Hey, I'm in charge! They all look like me but I stand out! With my fancy metal arm and my billowing-
"Bomb."
"What?"
She jabs her finger at one of the goons at the end of the alleyway, "Bomb!"
He looks down and does indeed see what looks to be a bomb of some kind. Timer, wires, and all. He immediately leaps down with Felicia in tow. They land in the middle of the group, startling them.
The leader looks at him in surprise, "What the? Spider-Man?"
"Well, I'm happy you know me," Spider-Man says before he leaps into action by kicking one of the goons in the chest and launching him into a dumpster while Cat punches one in the face, "But I have no idea who you all are."
More thugs rush them as the leader stands at the back and proudly boasts, "We're the Flag Smashers! You've fought us before!"
"I have?" Spider-Man leaps over one and tags him in the back of the head with a heel kick and uses another one of them as a springboard to stick himself to a wall, "Are you sure? I think I'd remember fighting so many guys dressed like Casper."
"He's more of a Space Ghost," Black Cat says as she knocks two goons' heads together.
"That was one of my favorite American shows," a familiar and regal voice grabs their attention and they all turn to see Silver Sable with her Wild Pack standing at the end of the alleyway with the parade going on behind them.
Some of the terrorists pull out their guns to fire at her and her people. But their guns are shot out of their hands when they themselves get shot by Sable and her Wild Pack.
Spider-Man whistles from his position, "Wow. Impressive. You guys taking lessons from Hawkeye?"
Sable and her men don't respond as she goes to attack the Flag Smashers. Her men and Spider-Man quickly join the fight. Sable punches one of them in the throat while Spidey kicks one in the face. Cat kicks another in the midsection and he punches another in the side of his head. One goon pulls out a knife and goes to stab Sable from behind, but Black Cat intervenes by kicking the knife out of his hand. Sable elbows that terrorist in the face and knocks him out.
Sable and Black Cat stand back to back as they are surrounded by a few of the Flag Smashers left.
"All this for us?" Black cat quips, "I'd be more flattered if it weren't for the fact that my dance card is full with Spider."
"You and he are together?" Silver asks as she blocks a sloppy punch and judo flips the guy into another one.
Black Cat punches one guy in the face knocking him against the wall, "I'm not the exclusive type," she responds as she claws another guy's arm that got close to her face, "But I do have plans for tonight."
"You'll have to cancel those plans of yours!" Flag-Smasher, the leader, says as he comes up from in front of Sable and has his mace arm high, "Cause you both got plans with the undertaker!"
His arm is stopped in the air and all three of them look up to see Spider-Man holding it while he stands on the wall, "Undertaker? You guys watch WWE? You know that's all fake right?"
"You take that back!"
Someone shouts and Spider-Man and the ladies try to find the source while Flag-Smasher tries to free his mechanical arm, "How are you doing this?! My arm has the strength of a hundred men!"
"Only a hundred?" Spider-Man quips as he pulls the man up by the arm, "Boy did you get cheated. I know a guy that has one that gives him a hundred and one," he squeezes the arm until it breaks, "But even then it doesn't make a difference with me."
"Stop playing with your food," Silver says as she goes over to the bomb that was left in the trash can, "I have work."
Spider-Man pouts at her back, "Spoilsport," he releases his stickiness from the wall, lands on his feet in front of Flag-Smasher, and knocks the man out with a punch. He looks over to the Skymeria mercenary and sees she is crouched in front of the bomb.
Silver frowns at the device as she tries to figure out what to do, "These single-minded imbeciles haven't had the faintest clue as to what the yield this bomb they possessed has," she moves the wires around to see which one she needs to cut, "For all they know, it could take out the entirety of Manhattan."
Black Cat reels back in shock before she looks at her partner, "Is that what-?"
He lifts a finger to his mouth and shakes his head at her before he goes over to the bomb.
Sable doesn't see this as she is too focused on the bomb. She has years of experience in dealing with weaponry of all kinds. From the most basic things like knives to the advanced stuff like Stark Tech. And she has even trained to disarm bombs. Hostage negotiations tend to always go south and she has made sure to be prepared for any scenario.
She pulls up a wire, "It's this one."
She goes to cut it-
"Stop."
-but ceases when a red-gloved hand reaches out and grabs her own to prevent her. She looks back at Spider-Man with a raised eyebrow, silently asking him what he thinks he is doing. She can see his eyes through his lenses and they are very serious, "Trust me."
She stares at him for a moment more before she relinquishes the wire and allows him to take over. She stands behind him with Black Cat and watches as he pulls on the same wire she had before he tugs on a different wire. He yanks out that wire and at first, she flinches because she believes he cut the wrong one.
BOOP!
But the timer on the bomb reverts to all eights. Meaning the bomb was shut off.
"Nicely done Spider," Black Cat compliments the hero and Sable stays silent but does have a pleased smile.
Said hero puffs up his chest and speaks like a narrator, "And the day is saved! Thanks to the efforts of the Amazing-!"
"Nobody!"
They all look down the entrance of the alleyway and see Mayor Jameson stomping toward the group, "This never happened! For the peace of mind of everyone in this city, nobody will know that a nuclear bomb was smuggled into my city!"
"…So no ticker tape parade?"
Jameson glares at the bane of his existence and grumbles out, "Why you grandstanding, glory-seeking, good for nothing-!"
Seeing where this is going, Spider-Man is about to leap away but then Sable decides to step up to him and show some appreciation to the underappreciated hero.
"Spider-Man," Silver grabs his attention and his head.
He becomes surprised when she lifts his mask above his mouth, "Sable?"
"On behalf of the people of Symkaria, thank you," she leans in for a passionate kiss, one that he is completely caught off guard by. But he doesn't find himself pulling away. If anything he feels inclined to lean in more.
The crowd around them looks on in shock. The Wild Pack are surprised at their boss's public display of affection. While Jameson is appalled by this. For the fact that such a regal woman would be smitten with such a lowdown no good degenerate like Spider-Man! He will be damned before he lets this make it on the papers of the Daily Bugle! Or any other media outlet!
And as for Black Cat, her jaw is clenched, her body is tense, and her fingers are itching to scratch someone's eyes out.
And she doesn't care if she winds up on Interpol's most wanted list.
(Sanctum Sanctorum)
Mary Jane walks up the steps from the basement of the home of Sorcerer Supreme with her head down in disappointment. Stephen Strange walks in front of her and Wong behind her and both men have pensive frowns for different reasons.
She doesn't notice though. She is too wrapped up in her own thoughts about what occurred and what she will have to do now. Sonja can still do the whole hero thing but she will be severely limited.
"I have survived dangerous adversaries and have emerged victorious!" Sonja vehemently reassures her and while Mary Jane doesn't doubt her skill and prowess, the displaced warrior spirit is still forgetting that even the God of Thunder has fallen in battle, "Then I will just have to train to be better than him!"
MJ thinks Sonja will try but ultimately come out barely any better.
"You forget that my strength is dependent on your inner strength. Doubt like that is what will hinder us."
Right. Mary Jane can't doubt herself like that. Not anymore.
But two lifetimes with Peter Parker, living with doubt and guilt are par for the course.
In front of her, Stephen is thinking about ways to talk to both Miss Watson and Peter about what had happened the night prior. He wants to explain why he did what he did. His mind was slightly corrupted by the infernal text he had read. Mephistopheles had somehow found out about this and taken advantage of it. The demon lord capitalized on a moment of weakness. Something that they, Peter in particular, should understand.
But the fact remains he made a pact with the devil. And while the consequences aren't as severe as a deal would be, they are still serious.
'Especially with what I now know about them,' Strange morosely thinks as he recalls the answers to his questions.
Answers that if he shares with both of them, will do irreparable damage that they will likely never recover from.
Meanwhile, behind the two, Wong is trying to discern the meaning of what was going on with the spell. The magic that was being used seemed to have wanted to enter the two women but were unable to, most likely due to Mary Jane's inability to use and harness magic. However, Sonja is blessed by a goddess and is a spirit inside the famous actress, so she does possess magic. Limited magic but magic nevertheless. That has to mean something.
They arrive at the entrance and Wong goes to hand the woman's jacket back to her, "Thank you," she says as she puts it on before she turns to the good doctor, "And thank you for trying… whatever it was you tried."
Strange gives a polite smile, kind of used to dealing with non-mystics that wind up confused after spells are performed, and says, "The spell was new, more or less. But like I said the basic function was to determine whether or not either you or Sonja can use magic."
MJ nods, "I know. I also know now diamonds are very dangerous," a sudden thought pops into her head and she groans, "Ugh if Peter finds out, he's gonna make justifications on why we should watch so many B list action movies."
While some are entertaining, most of his movie choices have cheesy lines in them and he later uses those same lines in the dumbest-
"That's it!" Wong's sudden shout makes both the model and doctor jump in surprise. They look at him as he seems to have come to a revelation, "That is how you can use magic!"
Mary looks at him in confusion, "By watching B-list action movies?"
They look at her in silence as she realizes where that joke came from, "…Perhaps Peter is not that good of an influence after all."
Mary Jane agrees.
Wong slowly shakes his head, "No. The precious gems. I think they are the key here."
Thankful the man is not dwelling on her bad joke, she asks, "How?"
He lifts a finger, "One moment," Wong says before he quickly travels back down the hallway they came from. Leaving Mary Jane and Doctor Strange alone at the entrance of the Sorcerer Supreme's home. An uncomfortable silence fills the room as MJ and Stephen look in the direction Wong went before they look at each other. They turn away and wait patiently for the manservant to return.
Thankfully they do not have to wait long as Wong returns with a diamond in hand.
He offers it to the supermodel, "Hold this," she looks between him and the stone before she shrugs and takes it, "Now concentrate on the gem and I believe you will see what I mean."
She looks at him curiously before she looks at the stone in her hand. She doesn't see anything wrong with doing this so she shrugs again before she does as told and closes her eyes to concentrate on the precious stone. She feels Sonja do the same and they start to feel a weird sensation.
"My god," she hears Strange say before she opens her eyes and gasps.
The rock in her hand is glowing a beautiful color. Wisps of magic are coming out of her hand and into it. While some are also coming off it but not going into her hand.
She is mesmerized by this phenomenon, "Wow," she looks at the two mystics, "How am I doing this? I thought you said I couldn't do magic?"
"I told you the precious gems are conduits for magic," Wong explains to her as he continues to watch, "For you to use magic you need to use conduits such as these."
MJ watches the stone for a moment more before she looks at Wong curiously, "So if I want to cast a fireball, I need to hold a ruby?"
"Not exactly," Wong says before he gestures to the diamond in her hand, "Look at the stone. Do you see how the magic within Sonja is being transferred into the diamond and how residual magic from the spell before is encompassing your hand?"
She does indeed notice that, "What does this mean?"
"I believe you can use magic," he explains with a smile and she gets a smile too, "But only by proxy," now she gives him a confused frown, "Meaning that you need objects of magical nature."
"Like diamonds?"
"Among others."
MJ turns her sights back to the precious gem in her hand and can't help but feel a huge amount of giddiness. She was about to leave in disappointment because her inability to learn magic limited Sonja's ability to help Peter when he needed it. She wants to be able to stand by him and not just wait for him to come home. She hated that aspect in their marriage.
And now it seems it's possible.
MJ looks at Wong and asks with eagerness, "How do we start?"
Wong smiles pleasantly, "As any other way. Research."
(Flatiron Building)
Spider-Man and Black Cat both swing into the air and land on the semi-famous building gracefully. He stands up and goes to the edge of the rooftop to lean on the ledge. The notorious thief crosses her arms and taps a finger on her bicep as she waits for him to start explaining himself.
"Spider-Man?"
He presses a button on the earpiece to mute it. He wants to tell Steve and Tony what he knows, but it's too much for him to really process. Hell, he doesn't even really understand it.
"Ahem," he hears the only other person on the roof clear her throat as well as the sound of footsteps coming closer to him, "You owe me an explanation, remember?"
He sighs and drops his head, "It's complicated."
She scoffs, "Always is with you," she walks up to stand by him and leans on the ledge while she glares at him with her arms crossed, "Doesn't really matter what it is, it's always complicated with you."
He gives her a confused frown, "Okay, what's with the attitude?"
She doesn't immediately respond and continues to scowl at him. But after a few more seconds she looks away with attitude, "Seemed pretty into that kiss back there."
He flinches at the reminder, "Silver caught me off guard."
He hopes that Mary Jane won't be mad when he tells her. His first instinct is to keep quiet about it but considering everything they went through, more secrets will just hurt.
"Lies can do much harm. But they stand next to nothing when compared to what the truth can do."
He winces at those words. He cannot let that demon influence him. Not like this.
"Unless I'm mistaken, that's impossible to do with you," Cat says and takes him out of his small flashback.
"That's mostly for when I'm in danger," he says before he realizes something and frowns at her, "And I don't owe you an explanation. In case you forgot, you spent the night with Daredevil. A good friend of mine."
She twitches at the cheap shot before she straightens out and begins to walk away, "Whatever. I'm going home."
Seeing her do this, he panics and reaches out for her, "Felicia, wait," she doesn't resist and looks at him curiously, "Please. I just-"
She can hear the fear and desperation in his voice. Something is scaring him. And that certainly worries her because he doesn't scare easily.
Worry and whine sure. But not scare.
Spider-Man meanwhile tries to not panic about what he is going to do. Being honest isn't something he's used to. As much as he hates to admit it, Mephisto had it right when he said Peter lies a lot to the people he loves most in the world. His Aunt May, Gwen, Mary Jane, and Felicia. He always figured it was to protect them from the craziness that is his life. But whether they know the truth or not, they will always be in danger because they know him and are a part of his life.
He needs to stop being so stupid.
He takes a breath and releases it, "When I died, it wasn't what you'd expect for…" he struggles to find the words to describe what he went through, "I didn't go to…"
She looks at him curiously and figures out what he is implying, "What? Heaven?" Black Cat questions before she panics as the other possibility sinks in, "Did you go to hell?!"
"In a way," he poorly jokes and realizes that when she gives him an annoyed frown, so he quickly refocuses, "I was involved in a trial for the earth," she gasps in shock and he nods in understanding, "That whole Phoenix thing is a lot more complicated than what anyone involved knows."
He proceeds to tell her about what happened with the Rasputin siblings back at the mountains. How he was stabbed in the heart by Magik and was slowly dying. He then tells her that instead of going to any afterlife, he was brought forth to multiple cosmic beings. The Watcher Uatu, Death in her physical form, The Living Tribunal, and even Galactus.
"Galactus?!" Cat shouts as she looks at him floored at the prospect of such a big name being involved, "The guy who literally eats planets for breakfast?! That guy?!"
He nods, "Yeah," he becomes even more morose as he continues, "But he wasn't the worst thing to be there."
Black Cat looks at him in bewilderment, "What the hell could be worse than the guy who eats planets?"
He looks down in shame as he says, "Mephisto."
"Mephisto?" Cat parrots back and tries to recall where she heard the name, "Sounds familiar but I don't know who that is."
Spider-Man thinks about it and responds, "He's the one who made Ghost Rider or something."
SHIELD files are very informative. He wonders how they get their information.
And again the notorious thief gets scared. She may not know the Ghost Rider, but she sure as hell has heard of him. And she is terrified at the prospect of Spider being involved with the one who made the Ghost Rider.
"What the hell was he doing there?" Cat asks with fear in her voice.
And that is something Peter can understand.
"I screwed up," he says in shame, "I screwed up big time. He took advantage of me in a moment of weakness," he clenches his eyes shut as the memories of what he did hit him, "And as a result, the world almost ended."
He wants to tell her, but he doesn't want her to think less of him. Not after everything he's learned. He is still finding it hard to understand, but he does love Felicia and Mary Jane. They are so similar and yet so different. He recalls having similar issues when it came between Mary Jane and Gwen.
'God do I hate how I am sometimes.'
Felicia can see he is struggling in saying something, "What aren't you telling me?"
His look of shame gets a pained expression to it. As if telling it will hurt. He knows to think of his situation like that, but he can't help it. He knows that if people knew what he did, of who he hurt, then the amount of pain he will cause could be irreparable.
While the Queensborn hero is having an internal debate, the platinum blonde thief is coming to the conclusion she has known for a good long while now.
"I get it Spider," she says as she looks down despondently, "I'm not someone you trust anymore."
She has known that for a while now. She doesn't remember who he is and he seems to be keen on keeping it that way. She doesn't know why though. She barely remembers their relationship. Blurred images, or his face redacted, is what she sees when she thinks about him underneath the mask. And she feels like she is missing something vital in her life when she thinks about him.
She tells herself otherwise. She tells herself she doesn't care about who he is underneath, she wants the guy she sees every day saving people just because he's that good of a guy.
"That's not true," he tells her as his heart aches from the hurt in her voice and she looks at him with sadness in her eyes, "It's not about trust with you. With you it's more about…" he freezes as he realizes what he's about to do, but he takes a breath and smiles at her, "I love you."
She reels back in surprise at his sudden confession, "What?"
He smiles as he feels a huge amount of relief, but also fear, at what he's doing right now, "I love you," he says again with a laugh and she is like a deer caught in headlights, "I've been in love with you for a long time, Felicia."
She is frozen as she stares at him in shock. She cannot believe his sudden boldness. She can feel her heart soaring at this confession, however. She feels a familiar elation at his confession, but she doesn't remember when was the last time she felt like this.
But she somehow knows it was with him.
"...I don't remember who you are underneath," she tells him and he winces, "I remember some stuff. Like Mary Jane," she says with some resentment, "But at some point, it was like I forgot everything about you other than the fact that you and I were a thing," she feels a pang of sadness, "And because of that I felt like I lost a part of myself. A part that made me a better person than I am now."
"I can explain that," he says with a guilty expression, "Some time ago I told the whole world who I was, and that was obviously a mistake. So I ask Doc Strange to wipe the whole world's mind of that incident," she gives him a hurt expression and he says, "And there were times that I wanted to tell you. It's just the pain of rejection that prevented me from telling you who I am underneath this mask. Because you said you don't want the man, you want the Spider."
Black Cat can vaguely recall that. She can see herself in her memories recoiling at the faceless man she sees underneath.
A moment Spider-Man clearly recalls. When he felt confident enough with his relationship with Felicia to tell her who he was underneath.
The same confidence he's feeling right now.
Before she, and even he realizes he reaches for his mask and pulls it off to show his face to her, "My name is Peter Parker," he says giving her an easy and hopeful smile with his hand outstretched to her, "It's nice to meet you again Felicia."
And Felicia is shocked once more. This time, though, her shock is more a result of fear and confusion than anything else. Scared because of his sudden actions, and confusion about what she is experiencing.
The memories rush into her head, "No," Peter Parker down on one knee, "No! This isn't how- NO!"
She runs away and he shouts after her, "Wait! Felicia!"
She ignores him as she leaps over the ledge of the other side of the building leaving him dismayed and heartbroken.
He grabs his head in frustration, "You stupid over-eager sonuva- why can't you do anything right!?"
His back hits the ledge and he slides down to the floor of the roof with his arms resting on his knees and his head hanging low.
"God I'm so dumb," he reprimands himself in frustration, "The hell was I thinking just straight out confessing to her? When has that ever played out well for me?"
As far as he can recall, never.
(Avengers Mansion)
It is late in the day, the sun has gone down, and a young Hope Summers sits on the floor of the living room of the mansion surrounded by piles of magazines with Logan on a chair reading a magazine of his own with some scotch in hand.
'Don't know why Stark put so much of those in here' Logan thinks to himself as he flips the page of his sports magazine. He spent his whole day at the mansion waiting for Rogers and Stark to come back. He went to the training room to test new features the billionaire put in, watched some movies, and is now just laying back and relaxing.
And the whole day he's been keeping an eye on Hope. The young girl who asked to talk to Spider-Man is now doing extensive research on a subject that baffles so many.
Why is the top model and famous actress, Mary Jane Watson, dating Spider-Man?
Fashion, news, etc. Hope has spent the entire day since she arrived at the mansion, perusing and scavenging every magazine she can get her hands on to try and make sense of the relationship between Mary Jane freaking Watson and Peter Parker. She even grabbed a whiteboard from somewhere in the place and started to scribble on sticky notes. Placing them on the board and attaching strings to make connections.
Logan was a little disturbed by this. But after asking why she seemed obsessed, he got amused. The girl is a big fan of the actress. Apparently, since Cable's magazines were the only reading material she had early on in her life, she ended up loving reading about Mary Jane, her life, and the movies she's done.
And he asked why Hope didn't recognize her when she saw her earlier, she said it was because she wasn't all dressed up like she usually is.
After that, she got into her research. Trying to solve the mystery of how the two were ever a thing. And admittedly he's a little curious himself. They are just way too opposite of each other. But then again as baffling as it is, he knows that Peter is one of the best guys out there. Sure the man's a neurotic chattering goofball with serious issues but he's a great guy. And any girl that manages to grab his attention is lucky to do so.
He gets pulled out of his thoughts when he hears the doors to the mansion open and smells both Stark and Rogers. Though for some reason he's also getting an ashy smell off them.
"Logan?" Steve calls out since he can't see him from the angle they have at the entrance.
"Over here!" Logan calls out to them while hope ignores this and continues to read.
A few moments later the two arrive at the entrance of the library and he looks at them inquiringly, "Where've you two been?"
"We-" Steve starts but stops when he sees what Hope is doing, "We uh we were busy dealing with a crisis," he and Stark look between the young girl and her whiteboard full of notes and articles perplexed before they look at the feral mutant, "What is she doing?"
Logan glances at hope before he looks back at Steve, "Trying to make sense of Thwippy's and his girl's relationship."
Tony raises an eyebrow at the extensive, and rather extreme, information she has gathered, "Kind of obsessive don't you think?"
Logan shrugs as he responds, "Asked her the same thing and she told me she's a big fan of the redhead," he goes back to reading his sports magazine, "So her being with the guy makes no sense to her."
Tony thinks about it for a moment before he wobbles his head in agreement, "Eh~, I'm a little stumped myself."
Steve gives him a reprimanding look but stops when he hears approaching footsteps. He assumes it's Spider-Man since they expected him to be there but then get an unexpected surprise.
"Oh," Red Sonja, in all her chainmail bikini glory, stops at the entrance of the library in surprise, "pardon me. I didn't realize you all would be here."
They stare at her in surprise. She then proceeds to walk into the library with a bag in her hand as Logan gets up from his chair to introduce himself to her. He assumed at first that the Wall-Crawler and her were a thing from what he heard from the others, her confessing she loved the guy when she first appeared, but seeing as the guy woke up with another redhead, he figures this one is free game.
He walks up to her as she places her bag down on a chair and sticks his hand out for an introduction, "Names Wolverine," he gives her his best smile, "But you can call me Logan."
Sonja raises an eyebrow at the man before she shakes his hand, "Red Sonja," suddenly they sense a form of familiarity and they get confused expressions, "Have we met before?"
Logan lets go of her hand and stares at her curiously, "Maybe in another life?"
Everyone around them feels awkward at their interaction. Making wrong assumptions, because while Sonja would see how the man before her is considered handsome, "Ew," she doesn't feel an attraction as much as she feels a familiarity. She feels as if she has met the man before but she doesn't remember where.
Steve clears his throat to draw their attention, ends their staring at each other, and asks the warrior woman, "Do you know where Spider-Man is?"
Sonja looks at the Captain and answers, "We assume he went to his apartment."
Tony raises an eyebrow at her, "We?"
Sonja raises an eyebrow at his question, "I don't think they know we're separate people," she comes to the same conclusion but she doesn't say anything because she sees a familiar figure outside the window behind them. They all turn to it and see the hero walking to the doors.
Once he enters, Captain America greets him, "Spider-Man," the hero doesn't say anything as he trudges in, "Where've you been?"
"Out," the hero simply states as he walks in and removes his mask, since everyone in the room knows who he is, before he plops down on a chair.
Sonja looks at him with concern as he rubs his head in exhaustion, "Are you alright?"
He looks at her with tired eyes, "It's been a long day and I…" he becomes perplexed when he notices the whiteboard behind her with pictures, notes, and yard lines all surrounding him and Mary Jane, "The heck is that?"
They all look to the board, and Sonja finally notices it as well, before Logan jerks his head to the youngest person in the room, "Kid was trying to figure out why Red and you were together."
Sonja/Mary Jane and Peter look at the young mutant in question and wonder why she is questioning it.
Hope, seeming to get the unasked question in the air, says, "A world-famous actress/supermodel that doesn't like the superhero life dates one. And that's just one of the reasons why you two shouldn't work but from everything Logans told me, you guys do."
Sonja thinks about it and wades through the modern redhead memories of the relationship with the man, "Okay, I'll admit, though it's a little insulting it's not unfair altogether."
Agreed.
While the two redheads muse on this Peter decides not to dwell on it and instead changes the subject, "How come you're here?"
The question is directed at the mutant messiah, and she responds, "I wanted to talk to you. About what I should do next."
Peter is confused by what she means, "Okay?"
Hope rubs her arm in uncomfortableness, "Look, you gave me some great advice back when you were training me. I figured you can give me some more advice about what I should do next."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," she nods before she gets a sad look, "I spent my whole life preparing for a single moment. Now that moment is gone and I don't know what to do now," she gestures to the window, "I tried that whole normal life thing, you know living like an ordinary everyday person, and in all honesty, it's just not for me."
He squints his eyes at her, "It's been less than a month."
"Patience isn't one of my virtues."
Two of the four grown men in the room give her reprimanding looks, while one shrugs uncaringly and another nods in understanding.
"Not mine either."
"Ditto."
Steve rolls his eyes and decides to put his and everyone elses attention on an important matter. He looks at the younger man and asks, "What caused that future?"
Peter gets a tired look again but not as severe as it was when he arrived, the little distration helped, and answers, "Doc Ock. He's the one that burned the world down."
"Octavius?" Tony exclaims in surprise, "You're kidding?"
Peter shakes his head, "No. I had another vision and he basically told me that since he was dying, he was burning the world down for everyone not appreciating his genius."
Anger swells inside Cap as he looks to his friend, "Tony, contact Hill and tell her to upgrade Otto Octavius to an immediate global threat."
"On it."
While Tony pulls out his phone to call Maria Hill, Logan and the two ladies look at the Avengers leader inquisitively, as the old mutant asks, "Whats going on Steve?"
The good captain begins to tell them about the days events from his point. Having arrived at Peter's job to speak to him only to end up listening to him go about a typical day for him through a cell phone because if they got involved the world would have caught on fire.
And when they mentioned Black Cat being involved, Sonja can feel some strong mixed emotions come from Mary Jane. Sonja looks to her lover and sees his head is down despondelty, "I'm guessing that look something to do with Felicia," Sonja nods in agreement before she steps to him, kneels by him, and looks at him with concern, "Anything else?"
Peter looks at her blankly before he grabs her hand, "Just some personal stuff," he says and she frowns. He sees this, "I'll tell you later," he presses the back of her hand to his lips and stares adoringly at her, "No more secrets."
Sonja, and Mary Jane, smile in loving appreciation as well. He is not used to being completely honest but he'll be damned if he isnt going to start to do so with the people he trusts. He will take his uncles words to heart. Grow up, trust more, and put Peter Parker ahead of Spdier-Man more often.
Though that last one might not be as easy considering what he learned today.
As the two stare lovingly at each other, Hope gives them a critical eye, not having all the details she states, "Hang on. I thought you were with Mary Jane Watson."
Peter jerks from his sitting position, having realized that nobody besides Strange and Wong know the full details of the situation behind MJ and Sonja. And how he is currently involved with the both of them.
He can picture Steve's disapproving look, Tony's proud teary smile, and Logan's dirty shit-eating grin.
He knows it'll eventually come out, but he'd still prefer to postpone it for a bit longer.
Sonja looks at the girl before she turns her attention to Peter, who gives her a worrying look. She can figure they don't want to inform others, "For good reason," she smiles deviously, "Sonja don't you dare!"
Her form becomes crystal clear as she is slowly replaced with Mary Jane, who has a surprised and frightened expression.
When Sonja's body is gone and Mary Jane is all that's left, the slightly smaller redhead is facing Peter who is matching her expression. She sowly turns her head and sees everyone else is looking at her in surprise.
She shakingly waves, "Hi."
Hope, Steve, and Logan have not seen Sonja turn from her to Mary Jane, so they just end up looking at them in surprise and curiosity.
Hope tilts her head and asks, "Some kind of transformation thing?"
"…Yes, that is exactly what it is," Peter blankly responds with a robotic nod as MJ closes her eyes.
How can a man who has spent half his life lying still be a terrible liar?
They are saved from answering any more questions when Tony walks back in the room, "Alright talk to Hill," he announces, "she said she'll have her people keep an eye out but the best source of information on the wackjob would have to be from you."
Peter, hiding his relief, nods in agreement, "Can't argue with that," he then gets a contemplative frown, "Knowing Otto like I do, he will bring in some help. Another Sinister Six."
Tony and Steve nod as Tony asks, "So we keep tabs on your other regular dance partners?"
"Maybe," Peter frowns in uncertainty, "Just in case, keep an ear out for other muscle for hire."
Tony nods, "Will do."
Peter frown doesn't leave him and Steve notices this, "Something else you want to tell us?"
Peter stays silent for a few seconds before he lowers his head despondently, "He burned the world down because I wasn't here. Because I vanished."
Mary Jane frowns in confusion, as do the others in the room, "You saw that?"
He shakes his head, "No. I just know it. I don't know how I know. I just do," he lets out a rueful laugh, "I can't stop being Spider-Man for a day without the world catching on fire."
She turns her eyes down. She knows those words could not be truer. Both lifetimes have taught her that Spider-Man is needed in the world. Without him, there might not be a world. She can't even count the number of times he's saved the world and nobody outside of the two of them knew.
She squeezes his hand and looks at him in assurance, "Peter, what you do every day is important."
"I know that. It's just…" he has a small flashback to the trial, "Uncle Ben words to me. How do I keep my promise to him without being so selfish?"
MJ would like to tell him yes. But in truth after all this time even she doesn't think it's possible.
"Maybe you can."
They both whip their heads at the billionaire who is looking at them with a big proud smile on his face. Tony then shifts his sights to his longtime friend, Steve, and gestures to them.
Steve seems to get whatever message Tony is conveying and looks to them to say, "We wanted to talk to you about a very important matter," he is looking at Peter specifically as he walks to sit down on a chair across from him, "After the whole Phoenix debacle, I started to do some deep thinking and I realized that Scott Summers was right about something concerning the Avengers. We never got involved enough with mutants and their problems."
Peter thinks about that statement and nods in agreement at how true it is.
"So," Steve continues, "I'm putting together a team that consists of both Avengers and X-Men. To get involved in all problems."
Peter can see where this is going, "You want me to be a part of it. The guy that got killed because of them, comes back and they work with him."
"Close," Tony steps beside Cap with a smile, "We want you to lead it."
Peter's, and everyone else's, eyes widen, "What?"
"We've discussed this at length," Steve tells him, "And we came to the same conclusion in thinking that you are the best option to lead this new team."
Stunned, Peter is having a hard time processing this, "How the heck did you guys come to that?"
"For one thing," Steve starts, "You don't really care what the problem is, mutant or otherwise, you get involved if people are in danger."
True.
"For another, you have a good standing with the X-Men and the hero community in general."
Somewhat true.
"And lastly, as you said, with you recently dying because of them, they will try to go along with it to get back in good standing."
Underhanded move, but not unclever.
Peter mulls it over for a second but shakes his head, "No I can't do it. I have a life outside of this," he lifts his mask to them, "Being a leader to a team of heroes would take up too much time. I wouldn't be able to do it."
Tony puffs up his chest, "And that's where I come in to save the day!"
Everyone reels back at the man's enthusiastic claim, as Peter asks, "How's that?"
With a proud smile, Tony boast, "Well, Cap brought up this particular problem of yours when we were discussing you leading the team. Obviously asking you to be public is a big no," the dull look he's giving conveys a 'Duh' response, "So I came up with a better solution that can even help you cement your secret identity even better!"
"How's that?"
Tony gives him a smug smile as he pulls out his phone and a holographic display of a robot comes up, "I give you, your personal LMD!"
As Peter looks at the hologram with a critical eye, Mary Jane looks at it in confusion, "LMD?"
"Life Model Decoy," Peter robotically answers, "It's basically a robot that imitates real people with proper programming."
While Mary Jane mulls over such a thing existing, Tony continues, "That's mostly right. There are some more usages that I think will be very beneficial to you. One such usage is Remote Control."
Peter looks away from the image to the billionaire, "Like a video game."
"Exactly!" Tony nods enthusiastically, "But better. You see this can be controlled while you do other things. Think of it like an extra limb."
"I actually know what that's like," Peter quips but has some loathing in his tone.
His attention returns to the hologram and he mulls over the benefits it can provide for his life. How much he can not worry about in his life outside of Spider-Man if he gets this thing.
But when that thought enters his mind he realizes something.
"I can't accept this."
Everyone is surprised by this, but none more so than Tony and Mary Jane. Tony because he thought he came up with the perfect solution for the guy. To be able to be in two places at once would certainly be something that can improve his life. To turn it down certainly hurt Tony on a personal level.
As for Mary Jane, she figured Peter would be over the moon for it as well. Hell, Mary Jane can't even count the number of times she would have liked something like this for herself. 'And that's just for average stuff, Peter could have definitely used this more when we were together.'
"Perhaps there is a good reason," Sonja tells her.
Logan decides to ask the question, "Why not? Bub for as long as I've known you, you griped about not being able to do more in both your lives," he gestures to the hologram, "This will make your life so much easier. You don't have to worry as much about your life outside of this."
"That's the problem," Peter tells them with sorrow in his voice, before he looks to the woman sitting still kneeling by him with sad eyes, "Some time after our big breakup, I came home one day. It was another typical day for Spider-Man. I don't remember who I fought. I just know that I was banged up and exhausted. I crashed on the couch. Couldn't even make it to bed. I woke up and I was late for work. Got dressed and headed out the front door."
Mary Jane closes her eyes as she recalls having to live through those moments in both lives. She remembered having to nurse him back to health and sometimes him having to go out again almost immediately afterward. She doesn't like reliving those memories.
"Thing is," he says with his voice breaking, "I was still wearing the mask," she looks at him in surprise. He's usually more careful, "I caught myself before I got too far. But as time went on, I was spending more time being Spider-Man and less time as Peter Parker," tears start to stream down his cheeks as he tries to put on a reassuring smile, "I told myself, 'This is for the best. Spider-Man does so much more for the world than Peter Parker does.'"
Everyone stays silent as they watch the hero have an emotional breakdown, while MJ squeezes his hand to keep him from breaking down. He looks at her appreciatively before he looks at Tony, "I need reasons to take off the mask. This will just give me more reasons to keep it on. So I'm sorry, I can't accept this."
The three men and young girl have different reactions. Logan gets a pang of sympathy. He knows what it's like to try and get out of this life, only for it to pull you back in.
Tony is disheartened to know that his brilliant solution isn't the golden egg he thought it was. He genuinely wanted this to work for the guy, to not only apologize for everything he did to him, but to help him in his life struggles. Now it seems to have made things worse.
Steve gives him, and the woman by him, a pitiful look. He knows how much the young man wants to live a life outside of the mask. After everything he's done and continues to do, he figures God would give him a break.
'Moments like these make me question my faith,' he thinks to himself.
And Hope is starting to get a better grasp on why her dad, Cable, and so many other heroes have so much respect for the guy. He cares so much that he sacrifices everything for the world. Including something he wanrts more than anything.
'Maybe I didn't give the whole normal life thing a fair shot,' she mulls over.
And while all others are in their own minds, MJ feels elation. Not for this, but because she has something they don't seem to have.
A solution.
She tugs on his arm as she gives him a smile, "Maybe you can accept it."
Everyone looks at her now, and Peter gets a frightened expression, "Mary Jane-"
"No listen," she tells him before she gets up to retrieve her bag from the table, "I was going to surprise you. But Sonja and I wanted to see if we could learn magic so I went to Doctor Strange."
Peter leaps to his feet, "What?! After last night?!"
While everyone in the room reels back in surprise, she turns around and calmly states, "He was the only one I could talk to about this."
The others look at them questioningly as Steve asks, "What happened last night?"
Peter takes a breath before he answers with clenched teeth, "You're gonna want to ask him about it."
MJ doens't deter from her announcement and stands in front of him, "Anyway, I went to his place to see if I could learn magic. And it turns out I could. Just not the typical way," he gives her a confused look, "I'll explain later. But while I was there I did do some homework, or research or whatever," she pulls out a book from her bag and hands it to him, "And I looked at this book here."
Peter takes it and looks at it curiously, "Basics of Teleportation?"
Mary Jane nods with some excitement, "It talks about some forms of teleportation. Portals, matter transmission, and place swapping."
That last bit gets his attention, "Place swapping?"
With another excited nod, she continues, "The basic of it is you switch places with a person or thing whenever you want. No matter how far."
Tony, being the genius that he is, starts to put the pieces of her solution into his own, "And with the LMD being linked to your mind, you can change it's appearance when you need to switch. Meaning, unless there's something that Spider-Man needs to do that the bot can't, you can continue on your life as Peter Parker."
Peter is stunned silent at this. He looks at the book in his hand and then at the woman before him in amazement. Everyone waits for him to say something and the last thing they expected is for him to start laughing as he collapses back into his seat.
"Son of bitch," he says with a teary laugh as grabs his head with his free hand in disbelief, "I need to trust more. I need to trust more."
Steve, Tony, and MJ look slightly confused while the two mutants even more so and Hope says, "I'm lost."
"It's something my uncle Ben told me," he tells them with a big teary smile, "He said that I need to trust more. That I need to open up my heart and the possibilities will be endless," he lifts the book in his hand and gestures to the hologram still up, "This is what he meant. I can do so much on my own. But I can only do so much," everyone starts to get what he's saying and they all start to smile too as he looks at MJ, "I can't do this alone anymore."
The beautiful redhead smiles back at him with some smugness, "I could've told you that."
He laughs at the shot. He knows she hated the fact he was always kind of a loner. She preferred it when he was working with something because at least she knew someone had his back. She didn't even mind it much when it was Felicia.
There was some jealousy and resentment, but she still preferred him to be working with someone that could watch his back.
Peter wipes his face and looks to the Captain, "Guess you got yourself a leader for your new team," Steve gives a grin and nod. Peter stands up and gives the veteran a determined look, "But if I'm gonna do this then I have to do it right."
Now Steve gives him a confused look, "How so?"
Peter walks past them to the entrance, "Good publicity, political support, and proper recruitment."
MJ raises an accusing and amused eyebrow at his back, "Thought about this a lot?"
A quick glance at her makes him rub his neck in a sheepish manner, "Admittedly in my younger days I fantasized leading the Avengers," he avoids booking at Steve now, "I also kind of pictured myself picking up Cap's shield."
Everyone looks at him in amusement, except Tony who gets an offended look, "Why his shield?"
"You think Avengers leader, you think Captain America."
MJ, Logan, and Hope nod while the younger woman says, "That is so true."
"And it wouldn't be as cool to shout Avengers Assemble without thrusting his shield in the air."
"Also true."
Tony frowns, but really pouts, and crosses his arms turns away, "And you call me a showboat."
Steve ignores his friend and asks, "So how do you plan to do all that?"
Peter takes a deep breath as he slicks his hair back before he lets it out and puts his mask back on, "Another bold move that I hope won't blow up in my face."
(Mayor's Office)
J. Jonah Jameson sits in his office late in the day to finish up some paperwork. Signing documents that need his approval, checking how much the parade today cost the city, and making sure what happened today does not happened again.
'A nuclear bomb snuck into my city!' Jameson mentally rants as he grumbles, 'When I find out what moron allowed this to happen, I swear I'll-!'
Beep! "Mayor Jameson."
He looks up in surprise before he glares at the phone on his desk and pushes the intercom button, "What is it?"
"There's someone here to see you."
He gets a confused expression before he opens his itinerary, "I don't have any appointments," he says before he slams the book shut, "Tell them my time is too valuable to waste on someone who doesn't take the time to make an appointment!"
He hears his door open and sees Captain America, in his civilian clothes, walk into his office, "Well I would have but I'm pressed for time myself."
Jonah jumps to his feet, "Captain Rogers," he clears his throat and walks around his desk to properly greet the man, "Sorry about that. You have to understand that I'm a very busy man."
Steve shakes the mans hand, "I understand. I'm merely here to vouch for someone and be a witness."
"Pardon?"
"Hey Jonah," a familiar and insufferable voice makes the mayor whip his head around to see Spider-Man crouched on his opened window.
"You!" Jonah glares at the menace before he glances back at the patriot behind him, "Oh, I see. Brought along Captain America here to try and coerce me into talking to the bugle about that nuclear bomb incident," he straightens himself out, "Well, you can forget it! I will not set the streets into a panic just to give you a reason to inflate your ego! You pompous glory-seeking burlesque of irresponsible youth!"
Spider-Man tilts his head playfully at the man, "That was weird. You usually do more alliteration with your rants to me. Losing your touch?"
The mustached mayor jabs his finger at the colorful criminal, "Listen you despicable deplorable degenerative deviant!"
"There it is!"
"If you think for one second-"
"Mister Jameson," Jonah stops his tirade when Captain Rogers speaks and the veteran walks to stand by the mayor, "This isn't about what happened today. It's about what we have planned for the future."
Jonah gets baffled, "Pardon?"
"Well, I'm putting together a new team," Steve starts, "It's a way for us to start mending bridges between Avengers and X-Men. And it was pointed out to me that some political backing and unbiased media coverage could go a long way to help."
Jonah gets even more befuddled. Why would Captain America, of all people, need political backing and unbiased media coverage? The man is an icon to the country. There is not another man, not even Jonah's son, that comes to the same level of adoration and respect.
But that question is not the one that confuses him the most, "Okay? But I don't understand is why he is here!"
Spider-Man rolls his eyes as he still maintains his positon ontop of the window, "C'mon, Jonah. Can't you put the puzzle together?"
Jonah goes back to scowling at his nemesis, "What are you talking about?"
Steve decides to get to the point, "Spider-Man is going to be leading this new team."
Jonah stills for a moment before he slowly turns around and looks at the WWII veteran, "With all due respect Captain Rogers but ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Jonah dramatically points to the bane of his existence, "WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU THINK IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO LET THIS MENACE LEAD ANY TEAM OF HEROES?!"
Steve, not at all affected by the mans shouting, simple states, "I'm hoping he'll convince you."
"And how do you plan on that happening?!"
Spidey decides to jump in at this point, "By giving you something you've wanted since you first laid eyes on me," Jonah looks at him like he's insane, like there's no way the man can know what he wants, "An interview."
Except he just might, "What?"
Spider-Man lifts up a single finger, "For one whole hour. No holds bar. You ask me whatever you want and I answer. Total truth."
Jameson is in complete disbelief as he stares at the man crouching on his window, before that disbelief turns to suspicion, "You expect me to take you for your word?"
"No," Spider-Man shakes his head before he motions to the man behind the mayor, "But I think you can trust Caps."
Jonah can't argue with that, much as he'd want to just to get at the menace, "And what makes you think that I'll do this?" Spider-Man and Steve look at the man curiously as he continues, "I'm the mayor of this city. I don't have time to waste on you."
"Well, we both know that's a lie but that's beside the point," the arachnid-themed hero leaps down from the window, "The big thing is this, you're a journalist. If it were under anyone else's watch that bomb got here, you would have blabbed to the whole city, while also trying to pin it on me. You can't help it, Jonah. At your very core, you are a journalist."
Jonah does not like the way he is feeling right now. Exposed. The menace just laid out a proposition the mayor cannot resist and he knows it. Somehow, the masked man knows how to get him to do something he wants.
Jameson narrows his eyes at the man, "You think you know me."
Spider-Man crosses his arms, "Better than you think."
Jonah stays silent for a few moments as he continues to glare at the hero, weighing his limited options, before he finally says, "When?"
"Tomorrow. First thing," Spidey leaps back onto the window sill and stops there to glance back at the mayor, "And after this interview, I sincerely hope you see me in a better light."
Jameson watches him leap away. He doesn't even acknowledge when Captain Rogers leaves his office. He is too focused on the prospect of getting the interview he has wanted for more than a decade. It's one that he knows will turn heads and expose the truth he's known all along. That the wall-crawling menace is just that! A menace! He will finally show the world he was always a serious journalist and a hero to the city.
Others may have claimed it, but this will be the interview of the century. It may be last minute but he will be ready for it.
And while he's busy preparing, outside on the building across from his office, Spider-Man is having an issue.
"Oh god, what have I done?"
Stupid overconfidence!