Amazing Spider-Man: True Purpose

(Streets of New York)

Spider-Man has fantasized about many things over the years. Mostly about what it would be like if certain people were alive today. He imagined what it would be like if his parents and/or Uncle Ben were alive and saw the kind of person he turned out to be. How they would react to what he does every day. He often pictures that they would be proud and terrified at the same time.

He imagined what his life would be like if he didn't get bitten by the spider. Would he ever meet the people he has met as Spider-Man? Maybe the likes of Reed Richards and Tony Stark, but he doubts he would have met Felicia or the X-Men. The former because she would not find him exciting or interesting and the latter because they are very closed off.

And he has fantasized about leading a team of Avengers when he was a young hero. Sometimes in those fantasies, he saw himself leading a team that had the original members in it. Other times it was a group that consisted of members that were successors. A child of Captain America, one of Thor, one of Hawkeye, one of Hulk, and a myriad of Iron Man children. Tony had so many armors that Peter figured he'd have about as many children when given the chance. Intentionally or not.

As for leading a team that consists of Red Sonja, Black Cat, Wolverine, Rogue, The Scarlet Witch, and Havok? Well, this was not what he fantasized about.

'But I did imagine carrying Cap's shield,' he thinks as he swings over the mob with said shield on his arm, avoiding stones and other junk the mad people are throwing at him. Behind him are Sonja and Black Cat, with the former leaping on cars to avoid the mob while the latter is using her grapple gun to swing and propel herself to keep pace with him. All three of them are charging toward the one responsible for the current mayhem that is occurring in the city.

The former Hydra Leader, The Red Skull.

Said man is standing on a police car at a crossroad and surrounded by what appears to be five of minions. 'You can always tell the minions from the bosses because of the outfits,' he muses as he lands on a lamppost on the street corner.

Red Skull eyes him from the side contemptuously, "Ah, Spider-Man."

"Ah, Mr. Smith," Spidey mockingly quips as Sonja and Black Cat land below him, "So, you gonna make this easy, or are we gonna have to enjoy hurting you?"

Red Skull merely looks at him, "Why do you fight against your own?" He asks as he gestures around himself, "Do you not see how we are the last line of defense against the mutant plague? They are the enemy and they will be our undoing."

Spider-Man scoffs at the notion, as he feels the man trying to mind control him, and glares at the Nazi, "All I see is a sorry excuse for a human being using a power that isn't his cause mayhem."

Skull narrows his eyes at Spidey as Dancing Water steps forward, "Herr Skull is the epitome of humanity. He is a visionary. And we, his S-Men," she and the rest of the lackeys tense for a fight, "Shall make the vision become a reality."

Sonja twirls her sword into a diagonal position, "Not likely," she says before she charges at the group, "You'll be too battered to do anything!"

The demon-like woman, Living Wind, steps in front of the group and reaches into her bag before thrusting her hand out, "Foolish woman!" She shouts as Sonja is struck with a concentrated gale-force wind, "Your hubris will be your downfall!"

As Sonja is propelled back and is chased after Dangerous Jinn and Living Wind, Spidey engages against the turtle man, Mzee, and the insect-like man, Insect, while Black Cat goes up against the water woman, Dancing Water.

Spider-Man lands in front of Mzee as the villain throws a punch that Spidey blocks with the famous shield, "I looked up to you," the turtle-like man says as he grabs the shield by the rim, "I thought you understood that evildoers needed to be punished."

"Listen here, you Mario villain reject," Spider-Man quips as he struggles to hold on to the shield, "I stop people from hurting other people. Punishment is more Frank's thing. You know, the guy with the admittedly nifty skull on his chest."

His spider sense goes off and on instinct, he lashes out his free hand to grab the stinger of the Insect that was aimed at his throat.

"Excuse me," he says haughtily at his second attacker, "Did no one tell you it's rude to stab someone in the throat while they are having a conversation with a giant turtle?"

He pulls Insect by the stinger and elbows him at the side of his green head and kicks him away before he brings his knee up to the chin of Mzee. Mzee releases his grip on the shield and then Spider-Man drops low in a spin to kick the villain's legs. Mzee falls on his back and Spider-Man grabs him by the leg and swings him around. He lets go and says, "So longa, Bowser!" The turtle terrorist is launched into a butcher shop.

Spider-Man turns his attention to Skull, who is looking at him unperturbed at the fight, "Curious," the Nazi says, "That man was able to stand against Thor. Yet you have disposed of him quite easily."

"Mushrooms do wonders for us plumbers," he says before he holds the shield in a throwing position, "Now hold still. I just picked this up and have no idea on how to use it."

"Hello there."

A voice from behind the arachnid-themed hero prompts him to turn around and see a face that sets him on edge. A kind and elderly face that he saw not too long ago. A face that haunted his thoughts but now only reminds him of his newfound resolve to better himself in every way.

His dead uncle, Benjamin Parker.

The man holds out his hand, "My name is Honest John," he says with a kind friendly smile, "I would like to be your friend. I want to show you things in a new light."

'Why am I here?' That is the question that is reverberating inside of Black Cat's mind as she dodges a blast of water from her aquatic foe, Dancing Water, by flipping over an upside-down car, 'Sure the city is on fire, but when isn't it?'

Bit morbid thinking, sure, but who can argue with it.?

"You are on the wrong side of this battle!" Dancing Water shouts at her as Felicia vaults over another blast of water from a few yards away, "You are like us! Human but gifted!" She fires another current and Friday avoids it by using her grapple gun, "You would be welcomed in the new world! The one free of mutants!"

Felicia scoffs at the woman's proposal, "Honey, I got no love for mutants," she says as she leaps out of the way of another attack, "But they got a right to live just as much as me or you," she lands on an upside-down car, "Well me more than you really."

Dancing Water glares at her and fires another torrent of water, "Then share their fate!"

Black Cat leaps and fires her grapple hook just as the watery blast tears through the car she was just on. As she swings around her opponent, she thinks on the reason she is fighting the woman.

It's more out of inconvenience than anything. She was spending the day with Mary Jane when they saw that mob surrounding some guy and his kid. The moment she saw them, however, there was a black hugh surrounding them that somehow told her that they were mutants. At that realization, she was filled with rage and hatred.

She never had anything against mutants. Sure they're dangerous, but so is an idiot with a gun or an entitled person with a driver's license. In that moment back at the park, however, she hated that kid for the sole reason of it being a mutant. She hated him so much that she hated Mary Jane for defending the little monst- kid.

She grimaces as she lands on a windowsill. She has to be very careful in not giving in to that kind of thinking. She is not sure how, but she is able to resist whatever Red Skull is doing to everyone else. Much as she'd like to think it's because she is a strong-willed person, it's more than likely something Mary Jane did. Felicia stopped feeling uncontrollably angry after the redhead took her to that rooftop.

Said redhead, or the warrior woman that is supposed to be her, is currently battling against the evil genie, Dangerous Jinn, and the woman(?) with wings and a satchel, Living Wind. And that satchel apparently has wind that talks while it attacks.

'Seriously, what kind of dumb power is that?' Felicia thinks as she glances at Sonja as the woman throws her spear at Dangerous Jinn and avoids a gust of wind from Living Wind. The spear misses but Sonja flicks her wrist and the spear reappears in her hand, 'That is much more useful.'

Felicia seriously wants to ask how MJ got this transformation ability of hers. How it works too. She didn't have a chance when they went to her place so she could get her gear. But much as she wants to know, she also knows there's a time and place for things. And the middle of a battle is not one of those.

Actually, that does give her an idea. An idea inspired by her ex. To do something he does all too often. But she wants to make sure Sonja gets the message so she'll need to get close.

She leaps off the windowsill and fires her grapple hook to swing and land just behind Sonja. The warrior woman glances at her before she refocuses on her opponents.

"Hey Red," Felicia greets Sonja as they stand back to back and keep their sights on their enemies, "How you handling yourself?"

"Not as well as I'd hoped," Sonja tells her truthfully with hints of irritation in her voice, "These two are distant fighters. My arsenal in dealing with them is limited to my spear."

Felicia nods in understanding, long-distance opponents are a mother to deal with when you don't have the tools, "I got a plan," she informs her as she glances back at Sonja, "Can you play along?"

Sonja tunes her head around slightly and raises an eyebrow at Black Cat, "What do you have in mind?"

Felicia smirks playfully, "Wanna switch?" She says before she speaks louder, "I'm pretty confident I can handle Ms. Pigeon Wings and Pinky the Evil Genie!"

Sonja now looks at her in confusion. Felicia figures she is wondering why she thinks she can handle some minions better than Sonja can. The redhead's gaze turns back to her two opponents and the two do not seem to appreciate the names Black Cat is calling them. That makes Sonja's/MJ's eyes light up in realization as she catches on to the game Cat wants to play.

Sonja smirks and gives a side-teasing look to Felicia, "Are you having trouble dealing with the Watery Tart?"

Felicia smirks back, happy to know her friend is picking up what she is doing, 'Course she would. She knows that doofus better than I do,' Felicia muses a bit bitterly but does not dwell on it too much as it seems Dancing Water did not like what Sonja called her.

DW fires another torrent of water and both Black Cat and Sonja move out of the way, "It's Dancing Water you redheaded whore!"

The displaced warrior rolls to a stop and looks at DW with a mocking smile, "Seems the Moistened Bint has rather thin skin."

Felicia, who is on a street light, casually lays on her side while at the same time keeping her balance, and says, "Doesn't look like she has any skin. Can see right through her. Wonder if that was what she was like in life?"

"F$& YOU!" DW shouts and this time charges at Black Cat, "You don't know anything about me!"

"Oh honey, you think you're complicated?" Cat sarcastically and condescendingly questions her as she takes a more lax stance, "Let me take a stab in the dark," she avoids DW as casually as she can to irritate her, "You have daddy issues, right? Abandoned at a young age. Maybe even had a hard time growing up."

"My father was Avalanche," DW tells her as she releases another torrent of water, "He did not even know I existed!"

Cat leans back as the blast tears a hole in a brick wall, "So I'm right," she says as she rolls and handsprings away from her aquatic foe, "And you see a father figure in the guy who kills Jews and anyone that isn't white," she lands in front of an electronic store, "Why can't you be like the other girls with daddy issues and dance for the approval of old men with singles?"

Okay, maybe Felicia is being a little harsh, but it does seem to be doing the trick since DW is only focusing on her. The watery woman snarls at Felicia, but before she sends another blast of water, Sonja plunges her sword into the villain and makes her cry out in pain. She rips her sword out and slices through her neck making her grab it in shock and pain. She collapses onto the floor as Sonja walks away, not at all bothered by what she did.

Cat reels back in surprise at the brutality and grabs her own neck in sympathetic pain, "Woah Red, I thought you didn't do the whole killing thing."

"She'll live," Sonja informs her as she looks down at the unconscious woman, "The pain was just too much for her to bear."

Before Felicia can respond, their last two remaining opponents attack them and they both evade as best they can.

Black Cat, doing her damndest to avoid Living Wind, summersaults until she is by a mailbox. The winged villain does not let up and her attack hits the mailbox making it send the mail all over. Essentially blinding her. The mail actually ends up cutting the villain a bit. Her face, arms, and body receive small cuts.

Felicia, thankful her bad luck powers did their job, capitalizes on the woman's disorientation by flipping through the street toward her. At the peak of her momentum, she launches herself into a donkey kick, hitting Living Wind square in the chest. The villain is launched into a convenience store and is knocked out.

Felicia takes a peak in the store, sees her foe is out for the count, and releases a sigh of relief, "God that was annoying."

She quickly looks over to see Sonja has skewered the pink genie and has it pinned to a wall. She is repeatedly punching the thing in the face and is not letting up.

Cat goes to stand behind her and watches with worry on her face, "Hey Red!" She calls out to her, making Sonja stop mid-punch, "I think you got him."

Sonja looks back at the bloody and bruised genie she has pinned and sees he frowns a bit. She delivers one last punch, effectively knocking him out, before she pulls her sword out of him. The creature falls to the ground with a thud but she doesn't glance at it as she fully turns her attention to her partner, who is looking at her with worry.

"That seemed a little excessive," Cat says as she shifts her gaze between Sonja and Dangerous Jinn.

Sonja simply shrugs, "He was very irritating."

Felicia raises an eyebrow at her, "If that's how you treat people who irritate you, how are you gonna make it work with Spider?"

An unasked question is hidden in the sarcastic one but both Sonja and Mary Jane can see it nevertheless, "We have ways to shut him up."

"We?"

A small pause to try and find the best way to explain their circumstances, before some explosions go off, making them realize what they need to be focusing on.

Sonja looks at Felicia, "There is much we have to say to you," she says before she gestures to the other heroes fighting, "For now, they need some assistance."

Black Cat frowns a bit before she nods in agreement. They both rush into action, going to the nearest person who needs help. Which is Wolverine and Havok.

Spider-Man wants to punch this Honest John so hard that his jaw flies off. He'd never actually do such a thing, but the urge to do it to this man for not only using his beloved uncle to manipulate him but for using other people's loved ones on the news earlier.

He doesn't know how but he can see right through this guy's ability. He saw right through it when this man was on the news broadcasting that disgusting speech. It was like an ethereal image of his uncle over this guy's real form. But the thing that was stranger than that, was how he felt when this guy tried to influence him. It was more emotional than it was mental. Like he could think clearly enough to know what this guy was saying was bad but it was hitting emotional points on him. Fortunately, he got Hope to turn off the TV before it went further.

Peter quickly figured out that the guy is somehow making everyone see an idol they would listen to. Hope saw her father and he saw his uncle. But even with that knowledge, Peter is still rather reluctant to punch the guy. He saw his uncle not too long ago and he has forgiven himself for what happened but that doesn't mean he still doesn't feel guilty for something else.

'My guilt complex is a mother,' he thinks to himself before he refocuses on reality.

"Back off guy," Spidey warns the impersonator as he steps back from him but tenses to attack the guy just in case, "I may not be happy to do it while you have that face, but I will knock your teeth out."

The imposter raises his hands placatingly and says, "Please I do not want to fight you. I truly want to help you. I want you to see things the way I do."

"Buddy if you are in cahoots with a Nazi," Spidey gestures to Skull who is calmly watching the two talk, "Then I do not want to hear it.

"But don't you see?" John says with a gentle tone, and Spider-Man forces himself to remember it's not his uncle, "The mutant plague has caused so much pain and suffering. They nearly burned the world down to merely restore their race. But the world was better off without them."

It's not his uncle Ben that is saying this but he can't help but want to listen. His words are not ones his real uncle would ever say or support. He has spoken and would speak against such things. Spider-Man has to remember that.

'Easier said than done,' he thinks as the man before him continues to speak.

"You could be a leader in the new world," Not-So-Honest John says and offers his hand again, "You could help push humanity forward, under Herr Skull's rule, my son. You are better than them. We are better than them."

Peter feels the temptation to take the man's hand. Him not only using Uncle Ben's face but his voice as well is making it hard for Peter to remember it's not actually him. He looks at the offered appendage and thinks about his words. Those are words his Uncle would never say in a million years. Even with the era the man grew up in where it would have been considered okay, Benjamin Parker did not consider a group of people inferior based on something like skin color. And he would certainly not do it based on genetics.

Spider-Man stares at the hand and reaches out. Honest John smiles at this, feeling satisfied he did what he was set out to-

CRUNCH!

He screams out in pain as his hand is crushed. Spider-Man releases the man before he hits him hard enough with the shield to knock him away. The hero turns his attention back to Skull, who is looking at him curiously.

"Fascinating," Skull notes, still as calm and assure of himself, "Honest John possesses an ability to sway people by projecting himself as a loved one. Yet you did not fall under his thrall."

"It's a good thing I know my loved ones," Spider-Man proudly states, "I know that not a single one of them would say any of the things he said."

Red Skull waves him off dismissively, "It does not matter. I merged the mind of Charles Xavier with my own. His powers are now mine."

Spider-Man gestures to himself, "In case you didn't notice, you're not affecting me."

Skull nods, "True," he acknowledges the statement with curiosity, "Quite an oddity to be truthful. One that I will thoroughly examine when I retrieve your corpse."

"Don't count on it!" Spidey charges with the shield but quickly stops and raises it to block a beam of energy that came from up above. The beam bounces off harmlessly and he leaps further back to see his new attacker.

Schmidt smirks as he states, "You and your friends are not the only heroes in the area."

Spider-Man looks over and sees his fellow hero Iron Man floating just above the war criminal. 'And from the tingling sensation in my skull, I get the feeling he's not here to help me.'

The sensation increases as he sees the armored hero raise his arm and the repulsor charges up.

KRAKOOOM!

By the sound of thunder, Wanda transmogrifies another blast of lightning from Thor into some butterflies. At the same time, Hope is subduing many mind-controlled citizens who are attempting to attack the Scarlet Witch. The younger mutant does her best to not harm them, but she does not possess the magical skill to truly grasp Wanda's powers so she is being more rough than necessary. She is channeling the chaotic magic into her fist and punching inanimate object; cars, lampposts, trucks, and hoping for the best. For the most part she turns those objects into water, oil, or even smelly gas. But on other occasions, she transmogrified them into dangerous substances. Like lava or acid.

But as good as she is doing the occasional citizen does get through. And while Wanda subdues them easily enough, as they are not in control of their actions, it's difficult to divert her attention between them and the God of Thunder without confusing her thoughts. She needs to focus completely on the massive threat Thor poses otherwise she may inadvertently do more harm than she intends.

'I do not wish to give any more reasons not to trust me,' she muses as she tears open the street to prevent people from coming at her. She returns her attention to Thor who is preparing to throw his hammer at her.

But before he does, a boulder shaped like a car from behind him sends him into a semi. The source of the boulder is none other than Hope Summers.

Hope looks from her outstretched hands to Thor in surprise and says, "I wanted to put him to sleep, not blast him away."

"It's not so simple," Wanda tells her as she floats to stand next to her, "My powers are unpredictable. To truly get what you desire requires time and focus," the sound of twisting metal makes them both look to see Thor pull himself out of the semi, "And we will get very little against him."

Thor looks at them lividly, "Foul vermin!" He shouts as he twirls his hammer and lightning starts to gather overhead, "You dare strike me with your accursed power! For the eternal Reich and for humanity, I will smite thee!"

KRAKOOM!

Lightning strikes from above and Wanda again manages to stop it. Except she drops to her knee as it takes its toll this time. For her powers to work properly, she requires time and rest between uses. And she has been getting very little of that in this fight.

And Thor is well aware of this as he capitalizes on it by throwing Mjornir at the witch. Wanda tries to gather more energy to stop the mighty weapon but can't muster enough. Fortunately, Hope steps between her and the magical hammer and fires a blast of hex energy at it. Causing it to fall to the ground.

Wanda releases a breath of relief but does not relax, "Thank you."

Hope nods at her and stands firm as she gives Thor a hard look and the God of Thunder gives one of his own as Mjolnir returns to his hand.

Wanda stands by Hope on wobbly feet as they stare down the Asgardian, "We need to time our attacks," she tells the younger mutant, "We cannot give him an opening."

Hope nods, conceding to the other woman's plan, "I know but your powers aren't exactly straightforward. Can't control what to do with them."

Wanda knows this and tells Hope, "Don't try to force something. Merely let what you feel is natural happen."

Wanda acknowledges that Hope has better control over her chaos magic naturally. During the whole Phoenix debacle, the young mutant showed she could concentrate the chaos power into a focal point on her fist, due to her training with Iron Fist. Meaning she does not need to know how to cast spells or even know how to manipulate matter around her, she can handle the situation well enough and just punch Thor.

"The two of you sicken me," Thor begins to speak, taking Wanda out of her head, and stalks forward with the fires behind him making him seem more menacing, "You and your kind were content in letting the world burn to restore your kind! As a protector of Midgard, I must put you down!"

Wanda is starting to notice how repetitive he's being with his rants. All of the people around her have been shouting the exact same thing. Mutants are abominations, they nearly burned the world down, God is on the human's side.

The mind control seems to be of one track mind. Hate mutants for what they are and make sure they know it.

'And Red Skull is the source of all that hatred,' Wanda reminds herself. From the corner of her eye, she sees the man watching the battle between Spider-Man against an obviously mind-controlled Iron Man, and holding up rather well, 'Very surprising considering what Tony's armors are capable of.'

She would offer some assistance, since she doesn't believe Spider-Man will last very long against Iron Man, if Thor wasn't charging at her and Hope again with a primal roar. As if he is just driven by pure rage like the Hulk.

He once again swings his hammer at her but Hope gathers chaos energy in her fist and punches Mjolnir. She stops it dead in its tracks and there is no shockwave to show she matched the power behind the swing. Instead, all that does happen is a cold chill hits Thor and freezes him completely. Wanda quickly figures Hope essentially transmogrified the kinetic energy of the blow along with the power of the hammer into strong freezing energy. Basically, the mutant messiah used Wanda's power to turn the lightning god's power into ice.

And it seems to be impeccable since Thor seems to be surprised and unable to move. Wanda can sense that Hope has been able to implement the kinetic energy behind Thor's attack into the ice's durability.

"And she did it by complete instinct,' Wanda muses with more jealousy than she likes. She is happy that the young mutant was able to do such a thing but at the same time Hope is able to do something that took Wanda years to learn to do, '

Seeing that the Norse god is out of the fight for now, Hope looks over to where Spider-Man is fighting Iron Man near where the Red Skull is standing and watching them do so.

"We gotta go help," Hope tells her as she looks at the gypsy woman, "Battling Thor is important, but unless we deal with the source this won't mean anything."

Wanda nods in agreement. Red Skull is implementing all the hatred he has against mutants into people's minds. He needs to be stopped now. Spider-Man was wise to tell them to handle the others, they would have gotten in the way after all, but it seems Skull is not without some backup.

Fortunately, neither is Spider-Man.

Sonja slashes the swat member across his chest, making him scream in pain before she grabs him by the bulletproof vest and tosses him to the group that is overwhelming Wolverine. Man is finally ankle to break free but is not looking too good. Obviously, the man could kill these people without any real effort, but the Goat-Faced Girl is keeping her gaze on him and Havok, who is also having some trouble. And the warrior woman would go after the villain if it weren't for the fact that Captain America is close by her and is engaged in a battle with Black Cat.

Sonja and MJ feel worried as they see the thief do her best against the iconic soldier. However, she is bruised and a bit bloody from what they can see. She is capable but even she admitted she won't last long against him. She just went after the man to provide an opening, but unfortunately, the amount of police surrounding the woman is ridiculous.

'We can't barrel through them too hard." Mary Jane reminds her and she frowns. They are still in a bit of an impasse on how they should handle the situation. Sonja wants to throw her spear at the villain but Mary Jane is vehemently against the idea, "We don't kill."

Sonja rolls her eyes as she catches a baton that was aimed to strike her face. She pulls on it, and the policeman swinging it, forward and she knees the man in the stomach before she elbows him in the back of the head, sending him head first to the ground.

"What did I just say?!" Mary Jane mentally shouts and Sonja releases and breath of frustration. If Mary Jane had her way, she would be using pillows to deal with these people. "They are not in control of their actions!" Sonja knows this and does not to be constantly reminded. But it's not like she could be gentle in taking them down. Which is what Mary Jane wants.

Just as MJ was about to respond, Sonja see Felicia roll across the ground. Captain America runs and kicks her in the stomach, making her roll again and into a traffic light.

Sonja quickly rushes to aid her by leaping into the air and kicking the Avenger in the head. The man rolls with it and back onto his feet.

"Okay he can take a lot, so don't hold back as much, but don't go overboard."

Sonja frowns at this but does not argue. Merely drops into a sword stance and the Captain gets into a boxing one. She makes the first move by going for a stab at his head, which would have not been fatal but very painful. Rogers weaves out of the way and throws a right cross at her abdomen. It connects and she steps back. Rogers does not let up and continues to deliver blows. Sonja does her best to dodge and connect some of her own attacks, but the man is a formidable foe.

What was likely less than a few minutes, but felt longer, of fighting the WWII veteran, Sonja is on her last legs. She is bruised, has a split lip, and breathing heavily. She is not exhausted but Captain Rogers managed to get a few good shots on her lungs and stomach. The man moved fast and with precision. Not a single move was wasted.

"He is a super soldier." Mary Jane needlessly reminds her as she resists the urge to roll her eyes while she holds her sword diagonally to block a boot that was aimed at her head. It connects and she flips backward with the momentum of the blow.

She lands gracefully on her feet, although they are a bit wobbly. She resists the urge to collapse on them as she stares at her opponent who does have a few bruises but no other signs of damage. She holds her sword up and readies herself; to continue to fight the man.

"Surrender now," Rogers speaks firmly, "Fighting you is pointless. You are not my enemy. You are human. Not a mutant"

Sonja can hear and feel the disgust the man has when he says mutant. The hatred that Skull is putting in this man's head is strong. Before she can muse on that some more, Rogers is drop-kicked in the back, courtesy of the Black Cat. The platinum-blonde woman flips off the man as he rolls across the ground.

Cat, breathing heavily, looks at her friend and says, "And here I was hoping you would have better luck against him than me."

Sonja frowns at her, slightly offended by the implication, "He is the leader of the Avengers for good reason." She then looks to the side in frustration, "Besides, she is being rather reluctant in allowing me to try my best against these people."

Still not fully understanding what's going on with the redhead, Felicia can at least figure it must be a separate personality situation. So she decides to speak to that side. "Look Red," she says making Sonja look at her, "I know you're not the violent type. But you are the protective type. Just like Spider is. So watch my back while I do the damage needed to take the boy scout down."

For a quick second, Sonja believed that she was speaking to her. But Mary Jane can see that is not the case. And the model can see that Felicia is speaking to her. Felicia wants Mary Jane to watch her back.

Not even needing to hear a confirmation, Black Cat charges at Captain America. She fully expects the redhead to watch her back in the fight. And she is not let down. When she goes to leap over the Captain, who aims to kick her in the air, Sonja stops this by punching him in the stomach. As the man was about to retaliate, Cat kicks him in the head from behind. He staggers to the side and they do not let up.

Sonja grabs Felicia by the arm and swings her around. Felicia has her legs out and kicks the man hard. Sonja slashes him across the chest. He recovers and charges at her with a punch aimed at her face. She ducks and Black Cat slides across the redhead's back and knees the man in the face.

They both continue to work in near-perfect sync. Not letting up at all against their opponent. Mind-controlled he may be, they know he will not stop until they are down. So they can't let up on him.

As a final attack, Sonja grabs him by the shoulders before rolling backward and kicking him into the air. Black at fires her grapple hook and snares his leg. She pulls hard and the man comes crashing down hard on a car.

They wait with baited and heavy breath for the man to get up and continue. But after a few moments, they see he is out of the fight. They breathe a sigh of relief before looking at each other.

Sonja speaks first after a moment, "We work well together."

Cat nods, "I'm surprised too."

As the two women remain silent, Mary Jane internally mulls over this. She is stunned by how well she is working with Felicia. Granted it's through Sonja, but still. It often made her jealous whenever Peter worked with Felicia. He tried to avoid mentioning specifics but she read enough between what he said and didn't say to know they were a dynamic duo. He worked with plenty of heroes, but none came close to how well he worked with Felicia. They were a perfect team and it made her doubt her own relationship with him.

Yes, she and he were a great team in both this life and the erased one. But it still hurt Mary Jane more than she admitted, to him and herself, in how perfect Hardy seemed for him. The woman was everything Peter needed in a partner. She was confident, she brought out a lot of his best qualities, and she wasn't afraid to tell him when he was being dumb. MJ has these qualities too, but Hardy had an advantage over the model. She was in the life. The superhero life.

Felicia had issues with life outside the masks but MJ knew that the platinum blonde, with the right motivation, would find a way to get herself together and be okay with a civilian life. And that made the redhead worry.

But now that she fights alongside Hardy, Mary Jane can feel some strange harmony between her and her longtime romantic rival. Something has definitely changed between them. The hostility hasn't been there for a long time, longer for MJ, but there was rivalry for Peter's affection.

Now she doesn't feel like competing.

Sonja, unaware of what is going on with her host, turns her attention to the villain whose gaze has not left the two male mutants she and Hardy were trying to help. And the two men seem to be on their last legs too.

Sonja clears her throat, drawing Cat's attention, and says, "Well I'm fairly certain we do not need to put as much effort in hurting that horrid woman."

Black Cat smirks before she brandishes her claws, "Doesn't mean we shouldn't make it a little more than necessary, all things considered."

Sonja smirks and twirls her sword.

Up above in the sky over the great city, Rogue takes a harsh blow from Ms. Marvel, 'Cause ain't no way Ah'm calling her Captain,' and soars a good distance away from the mind-controlled heroine.

The two have been at it for a good while and neither one is giving an inch. Rogue is certainly thankful for her durability gained from absorbing Danver's powers the first time around, damage done to both of them aside.

Truth be told she has no problem fighting the blonde fighter pilot. Rogue and her have had a long time of animosity between each other. She wouldn't go as far as to say she outright hates the woman, but she certainly dislikes her. And Rogue is certain the feeling is mutual.

'Maybe more so on her part considering everythang,' she muses as she swoops in for another blow at Kree hybrid that propels her down. Carol crashes down into a rooftop and not a second layer she flies back up and tackles Rogue. The two of them swirl around in the air trying to overpower each other.

Rogue knows she could end this quicker if she touches Danvers, but she also knows that things are tense enough between the Avengers and X-Men without her adding fuel to the fire. And her absorbing powers from Danvers would bring more grief, circumstances be dammed.

'In retrospect Ah should have probably been trying ta get her as far as Ah can from Skull,' she realizes as she continues to wrestle the fighter pilot turned Avenger.

Charles had a limit in distance. So it stands to reason that Red Skull would have the same issue. Maybe more so because ain't no way he has a better handle on it than Xavier did. Especially in a short amount of time.

But in thinking that a boiling anger rises up from her. Since with those thoughts, she remembers how the nazi war criminal had gotten the ability. And along with that came the image of her seeing Charles Xavier's corpse on a metal table with his head cut open and his brain missing.

In that anger, she unintentionally lashes out and punches Ms. Marvel as hard as she can. Launching the woman a good distance away.

"Stay out of this fight Danvers!" Rogue shouts at the woman, hoping but not expecting her to hear, "For your and our sake!"

She turns her attention downward at the source of all the craziness. At the edge of a massive crater created by Avalanche, who she is now realizing is probably an innocent victim in this, and sees the bastard responsible for so much pain and destruction. He's just standing straight and proud, as if what's going on around him is something to boast about, while Spider-Man is going up against Iron Man and his friends are dealing with his cronies.

She has half a mind to just charge at the man at full speed and bisect him. Or turn him into a stain on the wall. But she figures he'll probably sense her thoughts and direct one of the mind-controlled heroes in her path. Or worse a civilian.

She needs to figure out a way to shut this down before it gets worse. The madman so far has his attention on Spider-Man but is still able to make everyone else go nuts.

Red Skull has had his mind combined with Charles Xaviers for less than forty-eight hours. This level of control should be impossible. And yet he is somehow able to turn not only all of New York upside down but make her friends fight each other.

Though she doesn't consider Danvers and her people her friends.

Refocusing, Rogue tries to come up with a way to get at Red Skull from a distance without alerting him. She has a target in mind. The one that shut down her and Wanda's powers just by looking at them.

'Here's hoping it works on Skull too,' she thinks as she flies down near where the Nazi is and where one of his minions is standing.

The Goat-Faced Girl.

Spider-Man raises Captain America's shield to block another repulsor blast courtesy of a mind-controlled Iron Man. It deflects and hits a fire hydrant, causing a water geyser to spurt out. Spider-Man fires a web line to catch the hydrant itself and swings it to hit Iron Man from behind. It connects and Iron Man falls to the ground, into a manhole.

"Ooh, I hope he doesn't hold that against me," Spidey says before he turns his attention back to Red Skull, who is not at all bothered by the Avenger's defeat.

The Nazi war criminal looks at him dismissively, "I had anticipated some resistance from the close-minded," he says with derision, "But still, to think you would stand against your own people."

"Much as I'd want to debate with you, or tell a joke that would tick you off, I don't have the time," he charges again but stops when his spider-sense goes off. He leaps out of the way of a repulsor blast that came from beneath. Out of the newly made hole comes Iron Man, looking no worse for wear.

This is getting exhausting. He is sleep deprived, he is mentally and physically exhausted, and he is trying not to hurt his friend. Though the same cannot be said about the Iron Avenger. The mind-controlled readies to fire another attack before Spidey quickly closes the distance and crashes into him and uses the shield to do so.

Spider rolls onto the floor as Iron crashes into a truck of frozen meat. The shield cushioned the blow enough but sleep deprivation and exhaustion are taking their toll, and Spider-Man is having a hard time bouncing back.

Yeah, he can heal fast now, and heal others with his webbing somehow, but it still hurts and even the webbing has to have limits. Right?

'I am really gonna have to do some homework later. Maybe talk to Julia or Strange,' he mentally muses.

"Do you see how pointless this is?" Red Skull proudly announces from his position on top of the police car, "Try as you might you will not come close. I will turn your allies against you and make them see the light you refuse to see."

My god, does he want to throw this shield and break the lunatic's nose. Actually the man doesn't have a nose. So break off some teeth with the shield then.

Yeah he likes the sound of that.

"ARGH!" Skull shout in pain makes the arachnid hero quickly get to his feet to see what happened. He sees the man grab his bleeding arm as his hand was severed off by Red Sonja. The woman readies her for another attack but is tackled away by Mzee.

As she is forced away, Skull grabs the stump that was his hand and breaths a bit raggedly, "I did not anticipate that," he admits with a growl, "I admit it was a brutal tactic on her part." He gives his hand to Honest John, who proceeds to wrap it with his sash to stop the bleeding. Skull then straightens himself out and boldly states, "But it is still futile. You have all already lost."

"Ah wouldn't be so sure of that," a familiar southern accent says. Skull looks over to see Rogue standing over the unconscious form of the Goat-Faced Girl. The woman gestures to the villain and says, "This ugly thangs got a useful ability to turn off mutant powers just by looking at someone's way. Ah figured Ah could borrow it for a bit to see if it worked on y'all."

And it does indeed work if the sensation going through the former Hydra leader's head is anything to go by. He actually can feel all that he was doing being nullified.

He reaches into his coat, "Fortunately," he says as he quickly pulls out a gun with a wide barrel and pulls the trigger, firing a beam of energy at the mutant woman, "I have other means of defending my-Argh!"

The shot is deflected back at him and skims his left arm. The one with the missing hand and Honest John was standing behind. The man is hit in his shoulder but falls backward to the ground.

The deformed German looks back and sees the reason his shot was deflected back at him was the accursed symbol that haunts his thoughts. But the one who wields the shield is not Captain Rogers but instead Spider-Man.

The man looks over the shield he used and says, "Wow," he looks at the shield in astonishment, "I have got to get me one of these."

Now worry begins to seep into the man's veins. Especially when he sees the other heroes he had under his thrall begin to clear their heads and turn their attention to him. And they do not look friendly.

Spider keeps his position in front of Rogue as he keep his sights on the Nazi, "Do you need to constantly keep your eyes on him and not blink or something?"

Rogue sways her head back and forth, "KInd of. From what I can feel is that I do need to keep my eyes on him but I can blink."

Spidey nods, "Okay. Stay behind me. Everyone else will deal with his lackey and him."

"Ya serious? Ya think Ah'm gonna let everyone else take a shot at this guy and not get a few licks in myself?"

"If you let up for a second he will have everyone back under his control and we are right back where we started," He frimly explains to her before he looks back at her and she can see he is giving her a hard look, "So yes, I expect you to keep your pretty little southern behind, behind me while everyone else finishes these guys off."

While Rogue reels back at the authority Spider-Man is displaying to her, Hope, who is standing next to Wanda, gathers some chaos magic in her fist and says, "Not a problem for us. I want to turn that guy into glass so that I can smash him."

Back with Skull, the man is livid. Not only can he not attack the one nullifying his powers but his minions are spread too far apart and out of commission for him to rely on.

It makes no sense to him. Victory was assured in more than one way. He saw it and it was told to him. A god had told him this day would be his victory. Why else would he have been allowed to return? It is why his confidence did not falter for a moment throughout this battle.

"It's over Schmidt!" Captain Rogers, the man he despises the most, boldly states with his allies Thor, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel at his sides, "You're done."

Red Skull looks around and sees all the heroes gathered around him. Rogers and his friends at his left, the redheaded harlot and the one in leather to his right, behind him the Wolverine and some mutant with a Doppler effect theme for a costume, and right in front of him is Wanda, Hope, and Spider-Man with the shield Schmidt so despises, standing protectively in front of the southern woman who is keeping him from using his power to bring the city to its knees.

Thunder looms overhead. Johann assumes it's the Norse gods doing. The man looks incredibly livid and ready to call down a mighty attack to rid of the German and his minions.

But as the thunder continues to sound out, the pitter-patter of rain draws his attention. He can now see a way to escape if the one subordinate who has the ability to use the rain to her advantage is conscious. He subtly looks for her and sees she is indeed conscious. Though looks to be in pain as well.

Skull smirks before he looks at the good Captain, "It seems that this was not my day of victory Captain. But it is not yours either."

The man looks to Dancing Water and gives her a rehearsed sign of retreat. She nods and sinks into the puddle that was created by the rain and vanishes before anyone can stop her. Not a moment later, Red Skull and his people begin to sink into the puddles that are being created by the rain.

While most of the heroes keep silent on their frustration, Captain America releases his by dropping to his knees and slamming his hands to the ground with a shout at his old nemesis escaping again.

The battle wasn't really won. They stopped the madman from doing more harm, to be sure. But they could not save those that were lost on this day. All over the city, people lay dead. Good people who have not wronged any in life. All of them have died for the hatred that filled the hearts and minds of the denizens of the beautiful city. Their blood pours from the streets and into the sewers. And the sewers into the water surrounding the city.

And for what? A hatred that they could not control? Or was there more to it.

Not too far from where the heroes have defeated their enemy, a man in a nice black suit with a red tie and black cane in his hand stands at the edge of the pier at the Hudson River. The man looks at the city as the fires of the mayhem that was happening illuminate the water behind him.

"A thing of beauty," the fires reflect in his eyes as he speaks, "But not what I dreamed of. Not even close."

The man turns around and stares at his reflection for a moment. Before he pulls out a knife and slices his hand.

"Innocent blood spilled by innocent blood, in the name of hatred," He says as the blood from his hand drops into the river. The blood that seeped from eh streets and into the sewers begins to swirl around it. "The first sign that man cannot be saved. Let this be, the first key."

As the blood from all over begins to swirl around, the man looks at his reflection and sees a devilish form. A form that makes him smile a twisted smile.

"One of many keys."