Chapter 50: A Tangled Web We Weave Part III

Chapter Fifty: A Tangled Web We Weave Part Three:

Spider-Man had opened his eyes, as he had found himself shackled to a wall inside of an empty room in the Mansion. He was face to face with Mystique as he woke.

“Good, you’re awake,” said Mystique calmly. “I would have been disappointed if you had been out when the Mansion went up in smoke. Forty five minutes and the mansion explodes, taking the X-Men with it and you as well but we’ll be long gone by that time.

Spider-Man tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head.

“I bet you think you’re clever thinking you could sneak past us,” said Mystique.

“Well, I do ace most of my classes at school,” retorted Spider-Man weakly.

“I don’t think you have fully grasped the gravity of the situation that you’re in,” said Mystique calmly. “You’ve failed Spider-Man and now myself and the Brotherhood will take the spoils.”

“And what exactly are the spoils?” asked Spider-Man curiously but Mystique just responded by laughing at him.

“You must be more gullible than Rogue was to think I would tell you anything like that,” said Mystique. “She believed that the Brotherhood was out for good and the X-Men were trying to enslave mutants. But sadly, she’ll never learn the truth.”

Spider-Man tried to move his arms.

“Struggle all you want Spider-Man, it’s useless, you’re useless,” said Mystique, as Spider-Man tried to find his way out, as Mystique held up his web shooters and web cartridges as well, before tossing them in the corner, far out of his reach. “And you can forget about using any of your little spider tricks to get out. I made sure that I got all your little toys before you got out.”

“Well, she’s efficient I’ll give her that,” thought Spider-Man. “Forty Five minutes, less by now, I’ve got to get out of here, or there’s going to be a big crater in the ground. The thing is, these chains have no give at all and my spider strength isn’t strong enough to bend them. Still got to summon everything I can. Got to save them, as soon as I can.”

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“What’s taking Spider-Man so long, he should have been here by now?” asked Bobby.

“He might have run into a little problem,” said Jean suddenly.

“What kind of a little problem?” asked Scott.

“A big little problem,” answered Jean trying to remain focused and calm . “He got caught by the Brotherhood apparently.”

“Well, we’re kind of screwed then,” said Kitty dismally.

“There is still time,” said Ororo. “Still hope.”

“Yeah, I’d be a lot more hopeful if I wasn’t about ready to be blown in a billion pieces,” said Kitty and it was a sentiment that was well shared.

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Spider-Man tried to continue to break his way out of the chains.

“I don’t see why you keep doing that, it’s pointless,” said the Scarlet Witch calmly.

“Hasn’t stopped me to trying with anything before?” asked Spider-Man.

“So, Spider-Man…well I expected you to be a bit taller,” managed the Scarlet Witch.

“Oh, that’s funny,” remarked Spider-Man in a dead pan tone of voice.

“Hey, I’m just making small talk, I’m really not with them, well I am with them technically,” said the Scarlet Witch. “It’s hard to explain.”

“Well, considering I’ve got all of the time in the world before I’m blown to bits, feel free to share,” said Spider-Man. “I mean what’s stopping you from just untying me down, if you’re not really with them.”

“Look, Mystique promised me and my brother, you know Pietro,” said Scarlet Witch.

“Yeah, the jerk that ran me across town at hyper speed and threw me in a dumpster,” said Spider-Man softly.

“Yes, that one,” said Scarlet Witch, barely suppressing a small smile. “Anyway, our father, abandoned us, left us, for his crusade and Mystique promised us that she would help us gain revenge on him if we helped her.”

“And you believed her, and people call me naïve,” remarked Spider-Man. “Revenge is a slippery slope, you might think you’ve done good by getting revenge on someone that hurt you, but it never goes away. No matter how hard you knock him around, nothing makes the pain go away.”

“Look, you don’t understand,” said Scarlet Witch. “You don’t have Magneto as your father.”

“Oh, Magneto, well that explains a lot,” said Spider-Man but had to think quickly. “Well, I’m not about to defend Magneto as the patron saint of good parenting or sanity for that matter. This guy isn’t right in the head at all but maybe there might have been a good reason why he abandoned you two.”

“A good reason, nothing can be good enough for what he did!” shouted Scarlet Witch.

“You did have a roof over your head, shelter, didn’t you?” asked Spider-Man. “It’s not like you lived on the streets.”

“Well, no, but that’s not the point,” said Scarlet Witch as she shook her head.

“He might have been trying to protect you,” said Spider-Man. “You might say what kind of father abandons his children but if he did chose to raise you, what kind of father chooses to drag his children along on his crusade against humanity that can get ahead. In all your angst and boo-hooing, did you ever once think of that? So you have Daddy problems, so what? Grow up and get over it.”

“I could rip you to pieces with my powers,” said Scarlet Witch who was angry that Spider-Man was making light of this situation.

“Yeah, you could and you should, but that wouldn’t change the fact that what I’m telling you is true,” said Spider-Man. “Magneto’s done some really awful things, but maybe this time he was right. Or maybe he just didn’t know about you? Didn’t that ever cross your petty mind?”

Scarlet Witch stood in the corner, conflicted and she turned, before she walked off.

“Wow, for a brief second, I thought I was going to be turned into paste,” said Spider-Man. “Still, Magneto as your old man, I would have a few issues too…got to get out of here somehow, X-Men are counting on me, I can’t let them down.”

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“Wanda, I thought that you were supposed to be guarding Spider-Man,” said Quicksilver. “I said I would come for you once they got that thing out of the ground.”

“Look, Pietro, what if our father didn’t know about us or he abandoned us for our own good?” asked Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had a confused look on his face before he suddenly realized.

“You’ve been talking to the web head, haven’t you?” asked Quicksilver. “Listen, Wanda, you heard what Mystique said, Spider-Man’s a creep that likes to get in your head and mess with it to make you screw up, make mistakes. You’re never to let him talk to you, because when he starts talking, that web slinging twerp won’t shut up. Ever, he hasn’t defeated all those people he did because he was good, he did it because he just wouldn’t shut up. I bet half of them threw themselves in jail, to get away from Spider-Man.”

“He did make a good point,” said Scarlet Witch.

“No, he’s just trying to make you confused so he could find a way out of there, look, you stand here and I’ll go keep an eye on Spider-Man, he won’t get in my head and mess with it,” said Quicksilver, as he zoomed off at the speed of light and a blink of an eye later. “You think you’re smart don’t you?”

“Well, , I don’t mean to brag, but yeah” said Spider-Man.

“My sister might have fallen for your crap, but I’m not about to, web slinger,” said Quicksilver.

“Well, I guess we have the brains of the operation,” said Spider-Man dryly. “I mean, you sure couldn’t be the looks.”

“Yeah, laugh it up now Spider-Man, but you’ll be joining the rest of the X-Men in wherever creeps like you go when they die,” said Quicksilver.

“You couldn’t be too smart though, given you just got suckered into doing guard duty,” said Spider-Man. “Yeah, you’re a sucker and you got snookered into looking after me, because none of the Brotherhood thinks you’re useful. I mean, they’re just using you and I bet they’re laughing behind your back right now. Seriously, Toad and the Blob are laughing behind your back. Not with you, at you, because you’ve been regulated to guard duty, while they get to do all the fun stuff. I mean, do you even know what Mystique is after?”

“Yeah, I’m in on the plan,” said Quicksilver.

“Then what’s she after then, genius?” retorted Spider-Man.

Quicksilver opened his mouth, before he caught himself.

“Very funny, but I’m not going to fall for that old trick,” said Quicksilver.

“Oh, bravo, too bad I just figured out what Mystique’s after,” said Spider-Man smugly.

“Wait, you couldn’t have figured out that Mystique was after a part of some Doomsday device,” said Quicksilver. “How did you figure it out?”

“Doomsday Device component, thanks Pietro, I owe you one, buddy,” said Spider-Man as Quicksilver just realized that he had been duped and he zipped off to tell Mystique.

“Doomsday Device…no, it couldn’t be…could it?” thought Spider-Man.

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“It’s out,” said Avalanche, as the room was open and there was a rope tied around the component.

“Good, be careful not to scratch that thing,” said Mystique as she stood nervously. There was still enough time to escape free and clear, with the mansion blowing Spider-Man and the X-Men to bits. “Toad, lower it down, gently.”

“Right, boss lady!” shouted Toad from a helicopter, as a harness dropped down but there was a loud round of shouting, which caused Mystique’s concentration to be broken.

“Very, funny, Wanda, trying to trick me into doing guard duty, well I’m not falling for that again.”

“I thought you said Spider-Man wasn’t going to get into your head, Pietro.”

“Hey, he’s smarter than he looks.”

“Well, it will be your head on the line, if Mystique finds out what you did.”

“If I find out what, precisely?” asked Mystique as she stood there. “What happened? Spider-Man hasn’t found a way out, has he?”

“No, but I might have let it slip to him what we were after,” said Quicksilver and for a brief minute, Mystique looked as if she was going to kill Quicksilver but she stopped herself, taking a few calming breaths.

“I blame myself, it was obvious that I put too much pressure on you two, and Spider-Man, despite my warnings, managed to mess with your heads, it’s best that I don’t send you two back, he might trick you into releasing him or something next time,” said Mystique as she turned to Rogue, who sat in the corner, away from everything. “Rogue, watch over our prisoner, make sure he doesn’t try anything that will mess everything up.”

“You want me to do it?” asked Rogue in a disbelieving voice. “Ah don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t know you could handle it,” said Mystique calmly.

“Okay, if you want me to,” said Rogue, as she walked off.

“I’ll send Quicksilver to retrieve you once everything is out of here safely,” said Mystique. “Providing he can handle it without bungling it up.”

“Hey, I messed up but it won’t happen again,” said Quicksilver.

“It better not or both of you can kiss any chance of you making your father pay goodbye,” said Mystique crisply.

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“You know, I was under the impression that Spider-Man would rescue us any minute,” said Warren as he stepped impatiently. “Less than twenty minutes before the Room goes up in smoke.”

“Spider-Man does tend to come through, but I do admit, he does have a weakness for the theatrics,” said Hank.

“He better not be fooling around, when our lives are on the line,” said Scott angrily.

“Unless he’s still trapped and can’t get out,” said Kurt.

“He’ll get here, he has to have a plan,” said Kitty before she added as an afterthought. “I hope.”

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Spider-Man slumped after a fresh but futile attempt to free himself.

“You know, I’m getting used to the fact that I’m in fact a few moments away from getting my spider guts splattered all over the wall,” thought Spider-Man. “Just the fact that I failed doing one simple thing is really eating me up. My web shooters, they’re over there, taunting me in the corner. Maybe this is how I’m destined to end. Chained in some unused room in a mansion, that is about ready to explode.”

Rogue walked into the room, as Spider-Man looked up.

“I see, you got guard duty,” said Spider-Man as Rogue stood there silently. “Not much the talkative sort I see.”

Rogue just pulled up a chair, sitting, as she watched Spider-Man, unblinking.

“Well, I guess this is the end, woe is me, I’m damned to a grisly murderous fate and the fact I let down my friends, yeah, that’s going to haunt me for the rest of my afterlife,” said Spider-Man as Rogue remained silent. “Still not speaking, I see. Not going to get into a verbal game of wits with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. What’s the fun in that? Mystique was wrong when she called you gullible.”

“What did you just say?” asked Rogue.

“She speaks!” cried Spider-Man in mock astonishment. “Anyway, Mystique and I, well we had a nice little chat, she threatened bodily harm on me for trying to foil her plans, usual super villain spiel and all that song and dance, called you gullible. In fact, you seem to be a bit mixed up about something.”

Rogue just remained silent.

“Yeah, the thing is that the X-Men are in fact the good guys and the Brotherhood, well, look at those guys, don’t you think something smells?” asked Spider-Man. “I mean, other than Toad, that’s obvious. They have super powered thugs written all over them. Where did Mystique did you out of anyway? What makes you so loyal to someone like her?”

“She helped me, they locked me up in a cell, because ah was too dangerous,” said Rogue.

“Interesting, so Mystique just happened to break you out and you thought she did it out of the kindness of her heart,” said Spider-Man. “Well, I suppose I should cut you a little slack, given that you might have been in there for a long time and it can’t have been too pleasant. You don’t look too dangerous. What do you do anyway that makes people run in terror?”

“When Ah touch people, they pass out and Ah get their memories and their energy,” said Rogue quietly. “It ain’t pleasant either. Ah get headaches when it happens and if Ah hang on for too long…they won’t wake up ever.”

“Uh, well that sucks,” said Spider-Man. “Although no wonder Mystique came after you. I mean, with that power, no one could stop you. Anyone who gets in your way, you could take out and if Mystique controlled the power, then she could do anything she wanted. Include settle an old grudge with the X-Men.”

Rogue remained silent once again.

“Let me break this delicately,” said Spider-Man. “She’s using you. YOU….ARE…A…WEAPON…TO…HER!”

“She helped me!” argued Rogue. “Ah could have been there for the rest of my life it wasn’t for her.”

“Yeah, but if she didn’t need you, she would be,” said Spider-Man. “Rogue, you might think your power is a burden and you might think it’s a problem, I bet you think that Mystique is helping you, but she’s not.”

“Stop it!” yelled Rogue. “Shut up!”

“It doesn’t have to be this way, it’s not too late to put things right, Rogue,” said Spider-Man. “Your power is only bad if you use it that way. You can learn to adapt. With great power there must….”

“No, you’re wrong, ah can’t let with this power,” interrupted Rogue. “Mystique and the Brotherhood, they’ve reached out for me. Without them, there would be nothing.”

“With them, you’re nothing,” said Spider-Man. “If you keep helping them, once Mystique thinks you’re a liability, you’ll be back in that government cell so fast that you’re head will spin and this time, you will be the one not waking up. They will load you with so many drugs that you’ll be lucky to blink and that’s if you’re not shipped off to some lab for dissection.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Rogue. “Mystique won’t abandon me.”

“She was right, you’re gullible,” said Spider-Man.

“Shut up!” yelled Rogue.

“You can’t shut up the truth,” taunted Spider-Man.

“You better shut up, you don’t know anything,” said Rogue, as her voice shook.

“Why don’t you make me shut up?” asked Spider-Man. “I’m not going to be quiet just because you asked me. Mystique should have warned you about that, it’s a wonder you didn’t listen, you follow everything else…”

Rogue reached forward and grabbed Spider-Man’s mask, pulling it up slightly, before touching him long enough to render him unconscious. Before she could completely let go, she saw flashes of memories.

It took only a moment for everything to flood to her. The fact that Spider-Man was telling the truth to her the entire time.

Rogue could not express words to the anger she was feeling. There was only one thing she could do.

She unshackled the unconscious Spider-Man, before she gently dragged him over, propping him in the chair. Expertly, with the knowledge she had gathered from draining Spider-Man’s memories, she loaded his web shooters, before she slipped them on in.

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“Lethal destruction protocols to be activated in one minute and counting,” echoed a voice throughout the Danger Room.

“He’s not coming,” said Bobby in a dismissive, deflated voice.

“No, he’s got to, some daring last minute rescue, he’s got to,” said Kitty.

“Kitty, he’s…I tried to get in touch with him, he’s unconscious, he’s not coming,” said Jean gently.

“Unconscious, but…” stated Kurt suddenly unable to speak

“Well, that’s the end, we’re screwed,” said Bobby, as the group turned to Scott, as if expecting him to pull out some daring last minute plan.

“It’s been an honor working alongside all of you,” said Scott, as he braced himself for the end. Every answer that he could think of would have triggered the lethal protocols in the Danger Room.

“So, we’re done, like this, after everything,” said Bobby.

“I can’t believe it, blown to bits!” yelled Kitty losing her head. There was no reason to keep her composure now, considering she was about ready to die. “All of us, those rotten Brotherhood…I swear I’ll find a way to come back and haunt them and….”

She just collapsed on the ground, in complete shock, unable to formulate a complete sentence.

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Then nothing. With approximately four seconds to go, the Danger Room stopped blinking.

“So, where’s the kaboom?” asked Kurt.

“I don’t think it’s coming,” said Ororo.

“But, I thought you said Spider-Man was knocked unconscious,” said Scott to Jean, who just shrugged, she was utterly baffled.

The room opened and the X-Men froze, when they saw Rogue standing right there, facing off against them.

“You, what are you doing here?” asked Scott

“Look, ah made a terrible mistake….” started Rogue.

“Where’s Spider-Man?” demanded Kitty. “If you done anything to him, I swear…”

“Look he’s perfectly fine, listen to me for a minute…” stated Rogue but a blast from Iceman had interrupted her. She dodged being frozen, as she leapt onto the walls, with precise, quick acrobatics, ducking and dodging all of the X-Men’s assaults.

“She used her little mutant vampire hand sucking thing to drain his powers,” said Kitty.

“Yeah, I think I gathered that,” said Scott, as Rogue somersaulted over the optic blasts. “We can’t get a fix on her…not when she has his spider sense.”

“Not to mention spider strength, spider acrobatics, and spider…climbing the wall action,” added Bobby.

“Look, listen to me, ah know what Mystique is doing and you’ve got to stop her!” shouted Rogue, as she slid underneath the attack. “She lied to me, made me do this, just stop fighting and trust me. Ah can help you.”

“Alright, cease fire,” said Scott “But if you’re lying about this you’ll have to deal with us.”

“We better hurry, she’s going to get that thing out of there before long and leave you guys to die,” said Rogue.

“What thing?” asked Hank curiously. “There’s something inside the Mansion that she wants.”

“Wow, you folks are quick witted,” said Rogue. “Just follow me, ah can explain on the way.”

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Mystique watched as the component was lifted out of the ground. It would have been done sooner, but given what she was forced to work, it took a bit longer than it thought.

“We better hurry,” said Avalanche as he checked over his shoulder. “We’ve got to be close to time.”

“We have enough to escape, I’ll go up first and the rest of you will follow,” said Mystique, but she turned to hide a calculating smirk. She would be going, but the rest of the Brotherhood would go down with the X-Men and Spider-Man, given that she had no further use for them.

A blast of energy shot through the air, connecting with the cord holding up the Doomsday Device component and causing it to fly toward the ground.

“BLOB!” shouted Mystique in a horrified voice, but Blob thankfully had enough of his wits about himself to catch the object. Mystique and the rest of the Brotherhood turned.

“Mystique, we’re haunted by ghosts!” shouted Pryo as he backed off, sending explosive blasts of fire. “Stay away from me, I swear, you don’t want a piece of me.”

“Ghosts, hardly,” said Scott. “The X-Men escaped your trap Mystique and we’re going to put a stop to your little looting.”

“That meddling arachnid,” said Mystique angrily.

“No actually it was me,” said Rogue as she stepped forward, to face Mystique. “I saved the X-Men from being blown to bits, just in time as well. You would have gotten us all killed with your obsession over that thing.”

“Rogue, after all I’ve done for you, you betray me,” said Mystique angry, with a slight, small miniscule hint of hurt.

“Yeah, all those lies really did me a world of good,” said Rogue.

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” said Mystique as she turned angrily. “Scarlet Witch blast them. Cause all their powers to unload or something, just enough to get us out of here!”

Scarlet Witch turned, but several lines of webbing shot out, wrapping around her hands, binding them together.

“No, I don’t think we’ll have any more improbable accidents today,” said Spider-Man, as Kitty dove forward, grabbing the Scarlet Witch, before phasing her right through a wall into a closet off to the side.

“Take them out!” shouted Mystique as the Brotherhood moved in.

“We beat the X-Men once, we can do it again,” said Quicksilver.

“Yeah, but that’s when we had the advantage, now the ball’s in their court,” said Avalanche but he screwed his eyes up and began to cause tremors to go through the Mansion but Storm quickly neutralized his powers.

Mystique grabbed a pellet and threw it on the floor, covering the hall in a green gas.

“Blob, lift it up, Toad get the copter as low to the ground as possible!” shouted Mystique, as she crouched on top of the Doomsday Device.

The smoke began to clear, as the entire X-Men stood against Pryo, Avalanche, and Quicksilver.

“I don’t feel too good about these odds on second thought,” said Quicksilver. “See you later!”

Quicksilver began to blast out at the speed of light but he was caught on a giant net of webbing on the door. He tried to get out but he was stuck.

“Well, you ran into that one,” said Spider-Man.

The closet burst open and the Scarlet Witch exited it, to face the X-Men, as Avalanche and Pryo were handily taken out and the Blob had been rendered unconscious as well when he had lost his grip and hit the ground hard.

“You can’t beat all of us,” said Jean.

“There’s no point,” said Scarlet Witch, shrugging her shoulders, as she stepped back, before she sent several blasts right at the X-Men, causing the Mansion to rumble. “Oh and you might want to run, because I just turned on your self destruct protocols again. I say you got a minute.”

Scarlet Witch blasted her brother free.

“Get us out of here,” said Scarlet Witch. “Be useful for a change.”

“Well any suggestions,” said Scott as he watched helplessly as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver made a getaway.

“Running would be nice,” said Kurt, but a shield appeared on them, as Jean concentrated, before she telekinetically lifted the entire group out of the Mansion, along with the three unconscious Brotherhood members.

“What about….” started Kitty but she paused, when she saw Spider-Man latch onto the getaway plane, with a line of webbing, as it lifted out of the ground. “Never mind.”

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From the sky, several news helicopters moved in. The tremors through the area and flashing lights had caused great interest, but as they saw the seemingly supernatural activity unfold close, they were in awe.

“We have get this on tape, now get it to a live feed, we’ll scoop the news stations!” said a news anchor excitedly, as the activity from below, was being filmed through the hole in the roof. Every second of the battle between the Brotherhood and the X-Men, every power used, was caught on tape and it would soon be seen all over the world within an hour.

It would be on the Internet by morning.

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“In retrospect, trying to latch onto the back of a flying aircraft with my webbing has to be one of my worst ideas ever,” thought Spider-Man as he went from side to side. “I need an air sick bag…or maybe a crash pad. A parachute would be nice, because if this webbing snaps, then they’ll have to clean up a Spider-Man sized splat. Easy does it Spidey, want to get in but got to be careful. Providing I can get in here…yeah I really need to think these plans through a bit better.”

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Mystique sat in the front seat, with Toad who looked around from side to side.

“No X-Men on our tails,” mumbled Toad. “Could we actually have won this time?”

“Of course we succeeded Toad, if we didn’t, those mutants would be right after us, we’re in the clear from the mansion,” said Mystique but a loud thump had caused Toad to jump out of his seat. “Merely turbulence.”

“Your flight is now reaching its conclusion, please remain in the designated seating area until the plane has come to a complete stop,” said a voice, which caused Toad to turn around and come face to face with Spider-Man. “Thank you for flying your neighborhood Spider-Man airlines!”

“Man, I heard of gremlins on the plan but never spiders,” said Toad.

“Toad, take care of him!” ordered Mystique and Toad obeyed but he leapt right into a back hand from Spider-Man, before he knocked to the ground. Mystique put the plane on auto pilot. “You’re an idiot for trying to follow me.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” commented Spider-Man blandly but Mystique blocked his attack and kicked him right into the side of the air craft. He pulled himself to his feet and dodged her attacks, but he found himself knocked right to the ground.

“Look what you did, it’s all your fault,” said Mystique, as she threw Spider-Man across the length of the plane but the web slinger put the breaks on. “I had everything planned perfection.”

“Yeah, that can be really troubling when mass murder tends to go awry and the corruption of teenage girls,” said Spider-Man dully, as he avoided the attacks from Mystique.

“You ruined everything Spider-Man and now I’m going to make you pay,” said Mystique as Spider-Man narrowly avoided a kick but she pivoted and Spider-Man blocked a shot.

“Yeah, I get that one a lot too,” said Spider-Man but he was thrown down. Mystique grabbed Spider-Man and held him around the head, trying to suffocate the oxygen out of him but he easily powered out of her attack. Spider-Man shot a line of webbing but it merely snared around her wrist and it pulled, causing Spider-Man to get knocked right into a punch

“This is where you get off Spider-Man,” said Mystique as she began to kick Spider-Man right in the ribs several times, before hoisting him up by the throat and shoving him right through the same emergency exit that he had managed to climb his way into.

Spider-Man struggled, hanging on for dear life, as Mystique just walked over and began to stomp his fingers. The web slinger’s grip was broken as he spiraled down to the ground.

Suddenly, he was stopped, held up by some kind of telekinetic force, as he was slowly lowered to the ground.

“Thanks Jean,” thought Spider-Man wearily.

“Don’t mention it,” replied Jean. “Although you could stand to lose a few pounds.”

“Hey!” thought Peter incredulously.

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Mystique pulled herself up. The component that she had stolen was still accounted for.

“Good, still here,” said Mystique as Toad brushed himself off, holding the side of his face where Spider-Man back handed him. A slight beeping sound echoed.

“What’s that?” asked Toad.

“We’re slightly over weight, about one hundred pounds,” said Mystique. “We need to dump something to lighten the load.”

“What do we dump?” asked Toad.

“Something expendable,” said Mystique as she looked at Toad.

“Uh, what are you staring at me like that for?” asked Toad.

“Goodbye, Toad,” said Mystique coldly and the mutant screamed as he was deposited from the plane.

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“The Mansion’s wasted,” said Bobby eyes widened as the entire group looked at the wreckage.

“We can rebuild the mansion,” said Scott patiently, as they looked down at Pryo, Blob, Avalanche, and Toad, all who were in various states of being unconscious. “Everyone got out.”

“Luckily,” said Kurt, as he looked around.

“But Mystique, she got away,” said Rogue. “She got away with everything.”

“It looks like we have company!” shouted Kurt suddenly which caused the entire group to turn around and see a helicopter whirling around as the entire group turned to see someone filming the entire scene and they quickly turned around.

“I fear we might have a problem,” said Ororo. “Who knows what they’ve seen.”

“I imagine they’ve seen way too much,” said Hank as he turned, as Spider-Man leaned across the wreckage, with a far off look in his eyes.

Several more helicopters touched down, as several SHEILD agents exited, following by Nick Fury, who surveyed the situation calmly and a tired but conscious Professor Xavier who stooped in shock when he saw what had transpired.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Xavier.

“Everyone’s fine, just barely,” said Scott.

“That’s where you’re wrong, everything’s not fine, in fact, no one’s fine,” grumbled Fury. “Did Mystique take something from here?”

“Yes she did, it’s….” started Scott but Fury quickly cut him off.

“You let her get away with it,” said Fury who seemed outraged.

“Let her get away with what, Fury?” demanded Spider-Man as he stepped in but Fury just stared down Spider-Man, not blinking.

“Back off, this doesn’t concern you, although I suppose because of your grand standing, you let someone get away with something valuable yet again,” said Fury as he turned to Spider-Man. “You let her get away with a dangerous piece of….”

“It’s a Doomsday Device, Fury, just come out with it,” said Spider-Man. “The question is what does it do?”

“That’s national security, Parker,” muttered Fury, so only Spider-Man could hear him before he stepped back. “It’s none of your business. Any of you. I guess it runs in your blood Spider-Man. You end up doing stupid shit that’s going to end up getting you killed.”

Spider-Man took a step forward, but Kitty and Bobby grabbed him, for fear that Spider-Man would attack Fury.

“At least you have friends that will pull your ass out of the fire,” said Fury. “Listen to me good, Spider-Man and you’ll live a nice life. Don’t go sticking your nose into this situation and try and figure out how those components go together. I would hate to inform your aunt that you got yourself killed because you were a complete idiot. Do you understand me?”

“I understand you, Fury,” said Spider-Man through gritted teeth. “I understand you’re a real piece of work.”

Choosing to ignore that, Fury turned to Rogue suddenly and she paled, fearful that she was going to be taken back.

“She’s your problem Xavier, you wanted to try and help her control her little powers, fine, I’ll give you a chance to prove your way works,” said Fury. “But don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face.”

“If you’re correct, Commander Fury, then that’s my mistake,” said Xavier and Fury just grunted.

“Clear out!” ordered Fury to his men as he looked at Spider-Man, along with the assembled X-Men. “Good luck Xavier. You’ll need it.”

“I’m afraid so,” said Xavier as he turned to the group. “Before we arrived here, we saw news choppers circling around the mansion. I have a feeling that tonight’s events are going to be broadcasted around the world and the existence of mutants will no longer be a secret. Everyone will know.”

“Surely you can do something, Professor?” asked Ororo.

“Even if I could, I doubt it would be ethical for me to do so,” said Xavier with a pained smile. “We do have many challenges ahead. Many may see us as friends. Others will see us as threats and monsters that need to be put down. Only in time can we educate them and let them know that we can coexist in harmony.”

Spider-Man turned. He had his own challenges to deal with himself but it appeared that now that the existence of the X-Men was public, instead of some vague urban legend, they had many more challenges.

“I wish I would have knocked the eyepatch off of Fury’s face,” grumbled Spider-Man.

“I’m so not bailing you out of a government facility again,” said Kitty. “He’s trying to rile you up. I think that’s how he gets his joy.”

“No, he knows something, he really knows something and I know it’s about my parents,” said Spider-Man before he turned to the others. “It’s a pleasure but I’ve got to bolt. Unfortunately, there’s a life for me underneath this mask and I have responsibilities to deal with there. I’ll swing by when I can.”

Spider-Man swung off into the night.

XXXXX-XXXXX

“Today, all of the myths that have been stated about mutants have been proven today. As you can see by this footage, a dangerous mutant civil war between two opposing factions has occurred right in a neighborhood. We must wonder if previous incidents have occurred but have been covered up until now. Many experts theorize that certain mutants have the ability to remove our very memories. It begs the question what would stop these mutants from taking advantage in every way. Opinion is divided but many express fear that we could be overrun by them and we would not be able to stop the mutant menace. There is an outcry for something to be done before our security, our safety, and well being. Stay tuned as more of this story breaks and how those in Washington will aim to protect humanity from the growing mutant menace.”

This message and those similar spread throughout many news networks the country. The newspapers and the Internet were abuzz as well. All waited carefully to see further news would come out across these mutants.

In his office, Norman Osborn watched live feed of the news coming in on his office computer, eyes narrowing with each passing second as the footage continued and all the pieces fit together clear to him now.

XXXXX-XXXXX

“I have it, just like you asked me to,” said Mystique as she stood in front of the component with the figure in the shadows stepping out to reveal Mister Sinister, who looked rather pleased. “My debt is cleared with you, Sinister.”

Sinister just responded with a sadistic laugh.

“You amuse me, Mystique,” said Sinister. “You truly think that this minor act will be worthy enough to release you from my services.”

“You don’t know the trouble I went through to get this thing out of the Mansion,” said Mystique as she took a step forward, but Sabertooth stood in front of Sinister.

“I don’t know and quite frankly, I don’t really care, it doesn’t matter to me,” said Sinister, as he motioned for Sabertooth to haul the component into his lab. “One day, you may work your debt off but you still owe me and I own you, don’t forget it. Now, you’re dismissed. I’ll call upon you when I need you and not a second before.”

Sinister turned to allow Mystique to depart. With that out of the way, Sinister went to his private office and began to activate a video communication link.

“The device will be ready once the final component has been liberated,” said Sinister. “Then the world will tremble before your feet.”

“Excellent,” said the voice, as Sinister saw the unmistakable figure of the infamous Red Skull on the other end “You have done well, Dr. Essex and you will get what’s coming to you once I have succeeded.”


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