Chapter Fifty Eight: A World on the Edge Part Seven:
“In the end, even if I've lost, none of you have won!” yelled the
Red Skull in a crazed manner, as he stood.
“I could hardly believe that even you would be capable of something
like this,” said Magneto as he took a step back.
“Are you mad?” grumbled Fury and the Red Skull just looked
absolutely sadistic, as the machine began to start up.
“No one will be able to top what I have done, ever,” said the Red
Skull, but Peter, pulling his mask back on as Spider-Man had looked
forward at a message at the computer screen.
“Still transporting, of course, it would take longer to
transport dozens of black holes than just one, and at different parts
of the planet, they would have to be transported all at once,” said
Spider-Man. “I've got to stop it!”
Spider-Man sprung right at the Red Skull with a kick but the Red
Skull ducked it, but the web slinger was not aiming for the Red
Skull. He landed right behind the machine and one line of webbing was
shot, to grasp the key of the machine and Spider-Man gave a tug,
before the rusty key was ripped out of the machine and he caught it
before the Red Skull could react, and crushed into a twisted mess
with great spider strength.
Several black dots raised in the air, over the machine and began to
absorb power.
“Don't you know what you've just done?” demanded Fury as he
looked at Spider-Man, who looked confused but the Red Skull seemed
perfectly happy to elaborate.
“You stopped me from transporting them, Spider-Man, bravo,” said
the Red Skull as he clapped slowly and sarcastically. “However, you
failed to realize one thing. A creation of a black hole cannot be
stopped once its started. You only managed to damage the
transporter.”
“Of course, you can't do anything right, Parker, you idiot!”
thought Spider-Man, as the Red Skull jumped from the window. Despite
it being several stories up.
“Take care of this, I'm going for him!” yelled Captain America,
who refused to let the Red Skull get away. Not this day. Despite
suffering a severe beating, there was just enough fight left in him
to finish this. He would not finish him off.
The dots began to rumble and Spider-Man just looked on, before he
shook his head, as the dots grew in size, until they began to draw
objects into them as they continued to grow.
“The magnetic instability is getting stronger!” shouted Magneto,
as he concentrated hard. “I can only keep it at bay for a few
moments at most and even then, it is uncertain. This entire complex
will be destroyed and without the transporter, there's no way to
recall the holes.”
“I refuse to give up now,” said Spider-Man shortly.
“That's what got us into this mess in the first place!” yelled
Fury, as the holes got rather bigger and the scientists managed to
get away, but Professor Ohnn was ripped from his chair. Spider-Man
tried to grab him with a line of webbing but the webbing just missed
him, as Ohnn was sucked right through several different black holes
simultaneously. He was ripped apart as he entered oblivion with a
blood curdling shriek!
“We best leave while we still have the smallest chance,”
suggested Magneto.
“No, I'm trying to figure out what we need to do to stop these
things,” said Spider-Man and Fury looked exasperated.
“Don't you get it!” shouted Fury angrily as he held on for dear
life.. “There's nothing we can do! NOTHING!”
“Not
with that attitude,” muttered Spider-Man shortly. “The machine is
the one that is creating the black holes. Destroy the machine, and
the black holes will just seal themselves, after all, they don't seem
to be real black holes per say, otherwise the transporter would have
collapsed itself the first time, they would have sucked up the
machine, just some kind of pseudo-version of them, portals of some
sort to nowhere.”
“Draw
the machine into the magnetic instability,” said Magneto calmly, as
if this was the the most simple thing in the world.
“That's
impossible!” yelled Spider-Man, as he grabbed onto something. He
would be entering nowhere within seconds, as even his ability to
stick to surfaces would not be able to fight this forever.
“The
machine is made of metal,” said Magneto calmly. “I will have to
enter the instability to bring it inside.”
Without
another word, Magneto stepped back and locked right onto the machine.
With all of the power he could muster, he dragged the machine and
started to carefully warp his power around the black hole and the
machine, as he summoned every bit of power that he could have.
“Mutant
kind will hopefully benefit from the sacrifice that I will make,”
said Magneto weakly, as he allowed himself to get drawn right into
the instability, dragging the machine right with him.
There was
a loud humming sound, and the spider sense blasted into complete
overdrive, signifying to the web slinger that it was time to leave.
“GET
OUT!” shouted Spider-Man, as he grabbed Fury, and swung from the
window, with Wolverine following, before the black hole just
collapsed right from within itself, as the entire laboratory just
began to crumble right into dust, with nothing but a crater.
Spider-Man, Fury, and Wolverine landed right on the ground. “Everyone
okay.”
“I've
had worse,” said Wolverine with a grimace and Fury just grumbled,
gritting his teeth.
XXXXX-XXXXX
The Red
Skull made his way to a getaway helicopter but Captain America
grabbed him from behind by the ankles and pulled him to the ground. A
huge punch rattled the Red Skull. The Red Skull tried to grab a knife
but Captain America blocked it and punched the Red Skull right in the
face. Both men fought, with neither gaining the advantage, despite
the Skull trying every underhanded and slimy tactic in the book.
“We're
both going to die,” said the Red Skull simply. “But, I'll be a
gentleman and let you go first.”
The Red
Skull kicked dust in the eyes of Captain America, temporarily
blinding him and the Red Skull collapsed in the helicopter, but out
of a bag, he pulled a gun. Captain America went for the Red Skull,
but a gunshot had caught Captain America. A shot that would kill any
normal man but thanks to the super solider formula, Captain America
had managed to survive the bullet.
The Red
Skull stepped forward, as he heard a sound in the background.
“It
appears that my machine has been destroyed, a pity,” said the Red
Skull. Had he had time to worry about petty details, he would wonder
how those fools managed to find a way to do that, without sucking
themselves into oblivion. “Its a pity for you, as I'm going to have
to kill you to make amends for that grievous oversight.”
The Red
Skull grabbed Captain America and wrapped a hand around his throat.
The hero tried to struggle.
“A bit
soft in your old age, I'm afraid, outdated, too bad I don't have that
problem,” said Red Skull as he continued to throttle Captain
America. “I could shoot you one more time but I prefer to throttle
the life out of you. So I can look right in your eyes as you die, to
see the life slip out of you and any hope that you would have
defeated me!”
“NOT...GOING...TO....HAPPEN!”
yelled Spider-Man as he jumped down and kicked the Red Skull right
off of Captain America. “You still have to deal with me!”
“If you
insist on dying,” said the Red Skull as Spider-Man aimed a punch
but the Red Skull blocked it, before his fist aimed right into the
chest of Spider-Man and grabbed his head. Spider-Man propelled the
Red Skull right off of him, as he aimed several punches right to the
Red Skull who blocked them. “You fight with a determination that is
quite foolish. Why do you insist in prolonging the inevitable?”
“You
killed them, my parents!” yelled Spider-Man as he aimed a punch but
the Red Skull blocked them.
“That
means nothing to me,” said the Red Skull in a bored tone, and this
just caused Spider-Man to violently stomp the foot of the Red Skull,
which caused the villain to grimace and Spider-Man continued to drill
punch, after punch right at the Red Skull!
Until
another punch was blocked and the Red Skull hoisted Spider-Man up off
the ground and launched him to the side like a piece of garbage. The
Red Skull punted Spider-Man right in the side several times and he
stepped over, before he grabbed Spider-Man and continued to throttle
the life out of him. He hoisted Spider-Man but Spider-Man shot two
globs of webbing in his face. Skull threw Spider-Man to the ground
and yanked the webbing from his face, but he was nailed right with a
violent kick.
The Red
Skull staggered and Spider-Man punched the Red Skull several times.
The Red Skull staggered over the fence and reached for a gun, but
could not find it. He staggered up a set of stone steps, as he pulled
one off the ground and threw them right at Spider-Man but Spider-Man
dodged the toss. He deflected another toss as the Red Skull was up
several feet off the ground.
“End of
the line,” said Spider-Man with a satisfied voice, but the Red
Skull looked at the pit below him on the other side, with several
jagged rocks and an uneven surface a couple hundred feet below. The
Red Skull turned and casually jumped off.
Multiple
web lines shot at rapid rate, and wrapped around the legs and the
arms of the Red Skull, to prevent him from getting too far.
The Red
Skull let out a pained scream as his legs and arms were snapped in
several places when he was caught in free fall. Bones shattered and
Spider-Man carefully, but roughly pulled the Red Skull up. The Red
Skull found himself webbed together tightly.
“That
won't dissolve for at least six hours,” said Spider-Man, as the Red
Skull struggled but he gave a pained grimace. “If you try to break
it, I think the only thing you're going to break is more bones.”
“Yeah
that webbing, it costs a bit more to make, to make it that long
lasting, but it came in handy today,” thought Spider-Man, as the
Red Skull gave him an absolutely hateful glare, but he was caught
tight. “Good thing looks can't kill.”
Spider-Man hoisted up the webbed up form of the Red Skull and he
swung down, where several shield agents waited, with Fury, who had
his arm wrapped up and he looked at the Red Skull.
“Well, looks like you finally got caught,” said Fury, with a
satisfied smirk. “Radioed some people who jumped at the chance to
help take you in.”
The Red Skull refused to speak and made a bid for his freedom, but he
was secured too well. Fury looked up, carefully overseeing Captain
America loaded onto a stretcher, as the Red Skull was heavily sedated
to prevent him from causing any problems. Spider-Man stood with Fury,
there was some uncomfortable silence, with both individuals not
speaking at the moment. The silence could be cut with a knife and
Fury looked at the chasm, before he saw a faint glow.
“Something's down there,” muttered Fury, as he waved a couple of
shield agents over to check it out. If there were any nasty surprises
still there, they would have to be dealt with.
“Commander, its Dillon!” yelled a voice in surprise. “Or at
least it was Dillon.”
A small group gathered around, to see and they saw a body, but it was
weak, malnourished and while it gave off a faint glow and a sign of
drool out of the mouth, there were no other signs to signify that it
had ever been alive. It looked to be about eighty pounds at the very
most, with lifeless, colorless skin, that hung off its bones, and the
eyes were open, but there were no signs and life. The only way anyone
could have identified the stunted, malnourished body as Max Dillon,
was that there were a few tattered remains of the Electro costume on
him,
“Return him to Ravencroft, they can figure out what to do with
him,” said Fury in a forced calm voice, as he turned around, and
saw Spider-Man swing off. It was just as well, as he had to think
carefully to figure what he was going to do about the Spider-Man
situation and how he was going to take care of him.
XXXXX-XXXXX
“That's right, Spider-Man he helped Captain America take down the
Red Skull, you should have been there!” said an excited young man
who had the fortune of hiking near the Red Skull's complex when the
entire situation had occurred. “I got it all on tape, I can't
believe it...yeah I'm going to make millions on it, I better send it
to the news station, the world needs to see this.”
By the next couple of hours, the entire would would see footage of
the battle of the day outside. The footage was not of the best
quality, but everyone could make out what had occurred. Still that
added to the intrigue and there would be stories told of this battle
for years to come for sure.
XXXXX-XXXXX
“The
longest day in my life finally ended, the Red Skull taken down,
thanks in part to me, and the world is saved,” thought Spider-Man
in a dazed manner as he swung back into the city, tired but rather
pleased. “Now time to explain to Aunt May where I was all this time
and why my face looks like raw hamburger. There has to be a perfectly
logical explanation, that is also not going to lead to me exposing my
secret identity.”
Spider-Man dropped down. The city was in shambles from where Electro
had really torn into it, but hopefully everyone would be able to get
back to some semblance of a normal life.
Or at least what passed for normal in New York.
“Never
a dull moment,” thought Spider-Man, as he stepped forward, but
there were several people who stepped outside and looked at him.
“Spider-Man,” whispered someone. “Look, its Spider-Man!”
There was a slow applause and several yells that announced that
Spider-Man had returned to the city.
“Okay
this is new,” thought Spider-Man in a dazed confusion as more
people stepped out to get a look at him.
“Thank you Spidey!” shouted several voices.
“You showed him Spidey!” yelled another voice.
“We owe you our lives!” shouted another voice, as Spider-Man had
swung across the city, news having spread of his defeat of the Red
Skull. After it all, he could not help but have a small smile appear
from beneath his mask.
“People
getting a closer look at me, its going to be much harder to get home
undetected at this rate,” thought Spider-Man. “Minute I get close
to the ground, they're going to mob me, I just know it. Well its
better than them throwing rocks at me or whatever. Well at least this
day's over and Red Skull's been taken down. Hopefully they can keep
him from causing any more trouble.”
XXXXX-XXXXX
Deep within the shield facility, the Red Skull began to get up out of
his groggy state, to find himself shackled several times over and
restrained. Once the sedative wore off, he felt racked with pain, due
to the multiple broken bones that he suffered in the final moments.
Once he got out, he would find out who this Spider-Man was, track him
down, kidnap all of his friends and family, and torture that hero by
killing them slowly and painfully right in front of him one by one.
He had the face to go by, he just needed a name to attach to the face
and when that was done, vengeance would be the Red Skull's. He gave a
grimace, bones would heal, but his desire to accomplish his goals
remained.
“Well, you're awake, good,” said Fury, arm in a sling, as he
looked right at the Red Skull. “You're here and not getting out
anytime soon, not that you could walk out if I unlocked you and left
the door open. You don't have a Doomsday Weapon and your facility has
been destroyed. This time, you lost.”
“Lost, just merely a setback,” said the Red Skull coldly. “I
will return better than ever and everyone who played a part in
disrupting my plans...they will suffer beyond anything than you can
imagine in your worst nightmares.”
Fury just gave him a twisted smile.
“The leaders of the world have agreed on one thing for once, the
crimes you committed mandate that you will be put down like the
mongrel dog you are,” said Fury. “Normally there is a wait for
this thing, but in your case, we're going to make an exception to
jump you to the front of the line. Don't thank me, it's no less than
you deserve. The gas chamber will be ready momentarily.”
The Red Skull sat in his cell, not giving Fury the dignity of even
responding, for a mere second. The Skull leaned back, as Fury stared
him down, not bothering to disguise his contempt.
“I would give you a last meal, but I don't waste food,” said Fury
gruffly, as a group of about twelve heavily armed shield operatives
stepped in and carefully began to remove Red Skull from his cell, to
bring him to serve his punishment for several decades of heinous
crimes.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Spider-Man dropped down right on the side street, a block away from
his house. As he quickly slipped to the side, he began to change back
into Peter Parker. He pulled off his mask and looked at it on the
reflection of the side window of a nearby car.
“Well,
I won't win any beauty pageants with this face for a while,”
thought Peter with a wince as he looked at his bruised and battered
face. “Thankfully my eye didn't completely swell shut like I
thought it would. I have enough to worry about.”
It had hit Peter that right now it is extremely early on Tuesday
morning the sun was just coming up. He had been gone much longer than
he thought and not had any sleep at all, so he was quite worn down.
He was only glad that it was during the holiday weekend, so there was
no school on Monday.
“Well, look who decided to turn up,” said a voice, which caused
Peter to hastily stuff his Spider-Man mask out of site. He turned to
see Mary Jane standing right on the front porch, looking at him
rather curiously. “You better get inside, you're aunt's really
freaking out, you've been gone all night.”
“I've noticed,” said Peter. “I was with Gwen, I got dinged up
pretty good myself.”
“Well your aunt didn't mention that,” said Mary Jane as she
looked at Peter.
“Well I didn't really want to mention it,” said Peter with a
shrug. “I didn't want Aunt May to worry.”
“Well, you kind of need to work on that plan a bit better,” said
Mary Jane. “If I didn't want someone to worry, I wouldn't stay out
for days on end. Just a little friendly advice.”
“I'll keep that in mind,” deadpanned Peter. “Anyway, better go,
before Aunt May worries herself sick. Bye, Mary Jane, talk to you
later I guess.”
Peter barely heard her response, as he quickly opened the door and he
say Aunt May sitting in the living room.
“PETER, OH THANK HEAVENS!” cried Aunt May as she got up. “I was
so worried...I mean with that Electro and the Red Skull and all of
that insanity and mutants firing into the city, I thought something
really bad had happened.”
“Relax, Aunt May, I'm fine,” said Peter weakly, as his aunt
hugged him. “Although I won't be if you don't let me breathe.”
“Right sorry Peter,” said Aunt May. “I'm just happy that you
didn't get yourself hurt...with what happened to Ben....”
Aunt May trailed off and she had really no need to finish that
sentence.
“Aunt May, I just got banged up a little bit when Electro attacked
Gwen, it's really nothing, I was hiding where it was safe,” said
Peter in a strained voice, as his aunt just frowned at him.
“Yeah
behind my mask, as Spider-Man, perfectly safe, well in theory,”
thought Peter.
Aunt May just sat, shaking her head.
“There's no need to worry, I was fine,” said Peter but she was
far from pacified with this statement.
“It's my job to worry, young man,” said May sternly with a frown.
“Enough about that. Breakfast I think, you look completely
famished.”
XXXXX-XXXXX
A loud explosion echoed from above Antarctica and a small warp in
time and space opened, as a figure fell out, before it sealed itself
shut. A battered figure, cut up badly, began to cough blood on the
snow.
“Alive,” managed the figure weakly, as he pulled himself up. Even
it its pained state, the face of Magneto could not be mistaken. He
reached down tentatively, to pick up his helmet, that was slightly
warped from his trip through time and space. With a wave of his hand,
he readjusted it with the power of magnetism.
The trip through the void, ripping himself forcefully from the
magnetic spectrum of the Earth had drained him severely but the
machine, detached from its power source forcefully had blown up. The
stored power had created one final imbalance, an exit portal, to
allow him to return, with the return to the magnetic spectrum super
charging his power and returning the Master of Magnetism to Earth.
Had he been a human, he would have been killed instantly, but his
mutant powers had allowed him to survive. Although he wished that it
had been to a more habitable area than the middle of Antarctica.
Pulling himself to a standing position, Magneto looked from right to
left, but he saw a cave, with a light visible from outside.
“Intriguing,” muttered Magneto weakly, as he wiped the blood from
his mouth off of his chin. He stepped forward, towards the cave to
investigate the light. It seemed impossible but there was life of
some sort.
He stepped forward and disappeared into the depths of the cave.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Sinister held the briefcase that he liberated from Red Skull. He just
smirked at the news that Red Skull would be executed at any moment.
Even someone like Mr. Sinister would not shed any tears for the death
of the Red Skull. He managed to open the briefcase and looked at the
contents it held within.
Or rather lack of contents.
“Well, I should have expected this,” said Sinister calmly, as he
held the empty briefcase and threw it to the ground as he turned his
attention to Miles Warren, who hunched over a glass case as Sinister
removed the blood sample that he liberated from Wolverine from his
pocket. I'll have to deal with a consolation prize.”
Sinister put the sample next to the hundreds of other samples that he
had acquired over the decades.
“Doctor Essex, it is ready,” said Warren with pride. “Months of
work and I believe I have completed it.”
“I'll be the judge of that, Warren,” said Sinister as he stepped
forward, and looked at the contents of the glass case, obscured
slightly in shadows, by everyone but Sinister and Warren. “Well, a
good start, but we'll see in a moment if you've actually accomplished
this on your first try.”
“I have the utmost confidence that it will work!” yelled Warren,
as he unscrewed the knob, to open the glass and the figure sat up. It
opened its eyes, dazed, and seconds after open air hit it, it began
to degenerate right before their eyes, before it crumbled to a large
pile of dust. “I don't understand, it should have worked!”
“As a scientist, you should know that there are not should have's.”
said Sinister. “Harvest the remains and study them. Then start a
new one, and then again and again, until you get a perfect copy that
is not going to crumble to dust five seconds after it is exposed into
open air. I believe it will be another several months of late nights
and just enough sleep to function in your work.”
Sinister stepped back and Warren closed his fists in anger. He had
been slaving over this project for months, while Sinister had offered
little to no help. Now he had to start from scratch and he doubted
that he would be done any time soon.
XXXXX-XXXXX
In the depths of Ravencroft, the malnourished body of Max Dillon laid
on an operated table, in his normal secured cell, as Doctor Hamilton
and two other doctors stood over him.
“It appears that in his own pursuit of power, Maxwell
overcompensated and thus put himself in this horrific state that we
see before us,” said Hamilton as he looked at the form, who only
gave the most shallow signs of breathing as a feeding tube was
inserted into Dillon by one of the doctors and a guard from outside
of the cell, had rolled in a table with a car battery.
“Is there hope?” asked a second doctor as there was barely even
faint signs of life and did not appear to be any in the foreseeable
future.
“Perhaps but young Maxwell will get the best treatment that he can
afford, until his deceased mother's bank account runs out of its last
cent at least,” said Hamilton, as he signed the paper to authorize
the treatment as Dillon was hooked up to the battery. As the chief
administrator at Ravencroft, he was authorized power of attorney to
the bank accounts under the name of all his patients, to pay for
their treatments. It was less of a strain on the taxpayers of New
York. “Perhaps in time he will be rehabilitated but right now, he
will need to recover first. Let us leave him to his treatment.”
The doctors and guards stepped back, as Dillon laid on the table. A
few signs of life and a guard turned around, almost expecting to see
further signs, a spark or an electrical surge, but he found nothing,
other than the shallow breathing and the slight drool.
The guard turned around and walked from the hallway. It was quiet and
still not one sign of recovery any time soon from the once proud and
dangerous Electro, who had terrorized many barely a day ago. Yet he
was essentially reduced to a vegetable and even more harmless than a
newborn baby.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Wolverine stepped into the X-Mansion, to see the assembled group,
that sat around.
“So you got out,” said Wolverine casually.
“Yeah, Professor Xavier managed to convince them that Electro was
the one who did the damage, not us,” said Marvel Girl. “It might
have gotten us out, but I doubt we're completely off the hook.”
“There was a mob right outside of the jail,” added Iceman. “They
were yelling, throwing things at us, it was insane.”
“It's just begun,” added Cyclops stiffly. “They're not going to
let up.”
“But surely they have to understand,” said Rogue. “Ah mean,
those idiots ought to figure out that super powered nutcase was the
one that...”
“No Rogue, people will believe what they want to believe and it's
sometimes easy to believe the most simple thing in the world,” said
Marvel Girl and Rogue just looked frustrated. “Things will have to
work out in the end.”
“No, they won't.” said Wolverine gruffly as he stepped into the
next room, where Professor Xavier watched the morning news on the
television.
“Good to see that you've gotten back in one place, Logan,” said
Xavier without even looking up, but his focus was still on the news.
“After the harsh and brutal attack by the mutant terrorist group
known as the X-Men, many people fear to even step outside their front
doors,” said the newscaster. “While the authorities have cleared
the X-Men of all charges, many remain unconvinced that these mutants
are innocent and there is an outcry to put controls on these mutants.
Senator Robert Kelly was the most outspoken of these critics and word
is that he will spearhead a bill in a special session at the end of
the week that will require mutants to register with the government
and be tracked closely. Kelly states that this is a matter of
national security and our freedoms are being threatened by the mutant
menace.”
“I'd like to have a word with this Senator Kelly,” growled
Wolverine.
“Robert Kelly has a lot of support Logan, you would only complicate
matters if you confront him,” said Xavier. “I have made
arrangements to attend this session. I hope that they'll be made to
see logic in the situation, how this is just limiting freedom,
instead of protecting them.”
“Good luck, Chuck, you're going to need it,” said Wolverine.
“There's something else you should know.”
“And that is, Logan?” asked Xavier curiously.
“Sinister was with Red Skull and he escaped, but he took some
blood” said Wolverine. “My blood.”
“Well this is a grave bit of news,” said Xavier as he closed his
eyes, to think what someone like Nathaniel Essex would do with
Wolverine's blood. None of the possibilities seemed to be all nice
and pleasant, as Xavier rolled off into the next room, to ponder the
implications of what he had just heard.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Breakfast at the Parker household was a rather subdued affair. Aunt
May seemed to look at Peter's injuries a bit suspiciously a time or
two, but if she had suspected that there was more to them than what
Peter was telling, she was not pressing the matter, which Peter was
rather grateful for. He had a long enough night without being grilled
by his aunt.
The whirling of helicopters outside had caused Peter to bring his
head up and he knew the sound and so did Aunt May.
“Oh for Heaven's sake, not this again!” cried Aunt May as she
looked at Peter who just shrugged.
“Fury
surely isn't going to lock me up after I helped bring down Red
Skull?” thought Peter. “Would he?”
Fury entered the household, flanked by some shield agents.
“Good morning, Mrs. Parker, I had hoped after what happened last
time, we wouldn't have to swing by here,” said Fury.
“You mean when you accused my nephew of doing something on flimsy
evidence when he was innocent,” said Aunt May in a stern voice, as
she stood, one hand on a frying pan that was still on the stove.
“Yes, well that bit of unpleasantness has cleared up but I need to
speak with your nephew on another matter,” said Fury as he looked
at Peter. “We both know what it is. Outside now.”
Peter pulled himself up, as he looked around. He briefly entertained
the notion of gouging Fury's other eye out.
“No,
Peter, get a hold of yourself, you don't want to risk a fire fight
with Aunt May here, don't want her to get hurt,” thought Peter.
Aunt May took a step forward, but the shield agents formed a wall
around her, as Fury lead Peter outside, with the door shut behind
them.
“No army of agents to take me down, Fury?” asked Peter coolly, as
he looked around.
“None that you can see, Parker,” said Fury briskly, as he stared
down Peter, without blinking, not even once. “Now, that we're one
on one, I want a quick word about what happened....”
“Well you want a word with me Fury?” challenged Peter. “Well,
you can have all of the words that you want, because I have plenty to
get off my chest. You know, after all the crap you gave me, I still
proved that I could come through. If I didn't pull that key out, we
wouldn't be out having this conversation. If I didn't take out the
Red Skull, he would still be out there, to kill countless more. And
If I didn't convince Captain America that he could still be a hero,
he wouldn't stop Red Skull at the right time. And if he didn't stop
the Red Skull at the right time, then where Washington is, there
would be a giant gaping crater and this entire nation would be
overrun with riots and anarchy! So, Fury, after all of that, after
all of what I did, to keep you from dying, to help beat the Red
Skull, you're just going to throw me around like some common
criminal!”
“Now listen here...” started Fury but Peter was not done.
“No for once, you're going to be the one who's going to listen,
whether you like it or not,” said Peter a bit sharply and so loud
that the entire neighborhood could hear him, before he lowered his
voice so only the two of them could hear what Peter was saying. “I
went against your orders to never be Spider-Man ever again. I put on
the mask and the outfit when I didn't. I accessed private information
on a computer, information that you covered up about my parents mind
you. I disobeyed your little ultimatum to never become Spider-Man or
else but guess what Fury, I would do it again and again, because as
I've learned with great power, there must also come great
responsibility! So what do you have to say to that?”
“Thanks, for helping save the world, Parker,” said Fury gruffly.
“Yeah, I thought so...wait what?” asked Peter in confusion.
“Parker, it's hard to admit when I'm mistaken, but twice I've been
mistaken with you and this time, I'm glad I was and I'm glad you went
against the order I gave you, this time,” said Fury as he lit up a
cigarette and took a drag. “You're green as grass and fall on your
face a lot because of stupid mistakes, but you've got potential. Just
don't let it get to your head.”
“Believe me Fury, I won't,” said Peter as he stared down Fury
without blinking.
“Your parents, I believe that you may be right, perhaps I should
have been up front about them,” said Fury. “Of course, one could
argue that you should be upfront about the fact that you're
Spider-Man to your aunt.”
Peter just folded his arms and did not response.
“They were not the best agents, but I've had far worse and they
were dedicated to the mission,” said Fury. “They put their lives
on the line to help protect us from monsters like the Red Skull. In a
way, you finished the work they started.”
Peter stood, not saying a word, not blinking.
“Parker, you saved my life, so if you ever need help getting out a
tight spot and you will, if you need some strings pulled, I won't
turn you away,” said Fury as he looked at Peter, before giving him
a nod and what appeared to be a flicker of a smile. “Just don't do
anything too stupid and you've won half of the battle.”
Peter just turned as Fury motioned for his shield agents to exit as
he turned
“Your nephew never got a formal apology so I figured it would be
best to deliver it to him,” said Fury with a nod. “Hopefully we
won't be calling on this place again.”
“I should hope not,” said Aunt May with a frown, as she looked at
Fury with a cold look, as Peter sat on the chair and Aunt May turned
away from Fury, without missing a beat. “Your breakfast is getting
cold dear, you best finish that soon.”
“Of course Aunt May, I wouldn't want that to happen,” said Peter,
who looked a bit more cheerful now. He had a feeling that no matter
what he ate, it would be better than the crow that Fury had to ate.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Steve Rogers sat on the edge of a bed at the infirmary in shield
headquarters, as he heard the footsteps right towards him and step
towards.
“Commander,” acknowledged Rogers. “What brings you to visit me?
Making sure I'm not going to disappear for another sixty years?”
“No, nothing like that Rogers, you took a nasty shot from that
maniac, I just figured I'd look at the best agent that this country
has ever had, to make sure he's doing right,” said Fury before he
looked at Rogers. “Don't you think that there are times were shield
might even be a bit over their heads?”
“I think the last few days with the Red Skull and his device
answered that,” said Rogers.
“The country needs a super powered team to deal with some of the
more dangerous threats,” continued Fury. “shield is willing to
fund the entire operation.”
“So a good of heroes to avenge the wrongs done against innocents,”
inquired Rogers.
“Something along those lines,” stated Fury. “And I can't think
of a better man to lead that group than the one who is sitting before
me.”
“I'll give it a thought,” said Rogers but it did have some
potential and there was a need.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Gwen gave a yawn, as she returned to the world of the awake. Her mind
was a bit rattled and it took a few moments to remember what
happened. She had a bit of a headache, but it all came back to her
what had happened as of late.
“Could
be worse,” thought Gwen wearily as she sat up and looked at the
mirror at the table to the side of her bed and winced as she saw her
face, the souvenir from Electro attacking her and Peter. “That's
going to leave a mark.”
“Miss Stacy, good you're awake,” said a nurse wearily as she
walked inside of the room. “You should be okay in a few weeks, your
broken ankle should heal up by then and the cast will be off. You
were very lucky not to suffer severe injuries, the burns on your
hands will heal. The cut on your face...well I'm sorry, but it might
scar a little bit. You should really be more careful.”
Gwen just nodded, not trusting herself to say anything.
“Careful,
yeah, I'll be sure to ask the homicidal maniacs really nicely not to
try and kill me next time,” thought Gwen.
“You missed all of the excitement, with Spider-Man,” said the
nurse and Gwen's eyes perked up but she tried not to betray that she
was worried about Spider-Man or rather the man under the mask to be
more accurate. “He stopped the Red Skull from taking over the
world. He's a real hero.”
“That he is,” said Gwen barely able to suppress a smile of pride.
That was her boyfriend, her Peter, who saved the world from Red
Skull.
“I'll leave to rest Miss Stacy, you've had a dreadful ordeal...wait
a minute, a Mr. Peter Parker is here to see you,” said the nurse.
“If you're feeling up to it.”
“Yes, of course I'm feeling up to it!” yelled Gwen firmly.
“Right, I'll send him in,” said the nurse. “Don't take too long
visiting.”
Peter walked in with candy and flowers, as Gwen studied his face, it
was obvious that he did pay a price for heroism.
“Hey, Gwen, feeling better?” asked Peter.
“I am now,” said Gwen, as Peter pushed over a chair to sit next
to Gwen. “Oooh chocolate, thank you Peter, this hospital
food...well it's not as bad as some of the cafeteria food, I swear
some of that stuff might have been sentient, but still...thank you.”
“It's the least I can do after I got you nearly killed,” said
Peter. “I'm....”
“No, don't you dare apologize for this,” said Gwen eyes narrowed.
“If I didn't get hurt, then you wouldn't have put that mask on,
would you?”
“Well, no, I guess not but still I don't want to see you get hurt,”
said Peter with a frown.
“Well, I'm not too fond of it either, but things happen,” said
Gwen, as she slowly chewed on the chocolate that Peter brought her
thoughtfully. “So, saved the world from Red Skull.”
“Yeah, but it was painful,” said Peter wincing in thought and the
fact that his face was banged up. “How do I look?”
“Like the world's most dangerous raccoon,” answered Gwen dryly.
“Peter, I knew you could do it.”
“Yeah, glad to say that makes one of us,” said Peter.
“Spider-Man's a real hero.”
“Peter Parker's my hero,” said Gwen as she looked at Peter and
leaned forward and gave him a kiss.
“You can be amazing sometimes, Gwen,” said Peter.
“Yeah, and you're spectacular, Pete,” said Gwen as she looked
around, as she saw the nurse walk down the hallway.
“I thought I lost you,” whispered Peter. “For a
moment...I...freaked out...”
“You're not going to get rid of me that easily, Parker,” said
Gwen with a teasing smile. “And for the record, I told you it
wasn't going to last and I was right.”
The two teens laughed at that and continued to hang out, until Peter
was evicted from the room so Gwen could get her rest.
XXXXX-XXXXX
Norman Osborn sat in the office, as he watched the news footage of
the mutant attack on the city over and over again.
“So much power,” muttered Norman as he watched the clip yet.
“This can't be allowed.”
Norman Osborn remembered what happened now. And he was none too
pleased what happened. The entire mutant race would need to be
brought down below his level where it belonged.
“Mr. Osborn, Senator Kelly will arrive in an hour for your lunch
meeting,” said Donald Menken over the intercom.
“Thank you Menkin, believe me, I have much to discuss with the
noble Senator,” said Norman, as he continued to stare at the images
of the X-Men before him, with a fixation only reserved for one other
person previously and plans pieced together in his mind.
