It took me an hour to help clean up the mess the Sinister Six caused. When I was done I decided to head to the Baxter building; Liz and the others must be worried sick. And I need to explain myself and give Reed a piece of my mind while I'm at it!
"Spider, you're receiving a call from your father, shall I put it through?" Sexy suddenly said.
"Oh...right," I landed on a rooftop and sighed, "put him through." I can already guess what he was going to do.
"Peter?! Oh thank God! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?!" his voice was panicky as he asked each question one after another.
"I'm fine dad," I sighed, "this isn't my first tussle with those clowns and I doubt it will be the last."
"Oh thank God, I was so worried," wait for it, "what were you thinking?! Do you have a death wish?!" There it is.
I sighed, "I had to do something."
"I thought you had given up on this crazy idea of being the Spider?! You were finally getting better Peter?! Why?! Why did you do this?!"
"Because people were getting hurt," I growled out, "you would rather I do nothing?!"
"Yes! At least then I won't have to worry about my son coming home in a body bag!"
"Yeah well then maybe that's the difference between you and me! I don't run away from trouble, I run into it. And as long as I can make a difference I will."
"Peter you cannot do this. I will not allow you!"
"You can't do shit to stop me," I growled back, "I am Spider-man, and I swear if you even think of doing something I will never forgive you. I'll talk about this at home, Richard," I spat, cutting the call.
I sighed, "I fucking hate family drama." I leaned on the roof railing and looked out. The people around me, the world, it felt a little safer now. Maybe it was me, maybe, but either way, everything felt better. It's like they all knew as one that I was back.
I continued on my way to the Baxter building, and just then I got another message.
Bring!
"A message from one Mary Jane Watson, sir," my female AI replied, "she says that you owe her 50 bucks."
I chuckled, "tell her to put it on my tab." I swung over to the building quickly and landed on the veranda. I walked in and spotted Liz with Johnny on the couch, Sue on the loveseat and Reed on the couch, all of them staring at the news on TV.
"Peter!" Liz noticed me first as she jumped away from Johnny and ran to me. She had a bright smile on her face as she looked at me, "I knew you couldn't quit!"
I sighed as I took off my mask, which turned into its tab form when on standby, "yeah yeah, I already owe MJ 50 bucks."
"I'm glad you're alright," she said, giving me a light hug before breaking it off, "now, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING TAKING ON SIX OF THEM AT ONCE?!"
"And that's my cue to pull her away," Johnny said as he grabbed Liz by the arm.
"NO! He needs to understand he acted like a fucking lunatic! He could have called the Avengers! Anyone! But nooo, he had to do this on his freaking own!"
"Yes sweetie," Johnny said as he pulled her to his room. He turned back to me and gave me a smirk, "glad to have you back, man. The real you, I mean."
"Glad to be back," I turned to Sue, who had now put her book away and put all her focus on me. I smiled, "think I was stupid too?"
"You could have called me or Johnny to help, Peter," she replied, moving over to make room for me in the loveseat.
I sat down next to her, her warmth drawing me closer like a moth to a flame. I could smell her scent; it made me sigh in relaxation. "I know, but...it's something I needed to do on my own."
"You could have died," Sue snapped.
I looked at her and smiled, "you know that can't happen, right? I'm basically unkillable—"
"—I don't care about your healing powers, Peter! If they cut off your freaking head there's no coming back from that!" Sue yelled out, her teeth bared as she glared at me with fury.
I sighed, "I'm sorry."
"Not good enough."
"Fine. I'll do the foundation's laundry for a week."
"We have a freaking laundry machine!"
"So? Someone still has to put them into the machine and take them out!"
Sue rolled her eyes, "a month."
I smirked, "deal," I put my arm on the couch's backrest, over Sue's shoulders, and leaned back, "not a bad day, I think."
"Twitter's been blowing up."
"What do they say?"
"They are glad you're back," she smiled at me, "genuinely glad. They felt afraid, but now that the Spider is back, people feel safe again. One look at you and people are suddenly brave again. Who knew a spider could amass such bravery?"
I looked at her and grinned, "me. Why do you think I had it spray painted on my jacket?"
"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the spider that bit you," Sue rolled her eyes at me. We chuckled. Reed finally made some sort of noise since I had entered.
I turned to him, "is it gone?"
Reed nodded, "yes, I made sure to dismantle it and wipe its system from the servers. It won't ever be used again."
"Good," I glared, "I don't know what you were thinking..."
"Peter...what happened?" Susan asked, her hand over mine, "what happened to you...when you went through that portal?"
I smiled, "something freaking awesome," both Reed and Sue were startled at my smile. I guess that was to be expected; I didn't smile much before. "In fact, I have pictures!"
I took out my phone, the one I had carried with me all throughout my journey, to Earth 982, to Mephisto's realm and eventually back home.
"Sexy, display these on the TV," I called out, my AI doing just that, mirroring my phone screen onto the big screen TV.
"This is Franklin Richards," I pulled up a photo of me and Franky. It was right after our journey in the Negative Zone; he looked exhausted but happy, with one arm over my shoulders and a grin on his face.
"Franklin?" Sue blinked.
"Richards?" Reed blinked.
I grinned, "the future son of Sue and Reed Richards," I swiped the photo, displaying the Fantastic Five in all their glory, "in the world where I went, everything was older. And instead of four of you, there were five. Johnny, Ben, Reed, Franklin and Johnny's wife Lyja."
"That green woman is Johnny's wife?!" Sue gasped.
"Yep," I nodded.
"Wait...where am I?" Reed asked, "I don't see myself in the picture."
"You're right there," I pointed at the grey robot, "you lost your body in the future, but your mind was still intact. So you transferred it into a robot body...kind of badass if you ask me."
"This is amazing..." Sue replied as I spent an hour talking to them about what I saw. I avoided topics like being Strange's apprentice and fighting the devil, but the adventures I had with Franklin and the rest were an open book.
It was around ten at night when I drove back home. I got Doc to bring the car back from the Avengers tower on autopilot; I sort of forgot I had left it there. I changed into my normal clothes and walked inside. I was kind of expecting to see Peter, MJ and May, but instead I got my other family: Ben, May and Richard, all looking very worried.
I walked in, closing the door behind me, "hey, sorry I'm late. There was a mix-up at the lab."
"Peter, oh thank God," Richard rushed to me, smothering me with a hug, "are you alright?"
"I told you, I'm fine," I sighed, hugging him back, "nothing happened."
Ben smiled, "we told him that, but he kept insisting something was wrong. Did you do something funny, Peter?"
I chuckled, "no, nothing too bad," I smiled at Richard who looked away, a little angry but doing his best to control it, "actually...I have something to say to you guys."
"What is it, dear?" May asked, worried.
"Thank you," I smiled, "I know it's been...difficult having to deal with me after Felicia and Doom. But...thanks, for not giving up."
Ben got up and ruffled my hair with a grin, "never."
"Peter...you seem...happier," May said cautiously.
I chuckled, "yeah, I finally pulled my head out of my ass."
"Language," Richard scolded. I grumbled, 'so that's where future Peter Parker gets it from.'
"What happened, Peter?" Ben asked curiously, "you seem...different."
I grinned, "just got some time to myself to gain some perspective," suddenly my stomach began to growl, "ah...and an appetite it seems."
Ben laughed, "alright then, let's get you something to chow down on. And while we do that, you can tell us what exactly happened."
I groaned. Great, I have to lie again. But dinner that night was nice. I never realised how much I missed having these people in my life. My 'future family' were nice to spend time with, but this...these were the people I knew.
Two days later:
"You know, you never did tell us what happened to you," MJ spoke as she sipped her cup of coffee.
She, Liz and I all sat in my favourite coffee shop. School had just closed for Christmas and we had a lot to catch up on.
Since that day things had been...different. It took a few days for me to get back into the flow of things. People to meet and all that. The Avengers were worried, but they were just glad I was okay, especially Tony, who kept rubbing the fact that he was right.
Reed on the other hand was still racked with guilt. I felt bad for the guy, but he deserved it. I made sure to tell him never to do something that reckless again and he agreed. Thank God.
People actually had a theory that the 'real' Spider-man was dead and the guy who stopped the Sinister Six was actually Captain America in disguise. The 'proof' for this was the prices of Iron Man's suits. Needless to say, that theory always cracked me up.
"There isn't really much to say, MJ," I told her, sipping my own coffee, "I was transported into another world where I was much older, around 50 I think, and I had to survive there for three months. I got help from the Fantastic Five, who are pretty dope by the way, and a magician."
Liz snorted, "magic, right."
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. I extended a finger and slowly a small red line came out, grabbing her cup and pulling it out of her reach. MJ and Liz's eyes widened comically.
I smiled as I ended the spell, "it's called the Whips of Vastha. Pretty cool, huh? It was the last spell he taught me; it took me forever to get it down."
"You can do magic?!" MJ shrieked in silent awe.
I shrugged, "oh please, don't sound too surprised. I'm awesome like that."
Liz blinked, "what else did you see there? You're like fifty there, right? Did you like have a wife and kids? Were you married?"
That question gave me pause. MJ and Liz leaned in to hear the answer, and I knew I couldn't tell them the truth. MJ had just started dating Mark, and from what I heard it was going great. But if I told her, 'oh hey MJ, remember that girl version of me that visited us? Well I lied, she's actually our daughter from another world where we both got together and had a kid!' — obviously, that can't happen.
I shook my head, "no. I was alone. That version of me had quit being Spider-man and instead became a forensic scientist. Pretty cool dude, if I do say so myself. But he does have this stupid-looking goatee," I ended with a grumble.
"What about us?" Liz asked, "did you see a version of us?"
I shook my head, "no, sorry. That me figured it would be best if I didn't learn too much about the world, that way it won't hurt like a mother when I have to leave them all behind," I lied.
MJ hummed, "damn. I would love to know what I end up as."
"Why? Wondering if you and Mark end up together?" Liz asked lightly, to which MJ blushed a shade similar to her hair.
We chatted for some more time, just three friends. We talked about MJ's new play and how she got the lead in it. We talked about Liz and Johnny's date to Florida where Johnny had to save her from an alligator. All in all, it was a good day.
And then, just as I was going to pay for our coffee, the TV in the coffee shop caught my attention, displaying the latest news of a bombing in California. An act of terrorism, the Mandarin claimed responsible. And Tony had officially just challenged him to a fist fight.
I sighed. Iron Man 3, ladies and gentlemen.
"Is he going to be okay?" MJ asked me in a whisper as we left the coffee shop.
"He will be," I took out my tablet, "Sexy, call up Pepper and tell her the Spider is coming to give his assistance."
"Shouldn't we tell Mr. Stark first, sir?" Sexy asked.
"No, he's too stubborn for it," I sighed.
"Are you going?" Liz asked as we walked up to my car.
"Yeah," I opened the door and got in, "he had my back with my suit and he gave me this bitching AI—"
"—Damn straight," I was teaching Sexy how to develop some attitude; so far it had been a success.
"I owe him," I smiled at the girls, "don't wait up," I drove out, leaving them behind.
"Damn it," I heard MJ grumble, "that was my ride."
I drove the car into a secluded alley before kicking in flight mode and lifting off vertically into the air. I engaged stealth mode, making me invisible to radar, and took off at full throttle towards Malibu. I punched in Tony's home address; he had just given it out on national TV after all.
"How long till we reach?" I asked aloud.
"Four hours, sir," replied Doc, my onboard AI for the car.
"Alright then. Sexy, call Sue and then home. I need to explain my absence as best as I can," I sighed. Guess it's time to lie again.