The next day
I was in the training room with Dani, we training like crazy. She had gotten so much better. After going into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Bang again, her reaction speed had improved, she now sensed danger almost instantly.
Every time I gave her an opening, she took it without hesitation. I let her land hits too; she was thinking now, planning her attacks instead of just swinging blindly. We'd been at it for a couple hours. I'd been teaching her new martial arts forms and trying to help her tap into her chi.
She was getting the hang of it. Her fists weren't glowing yet, but they definitely hit harder when she focused even a little chi into them.
"Why can't I go on the mission again?" Dani asked, throwing a punch at me.
She meant the Hellfire Club takedown.
"Because this mission is extremely dangerous, especially my part," I said, dodging her strike. "None of the sidekicks are coming."
I catch her wrist.
"Unless your mentors say otherwise. Samuel, Illyana, and Rahne are going, I thought I was ready, You have me taking down criminals by myself, and I'm a lot stronger now. I won't hold you back."
I stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Dani… I'm going on this mission because the main target is a dark sorceress. She's ancient, powerful, and extremely dangerous. She's going to give me a lot of trouble. And I can't have you in that fight, you don't know any magic, and if something happened to you…"
I shook my head.
"I wouldn't forgive myself. Ever."
She was staring at me now, fully focused, like every word mattered.
"You're my sidekick," I said. "Meaning you're my responsibility. Meaning I will only take you into situations where I know I can protect you, teach you, and help you grow into a hero. You will fight by my side again, just not on this mission."
"I can learn magic," Dani insisted. "I can go back into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and learn way faster. I can back you up!"
"I don't want you going back into that chamber," I said.
"What? Why?" she asked, confused.
"You're nineteen now. You've spent enough time in there. I don't want you wasting years of your life just training. You should enjoy your youth while you can."
"We're the same age," Dani said. "What, embarrassed if I ended up older than you?"
"Well, the only one embarrassed would be you," I said. "Because if you're older and still a sidekick? That's laughable. Also, I'm technically not nineteen. I'm one hundred and fifteen."
She froze. "What?!"
"The first time I was in the chamber, I spent ninety-four years in there," I said casually. "Plus a few more learning magic."
"How, how is that even possible?!"
"Long story short: my family visited, one of my sisters messed with the chamber using magic, and I ended up training for nearly a century."
"Wait, your family? Why haven't we ever seen them?" Dani asked.
"Well… mostly because my family are gods, and they're not from this world."
Her eyes widened for half a second. "I keep forgetting you said you were a demigod… so I guess it makes sense your family are gods. But what about your human side? Your normal family?"
"I don't have a human side," I said. "Only the god part. My mother, the goddess adopted me and made me into a demigod. Granted me powers."
Dani nodded slowly, then tried again.
"Okay but, if you just let me go into the chamber one more time, I can be by your side! Yes, I'll be one year older, but I'll know magic, and I won't be a burden or hold you back while you fight that dark sorceress, and—"
I cut her off.
"Dani," I said firmly, "being a hero is good. But don't let it consume your entire life. Listen to your mentors. And listen to me. Don't go into the chamber."
My tone left no room for argument.
She clearly didn't like my answer, but she didn't argue anymore. After another hour of training, we finally called it a day. I headed to the lab to check on Cell.
Cell was almost complete now. I was finally ready to give him life. It's been a long time coming, and honestly? I think he's ready. I'd added a few more DNA samples into him, too: Inhuman DNA, White Martian DNA, and Siegfried's DNA.
Jiaying volunteered her DNA the moment I asked. I was shocked. But I guess saving her other daughter helps build trust. They're doing fine, by the way, Jiaying told Daisy and Calvin about Kora. They were obviously surprised, but the reunion picture I took? I put it on a T-shirt. Jiaying loved it. I wear it every time I visit them.
And if you're wondering how I got White Martian DNA… well…
I asked Conquest to go to Mars and find some for me. He did, he slaughtered at least thirty of them.
I did not ask him to slaughter anything, I just asked for a teeth, a finger, some kind of DNA. But now? Now I have thirty dead Martians in my morgue. Fantastic.
As for Siegfried, yeah, I asked him directly. I wanted Cell to be part dragon because, well… it's cool. He did not understand what I meant at all. I had to explain it for an entire hour before he finally went, "Oh. Yes, that is acceptable," and let me take a DNA sample.
When I entered the lab, I saw Richard and Mary there. I hadn't seen them in the lab for a while ever since I gave Mary the amulet and Mary gave birth, they've been busy with the baby. They've basically been glued to Mae ever since she was born.
"Hi, you two. I'm surprised to see you here," I said.
Richard and Mary looked up.
"Oh, hey, Ed. May is watching Mayday right now," Mary said.
"She saw how exhausted we were," Richard added.
Mayday was just a nickname for baby May.
"Mayday is a bit of a handful," Mary sighed. "She is nothing like Peter. He was always such a calm child."
"But We love spending every second with her," Richard said, "but… yeah, we needed a break."
"I'm sure you do. Parenting is not easy. Of course, Stratos skipped the whole baby phase," I said. "So I can't really say I have experience with babies."
"Maybe one day you will," Mary said with a smile.
"Hopefully. I don't want to be single forever," I said. "So what are you two working on?"
"We're not working on anything," Mary said. "We were actually looking at your Super Soldier Cell. It's… fascinating."
"The way it adapts the entire body to almost anything is really impressive," Richard added.
"Thank you," I said. "I thought about it while I was designing the AI bodies. I wanted them prepared for anything and protected, especially since some of them are going on dangerous missions."
"Truly extraordinary," Mary said. "I don't think we could recreate this without your blueprints."
"Thanks. I worked really hard on that thing."
"If you don't mind," Mary continued, "we'd love to hear your notes. How you actually created it."
"Didn't you get the blueprints?" I asked.
"Yes, but blueprints are one thing," Mary said, "and hearing the process directly from you is another."
"Please don't leave out any details," Richard said, looking excited.
They really did look like two nerds about to hear storytime.I guess I could explain, this was gonna take a while though.
Peter Parker POV
Right now I'm at the beach with Cindy, Julia, Anya, and Laura.
Time to man up.Time to talk to them.Time to open my mouth and say actual words.
Instead, I just stood there nervously… silently… dying inside.
"Oh my God, Peter, are you ever going to say anything? This is getting boring," Illyana called out.
I turned around and saw half the kids watching me.Ruby was literally eating popcorn.
"Hey, don't rush it. We're just spectators," Wendy said.
"Can you guys leave?" I asked.
"Sorry, we can't," Roberto said. "We need to know who won the bet. And also to comfort the girls if things go badly. Just ignore us."
I tried.I turned back to the girls.
"Okay… I'm gonna be honest," I said. "I don't know how to start this conversation, but, I know all of you like me. And… I like all of you too. So if you're willing to try… we could all date. But if you're not comfortable I underst—"
They cut me off.
"I'm in. I was willing to share with Julia anyway," Anya said.
"I'm okay with it too," Cindy said.
"Same here," Julia said.
"I love you, Peter. I don't care how many girlfriends you have," Laura said.
I was completely stunned.I genuinely expected yelling. A slap. A dramatic beach breakup scene.Not… this.Why in the world did all of them want to date me?
And what is MJ going to say when I finally tell her?Does that mean I'll have five girlfriends?
"Uh… okay," I said. That was literally all my fried brain could produce.
They all looked excited.
"I'm going to go tell my mom I have a boyfriend now!" Laura yelled, then sprinted away.
Suddenly, sand wrapped around me and spun me around toward Keemia. She pulled me close, face-to-face.
"I didn't expect that to go so well," she said, cupping my cheek. "So what do you say if I throw my hat in the ring?"
"WHAT?!" I yelled.
She burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I couldn't help it."
The sand released me and she kept laughing.
Honestly… I don't know what's going to kill me firstthe villains I fight… or the women in my life.
Reed Richards POV
I was in my office, looking over the rocket blueprints again, scanning every system line by line just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
"Are you still going over the ship? It's perfect, Reed," Sue said as she walked in.
"I'm just making sure," I said. "We only get one shot at this, and a cosmic ray storm is dangerous."
Sue came around behind my chair and wrapped her arms around me.
"You worry too much. You've double-checked everything ten times already. And besides… we both know this is just busywork. What's really on your mind?" she asked.
I sighed. "I've just been thinking about what Ed said."
"I thought so." Sue came around to face me. "And you know he has a point. You asked Victor for help and he said no. You were about to ask Tony for a loan before Ed stepped in."
"I know," I said. "But I also understand why Victor didn't want to help. Think about it: if this mission goes wrong, we face the consequences, and so does his company. It's a calculated risk he chose not to take."
"Maybe," Sue said, "but him asking to be on the mission now, after doing nothing to help, is wrong. He shouldn't reap rewards when he didn't put in any effort. I know he's your friend, Reed, but he's taking advantage of the opportunity just to increase his company."
She put a hand on my shoulder.
"If you ask me, Ed made the right call. Victor didn't take the risk, he shouldn't get the reward."
I sat there for a moment, thinking it over… and she was right.Ed put his faith in us. He donated millions and millions into this project.Without him, we wouldn't even be preparing for this mission.
"You're right, Sue. As always," I said.
"Of course I'm right," she said with a smile. She leaned in and kissed me, then stepped back toward the door. "Now… you can stay here staring at that computer, or you can come with me. Johnny and Ben are out."
I didn't hesitate.I closed the laptop and followed her straight to our bedroom.