"So...can I join?" Felicity asked, pouting at me and May.
May sighed, "for the last time, Felicity, no. You don't have any powers — it would be dangerous."
"That's what you said last time!" Felicity growled. "That's why I went off on my own! But I showed you how strong I am! So why can't I join?!"
"Because! You can't protect yourself!" May cried out.
"Girls!" I cried out, "enough! Focus on the problem at hand! We can talk about teaming up after we finish this damn homework!"
The two of them grumbled, glaring at each other before returning to their notes. I sighed, sipping my coffee. I looked around — everyone was staring. I sent an apologetic smile to them all; a coffee shop really wasn't the best place they could have had this argument.
"If it's any consolation though," I spoke up, gaining their attention, "I think it would be a good idea to have backup."
"What?!" May gawked.
"Yes!" Felicity fist-pumped.
"Why?!" May asked.
"Because with or without powers, Felicia was a very powerful ally to your dad," I sipped my drink. "You could use someone like that on your side."
"Yeah! What he said!" Felicity nodded.
I raised an eyebrow. "That being said, Felicity isn't ready just yet for the job of being a superhero. She still needs to be properly trained to fight metahumans like us. So...maybe a trial period is in order?"
May grumbled, "fine, whatever...it's just...argh! This is so stupid!"
"Face it, May! We're partners!" Felicity cheered, throwing an arm around May, making the girl groan even louder. Felicity chuckled, "hey, relax — between the three of us, the bad guys don't stand a chance!"
I smiled, "that's nice, Felicity, but I'm not exactly going to be sticking around for long."
"What? Why not? Where are you going?" she asked.
I smiled, "home, maybe...look, don't worry about that. Worry about how to become a better team," I narrowed my eyes at May, "you don't have to do this alone, May. Believe me, that's worth something."
May sighed, "yeah...I guess."
I nodded, "good. Now...do you understand what we're trying to learn?"
"Nope."
I chuckled. Guess she got her mother's brains. "Alright, it's like this..."
---
A few hours later:
I sat on the roof of the Empire State Building, leaning against a gargoyle as I looked down at the buzzing city below me. The people were going about their day — they didn't bother to look up. Most never do.
May had gone her own way for patrolling. Spider-Girl was still a solo act, and Felicity still had to take care of her mother, and that was far more important than beating up thugs.
I stood in Peter's costume, spandex and all, with my metallic helmet placed over my head instead of a cloth mask. I checked the web shooters and strapped on my backpack.
This was...a test drive of sorts, to see if I still had it. I stepped up to the edge and looked down — it was a huge drop. I sighed and moved back, only to leap forward, arms spread wide.
Thwip!
The web line hit a building and I swung upwards. The rush came quickly — the feeling of butterflies in my stomach, the feeling of utter excitement, like the world was left behind. That microsecond where I released the web line and for just a moment...I was free. Before gravity took over and pulled me back down. I shot out another web line and soon my body began to act on instinct, moving through web lines, swinging through the city. "Woohoo!" I cried out, my joy coming through in my voice.
"Peter, there's a crime in progress being reported a block from here. Would you like me to mark it?"
"Yes please, Sexy. Oh, and while I'm in costume, don't call me by my real name, okay?" I told her as I changed course, following new directions on my HUD.
"Then what is your new designation?"
I smiled, "call me the Spider."
I came upon a shootout — two cops were pinned down behind their cars while a gang of Mexican cartel members fired automatic rifles at them from across the street. The whole street had been cleared out, though a small group of civilians were forced to take cover with the police, or else risk getting shot.
I landed on a roof and looked around, searching for a way to finish this quickly. I spotted a giant dumpster bin in the alley behind the cartel's position. So I silently swung down and ducked inside, sneaking behind the bin.
With a huff I grabbed the sides of the giant bin and lifted it over my head. It was a strain — I really need to hit the gym. Two months of stagnation had really taken its toll. I huffed, "hey, assholes!"
They turned, and I threw it.
BAM!
"Fuck!" they cried out. One, to my far left, managed to escape, while the others were pinned down by the giant metal bin — their bodies crushed, though not enough to break anything.
"What the fuck, puta?!" the lone escapee cried out as he looked at me in horror. I webbed up his gun and pulled it towards me.
I looked it over, inspecting it. "Nice toy you have here," I crushed it into a ball before throwing it over my shoulder, then shot a web blast to pin him to the road below. "Asshole."
I walked over to the police, but the moment I stepped out from behind cover they shot at me. My spider-sense kicked in quickly and I immediately leaped away.
"Whoa there!" I cried out, peeking out from cover. "I'm just trying to help!"
"Who the hell are you?!" the cops cried out.
I sighed. Right, different world — I forgot. "I'm—"
WHOAM!
I snapped my head toward the source of that sound. I looked up to see a bright blue light piercing the sky like a spear. It looked like it was coming from the Baxter Building. Huh — okay, now that sounded familiar.
I sighed, "sorry guys, rain check!" I leaped into the air and took off, swinging toward the Baxter Building. I really hoped this wasn't an end-of-the-world situation. Because of course it was the end of the goddamn world — it always is! Damn it!
I was a few blocks out when I saw something fly out of the giant beam of light and into the New York air. I landed on a rooftop and focused on it. "Sexy, zoom and enhance." I focused, the helmet activating its telescopic features, giving me a view of a giant white ape riding a giant green bug, flying around the city streets.
I sighed, "every day it's something new...fine. Prioritize: stop the portal, then deal with the giant apes. Sexy, do the Avengers of this world have a helpline or something?"
"Give me a moment...yes, they seem to have a distress signal."
I grumbled, "fine...hack it and send them a picture of that thing along with its present location."
"Understood, sir," Sexy replied. "Will there be anything else?"
I looked over — another giant ape came flying out of the blue portal. I grumbled, "yeah, call the Parker household. Tell them I'll be late." I ran to the roof edge and shot a web line, swinging over.
I quickly reached the building within ten minutes. By now the Avengers had arrived and were setting up a blockade, fighting and then capturing the white apes and flying bugs.
I wall-crawled along the Baxter Building and found that all power was down. Cautiously, I ducked inside and found myself running toward Reed's lab, out of which the light came — because of course it did. Why would I ever think otherwise?
I popped my head inside and groaned as I watched another portal float in the middle of the room. "For crying out loud, Reed! Why is it always the same thing with you?! Can't you for once just relax like every other person in the world?!"
I walked up to the machine and looked around — no one was there, which was strange. But just as I approached the machine, Ben came flying out of it, rolling across the room before stopping right in front of me.
"Ben? What is going on?" I asked, helping him to his feet.
"We got a crisis alert from the Negative Zone — Annihilus was causing trouble for the New Earth project. We were called to help out," Ben grumbled.
"Ah...okay...need help?"
He smirked, "you up for it? I know you never had the best experience with traveling across worlds."
"Yeah, I don't have much of a choice, do I? It's either help out or let giant white apes take over the planet. This should be fun," I cracked my neck as Ben and I charged at the portal. "Geronimo!" I cried out as I came through the other side, landed on my feet, and stood up slowly, looking around in awe.
It was as if space itself had died, and I was looking at what remained. There were rocks everywhere, just spread out like the remains of dead planets. Stars were dying off in the distance, their last rays of light flashing at me like the glow of a supernova.
"Welcome to the Negative Zone, kid," Ben grumbled. "No time to waste — Reed and the others need our help." We were standing on top of what looked like a mountain of sorts. Ben pointed down at a base camp currently swarming with the other members of the FF. It looked like it had been built by humans.
"Alright, what can I—"
WHOOSH!
Ben leaped away, flying down as he smashed into the middle of the base camp, destroying one of the enemies — those giant white apes. Though now that I got a closer view of them, they looked like some kind of giant grey Wookiee. They all had metallic armour and bladed weapons and fought like Logan on steroids.
I groaned as I stretched my arms. This was going to be a pain.
I leaped downwards. The facility had a main base in the center, which appeared to be what all the enemy soldiers were trying to break into — they kept trying to force through, but the FF kept them back.
Just then one of the white apes leaped away from Johnny's reach and ran toward the base. Johnny was about to give chase when I leaped over the protective walls and landed right on the enemy's back, driving him into the ground.
"Nice to see you, Spider," Johnny grinned as he burnt a few of the Wookiees back. "Always good to have an extra set of hands!"
"Who are the Wookiee rejects?" I asked as I leaped and punched two of them before springing off their falling bodies and kicking a third in the groin — which apparently they had.
"Balurrians, Spider-Man — a native war-faring race of the Negative Zone," Frankie explained as she sent a blast of cosmic power, launching a group of Balurrians off the ground. "Annihilus' henchmen."
"And Annihilus is a bad guy?" I asked as a Balurrian nearly cleaved my head off with a swing of his axe. I grumbled and thrust my hands forward, extending two of my stingers. I swiped across his chest, cutting through his armour before kicking him away. "Annoying."
"Why are they even here?" Lyja, Johnny's Skrull wife, asked.
"Reed mentioned they want something the researchers stationed here made," Ben grumbled as he grabbed three of the soldiers and sent them flying through the air, landing on another emerging squad.
"And what could that possibly be?" I asked.
"I think that," Frankie said as she blasted the ground again. When the dust settled she pointed at the ground, revealing a layer of solid gold just beneath the surface.
My eyes shot open. "Ah...can I take some? Pretty please?"
"What does a being like Annihilus want with gold?" Johnny asked. "He's the ruler of a freaking reality!"
"I'm just guessing, Uncle Johnny," Franklin said as he blasted some more Balurrians. "This is the only logical conclusion."
"Not quite," came Reed's voice over the comms. "The researchers here have informed me that what the Balurrians and Annihilus want isn't the gold — that is nothing to him. What he wants is what they have managed to synthesize: the world's first and only sample of Proto-Adamantium. If he gets his hands on this, it could fuse with his Cosmic Control Rod, making him unstoppable."
"I'm sorry, I'm not following," I said in confusion, leaping over a Balurrian and kicking him across the jaw.
"Annihilus possesses a weapon known as the Cosmic Control Rod. It keeps him immortal and grants him power beyond mortal limits. But it does have limitations — its physical containment being one. However, if he had Proto-Adamantium, that limitation would no longer be a concern."
"Hmm — Proto-Adamantium. That's what Logan's claws are made of, right?"
"No, Logan's claws use regular Adamantium. Proto-Adamantium is what Cap's shield is made of," Johnny explained as he and I tag-teamed a group of the enemy soldiers. "But Reed, I thought it was impossible to recreate Proto-Adamantium?"
"It was — but not anymore. That is one of the reasons they came here in the first place: to create more favorable conditions for the process. They achieved a perfect mixture of vibranium and adamantium, and what's more, it's currently in liquid form, making it potentially deadly."
"Ah, guys," Lyja called out. "I think we need to focus on this first." She pointed up at the sky as a ship large enough to blot out a nearby star came over the facility.
Immediately the few remaining Balurrians began to cheer and roar in triumph. I gulped as my spider-sense began to tingle. I watched as a section of the ship opened, revealing a creature that looked like the spawn of the Hulk and a praying mantis.
He was huge — bigger than Ben. He was covered in purple armour with wings the size of hang gliders on his back. Around his neck sat a glowing yellow rod that my newly magic-aware brain immediately recognized as a source of immense power. That thing was dangerous — I could feel it.
"Oh, hell," I gulped as I watched him fly out of the ship, coming down right at us with an army of smaller insectoid soldiers right behind him.
"Johnny, burn his lackeys! Frankie and I will deal with Annihilus! Lyja, you and Spidey stop the ground troops!" Ben called out as the FF moved to engage.
I watched Johnny fight off the flying horde, blasting them back with his flames. Lyja and I fought back-to-back, her morphing her body into that of a giant tiger, charging and slashing everything in her path.
I was more controlled — moving steadily, cutting with my stingers, making sure none were too badly damaged. I still disliked killing if I could help it.
But the highlight of the fight was watching Franklin and Ben take on the giant Annihilus. It was like watching gods do battle. I half expected Thor to appear and bring down lightning.
Ben jumped at the monster and cracked him across the face while Frankie distracted him with blasts of energy. Annihilus fought them both off, hurling Ben and Frankie aside before unleashing sickly yellow beams of energy at Franklin.
The world shook every time Franklin and Annihilus clashed. Their power cracked the surface of the ground we stood on.
BOOM!
I saw Frankie falter, being pushed back slowly. Just then Ben leaped back into the fight, striking Annihilus from behind, giving Franklin the chance to redirect the energy blast back at the monster.
"Go, Frankie!" I cried out, back-kicking a Balurrian. "Can't you see I'm cheering for my number one fan?!"
"Kid, look out!" Johnny cried out as suddenly Annihilus burst forward with a terrifying burst of speed, crashing into Franklin and sending him flying into the ground. My eyes went wide as the insect warlord flew straight into the base, ignoring the rest of us entirely.
"Franklin!" Lyja cried out as she ran to him, now back in her natural form. She scooped him up and held him tightly as Johnny and Ben rushed over.
I ran to them. "Is he okay?" I asked.
"He's just knocked out," Johnny growled as he turned to the approaching army of Balurrians. The flames around his body turned blue. "I'll kill you all!" He exploded forward, sending waves of fire crashing into the army.
"Damn it! He's lost it! Lyja, take Franklin inside and try to get him conscious — right now he's the only one who can take on Annihilus! Reed can hold him off, but only for so long! I'll stay here and keep Johnny from burning us all!" Ben ordered.
"Right!" Lyja said as she scooped up Franklin and ran inside. "Come on, Spider!"
"You're pretty strong," I told her as I noticed blood flowing from Franklin's temple. "Damn! He's bleeding."
"What?!" Lyja asked in a panic. "We need to hurry." She quickened her pace as we entered the building through the giant hole Annihilus had made.
"We need to split up!" she said, taking a left. "Once I have Franklin awake, we'll come for you. Help Reed hold back Annihilus!"
She didn't even give me a chance to respond before she was gone, heading toward the medbay. I grumbled, "I woke up today wondering how to survive going to Midtown High in another reality. Now I'm in another dimension fighting an immortal bug with a glowing rod. Yup, my life is completely beyond repair."
I ran, following the trail of destruction. This facility looked like something Tony would have considered a dream project — equipment so advanced I could barely process it. But I wasn't here for that.
I reached the center of the lab and found a large elevator platform ripped clean out of its shaft and thrown aside. A woman with blonde hair was on the ground, rubbing her head in pain.
"What happened?" I asked, running to her side.
"W-why are you here?" she looked horrified.
I sighed, "to help. Look, this is not the time for a freak-out. What happened? Where's Annihilus?"
"T-there," she pointed at the shaft. "He's going after the Proto-Adamantium."
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes — please go, stop him," she groaned.
I sighed, then ran to the shaft and looked down. It was a long drop to the bottom. I jumped, sticking close to the walls and descending at near-breakneck speed.
I extended my stingers and shoved them into the wall, gradually slowing to a halt roughly thirty feet above the ground. I pulled free of the wall and dropped the rest of the way.
The underground lab was similar to the equipment above, with the added feature of a large smelting pot in the center, filled with a dull silver metal swirling slowly. Next to it stood two containers of boiling metal — and standing over them was Annihilus. The warlord loomed over Reed's broken and sparking robotic body, pressing a foot down on its chest.
"You will not have it," Reed said, the strain evident in his voice. I glanced behind the machine — there was a great deal of equipment back there: sonic tools for working the vibranium, heating coils for the adamantium. A plan began to form in my head.
"And how will you stop me?" Annihilus asked.
I needed to act. Now. I found a terminal and ran to it, accessing the system. "Sexy, hack into the system and give me full control. Turn the sonic vibration cutter for the vibranium to maximum and blast the big green bug."
"Doing so right now," Sexy replied.
"Die!" Annihilus cried out, about to crush Reed's robotic body, when the machines around the vibranium whirred to life, blasting the monster with a high-frequency range of deadly vibrations strong enough to destroy vibranium at a molecular level.
"ARGH!" Annihilus screamed as he clutched his ears in agony. I immediately rushed forward and dragged Reed's metal body away while the warlord was distracted, pulling him behind the counter.
I looked down at him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Reed replied. "I need a new body — I will be but a moment, Peter. Keep him busy." Suddenly the robot's metallic head opened like a ship's bay doors, and a brain in a sealed jar came flying out with small rockets attached to its base. It flew off into the base — Reed presumably had a spare body somewhere in the facility.
I blinked, "things get stranger and stranger every day. Keep it up, Sexy — don't let up! Also, see if you can find out how they made the Proto-Adamantium. Could be useful."
"Understood," she replied.
"STOP!" Annihilus cried out suddenly as he fixed his eyes on me and snarled, green blood pouring from his hands — I think it had come from his ears.
I gulped. "H-hey. How's it going?"
He roared and leaped at me. I immediately jumped aside, avoiding him. He swiped over my head and I ducked, landing several punches to his torso before leaping over him, landing behind his line of sight, and sending a kick powerful enough to drive him to his knees.
I then slammed both palms against his head and channeled the largest bio-electric blast I could generate.
BAZZ!
I watched his head begin to smoke. I panted. Was it over? Did I get him?
And then he moved.
I watched in horror as he turned around and swung his massive arms, slamming me across the lab. I crashed to the ground, heaving as the pain slowly registered.
He walked over calmly and stood above me, sending a kick across my jaw. It felt like being struck by a wrecking ball — I was flat on my back immediately, my helmet shattering on impact.
I looked up dazedly as the monster gazed down at me, almost smirking, pressing his foot down on my chest and slowly increasing the pressure.
I felt helpless. Broken. Defeated. I saw Doom standing before me, smirking as he had planned to kill me. And I felt rage.
Not again. Never again. If I was going to die here, I was taking this monster with me.
"ARGH!" I extended my claws — all three of them. In doing so I tore straight through Peter's web shooters, shredding them to pieces. I brought them upward at Annihilus' leg, but they scraped against his armour without piercing it. Whatever that material was, it was harder than steel.
"Claws? You animal," he chuckled as he reached down and grabbed my throat with one hand, lifting me up and slowly squeezing.
I struggled, but I couldn't break free. I needed to be smart. I looked around desperately — and then I noticed the pot of smoldering adamantium boiling directly above us.
I coughed — my vision was darkening. I had to act now. I reached up with both hands, stretching as far as I could, my fingertips inches from the bottom of the boiling pot.
The warlord didn't notice. He was too focused on crushing my windpipe. I pushed my hand forward — something popped as my fingers finally made contact with the bottom of the pot. I smiled. Got it.
I closed my eyes and reached outward toward the smelter. It was a strange feeling, but I pushed forward until I felt my mind connect with the metal. I used my magnetic manipulation and pulled with everything I had — my body, my mind, my will — all of it dedicated to pulling it toward me. And then I heard it: the snap of breaking metal.
I pressed my feet against Annihilus' chest and pushed myself away. The creature looked confused — he didn't understand what I was doing.
I commanded the boiling metal inside the container to move. It came flying through the air, the silvery liquid landing across Annihilus' wings and back.
"SKREE!" he cried out as his grip on my throat weakened from the shock and pain.
I pushed off his chest, driving my leg up under his neck to dislodge the Cosmic Control Rod fastened around it like a collar.
I landed in a backflip, snatching the rod out of the air and holding it in my hand. I felt the Cosmic Control Rod react to my grip immediately. I felt its power humming just beneath the surface — and through my mind, I felt it reach out and beg to be wielded.