This was bad... This was really bad. They were losing. The Avengers were losing.

Peter knew that he was strong -he found that out the hard way shortly after he was bitten- but he had no idea he was strong enough to weaken most of the Avengers enough for them to lose to a bunch of enhanced kids! True that said kids were crazy strong... and they were still holding back so as not to hurt the kids, but the battle shouldn't have turned this badly this fast!

Even worse, Peter couldn't really fight either. He was forced to help the team out as much as he could without staying in one place for too long, or Charu's ability would soon slam into his mind and threaten to break him again. For a girl so quiet and timid, she was incredibly strong. Wanda would have definitely helped out with this mission if she were here...

Crawling across the ceiling and watching the fight below, the spider boy did a mental tally of all the Avengers to make sure they weren't in immediate trouble. Natasha was starting to get overwhel- nope. Never mind. The queen pulled through with beauty, grace, and a punch to a soldier's face.

Peter chuckled as he looked around, catching sight of Charu at the entrance with Fiers. Her chocolate eyes were watching him, but he didn't feel anything from her yet. It made him wonder... if she really wanted to make them lose, why didn't she try to control the adults that were fighting? A quick look at Nat and Tony as they both took down multiple enemies said just how big a threat they were. So why not aim for them? Was it because they weren't enhanced? Then Captain America should be under her control, but he was still throwing his shield around. So what was her problem?

His grip started to slip on the ceiling. Charu's silent commands hitting his mind with the force equivalent to a train - so much for his initial thoughts... He shook his head and dove away, pushing off the ceiling and jumping right back into the fight. He took out a few kids for Hawkeye as he ran through the crowd and did what he could to help, though it still wasn't much. Even if he was the one who begged the Avengers to stay and help these kids, Peter was only the backup for everyone thanks to Charu and the fact that they were under her control. He couldn't fight the kids without risking their health...

He could, however, go against the soldiers.

One of the men yelled out in surprise as Peter landed on his head, pushing him down to the ground before jumping onto the ground in front of another man, grabbing the front of his shirt and tossing him over Peter's shoulder into the first man.

He jumped to another group of soldiers -twisting and turning them before they were knocked out- then another group and another, until all that were left standing was the enhanced kids.

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to fight them?" Peter asked, perched on the side of the wall and watching the hundred or so kids still coming after them. Everyone was kept on their toes from the different powers each kid had, and Peter soon found his new job of pulling the Avengers out of the way of one kid's ice pillars.

"There comes a time when you're going to have to suck it up and throw a few punches, kid. You're the only one of us that can legally hit them after all." Tony stopped a large boy made of stone from hitting him, grunting slightly under the pressure.

Clint paused as he glanced over, holding another boy in a headlock. "What do you mean he's the only one that can legally hit them?"

"It's kinda child abuse for an adult to hit a child," Sam smirked, watching as Barton let the boy go.

"Are you saying that I - someone that used to work for the government - am doing bad things?"

"Government agents always do bad things," Natasha chuckled, flipping a kid over her shoulder that was trying to attack her from behind.

"But you were a government agent too, weren't you?" Peter's head tilted as he dropped down next to her and stopped someone from hitting her with a vine.

"Exactly."

Nat's predator smirk sent a chill down Peter's spine, he couldn't help but remember the documents that were leaked during the collapse of SHIELD. He wasn't scared of her, but he did fear her power. She was an unstoppable force at her weakest...

"Command the kids to rise again, Charu!"

Peter's head snapped over to Fiers and Charu on the other side of the room, Fiers' angry voice catching him off guard. His eyes widened as he saw the old man back hand the young girl to the ground, his body moving on its own as he raced over just in time to stop a heavy boot from stomping on her.

"Peter!"

There was a tug at his leg as Peter cursed slightly, of course this was another ploy to get him closer. There was no way that he would be able to resist her abilities when she touched him; he could already feel his leg starting to go numb under her touch.

With the last bit of strength he could muster as the dark started closing around him, Peter pulled his fist back and let it fly right into Fiers' face. That felt good...

"Ch-Charu...! Get your hand off him!"

Everyone seemed to freeze at the man's command, not expecting it in the least... Peter glanced down at Charu, her hand slowly moving away from him.

The hair on his neck stood up just in time for him to look up as a cane was slammed into the side of his head.

That did not feel good.

"I will teach you this lesson while you are awake!" Fiers shouted, lifting his cane again and bringing it down on Peter's ribs. "I did all of this for you! Why can't you just realize that your fate is to stay here with me - to obey me? The only reason you're alive now is because I let you live, your life belongs to me!"

Peter's eyebrow twitched as he listened to the short rant, an anger surging inside him that was much stronger than anything he had felt before. The anger blocked out his pain, numbness, and thoughts - that probably wasn't good...

His hand shot up, grabbing the cane before it could hit him once again. He squeezed lightly, but the metal caved under his grip like plastic. Slowly, he stood up and pushed the cane back, causing Fiers to stumble with it.

"I belong to you? I don't remember asking you to spare me, so why should I blindly obey your commands as if you're God or something?" Peter's glare was as hard as his grip on the cane, his body moving on its own as he used it to pin the older man against the wall. "You think you can control and force people to your will in some twisted version of Play House? You don't even use yourself to force people, you make a young girl do it for you. You hide behind children that you've torn from their families and erased any sliver of humanity they had left, brainwashing them into believing whatever you tell them to. You've erased Chad so many times, he can't even fight properly."

On cue, everyone turned to search for Chad among the enhanced, seeing him at the back of the crowd shying away from everyone with a strange look on his face. It was a complete 180 from what they had seen from him all the times before, and Sam remembered that the boy's story had changed various times from wanting to kill Spider-Man then thinking of Peter as family. It made him curious as to what the story was now...

Peter continued though, his harsh words unrelenting even as Karl Fiers' face started to turn red. "What have you told these kids about their families? What did you make them believe their families did to them? Did you make the children kill their family, or did you do it? You've been doing this for so long it's a wonder that the police haven't caught onto you yet, so you must have done something."

"I... I saved them-"

"Shut up!" Peter's fist slammed into the wall next to Fiers' head, cracks forming under the sudden pressure. Tony had taken a step forward, his eyebrows pushed together in worry. He - nor any of the others - had seen the boy so upset before. He wasn't one to get worked up this much, normally choosing to just remain silent when he was seriously angry...

Tony worried about what Fiers had done to his kid to make him yell.

"You saved no one!" Peter's voice cracked, his eyes closing shut as the tears built up in them. "You've done nothing but destroy our lives! You killed our parents and controlled our emotions and minds! And you did it all because of me! You've ruined perfectly good kids because you became obsessed with me and my parents! You say that I owe you for letting me live, but right now you're the one that should be begging me for your life..."

Karl's face was starting to turn blue, his mouth opening and closing as he desperately tried to breath passed the metal stick being pressed into his throat. Peter was unrelenting though, his eyes set in a dangerous glare. If he didn't stop soon, Fiers would die.

"Peter-" Tony started to step forward again, his hand rising to try and pull the boy back. Before he could though, Peter's body dropped to the ground.

The group of Avengers paused for a second, processing what had just happened, before shooting forward to grab their boy away from Charumathi's touch.

"G-good work, Ch-Charu..." Fiers panted and coughed, struggling to keep himself standing as Charu stood up.

As Peter was away from her, he was able to move again, and seemed to be back in his right mindset as he stared at the two with wide eyes. Tony stepped in front of him, hoping to offer the boy some protection - from their enemies and the boy's own mind.

"What's... what's going on?" A small voice asked, drawing their attention to the group of enhanced kids that were looking around in confusion.

"Where am I?"

"Mom...! I want my mom!"

"What happened?"

Fiers wheeled around to Charu, his body livid with anger. "What are you doing, you useless girl? You released them!"

"It's alright now, father..." Charu's faint voice said, and the sound of it sent a wave of peace out through the room. "We can end it all now, your mission is complete."

"N-No... Don't you dare...!" Karl took a step back from her, his eyes wide as his back hit the wall once again. The girl stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, his eyes hazing over almost immediately as his body slumped over.

Everyone watched in astonishment as the young girl guided the man to rest on the ground before she turned back to them with a deep bow. "I am very sorry for what my father and I have done to you all. I have released my control over everyone and will now take my father back to the mountains of his home where he will not hurt anyone again."

She lifted her hand and Karl rose like a puppet on strings, his eyes still hazed and with no emotions on his face.

"Wait, Charu...!" Peter called, started to stand. "You're going to leave with him? He's a criminal! He used you!"

Charu's gazed went to Peter, her eyes soft as a faint smile tugged at her lips. "If father does not return home soon, more men will be sent here to find him and cause trouble for everyone involved." Her gaze shifted to Fiers, "And he may have used me, but I am the one that swore myself to him. He was cruel, but he had saved me from my village. I owe him everything."

They turned to leave again, and no one stopped them this time.

The team had made front page news for the next month when they brought in all the kidnapped children to police stations around the state. They had apparently rescued kids that had been going missing for the last four years, Chad being the first one having gone missing.

As it turned out, without the mind control influencing him, Chad's real name was Steven and had been kidnapped when he was a skinny nerd. After he had gotten a good look at himself in the mirror, he had freaked out and started muttering under his breath. Peter almost laughed.

The only reason he hadn't was because his mind was still stuck on his confrontation with Fiers. He had been willing to strangle the life out of the man that killed his parents... While many would view it as justified karma, Peter couldn't help but hate himself for it. He didn't want to kill people, even Fiers, but his rage had gotten the better of him. It was terrifying to know that he had a side like that hiding deep within him.

"Peter," Mr. Stark called, catching the boy's attention and pulling him out of his thoughts. The man sat next to the boy, two mugs of warm liquid in each hand and handed one to him. "Not as good as Nat makes it, but I think it's okay."

Peter took the mug gingerly, looking down at the brown substance and taking in the sweet smell of it. A small smile made it's way onto his face as he drank the hot chocolate, "Thanks."

"Listen, kid..." Tony started, staring at his own drink, "Don't beat yourself up over what happened today. You couldn't control yourself most of the time... and sometimes our emotions just get the best of us." He took a swallow of his drink before continuing, "Besides, it's in the past, where it needs to be. You're safe and going home, and that's all that matters now."

Drinking most of his hot chocolate already, Peter let the warmth of it coat his insides, letting his body relax slightly. "Thanks, Mr. Stark..."

The two sat there in silence for a while before Tony suddenly patted his shoulder with a grin, "How do you feel about camping?"

A/N: Wooo! Finished! Just in time, too; my college classes start tomorrow! If I hadn't finished this tonight, who knows when I would... The reason it took so long is because I'm actually still in recovering from my surgery, and just hadn't had any motivation to write for it. Plus the holidays and all...

I hope this was okay for a final chapter... I kinda rushed it because of the timing and all, but I think it may be manageable? I may edited it over the summer if I come back with a better mindset and see how horrible it probably really is XD

Thank you to everyone who stuck it out through this story! I know it took a hard turn away from what the original story started out as... And a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, and those who favorited and followed!

Shout out to Invader Johnny for commenting on every chapter, from the first book and all the way here! Reading your comments and analysis of each chapter is where I got most of my motivation to keep writing.

See you all in my next story~!