"I See Fire"
"Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's sons, If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night"
Johnny didn't know about Ava's alter ego or even that she knew Peter was Spider-man based on what she told him all she knew was that Norman Osborn A.K.A Green Goblin infected him with something called a symbiote, so it made sense to him to fly off and leave her at the Baxter tower.
"Sorry cutie but if you got hurt Peter would kill me" he said to no one as he flew high over the city structures scouting out for a red and black parody of Spider-man.
Ava snuck away from Baxter tower to change and meet up with her team mates, the whole time she was wondering if she did the right thing, "Johnny and Peter are friends and his powers are why you need his help" she kept telling herself to reassure herself that she did the right thing.
White Tiger met the rest of the team at a building that was closed for renovations they looked like they were in a hurry to get moving and she knew why…Fury gave Widow the green light to dispatch Spider-man, "alright we all know what the plan Is find Spidey before Black Widow does" she ordered.
The guys all nodded and took off looking for their friend.
Johnny found the black and red Spider-man known as Chaos surrounded by Shield agents and at the forefront a very serious looking red head.
"Damn Peter you and strict looking girls…didn't take you for the dominant type" Johnny laughed to himself but his laughter diminished as he saw chaos start to throw the shield agents around like a rag doll and he was enjoying himself the whole time.
"Pete…what the hell are you?" was all Johnny could muster, this thing Chaos enjoyed thrived even on its own destructive habits, a pain filled scream drowned out his thoughts as Chaos bent an agent in half to the point his spine snapped. Johnny cringed at the sound of snapping bones this had to end and fast,
But before he even thought about how he would intervene Black Widow began firing at him.
Chaos swerved, ducked and dodged every bullet Widow fired and soon she was out of bullets as Chaos rained down her, Widows eye became enriched with fear Chaos was growing in stature with every violent encounter and more powerful as his bond with Peter deepened.
He grabbed Widow by her throat and raised her above his head his other arm formed into an axe "I'm going to enjoy splitting you in half" Chaos hissed as he raised his axe.
A surge of energy shot through Chaos's back causing the symbiote to contract and Peter to scream in agony, White Tiger had dug her electric claws into his back in an attempt to stop him from killing Widow, but her actions had hurt Peter under the ooze.
"sorry Peter but it's the only way to save you" she said back flipping away from his strike, Johnny blasted a fire ball between them, he set down in front of Chaos he fixed with a menacing gaze this thing had no remorse and sympathy, it wasn't Peter at all.
"Peter if you're in there…nothing personal but well…you stole a Swedish model from me huh I guess it's somewhat personal" Johnny chuckled as his flame grew hotter and burned whiter and his face got serious "you have 15 seconds to release my friend or I'm turning you into glue!" he snapped.
Chaos looked at Johnny, "he's living fire he's a great threat to us, kill the others and escape!" it hissed,
"No! I won't let you hurt them!" Peter snapped venomously as he struggled to keep Chaos from attacking the others.
Johnny took advantage of Chaos's hesitation and started spinning creating a fire vortex on the roof which descended down on Chaos, but Chaos was clever his arm stretched out and grabbed Nova using his panic to fire a beam at Johnny.
Johnny fell to the roof and Chaos whipped Nova into IronFist sending them both flying backwards, then turned his attention to Powerman,
While there was once a world of difference in size and power between the two Chaos had enhanced Peter's form and abilities to the point he could rival powerman in brute force, to which he demonstrated when he knocked him out in 6 simple hits, then there was only tiger.
His eyes narrowed on her the boys heart the last tie to sever before he could assume complete control. He moved like deaths shadow every step was hauntingly creepy but Tiger stood her ground despite her conflicting feelings "is this how Peter felt when he had to fight against us…so helpless yet angry?"
Chaos raised his axe arm again "NO!" Peter had stopped him once more beating on Johnny and Nova he could live with but no force from earth or hell would harm Ava, "we cannot become invincible if you won't give me complete control!" Chaos hissed. The red ooze parted from Peter's face, he was fighting for control.
Johnny sat up and saw Peter's face in the ooze he was paralyzed by White Tiger "sorry buddy please don't hate me" he groaned as he reignited and shot a fireball at Peter, Chaos screamed and shrieked as the small fire burned into his back. Johnny stood up and flew after him again restarting the fire vortex this time Chaos was trapped and surrounded by a swirling storm of fire, he dropped to his knees and wailed in agonizing pain he flailed around like a flopping fish out of water. The ooze started peeling away and a scared Peter was slowly retaking his shape and began struggling with the clinging symbiote "get…off of…me!" Peter growled, he was almost free but the heat from Johnny's vortex burned through the dropping Peter through the hole and crashing onto a rusty old cat walk.
Away from the fire and the fight Chaos had re-solidified to Peter's body "that was not fun!" it screamed.
Tiger jumped down after him with her claws cranked to maximum power "let him GO!" she hollered slashing at Chaos, the symbiote kept evading Tigers strikes but was amused by her ferocity, she kept slashing in a blind rage Tiger was losing focus she wanted the symbiote purged from Peter's body and becoming less objective as to how it came off. Her claws dug deep into the ooze and the electric energy coursed through Chaos.
His screams of pain shattered all the windows in the warehouse and echoed off the metal cat walks, but with the little strength he could muster Chaos landed a powerful punch which launched Tiger through the concrete roof.
Tiger struggled to push herself up but her arms gave out and a searing stinging pain shot through her shoulder, it was dislocated. The boys ran over to her side but Johnny had flew after Chaos down the rabbit hole "Peter! I know you're in there so if you can hear me I'm sorry buddy" he said,
Chaos turned away from Johnny ready to swing through the now broken windows but Johnny grabbed Chaos and took off flying high into the sky his fire burning through the symbiote trying his hardest not to let the monsters ear shrieking screams disorient his focus. The ooze melted over his hands but being consumed in fire wouldn't bond with him until he realized Peter wasn't wearing his suit, instinctively Johnny flamed out but without his fire making him lighter the two free fell.
"Johnny! I'm too young to die" Peter shouted,
"Hey if you had remembered to get dressed this morning and your web shooters we wouldn't be free falling from 60 stories!" Johnny snapped back.
"You can fly!"
"Yeah but with you being nearly naked you'd burn like Susan's cooking!"
"Nova! Need a lift!" Peter shouted, but Nova was still dazed and stumbled on the roof as the others watched them fall Tiger felt her heart jump into her throat.
Peter grabbed Johnny by the wrist and threw his other hand to catch himself on the upcoming building his fingers caught the gritty siding slowly slowing them down but burning as they slide every inch "ow hot, hot, hot!" Peter winced.
Then the worst part came they slide over a freshly washed window and Peter lost his grip dropping them down onto the roof of a passing bus with a thunderous crash crumpling the roof and shattering the windows "oh everything hurts" Peter mumbled as the whole world around him started spinning and ringing "but I'm in pain….must mean I'm alive"
Johnny pushed Peter off of himself "dude don't be hugging me when you're only wearing those goofy boxers I have an image to maintain" he tried to laugh but everything hurt too much to laugh.
"you know I'll admit Johnny I always doubted you about all the girls you've scored with but this is our first outing and you got me out of my pants" Peter joked and the both fell back onto the concaved roof laughing with nervous energy. A soft patter on the far end of the bus was Peter's indication that White Tiger had dropped to the roof she knelt down beside him still clutching her shoulder he could tell even through her mask she was getting teary eyed. But Peter just smiled at her and reached out his hand to her "thanks for not abandoning me Tiger" he chuckled but constricted with pain. Tiger squeezed his hand and dark spots formed under her eyes,
"You never turned your back on us Peter…we're never going to turn our backs on you" she whimpered still unable to find her voice.
Johnny called the fantastic car to pick them up, Peter needed something to wear home and the Baxter tower was closer than both the Tri-carrier and Aunt Mays house ("come on I can't be wondering around New York in my boxers there's a lot of freaks in this city")
Tiger went with Susan Richards to have her shoulder looked at while Peter and Johnny went to find Peter a suit.
"It's not exactly current but it'll fit" Johnny said as he threw Peter an old fantastic 4 uniform,
"So am I an honorary member now?" Peter laughed hinting at the time he had asked to join the team back in the day.
Johnny smirked "don't you have a team the Avengers? Besides you're better than a team mate…you're family Pete" he said, Peter put on suit it was a little tight across the chest but for something to get him across town it would do.
"looks good on you Pete" Reid Richards came into the room and handed Peter two new web shooters "Connors sent me the blue prints of your web shooters that shield designed so I could tweak it a bit, I've increased the cartridges capacity and also increased the density in the webbings molecular structure giving you a stronger hold and longer range" Reid said.
Peter took his new web shooters, they were amazing "no wonder they call you Mr. Fantastic" he cheered "thanks Reid"
"hey Pete hold up you can't swing across New York without a mask" Johnny called passing Peter a paper bag and patted his back "see you around buddy" he said with a mischievous smile that Peter never trusted, White Tiger came back with her arm in a sling she looked like she was almost floating when she saw Peter.
"Ready to go?" he asked, Tiger nodded and giggled when Peter dawned his paper bag and playfully kicked his backside, "ouch Tiger!" he chuckled.
"The sign says kick me" Tiger laughed, Peter reached around and felt a sheet of paper tied to his back,
"Johnny you dick" Peter laughed.
"Hey Pete you're dating that Ava chick so why are you flirty with tiger, I'm the player you're the genuine nice guy we're not changing roles" Johnny whispered,
Peter smiled and turned to Tiger "go ahead" he said softly, and Tiger flipped her mask up.
Peter slid on his new shooters and Ava turned to Johnny "thank you for bringing him back" she whispered and she even hugged him. Which stunned both Peter and Johnny,
"Ok…no problem" he said patting her head.
The bomb-bastic bagman that was Spider-man in disguise swung across town with White Tiger on his back all the way to Aunt May's house, Peter still had to pick up a new costume from the tower because Ava had cut his old one to shreds but she claimed she put the remaining shreds to good use.
When they arrived back home Aunt May was sorting out the mail and Peter raced upstairs to change, when he came back down Ava was reading the fan letter M.j brought from the bugle.
"Dear Spider-man please meet our daughter, she is your biggest fan and just thinks the world of you…" she was interrupted as Peter took the letter from her hands to read it for himself his lips moved with every word he read, "you're going to lip read through that whole letter aren't you?" she laughed.
M.j came barging in "Ava did you hear the Human torch and the thing that took over Peter just had a fight down…" she trailed off when she saw Peter reading the fan mail,
"Yeah I know Johnny saved him" Ava replied calmly.
"Hey if it wasn't for me and my Spider-grip Johnny would be a big splat on the pavement" Peter interjected not looking up from the letter "I have to go out for a while" he finished.
"Peter hold up! I'm covering the re-opening of the Harding foundations science and medical research and I was given an extra ticket, I figured since you used to volunteer there that you would want to go and check it out" M.j pleaded.
Aunt May picked up a silver envelope with a black cat stamped on the corner it was an invitation to the foundations re-opening, "Peter this came for this morning" she said holding it up for him to see.
"Ava why don't you go with M.j I'll catch up, it's a really cool lab with the most advanced equipment in medical research" he said, as he opened the door "see everyone later"
M.j turned to Ava "you want to go with me?" she asked, Ava nodded it did sound like fun going to a sophisticated Party instead of the primitive parties the boys all ways dragged her to.
Peter grabbed his spare suit from the Avenger tower and made his way over a building in Manhattan, he crawled through a window where a little girl no older than 8 years old was scrap booking on her bed "Maria Tiana Russo?" he asked catching the girl off guard.
"Spider-man!" she cheered jumping off her bed "wow, I'm your biggest fan" she cheered,
Spider-man just smiled at the little girl "so I've heard, your parents sent me your fan letter after I read it … well I just had to meet you Maria" he replied.
"awe don't call me Maria only my mom does that call me Tiana" she replied as she pulled out a thick green scrap book "I've followed you're exploits ever since you did your spot on today show" she cheered and sure enough as Spider-man looked at the pages every article and picture of him that was printed was glued in and dated, "the man at the bugle says a lot of nasty things about you" she said.
Spider-man knelt down beside her "you don't believe them do you?" he asked worriedly, but Tiana just smiled at him with a hopeful and eager smile,
"Nah he's just a jealous blowhard" she replied "I know you're always trying to help people"
("She's 8 years old and she's already figured out more than J.J I like this girl")
"this is the first article I collected it's from when you were a wrestler"
Spider-man chuckled "ha-ha yea back when I thought I could make some money with my powers"
"how did you get your Powers, Billy Wilson says you're an alien who crashed on earth" Tiana asked curiously,
Spider-man looked at her "I think Billy has me mistaken for somebody else, I was actually an accident..."
"An accident?" Tianna asked?
"I was visiting a lab at the Harding foundation for a radioactive research on how radiation could be used to cure diseases, but unknown to anyone in the lab at the exact time the machine was activated a spider was caught in the radio waves. And it bit me I was disoriented after the bite I stumbled into an alley way and didn't see an oncoming car coming straight for me, I jumped to get out of the way and found myself sticking to a wall. Somehow the radiation affected the spider and when it bit me it transferred its abilities to me, I can climb walls, proportionate strength and speed of a spider and even an early warning defensive sense a 6th sense for danger" he finished.
Tiana turned back to Spider-man "are your webs a power you got from the bite too?" she asked, Spider-man shook his head and de-camouflaged his shooters,
"No my webbing comes from my own designed shooters or they used to until I got these ones the exact amount of pressure from these two fingers on a pressure sensor trigger prevents me from spraying fluid when I make a fist or grab something" he replied as he shot webbing from 4 points on the roof making a swing and placing Tiana on it and began pushing her on it.
"how did you make it? Are you super smart or something?" Tiana asked,
"sort of, when the Spider bit me it transferred the knowledge of what enzymes could form and bond under pressurized contents to make webbing but like webbing it's biodegradable so it breaks down after about an hour" Spider-man replied.
Tiana stopped swinging an turned back to Spider-man can you take me for a ride?" she asked with big brown eyes,
"awe man" Spider-man sighed to himself his head darted to the window then to his watch the reopening was in an hour "alright…but you have dress warm" he said.
Tiana screamed with excitement and joy as Spider-man flipped and soared through the air with her webbed to his back, a smile formed on Peter's lips he felt warm and fuzzy knowing he had made this little girls dream come true, as he whipped back into her bedroom window "thank you Spider-man that was the most fun I ever had" she said happily nearly bouncing on the spot as she hugged him.
Spider-man went to leave but Tiana asked one more question "who are you under the mask? Spider-man hesitated a bit "promise I won't tell anyone" she pleaded,
Peter felt his heart melt ("crap I'm a major softy") Peter pulled his mask just passed his face "I'm Peter Parker" he replied,
Tiana smiled and hugged him again "thank you Spider-man" she said softly.
"thank you Tiana…for reminding me why I do what I do" he said softly "you might be the best friend I ever had" he added before swinging away over the sign "the Sarah Harding hospital for sick kids"
Peter's back to normal thanks to Johnny...but what happened to the symbiote after it and Peter were separated?
Spider-man met his biggest fan and remembers why he is important to the city.
the Harding Foundation the leaders in medical research field sounds like a prime place for a robbery doesn't it and how did Peter get a personal invitation? (answers in the chapter)
(Chibi Spidey walks across the screen" hey I'm contracted to get at least a 10 second appearance in every chapter you jerk! so HA! pay me sucker, by the way Johnny's make shift suit don't ever bring it out again!"
Still to come: the Harding Foundation (awkward complications)
the first date: take 2 ("putting the shreds to good use")