Chapter Twenty "Emma Frost – White Queen"

The sewers, one of the filthiest places a person could be, and here she was right in the middle of one. The horrid aroma filled her nose, nearly causing her to gag on several occasions, and the various substances seeped through her clothing, making her wish she could take a shower much sooner than later. Her brow twitched. The situation was bad enough, but the jibbering idiot traveling with her made the trip so much more miserable.

Spider-Man was his name, and Emma felt he was the single most annoying twat on the planet. Given her frustation was altering her original opinion on Spider-Man, but the end result was the same with him being completely intolerable for the most part. It didn't help that her teammates were transformed into feral lizard creatures by Dark Beast, and circumstances threw Emma into this unholy alliance.

"The sewers. I swear, this place gets more magical by the minute," Spider-Man said, earning an exasperated groan from Emma. He nodded his head. "Yeah, I totally agree."

Crawling side by side within the tiny space of a pipe, it felt as if Spider-Man's voice was piercing Emma's mind more than her eardrums. She blankly stared at the path ahead, dreading that there was no visible light at the end of the tunnel. At the pace they were crawling, it was going to take them several minutes to reach the end of the path. Emma sighed inwardly, knowing she could not bear to listen to Spider-Man's commentary for that long.

"...and let me tell you, it took weeks for me to wash the smell out of my costume. Can you imagine smelling like someone's lunch for that long? It really sucks," he rambled on, oblivious to the glare Emma was bearing.

"I'm going to my happy place. You're not there," she said curtly.

Tuning his banter out, Emma watched Spider-Man with a furrowed brow. One thing she learned over the years was that people's traits were a way to compensate for a flaw. Spider-Man's light-hearted and annoying nature had to hide something, and since the trip was going to be a tedious one, she'd make sure to be thorough in her mental search.

Early childhood years came into view first, but Emma immediately found a lack of memory of his biological parents. While the loss was great, the sense of attachment was sorely lacking, meaning his parents must have died before he could truly appreciate them. However, the images of his uncle and aunt appeared, answering Emma's immediate question. These two were Spider-Man's true 'parents' or rather, the people who raised him.

Suddenly, sadness washed over her.

Emma dove further into his thoughts but stopped when Peter emerged with tears in his eyes. He fell to his knees, clutching an older man in his arms, and Emma cringed at a realization. It was his uncle. The darkness lifted, only for a crimson wave to consume his mind.

Rage. Fury. Revenge. The one responsible for the death of his uncle was close, and Spider-Man would make him pay for his sin. Snatching him by his collar, Spider-Man reared his fist back, ready to strike, but light revealed the man's face, sending an overwhelming, heavy feeling on his shoulders.

Guilt.

Emma's eyes widened at the vastness of this emotion. Behind the poor humor and light demeanor was a guilty and heavy heart burdened with the fact that he was responsible for the death of his uncle. If he had stopped the crook, his uncle would be alive. If he was responsible, things could have turned out differently. He made a promise to uphold his uncle's saying, 'With great power comes great responsibility', and he intended to keep it no matter what happened.

Since then, Spider-Man fought tooth and nail to help make up for his mistake. The sacrifices made across his personal life, enduring the media victimization, and dealing with the death of his first girlfriend were all astounding attempts to atone for one sin, but despite it all, Spider-Man did not believe it was enough. It would never be enough.

Emma snapped out of her trance, only to find Spider-Man still babbling on about something insignificant. However, he did not come off as annoying as he did a few minutes ago. They had finally reached the end of the tunnel. Spider-Man exited first and offered his hand to Emma. She accepted the gesture, but for a strange reason, Spider-Man's ongoing banter had ended suddenly. His blank lenses stared at Emma, leaving her mildly baffled about the sudden change.

She shot him a glare. "What are you staring at?"

Scratching the back of his head, Spider-Man pointed at the woman. "Are you okay? You're...crying."

Emma's eyes widened. She removed her glove and brushed her hand across her moist cheek. Appalled with her behavior, Emma scolded herself for being such an amateur. A part of her felt sympathy for Spider-Man, but it did not change the fact that he was an annoying whelp. She threw her glove back over her hand and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's just the smell of this dreadful place," she lied. "Let's hurry up and finish this so we can leave."

Walking ahead, Emma did not give Spider-Man a chance to question her actions. She glanced back with worry in her ocean blue eyes. The sense of guilt Spider-Man carried was overwhelming, and if he wasn't careful, it would end up destroying him. Why she cared for the annoying whelp was beyond her understanding. With a flick of the wrist, she could just erase what she saw from her memory, but a small of part did not want to do that.

Against her better judgment, Emma turned around and placed her hand on Spider-Man's shoulder. "Try not to worry yourself to death."

Spider-Man tilted his head to the side, unsure of what the woman meant, but she turned away before he could hope to ask for an explanation. With her back turned, Emma brushed one last tear from her eye.

Sorry about the wait. I hope this chapter was somewhat decent. Reviews and requests are very much appreciated. This story continues to grow in popularity. Let's continue to show Spidey some love.

Oh, for the DC characters, I decided to write an entirely different story featuring them. That won't be until this fic is near completion (which will not be for a while, mind you). Just a little FYI for those who don't know.

As for the next three chapters, they will all be follow-ups. Based on popularity, it will be Storm, Spider-Girl, and She-Hulk. Hope you all enjoy them. Until next time!