Chapter 26: Amazing Friends Part Two.
Spider-Man thought that getting in and talking to SHIELD was a no go which meant that he was back to square one. As much as the web slinger hated to admit it, they were in one of those no win situations.
"I want to know why they aren't going after us right now," Firestar said as she looked around and her eyes blinked.
"You're actually complaining about the crazed alien bugs not coming after us and trying to eat our souls or whatever they're doing?" Iceman asked in a scandalized voice and Firestar rolled her eyes in response, shaking her head.
"Well no but….."
"Focus," Spider-Man said in annoyed voice, he was beating himself up mentally for Gwen being put in that situation, not to mention the others. However, self loathing could wait for later, right now he had to focus on getting everyone out there safely. The web slinger clapped his hands together immediately.
Iceman and Firestar remained silent, at least for a few seconds. It was long enough for Spider-Man to determine what he needed to do and he needed to determine that extremely quickly. His heart skipped half of a beat as it drummed into his chest. The web slinger could tell that he was in a situation immediately.
"Well….this could be a problem," Spider-Man whispered and there was a raised eyebrow from the two of them.
"I hate when you say something like that, I hate when someone says anything like that…."
"They put up some kind of field that prevents any radio communication, which means that there's no way in, no way out, which means also that they wanted to lure me here," Spider-Man said as he once again combed over the data that Gwen found. He had a feeling that there was something that he missed, although he had no idea what he missed.
It was one of those situations where he was put in there, do or die.
"They seemed to all want a piece of you," Firestar said and Iceman rolled his eyes.
"Demented alien bugs or not, they're still females so they want to jump down Spider-Man's pants…"
"You know, you didn't have to be so crude," Firestar said, although that was to deflect the fact that she would jump down Spider-Man's pants, if given the chance.
Spider-Man pretended not to notice this little interplay, although it caused his thoughts to clear and him to comb over the data with a clearer mind and more thoughts. Thoughts that were not of the self loathing variety and the thoughts that did not beat himself up.
'Okay, they were….resistant to sonic attacks and fire, that much was for sure, well that doesn't help me too much,' Spider-Man thought as he mulled over everything in his mind. There was another couple of ideas that went into his mind. 'Let me think here….if I can lure them into one central area, I could beat them, but I don't know how strong that they are getting. And the spores seem to be more resistant when they are feeding off of a human host.'
"So, what happens if they release those pods into the city?"
"We're pretty much screwed," Iceman said as he side stepped Spider-Man to answer Firestar's question.
"Well….actually yes, that's a pretty obvious assessment," Spider-Man agreed and Firestar put her hands on her hips and sighed. She did not want to believe that, because she was a hero immediately. "I have an idea, but it's crazy enough to work, and also so crazy that it won't work."
"My favorite kind of idea," Iceman said as he opened his mouth. He half thought about trying to get a way out and radio for help but what the hell were they going to do? They bring in more people, they get infected.
Spider-Man could get the readings…..and well his face fell immediately.
"Eighteen hours to beat this, eighteen hours before the spores consume all the life energy and matter of the host, and become human sized monsters," Spider-Man said immediately. "Not strictly lizards as we first thought, although some kind of large praying mantis type creatures."
"And how is that any better?" Iceman asked as his voice nearly went up several decibels and Spider-Man eyed him immediately, a frown floating on his face.
"Not really better," Spider-Man admitted and Iceman nodded his head, he was this close to grumbling regarding everything.
"Wonderful," Iceman whispered, he could not even begin to emphasize how agonizing this felt to him on a personal lover. That being said, he really felt squicked out because he was not a fan of bugs of any type, never mind the alien variety.
"Is there something that you would like to share with the rest of the class?" Firestar asked in a would be innocent voice.
"NO!" Iceman yelped, his voice growing in intensity as he looked around.
Spider-Man did not have any time to worry himself all that much about what Iceman was going through. He was going through some kind of issue.
"So, I'm formulating a plan, but you need to trust me and follow it to the letter, because there is so much that can get screwed up and we don't have that much time," Spider-Man said and Firestar chimed in.
"We need some kind of team name, don't we?" Firestar asked.
"How about Iceman and his Amazing Friends?" Iceman asked.
"How about, no," Spider-Man said but he grew really serious and given that he was the most serious member of the trio, that was saying something. "Okay, here's what we got to do, we're going to have to divide them, because there is strength in numbers."
"Standard, team based mission, got you," Iceman said and Spider-Man was working in the lab, as he poured a chemical into a nozzle. "So what's that?"
"Something that will hopefully keep them off our backs," Spider-Man said without missing a beat but he had to get to work straight away.
Time ran out on them all.
Gwen Stacy, or at least the body of Gwen Stacy, had razor sharp focus, her forked tongue flickering around.
"I will not have any further failures, do you understand me?" she asked in a sickening and disturbing voice as the infected X-Men nodded immediately. There was a few seconds where the group looked at each other.
They knew that they had to bow to the strongest one of them and this was the vessel that their Brood Queen had chosen to infect.
"Do not fail me ever again, or I will remove your heads, and I do not care whose body they are attached to," she said in an echoing voice. "You allowed Spider-Man to escape. I wish to have him, and I will have him. You are not going to deprive your queen of her mate, and I will have vengeance."
The Brood Queen sought out Spider-Man as her mate and then…..well the Brood Queen would do what she always did with her mate. After she had mated with him, she would consume them.
"If you ask me, you think you can boss us around you are….."
Gwen clapped her head on Kitty's mouth and the brunette girl yelped immediately.
"You forget your place, drone," Gwen said in a ghostly voice as it echoed immediately. The blonde's eyes were slit like and there was a few seconds where the group bowed before her. "He could not have gotten far, there is no escape, no easy way out."
She looked forward and she could sense it. The vessel she had taken and she was going to consume, it had strong ties to the Spider-Man. That meant that there was something that enticed her, at least on some subliminal level. The blonde's eyes flashed immediately.
'You can't hold me forever,' Gwen whispered as she tried to fight the mind control.
'Why do you struggle?' the Brood Queen asked.
'Let's face it, lady, if I didn't struggle, you wouldn't have taken me, let's face it, a part of you gets off on trying to break me,' Gwen replied without missing a beat. The blonde knew that she had the Brood Queen's number and it was all about pushing the right buttons. These right buttons were causing the Brood Queen. 'And I might find a way out…..'
'Your body is mine, you're like a puppet on a string, until the bonding process is completed,' the Brood Queen said and she could feel Gwen's strong will nearly over power. She was pretty sure that Gwen Stacy was not the only one who was trying to break her conditioning, she saw a few small flickers immediately.
Gwen once again could feel that she bought Peter enough time hopefully to reverse the curse but would it be enough time. She knew that it would only be a matter of hours before they were all brought to the point of no return.
"Is there a problem, your majesty?" the drone that inhabited Rogue's body asked, although she sounded a bit too hopeful.
"No, there's not a problem, keep to your positions," she said a bit more harshly than someone of her status might have. But there was a good reason why she acted in such a way. The blonde's nose wrinkled in a supreme amount of fury. "Make sure the seedlings are properly cared for, the second wave must be stronger the first one, as we need to blanket the entire city in our prognancy."
'So world domination, really….'
'Independent thought must be eradicated, it will lead to suffering, and suffering will lead to the destruction, the Brood has chosen to save the humans from themselves,' the Brood Queen argued Gwen and Gwen paused immediately but she said one thing.
'Well keep telling yourself day, if you believe hard enough, it could one day come true, just keep reaching for the stars,' Gwen thought as she tried to push out immediately.
The blonde and the queen were fighting a battle but the Queen walked over. Some of their pods had been destroyed, but others had been created in their place. The reasons why were elegant as were the methods of creation.
'Soon,' the Brood Queen hissed immediately.
"My liege, we have a situation."
The Brood Queen corked an eyebrow, keeping herself extremely calm in the grand scheme of things. "What is it?"
"Problems….the survivors are trying to find their way back inside," the one that inhabited Logan said as he tried to fight down the natural healing abilities of that one.
"They are foolish if they think that they can get back inside," the Brood Queen said as her tongue hissed. "But they will play into our plans quite nicely."
Gwen was not going to say anything but she sensed a plan that they were not as control in as they thought. The blonde was just going to have to wait to see what was happening immediately and her stomach, well there was a knot that was tightened into it. The blonde tapped her fingers down across the side of a railing and threw her head back.
The blonde blinked immediately as she nearly swallowed and wondered if she could somehow make things easier on Peter than the others. The problem was that she was going to have to figure out a way to direct them here, without letting these hideous creatures know what she was doing. And that could be the problem all things considered. The blonde's mouth became exceedingly dry as she turned her head around.
'I hope you're not trying to counteract what I'm doing, you should conserve whatever energy I allow you to have,' the Brood Queen said.
Gwen said nothing, it was not possible to spit at herself, otherwise she would have done so where she stood. She tried to keep her thoughts clear and neutral. It was hard to really think of a plan, without thinking of a plan, and the thought gave her a headache.
"We're in," Firestar said and Iceman looked her. They were going down the really creepy tunnel and they could feel like that there was some kind of scary sensation as they made their way down the tunnel. It was like something that came out of a really bad horror movie.
"Just keep cool," Spider-Man said and he turned over his shoulder to look at Iceman who was about to open his mouth instinctively. In a warning manner, Spider-Man shook his head. "Not, one word."
"Of course," Iceman said as he could hear the rustling and then the laughter. "You know, they're trying to psyche us out."
"Come, come into my parlor, you will not be able to escape when I have my hands on you," the taunting voice of the Brood Queen said.
Peter tensed up, he could not believe that she was heard but at the same time, it was Gwen. Kind of, sort of, not really. The web slinger could take another half of a step forward and there was a drip, drip, drip, as the web slinger kept pushing himself forward. Shivers blew down his spine as he kept going immediately.
He looked over his shoulder and turned around, as Iceman and Firestar joined him.
They could see the eggs that were on the wall, it was silent, unmoving, and unnerving, very unnerving, extremely unnerving in fact.
"Creepy much?" Firestar asked and then there was the pitter patter of X-Men.
"Stick to the plan!" Spider-Man yelled over his shoulder as he jumped into the air. He could see Logan rush him but Spider-Man dodged it. "You know, we really got to stop meeting like this, Logan, with the you being possessed thing and all that."
Logan growled and swiped his claws, with Spider-Man ducking the attempt to get his head being taken off. Another attempt and once again, Spider-Man avoided being taken out. The web slinger bounced off the wall and latched his web line around the neck of Logan. Logan grabbed Spider-Man around the neck and hurled him halfway across the room.
Spider-Man landed with a thud and Firestar blasted him with a blast of golden light.
Dazzler was in but Iceman blocked her attacks. The two of them went head to head with each other, both of them pushing back and forth with each other, neither breaking up their attacks.
"Heads up," Spider-Man said as he knocked Dazzler against the wall. He tried to inject her with the counter agent but the spore inside her was fighting it. The forked tongue hissed angrily as she tried to struggle out from where she was.
The blonde hurled Spider-Man against the wall where he went ricocheted off against the wall. His back hit hard and the web slinger grimaced, shaking his head as he struggled up to his feet.
Jean was at the front of the tunnel but she was fighting the Brood invasion of her mind stronger. In fact, the full fury of the Phoenix Force was dangerously about to bubble through.
"We better move, now!" Peter yelled, knowing that Jean could crack at any second now and it would not be good, at all.
"Yes, moving, quickly!" Firestar yelled as she scrambled down the tunnel and her heart drummed against her chest. There was no question about it, they were caught without any way out.
"We are, yes we are, quickly, moving quickly!" Iceman yelled as two of the Brood Drones were brought down.
They could see Jean collapsing immediately and Spider-Man did an acrobatic leap.
"Stay still!" Kitty yelled at the top of her lungs and Spider-Man grabbed her around the arms and pushed her against the wall of the tunnel. He really hoped this worked, and he really hoped that it worked soon.
The web slinger stuck the antidote into the side of her neck and she was about ready to slump against the wall. Her pupils dilated but Peter sensed no threat from her.
"One down, several to go," Spider-Man muttered as he could see Cyclops march forward.
"I never liked you," Cyclops said but Spider-Man dodged his attack.
Logan was knocked into Cyclops and then Iceman froze their legs into place. The two of them held needles in their hands and jammed them into the side of their necks, causing them to drop onto the ground just like that.
"Well there's three," Spider-Man said as he could see the glowing light and he lifted his head back.
"Come to me Spider-Man, come and worship your queen!"
"Heads up!" Firestar yelled as the possessed form of Cannonball shot to them, knocking Iceman off into the wall.
The web slinger managed to rush forward immediately and he stabbed the antidote into the back of Cannonball's neck. He slacked immediately.
Laura rushed them both, and she was far quicker than Wolverine. However, she was slowed down in some degree by the fact that she had been fighting it in her mind. She pulled her claws and did not stab Firestar.
Firestar stared down Talon's claws and it was fairly horrifying to see what she was able to do, given the proper mind. The woman's fingers twitched immediately as she dropped down to her knees, breathing in and out.
Spider-Man jumped over Talon but she blocked the attempt of the antidote. It flew out of Spider-Man's hands as he kept dodging the claw swipes.
"Whoa, when was the last time you got your nails done?" Spider-Man asked as he stared her down and he was nearly stabbed into the wall. The web slinger let a breath out of his chest and slumped back immediately.
Firestar dove for the antidote, knowing that the spores were about ready to burst. She needed the help, as the X-Men were coming to, slowly but surely.
"Got it!" she yelled, holding up the antidote but the pods were shaking.
Alison gingerly lifted her arm and destroyed the pods with a blast of energy, before she collapsed, out for the count.
The Brood Queen's face contorted into a scowl and there was plenty of amusement that was resounding through the mind of Gwen Stacy.
'Are we losing control?' Gwen taunted her.
'I'm always in control,' the Brood Queen replied and there was a sense where there was a pause. If she had Spider-Man, than she would be out of control. 'Did he think that it would be that easy? As long as I live, I still have some control over my children and he will be crushed.'
"Come to me Spider-Man, face your queen!" The Brood Queen called and there was a few seconds where she smiled and waited. There was a sickening gaze in her eyes that was not something that many people would like.
"You know, you are completely and utterly insane and I just want you to know that."
Spider-Man showed up and there was a moment of indecision as he paused there. He could see Gwen right before him and he hoped that he did not need to fight her. He did not think that he could, although the web slinger took a deep breath.
The Brood Queen knew what he did want to fight and she laughed. "I would start by eating your spine but I think that you don't have one."
More eggs pulsed above them.
"They gain strength with each batch, soon they will be free, and allowed into this world, where they will feed upon all who oppose me," The Brood Queen whispered with sickening glee in her eyes.
"You won't get that far," Spider-Man said immediately as he eyed the eggs nervously. Firestar and Iceman were watching his back from the door and hopefully the antidote that he gave them would prevent them from getting infected.
"We shall see," she cackled as her teeth twisted into a ugly ghastly smile that was not becoming of Gwen.
The Brood Queen descended her way down the steps and she leaned forward one hand before she punched the web slinger hard against the wall.
Spider-Man was not going to lie, that hurt, and the Brood Queen jumped at him but the web slinger avoided the attack. The web slinger tried to web her up but she used amazing strength to snap the web lines immediately.
She grabbed Spider-Man around the side of the head and pressed onto his artery, to try and make him black out.
"Come on ,give me….." the Brood Queen said and the force from within was fighting, which allowed Spider-Man to run up the walls, Gwen's arms still wrapped around his neck.
'Sorry about this but it has to be done,' the web slinger thought as he flipped himself onto his feet and send the blonde spiraling to the ground. She landed head over heels and crashed down to the ground.
The web slinger slumped against the wall and he could see her up.
"You don't have much time left, do you?" she asked as Spider-Man's spider sense went off once more.
"I've got more left than you think," Spider-Man said as he had to focus. He had to allow the spider sense to be his guide.
He bounced off the wall, down to the floor, up onto the ceiling, and he grabbed her immediately. The blonde grabbed him around the head and his mask ripped off immediately in her hand.
The Brood Queen held up the mask as some kind of triumphant souvenir as she charged her adversary. The web slinger crouched down and she landed onto the ground. He hung onto her arm, holding it back behind her back and twisted.
"No!" she moaned as she rocked him and had him pinned down onto the ground. "Now the tables have turned."
It was now the moment of truth, as Gwen's tongue was rammed into Peter's mouth as the Brood Queen tried to infect him.
Spider-Man removed the concealed syringe within his glove and jabbed it into the back of Gwen's neck. Her eyes dilated immediately as she retracted.
"NOOOO!" the Brood Queen yelled as she rushed around immediately, her heart beating immediately as it thumped hard.
'I think you lost,' Gwen thought, granted she felt like a fair amount of crap herself but at least the blonde was feeling something akin to returning back to her normal self.
Now that the Brood Queen's will was dampened, the eggs were getting to soften and then they were going to decay.
Spider-Man shook his head, he nearly was infected, but the antidote had burned out the spore before it got into his body. It was an act of faith to lure her into a false sense of security but it was an act that paid off.
All he had to do was wait to see if the antidote would work.
Gwen immediately felt the sudden warmth spread through her body and then the chills blew down her spine. The blonde nearly collapsed onto her knees and she closed her eyes as Peter rushed over.
He caught the fallen form of his lover in his arms. Gwen was completely out of it, although the fact was that she flickered her eyes open, to acknowledge that she was still among the world of the living. For a few seconds there had been plenty of doubt.
"Possession….not fun," Gwen managed weakly as she could see the blue goop around, but the infection had been removed. "So you figured it out?"
"Yes, I did, but we can talk about it later," Peter said and Gwen nodded, as he scooped her up and he was about to bring her to the medical bay.
"Oh….good, need to lie down for about fifty years or so," Gwen managed in a tense and scratchy voice as she was about to just black out in Peter's arms.
"Go do that," Peter said as he was amused and glad that he was right now because it was a scary situation to be honest with it.
"Well, the good news is that we will all make a full recovery," Beast said as his tone seemed to be extremely jovial all things considered. "And I think we have these three to thank."
"Hope that's the last time I get mind controlled by something for a while, kind of getting sick of it," Logan said immediately.
"I don't think you should thank me so much, as to thank Gwen," Peter said and Gwen sat up, the dressing gown extended beneath her knees. Her eyes were widened in a moment of surprise, shock, and awe as she looked at Peter, unable to believe what he said. The blonde's skepticism rang through her eyes.
"Well I don't think that you really should be thanking me," Gwen argued, as she could feel a bit modest despite the situation. "I did sit there….."
"You might have been infected just like the rest of us but it was your data that caused Peter to did what he did, and concoct the antidote," Angelica said.
Gwen took this praise in stride, if she was perfectly honest with herself, she managed to get the data on a whim immediately. The fact was that the Iron Spider suit was destroyed yet again and this time, beyond all repair.
"I'm going to rebuild and try again," she muttered to herself and she got a series of confused looks. "Sorry, it's just that…..well the suit I did spend a lot of time on it, but I guess….."
"If it wasn't for that, Peter wouldn't have got out of there and fixed things up," Kitty said in a bright and gushing voice but Gwen tried to remain modest because if she got an inflated head, there would be trouble.
"Well, yes," Gwen said as she looked absolutely pink on the cheeks.
"Good job Gwen," Peter said as he wrapped her arm around her. "It's not the Iron Spider suit that won this one, although I think it helped. I saw it in your eyes, you were fighting her control all this time and that was the true amazing."
"Strength of will is more amazing that strength of powers," Ororo said.
"I wouldn't argue with that," Logan chimed in and Gwen smiled.
"So, I guess that we're all clear, but…..where did they come from?" Alison asked and there was unanswered questions among unanswered questions and the blonde thought that there was going to be a fair amount of trouble all things considered.
"Well, they said that they were trying to bring order back to the world," Gwen concluded and there were a few raised eyebrow. "They were deluded….."
"Maybe, maybe not, I mean the most deluded of people often start with the most noble of intentions," Ororo said, she had seen too many examples of it in the past, too many to name completely.
Gwen nodded, she could tell that the Brood Queen believed everything that she said and then more. It was somewhat delusional but there was a ring of truth.
"So, do you think that they'll come back?" Jubilee asked and that was a question that could not be answered.
Jean was disturbed by the situation more than any of them, although she had a bright smile on her face. She had felt controlled by the creature and neither side liked that, whether it be Jean Grey or the Phoenix. There would be no force that would be able to hold her down just like that and the redhead leaned back immediately.
Hopefully a new sunrise meant a brand new day for them all.
To Be Continued.