The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of my phone vibrating. I groaned before I looked over at it. I looked over at my digital clock. Seeing that it was five o'clock in the morning, I realized that my phone's alarm wasn't going off. I was getting a call. I reached over and grabbed my phone and read the screen. Seeing Betty's name, I blinked once before I answered the call and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I greeted with my voice raspy from sleep.

"Hey Peter, are you doing anything Wednesday night?" Betty asked in a somewhat hopeful tone.

"Other than… you know… not really." I glanced over at my digital clock again. I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked at the screen again, checking the time. It was indeed around five o'clock in the morning. I brought my phone to my ear again and sat up with a groan. "…It's about five o'clock in the morning. I'm going to assume this isn't about a get-together."

"I really wish it was. I… I've been asked by J. Jonah Jameson to come in and work a shift at The Daily Bugle this upcoming Wednesday night. And I said yes." I could hear the regret in her tone. Something told me that she didn't want to be there.

"Do you need me to cover for you?" I asked.

"No Peter," Betty answered. "I was hoping you can come in and be there with me."

I blinked a couple of times, digesting what she was saying. I then narrowed my eyes. "Is everything okay? You don't have someone stalking you, do you?"

"No, Peter. But I almost wish I did. When I agreed to come in, that's when Jameson told me that he had two special guests for the show – Justin Hammer and Scorpion." My stomached churned and my heartrate went up. I wondered if it would be wise for me to go. It seemed like every time I was in the same room with them while I'm in my civilian identity, it became harder and harder not to throw caution into the wind and fight them right there and then. Before I could even think about declining, however, Betty continued to speak. "Look, I know I'm being a bit paranoid, but after what we did in California… I don't think I'll feel safe around them. I'm sorry for calling you this early in the morning but…"

"Betty… I get it. I'll be there."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to end up doing something that'll reveal – "

"Unless they do something to try and harm you, we won't have to worry about that," I assured. "But if something does happen, and it comes down to saving you or keeping my secret safe, I'm saving you ten times out of ten."

"Peter," Betty groaned out. I heard her sigh. "…You really are a hero, you know that?"

"Sometimes I forget that." I smiled slightly. "So… don't hesitate to remind me."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you Wednesday, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Betty."

"Bye Peter."

I ended the call. I tapped the phone lightly against the palm of my left hand as I stared off in the distance in thought. After a few moments, I called Scott. After a couple of rings, he picked up.

"Hey Peter," Scott greeted. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," I replied. "Listen… Betty and I are going to be at The Daily Bugle building Wednesday night. It turns out that they'll have two special guests on the show. Care to guess who they are?"

There was brief silence, followed by a resigned sigh. "That's unexpected, but not the end of the world. Will you be okay around Hammer and Scorpion?"

"Despite my urge to slap the teeth out of Justin's mouth and send Scorpion through several floors with a piledriver, I think I can manage. But, I was wondering… is there any way you can send Kitty our way? I don't think anything will happen but… Betty's worried, and I think it'll give me a bit more peace of mind if someone else was also there."

"Consider it done. Well, I'm going to go back to bed now. But, before I go, don't forget to do your homework."

"I won't."

"Good. Talk to you soon. Bye Peter."

"Bye Scott."

I hung up the phone. I then lay back in bed. I remembered the text from Scott I got the night before. I started to wonder what he had in store for The Daily Bugle on Wednesday. I stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then napped again for a couple of hours before I woke up. After showering, brushing my teeth, and other parts of my morning routine, I made breakfast. It was nothing fancy, just fried eggs and cheese with some blueberries on the side and a glass of grapefruit juice. After that, I got dressed, gathered my things, and headed out.

I went to the nearest library and went about doing my homework and taking and going over notes. The homework wasn't really that hard, especially considering that I've had much harder assignments during my time at Midtown. But I was doing well in class, and I didn't want my grades to slip. As I studied, I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic, remembering all the times Ned and, eventually, MJ, would study with me at Midtown's library when we were unable to do so at each other's house. It wasn't our preferred place, to be honest. But it was less about where we studied and more about us being in each other's company.

"Maybe in some alternate universe, there's a me who handled things a lot wiser," I muttered to myself under my breath as I scribbled into my workbook. It wasn't the first time I had that thought. However, things were different. Before, I'd zone out and internally lament about how things turned out. But, that didn't happen anymore. I still wished that Aunt May was here, but I've been slowly coming to terms with her death. I got MJ and Ned back, and got new friends in the form of The X-Men, Betty, and Joanna. I reconnected with Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan. And my dream of going to MIT wasn't dead anymore. Of course, my life wasn't perfect. I had a target on my back, due in no small part to Justin Hammer and J. Jonah Jameson (though, I was both annoyed and amused by the fact that the latter was unwittingly bashing one of his own employees on a daily basis). And I knew Scorpion won't be the last of my troubles after we defeat him. There was always going to be someone else. But, I was okay with that.

Life didn't suck.

After a few hours, I left the library. I kept on walking until I passed a small hardware store. After going inside, I walked up to the man at the front counter and asked if spare keys could be made here. When he said yes, I had two spare keys cut – one for me, and one for MJ. When I chose the blank keys, I thought about getting the one that was Spider-Man themed for MJ, but I decided against it. Maybe I was paranoid, but I was afraid that it would have somehow led to someone connecting MJ to Spider-Man, and I didn't want her to deal with the potential problems that could bring.

With that done, I made my way over to Peter Pan. After I ordered a cup of black coffee and a random sweet pastry chosen by MJ – a red velvet donut – I took a seat at the counter before I presented her the key.

"Wow, so soon?" MJ asked as she took it from me.

"I figured I had time today," I explained, watching her as she eyed the key in her hand. "I spent most of the day studying and doing homework before I got here since I'm still off from work and Scott is not returning to teach my class until Wednesday."

MJ looked at me and pouted. "Oh, wow." She lowered her voice and whispered in a tone that only the two of us can hear. "You help save Carmilla, and you get two days off. I help save Carmilla, and I still got to go to work and school. That hardly seems fair."

I chuckled as I whispered. "Perhaps it balanced out by the fact that you, Ned, and Betty snuck into the bunker." I chuckled even more when MJ stuck her tongue out at me. I stopped chuckling. "…Um, quick question – how did you three end up sneaking in there in the first place?"

MJ grimaced. She leaned towards me a bit. "I'll tell you, but promise you won't tell Craig," she pleaded. "I know he forgave us, but I'd rather keep it on the hush until at least a year has gone by because I'm sure Craig's still at the point where he's liable to flay us alive."

"I promise," I stated almost automatically.

MJ took in a breath. "So, Craig actually swung by the day after you told me about having to go to California. He ordered an iced coffee – it's the main thing he orders during the uncommon occasions he stops by. Also, Ned was there. Anyway, he ordered it and drank it at the counter. He was about to throw it away, but I said I got it. He told us bye. And that was when Ned had the idea to use a piece of tape to make a copy of his thumbprint. And that's why the scanner was a bit sticky."

I stared at her for some seconds. I then grabbed my cup of coffee and took a sip. "You're right. It's best not to tell Craig."

MJ nodded as she chuckled. "Is everything okay with you, though?" she asked.

"Sort of," I replied. "Um… I'm going to be at The Daily Bugle Wednesday night. Betty wanted me there so she could feel safe. And I even asked Scott if he could send Kitty our way."

MJ raised her eyebrows as a look of concern came over her face. "What's happening on Wednesday?"

"Oh, nothing… It's just our favorite 'journalist' is having our favorite billionaire and favorite 'hero' as special guests." I put on a wry smile. "I'm going to have fun doing my best not to strangle with my bare hands."

"I know you want to, but you won't," MJ said. She reached over and grabbed my left hand before giving it a squeeze. "That's not you. That's not the Peter I know and that's not a Peter I want to know." After that, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on my forehead, causing me to smile. "I prefer you the way you are."

"I'll do my best to stay this way," I promised.

"You better. Or else I'll kick you in the dick until I feel you suffered enough."

On the outside, I smiled. On the inside, I had to resist the urge to cross my legs – I knew Michelle wasn't kidding.

Tuesday rolled around. After calling Happy to see if there was a fabricator over at S.I.'s New York headquarters, I took a cab over there. There was a certain tweak I wanted to do to the Black Dahlia Suit. Basically, I wanted to do a little something with the spider logo. With a sketchpad and pencil in hand, I drew logo after logo until I finally settled on one. The logo was a spider logo of course. But it was about twice as large as the logo that was on my normal red and blue suit. The spider's head was rounded, almost egg-shaped. The abdomen, however, was a black encircled X, with space between the lines being burgundy. And, of course, there were eight legs on the spider, though they were arranged in an X-like lay out. With that addition done, I finally had a suit that indicated that I was actually part of The X-Men.

And it was a good thing, too. Because Wednesday… Wednesday was an interesting time.

Once I was done with class and I made my daily trip to Peter Pan, I went home briefly. I thought about wearing my quick change outfit, but decided to just wear my normal spider-suit underneath my clothes. So, over my suit, I ended up wearing a pair of blue jeans, a pair of black sneakers, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a black hoodie with a tiger on it.

I was pretty sure the hoodie belonged to MJ.

Unable to help myself, I took a moment to snap a selfie with my phone and write a text to MJ.

"It's my hoodie now, Em," I typed before I attached the selfie and sent it to her. Of course, I was joking. I liked seeing her in the tiger hoodie and I couldn't imagine a universe where she didn't have one. After that, I left for the studio.

I arrived at The Daily Bugle building a couple of hours early. Betty was waiting for me in the lobby, dressed in her business attire. When she saw me, she smiled. She walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her and held her. I didn't say anything. I didn't tell her that everything was going to be okay or that nothing was going to happen. She didn't need to hear that. I figured she just needed to know that I was here for her. And I was. So, I kept on holding her until she pulled away some seconds later. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile.

"Are you good?" I asked her.

"I am now," Betty replied. "Thanks Peter."

"You're welcome." I beckoned towards the elevator. "Shall we?"

She nodded, and we walked up to the elevator.

We made our way to the studio. An hour later, Justin Hammer and Scorpion arrived. Despite the smile that he had on his face when he shook hands with me, I could see it in his eyes that he was fuming. It took every ounce in my being not to laugh in his face. Really, it was funny to me. The X-Men invaded his company's secret base, rescued one of our own along with two dragons, and escaped after handing his own security personnel, and here he was, shaking hands with one of the people who did all that.

Anyway, I roamed with Betty as the staff got ready for the interview. All the while, I did my best not to stare at Scorpion, no matter how badly I wanted to fight him right there and then. Needless to say, I was more than happy when we were finally on the air.

Betty and I stood behind the cameras as he watched the interview. Jonah started with fluff questions as he covered subjects such as Hammer and Scorpion's involvement with F.E.A.S.T., Hammer's family life, and new inventions and products his company was working on. However, things took a turn when the subject of me… of Spider-Man… was brought up. On the screen that was situated between Jonah and Hammer in the background, there was footage of my last fight with Scorpion, including the part where Frictor arrived on the scene and ran him off with his shotgun.

"You know, it's really a shame," Justin said as he shook his head. "I've tried to reach out to Spider-Man and have a heart-to-heart talk with him. And I still believe his heart is in the right place, but even I can have only so much patience. He still harbors so much anger over what Scorpion had to do to Frictor that one night. I understand that they want to be heroes, but Spider-Man and his so-called team… The X-Men they're called, right?"

"Yes, that's what the band of hoodlums call themselves," Jonah replied with a tone of indignation. "They have the audacity to call themselves heroes, but go around actively defying the Accords while hiding their faces behind masks!"

Hammer shook his head as he closed his eyes. He opened them before he spoke. "To be fair, they do some good. They have done some good. But they seem bent on waging a war against me. You know, they actually attacked one of my facilities recently."

Jonah's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really, they did." Justin nodded as he said this. "A lot of people are injured and government operations have been halted, all because of them. So, I hate to say it, but looks like diplomacy is off of the table and – "

Before he could complete his statement, the whole studio went dark. As people started to mutter amongst themselves, I reached out and grabbed Betty's hand on instinct. I looked around, looking for any sign of trouble. But only not did I not see anything, my senses weren't even going off.

I was about to find out why.

The emergency lights came on. The screen started to flicker to back to life. Instead of footage of my fight with Scorpion, it showed Cyclops, dressed in his quick change attire. He sat on a steel chair, illuminated by one hanging light. He was the only thing lit up in an otherwise dark room. His right leg was crossed over his left at the knee, and his fedora was resting on his lap. Internally, I smiled.

"…Holy shit," Betty whispered out.

"Good evening," he greeted. "I hope you are well."

"Cyclops?!" Jonah yelled out. "What is the meaning of this?! Are you trying to hijack my show?!"

"Actually, yes." Cyclops tilted his head. "But not for too long. I just have a message to get across, and I'll be on my way."

At that, Justin chuckled as Scorpion growled. "My-my, have we gotten so brazen recently," he remarked. "…Well, I'm glad you're here, Cyclops. I said diplomacy is off the table but… if I'm correct, you're the leader of this ragtag group called the X-Men. Perhaps you'll be more open to reason than your Friendly Neighborhood subordinate."

"Is that right?"

"Listen, we all know that Spider-Man is the most powerful man on your team. And while Spider-Man can hold his own with Scorpion, we know the latter holds the advantage. After all, Spider-Man had to be bailed out twice. And if Spider-Man can be edged out by Scorpion, imagine what he can do to the likes of you."

At that, Cyclops scoffed. "That's cute."

Justin frowned. "I don't think you're taking me as seriously as you should be, Mr. Cyclops."

"Au contraire, Mr. Hammer, I'm taking you very seriously because I've dealt with people like you before."

"Have you, Cyclops?" Justin brought his hands together and leaned back in his seat. "You said it yourself. Your team is for the equality of mutants and the peaceful coexistence between mutants and non-powered humans. I get that. I encourage it. But can't you see that submitting to The Accords would go a long way towards that goal?"

"Do you honestly think The Accords are the first legislation of its kind?" Cyclops retorted as he shook his head. "It's not. But that's neither here nor there. You see, Justin, I didn't expect you and Scorpion to be in the studio today, but when I received word, I couldn't help but feel a twisted sense of serendipity, because I can say what I wanted to say directly to you two.

"I've been against The Sokovia Accords since its inception. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I don't trust the intentions of those who pushed for it, especially when some of its main advocates – including a certain General Thaddeus E. 'Thunderbolt' Ross – have done things that they would have raked superhumans over the coals for, without any of the accountability they have the audacity to preach about. A lot of it also has to do with the fact that I've seen this legislation pit my fellow Avengers against one another and scattered them to the point where Earth was defenseless enough for Thanos and his forces to invade it and successfully kill half of the universe. And to add insult to injury, they wanted to make you – a man whose actions, fueled by his obsession of surpassing the late great Tony Stark, almost led to the death of many people – the face of their movement."

I took in a deep breath. I almost died that day. I was too young to realize it, then, but as I grew older, my resentment for Hammer developed along the way.

Justin cleared his throat before he spoke again. "…We all have made some mistakes," Justin said with a chuckle.

"No shit," Cyclops deadpanned. "And you've made quite a few more recently. Your first mistake was targeting Spider-Man. Your second mistake was sending Scorpion after Spider-Man and Frictor, which resulted in the latter being severely injured and concussed. Your third and worst mistake, however, was kidnapping one of my own, holding her against her will, and stripping her hero identity to make a pitiful version of it." He paused for a moment as he leaned forward. "Yes people. The Scorpion you see here is neither the original Scorpion nor a superior copy." At that, Scorpion stood up as he growled out. I stepped in front of Betty. At this point, Scott leaned back in his seat. "However, Hammer, I can be rather forgiving and rather fair. So, here's my ultimatum.

"You were kind enough to give Spider-Man, Frictor, and Shadowcat three days to surrender, so I'll extend you that same courtesy, Justin. Three days should be ample enough time for you to end your Accords-related activities in this city. Scorpion is gone from New York, and you go back to being the scumbag corporate executive that we all know and despise."

"And if I don't comply?" Justin smugly asked.

"…Then, on Sunday, we'll find Scorpion or Scorpion finds us. We'll send him back to you in a body cast. After that, we'll continue to take down whoever you or your benefactors send after us again and again until we grow tire of you completely and go after you and the people backing you directly. And trust me, there won't be a place for you to run to or hide. And there won't be anything or anyone able to stop us from getting to you. I hope you make the wise decision."

After that, screen went black and the lights went back to normal. J. Jonah Jameson sat there dumbstruck. He then started hollering.

"This show is over!" he declared. "Tomorrow morning, I want a meeting with IT department, and they better have a good reason why the leader of that band of menaces was able to hijack this show, or you're all fired!" During this, both Justin and Scorpion left the room. I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked it, seeing that I got a message. After I read the message, I looked over at Betty.

"Need a ride home?" I asked.

We both walked out of the building. Kitty was waiting for us out front. At Betty's behest, I took shotgun while she situated herself in the backseat. For a few moments, we were quiet as we looked at each other. We then laughed out loud for a solid twenty seconds or so straight. After we regained our composure, Kitty put the car in drive and drove off.

When I got home, though, the feeling of levity wore off. As I took off my clothes, leaving myself in just my suit, I realized that Sunday was going to be a major day. I knew Justin was going to call Cyclops' bluff. I knew that the X-Men were going to have to face Scorpion. We would have to plan for it. When this fight happens, both sides would be playing for keeps.

But that's what I wanted.

I was taken out of my thoughts when I heard my phone vibrate repeatedly. I reached over and grabbed the phone off of the bed. I checked it, seeing that I got a video call from MJ. I answered it. My eyes then went wide.

Right on the screen was MJ, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of my boxers. The particular pair of boxers was tiger print. I went red in the face. I remembered when Tony bought me a pair of those as a joke. I always said to myself that I was going to throw them out. But I never got around to doing so.

"So, are you going to give me my hoodie back, or will I have to tell the other American Idiots that you like to wear animal print boxers?" MJ asked as she tilted her head.

"I was just joking!" I protested. "Please don't!"

At that, MJ chuckled. "Relax Tiger. I'm not going to expose you like that." She tilted her head briefly. "Granted, I do want my hoodie back, but I'll get it the next time I crash at your place. These boxers are staying with me for a while though."

"Keep them. They look great on you."

At that, MJ scoffed. "You think all of your clothes look good on me." Her expression then became serious. "So… about that Daily Bugle show tonight… You have a long weekend ahead of you, huh?"

"That I do." I sighed. "…I wanted this thing to be over with Scorpion for a while. And I just want Sunday to be the last time I deal with him. I know it won't be the last time I have to deal with a big time villain but… I just want a break. I just want to go back to Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man stuff for a while."

"And do hood rat things with your friends all summer?" MJ added jokingly.

"Honestly, yes," I replied as I laughed. "I do."

MJ chuckled before her expression became serious again. "You got this, Tiger. You and the X-Men got this. Just remember to come back to me when it's all said and done. And then we can focus on other things. We'll go to the Valentine's Day dance. We'll do prom. We'll celebrate once we all graduate. And then we'll start getting ready for college."

"MIT, here we come, right?"

"…Perhaps."

I tilted my head as I raised my eyebrows. "Everything okay? Did something happen with MIT?"

"Everything is fine, Peter. It's just… On that front, there's a talk that us American Idiots need to have. But for now, just know that other colleges have been pushing for Ned, Betty, and I. And a lot of those colleges are Ivy League, too, like Harvard, Penn, Empire State University, Columbia… Recent events made us open our minds to other options."

I nodded in understanding. "We'll talk about it, definitely," I promised. "But wherever we go, we'll flourish, I'm sure."

"You know it. So, with that out of the way, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"