Severing Ties
Summary: Things are looking up for Peter. It had been a few months since Doctor Octavius passed away, and Peter was getting his life on track except for a few things that wouldn't let him be. That's all about to change as someone, somewhere, needs Peter, and he's going to be in for a wild ride.
Chapter 19: Ripples
Peter stayed with Aunt May for a few days. Donna had taken to visiting them, as Aunt May knew Donna was the other reason she was alive that day.
"You said you had something else to tell me when you gave me the antidote. What was it?" Peter asked Donna.
She reached into her pockets and pulled out the liquids. "I found these in Dr. Connors' lab. They were hidden in a very old drawer, one that was dusty and held nothing in it, so Connors had no reason to go in there."
Something clicked in Peter's mind as he read the labels. The sore on the back of MJ's and Connors' necks. Their odd behavior. It all fit. "Why is someone trying to kill everyone who is important to me?" he asked aloud.
"Maybe they're trying to attack your heart. Like Goblin," Donna suggested.
"They would have just killed MJ, then…not make it look like she hated me, first."
"Not necessarily," Aunt May added.
Peter was thinking, his mind reeling, when he got a call on the X-Phone. "Peter Parker."
"Parker, get back here, now! Get out of that city. Take your aunt if you must, but get out as fast as possible." It was Dr. McCoy.
"Why?" Peter asked.
"The Sentinels were reset. They'll pick you up quicker than a dog on a coon's scent," he explained.
"Right. We'll leave as soon as possible. Thanks for the warning," Peter said. He hung up. "Donna, do you have a car?" he asked her.
"Of course. But why can't we take your transportation?"
"It's a motorcycle. That won't work as I've got more than one passenger."
"Right. Come on," Donna led. The three quickly got into her car, and Donna took off, driving faster than she ever had in her life. Just their luck that they caught tons of traffic.
Jackie, swallowing her want to scream in fear, followed Candace to a cemetery near the second Cerebro at around seven o'clock that night. She had explained everything that was going to happen. The process needed six people, not seven, so Jackie was to stand to the side, and wait for initiation after the 'Phoenix' had risen.
"We know your secret," an elderly, female voice started. Candace informed her beforehand that this woman was called Hallie.
"Your body does not reside here." Next was a man, a bit younger, but not that young. Candace had said this man's name was Arch Angel.
"We are here to bring you back." This was Candace's line.
"And to do our bidding," Hallie added determinedly.
A blinding flash of light, and Jackie was knocked off her feet. She got up, and saw a woman who was brilliantly shining. She had long, dark red hair and fire in her eyes. Jackie was struck by her fierce beauty. The woman opened her mouth and let out a passionate trill that was eerily birdlike.
Jackie found herself rooted to the spot as the blaze-colored eyes locked with dark brown. With a sharp intake of breath, Jackie understood a challenge when she saw one. She stuck her chin to the air as she began to levitate to the woman's altitude.
"You want to fight me, since I won't join you?" Jackie asked.
Her only answer was a turbulent glare from the bird-woman.
Candace, who realized her folly too late, called, "Let ye be warned!"
That is such a fake old English accent, Jackie mused sardonically. Time to show these lunatics that you just can't mess with other mutants and not expect repercussions.
"The Phoenix is risen, and none will stand in her way!" Candace finished.
"Whatever," Jackie smirked. She knew a thing or two about mythology, like how phoenixes were fire birds. Arms shooting into the sky, Jackie collected the element water from everywhere it could be found. While she was building up, Phoenix shot a flame blast to Jackie's stomach. With an 'Oof!' Jackie let some of the water go, but she directed it to drown Phoenix. Pushing all her power to the hydrogen oxide attack, she even drew water from her own body. She took a deep breath as she saw a heap of ashes on the ground. "What a pathetic zombie," Jackie commented.
Now it was Candace's turn to smirk. "You ain't seen nothin' yet," she sneered with a dramatic 'street' accent.
Jackie snorted, but stopped when the ashes started to move. Another flash of light, and Phoenix was before her again, in all her fiery glory.
Cursing, Jackie tried to call for another water attack, but found herself getting dehydrated. She held her head up high, and tried to use every attack under the sun she could think of.
First the saying 'fight fire with fire' came unbidden to her mind, so she tried that. The only thing she accomplished was getting badly burned, and making Phoenix more powerful. Then she attempted to do something with ice, but without water, no ice, and Jackie was sunk. She put everything she had into her attacks and counterattacks, but Phoenix could just be reborn after every one, and then hit Jackie harder than she'd ever known. "Enough," she muttered. Calling up her reserved reserves, which she was getting low on, she commanded minerals and chemicals to create an unbreakable shell encompassing the Phoenix. As she continued to trudge on with it, she felt the last trickling of power leaving her. Exhaustion would soon set it, and Jackie knew she'd sleep for a week if she even thought of stopping. Thinking of Peter and daring not to close her eyes, she finished the shell with one last primal howl. That was the last thing she knew as she collapsed to the ground.
Peter, Aunt May, and Donna got to the school the next morning. After a discussion and agreement to keep Aunt May at the school, Wolverine pulled Peter aside and told him what happened last night with Phoenix.
"Can I go see Jackie?" Peter asked slowly.
"Now why would I tell you that she was here if I wouldn't let you see her?" Wolverine responded gruffly.
"Right." Wolverine led Peter to the infirmary and to Jackie's bed.
All this time. He'd been separated from her all this time. Now that he looked on her exhausted face, her tired body, he couldn't bring himself to say the things he'd realized in the time they'd been apart. MJ had died. That killed him, but seeing Jackie alive brought him back to life. Thinking about everything they had been through, everything they were going to go through, (as Phoenix's shell couldn't last forever) Peter couldn't think of anyone else's side he'd want to be at more than Jackie's.
A sleepy smile crossed Jackie's face when her eyes opened. "Pete," she mumbled groggily. "So long…"
"I know," he whispered. "It felt like an eternity." He sat down beside her and brought his head level with hers.
Jackie turned towards him. "I never thought that I'd be a part of something so awesome," she commented, her smile growing to a grin.
"You should have expected it. You are part of the X-Men."
"I was talking about what I feel when I'm around you," she rephrased.
"Oh." Peter laughed softly as he took her hand. "Me neither, then." Even then, with Jackie half-awake, the both of them felt the sparks.
The two fell asleep a short minute later. That was how the other X-Men found them. They were planning on breaking out in applause, but figured Jackie and Peter needed rest, so they left them alone.
When they awoke, it was raining outside. Jackie sat up and looked out the window to the pond. The drops were making ripples in the small body of water.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Peter remarked, "How one drop of water can make ripples that reach all the way to the edge?"
"What will be the edge for my drop, I wonder?" Jackie mused.
"We may never find it, and it may keep expanding. What else will happen because of your small drop?"
"No idea." Being philosophical wasn't Jackie's norm. She gazed into Peter's eyes with a small smile on her face. "But as long as you're with me, I think I'll be able to face it all."
"Same here."
"Did you hear about MJ?" Jackie asked gently.
Peter only nodded.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured. "I…I know who did it."
A look of shock crossed Peter's face. He could form only one word. "Who?"
"The group that raised Phoenix. They are a group of six. If the other five are all like the one I talked to, they're very dangerous," she explained. "I have one's whole name, plus mutant name. It's Candace Johnson, A.K.A. Triotrite. She lives in Iceberg. At least, I think she does."
"So you talked to her?" he inquired.
"Yeah. She's a real nutcase, Pete, I'm tellin' ya. Her family and she wants to let Phoenix destroy the state of New York, and then, when everybody knows that Phoenix is a mutant, Triotrite's family will take this serum she developed, and they won't be mutants, any more." She proceeded to tell him everything.
Peter just swallowed. "I can't believe it. MJ died because of me. Because I was going to marry her. I knew this would happen!" he yelled.
"Hey, hey, hey," Jackie tried to calm him down. "Relax. You can't blame yourself for what a bunch of wackos did. They are mental. Insane. They don't care who they hurt, as long as they've gotten their personal vendetta against mutants taken care of."
Her voice managed to soothe him a little. He took deep, long breaths. He still blamed himself. If only I'd been more adamant in my decision to stay out of her life¸ he mused. A lot of his thoughts contained 'if only.' It was then he noticed Jackie staring at him.
The two looked at each other for a few tense seconds. Before they realized what was happening, they moved towards each other for a kiss. As they're lips locked, something similar to fireworks was set off in Jackie's nerves. Desperation and longing flooded the both of them, neither restricting the flow of feelings. Finally, they broke apart, and took a deep breath.
"Oh boy," breathed Peter. This is not right, and you know it! a loud voice in Peter's head cried. I love MJ. Guilt sunk in. MJ hadn't even been dead a week. He felt so low. He stood up, and walked quickly out of the infirmary.
"Oh boy," Jackie repeated.
THE END
(A/N: Was that a cliffhanger? I don't think so, but whatever. I hope you liked this story. It is very very very cool! I have an idea for the sequel, but that's only if yous guys want a sequel. I know that if I was just taking through this wild ride, I'd want to breathe for awhile, first! :-p Lol!! ;-) You've all been very awesome! Hope to see you around fan fiction . net.
I'll respond to the three reviews, and then I'll list all those who have ever reviewed this story, once, or many times.
DiabloDude1: You can email me that review any time you want because I like to read a lot…;-) Hope you had fun at the fair. Thank you very much for sticking with this story throughout all of this.
Oddball91: I told you that I didn't just randomly kill her! But no, none of yous believe me…hmph! Candace scares me, too. She was in that horrible nightmare. Now that I think about it, I think she was one of the instigators…-shudders- Thanks bunches for staying with this story. You're one of my bestestestestest friends in the whole world!
Mary Jane Watson-Parker: I'm glad you liked this chapter. I just noticed how incriminating I made the X-men out to be without meaning to. No, no, no, Fisk's invention of the sentinels has something to do with it ;-) X-men didn't know what was going on, so they thought they were trying to help. I'm sorry I confused you! The sequel will explain more of that, but that's a different plot that's just starting in this story.
Now for the BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU to all who EVER reviewed:
DiabloDude1, Oddball91, Mary-Jane Watson-Parker, FieryKitsune, sma, spideycat, Darth Zelda, Laurajslr, Michael Ross, Taco eating Person, Quiet Escapist, misty, Zimbing, Anonymous, MM, freakonature, and Charms41! ALL YOU GUYS ROCK!!! HOPE YOU COME BACK AND READ THE SEQUEL WHEN IT GETS POSTED!!!!)