Chapter 1 - Spider-Man
This is sooo getting out of hand.
I didn't like the situation. The 'Acolytes' as they were calling themselves now, were challenging us to a street fight.
And we were accepting.
It doesn't make any sense. We know that the bro… Acolytes didn't do it, so why are we fighting?
But, as stupid as the reason was, I knew why. We were fighting because the other team was there. That was it. At a time when I knew we should be working together to get everyone back, we were at each other's throats.
I glanced down the line. Rogue, Spike and even Jean, who was usually the first to try peace were all ready. Then, suddenly, at some subconscious signal, we were all charging at each other, or using our powers.
I thought this was more than a little dumb considering 'Colossus' and 'Gambit' were new to us and we didn't know what they did. It was obvious what Colossus did when his body suddenly turned to steel. And Gambit was more than happy to explain his.
"This is Gambit's game, eh? Gambit charge the card, Gambit throw the card."
I turned intangible, letting the card pass right through me. I turned back at an explosion. The black-and-red-eyed guy smirked.
"Gambit demonstrates again, yes? Gambit charge the card…"
The card in his hand began to glow. But a voice interrupted as both Gambit's card and hand were encased in a white substance.
"How about Gambit doesn't throw the card?"
"Gambit don't like this one bit…"
The card exploded in his hand, sending him flying backwards. I looked up to where the voice came from. There was a man on a lamppost. His suit was the same blue as ours, but had red designs all over it. A lot of the designs had the theme of a spider.
He jumped forward from his position, past Rogue who had downed Colossus by the simple expedient of touching him, over Jean who was attempting to keep the ground still even as Avalanche fought to move it, and over to where Evan and Pietro were going at it. He threw a single punch into the blur circling Evan, and Pietro flew out of it, stunned. He turned, and addressed us, cracking his knuckles.
"Anyone else want some? I've got aaaall night."
Lance and Jean stopped their struggles. Evan was gaping in shock. Gambit was getting woozily to his feet. Rogue, encased in steel watched patiently, while Colossus was still out at her feet. The guy in the weird costume looked around.
"No? Good. Go home all of you. Be glad I'm not dumping you outside a police station."
Behind him, Pietro stirred, and then was running for him. Without even looking behind to see the blur that Pietro was, he jumped up and stuck to the underside of the lamppost, before shooting a white line out of the underside of his wrist, securing it to Pietro's back. He heaved, and Pietro was off the ground, struggling futilely. He stuck the other end to the lamppost and jumped down.
"As I was saying… clear off. Now."
He looked over at Jean especially as he said it. She frowned, and then shook her head.
"All right, let's go… Evan!"
She had to snap Evan out of it, who was still looking at the guy in the strange costume in shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sighed.
As much as I hate to admit it, that guy was right.
The fight had been stupid and childish, but I hadn't cared at the time. I was just so… frustrated. I glanced back. Evan was following us, but he was wandering around like he was in a trance. I frowned.
"Okay, Evan what's wrong?"
He blinked and turned towards us, a smile forming on his lips.
"Do you have any idea of who that was?"
Kitty frowned as well.
"No. Spit it out Evan."
His smile widened into a full grin.
"That was Spider-Man! That was his new costume! They showed it on the news last night!"
I rolled my eyes as Rogue chuckled. As stupid as Evan's obsession was, it had lightened the mood and relieved some tension. We stepped off the elevator and headed to our room. Kitty ran through the door. I opened it and the rest of us came through as well. I placed the key on the nightstand and yawned.
Another day, and we're still finding nothing…
Not that we knew where to look either. That was a bit frustrating. We had nobody we could talk to in the city. Angel was here, but we didn't know where to find him. And even if we did, the chances of him knowing anything were pretty slim. Kitty ran out of the room with the bed in it, and she hissed at me.
"Jean!"
I frowned.
What now?
"There's someone in the bed!"
I lowered my voice as well and motioned for the others to come.
"What?"
"I went in to get ready to go to bed, and I noticed this person laying in it…"
Just what we need.
"Okay, this isn't a big deal. I think. We're mutants. We just go in and turn on the lights. Be ready for anything."
They nodded. We walked in and got ready. I mentally flipped the switch.
And froze.
On the bed was the supposedly dead Peter Parker, who was beginning to stir. He sat up rubbing his eyes from the brightness.
"PETER!"
Kitty flung herself at him. Suddenly, he was up, supporting himself on the bed with one hand while his legs headed straight towards Kitty. She screamed and made herself intangible just in time for his legs to fly through her chest, the rest of him following. He landed in a graceful crouch. He looked at us and blinked a few times, then groaned and collapsed backwards onto his back on the floor.
"Kitty, you can't sneak up on a man like that. It's bad on my nerves…"
Kitty's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Bad on your nerves?! You're supposed to be dead you big jerk! Then I find you sleeping in the hotel room we rented! I was just happy to see you back!"
He brought him arm up to his face and concentrated for a second.
"With the exception of the last… fifteen minutes, I haven't slept in going on seventy-two hours. I'm running on caffeine fumes. So forgive me for being a little high strung."
She blushed.
"Oh…"
He looked up at us.
"Can we talk about this in the morning? I really need some sleep. I hate it when Johnny's right."
Evan frowned.
"Johnny?"
"Old friend. Staying at his place… not that I've been back there since I got into the city. Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably get back there to get some sleep."
Kitty frowned.
"You're staying right here, mister."
"Huh?"
"You haven't slept in three days you said. You'll probably never make it back to your friend's house. You get on that bed, and we'll have a very long conversation in the morning."
He gulped.
"Yes ma'am."
We left, agreeing to leave the questions for morning. I paused at the door for a second. Peter got back on the bed and was sound asleep in seconds. Kitty smiled, and then climbed onto the bed too, curling up beside him.
I smiled, turned, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke blinking groggily, feeling a vague notion that something was off. I looked up in the air, seeing that Kitty was holding something gray in her hands and looking down at me in shock, her hand over her mouth, staring at my chest.
I looked down at my chest myself, seeing blue and red. I frowned, then it dawned on me.
Didn't I have a gray shirt on?
I let my head hit the bed again.
"Crap."
I looked back up, into Kitty's very wide eyes.
"I've got some explaining to do don't I?"
This is sooo getting out of hand.
I didn't like the situation. The 'Acolytes' as they were calling themselves now, were challenging us to a street fight.
And we were accepting.
It doesn't make any sense. We know that the bro… Acolytes didn't do it, so why are we fighting?
But, as stupid as the reason was, I knew why. We were fighting because the other team was there. That was it. At a time when I knew we should be working together to get everyone back, we were at each other's throats.
I glanced down the line. Rogue, Spike and even Jean, who was usually the first to try peace were all ready. Then, suddenly, at some subconscious signal, we were all charging at each other, or using our powers.
I thought this was more than a little dumb considering 'Colossus' and 'Gambit' were new to us and we didn't know what they did. It was obvious what Colossus did when his body suddenly turned to steel. And Gambit was more than happy to explain his.
"This is Gambit's game, eh? Gambit charge the card, Gambit throw the card."
I turned intangible, letting the card pass right through me. I turned back at an explosion. The black-and-red-eyed guy smirked.
"Gambit demonstrates again, yes? Gambit charge the card…"
The card in his hand began to glow. But a voice interrupted as both Gambit's card and hand were encased in a white substance.
"How about Gambit doesn't throw the card?"
"Gambit don't like this one bit…"
The card exploded in his hand, sending him flying backwards. I looked up to where the voice came from. There was a man on a lamppost. His suit was the same blue as ours, but had red designs all over it. A lot of the designs had the theme of a spider.
He jumped forward from his position, past Rogue who had downed Colossus by the simple expedient of touching him, over Jean who was attempting to keep the ground still even as Avalanche fought to move it, and over to where Evan and Pietro were going at it. He threw a single punch into the blur circling Evan, and Pietro flew out of it, stunned. He turned, and addressed us, cracking his knuckles.
"Anyone else want some? I've got aaaall night."
Lance and Jean stopped their struggles. Evan was gaping in shock. Gambit was getting woozily to his feet. Rogue, encased in steel watched patiently, while Colossus was still out at her feet. The guy in the weird costume looked around.
"No? Good. Go home all of you. Be glad I'm not dumping you outside a police station."
Behind him, Pietro stirred, and then was running for him. Without even looking behind to see the blur that Pietro was, he jumped up and stuck to the underside of the lamppost, before shooting a white line out of the underside of his wrist, securing it to Pietro's back. He heaved, and Pietro was off the ground, struggling futilely. He stuck the other end to the lamppost and jumped down.
"As I was saying… clear off. Now."
He looked over at Jean especially as he said it. She frowned, and then shook her head.
"All right, let's go… Evan!"
She had to snap Evan out of it, who was still looking at the guy in the strange costume in shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I sighed.
As much as I hate to admit it, that guy was right.
The fight had been stupid and childish, but I hadn't cared at the time. I was just so… frustrated. I glanced back. Evan was following us, but he was wandering around like he was in a trance. I frowned.
"Okay, Evan what's wrong?"
He blinked and turned towards us, a smile forming on his lips.
"Do you have any idea of who that was?"
Kitty frowned as well.
"No. Spit it out Evan."
His smile widened into a full grin.
"That was Spider-Man! That was his new costume! They showed it on the news last night!"
I rolled my eyes as Rogue chuckled. As stupid as Evan's obsession was, it had lightened the mood and relieved some tension. We stepped off the elevator and headed to our room. Kitty ran through the door. I opened it and the rest of us came through as well. I placed the key on the nightstand and yawned.
Another day, and we're still finding nothing…
Not that we knew where to look either. That was a bit frustrating. We had nobody we could talk to in the city. Angel was here, but we didn't know where to find him. And even if we did, the chances of him knowing anything were pretty slim. Kitty ran out of the room with the bed in it, and she hissed at me.
"Jean!"
I frowned.
What now?
"There's someone in the bed!"
I lowered my voice as well and motioned for the others to come.
"What?"
"I went in to get ready to go to bed, and I noticed this person laying in it…"
Just what we need.
"Okay, this isn't a big deal. I think. We're mutants. We just go in and turn on the lights. Be ready for anything."
They nodded. We walked in and got ready. I mentally flipped the switch.
And froze.
On the bed was the supposedly dead Peter Parker, who was beginning to stir. He sat up rubbing his eyes from the brightness.
"PETER!"
Kitty flung herself at him. Suddenly, he was up, supporting himself on the bed with one hand while his legs headed straight towards Kitty. She screamed and made herself intangible just in time for his legs to fly through her chest, the rest of him following. He landed in a graceful crouch. He looked at us and blinked a few times, then groaned and collapsed backwards onto his back on the floor.
"Kitty, you can't sneak up on a man like that. It's bad on my nerves…"
Kitty's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Bad on your nerves?! You're supposed to be dead you big jerk! Then I find you sleeping in the hotel room we rented! I was just happy to see you back!"
He brought him arm up to his face and concentrated for a second.
"With the exception of the last… fifteen minutes, I haven't slept in going on seventy-two hours. I'm running on caffeine fumes. So forgive me for being a little high strung."
She blushed.
"Oh…"
He looked up at us.
"Can we talk about this in the morning? I really need some sleep. I hate it when Johnny's right."
Evan frowned.
"Johnny?"
"Old friend. Staying at his place… not that I've been back there since I got into the city. Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably get back there to get some sleep."
Kitty frowned.
"You're staying right here, mister."
"Huh?"
"You haven't slept in three days you said. You'll probably never make it back to your friend's house. You get on that bed, and we'll have a very long conversation in the morning."
He gulped.
"Yes ma'am."
We left, agreeing to leave the questions for morning. I paused at the door for a second. Peter got back on the bed and was sound asleep in seconds. Kitty smiled, and then climbed onto the bed too, curling up beside him.
I smiled, turned, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke blinking groggily, feeling a vague notion that something was off. I looked up in the air, seeing that Kitty was holding something gray in her hands and looking down at me in shock, her hand over her mouth, staring at my chest.
I looked down at my chest myself, seeing blue and red. I frowned, then it dawned on me.
Didn't I have a gray shirt on?
I let my head hit the bed again.
"Crap."
I looked back up, into Kitty's very wide eyes.
"I've got some explaining to do don't I?"