Chapter 5
Friday, November 5th, 2004
New York, New York
10:39 A.M.
Jennifer realized it was useless. Unless a miracle happened, Marty wouldn't be able to help them in time. His time-stopping power didn't come with super strength, after all. And she doubted her husband would have the presence of mind to bring someone into meta-time with him. She threw herself over the kids, hoping to provide at least some sort of cushion for them. Together, they braced for impact.
It never came.
Puzzled, the McFlys looked up. The car was indeed still hanging over their heads, but now it was supported by something. Something whitish, that shimmered in the sunlight. Something that looked quite a bit like a -- spider web.
"Are you all right, ma'am?" a voice called. Jennifer looked to see a red and blue figure clinging to a nearby wall, watching them. Despite his expressionless mask, she could tell that he was very concerned. "Yes," she breathed, beyond grateful. "Yes, thank you."
"Hi Spider-Man," Marlene said, giving the superhero a wave. "Thank you for saving us. Don't worry about Dr. Octopus, he's not real."
"Yeah, I figured he wasn't."
Jennifer was abruptly pulled into a tight hug by her husband. "Jennifer -- I zipped over here, and I had no idea how I was gonna move the car -- thank God you're okay--" He kissed her, then looked up at Spider-Man. "I owe you one, buddy."
"Just doing my job," Spidey replied. He swung over to Magneto. "Hey, bucket-head, over here!"
Jennifer couldn't help but laugh. "Is Verne all right?"
"Yeah. Doc was able to handle most of the studs, and Verne dropped when he saw them coming at him. My main worry was you." He gave both of the kids a squeeze. "Come on, let's get you someplace else before he decides to throw something else at us."
"Over here!" Clara called. She and Jules had taken cover in one of the brick alleyways. Marty froze time and escorted them over. Jules nodded at them as he restarted the clock. "We know better than to stick around when you guys are on duty," he said.
"We were trying to get away, but that's hard to do when you're surrounded by cars -- and not all of them in park either," Jennifer said, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"You should be okay here," Marty said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Just don't venture back out into the street."
"No way," Douglas said, shaking his head empathetically.
"We're staying right here," Marlene nodded. "Be careful, Daddy."
"I will kid."
"Kick his butt, honey," Jennifer grinned. Marty grinned back, then vanished back into the fray. Jennifer turned to Clara. "So, you want to be the one to call the Wagners and tell them we're running late?"
Friday, November 5th
10:41 A.M.
Magneto smirked as Spider-Man entered the battle. Now, finally, he could call in the next member of his small team and get to the real purpose of this battle. He whistled twice as he began throwing his metal studs at Doolittle's birds, hoping to clear them off Mystique.
Over by Doc's car, J.C. had her eyes tightly closed. She had to concentrate with all her might to keep the Dr. Octopus illusion up. Goddamned mixed-up power, she thought, letting the illusion flicker a bit. Only works right when I'm asleep. Why couldn't I have gotten something just a little more useful? I feel like a bump on a log.
She heard a sudden thunk on the top of the car. She was inclined to dismiss it as something else Magneto had thrown -- when she heard breathing near her ear. "Are you innocent?"
Puzzled, J.C. opened her eyes, letting the illusion dispel. Any civilians who hadn't already fled the scene weren't likely to leave anyway. She turned around and looked up --
And found herself staring at a grinning mouth full of the whitest, sharpest teeth she'd ever seen.
Somehow, J.C. managed to reign in her scream. Staring right back at her was a -- a thing, she supposed, with black skin that seemed almost animate, and blank white eyes. "Who -- who--" she squeaked, wondering if she was about to be killed.
"You're cute," the thing said, green spit oozing from its mouth. J.C. wondered if it would be unprofessional to throw up. "Even if you're not innocent, I think we'll keep you."
There was a sudden flash of blue nearby. Mystique had finally broken free of Verne's pigeons. She gracefully dodged the electricity Lightning threw at her, then flipped onto the car next to the creature. "Hey. Figures you'd be hiding away somewhere rather than helping out," she purred cruelly.
J.C. scrambled to her feet and aimed a roundhouse at Mystique's jaw. Mystique easily caught her fist and sent her stumbling to the pavement. "Tsk. I guess I wouldn't have to worry about building up my muscles either if I could always hide behind 'Daddy.'"
Before J.C. could say anything, the thing had jumped in front of her. "We want this one," he hissed at Mystique. "She's ours!"
"Makes no difference to me," Mystique said with a shrug. "I'd rather go after that Dr. Doolittle myself. What do you plan to do with her?"
Thick black tendrils emerged from the thing's skin, wrapping themselves tightly around J.C. This time she really did scream. Another tendril silenced her. "We'll just stick her somewhere for now," the thing grinned, aiming its wrist at one of the buildings. What looked like a thick black web shot out, and the thing began webswinging up into the skyscrapers. Perfect, J.C. thought unhappily, struggling ineffectually against her bonds. The boys deal with Magneto and Mystique while I get kidnapped by the creature from the Black Lagoon.
They landed on the side of one of the taller buildings with a dull thud. J.C. kept her eyes fixed firmly forward as she was deposited on the roof. "You'll be safe here," the thing grinned at her. "I'll be back for you later, after I get done with the Spider-Freak."
"Did someone call?"
Spider-Man landed next to her, obviously having followed them up there. "Hey, buddy," he said, noticing the thing's coloration, "it's red and blue, not black and white."
The thing glared at him. "Not for long, wall-crawler. You ruined our lives. Now we'll take yours!" He lunged, mouth open wide.
Spidey dodged, sending a few web balls at his attacker. "You know, if I ruined your life, I think I'd recognize--" He suddenly stopped and stared. "Wait -- Harry?" he asked quietly.
The thing laughed. "Harry's dead. He was evil, so we killed him. Just like we're going to kill you." A long tongue extended from his mouth and flicked itself at Spider-Man.
"Gross," J.C. whispered, grimacing.
"You killed Harry?" Spider-Man said, voice rising with emotion. "You -- you bastard! You killed one of my best friends!" He lunged at the creature, intending to pummel it.
The thing quickly dodged, glowering at Spidey. "He was going to hurt a lot of people," it said, shooting his own black web balls at Spider-Man. "We removed the threat. And now -- now we're going to remove you!"
"Can I at least know the name of the guy who's going to kill me?" Spider-Man asked, webbing the thing's feet to the roof.
"Venom," the thing hissed, easily breaking free. It leapt forward and grabbed Spidey by the neck. Spider-Man deliberately threw them off-balance, and they tumbled down the side of the building, kicking and punching. J.C. watched as they began chasing each other through the maze of billboards. "Well, that was weird."
"You're not kidding," a female voice said. For the first time, J.C. noticed she had a partner on the roof. Mary Jane Watson smiled and waved at her. "Hey. Welcome to the 'Damsels in Distress' club."
J.C. couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks. You know, I was wondering where you'd gotten to. You and Peter just seemed to vanish once the action started."
"Peter had to go get Spider-Man," Mary Jane shrugged. "Then Spidey brought me up here so I'd be out of the way of the battle." She glanced down with a slight shudder. "I do wish it was a little lower. . . ."
"Oh, tell me about it," J.C. said, backing away from the edge and sitting down. "I've got acrophobia like nothing else. If I look down at all, I'm gonna freak."
"Well, don't look down." Mary Jane eyed her costume. "I'm gonna take it that you're one of that team of X-Men down there."
J.C. smiled slightly. "Yeah. Before you say anything, I just really like purple."
Mary Jane grinned. "Hey, purple's not a bad color. At least, not for a blond, I'd never look good in it. But I've never seen you around here before -- who are you?"
J.C. grinned back. "I'm Dream of the unofficial California Division of the X-Men. The rest of my team and I basically handle the evil mutants that end up on the west coast -- never fought Magneto before, though. My mutant power is creating illusions. I was responsible for Dr. Octopus over there."
"You did a very good job," Mary Jane said with another shudder. "Even I was fooled for a minute there, and I was kidnapped by the real thing."
"Glad to hear it -- it's tougher when I'm awake." Mary Jane lifted an eyebrow. "My mutant power has an interesting quirk -- it works best if I'm unconscious. Rather annoying, to be honest." She sighed. "Sometimes I feel like the most useless member of the team."
"I can imagine. But I don't think you're useless at all. You cleared out all the civilians, and I know from experience that keeping them safe is always the hardest part of a superhero's job."
"Yeah, me too." J.C. hugged her legs to her body. "What's going on down there?"
Mary Jane took a look. "Mystique's heading toward Doolittle, who's trying to marshal his birds again -- looks like Clockstopper's going over to help him. And Lightning and Magneto are still having it out." Mary Jane smirked. "Bet it's a shock for that asshole, having someone fight him directly."
"Yeah." J.C. took a deep breath, trying to relax. "I hope everyone makes it through okay. I'd hate for anything to happen to any of them."
Friday, November 5th
10:44 A.M.
This is getting ridiculous, Doc thought, rolling his eyes. Everyone's always talking about how Magneto is such a powerful mutant, a force to be reckoned with. . . . Well, I suppose he might be if you don't have a power that directly contradicts his. Except for that moment with the car, this has been shockingly easy. A slight smile appeared on the scientist's face. I think it's time to stop the "one at a time" approach and go to the big finish. Can't make him suspicious though. Best to do it gradually.
He began to deliberately miss some of the smaller items Magneto threw, to create the illusion that he was getting tired. Meanwhile, he began absorbing all the electricity that he could -- a fairly easy proposition, given all the light poles and streetlights Magneto had uprooted. He quickly visited each place he could, pretending that he was trying to move into a better position. Magneto fell for it and began concentrating his attacks on Doc, obviously hoping to take him out of the game for good.
As Doc powered up, he took note of his teammates' positions. Marty was making mincemeat out of Mystique. Her punches and kicks kept getting deflected back onto her. Verne was enthusiastically egging his pigeons toward the fight. J.C. was nowhere to be seen, but that was normal -- she didn't want to make herself a target during the battles. If you could call this that, Doc thought. This seems rather -- weak -- for Magneto. You think he'd have at least one other compatriot fighting against us. Perhaps he was trying to summon a specific someone to the scene? I wouldn't put it past him to try to take out individual X-Men. . . .
The world suddenly froze around him. Doc blinked, then looked over to see Marty holding his arm. "Doc, are you okay?" he asked, frowning. "You've been missing a lot of stuff all of a sudden."
"I'm fine," Doc assured him. "I'm hoping to knock Magneto out of commission once I've charged up enough. How are you doing?"
"I'm still feeling pretty fresh. This hasn't been much of a fight, to be honest. Especially since J.C. cleared out all the civilians."
"An excellent illusion on her part. Even I was startled when 'he' first appeared. She's gotten much better at producing solid-looking illusions while awake." He looked around. "I just hope she's safe. Hiding around here is a little dangerous, what with all the cars."
Marty paled a little. "Didn't you see?"
"See what?"
"You know that black dude that's tangling with Spider-Man? The one calling himself Venom? He took her."
"WHAT! Where?" Doc yelled, panicking.
"Up there," Marty said, pointing to one of the tallest buildings in the square. "I wanted to go after her, but Spider-Man beat me to the punch. I think he got to them before Venom could really harm her, but -- well, we all know she gets vertigo. . . ."
"Damn it," Doc swore. "Well, I suppose she is safe up there. I just hope she doesn't have a panic attack."
Marty nodded, frowning. "Speaking of which, who the hell is this Venom character?" He pointed at the frozen scene of Venom and Spider-Man each trying to web the other into submission. "I've never heard of him before."
"He must be very recent, otherwise we would have," Doc said, also frowning. "What puzzles me is why he's essentially trying to copy Spider-Man. Great Scott, is it really all that hard to come up with your own powers and costume?"
"Apparently not. Spidey seems to be holding his own pretty well, at least." Marty went up to the combatants and spun Venom around so he was firing at Magneto. "But I still owe him for saving Jennifer at the twins."
Doc grinned. "Lucky he showed up right when he did. Though, it makes me wonder -- where are the official X-Men? Wouldn't they have responded immediately to any report that Magneto was in the area?"
"Maybe that's where the rest of Magneto's friends are," Marty said. "Causing a distraction so he can wreak havoc."
"Good point. It wouldn't be beyond him, certainly." Doc shook Marty's hand. "Good luck keeping Mystique on her toes."
Marty winked at him. "Give him hell, Doc."
The world burst back into life. Magneto smirked at Doc as Marty whizzed away again. "Well, Lightning, with you finally out--"
Doc had to admit, it was rather amusing to see Magneto's face after being splattered with black webbing. Magneto rounded on Venom. "What are you doing?" he snapped.
"We -- don't--" Venom said, looking rather confused. Ahh, comedy gold, Doc thought, watching the scene with a smile. And better yet --
He hit Magneto with all he had. Magneto let out a scream, dropping to his knees. Doc was rather impressed to see that he didn't immediately fall over unconscious. Not one to waste an opportunity, Doc promptly began firing lightning at Venom as well. It screeched and fled from him, Spidey in hot pursuit. "Thanks!" Spider-Man yelled as they passed him.
"My pleasure!"
Venom snarled at Doc. "You're just like him! Magneto was right to say you should be destroyed!" He leapt at Doc before the scientist could get off another shot, jaws open wide.
Marty abandoned Mystique and pulled Doc out of the way. Venom landed with a splat on the ground. "I just don't think this is a day for villains," Marty commented sarcastically. "What about you two?"
"I agree," Spider-Man said, firing more web balls at Venom. "I was expecting something much more difficult, especially with that little moment with the car."
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Marty asked the creature, keeping an eye on the other two villains. Verne had Mystique back at his mercy, having switched from pigeons to dogs. Magneto was slowly recovering from Doc's lightning blast -- Marty made a note to punch him as soon as he got up. Asshole thinks he can mess with my family. . . .
"We are Venom! The new protectors of New York! Spider-Man does not do enough to aid the people of this city!"
"Hey, wait a minute, do you have any idea what the average day for me is like?" Spidey protested angrily.
"We don't care," Venom replied. "You ruined our lives -- you reduced us to this. So all we care about is when you're going to die!"
"Are you sure you're not Harry?" Spider-Man replied, his mask crinkling as he frowned. "You sound a bit familiar. . . ."
"We don't have to explain ourselves to you. Die!"
"I don't think even I have this much of a one track mind," Doc commented quietly. "What did you plan to do with my daughter?"
"Oh, is that who Blondie was? Not much, to tell the truth -- just a little kissing. You certainly made a winner there, Lightning," Venom leered.
Doc's eyes narrowed. "You lay one hand on any of my children--"
"Baron! Baron, come back!"
Everyone's attention turned to the little voice. A girl, no older than seven, had rushed into the square, apparently chasing after one of the dogs Verne had summoned to deal with Mystique. Her parents were following her, looking terrified. "Leave Baron alone, Alanna!" the mother called, eyes wide with fear. "Come back to Mommy! We have to get out of here!"
The girl ignored her parents, whistling for her puppy. "Please come back, Baron!"
"Go! Go you stupid dog!" Verne yelled at his "pack." "Go on back to her! I'm not letting a kid get hurt on my account!"
The dog -- a small brown lab -- stopped whizzing on Mystique (who was cursing loudly and trying to kick him) and ran back to his mistress. "Baron!" the girl squealed, kneeling down beside one of the buildings.
There was a sudden loud creak above her head. Magneto had tossed a car into the building earlier in the battle. The car had somehow become wedged into the front of the building. And perversely, it was just now starting to come loose. Spider-Man, sensing trouble, swung into position--
Only to see Venom run in and yank both girl and dog away with the tendrils coming out of his costume. To everyone's shock, Venom then promptly handed the girl back to her stunned parents. "Don't worry -- with us on the prowl, nothing will happen," he said, sounding genuinely good-natured. Then he turned back to Spider-Man, the scowl coming back. "We will take care of the real threat!" He jumped on Spider-Man, and they started fighting again. Marty and Doc looked at each other. "This is too weird for words," Marty muttered, putting a hand to his head.
Magneto groaned at the scene as he got back on his feet. How could he have been so stupid? Overconfidence had cost him his win at Liberty Island -- he had thought he'd learned from that experience. Venom was doing all right with Spider-Man, but that little show with the girl turned him into a liability. He couldn't have him going off and saving humans. And Mystique, though an excellent fighter, obviously couldn't handle what Doolittle was throwing at her. And if those approaching sirens were any indication, things were about to go from bad to worse. At least my distraction worked. Having to deal with the real X-Men with just Mystique and Venom, no matter how good they are --
Right on cue, there was a flash of ruby-red light right above his head. Magneto cursed his luck. What had he ever done to deserve this kind of treatment?
Mystique finally managed to break free of the dogs and ran to his side. "I think it's time to leave, Erik," she said softly, eyeing the hounds. "We're not going to get very far with this little campaign. I told you to bring Unas along."
"I know, I know," Magneto said, rolling his eyes. Much as he liked her, she did have this annoying tendency to harp on his mistakes. "Well, at least now we know that those bloody 'California Division' mutants are in town, and to watch out for them. Doolittle didn't hurt you too much, did he?"
"I'm fine," Mystique assured him. "But I'll tell you this -- if that kid ever comes within reaching distance, I'll snap his scrawny neck."
"I have no doubts," Magneto smiled. He "grabbed" two of the lampposts he had thrown and flattened them, creating two oval disks of metal. Lightning zapped them, but Magneto simply picked them up again and flew them over to him and Mystique. He and Mystique hopped on, dodging more blasts from both Cyclops and Lightning. Magneto quickly levitated them over the buildings. "Come along, Venom!" he yelled, as they zipped away.
"No! Spider-Man is ours!" With that, Venom smashed his fist into Spidey's face. Black tendrils shot out of his hand, completely enveloping Spider-Man's head. Spidey pulled at the stuff desperately as his air supply was cut off. Venom smiled cruelly. "Yes, now you can die slowly. . . ."
BANG! BANG!
Venom started at the gunshots. The bullets hadn't come anywhere near him -- the policemen had been aiming at Magneto. But he had felt a sudden shock at the sound of the gunfire. The symbiote had jerked away, almost like it was in pain. What's wrong with us? It can't be Eddie, he didn't mind loud noises. Even listened to punk rock with the volume turned up. No, it must be the other. The noise is hurting it, weakening it somehow. We don't want to be weak. How can we kill the evil ones if we're weak?
He looked around and saw more officers with guns, preparing to fire -- this time at him. The bullets most likely wouldn't hurt -- he could catch them with the other before they hit him. But the sound. . . .
He screeched as a bolt of electricity sliced through him. He had almost forgotten about the X-Men in his fight with Spider-Man. And with more of those freaks coming -- well, he was hopelessly outclassed. He'd probably end up dead before he could save anyone else, and he didn't want that. Leaving a layer of black goo on Spidey's face, he took off, dodging the gunfire the police sent his way.
Doc jogged over to Spidey and helped him pull the goo off. "Everyone else all right?" he called.
"I'm good, maybe a bruise or two," Marty admitted.
"Same here," Verne nodded, sending the dogs away.
"Stunned, but -- but I'll live. I've -- I've been through a -- a lot worse," Spider-Man said, getting his breath back. "I take it you're that California Division I've heard mentioned around the mansion."
"That's us," Verne said proudly.
"Except that Dream is currently stuck on that building, thanks to Venom," Doc said, looking rather worried. "She's never liked heights that much -- I'm scared she might have a panic attack and end up hurting herself."
"I'm on it," Spidey nodded, webslinging to the building and starting the long climb up.
The three X-Men turned to Cyclops, who had joined them in all the confusion. "So, where the heck were you guys?" Marty asked, just a bit too casually.
"Fighting two other mutants across town," Cyclops said. "The Blob and Unas the Untouchable. The Blob wasn't too bad, but Unas was a challenge -- he repelled every attack we sent against him. Jean finally figured out a way to psychically increase his power so he couldn't affect us either. It got a little out of hand, though -- she increased it so much, he repelled everything, including the air around him. The guy nearly suffocated before she could bring it under control."
"Great Scott," Doc said, shocked. "I hope that they're safely in custody now."
"They are. Now what happened over here?"
Friday, November 5th
11:02 A.M.
Both girls started as Spidey climbed up and onto the roof. "Hey ladies," he greeted them cheerfully. "Can I interest you in Spider-Man's Taxi Service?"
Mary Jane giggled. "I'm game. You've given good service before."
"Just get me down, please," J.C. said, resisting the urge to peek over the edge. "I want to be on proper solid ground."
"Sure thing." Spidey wrapped one arm firmly around J.C., while M.J. hopped onto his back. "Hang on tight!" He webbed the nearest building, and swung.
J.C. screamed as the ground rapidly rose up to meet them. Automatically, she grabbed at the closest thing she could find --
And moments later, found herself holding Spidey's mask.
She stared at it numbly for a moment as they continued down. Then it hit her what she had done. "Shit! Sorry," she said, hastily trying to get it back on his head. "I didn't meant to -- do. . . ."
Her voice trailed away as she got a good look at Spider-Man's face. "Oh my God," she whispered. "You're--"
Spidey grinned at her weakly, then landed so that his back was to the crowd and the police. The rest of the X-Men's eyes went wide as they saw his face -- except for Cyclops, who smirked. "I can--" Spidey started.
The world went suddenly silent. Spidey and M.J. looked around to find their surroundings suddenly frozen, and Clockstopper, Lightning, and Doolittle a lot closer than they were before. "So we wouldn't be disturbed and all that crap," Clockstopper said. Then with a faint smirk, he added, "So go ahead --
"Peter."