Chapter 6

Friday, November 5th, 2004

New York, New York

11:04 A.M.

Peter grinned guiltily. "You caught me. Welcome to the 'I've Seen Spidey Unmasked' Club. Thank you for not being supervillains this time."

"Not a problem." Clockstopper shook his head. "Just figures. The kid who always gets the best photos of the superhero is the superhero. That's cheating, you know."

"Hey, at least my mask effectively conceals my identity," Peter traded back. "You really have to do something about that hair, Doc."

Doc smiled, sliding off his mask. "Well, it's not primarily for identity concealment. It's linked up to the rest of my costume. The whole thing is a system that allows me to gather excess electrical energy from the air, instead of constantly having to rely on larger, outside sources."

"Interesting," Peter said, impressed.

"What I'm interested in is how you get your pictures," Verne admitted. "I didn't see you holding a camera while you were webslinging. Is it built into your costume?"

Peter shook his head and pointed to a camera webbed into a nook in one of the buildings. "Canon New F-1 SLR," he said. "I used to rely on the timer delay, but recently I've been working on a remote for it -- one that doesn't require a cable." He pulled off his glove to reveal a shutter release switch. "Though building one into my costume might be something to consider. Modifying the interval timer I got for it has been a job and a half, and I really just don't have the time. Doesn't help that I don't own a computer at the moment and have to develop the film the old-fashioned way. Digital would be a hell of a lot easier to handle. At least the Bugle has the right kind of darkroom."

"Yeah, I know." J.C. blushed. "Sorry for yanking your mask off like that, Peter. The sudden descent freaked me out."

"It's okay. It's not like my mask hasn't come off before." Peter scowled to himself. "A whole tram car full of commuters knows my face because I yanked it off in saving them. At least they've all kept their word and kept silent."

"I take it the rest of the X-Men know?" Marty asked.

"Yeah, and so do most of the kids on Xavier's campus. I got a lot of teasing about being a late bloomer."

They all chuckled. "Good. Then I guess we can finish this conversation with all of them," Doc said, grabbing ahold of Marty's costume. Verne did the same. "Especially since we need to talk to them about Magneto anyway." Peter nodded and quickly yanked on his mask before grabbing Marty's arm.

The world came back to life. Cyclops immediately deduced what must have happened and gave them a thumbs up. The police looked a little puzzled, but took things in stride. The group assured the police that they were all right, and that they had probably driven off all the supervillains for today. Once that was over, they returned to meta-time to change. "Have you got your clothes on hand, Peter?" Marty asked as Verne got their civilian clothing.

"It's over here." Peter crawled up a nearby wall and returned carrying his camera and what looked like a bundle of webbing. "The webbing keeps -- curious animals away from my clothes."

J.C. wrinkled her nose. "Eww."

"We hear ya buddy," Marty said sympathetically. "Remember when Einstein decided to mark our clothes for us, Doc?"

Doc shuddered. "Took three laundry cycles to get the smell out. I was tempted to burn them, honestly."

"Hey, at least a pregnant rat never tried to make a nest out of them."

"You win," J.C. said, turning a little green.

Verne looked thoughtful as he pulled on his civilian clothing. "You know, I have to wonder what Magneto's purpose was. I mean, I know he likes showing off a little, but -- doing battle with only two other mutants as backup?"

"That isn't like him," Doc agreed. "Magneto doesn't do anything without some sort of plan behind it. You know, I get the distinct feeling he wasn't expecting us to show up."

"But if he was expecting the regular X-Men, why use Unas and Blob to lure the team away?"

"Divide and conquer trick?" Marty suggested.

"Perhaps. Whatever it is, I'm positive it has something to do with his new associate Venom."

Peter nodded, pulling off his mask. "Me too. Maybe he wasn't going after the X-Men this time, but me. That Venom character was really intent on cracking my skull open."

"We noticed."

"I want to know what the deal was with his costume," J.C. admitted, slipping on her shirt. "How did he get those black tendrils to reach out and grab things?

"We can find out," Peter said, walking over to some of the leftover goo. He carefully scooped some into his mask and twisted it shut. "I'm sure Hank McCoy would let us use his lab."

"Definitely," Doc said with a grin. "You know, it'll be good to see Hank again. We haven't talked in a while." He looked around. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready," the group replied. They returned to regular time and raced back to their waiting families. "Everyone all right?" Doc asked immediately, looking worried.

"We're all safe," Clara reassured him, giving him a kiss.

"Yeah, Dad, you saved the day again," Jules said, genuine pride in his voice. "That was a pretty incredible show."

"You were cool, Daddy," Douglas said happily.

"Yeah, you showed that mean Magneto," Marlene agreed. "Only a mean person would try to drop a car on us. No manners."

Marty was surprised to find that he could laugh at that. "I know, sweetie. I know." He picked her and Douglas up and hugged them tight. "It's good to see that you're all safe and sound."

"It's good to see that you're all right too," Jennifer said, kissing his cheek. "After all, you're the one who was doing all the dangerous stuff." She squeezed him. "I always worry that one day you're not going to come back."

"Well, it's not today."

"Daddy, was Spider-Man really not wearing his mask for a second?" Douglas asked.

"Yup -- J.C. accidentally pulled it off when he rescued her."

"Wow, so you got to see who he was?" Marlene asked excitedly. "Can you tell us?"

Marty looked questioningly over at Peter, who was standing near the alley mouth with Mary Jane. Peter nodded, smiling slightly. "Do you promise not to tell anyone who he is?" Marty said, using his best "I mean business" tone.

"We promise," Douglas and Marlene chorused.

Marty hesitated for a second more, taking stock of the young twins. Once he was sure that they were serious about this, he relaxed and smiled. "It's Mommy's cousin Peter."

Jennifer blinked. "You've got to be kidding me," she said. "Peter? Spider-Man?"

"It's true," Peter said, coming closer to the group. "I'm Spider-Man." Before Jennifer could protest again, he fired a webline at the wall above her head.

Jennifer stared at him for a long moment. Then a wide smile split her face. "That's great! Finally, someone in my family has super powers!"

"Hey!"

"I meant my biological family," Jennifer quickly amended. "No offense, but you know I've always felt a little left out. You're a mutant, and we know the kids most likely are as well -- I'm the only normal human in the bunch. But now--" she grinned. "Spider-Man. Wow."

"We're going to have to pump you for information," Jules said, interested. "Are you a mutant like us? Or did you get your powers in some other fashion?"

Peter glanced outside at the mess of cars and people. "Other, but we might want to get out of here before things get too crazy. I told Cyclops what had happened and where we were headed. He said he'd alert the rest of the team and meet us there."

"I hope Kurt and Ororo can handle all the company," Clara said, worried.

"I would hope so -- they probably heard about the fight through their communication units," Doc pointed out. "In fact, one of them might have even joined in. They're X-Men, Clara -- I'm sure they're prepared for these quick group meetings." He started walking towards the exit. "Let's go. The sooner we talk, the sooner we can figure things out."

"Wait a minute!" Jules said suddenly. "When Magneto was throwing cars around, didn't he wreck our rentals too?"

There was a moment of silence. "Our renter's insurance covers 'act of supervillain,' right?"

Friday, November 5th

11:39 A.M.

Doc finished paying his fare. "Thanks again."

"No problem," the driver, a rather scruffy-faced man, replied in a gravelly voice. He drove off, leaving the Browns to breathe a sigh of relief. "Nice guy, bad driver," J.C. said, shaking her head.

"I know. 'What does a yellow light mean?' And talking slower when we told him it meant 'slow down?' Honestly," Jules groaned. "Somebody did too many drugs in the sixties."

"Well, at least he got us here all in one piece," Doc said, although privately he agreed with his children. Spotting a motorbike and a large van with a white X painted on the side in the driveway of the house, he added, "And it appears Peter and the other X-Men beat us here. I wonder if Marty is here already as well?"

Another cab pulled up, and the McFlys got out, answering his question. Marty lingered a moment to pay the fare. "And here," he said, giving the driver a $20 bill. "You deserve it. And thanks."

"So you used Sunshine cabs too, huh?" Verne asked Jennifer.

"They were available," Jennifer shrugged. "Although the dispatcher kept calling up our diver to make -- comments."

"Yeah, that's why I tipped her so much," Marty admitted as the cab pulled away. "I'm sure Miss Nardo there appreciated it." He looked around at the small blue house and yard. "Nice place the Wagners' have here. Kinda reminds me of back home."

"Yes, though luckily we got a bigger yard."

They knocked on the front door. A few seconds later, it opened to reveal a rather tired-looking Kurt Wagner. He mustered up a smile upon seeing them. "Guten tag," he said. "I'm glad to see you arrived safely."

"It's good to see you too, Kurt," Doc said, shaking hands. "The little one wearing you out?"

"Ja," Kurt admitted, leading them inside. "Mary loves to cry in the middle of the night. Ororo's actually kept a tally -- she cries most often at 12:15 A.M., apparently."

"Wow," J.C. said. "That is one regular baby."

"Mary, huh?" Jules added. "That's a nice name."

"Danke. She's named after Mary, mother of God. Ororo picked her middle name -- Sky."

"Mary Sky Wagner," Verne repeated thoughtfully.

Kurt chuckled. "It does sound a little strange all together, yes?"

"Nah, it's pretty," Marlene said. "Better than Marlene Thomasina."

Kurt cocked his head, puzzled. "Thomasina?"

"We let Doc chose the middle names," Marty explained. "Apparently he forgot about all the female scientists."

"I was rather put on the spot. . . ."

The rest of the group was crammed into the living room. Ororo was sitting on the couch, cradling a very small, very blue baby. Jean was sitting beside her, with Logan and Scott standing behind them. Professor Xavier had parked his wheelchair next to the couch. Bobby was in the next chair over, with Marie sitting on the arm. Peter and Mary Jane occupied the other armchair on the opposite side of the room. Hank McCoy was leaning on the back of their chair, and was the first to notice the new arrivals. "Hello Emmett! How are you?"

"Pretty good for someone who just fought a famous supervillain," Doc said, smiling at Hank. Out of all the X-Men, he got along best with Hank. Clara often joked that they must have been separated at birth, what with their similar mannerisms and speech patterns. "How are you?"

"Good, working on some new experiments in the lab. I'm trying to expand the capabilities of the image inducer to include touch. It's getting awkward, wearing gloves so people won't notice my fur."

"I see. I wish you the best of luck with that."

"Glad to see you guys made it here okay," Peter said.

"It was a bit of a struggle," Doc admitted. "I dread having to straighten things out with our rental place later."

Clara, Jennifer, and J.C. promptly started cooing over little Mary. "Definitely her father's girl," Clara chuckled as a tiny tail wrapped around her finger."

"She's got Ororo's hair though," J.C. pointed. "And her ten fingers and toes." Looking at Kurt, she added, "No offense meant."

"It's fine," Kurt said. "I was glad to see that, honestly." He looked down at his own malformed hands. "I often wish I had a proper set myself."

"Your hands are fine," Ororo assured him.

"Ja -- as long as I don't have to write anything. I could never hold a pen correctly."

"You're an X-Man, you don't need to write," Marty said. "Which reminds me -- Professor Xavier, were you able to see Magneto with Cerebro or no?"

Professor Xavier shook his head. "He still possesses his telepathy-dampening helmet. Thus we learned about your situation a little too late, I'm afraid."

"It's okay. I think we handled ourselves pretty well," Verne said with a grin.

"Magneto got a nasty surprise when we showed up," Doc agreed. "I don't think he's ever met a mutant whose powers were capable of canceling his own. We fought at a stalemate for most of the battle. I even managed to render him unconscious for a brief period."

"Impressive," Logan said, one eyebrow raised. "We could have used you on Liberty Island."

Jennifer leaned on Peter's chair. "So, Peter -- how did you become Spider-Man? You said before you weren't a mutant."

"He's more like an honorary mutant," Bobby kidded.

"Actually, I let Dr. Grey and Professor Xavier study me after I met them, and I do carry the mutant gene. But they think that it's likely that I would have just remained a carrier all my life -- if one thing hadn't happened." He held out his hand, showing a tiny scar near his thumb. "Our high school science class took a field trip to a genetics lab, and I ended up getting bit by a genetically-altered spider."

Marty swallowed a laugh. "A spider bite. That's all it took."

"That's all. I got really sick after getting bitten, and woke up the next morning with my new powers."

"Our hypothesis is, if Peter had gone active in the normal way, he would have expressed just one of his spider powers," Jean explained. "The venom from the spider-bite seemed to have the effect of rewiring his DNA enough so he could express them all."

"Cool," Douglas and Marlene said.

"They're big into bugs at the moment," Jennifer said with a slight eye roll.

"So everything really is all natural?" Doc asked, curious. "I've heard rumors you built the web-shooters and created a liquid, chemical-based web."

"With the fortune and lab Aunt Dolores gave me, you mean?" Peter countered with a smile. "Nope, everything's completely natural." He pushed up his sleeve to reveal a small slit in his wrist, then pressed his two middle fingers to his palm. A web strand obligingly flew out and stuck against the wall.

"How come it doesn't come out your butt?" Marlene asked frankly.

"Marlene!"

"It's all right -- I wondered that myself," Peter laughed. "I'm not sure why, I'm just glad it doesn't."

"How many powers do you have?" Jules wondered.

"Well, there's the obvious stuff -- the web-slinging and the wall-crawling. I've also got the proportionate strength of a spider, ultra-fast reflexes, and a sort of 'spider-sense' that can alert me to danger."

"Something that we hope Dr. Grey and Dr. McCoy over there can figure out how to give us one day," Bobby spoke up.

"That's great, Peter," Jennifer said proudly. "I'm glad you've been able to put all your powers to good use."

Peter, however, was frowning. "Hey, wait a minute. I just realized -- my spider-sense didn't work at all on Venom. I never had any idea of where he was coming from."

J.C. winced. "Considering his main goal seemed to be eating your head, that's not good."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Venom?" Marie asked, frowning.

"Magneto's newest ally," Doc explained. "We're not sure yet what his goals are."

"Not sure? He's working with Magneto," Logan said pointedly.

"Yes, but -- he rushed to save a little girl when she was in danger," Peter said, sounding baffled. "That's not normal behavior from one of Magneto's usual allies."

"I dunno -- he was acting fairly skeevy with me when he put me on top of that building," J.C. said with a shudder. "I really wish he had chosen someplace lower. . . . M.J., how do you stand it?"

"I just keep telling myself, 'Peter won't let me get hurt,'" Mary Jane said. "Plus, by this point, I've gotten kind of used to it." She grinned and squeezed Peter's hand. "Webslinging -- now that's fun."

"So what exactly can this Venom character do?" Scott asked, looking very serious.

"He's -- well, honestly, he's kind of like Spider-Man," Verne admitted. "He seems to have all the same powers."

"He does," Peter said, rubbing his side. "He even seemed to be a little bit stronger than I was."

"He didn't really hurt you that badly, did he?" M.J. asked, concerned.

"He tried," Peter said. "But I managed to hold my own. It helped that he couldn't shut up about how he was going to eat my brains. Allowed me to get a few extra shots in."

"Don't you mean 'we?'" J.C. pointed out. "That's how he kept referring to himself."

"Sort of like Gollum in Lord of the Rings," Jules said. "Maybe he has multiple personality disorder."

"He might, but in those cases, the other personalities generally don't know each other," Hank said, playing with his hands as he thought. "I'll have to do some further research later."

"There's something pretty strange about his costume too," Marty said. "He can make these tendrils come out of it and grab things."

"Not to mention that huge mouth full of sharp teeth," Clara said with a shudder. "And that tongue of his!"

"He's probably the best French kisser on the planet," J.C. joked.

Everyone looked at her. "You're a nice girl, but you're really weird," Marie finally said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Excuse me for trying to lighten the mood."

Mary began crying. "Must be time for her bottle," Ororo said with a tired smile. "Kurt, could you--?"

"Of course, mien Liebe." Kurt headed into the kitchen and returned with a bottle. Ororo popped the nipple into the baby's mouth, immediately silencing her.

Hank looked thoughtful. "Well, then, it sounds like this 'Venom' gets his powers not from a mutation, but from an advanced costume. Which makes me wonder why Magneto's working with him."

"Especially since he's gotten on our case for teaming up with Peter," Bobby scowled. "He thinks of Peter as a fake -- a wanna-be mutant."

"Could they just have been at the same place at the same time?" Jennifer asked.

"Doubtful," Doc said. "Magneto looked to be giving a signal to someone shortly before Venom joined in."

Marty snapped his fingers. "And that was right when Peter showed up! Maybe he is using Venom to get rid of Spider-Man!"

"Oh, how lovely. Magneto is capable of tolerance," Jennifer said, her voice dripping sarcasm.

"So what do we do?" Marty asked. "I don't think we should just sit around waiting for them to make the next move."

"Neither do we," Jean said. "Professor, do you think you could find Mystique with Cerebro?"

"Or maybe Venom?" Jennifer asked.

"I'll try it, yes. Mystique may have been shielded by Magneto, though. And if Venom can shield himself against Peter's spider-sense, there's a possibility he could shield himself against telepathic intrusion and detection."

"It's worth a try."

"That it is," Professor Xavier agreed. "As soon as we get back to the mention, I'll conduct a search."

"And we'll be on the lookout for any unusual activity," Doc said. "I have a hunch that at least Venom will be making another appearance soon."

"If he comes anywhere near this house, he's going to get a nasty surprise," Ororo said, clutching Mary to her chest. There was a roll of thunder from overhead.

"Don't worry," Clara said reassuringly. "We won't let them anywhere near your child."

Friday, November 5th

12:29 P.M.

"What are you doing, saving children!"

Magneto glared at Venom. "Your job is to kill Spider-Man! Not to play hero to some useless child!"

"We were trying to kill Spider-Man," Venom snapped sulkily, sitting on the ceiling. "But we couldn't let an innocent be harmed."

"What about J.C.? She's an X-Man, and you practically rescued her from Mystique!"

"We were saving her for ourselves! If the bug hadn't come along, we would have had some fun, that's all."

Magneto muttered a string of nasty words in German and turned to Mystique. "Have you contacted Frieda Stamos yet?"

"Yes," Mystique said, looking disgusted. "She didn't want anything to do with our plans. Said that the 'Shaw experience' cured her of ever wanting to go after the X-Men again."

"Damn it. She was a powerful ally. How about the others?"

"Marko and Wyngarde have both agreed to join us. And of course Unas and Dukes have remained on board -- though Unas required a bit of persuasion." Mystique smirked. "Marko seemed especially eager. I think he'll be a real asset to us." She dropped back into a scowl. "The rest are either pretending to consider it, or flat turned me down."

"Well, at least we have their support. Charles will be reluctant to harm Marko, if I remember correctly. And Pyro?"

"Recaptured, unfortunately. He was coming to meet us when he ran into some police trouble. He might have made it through if Iceman hadn't shown up." Mystique grumbled. "That boy is far too impulsive."

"We'll let him cool his heels for now," Magneto said. "Missing out on the action might teach him a lesson. Besides, we can't waste time rescuing people now." He turned back to Venom, glaring. "I wouldn't care so much about your 'hero complex' if you were saving the genetically pure. We are the future, not them."

Venom recoiled, looking shocked. "You would let innocent humans die?"

"No human is innocent," Magneto said in a measured voice. "None of them. They're stupid creatures, full of hate and greed."

Venom hissed. "We are human. Or, Eddie was," he amended.

"And I would have killed you in a heartbeat had you stood in my way. The same goes for Harry Osborn."

Venom dropped down from the ceiling, considering Magneto carefully. "And what do you think of us now?"

Magneto sighed. "I consider you to be slightly better than that pretender Spider-Man. And that's only because you work for me."

Venom cocked his head, as if suddenly seeing Magneto in a new light. "You're a twisted old man," he said, voice cold.

"I have every right to be," Magneto replied. "I was broken, humiliated by these inferior creatures twice. It will not happen a third time. The future is ours. Once we subdue the X-Men and Spider-Man, the genetic cleansing will begin." He poked a finger into Venom's chest. "So the next time you see Spider-Man, concentrate on killing him. Not on saving humans."

There was a long moment of silence. Then Venom pulled away from Magneto. "We'll kill Spider-Man," he snarled, "but not for your agenda. Our aim is to be come better than Spider-Man ever was. It is part of his punishment. We will not let innocents die." A black tendril suddenly shot out and wrapped itself tightly around Magneto's throat. "The next time we see you -- you will be fair game." With a parting squeeze, Venom jumped out the window.

Magneto gasped for air, then felt the forming bruise around his neck. He looked over at Mystique, who looked very startled -- and rather murderous. "I believe we may have a situation, my dear." He sighed deeply. "At least he's still going to kill Spider-Man. We can deal with him after he does that. How long until Marko and Wynegarde arrive here?"

"Two, possibly three days."

"We'll lie low until then. I don't want to give him or Charles any excuse to end our plans before they've begun."