How you doin', True Believers? Welcome to a brand new chapter of our Spider-Fantastic adventure featuring Good ol' Web-Head and the Fantastic children as they venture through other worlds to save their family! Previously, they managed to find The Thing and beat down Mister Hyde, all the while both Valeria and Bentley-25 confronted Prince Arboros about his penchant for personal harem choices. Their next destination? One where they'll find out why one of their own made his gigantic mistake.
Now, before we go to our story, let's check the reviews!
Wilcard Sparda: Lockheed keeps it like that, but who knows? And yes, even Franklin thought that Arboros was a "Little Namor" back then when they met.
Timeless Writer: Glad you liked it, and as you have seen, things are going great for this new crew!
Epiphany616: Typical Parker Luck indeed! Maybe Kitty should show up soon to make them patch things LOL!
cornholio4: Glad you liked the joke, it's the kinda thing that can happen to Peter after being hit one to many times
UnknownPlay123: Thanks for the support and glad you're still enjoying the story!
Ka1zen: It's ironic indeed that Peter mentions the monogamy while there are hundreds of fanfics about "Spider-Harems" (I've read a couple of them, some are funny) and yet, I find baffling at times that a guy like Spider-Man turns out to be quite the chick magnet.
Everything checked, now let's go for it!
Enjoy the reading!
SPIDER-FOUR: THROUGH THE FOREVER GATE
Chapter 6: Burning Karma
In what it looks like a utopian city, the portal open in one of the pathways to the city, with Spider-Man leading the way out while the children follow behind him and Lockheed flies above them, circling around as he soars.
"Well, this definitively looks like a place outside of Earth" Peter quips as he looks around "And since the Forever Gate isn't a Time-travelling device, at least we can be sure it's not the future"
"There is a vibe that makes it feel as if we were on Hala" Jo-Venn comments while the citizens begin to look at them in awe.
"Or on Skrullos, but at know these people are not from either species" N'Kalla adds to her brother's words.
"Guys, I think I know where we are" Valeria comments as she checks her portable device.
"Me too" Franklin intervenes "This is where Kaila comes from, right?" he asks to his sister.
"Who's Kaila?" Peter asks with a hint of confusion.
"Sky's actual name" Valeria replies "And you're right Franklin, we're on the Spyre Planet" she reveals their location, now knowing that they are in Sky's homeworld. However, before they could begin their search for whoever arrived to the place, they begin to notice that a group of villagers begin to run towards them, as if they were escaping from someone.
"That's odd" Franklin comments "Are you sensing anything?" he asks Spidey with a hint of concern.
"Nope" Peter shakes his head in denial "My Spider-Sense isn't picking anything… yet" However, right after he says those words, a massive towering man in a black and yellow armor emerges blasting energy rays from his shoulder cannons "That's Yellowjacket!" he exclaims and right then he jumps to swing towards the havoc with N'Kalla morphing into a large tiger, allowing Jo, Franklin and Valeria to jump aboard while Lockheed flies above them.
"I don't know where the Hell am I, but I will find my way out of this place!" Yellowjacket exclaims as he keeps firing his cannons until he notices a figure flying towards him "What in the-ARGH!" his words are cut short by a flame thrown directly into his face, blinding him long enough to be distracted.
"Come on; let's clear the people out of here!" Valeria exclaims as they arrive, prompting her brother and cousins to make their best effort to clear the civilians away from the giant man just as Spidey arrives trying to gain his attention.
"Didn't had enough with stealing Doctor Pym's suit and 'Ant' schtick, now you have to appropriate the giant one too?" Peter quips at the now giant Yellowjacket, firing web-balls just to catch his attention.
"Spider-Man!?" Yellowjacket exclaims in shock at the sight of the webslinger, firing his cannons at his position while the children keep pulling the civilians away from danger. Yellowjacket once again aims at Spidey, who keeps swinging around him, trying to pinpoint any weak point to beat him while Lockheed keeps firing fire blasts at him "ARGH! I don´t know who the Hell are you, but you are one pesky annoyance!" he then swings his hand and manages to hit the dragon, knocking him down to the ground.
"Oh no! Lockheed!" Peter swings to the point of impact, barely dodging Yellowjacket's foot as he tried to stomp on him.
"That's right! You can't beat me as a giant, you stupid clown!" Yellowjacket mocks him.
"Then how about fighting someone of your own size?" a male voice distracts the armored villain and as he turns around he sees a towering man clad in an armored suit with his face revealed, giving him a powerful punch to his face that pushes him back stumbling.
"UGH! Who the $#&% are you!?" Yellowjacket complains as he recovers.
"Call me Citadel, protector of Spyre" Citadel replies, preparing to launch another punch but right then Yellowjacket opts to shrink down to his regular size.
"I don't think so" Yellowjacket taunts him as he shrinks back to the city but as soon as he walks a couple of steps, his feet are stuck in a couple of rocky formations holding him down "What the?" he then tries to activate the suit but he then receives a fire blast to his chest, preventing him of activating the Pym Particles "What the Hell!? Who's there!?" his voice shows anger and annoyance, receiving another fire blast on the other side, revealing two female figures flying above him and firing another round of fire blasts, breaking the centerpiece that activates his Pym Particles "#$%&!" his anger grows after repeated attacks but then he is finally free from the restraints "Come on! Show yourselves!"
"You want us?" another male voice is heard from a water fountain behind him, prompting the villain to turn around only to receive a water blast towards him that pushes him to another wall.
"#$%& This!" Yellowjacket activates his cannons, firing them to the air and around him but then he sees a man in a black suit and two blades where his arms should be, jumping to dodge the blasts and then slices the cannons from his shoulders "AAARGH! This can't get any worse!"
"Wanna bet!?" Franklin's voice is heard just as N'Kalla rams against Yellowjacket, finally knocking him down.
"And that puts him down for the count!" Valeria exclaims as the children jump down and N'Kalla changes back to her original form, just as Spider-Man arrives with Lockheed in tow.
"The dragon!" Jo-Venn looks at him "Is he alright?"
"A bit hurt" Peter replies as he lands in front of them "He's unconscious and I think he hurt one of his wings, which is why I covered him with my webbing" he explains while the Grimm children approach him to look for the dragon while the Richards children approach the group of fighters who defeated Yellowjacket.
"Thank you for your help bringing him down" Valeria approaches them while Citadel shrinks down to rejoin his teammates.
"It's our job to protect the people of Spyre" Citadel replies but then one of the women notices something in the children.
"Say, is it me or the children's uniforms resemble the ones of the Four who came to this world?" the woman poses the question to the group.
"Oh, you must be referring to our parents, the Fantastic Four" Valeria replies "We are friends of Kaila, or Sky as she used to call herself"
"We know" the other woman replies to her comment "She left us to join her soulmate… are you here to take her back?" she asks them with a serious tone.
"Oh no, no, no!" Peter interjects in the conversation "We're actually here for the guy you just knocked down" he replies, pointing at Yelowjacket, who is being restrained by two of the men "Which by the way, great job!" he adds with a double thumbs up gesture "And in case you were wondering, no, I'm not part of the Fantastic Four, or at least not right now, but I'm helping the kids to round a group of criminals who travelled across dimensions, as well as searching for the actual family members" he explains the reasons of the visit.
"So are you another hero of their Earth?" the geokinetic woman poses the question.
"Well, unless this planet has a subscription to the Daily Bugle and/or Threats and Menaces, then yeah, I'm a hero from Earth, I'm Spider-Man" Peter formally introduces himself to the group.
"I'm Belter" the geokinetic introduces herself "You have met Citadel" she gestures towards her teammate "Elementa, Sidearm" she gestures to her male teammates who are holding Yellowjacket "Kaylo and Kor" she then looks up for the pyrokinetic women "We are The Unparalleled, protectors of Spyre"
"Oooooh, Sky told us about you guys!" Franklin comments as he looks at the group.
"So, you're a superhero team?" Peter asks curiously.
"Think of them as the Avengers of this planet" Valeria whispers at him, giving him an easier reference, to which he nods in response.
"You came to take this man back to your planet?" Sidearm asks them with a serious tone on his voice.
"Yes, we're here to take him away" Peter replies "And while we're at it, have you seen anyone else? A Stretching guy, an Invisible Woman or a man on fire, perhaps?"
"The man on Fire is here" Kaylo replies his question.
"In fact, his trial must be starting now" Kor adds to her partner' words.
"Trial!?" the Richards children exclaim in unison.
"Trial? Why?" N'Kalla poses another question.
"What did the Torch do?" Jo-Venn adds to his sister's queries.
"He is being submitted to trial for the violation of the most sacred of vows of our people" Citadel replies with a vice that spews resentment "He violated the bond he had with Sky, I knew he didn't deserve her and now he must pay the price"
"Wait, wait, wait… He's been put to trial because of a break-up?" Peter asks dumbfounded and then looks at the children "Sounds like Johnny's gonna be in real trouble" he comments with a bit of concern "OK, let's split up, Frankie, Val, you guys go with Sidebar and the Elemental and make sure this Pym rip-off it's contained for the time we go back home" he then looks at Jo and Nikki "You kids, take care of Lockheed" he talks to them as he gently gives them the wounded dragon "We'll keep in touch, kids"
"Kaylo, Kor, please accompany them to the Medical Bay" Belter gives the pyrokinetic ladies the request, to which they both nod in response.
"Is it too much to ask if I request you to take me to that trial place? I just need to see what's going on to my friend" Peter asks Belter to let them join, to which she turns to look at Citadel, who nods in agreement.
"Very well, we'll take you to the Overseer's Courtroom" Belter replies, thus Citadel once again grows in size and holds Belter in one hand, grabbing Spider-Man with the other one.
"WHOA! HEY! Is this the taxicab treatment on this planet?" Peter asks surprised as Citadel looks at him.
"You can jump up to the shoulder" Citadel jokingly comments, prompting Peter to jump to the forearm and climb his way up to the shoulder joining Belter.
AFTER A WHILE
"You know, we made our introductions, yet we don't know who are you and your companions" Belter points out that detail, something that does embarrasses Peter.
"OOF! You're right, where are my manners" Peter sheepishly replies and then extends his hand "I'm Spider-Man, hero from the planet Earth" he makes his formal introduction as Belter shakes his hand.
"Are those your children?" Citadel asks him.
"Oh no, no, Franklin and Val, the human ones, they are the children and Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman" Peter replies calmly "The other two are adopted children of The Thing"
"You mean the big rocky man?" Belter asks him, to which he nods in response.
"Yeah, we're here because the family got lost across dimensions fighting a bunch of creeps, like the one you just defeated" Peter explains the reason of their visit to their world.
"So that means you're not here to take Sky back with you?" Citadel asks him with a mix of curiosity and caution.
"Well, actually, she wanted to come back home" Peter replies scratching the back of his head "Since she and Johnny broke up, there's nothing binding her to Earth so might as well stay here, right?"
"In that case, thank you for doing that" Citadel replies with a grin on his face.
"He sounds really glad, isn't he?" Peter whispers to Belter, who laughs in response.
"Long story short, he is in love with Sky, but when the Four came, she bonded with the Man on Fire and chose to go with him" Belter whispers back at him "Now that she's back, he won't let the chance go"
"Considering the circumstances, might as well go for it" Peter replies with a laugh of his own.
"You know I can still hear you, right?" Citadel comments, prompting Peter and Belter to be quiet, yet Belter laughs at how her teammate feels about it "Get ready, we have arrived" he let them know that they have arrived to the Courtroom where the Overseer will put the trial into motion.
Belter slides down through Citadel's arm while Peter jumps down and swings to the ground, landing right in front of the entrance. Right then, Citadel shrinks back to normal size and the three of them walk inside. Peter looks in awe at how the place looks very technologically advanced. Belter leads Peter to the large room where they greet the old bearded man wearing a tunic who is known to the people of Spyre as the Overseer.
"Belter, Citadel, I heard the news that transpired, everything worked well?" the Overseer asks them and then notices the presence of Spider-Man "Wait, is he another member of the Four?" he asks them, noticing the similarity of his uniform with the ones from the Fantastic four.
"He's an ally of them" Belter replies "He came to see the Man on Fire and to take away the other man who attacked the city" she explains to the Overseer.
"Uhhh, hi" Peter salutes them from the distance "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting or anything and I know this looks like a spousal visit to jail but is there any way to be able to see Johnny? You know, the 'Man in Fire'?" he tries to find the way to see Johnny and then explain the entire situation.
"The Man in Fire will be submitted to trial" the Overseer replies with a stern tone of voice "He committed the gravest of atrocities to our people and he must be punished for that" he adds and then looks at Citadel "Citadel, Sky is in the other room, I'm sure she will appreciate your visit and support for the trial, afterwards, I'll make sure that both of you go through the procedure for your soulbonding" he adds, to which Citadel smiles at his mentor.
"Thank you Overseer" Citadel replies and leaves, but right then Belter whispers something to the Overseer's ear, prompting him to sigh in reaction.
"Very well…" the Overseer sighs in frustration "You, the Man-Spider"
"It's Spider-Man, sir, I'm a man with Spider powers" Peter quickly corrects him "if I were a Man-Spider, and I was in the past, I'd look more like a spider with human legs and stuff"
"As I was saying…" the Overseer starts to look annoyed "You'll be allowed to see your friend before the trial, but you don't have much time, we're starting in a few minutes"
"Won't take long mister Seer, thank you for that" Peter gives him a mock salute and then walks away but then looks back at the Overseer "Ummm, which way is it?" he asks shim since he forgot to ask for the location, to which the Overseer once again sighs in frustration.
"Follow me" the Overseer tells him to follow his lead, walking through the large room until they reach a room with a large crystal container holding the Human Torch inside "His heat was unbearable from the moment he arrived, I was able to reduce it a bit, just enough for the trial and the final sentence, so make good use of these minutes" he explains to him and leaves so they can both talk.
"Johnny?" Peter calls him, prompting Johnny to turn around.
"Pete! Hey! How'd you made it here?" Johnny asks him while Peter walks towards him.
"The kids and I came through the Forever Gate thing, we already found Ben and Mister Hyde and the local heroes defeated Yellowjacket" Peter explains to him the situation.
"Frankie and Val are here?" Johnny asks, looking surprised at the situation "What happened to the Future Foundation?"
"They're monitoring everything back home" Peter replies calmly "Dude, is there a way for you to get out of that thing?"
"If there were, I would've been out already, dontcha think?" Johnny sarcastically replies "The moment I arrived, the Unparalleled found me but they arrested me because somehow Sky made it here first and told them what happened, so yeah, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorn' and yadda yadda yadda" he then sighs "But at least the Overseer somehow reduced my cosmic levels of my flame, so yeah, I still can't Flame Off but at least I can talk normally"
"Dude, from what I heard, these people take the 'Soulmate' thing very seriously" Peter comments with concern in his voice "This feels like a divorce hearing but a very bad one"
"Which is why you have to get me out of here pronto!" Johnny mutters but before Peter could search for a way to get him out of the capsule, a door opens behind it and the capsule is pushed through it "Whoa, hey, what's going on?" he asks with an increased concern while Peter jumps to the top of the capsule.
"Calm down Johnny!" Peter talks to his friend as the capsule moves forward until they reach a seemingly empty dark room. A bright light shines above the capsule with Peter dropping down off it, then another light shines appears revealing the Overseer and Sky, both looking startled at the sight of Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man?" Sky looks at him dumbfounded "What are you doing here? Wait…" right then she recalls the incident at 4 Yancy Street "The accident brought you here too?"
"Not quite" Peter quickly responds "We're on a search-and-rescue mission, we already found Ben and we just got this one, so if you allow us, we'll get outta here and no one needs to suffer any sentences"
"That shall not happen here" the Overseer replies sternly and then the lights go on, revealing a crowd full of holograms around the center stage "People of Spyre!" he begins his proclamation to the people "As every citizen of this land knows, one of our most sacred aspects of our culture is our Soulbonding, how each and every one of us is connected to another soul, one who accompany us through the best of times for the rest of our lives, a bond of life and love, a bond of fortitude, a bond that lasts forever" he emphasizes that last word loudly "so it would be a tremendous sacrilege to break such a bond, regardless of the reasons to it, because once you are committed to this bond, whatever comes through, you must share it, from the joy to the sadness, but to bring pain to the other soul by binding with another one… that is an unforgivable offense" the Overseer's voice becomes more ominous after that last part "Which is what this man gravely committed to one of our Unparalleled!" he then points towards the capsule where Johnny stands.
"Are you for real, dude!?" Johnny exclaims, becoming visibly frustrated "Sky! Listen, I know I made a mistake, and I know that saying that I'm sorry is not enough, but this is ridiculous!"
"Are you implying that our culture is ridiculous!?" the Overseer frowns at his comment, prompting Peter to intervene.
"OK! Timeout! Timeout!" Peter makes the cross gesture of the timeout "I don't know how things are done here, but where we come from, we're allowed to defend ourselves"
"So are you willing to defend this man?" the Overseer asks Peter, to which he turns to look at his friend and sighs slowly.
"I'll do my best" Peter replies and then closes his eyes "Just relax… I've seen She-Hulk and that blind lawyer from Hell's Kitchen do this a lot of times, is not that hard…" he mentally prepares himself and then walks to the middle point of the stage "Ladies and Gentlemen, while I apologize for being unaware of the events that surrounded you, as well as I apologize for not being completely educated on the culture and customs of the Spyricans, did I say it right?" he quickly whispers, to which Sky nods in response "Oh Thank God, AHEM! As I was saying… I don't know about your customs, but in our world, this would be considered a 'First Offense', and a First Offense doesn't need such a response" he then looks at Johnny "I've known Johnny Storm for a good chunk of my life; yes, he makes a lot of mistakes when it comes to his romantic life" he points that detail, prompting Johnny to glare back at him "and yes, he has had a looooooong list of failed relationships, something I can relate a little bit, but that doesn't make him a bad person, that doesn't make him a criminal, and for that he shouldn't be treated like this" he then looks back at the Overseer and Sky "I can tell that you're hurt Sky and probably whatever stupid thing Johnny did was a huge mistake… but he doesn't deserve to be imprisoned, if anything, just allow us to go and we'll be one problem less in your life, so you can both properly start over" he tries to plead to Sky, who remains calm, yet serious and then she decides to step forward.
"The Richards family told me about you Spider-Man, after the Cotati Invasion they told me about your heroics and how you always help others, and I applaud that, I really do… but I believe you're making a mistake defending that man" Sky's voice goes from being calm to becoming serious and resentful "Do you know the function of our Soulbonds?" she asks him "These allow us to feel what the other one is experiencing… The love, the joy, the doubts, the fear… and even our physical pain can be shared, as you have seen" she points out her transformation, caused as a side effect of Doom's attack against Johnny "I could feel everything Johnny did, as he could feel me as well…" she then takes a deep breath "When Johnny and I became soulmates, I left my home, I left my friends, I even left my team knowing that one of them also wanted to be with me because I chose him… And I knew that he had his doubts because there's no such thing in his world" her words begin to sound sadder and her voice begins to break "I did it anyway because I loved him, because I wanted to try, because I wanted to discover new things by his side… and I did, I found new things, good things, bad things, I met his family, his friends, I even met another woman who was married to him"
"Another wo…?" Peter was surprised but then he got the reference "Oh right, the Skrull one, yeah…." He quickly and quietly mumbles to himself.
"In all the time I spent there, there were signs that kept telling me that I should give it up and come home, and I was scared, but I didn't gave in because I felt that despite the reservations Johnny was willing to try" Sky once again sounds calm "Then, after the Knull Invasion happened, Johnny finally acknowledged me as his soulmate… to me that meant that he finally loved me back" as she says that part, Johnny lowers his head, beginning to feel the shame of guilt of what happened afterwards "But then…" Sky's voice once again sounds sad "After a trip away, we were distant, a terrorist attack happened, we fought to protect the people but Johnny helped his ex-wife before me and then he helped another woman who fought with us" she tries to contain the tears that are coming out of her eyes "I went back to my room, and I could feel everything Johnny was doing… the rush of pleasure, the heat of intimacy, the passion, the desire… but he didn't gave that to me" the tone of voice becomes more resentful and finally she breaks into tears "You gave yourself to another instead of your soulmate! You spent the night with another one instead of the one who loved you! YOU CHANGED ME FOR ANOTHER!" Sky finally snaps at him "WHO WAS SHE JOHNNY!? Who was she…?" she then covers her face to hide the tears while Johnny's remorse grows and Peter begins to realize what went down with them that led them to their breakup.
"Johnny…" Peter turns to look at his friend "Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did…" he begins to suspect what happened and prays on the inside that is not the case, but unfortunately, Johnny sighs slowly.
"Yes… she's right…" Johnny admits what he did "I left her and went to console Zora and…"
"Wait, hang on…" Peter interrupts since he recalls the name Johnny just said "Zora as in Zora Vukovic?" he asks him, to which Johnny nods in response and that is the moment when Peter connects the dots in his mind and gets the full picture "You slept with Doctor Doom's fiancée!?" he exclaims gritting his teeth so the rest of the people do not hear him "No wonder Doom did that to you!" he then turns to look at Sky "OK… I have to confess that you have a very valid point; I can't defend Johnny from something like that, but I have to ask… what's the punishment for this transgression?"
"Considering that he committed the gravest one against our culture, he deserves the worst punishment there is…" the Overseer replies with a serious tone "Death!"
"WHAT!?" both Peter and Johnny exclaim in unison.
"OK, wait, wait a minute!" Peter gestures with his hands to calm down and starts to think, finally having a solution to this predicament "I think I know how to get you out Johnny… but you're not gonna like it" he warns his friend and then looks at the Overseer "Sir, I'd like you to take a good look at the 'Man on Fire' over there" he points at the capsule "That man's powers just went out of control, and because of that, he cannot extinguish his own flames, now he must live with the fact that he won't be able to eat the things he likes the way he used to, that he won't be able to walk down the street without burning anything on his path, and most importantly… he won't be able to hug or kiss or even touch another person without endangering them for God knows how long… and that, if you ask me, is a fate worse than Death… so if you want to kill him, you're doing him a favor" he ends his speech, waiting for any reaction from the Overseer, who has remained silent and attentive.
"I must say that… you're right" the Overseer speaks to him "It would be too easy for him to end him when he is already dealing with a punishment that, as you described, can take an emotional toll" he explains to him, while Johnny remains quiet yet he cannot argue against that logic "So for that, I sentence you to banishment, Man in Fire' he gives him his sentence "And let it be known that if you ever show yourself again in this world, you will be treated with hostility" he then opens the capsule "You have a few minutes before the effect ends and his flames burst higher again, so before you leave…" then he gestures to Sky so she can approach him and then grabs his soulbond, taking it off of him "Only the intended soulmates can remove them, and since Sky will receive a new one, she must be disposed of the other one" he explains the situation to them.
"You're right" Johnny replies and then approaches Sky so he can remove her soulbond "There ya go, didn't hurt at all…"
"You're wrong Johnny… It did hurt" Sky replies, still resentful at him and then she leaves, then the holograms shut down and the lights go out again, but the door where the capsule came out remains open, allowing them to leave.
"Pete…"Johnny looks at his friend "You said those things to convince him to let me leave, right?" he asks his friend, trying to see if he actually did that or was he really pushing it a bit far, but before he could answer the question, the communicator activates, prompting Peter to pick up the call.
"Kids? What happened?" Peter takes the call.
"Spidey, we just got the call from Alex and Julie, we have to reach the portal when it opens" Valeria's voice is heard through the call "Have you found Uncle Johnny?"
"Yeah, I did, he's here with me" Peter replies, hearing the cheers from the children on the other side of the call.
"That's great! I got your position so Nikki will go to pick you up, OK?" Valeria ends the call.
"The portal is about to open, we gotta go" Peter talks to Johnny, yet the mood has clearly changed after what just happened.
"Peter… you haven't answered my question" Johnny reminds his friend of what he just asked him.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Peter looks at him with an oddly serious tone, to which Johnny nods in response "Very well…" he then takes a deep breath "Johnny, I had to say that because they were going to kill you, so I had to tell him of the things that you won't be able to do until Reed finds a way to fix you… and I know it stings, but the Overseer hit it on the nail with one thing: What you're going through is a much more adequate punishment"
"Wait, what?" Johnny looks surprised at what his friend just said.
"Johnny… you're my friend, you're like a brother to me, but what you did to her is the worst thing you could've done to anyone" Peter continues with his argument "I know that you're capable of piling up women after women, that you can go for the rebound mere minutes after a breakup or even dating more than one woman at a time, but cheating? That's the lowest of lows, man… that's the kind of thing one could expect from, say, Gambit or Wolverine, but from you? I would ask 'What were you thinking?' but it's pretty clear that you never think! You never use your head and instead you let your crotch do the rest…" he sighs again "Honestly, I feel real bad for that girl because I know the kind of pain she's going through" he cannot help but remember how he felt when he found out about Gwen Stacy's affair with Norman Osborn "And I might as well feel bad for any other girl who approaches you, if that ever happens again because quite frankly… you are a Lost Cause, man"
"So, are you saying that I deserve what happened to me?" Johnny throws him another question.
"Actions have Consequences, Johnny, and you have to take responsibility for it…" Peter replies "It's not that you deserve it, but if I could describe what's happening to you in one word, the only one I can think of is 'Karma'…" he adds "Now, come on, we have to leave this room and wait for Nikki so you can go home while we find Reed and Sue"
Peter walks leaving Johnny behind, but after a few seconds he walks behind him, taking the road to the main access just in time to see N'Kalla arrive, having changed her shape into that of a large tiger.
"Hi! Val told me to pick you up, the portal is about to open" N'Kalla talks to them, prompting Peter to look at her.
"Alright then, lead the way, we'll follow you!" Peter replies, to which N'Kalla now changes into a bird and begins to fly with Peter umping up to swing behind her and Johnny flying alongside them.
A FEW MINUTES LATER
The group reaches the same spot where the portal had opened before, with Franklin, Valeria and Jo-Venn waiting for them, with Franklin holding a jar and Valeria holding a bandaged Lockheed.
"Hey kids, how's the little dragon doing?" Peter asks them as soon as he lands.
"Well, he hurt one of his wings but he'll be able to recover, just let him rest" Valeria explains to him, prompting Peter to improvise a backpack so he can carry Lockheed behind him.
"This'll do, he can rest here for a while" Peter comments and sets the backpack while Lockheed moves a little bit, noticing that Spider-Man is carrying him but seeing that his wing is bandaged, he decides to let it be for the time being.
"Uncle Johnny!" Franklin and Valeria happily greet their uncle who smiles at them, yet it is a fake smile since Peter's words are still ringing in his mind.
"Hey kids! I'm so glad to see you!" Johnny replies, keeping the distance due to his condition "Webs here said that you went after Yellowjacket, where is he?"
"Over here!" Jo-Venn replies while Franklin shows the jar containing Yellowjacket, who is ranting about his imprisonment.
"#$%& you, little brats; every single one of you!" Yellowjacket angrily rants at them.
"We found that he still had a few Pym Particles on him, so we used them to shrink him down and the Unparalleled gave us this to contain him" Franklin explains what happened to him. Right then, the portal opens, to which Johnny takes the jar from Franklin.
"Don't worry, the Overseer simmered down my flames temporarily, I can take care of this" Johnny comments and waves goodbye, but as soon as he turns the back, his smile fades from his face, replaced by a display of sadness as he walks through the Gate, leaving the group behind as it closes.
"Is it me or Uncle Johnny was a bit… different?" Franklin poses the question.
"Well, we had an awkward moment with his ex" Peter replies, not wanting to say what he told to him about his failed relationship, but right then, the portal opens again "Alright kids, hang on tight, 'cause we're on the road again!" and with that said, he jumps through the portal with the children following him, ready to march onto their next location to find the remaining family members.
THEN, AT 4 YANCY STREET
The portal opens on the Forever Gate, revealing Johnny Storm's arrival with Yellowjacket in tow, and right in front of him is Ben Grimm, waiting for him.
"Whaddaya know? Matchstick's back!" Ben quips with his brash attitude "And he brought a present" he looks at the jar, poking the finger a couple of times "That makes him two for two, I brought that moron of Hyde and… Hey, you OK, kid?" he notices that Johnny is not in a very good mood, but before he could talk, the alarms begin to blare in the place.
["WARNING, ROOM TEMPERATURE INCREASING. WARNING, ROOM TEMPERATURE INCREASING"]
"I'm gonna go back to my chamber" Johnny replies after he gives the jar to Ben and then begins to walk away, not even bothering to look at the Future Foundation members, just heading down to his 'room', with Peter's words still ringing in his head, because he could've just argued back about how it was not his fault but Doom's or that he had no right to tell him that or even punching him back, but he did not do it because he knows that every word he said is true… he hurt Sky in the worst way possible and that put him in a point of no return, meaning that even if someday his condition reverts and he is able to flame off again, he may not find another stable relationship ever again.
WOOF! We're back! Finally! After dealing with a bit of writer's block, I finally made it to you guys. Now, before the notes, I want to mention a couple of things:
First, I managed to read the Beyond Saga, and while it had its interesting points, I really disliked the fact that they ended up screwing Ben Reilly once again turning him into a mentally unstable villain. I get it that the point was to showcase that Peter Parker will always be the "Number One" in the Spider-Verse but Ben didn't deserve this. And you can be assured that I'm completely ignoring those events in my future fics, especially "Scarlet Fire" since it involves Ben.
Second, I've seen the spoilers of what'll happen to both Peter and MJ in the upcoming series as well as the Hellfire Gala. I can't talk about it here, but I can tell that it'll bring A LOT of buzz, and speaking of the Gala…
I've been asked a lot about this: Will I make a fic about this year's Gala? The answer is: I Don't Know. I still have a lot of pending stories and those are set in earlier points of the comic continuity so they'll be a bit off from the current one. Once I'm done with those (plus a few ideas I have in mind), I'll think about doing another one with the spiders and the Gala.
Now onto the notes! I took a little time to document myself about the Unparalleled, the group of heroes from the planet Spyre where Johnny's ex comes from, and speaking of that… Yes, I'm sure you're thinking that Peter was too harsh on Johnny, but honestly, it kinda reflects my perspective about what happened with Johnny. Dan Slott made me lose the respect of Johnny after pulling that one: In one issue he finally says that he loved her and accepts her as his soulmate… and then in the next one, he cheats on her with Victorious. Characters like Hawkeye or Wolverine have been cheaters as well, but at least none of them told the girls "I love you" before the deed… That was a very low blow from him and brought him to a point that it'll be VERY hard to recover from.
With that aside, we're also on the halfway point of this storyline, and now we're heading to a place of fantastic creatures where the team looks for the Invisible Woman. Stay tuned, folks and I'll see you next time!
NEXT CHAPTER: WEIRDWORLD! WEIRDWORLD! PARTY TIME! EXCELLENT! (Bonus points for whoever gets the reference)
