As we drove out of Harlem, Craig was quiet. I wanted to say something, but I had a feeling he didn't want to talk. He had an intense glare on his face as he looked forward. He was quietly sucking teeth as if whatever he was mulling over in his head was agitating him. He had quite the grip on the steering wheel. Add in the fact that Hail Mary by 2Pac was piping through the car's sound system, and I decided it would be best for the both of us if I kept quiet. So, I busied myself with staring out the window as we continued to drive. Eventually, we ended up at a stoplight. I continued to stay quiet before Craig spoke.

"Any regrets about rocking with us?" he asked. I looked at him, seeing the serious expression on his face. "I'm just asking because I'm wondering if I'm causing you some unneeded headaches."

"This is nothing new to me," I replied in earnest as I shook my head. "Before The Spell, during Midtown's Homecoming, it was Vulture dropping a whole building on me. After that, in Europe, it was Mysterio using his special effects to screw with my mind and lure me into a path of a high speed train." At that, Craig mouthed a "wow" to himself as he averted his gaze briefly. "Even without meeting you guys, I'm sure I'd run into Scorpion sooner than later. After we take care of him, I'd probably end up facing some crazed big game hunter or something."

At that, Craig scoffed. "You might not want to speak that into the universe."

I chuckled. "Maybe you're right." The light turned green. Craig drove forward. "So, you were at The Battle for Earth?"

"Yeah, I was," he confirmed. "I was there with Scott, Kitty, Carmilla, and other former X-Men."

"And were you guys blipped?"

"A lot of us were. Out of the four of us, Kitty, Carmilla, and I were dusted." He sighed. "Scott wasn't. See, at the time, the four of us was down in Fort Lauderdale. See, there was a government sanctioned team called The Command that Scott owed a favor to, and they needed some help. They were a bit stretched thin, so they asked Scott to put together a team for a drug bust. It wasn't normal drugs either. I'm talking Mutant Growth Hormones – basically this drug that gives people temporary powers."

"Like Project Power?" I asked. "You know, the movie with Jamie Foxx?"

Craig paused for a moment. He then nodded. "Yeah, actually, just like that. The thing is, the chemical needed for MGH can only be harvested from mutants. So, needless to say, Scott was all for this bust. He even had a plan to track down the source of the MGH afterwards. I was also all for it. I haven't seen my mom and dad in a while, so I figured I'd pay them a visit once we handled things. But the day we were preparing for the bust, Carmilla was taking a very long time in the bathroom. So I walk up to the door to knock, but as soon as I touched the door, my hand exploded into dust. I suddenly fall to the ground and… well… I was gone. Carmilla, I found out later, got dusted while she was showering. Kitty got dusted in the living room. And Scott was the only one left standing." He glanced at me. "Were you dusted as well?"

"Yeah, I was," I confirmed. "I was on a whole different planet when it happened. Funny story, I…" I trailed. My senses were going again as I looked forward through the windshield.

"Yo, Pete, you good?" Craig asked.

"…Something's up…" It was at this point that I heard a whole bunch of sirens in the distance. "Do you hear that?"

"I don't got enhanced senses."

I looked at him sheepishly. "Right, sorry." I looked out the windshield again. "I hear sirens out in the distance. It's a whole bunch of them, too." I turned my head slightly and nodded off towards the direction I was facing. "It seems like they're headed over in that direction."

It was as at this point that Craig's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "It's Kitty," Craig informed before he answered the call, put the phone on speaker, and placed it on his lap. "Hello."

"Craig, where are you guys?" she asked urgently.

"We're in Manhattan. We just left Harlem. Why, what's up?"

"There's a fire at an apartment on Fifth Ave. Scott and I are on their way now and…"

"Say no more, Kitty. We're on our way." Craig hung up the phone and sighed. "So much for turning in for the night." With that said, he put his mask and hood back on before he pressed the gas. I put my mask on.

"There's no rest for the weary," I commented.

It didn't take us long to arrive. As Kitty said, there was a five story apartment building on fire. From what I could tell, the fire was starting from the third floor and making its way up. There were already a bunch of squad cars, ambulances, and fire rescue vehicles on sight. Craig brought the vehicle to a stop and parked it before he hopped out. I stepped out of the vehicle and closed the door behind me. Once we were there, I spotted Cyclops and Shadowcat. Both of them were dressed in their quick change outfits as they spoke with an officer. Judging by her clothes, I figured she was a detective. Craig and I made our way over to them. The three of them looked at us as we approached.

"Frictor," the detective said. "And Spider-Man?"

"Yeah, it's me," I confirmed. "Sorry, I left my other costume at the dry cleaners." I chuckled. "But… have we met?"

"Can't say we have. I'm Yuri Watanabe, detective for the NYPD."

I nodded. "Pleased to meet you."

"What's the situation looking like?" Frictor spoke up.

"Well, there's a fire on the third floor that's burning up to the fourth. We got fire rescue getting the hoses ready, and everybody from the second floor down is accounted for. But from the third floor up… not so much."

"This situation is not ideal," Cyclops spoke up. "Best plan I can think of is that we make our way up. As we move through the building, Frictor and I will be taking care of the fires. Shadowcat, Spider-man, you two handle the rescue efforts of anyone who may still be trapped." He paused. "I guess what we're doing is making a path for those who are still trapped."

"Sounds good to me," I commented. "I'm ready when you are."

Cyclops nodded. "Let's go."

The four of made our way into the building and went straight into the stairwell. As we ascended, we stopped at the first landing briefly so Frictor could break open the case that held the fire extinguisher.

"You know, I could have just popped it open," I pointed out.

"Yeah, you could," Frictor agreed as he pulled out the fire extinguisher and checked the gauge. "But I wanted to do it." He nodded a couple of times. "This one is good."

We continued our ascent. As we did so, the air became filled with smoke. The smoke became thicker when we arrived at the landing where the door to the third floor was situated.

"Stand back," Cyclops ordered. I did just that as the rest of us backed away. Cyclops lifted up his glasses and let loose a red beam, blasting open the door. He then quickly stepped out of the way as backdraft exploded out into the landing briefly. After it died down, Cyclops stepped back into the path of the doorway. The rest of us moved up behind him to get a better look at the situation. The whole hallway was glowing orange from the intensity of the flames. Once again, Cyclops lifted up his glasses. This time it was a wide blast that sailed through the hallway. For a brief moment, the hallway was bathed in a red glow before the hallway returned to… Well, I couldn't say normal. There were a lot of burned spots and there were still some flames kicking. Add in all the smoke that was in the air, and things weren't exactly ideal.

"I'll take care of those," Frictor declared as he filed into the hallway. Cyclops moved in after him.

I stood there for a moment, bowing my head as I let my senses take over. Without opening my eyes, I made my way down the hallway, listening for any signs of life. After a few moments, I heard several sets of heartbeats. Most of the apartments were occupied.

"Shadowcat, why don't you take the apartments on the left hand side?" I suggested. "I'll take care of the apartments on the right."

"Sounds good," Shadowcat said. I opened my eyes in time to see her phase through the wall.

I walked up to the first door on my right that I heard heartbeats in. I grabbed the knob, cringing when I felt the heat of it. "Not to self, remember that metal retains heat very well," I said, reprimanding myself as I quickly withdrew my hand. I took a step back before I lifted my right foot up and kicked the door in. The door flew open with ease. As I walked in, I saw a man move in front of who I assumed was his wife and two children, who were huddled near a window.

"Seriously?!" the man yelled out in an incredulous tone. "In a middle of a fire, you're going to try and rob us?!"

"I'm not here to…" I trailed off as my senses went off. I looked around until I saw some dust falling from the ceiling. I looked up and saw the cracks forming in said ceiling. Just as the ceiling was starting to collapse, I brought my arms up and shot multiples bursts of webbing at the ceiling until the ceiling stopped caving. I sighed before I looked at the man. "As I was about to say, I'm not here to rob you."

The man tilted his head. "Spider-Man? Is that you? Sorry, I didn't recognize you with your new look. It's a good look, I'd say. Not as good as the ol' red and blue, but – "

"While I enjoy the compliments of my new suit, I really need you to get out of here."

"Oh, right. Sorry." I stood off to the side as the man escorted his wife and kids out of the building. I then huffed out a breath as I walked out.

As I stepped out into the hallway, I saw Frictor using the fire extinguisher to take care of the remaining flames. Shadowcat phased out of a wall with a family of five before she escorted them towards the stairwell.

The four of us spent time escorting the families out of their apartments until the floor was clear. From there, we worked our way up. Once we were on the fourth floor, Frictor stepped forward with his fire extinguisher. While there was no fire from what I can see, there still some smoke. As he stepped forward, however, I felt my senses go off, and I heard the sound of cracking. Quickly, I shot a strand of webbing towards Frictor's back. Once it hit him, I quickly pulled him backward. As I caught him with one hand by the back of his jacket, the floor between the two sides of the apartment crumbled away, showing the floor below. I set Frictor down. He looked at the newly formed chasm, looked at me, then looked back at the chasm. He shook his head slowly.

"I owe you a Coke," Frictor stated.

I looked at him. "You really don't have to get me one," I commented.

"It's our thing," Cyclops explained.

"Huh." I looked forward. "…I'll take a Cherry Coke."

"I got you," Frictor assured.

"Okay, before we start talking about soda, can we talk about how are we going to clear this floor?" Shadowcat interjected.

"Hmmm…" I pondered for a moment. I then got an idea. "Okay, I think I got something. Let me handle this." From there, I jumped up to the ceiling, landing on it on all fours. I then stood up and walked forward. As did so, I aimed upward… or downward… and shot bursts after bursts of webbing. Said webbing covered the chasm. I walked slowly, making sure to cover the chasm with layers of webbing until I made it to the end of the hall. After that, I retraced my steps. This time, I shot strands of webbing at the doors before I pulled the strands, taking the doors off of the hinges and pulling then across the webbing. Slowly, but surely, I made a makeshift floor. Once I reached the others, I let myself fall from the ceiling.

"That was amazing!" Shadowcat complimented, clapping her hands.

"Spectacular, even," Frictor added.

While Cyclops didn't say anything, he contributed with a slow nod of approval. All three of their reactions were enough to make me scratch the back of my head bashfully. Before I could comment on it, I heard the sounds of murmurs. I looked over my shoulder to see residents poking their heads out. I turned around and looked at them.

"Hey guys," I greeted. "It's your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with some of his Friendly Neighborhood… friends. Anyway, please make your way to the stairway and make your way down. And while it may be kind of cringe to say this given the circumstances, please pretend the web is lava!"

We all watched as the group filed out. Once they were all in the stairwell, we went to the fifth floor. That floor was in good condition, untouched by the flames. It didn't take long to get those people out. However, there was one woman who was in distress.

"Anya!" she called out as she made it to the landing. She looked around before she attempted to ascend the staircase. "I need to get Anya!"

"Ma'am, don't!" I said as I quickly moved in front of her.

"But she's on the roof!"

"Let us handle that," Frictor called out as she continued to beckon people down the staircase. "We need you out of here in case something happens."

"We can find Anya," I offered. "I'm assuming that's your daughter."

"Yes she is! Please find her!"

"We will." I looked at Frictor. "Coming with?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Cyclops, Shadowcat, Spidey and I are going topside!"

"Okay," Cyclops replied. "Just be careful."

"Will do."

The two of made our way top side. I was thinking it would have been an easy rescue. I was sure the main source of the fire was taken care of by Cyclops.

I was dead wrong.

When we reached the door to the roof, I kicked open the door, only to be "treated" to a sight of the roof being on fire. I raised my eyebrows rose in surprise underneath my mask. How did the fire reach the roof when the fifth floor was untouched? I looked around until I saw the flames spewing from the exhaust vents.

"You know, I'm getting real tired of the heat," Frictor quipped.

"Yeah?" I responded. "Now you know how us Knicks fans feel."

At that, he scoffed. "Oh, ha-ha! Seriously, where's Anya?"

"Give me a moment." I tried to see her through the flames as I carefully walked on the roof, making sure to avoid getting touched by the flames. But the flames were too intense. Instead, I took a moment lean on my hearing as I closed my eyes. After some moments, I heard the sound of coughing amongst the licking of the flames. I opened my eyes and turned my head in that direction. "Over there. Man, I wished Cyclops was here to take care of the flames."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Frictor deadpanned, giving me the side eye. I cringed.

"I'm sorry." As I apologized, I brought my hands up pleadingly. "It's just that – "

"Relax, I'm just screwing with you." He then looked forward. "But seriously, let me show you something. Let me show you something." I watched him as he closed his eyes and bowed his head. He took in a deep breath, then brought his hands out. After a few seconds, I started to see the flames gradually die down until the inferno was patches of flames. After that, Frictor took a knee and held his head in his hands.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good." He groaned. "It takes a little bit of effort for me to control the friction in plasma. It probably didn't help that I'm using my powers so soon after a concussion, though. But don't worry about me – get the girl."

I nodded and patted him on the shoulder before I ran across the roof, making sure to avoid the patches of fire that was still burning. I knew I didn't have that much time – there was still a fire burning in the vents, from what I could tell, and I didn't want Frictor to use his powers again. It didn't take long until I found the young girl. She was on all fours, coughing her lungs up.

"I take it you're Anya," I said as I slowed down to a walk. She looked up at me, still coughing. She then quickly stood up and backed away with fear in her eyes. I sighed as I came to a stop. "I'm not here to hurt you. It's a different suit, but it's the same Spider-Man underneath, I promise you." I brought my hand out. "Come on, we have the fire under control for now. Your mother's worried sick about you and – "

I didn't get a chance to complete that statement before flames started to shoot out of the vents again. I looked over my shoulder to the flames kicking up again. Out in the distance, Frictor stood up.

"This ain't good!" he yelled out. "Just give me a moment, Spidey, and I'll - !"

"No!" I interjected loudly. "Get out of here now while the stairwell is clear! I got Anya!"

"Alright… just be careful! You-know-who will murder me and the others if you get hurt!" With those words, he turned and left.

"…So you're really Spider-Man?" Anya said. I turned and looked at her.

"Yeah, I am. I just had to wear a different suit tonight." I gave her a smile, even though I knew for a fact that she couldn't see it. "But we need to get out of here. We're going to have to web our way down. And that'll entail me holding onto you. Is that okay?"

Anya turned her head and coughed a few times into her elbow. After she took in a breath, she looked back at me. "It's either that or I get turned into chorizo," she responded. I nodded. I then moved to her side and wrapped my left arm around her waist. She wrapped her arm around my waist and held on tightly.

"Okay, whatever you do, just trust me." After that, I ran through the shrinking path through the flames before I saw the ledge. Once my foot hit the ledge I jumped forward. A bit to my surprise, Anya didn't scream or shout, though her grip on me became quite tighter. While in the air, I did a 180 and shot a strand of webbing towards the building. Once it hit just below the ledge, I held onto the strand and swung forward with my legs out in front of me until my feet hit the wall. Little by little, I rappelled down the wall until I finally reach the ground. Once my feet were on the floor, I broke off the strand and set Anya on the ground.

"Well, that wasn't horrible," Anya commented. She then looked at me and smiled. "Thank you."

"It's what I do," I said. I then looked past her to see Cyclops standing over Shadowcat and Frictor, with Shadowcat kneeling next to Frictor, apparently checking up on him. I looked back at Anya. "I got to go talk to my teammates. Go to your mom. She's worried about you."

"I will. Thanks again!" She turned to walk away, paused, then turned back to me. "For what it's worth… I don't believe what they say about you and Mysterio." After that, she turned and walked towards the group of tenants and officers. I watched her for a moment. I then nodded.

"It's worth a lot," I whispered.

I made my way over to the others. As I approached, Cyclops turned towards me.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I got her," I said. "She's already walking towards her folks." I looked down towards Frictor. "How's he holding up?"

"He has a severe headache," Shadowcat explained. "He'll be fine after some rest."

"Frictiokinesis can be a pain like that," Frictor stated as he stood up. "Come on. Let's get out of here before we get hounded by – " Before he could complete his sentence, a group of reporters and their cameraman made their way over to us. "...the media. My headache is about to get worse!"

"At least the Daily Bugle isn't among them," Shadowcat pointed out. As soon as they reached us, the reporters dispensed with the questions.

"Spider-Man, is this new outfit of yours a permanent change?"

"Are these three your new sidekicks?"

"What are your thoughts on Scorpion?"

"Frictor, Shadowcat, are you two a couple?"

"Cyclops, are you a member of the Mafia?"

The questions kept coming. And we were all getting annoyed. Even Cyclops was at the end of his rope. So, after taking in a breath, Cyclops tilted his head back, lifted up his glasses, and let loose a red blast that dissipated about five feet above their heads, startling and silencing the reporters. After that, he quickly closed his eyes, lowered his glasses, then looked at the reporters in question. He moved in front of Shadowcat, Frictor, and I before he spoke.

"Please forgive me," Cyclops began. "I understand that you all have questions. Please understand that the four of us are a bit weary after tonight. So, we won't be answering your questions. However, since I have you all here, I would like to give you a little something to leave with before we go. We are not Spider-Man's sidekicks. And Spider-Man is not our sidekick. The four of us are teammates. We've been working together recently and have gotten to know each other. Spider-Man shares our belief in equality for mutants as well as their peaceful coexistence with other humans. And we, as fellow heroes, believe in the protection of New York and its neighborhoods – not just from criminals who break the law, but against anyone who uses the law as a pretext to do wrong. In those regards, we couldn't ask for a better teammate at this time."

"You call yourselves a team," a reporter spoke up. "So what do you call yourselves? Are you guys Avengers? Are you part of the Defenders?"

"With every last bit of respect due to them – and they're due a lot, to say the least – we're not them."

"So who are you guys?" another reporter asked.

Somehow, I knew Cyclops was slightly smirking underneath his mask.

"…We're the X-Men."