SECOND THOUGHTS

In the lounge of the Avengers Mansion, Tony stood in front of his teammates, projecting five holograms from his armor. The first hologram is that of the digital form of the Vision, while the other four are screens showing the designated battle stations set up for their Quarter Final matches in the tournament. "All right, Avengers," Tony said calmly, deactivating the four holo-screens. "Any questions before we move on?"

It was here that the now human-sized Wasp, after slipping on her yellow gloves that were just 'specially modified' by Tony himself, raised her hand while looking unsure. "Uh yeah, not that I'm not grateful for you fixing up my gloves, Tony, but isn't this, along with looking at Osborn's plans...kinda cheating?"

"Only if you get caught, Jan," a smirking Tony replied in a light-hearted tone, hoping that it would ease the tension. But seeing that no one in the room was laughing, he sighed and went back to serious demeanor, something that he personally hated. "But seriously, there's no other option. Like Carol said, Osborn has been two steps ahead since we first started playing this sick game of his, and we've already lost eleven of our teammates. So, if we're going to win Osborn's game and save the others, we have to fight fire with fire."

The digital form of the Vision seemed a bit confused with the 'fire with fire' phrase, as he was still trying to understand human customs, namely their slang. "Well, aside from 'fire' having little to do with this tournament, I do believe that this course of action is the most logical."

Luke, after staying bitterly quiet for so long, finally spoke up. "I second that. Don't need to be a genius to see that this is the best option we got."

Usually, Ms. Marvel didn't like this course of action. But given that being fair was never part of Osborn's game plan, she knew that this could be the only way save both the world from the maniac donning a red, white and blue armor posing as a hero to the people she long swore to protect. "Fine," she said to Tony with a stern tone. "Let's hurry up and beat Osborn at his own game so we can save both our friends and the world and get this God-forsaken day over with." At that moment, Ms. Marvel noticed that someone in the team was missing. That someone being a certain web-slinging reserve Avenger. "And where the hell's Parker?"

Beast, like the rest of the Avengers, looked around the room in search of Peter, and as he looked to the left side, he quickly answered the Warbird. "I believe he and Ms. Stacy went off to...talk," he said somewhat reluctantly, for being a teacher of the Xavier Institute, he knew what kind of 'talking' a boy and girl would be engaging in if they were alone together.

Tony soon turned to the direction in which the furry X-Man was looking and soon allowed a smirk to appear on his face. "Sure, they are."

Elsewhere, in the far corner in the main hallway, both Peter and Gwen are conversing in private, with Gwen herself looking a lot more troubled. "I still don't want you to go, Pete," she said sadly, still looking at Peter's bandaged chest.

Peter hated to see Gwen in such a saddened state, especially since he was the reason for it. "I know," he said to her as he put his hand over hers and gently pressed it up against his chest. "And believe me, Gwen, I don't want to go either. I'd much rather stay here with you. But the Avengers need me, and like them, I've got a responsibility to stop Osborn and this insane scheme he's cooked up." As he continued, Peter gave the worried Gwen a reassuring smile. "And hey, as far as my match goes, I've beaten Electro a kajillion times before all of this. This time won't be any different. Especially now that we know all about Osborn's fixed battle stations."

Though Gwen could sense Peter's desire to help his friends stop the madman that was Harry's father, still didn't her eyes off of Peter's bandaged slash wound and dreading the dangers that lied ahead. "Maybe..but still, be careful, okay!" said the concerned Gwen, then she looked up at Peter as she brought up the next matter, namely the life of the boy they both love as a brother. "And try to help Harry without hurting him."

"You don't have to worry, Gwen," Peter replied, then briefly turned to the Wasp, improved gloves and all. "I saw Tony adjust her gloves that'll help get that suit off of Harry," As he continued, Peter turned and looked back at Gwen. "And she knows to go easy on him! Believe me; Harry will be saved, we..." Suddenly, Peter soon found himself getting lost in Gwen's baby blue eyes, and thus gently touches her cheek. "...*I* promise."

Feeling Peter's touch caused Gwen's heart to pound hard and fast. As such, she instinctively began to close her eyes and slowly moved towards Peter to press her lips against his.

Peter himself was getting lost in the moment as well, and soon leaned in towards Gwen's face, with both their lips now inches away from touching. But before they could make contact, Peter noticed a portrait of the original five Avengers, most notably, the smiling Wasp, and was thus reminded of what she told him back in Nick Fury's safe house. Namely, that of having a double life as a superhero could put the people he loved and care about in jeopardy. And so, Peter regretfully placed his hands on Gwen's shoulder and gently backed away from her, much to Gwen's shock and dismay. "Look, Gwen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What is it?" Gwen asked, sounding both concerned and confused.

A saddened Peter could already feel his heartbreaking. For once he finally had the chance to kiss and be with the girl of his dreams; he once again had to stop those plans for Gwen's safety. And so, with great reluctance, Peter began to try to let her down easy. Something he knew he had to do as a superhero, but still didn't like to do one bit. "Well, it's just..."

Suddenly, before Peter could explain himself, Tony Stark, with the rest of the Avengers not far behind, called out to him. "Hey kid, sorry to interrupt, but we got an arena to get back to and a tournament to win!"

"O-Okay, I'll be right there," Peter called back somewhat sheepishly, and with reluctance, he pulled his mask from out of his waistline and placed it back over his head, completing his guise as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. He then turned back to the stunned Gwen with a disappointed look. "I'll...tell you later, Gwen. Wait for me."

Gwen responded to Spidey with an uneasy, but warm smile. "All right, I'll be here," she told the Web-Head, then watched him slowly walk away to join Avengers. Moments later, she turned her attention to Wasp, who just so happened to be Harry's boyfriend. "Um, Ms. Van Dyne..."

Wasp held up her hand to cut Gwen off. "I know, Gwen," she said with a small smile. "And don't worry, I'll stop him without hurting him. And after that, he's on our list of friends we need to save."

For Gwen, she found Wasp's warm demeanor reassuring, and thus gave her a nod. "Thank you."

Also happy with the size altering Avenger's answer was that of Spidey, who smiled behind his mask. For while he was worried about Harry, he knew that Wasp would be able what the symbiote would throw at her, especially with her new gloves.

Wasp then turned to face Spidey himself, now looking more determined. "Well, let's go, Web-Head! Like Tony said, we got a tournament to win."

For the Web-Slinger, he just gave her nod, equally dead set on winning this sick game and saving Harry, his fellow Avengers, and the entire world. "Lead the way!" he told Wasp and joined her walking towards Tony.

As Gwen watched Spidey and the Avengers leave, Beast soon approached the young girl and saw that she was holding her hands in a praying fashion, no doubt praying for the Wall-Crawler's safe return, as well as Harry and the rest of the Avengers. As such, he gently placed a comforting, furry left hand on her shoulder. "The stitches will hold, Ms. Stacy," Beast told her in a sympathetic tone and getting her attention. "And if he's been able to handle super-villains for this long, I'm sure he can handle whatever else Osborn has planned for him."

Gwen could tell that Beast meant well, and as such, gave him a nod of acknowledgment, then turned back to watching Spidey leave with the Avengers, worried expression still present. "I hope you're right."

Meanwhile, as all of the remaining Avengers assembled, Tony, while standing in front of a large open secret elevator, which led back down to the War Room below. The Wasp soon took this moment to lean in and ask this to Spidey, as she saw him with Gwen earlier. "So, how about, Pete?" she whispered to him. "Did you tell her about the dangers of dating a superhero?"

Before answering, Spidey let out a sigh of discouragement. "I was about to...then Tony called me."

"Oh," Wasp replied, sounding just as discouraged as well as annoyed by how Tony butted in. "Well, yeah, timing has never been part of Tony's forte." Moments later, Wasp saw Spidey dropping his head in shame, soon grew just as sad as he was, for she hated to be the one to tell her that him dating Gwen was a lousy idea. And a shame too, because she thought they'd make the cutest couple. "But for what it's worth, I really am sorry, Pete."

"I know," replied the disappointed Web-Head, and after letting out a sigh, he looked up at Wasp with an understanding look behind his mask. "But you're right, me and Gwen staying apart is probably for the best."

The equally saddened Wasp answered by giving Spidey a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Tony looked to see that the Avengers, or at least what remained of them, were finally assembled. "Good, gang's all here," said Tony as he pulled his faceplate down and completed his Iron Man guise. "Now, Avengers, let's head back to the Garden and give Osborn a reminder of who he's dealing with!"