Peter Parker

Well, here I was. I was in another country. I wasn't vacationing. I wasn't here to do anything that most people would consider mundane. No, I was in a stairwell of a government black site with my fellow X-Men as many guards came pouring in. Had this been years ago, this may have been a rather extraordinary scenario. But, nowadays, it's almost a normal night of the week.

As we charged upward, I felt my senses go off. I blinked as I quickly looked around. I quickly spotted a group of three gunmen with their rifles aimed at us from a couple of levels upward. I quickly turned and jumped on the railing. I then jumped upward, ascending quickly. As I moved through the air, I was riddled with bullets. I heard the clangs and pings from their impact. I grimaced slightly, glad I wasn't wearing my normal suit. I eventually landed on the railing to the right of the gunmen.

"I don't know how much they're paying you, but I promise you it's not worth it," I growled out. I quickly lifted up my left foot and kicked it into the face of the nearest gunman. As he crumpled to the floor, knocked out cold, the gunman behind him aimed his rifle at me. I quickly cartwheeled through the air, dodging the bullets before I landed on the railing on the other side of them. Before they could turn around, I hopped onto the steps before I left my feet and sent a dropkick into the back of the guard, sending him crashing into gunman in front of him. As they both hit the floor, I quickly webbed them down to the ground.

My senses went off. I quickly turned, just in time to get tackled to the ground. Before I knew it, I was being mounted. I brought my arms, blocking the punches that were being rained down at my face. I didn't panic. I waited until the fourth punch. Quickly I grabbed the large man's wrist before he could withdraw his fist. While holding on to his arm, I brought my legs up and wrapped it around the man's neck, trapping him in a triangle choke. He tried to pull his head out of the hold as he thrashed about, but I wasn't letting go. With my right arm free, I sent elbow after elbow into the top of the guard's head until he went limp. I let him go and shoved him off of me. I quickly stood up and webbed him to the steps.

As the sound of gunfire permeated through the air, I started looking outwards for the others. Shadowcat was holding her own against four guards, phasing through many a blow. Meanwhile, Frenzy was barreling her way up the steps, ramming through the guards who didn't seem to realize that trying to gun her down was a fool's errand. Frictor was right behind her, using his shotgun to send potshots at different groups of gunmen to try and keep them off balance.

"We're pushing through!" Frenzy yelled out. I heard her both from across the way and through the frequency.

"Spider-Man, make a way for them!" Shadowcat ordered.

"I'm on it!" I replied. Realizing I was still a level lower, I jumped off of the steps, hopping over the railing feet first. I shot two strands of webbing upward. Once they hit, I used them to slingshot myself up a level. I saw the door leading to the third floor. It was guarded by a gunman. Quickly, I shot a web at the guard, hitting him in the chest. I quickly turned around. Seeing another group of guards trailing after Frenzy and Frictor, I pulled the strand of webbing I was holding and used it to throw the guard into the group, bowling them over.

"Thanks Spidey," Frictor said over the headset.

I smiled underneath my mask. "No problem. Just get here!"

As Frenzy and Frictor made their way up, I continued to bounce around from wall, to wall, disarming and webbing up gunmen until my teammates reached the door. Frenzy kicked the door off of the hinges before she and Frictor entered.

"We're in," Frenzy declared.

"I'm webbing the doorway behind you!" I declared. I swung back to the door and webbed it shut. While I was doing that, a guard ran up to me from my peripheral with a rifle in his hands. He looked ready to gun butt me. I don't know why he went for such a tactic, but I didn't even turn my head when I used one of my pincers to strike him across the face, knocking him down to the ground. Once I was done with the door, I turned and looked down on him as he groaned and held his face. "Did you honestly think that was going to work for you?" I shook my head before I webbed him to the floor. I looked up to see more gunmen rushing after me. I quickly jumped from the landing, weaving through the gunfire in the air as I looked around, trying to find where Shadowcat was. As I descended through the air, I spotted her down on the ground floor, surrounded by guards.

"Think you can give me a lift Spidey?" she asked through the headset.

Without saying a word, I landed behind her. I wrapped my arms around her and used my webbing to form a dome around us. I held the dome with two strands of webbing for some seconds before I let it loose. The dome exploded outwards, blowing back the guards that were around us. I looked around, seeing them all on the floor, covered in webbing. I took in a breath before I looked at Shadowcat.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shadowcat responded nonchalantly. "Phasing can be a bit tiring, it's all."

I nodded. "I could imagine."

The more I worked with the X-Men, the more I realized that each of them had their weaknesses and limitations. With Shadowcat, the length she can stay phased is directly correlated to how long she could hold her breath. She trained herself to hold her breath up to twelve minutes and thirty seconds without the assistance of oxygen. When she told me that, I couldn't help but google what the world record for the longest non-oxygen-assisted breath held was. The AIDA said it was 11 minutes and 35 seconds. Guinness said it was 11 minutes 54 seconds. I then asked Shadowcat why she never tried to earn that record for herself. She said she learned to hold her breath that long for the sake of practicality, not for an award.

Anway, I pulled her close with my left arm and shot a strand of webbing towards the ceiling of the stairwell with my right arm. "Going up!" I said. Using the webbing, I pulled the two of us upward quickly before I cut the line. I then shot a web towards the door to the fourth floor and pulled us down onto the landing.

"One of these days, I'd like to go with you while you're webslinging," Shadowcat said as she pulled away from me.

"Are you sure?" I said. "It's not for everyone."

"Didn't you take Mary Jane webslinging with you once?" Of course, she was talking about MJ.

I grimaced. "I did. She was not a fan."

Shadowcat chuckled. She then gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

I nodded before I walked up to the door. I kicked it off its hinges before I stepped through the door way. I turned around, waited for Shadowcat to move past me, and webbed the doorway, blocking it with the webbing. After that, Shadowcat and I slowly made our way down the hall. As we did so, we past quite a few windows, revealing the testing rooms and labs that were beyond them. There were no people in sight.

"You think everyone cleared out?" Shadowcat asked.

"Let's see," I said. I closed my eyes and focused on my senses. After some seconds, I started to hear heartbeats. "No, people are still here. I think they're hiding."

"Okay, but where?"

I was about to tell her I didn't know until one particular heartbeat was a little louder than the others. I came to a stop and looked around. I then went around the corner and walked down an intersecting hallway. The heartbeat became louder. It then started to beat faster. I started to wonder why until I realized I could hear my footsteps sounding through the hallway. Eventually, I was led to what looked like a locker. I came to a stop front of the locker and stared at it. That heartbeat rose again. I looked at Shadowcat for a moment. She smirked at me. I looked back at the locker and brought my hand up. For the sake of making whoever was in there sweat, I placed my fingers against the steel door before slowly dug my fingers through it. The sound metal being bended and punctured was soon joined by screams of fear. I ripped the door off of the hinges and tossed it aside.

I saw the scientist cowering as he looked at me with wide eyes. Quickly, I stabbed my pincer into the back of the locker, avoiding the man's head by mere inches. There was a small part of me that got a bit of visceral joy from seeing him flinch.

"Okay, here's what's going to happen," I growled out. "You're going to show us where Tarantula is being held. You try to run, I'll break both of your ankles. You refuse, I'm using you as a training dummy until you change your mind. You agree and try to lead us into a trap, I'll let Shadowcat peel a certain part of your anatomy like a banana or stuck plucking out your organs one by one or whatever tickles her fancy. She can get real creative when given the proper motivation. Anyway, if you take us to Tarantula and he's harmed in any way… well, I hope that government insurance plan works very well for you." I withdrew the pincer. "I'm going to step back now. Make the wise choice."

I stepped backward. Slowly, the scientist stepped out of the locker. I stepped aside and kept my eyes locked in on him. He looked as if he was going to make a run for it. He quickly came to his senses, though. Maybe it was because he remembered that he was dealing with someone who can easily run him down. Or maybe it was because he realized that trying to escape wasn't worth any bodily harm that came his way, especially when Shadowcat pulled out a kunai and waved it in front of his face. He cleared his throat.

"Right this way," he said as he walked.

"Don't expect a tip for this tour," Shadowcat deadpanned as we followed him.

As we moved through the halls, I saw more of the labs. Every now and again, I saw different animals in in one, ranging from small creatures such as mice or crows to large beasts like tigers and wildebeests. All of them looked like they were experimented on, with some looking rather eviscerated. I scowled when I passed by a lion.

"Tell me the truth," I said bitterly. "Is this where Kraven got his enhancements?"

"I-I-I-I'm not at liberty to say," the scientist sputtered out. "That's a government secret and if I tell, I could be–"

"What is your name, sir?" Shadowcat interjected.

"…Thomas Berkley."

"Is there a Mrs. Berkley?"

"…Yes."

"Happily married, I'm guessing?"

"…Yes… why?"

"Well, me personally, if I was in your position and I had to choose between keeping a government secret under wraps and not having to explain to my spouse why my sex organ is on injured reserve, I'd definitely choose the latter." It took me all of my willpower not picture Shadowcat skinning the man's penis like it was a carrot. "Answer the damn question!"

"Y-y-y-yes! This is where Kraven's been modified."

"Hey guys," Frictor said through the communication device. "We didn't find Tarantula, but we did stumble across somebody. He's in pretty bad shape. I know finding Tarantula is the priority, but…"

"Do what you can for him," Shadowcat said as she looked off to the side. "We're…" she paused as she looked at the scientist, who looked back at her. "Keep your head forward!" As the scientist snapped his head forward, she continued to speak. "As I was about to say, we may be zeroing in on Tarantula soon."

"Roger that."

Eventually, we did find Tarantula. He was in a room, strapped to a gurney. He was laying still – too still for my liking.

"Open the door!" I ordered. "And be quick about it!"

Apparently not wanting to test how willing Shadowcat and I were to do bodily harm, he quickly reached into his coat and pulled out a keycard. He placed it against what I assumed was a scanner. Seconds later, the doors slid open. I ran past the scientist. With one hand, I snatched the card from him. With the other one, I webbed his feet to the ground. Ignoring his protests, I passed the card off to Shadowcat before I quickly walked up to Tarantula. I noticed that he didn't have on his suit. Instead, he was clad in nothing but a hospital gown. I took in the metal material his restraints before I grabbed his shoulder and shook it.

"Rise and shine, Tarantula," I said. After a few seconds, he suddenly woke up. He looked like he was going to lunge at me, only to be stopped by the restraints. He struggled and thrashed against his restraints, trying to break free. "Easy there! It's me!"

He blinked his eyes a couple of times. The look of realization came across his face as he slowly settled down.

"P… Spider-Man?" he said.

"Yeah, it's me." I beckoned towards Shadowcat. "Shadowcat's here. The X-Men are here to rescue you, remember?"

"Did you doubt us?" Shadowcat asked halfheartedly.

"Honestly?" Kaine replied. He looked off to the side with a look of shame. "I did. …I'm sorry."

Shadowcat chuckled. "Don't be. You only just met us, so trusting us is a huge ask." She reached over and grabbed the restraints with both hands. Using her phasing abilities, she was able to pull the restraints open. "Can you stand?"

"I think so." I backed up, giving Kaine some room to sit up and turn his body. Once his feet were on the floor, he slowly stood up. He huffed out a breath. "…They destroyed my suit, you know?" He scowled. "They destroyed it right in front of me."

"I'll make you a new one," I promised. "But let's get going so we can –"

"Uh, guys," a voice said through the communication device. It was Scorpion's voice. "We got a problem. Or rather, we got a lot of them. Kraven is here with Calypso. And he also has a whole lot of other people with him in SUVs."

"Of course," Shadowcat deadpanned.

"Oh, we're doing this?!" Frictor chimed in. "Please tell me we're doing this!"

"We might have to." Shadowcat looked towards Kaine. "Kraven is here. Look, if you can't fight –"

"I'll be fine," Kaine interrupted.

"Okay, but are you going to fight dressed like that?" I asked.

Kaine paused for a moment. He then tilted his head briefly. "Turn around, you two." Shadowcat and I looked at each other in confusion, but we did as he said. I heard the sound of fabric hitting the floor, followed by the sound of web shooting. "Okay, I'm ready." We turned around to see him covered head to toe with webbing. His mouth and eyes were exposed, but everything else was covered up. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, we shall," Shadowcat said. She then spoke through the communication device. "X-Men, we're meeting Kraven up front. We're not leaving this island until he's dealt with."

"Say less," Frenzy said. "Let's go, Ursa. You're about to pay a debt."

I was going to ask who Ursa was, but as Shadowcat walked out, so did I. I looked over my shoulder to see Kaine following in tow, keeping his stride as he knocked the scientist out cold with a backhand. I looked forward. I was chomping at the bit get my hands on Kraven and Calypso. Still, I had to play it smart. I never fought Kraven since after he got enhanced, so I had no idea what he had in store for me. Still, I was willing to put an end to this imposter for desecrating my name.