ONE YEAR AGO: EARTH PRIME
After getting over the fact that she almost got killed, Caitlin did her checkup with the help of Karen. "It's incredible. All my vitals are elevated, and my blood pressure is lower, but that's not the strangest thing. My cells are in a constant state of Regenesis. It's like I'm not aging at all. At least not the way I'm supposed to be."
"Why?" Aster wonders. "Why would he want to make you stronger?"
"Because..." Caitlin sighed at the reminder. "He said he traveled across the stars to be with me. To make me his bride."
Peter was shocked at that and scoffed. "You are telling me that Ronnie's corpse traveled all this way to take my girl?"
"Didn't you technically take her from him?" Frost asks, remembering how things started in their relationship.
"That was different. He died." Peter replied to that notion.
"Fair. Even my best friend is trying to steal my girl to this day." Reed admitted, thinking of his friend-turned-enemy Victor Von Doom.
"I think Deathstorm is using the people who he absorbs' grief to change me." Caitlin tossed her two cents. "But he needs more grief."
"Meaning he's going to find someone to feed off of again soon." Barry, who recently returned with the others, was putting it together.
"And as soon as he does, he'll come back," Peter said when Caitlin grabbed her head in pain. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I just need to rest," Caitlin assured him.
"Okay, we need to find this bastard and send him to hell," Frost stated as she looked at Robbie. "And I mean that literally."
"No problem for me, senorita." Robbie assured her. "But it might get difficult to get close now he knows I'm here. Before I had an element of surprise, now he knows to avoid me."
"What about that portal?" Ashley asked, gesturing to the feed that Tommy, Tina, and April were looking over the footage. "Can't we track those?"
Barry then noticed the portal himself and realized something. "Wait...I've seen that space before."
"Where?" Peter wonders.
"It's the same space that Chester was stuck in before we rescued him," Barry informed them.
"He's using points in dimensional space to escape us?" Peter asks.
"Sort of like my powers?" Violet asks them.
"Technically, yes," Ollie replies.
"That's why my flare hurt him," Reed added. "He came from a region that my powers came from."
"And now that we helped him, he can go back and forth between our world and his own," Cisco added on.
"So, a death monster from another realm, traveling through outer space to find his death bride." Karen scoffed. "This has to be the weirdest thing anyone's gone up against."
"But there's something that can help us with this information," Reed said to them. "Trans-dimensional particles."
"Okay, now you're making stuff up," Daniel replies at that.
"No, now we know where his powers came from, we might be able to level the playing field," Reed explained as he took one of the tablets and showed them the device that they used to get rid of Max Dillon's powers and contain Chester.
"The Electro trapper?" Peter asked.
"We gotta change that name," Cisco replied to that.
"The point is that if we modify this to instead of absorbing the black hole energy, to releasing the dimensional energy, we could give these powers to someone and fight, pun unintended, fight fire with fire."
"Think we can accomplish that?" Barry asks them.
"Sure, it's possible. But someone would need to contain all of this energy." Peter replied. "Violet has a similar energy source, but if we added her into this, it could kill her. Permanently."
"What does that mean?" Reed asks.
"Violet's died a few times since she's been here," Tula admitted. "I was here for one of her resurrections."
Reed looked to the girl in question in shock. "You...you have the power to self-heal to the point of coming back to life?"
"Yeah, gave people a few scares," Violet admitted to him as she remembered when she scared the Spider Twins.
Reed looked around and saw that they were telling the truth. "Okay, later, you and me, we're gonna have a chat."
"We should look for anyone here who has the genetic link and healing factor to counteract the power," Peter said, thinking of where it can come from.
"No need. We have one." Frost declared, getting their attention. "I don't get the whole science mumbo jumbo you guys are saying, but I understand that you need an Anti-Deathstorm to take down the real thing."
"Frost and Deathstorm's powers are both cold fusions based." Reed concurred that it could work. "That could help get this started."
"Okay, wait, Frost, you know that this could end with your death, right?" Peter informs her. "I can't let you do this."
"Peter, honey, I love you. But you don't get to stop me from doing this. I can use Violet to get around just as fast as he can around wherever he goes." Frost started and looked at the kids. "Besides, with all of the smartest people on earth in the same room, I shouldn't have anything to worry about."
"But that's like trying to throw all the eggs in one basket. We need a backup plan." Barry stated.
Peter then got an idea himself that could help as he looked to Frost, Voilet, and then over towards Robbie. "I won't stop you, but I won't let you go out there alone."
"What are you planning?" Ashley asks her father.
Peter looked across the room to one of the main people he needed. "To make a deal," he said and then took Robbie out into the hallway so that they could talk alone. "Your powers can stop this creature, right?"
"Yes, that thing is running scared; no doubt it's afraid of the Spirit," Robbie confirmed. "What's your plan?"
Peter asked, "Can you transfer that spirit upon me?"
"What?" exclaimed Robbie in shock at the suggestion.
"If you pass that thing onto me, we already saw that Deathstorm can't detect it, so I can get close enough to him while he thinks that you still have it." Peter explained the plan to him. "I can get him close enough to end this."
Robbie backed off to get some distance. "No, trust me, hombre, you don't want this thing. Whatever it does to you, it makes you give something. I gave my life to this curse; who knows what it will want from you?"
"I don't care," Peter proclaimed. "Caitlin's life is more important than anything else I have." Then he thought of something. "Wait, he isn't going to make me give up my marriage or something, is he?"
"Nah, he goes for more personal," Robbie promised him. Then he seemed to be talking to someone in his head. "Oh, boy."
Peter asked, "What?"
Robbie said, "He wants to make the deal. He wants this thing taken down just as bad as you do."
"Good," said Peter, relieved to hear it.
"But what he wants..." Robbie couldn't bring himself to say it. "He wants Spider-Man. Once the deal is done and Deathstorm is dead, he wants to eradicate all the radiation from your body."
Peter was caught off guard by the proposition that was presented to him. He understood the gravity of the situation and what it would entail. He would have to relinquish his powers as Spider-Man, and he was unsure if he could handle that. However, the question loomed in his mind: was being Spider-Man more important to him than his wife? Caitlin or Frost? This decision had the power to change everything, but in this moment, all that mattered was keeping his loved ones safe. He realized that he needed to fight back and take down the monster that had taken over the body of his friend. His priority was to end Deathstorm before it could harm Caitlin.
Without any hesitation, Peter nodded, knowing that he had to do whatever it took to keep his wife safe. "I accept your terms. Save my wife, and I'll face any consequences that follow."
Robbie nodded and extended his hand for Peter to shake. "One shake. And everything changes."
Peter looked down at his hand, knowing that if it was anyone else, he might actually hesitate on this deal. But it was the love of his life, and he wasn't going to let Caitlin become Deathstorm's captive, or let Frost fight him alone. He was determined to put an end to this.
He took the deal.
As the night came to dawn, the team all stayed back while in the medical lab, Caitlin stood there in the opening. Feeling all of her grief, Deathstorm came in as Ronnie walked up behind her.
"You're almost ready, Caitlin," Deathstorm said as he approached her from behind. "I can sense all that grief inside of you. I've waited so long to end my solitude. Time to get ready for our honeymoon, my bride. Because I want eternity to start right now."
That's when Caitlin turned around and smiled before morphing and revealing to be Maggie. "What can I say? Am I that good an actor I can act full of grief?"
"What?" Deathstorm asked in shock.
Frost then came out and blasted Deathstorm backward into the wall. "Payback, bitch."
Peter then came over and punched Deathstorm in the face. "When will you learn? You can't defeat me!"
"Maybe not." Peter shrugged, agreeing with him before grabbing his hand and showing a smile. "But I know he can."
That's when he started to grunt, and smoke started to come off his head before his skin started to burn and melt away. Deathstorm looked in fear as Peter revealed to him that he had the Spirit of Vengeance inside of him.
When the smoke cleared off of Peter, he was revealed to be in a clothless white body with a spider symbol on the chest and a skull with blue flames on his head. Growling in anger, the Ghost Rider was here for vengeance, and he will have it.
The new Ghost Spider was getting up and shot several strands of webbing at him, tying him up before Frost came over and grabbed him. "Not so tough now, are you?"
But Deathstorm wasn't going down that easily as he blasted off into the sky, bringing Frost with him. Ghost Spider turned to the other side of the room before Violet came in and opened a portal to where they were currently heading.
With Deathstorm and Frost, they were flying through the air together before Deathstorm separated herself. Getting a few feet away from her, he got ready to send blasts at her. Revealing to her that she was fighting the real deal, and not some illusion.
"I will burn you to ash!" Deathstorm proclaims.
"You first!" Frost replied as she started to get the hang of flying around.
She sent a giant blast of energy at Deathstorm before flying in to tackle him and fly through the city once more. Skidding against a few of the windows and bricks before separating and both of them send a beam of energy at one another.
Noticing he wasn't going to win this fight, Deathstorm slammed his hands together and sent a shockwave to send Frost flying and falling. Before she could hit the ground, however, a portal opened, allowing Ghost Spider to walk out and catch her.
"Thanks," Frost tells Peter as she got to her own feet and Deathstorm came back down.
"You can't keep me from my bride!" Deathstorm declared. "You can't keep me from my bride! Who do you think you are?!"
Ghost Spider snarked as he approached him, creating a web that bursts into flames. "Her husband!"
He swung the web and wrapped it around Deathstorm, stopping him from escaping. Frost then started to approach as Deathstorm was being held down by her husband.
Frost then ripped off the Firestorm Matrix. "Go to hell!"
Deathstorm cried in pain as Ghost Spider finally had the disconnection that he needed from the mortal realm to finish the job. But as she stood there, Violet watched as the grief started to come towards her, causing her entire body to glow blue and immediately change to orange as she started to fly.
"Whoa...what's happening?" Violet asks as she tries to come back to the ground.
Frost decided Peter had this and took off before grabbing the flying girl. But just then, a giant glowing silver ball came flying in and was revealed to be the Silver Surfer in full health as he grabbed the child.
"You are safe." The Silver Surfer assured her.
"Looks like we have a new color and power," Frost said as she eyed the Surfer. "And look who's finally awake."
Ghost Spider then grabbed Deathstorm and went face-to-face with the monster. "Look into my eyes..." Deathstorm saw what he was trying to do and tried to pry himself free of the hero.
The Rider was going to use the Penance Stare. Something that induces self-mortification by imposing his or her every negative action, behavior, sensation, and sin to the pain of others that individual has ever committed in their lifetime.
For Deathstorm, it meant feeling the grief and pain of every person that he had engulfed in his entire existence as he turned into a burning crisp. The Ghost Spider roared in his victory as he cried out and his head burst into flames as his body cooled off the energy he absorbed.
Back in the building, Caitlin woke up with a gasp. Looking to her right, Reed was shocked to see she was awake.
"Oh, god, guys, she's awake," Reed informed the team through the halls.
"What happened?" Caitlin asked in shock, not remembering much.
"It's a long story. Which involves your husband bursting into flames to save your life." Reed informed her. "He's fine, don't worry."
Back with the Ghost Spider, he started to descend back inside of Peter, allowing the man to stand back out in the open with his Spider-Suit back on. Groaning, he fell to his knees to try and get his bearings after everything he had just gone through.
"I know we call me a hothead, but that was a step too far," Peter muttered in a shutter after everything.
Frost rolled her eyes as she made it over and helped him stand up. "You good?"
"I feel hot," Peter admitted in a joking manner. "Unlike you...who's smoking."
"Taking advantage of the no comms?" Frost asked as she wrapped her arms around his head.
"I'm running on adrenaline with a demon inside me. And I ain't referring to the Rider." Peter told her flirtatiously.
"Watch it, buddy," Frost warned him jokingly as she leaned in closer. "You're playing with fire."
"And you just saw I can take the burn," Peter stated as he lifted his mask enough to kiss her.
"Uh..." Violet snapped them out of it when they looked over towards the girl. "Remember, there is a child present."
"You can open portals." Frost reminded her. "Go be somewhere else."
Violet rolled her eyes when she noticed someone getting up. "AHH!"
Looking in the direction that she was looking, they noticed something that shocked them to their core. Ronnie Raymond was rising to his feet before immediately being blasted back by Violet, who was glowing yellow. Implying she used an energy blast.
Frost went to go take care of him again when Peter stopped her. "Wait. The Rider scorched him away."
Crystal looked over at him, wondering what he was talking about. "You're saying..."
Spider Ghost then burst out for a quick second as he looked between the two of them. "Deathstorm is gone. But Ronnie Raymond's soul was clean."
Then the Rider turned back and let Peter look shocked at the revelation that Ronnie Raymond was actually alive.
Peter and Robbie, both feeling exhausted and drained, walked around the halls of the PARKER Industries building after a terrifying and traumatic experience. Peter expressed his disbelief over how Robbie deals with the constant presence of the thing inside him.
Peter said, "That was horrifying. I have no idea how you deal with that thing inside of you all of the time."
"Yeah, I ask myself that all the time." Robbie agreed.
Peter then expressed his relief that the Rider had returned to Robbie after making the deal. "I am just glad the Rider went back to you after making the deal,"
Robbie asked him, "You gonna tell the others why?"
Peter sighed and knew that he would have to come clean eventually. "No, not yet. I don't need them worrying about me right now with everyone vanishing. I'll tell them when the time is right. It seems I still have some time left before my powers fade forever."
However, he was not yet ready to reveal the truth to the others about what had happened. He felt that there were too many things going on, and he didn't want to burden them with his problem while they were all dealing with the mysterious disappearances happening around them.
"You not even gonna try and get them back?" Robbie asks.
Peter sighed as he looked down at his web shooters. "I am not sure. But...thanks. You saved my wife tonight."
"No worries," Robbie said as he used his chain to open a portal back to his home dimension. "I gotta get back home. See you around."
"See ya." Peter bid him farewell.
Robbie stepped through the portal and left the Spider-Man alone in the hallway. He sighed as he walked through his labs and looked at all of the good he did as Peter Parker. Then he got a distress call from Barry saying that he wanted to talk about something urgent.
CHAPTER 8
SPIDER-MAN NO MORE?
PRESENT DAY: Earth-616; Lighthouse's underground bunker
Peter had just dropped a bombshell on his friends and family. In a hushed and emotional conversation, he had revealed the details behind a secretive deal that had robbed him of his superpowers.
As the group listened in rapt attention, Peter divulged the harrowing tale of how he had sacrificed his gifts to save their lives. The room was filled with gasps and murmurs of disbelief as he recounted the dangerous and treacherous path he had taken to broker the deal.
Despite their shock, Peter's loved ones knew that they had to support him in this difficult time. They gathered around him, offering words of comfort and encouragement as he grappled with the aftermath of his decision.
"Why would you do that?" Caitlin questioned as she sat next to her husband. "Why would you give up your powers?"
"To save your lives?" Peter never doubted his decision. "I'd do it all over again."
"So, your powers just come and go now?" Ronnie asked his friend. "Can you not control them or anything?"
"It's pretty hard to tell when they are going to come or go," Peter confirmed his friend. "I thought that I wouldn't have anything to worry about for this mission. I hardly used my powers ever since that incident with Brainiac, so I thought that I would still have a few good months without this happening."
"Well, something seems to be speeding it up," Kara said with a sigh. "What are we even going to do now?"
"Is there even a plan anymore?" Yolanda asks, looking at the remaining heroes. "There doesn't seem to be much left we can do."
"Because there isn't!" Thawne cried from his holding cell. "Cipher has access to the one mind who knows everything." He reminds them all. "Everything that you could think of, he will soon learn."
"Didn't that guy die?" Coulson asked the group.
"Which time?" Barry, Peter-1, Kara, Ray, Sara, and Peter from the Legends ask.
Coulson shrugged. "I've been there."
"Yeah, one too many times." Melinda May joined the crew as she shut the door. "The Lighthouse has been put under lockdown. Yo-Yo and Mack are securing the upper levels."
"Fitz-Simmons?" Coulson wondered.
"Securing our guests who are in the FRAMEWORK," Rodriguez said as she sped into the room, seeing all the heroes. "Uh, hey. My name's Yo-Yo." She then looked around at all of the doppelgangers and got a little confused. "That's a lot of Spider-People."
"You should have been at the Triskelion earlier." Kitty joked.
"Where are the twins?" MJ asks in concern.
"Mack is looking over them," Coulson assured her. "Mary is giving her a hand."
"I am?" Mary Oldenburg-Parker asks.
"Who's that?" Melinda asks.
"Our kid." Elsa and Peter explained.
"Okay, there are way too many kids," Violet commented on the majority of kids in the bunker.
"Yeah, we need a daycare center for these kids." Garrick has to agree.
Oliver joked. "Something for next time to consider."
"I'm sorry, next time?" Peter-200 asks.
"Okay, listen, the first thing we need to do is get some more help," MJ tells everyone. "Is there anyone else we can turn to?"
"We have a few members back on Earth-1," Barry commented. "Felicia Hardy, Maggie Nelson, Cisco Ramon, The Syndicate, John Henry Irons, and his daughter, but we need to leave someone to protect the city."
"Leave Clark." Peter offered. "He can keep the world safe for a few days. Hopefully."
"I'll see if I can find them," Joey said as he opened a portal back to their home. "I'll even check on the Midnight Suns. See if they can help."
"Good, go," MJ confirmed as the wizard disappeared to get some help. "Do we have anything useful?"
"Well, I saved this." Ray showed he shrank the anti-matter bomb. "The only thing we could grab before it all went down. Literally, the floor crumbled and we lost everything in the wreckage."
"Better than nothing." Morgan sighed.
"Wait, we might be able to use this." Peter from the Legends said as he took the shrunken bomb. "Anti-matter can destroy anything. If we could configure the size of the explosion, we could use this to kill Bill Cipher."
"That's actually not a bad thought," Morgan said as she came up with a few ideas. "We need a lab and some time."
"We've got both." Coulson smiled.
WASHINGTON, DC:
In the streets of Washington, Aster, and Dawn were shocked to see that a girl had appeared from another universe. She definitely appeared to be some sort of a speedster since she was wearing attire similar to Dawn and her father. They were still in the middle of the streets and knew that this was something they never saw coming.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Sub-Zero asks in confusion.
"I'm Nora West-Allen." She introduced herself as she walked closer to them. "Uh...where am I? I was supposed to go home, but..." she saw the chaos everywhere. "It looks like I ended up somewhere else." She then realized she needed to learn who she was talking to. "I'm sorry, who are you guys?"
"Sub-Zero." He introduced himself and then looked to his cousin. "This is...Dawn. Dawn Allen."
Nora looked over to Dawn and was shocked when she remembered everything that had happened. She recalled her death when Thawne made her alter the timeline and that Crisis was going to alter everything. It seems that it altered everything so that she was never going to be born in this new world. And if it weren't for her recent adventure in another dimension, she would have been erased from existence for good.
"Allen?" Nora asks in shock. "Is your father... Barry Allen?"
Dawn chuckled and knew this was going to be awkward. "Yeah...I'm his daughter. Patty Spivot is my mom."
Nora was shocked when she heard that but knew that had to have been one of the many timeline changes. "Oh..." she looked around the area. "Is this our world? Or your world?"
"Uh...no. We've been dragged into a multiverse disaster on Earth-616." Sub-Zero explained.
Nora looked over at him and was confused about who he was. But by the hair, eyes, and even the icy-sounding voice, she could guess that he was a child of Killer Frost. "You're...?"
"I am Crystal Frost's kid," Sub-Zero confirmed. "Do we know each other?"
"No, I can't say we ever met," Nora muttered.
There was an explosion in the distance, followed by a flying Eyebat that came across a bystander who turned them into stone. Nora backed away in fear, only now seeing the disaster this world was in. When she screamed, the Eyebat turned and faced them. Nora stumbled into Dawn as Sub-Zero prepared to fight back. But the moment that happened, a giant metal bar flung through the air and stabbed the creature. As it somehow screeched in pain even without a mouth, it fell to the ground and died.
Frankie marched out from the background and sneered at the dead creature. She seemed a little battered up and dusty from all the debris she needed to escape to survive the fall of the Triskelion. She looked over towards the kids and sighed in relief, she wasn't late to save them. She hated that she couldn't save that one person, but she couldn't dwell on it. But what surprised her most was when she saw that Nora West-Allen was among them. Last she saw, she died when the timeline changed, it was almost amazing to see her again and the two being completely different ages from when they first met. Nora was a few years older than Frankie the first time they met, and now Frankie had surpassed Nora's age by about ten years. As he was standing there, Miles came and seemed to be just in bad condition with his mask even missing due to the attack coming by surprise.
"Hey, we should move. The Henchmainiacs have made their way back to the Pyramid." Miles tells them when he notices the fact that Frankie is staring at someone. When he realized who she was looking at, he was just as surprised. "Is that Nora?"
"Yep," Frankie confirmed.
"But...wasn't she erased from existence?" Miles asks.
"Frankie?" Nora asked as she approached the two. "Miles Morales?" She saw how much older they were than the last time she had seen them. It had been only two days since then. "You're... I'm..."
An explosion in the distance woke them up to the situation they were in. "I'd love to catch up and get an explanation for how you're still here, Nora, but we've gotta go," Frankie told the group. "We need to find somewhere to hide out and try to contact everyone who's left."
"I've got it," Dawn said as she sped around the area and collected everyone, taking them to a warehouse with Nora helping out. When they were inside, it seemed to be holding shipping containers. "Not the prettiest base, but in wartime..."
"It'll do," Miles assured Dawn as he approached Frankie. "I'll try and see if I can boost my com signal to reach someone." He then looked over to Nora. "Make sure this is the same person we met. The last thing we need is a spy among us."
"Way ahead of you," Frankie was thinking the same thing as Miles. "Alright, Nora. We've got some questions, and we figure you have a few for us. So we'll let you ask a few, but we want to know how you got here before we do."
Nora nodded as she sighed. "Alright. After Cicada's dagger was destroyed, and Thawne got away, I was beginning to die, I accepted it was happening, but then the next thing I knew I woke up and was in a forest of sorts. Before I could figure out what was going on, I saw Spider-Man and a whole group of younger kids battling living electricity and Thawne. Then I learned I was on a parallel Earth, and the Spider-Man there was an agent of this organization called S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Oh, so there are multiple of them." Dawn scoffed.
"What?" Nora was confused.
"The Spider-Man on this earth is also an Agent of S.H.I.E..L.D.," Aster explained.
"Really?" Nora was surprised to hear. "Wow. That's just odd. Anyway, after this whole thing, he found a way to send us all home and for me to change my fate." She showed the Speedforce dampener they created for her. "I should have died by now, but I have a feeling you have an explanation for that."
"Time means nothing right now." Aster recapped it.
"Huh?" Nora was confused.
"Yeah, I'll catch you up on everything you missed now." Frankie finally decided. "Get comfortable. It's a long story."
In the Fearamid, Bill was supervising the construction of a strange device that Kang had given him to complete his evil plan. The device was taking shape slowly but surely, with Bill's henchmen working on it day and night while others were busy creating chaos and terrorizing innocent people. Unfortunately, Bill's smartest and most efficient henchman had been captured by the heroes, which meant that the construction of the device was going to take much longer than anticipated.
For the scientific part of the project, Bill enlisted the help of Morbius while Enchantress was moving the objects around. The device was starting to look like a giant steel circle with several arms reaching out towards the center, each one intricately designed with a specific purpose in mind.
"Come on, guys, we have just one job here," Bill sighed, looking at the slow progress they were making. "All we have to do is build a portal. How hard can it be?" With a sense of frustration and urgency, he urged his team to work faster and more efficiently, knowing that the fate of the city depended on their success.
Then the door for the Fearamid behind him blew up and sent fragments of it flying everywhere. Bill shielded himself even if he couldn't get hurt. When the dust cleared, Kang was floating on his platform while holding onto Chavez as she struggled to escape his grasp. With his enhanced technology and the Spider Strength of his old life, he managed to hold onto Chavez with ease.
"Oh, come on. Did I get rid of doors in the future?" Bill asks, still under the impression he is the ruler of the future. But when he heard his outburst, he considered it. "Wait, someone write that down. Get rid of doors." Then he refocused back towards Kang. "So, she's gonna be the one to do it?"
"Do what?" Chavez wonders.
"You will open a portal for us to leave," Kang tells her.
Chavez scoffed when she heard that. "I am not helping you! And even if I would do it for you, Madame Web blocked us off. Only a few people can do it now in certain places."
"Yes," Kang confirmed she was correct. "But you surpass that." He then tossed Chavez before she could question it further. Enchantress worked fast to grab Chavez and even tried to manipulate her to help their cause. But it seemed to be failing her as she was fighting back. "Don't bother. She has a powerful mind. Telepathic powers don't work on her."
"Then what do we do?" Enchantress asks.
"She might be able to resist telepaths..." Kang then immediately used his tech to telepathically lift Chavez and raise her to the device. When he finished placing the arms around her limbs to keep her in place, the device began to electrify Chavez, causing her to scream in agony. "But she can't resist pain."
Bill floated down and watched the scene play out. "So, seems the heroes weren't much trouble."
"Some of them got away," Kang reported to him. "Thawne was captured in the process."
"They escaped you? I thought that you would know how to defeat them." Bill commented.
Kang thought back to the Triskelion and wondered what went wrong. "So did I." But then he shook himself out of his confusion. "I already sent my men to search the S.H.I.E.L.D safehouses I have in my database thanks to Mr. Snow-Parker. They can't run forever."
LIGHTHOUSE:
Peter was exhausted and found a spot to sit down on the stairs leading to the main room. Surveying his surroundings, he saw that everyone around him was trying to fix their gear or attending to their injuries, and they were all being looked after by Alya Fitz-Simmons. Peter recognized her as the daughter of Jemma and Leopold, whom he had met during the Crisis. He recalled that her parents were on a mission out on S.W.O.R.D. and they wouldn't be able to help with the current situation.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he heard Caitlin's voice approaching him. She was carrying their daughter in her arms, who seemed eager to reach her father. Caitlin struggled to carry her weight and balance herself but finally managed to reach Peter. "Hey, someone wants her daddy," she said, panting.
Peter smiled and reached out to take his daughter in his arms, feeling a sense of warmth and joy. "Hey, sweetie," he said, his voice full of affection.
Caitlin took a seat beside them and watched the two giggle, feeling content. After a moment, she turned to her husband and asked, "So...how are you feeling?" She was concerned about Peter's well-being and wanted to make sure he was okay.
"Like the universe kicked me in the teeth for the fifteenth time." Peter sighed as he looked down at his costume. "Right when I needed my powers the most they failed me." He then began to worry about the others. "And our kids are still out there. Unless they have already been..."
"Hey, our kids are strong." Caitlin stopped him from beating himself down. "They are out there. Fighting to make their way back to us."
"Well, that makes one of us." Peter sighed as he remembered what was happening to himself. "Without my powers, I am useless."
"Who said that?" Caitlin asks him in shock. "You're acting like this is the end."
"Cait, my powers were taken from me by an angel that was dragged into hell." Peter reminded her. He learned the history of the Spirit of Vengeance when it became a part of him. "I don't have much luck when it comes to understanding magic."
"Right." Caitlin sighed as she saw the problem. "But come on, we have been through this before, haven't we?"
"Someone stealing my powers after sacrificing them as part of a deal to save you?" Peter asked. "Cait, the last time I lost my powers, it was because of science. And someone who understood how to recreate the radiation on the spider is what brought them back. That isn't going to happen a second time."
"Why not?" Caitlin asks.
"For one thing, the scientist was Dr. Connors," Peter told her, and Caitlin remembered that Curtis was currently a gigantic monstrous lizard in their world. "And he isn't going to be willing to help. And not to mention I was younger when that happened. If I do it now, I could grow six limbs."
"Okay, yeah I get your point." Caitlin agreed that was difficult. "But come on, would it be the worst thing in the world if you never got your powers back?"
"Cait, without Spider-Man, what am I really going to do?" Peter asks. "Work the normal 9 to 5? Come home exhausted after a long day and just sit back?"
Caitlin sighed as she understood that Spider-Man had been a large part of Peter's life and he couldn't see life without it. But then she considered something and looked down. "Well, I know a certain someone who wouldn't mind you around more often."
Mayday giggled as she reached to grab her father's face, causing Peter to giggle himself. When she started to crawl around her dad with her spider powers, Peter laughed even harder as he tried to keep up with his daughter.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Peter tried to grab her as he laughed. "Get back here!"
MJ watched as Peter and Caitlin were having their moment and just sighed. Maybelle approached her mother and was a little concerned about what she was supposed to do. She has never really interacted with her mother, and this was the first time since everything that she has had a moment to consider what to do or say.
"Is it always like this?" Maybelle asks.
MJ chuckled as she saw her daughter get her sense of humor. "Usually, we are better prepared." She sighed as she sat down. "What was I thinking? I'm not a leader. Ava should have stayed here, and I should have gone in to save Peter."
Maybelle wasn't sure what to say since she wasn't exactly raised by emotionally stable people. "Well, I was told some stories about you and Dad. And from what they have told me, Ava knew how to break him out of a moment because of their...connection."
MJ had to admit that her daughter did have a point. Seems that she got her father's brains as well. Not selling herself short, but Peter is a better scientist while MJ is a better reader of people.
"They always did have that strange brother-sister relationship thing." MJ agreed with her. "I just feel useless out here. In one day, I made the wrong call, getting our biggest heroes taken down, and we lost our home turf."
"Okay, yeah, but coming from the girl who grew up in an apocalypse, you could do much worse." Maybelle tried to comfort her mother, getting them both to chuckle. "Look, we still have a chance, Dad is still out there. We just need to put together a plan."
MJ nodded and laughed. "You are definitely a daughter of Spider-Man."
As the group stood in the room, a sudden and unexpected portal opened up, which caught everyone's attention. The portal revealed the appearance of Felicia, the Syndicate, Maggie, and Natalie, who stepped out of the portal one by one. Upon stepping out, Felicia seemed to stand out from the rest of the group, as she was wearing a new suit with less dense armor than Ashley's attire. What's more, Felicia was sporting peculiar fur coating around her knees and arms, and her heels were replaced with boots.
As she made her way towards Peter and Caitlin, Henry, Dream Team, and Clark were left to protect Earth-01, with all of the other heroes gone. Joey was the last one to step through the portal, and as he saw everyone make it through, a sense of relief washed over him.
He remarked, "The Suns were keeping the world safe with us all gone. And they might need me to keep the Sanctum safe with Cleo currently in the Dark Dimension." Everyone listened intently, knowing full well that they would need to work together to keep these worlds.
"Okay, go. We will take it from here." Elsa tells him.
"Good luck, guys," Joey said as he closed the portal and left for Earth-02.
"Hey, Spider," Felicia-1 said as she kneeled beside them. "The wizard kid filled us in on what's going on here. And what happened."
Peter sighed. "Well, people are going to need to know eventually."
"And we still have to remember to tell Frost when we get her back," Caitlin commented.
"How are our members in the FRAMEWORK?" Coulson asks Alya.
"Doing okay. But I would reframe from having them moved again." Alya warns the team. "I don't think their brains could handle it."
"Alright, so we can't keep running," Courtney said in worry. "Not great but not bad either."
"So, what do we do?" Violet asks. "All of our enemies are in Washington, and we are...?"
"Lake Ontario, just outside New York," Melinda tells them.
"And we have the Waverider. Just a few repairs, and she can take us back and forth to Washington." Sara offered a solution.
"And we lost our mechanic to Bill." Peter Legends reminded them.
"We can take a look at it." Alya offered.
"Easy." Morgan agreed.
"Yeah, I was a mechanic for STAR Labs." Ronnie offered help.
"Let me help." Peter-1 offered. "I can't stick around here without doing something."
"Same here." Rick offered his help.
As they began to gather their supplies, Peter, Rick, Ray, Ronnie, Alya, and Morgan worked together to ensure that they had everything they would need to fix the Waverider. While Peter was collecting some supplies, he happened to walk past one of the labs and noticed something that caught his attention. It was a small, black substance contained in a glass jar, which immediately brought back a flood of terrible memories for him. As he approached the jar, Peter realized that the substance was very familiar to him - it seemed to be a Symbiote, which he had encountered before and had caused him a lot of trouble in the past. The shock of seeing it again caused Peter to drop the supplies he was carrying and approach the jar with both caution and curiosity.
"Oh, seems you stumbled on our side project," Alya said as she appeared, spooking Peter. He needed to get used to not relying on his senses. "It's called a Parasitic Organism. But the Director prefers to call it a-"
"Symbiote," Peter muttered. "Yeah, trust me, we've met. What are you doing with it?"
"Well, we took this small sample off of Thompson after it crash-landed on Earth and bonded with him. We were seeing if we could make it bond with another suitable host. But it has rejected just about everyone else we have put into contact with it."
"Probably for the best," Peter-1 whispered as he walked back over.
Peter then grabbed the supplies as Alya started to walk back towards the garage where a few Quinjets and the Waverider were parked. But Peter stopped when he looked over towards the Symbiote. He remembered the power and that it was there to protect him. What if he - NO! NO! Not an option! He is not going to use the Symbiote to try and keep his powers longer.
No. He swore to never succumb to the Symbiote again; especially after what happened last time.
Yet again, April stole that Symbiote from his world and she seemed to be in control of it. And they were at war. They could use all of the resources that they could get.
NO! Not happening!
Back with all of the others, Jessica's ring began to glow and made her worry as she looked around. "Uh, guys?"
"What is it?" Oliver asks.
Jessica's Lantern ring began to vibrate furiously, alerting her to the presence of a looming threat in the area. She immediately alerted her comrades. "Guys, my ring senses danger."
Peter-200 and Legends Peter began to sense that something was coming. As they looked around, they noticed that the air around them had become charged with an eerie energy, indicating that something was about to happen. Suddenly, there was a loud and ominous bang that reverberated through the air, causing them to instinctively move toward the monitors that displayed the live feed of the building's security cameras.
As they watched the screens, they saw a group of unknown individuals, cloaked in high-tech armor, attempting to shoot down the front door with sophisticated weaponry. The situation was tense, and the trio knew that they had to act fast to prevent the intruders from entering the premises.
"And things just got worse." MJ sighed.
