"Tonight, we go now to a special remote interview with Elastigirl and Spider-Man," Chad Brently said as he introduced his interview with two Supers.
"Hello, Chad," Spider-Man greeted.
"How are you feeling, Chad?" Elastigirl asked as her voice and Spider-Man's voice came through a speaker. "You doing all right?"
"I'm fine," Chad Brently said. "The doctors checked me out. I have no memory of the event. I gotta tell you, it's pretty strange to see a recording... of yourself the night before and have no recollection. I don't think anyone needs to worry. We've taken many precautions tonight, though." Then, he continued the interview by asking, "Where are you two right now?"
"On a case, in a secure undisclosed location," Elastigirl answered as she and Spider-Man sat atop the studio, watching the news on a handheld device.
"I wanna talk about you two, starting with your save of a runaway train," Chad said. "Here's an exclusive unedited clip from your own suit cam. Roll the clip."
But just then, as everyone watched the clip on TV, the Screenslaver appeared. "The Screenslaver interrupts this program for an important announcement."
"Gotcha," Elastigirl whispered as she and Spider-Man followed the signal to an apartment building.
"So, what was that gadget you brought along?" Spider-Man asked Elastigirl as the two made it inside the building.
"Our ticket to get the Screenslaver and Mysterio, courtesy of Evelyn," Elastigirl answered, explaining. "With the tracking device she made, we had to lock onto a signal and trace its origin. And that exclusive interview with Chad Brently, which we finished by phone, was a trap for the Screenslaver. BOOM! Independence from Screenslavery!"
Elastigirl and Spider-Man entered the Screenslaver's lair, which looked like a messy apartment filled with blueprints, textbooks on hypnosis, schematics, tools, screens, and other clues and equipment.
"It's quiet," Spider-Man said. "Too quiet!" Then, he noticed the models of eyes, which he shivered. "And very creepy."
"Look," Elastigirl replied as she and Spider-Man soon discovered blueprints for the hovertrain and the Ambassador's helicopter. Then, they spotted a mannequin head on the table.
Elastigirl lifted a piece of fabric to reveal…a pair of goggles.
"Hold on," Spider-Man said suspiciously. "Hovertrain plans… Helicopter sketches… Books on hypnosis… Now, a pair of goggles?" He turned to Elastigirl. "Where's all the Mysterio stuff?"
Suddenly, Spider-Man's spider-sense tingled as a voice appeared. "Find anything?"
Spider-Man and Elastigirl turned to see the Screenslaver right behind them. But before they can engage, Screenslaver yanks down a lever, and a trapdoor opens underneath the two Supers.
"Whoah, shouldn't see that coming," Spider-Man said as he and Elastigirl fell down the trapdoor.
Down they fell until they sat on a roller-coaster car as Elastigirl asked in confusion, "Where did this come from?!"
"Please keep all arms and legs inside the ride at all times," A voice said as the safety bar on the roller-coaster car came across Spider-Man's and Elastigirl's laps, then the voice spoke in Spanish. "Mantenga todos los brazos y piernas dentro de la atracción en todo momento."
Spider-Man and Elastigirl find themselves zoomed down the track until the roller-coaster car stops in the middle of a strange fog surrounding the two Supers.
"Where are we?" Elastigirl asked.
Suddenly, a different voice appeared. "Welcome, Spider-Man and Elastigirl! So glad you two can drop in."
"Mysterio!" Elastigirl said. "Where's Screenslaver? Where did you take us?!"
"Silence!" Mysterio demanded. "You two Supers are about to meet your end in my…FUNHOUSE OF DOOM!"
"Funhouse of doom?" Spider-Man repeated in confusion. "But I thought you were all alien."
As the lights came on, the two Supers found themselves inside what looked like a giant circus tent with the green fog below them.
"Ooookaayyy," Spider-Man said. "I feel like I've been flipped off before, but not like this."
Just then, Mysterio and Screenslaver finally appeared before them.
"Finally, a real showdown!" Spider-Man said. "Time to knock some sense into that dome head of his!"
"You may dare challenge the infinite mind of Mysterio, but we will destroy you both utterly," Mysterio said with such epic villainy monologing. "You will bear witness to the majesty and glory of our power! Prepare to die!"
It wasn't easy, but Elastigirl and Spider-Man worked together to overcome Mysterio and Screenslaver. But after the fight, Screenslaver was making a quick escape.
But Elastigirl caught the Screenslaver just in time, and everything returned to normal around herself and Spider-Man as they found themselves outside the apartment building that just exploded.
It turned out that before joining Mysterio, the Screenslaver activated a bomb in the apartment and later turned on the fire alarm. It let out a blaring sound, creating chaos and making everyone evacuate their apartments.
The victory over Mysterio and Screenslaver was sweet but brief as Spider-Man said, "Now let's see who these two villains really are!"
Spider-Man and Elastigirl ripped off Mysterio's helmet and Screenslaver's mask…only to find that it was just two young people, much to Spider-Man's confusion.
"Spider-Man!? Elastigirl!?" The young man in the Screenslaver costume said, confused. "Wh-what happened? Did we give you the wrong order or something?"
"This happened before…," Spider-Man muttered as he recalled what happened to the conductor on the runaway Hovertrain and what Chad Brently said about having no memory of the hijacked plane.
Both the conductor and Chad Brently were in a trance and have no memories of what happened during those two events.
Spider-Man turned to the two men wearing costumes to confirm his little theory. "You really don't remember? You had this apartment full of schematics, hypnosis books, everything. Not to mention you were playing supervillain."
"Why would we have all that?!" The second young guy in the Mysterio costume asked. "We were just busy delivering pizzas, and everything went black."
"Really?" Elastigirl asked, unconvinced. "You expect us to believe you're just the pizza delivery guys."
"Well, yeah. I mean, who did you think we are?!"
Moments later, the cops took the two delivery guys away as they were being shoved into the police car in handcuffs. At the same time, Elastigirl talked to Evelyn. "Your tracker worked like a charm, Evelyn. You're a genius."
Evelyn chuckled. "Aw, shucks! I'm just the genius behind the genius."
But while Elastigirl and Evelyn felt great that the plan worked, Spider-Man felt uneasy as he muttered to himself, "First, the conductor doesn't remember the train going the wrong way, then Chad doesn't remember the Ambassador's plane being hijacked, and now two pizza guys don't remember being villains?"
Spider-Man shook his head in dismay, knowing something wasn't right here. But he decided to head home and rest, hoping to clear his mind off this crazy mystery and to see Aunt May and the others.
Speaking of Aunt May and home, she was feeling uneasy as well. She was sitting down watching TV with Jack-Jack and Bob, who looked utterly dazed and sleep-deprived.
Just then, Dash came in with his math textbook. "Hey, Dad. We're doing fractions, demicels, and percentages… I don't get 'em."
Bob rubbed his eyes. "Aren't you... Didn't we get all caught up?"
"Well, we were caught up. And now we're doing fractions, percentages, and demicels."
"I think you mean decimals," Aunt May corrected Dash.
But then, Bob saw his old car, the Incredibile, on TV in the hands of a smug billionaire and car collector, Victor Cachet, as the news anchorman announced, "...the addition of the Incredibile, the supercar once driven by the superhero, Mr. Incredible."
"It's the kind of thing you buy when you have everything else," Victor Cachet said. "And hey, it was in perfect condition."
Bob stared at the TV in shock, as did Aunt May. "They said it was beyond repair."
"You used to drive that?" Dash asked in amazement.
"They said it was destroyed," Bob continued as his shock slowly turned to anger.
"Long to be thought lost or destroyed, the famous car turned up at a private auction," The news anchorman said.
"Private auction?!" Aunt May repeated in surprise.
"They said it was... but... THAT'S MY CAR!" Bob yelled in anger and rage as he rummaged through some boxes and pulled out the remote control to the Incredibile car.
"This car is just loaded with unique gadgets," The female interviewer said to a smiling Victor. "Care to demonstrate?"
"I'd love to," Victor said. "But we haven't figured out how to make them work."
Bob ran back to the TV, pressed the Incredibile's remote, and the car's engine roared to life.
"Wow! It works!?" Dash exclaimed as he snatched the remote from his father and pressed another button that emerged rocket launchers.
"What are you doing!?" Bob said, retrieving the remote from his son to turn off the rocket launchers. "This is not a toy! That's a rocket launcher!"
"No way, sweet!" Dash said, grabbing the remote again. "Which one launches the rocket?"
"Hey!" Aunt May spoke up. "It is not your car!"
"It's not Dad's car, either!" Dash replied.
"It is so!" Bob said. "It's the Incredibile."
"Well, why does that guy have it?" Dash asked.
"He bought it in an auction, which he shouldn't!" Aunt May said.
Dash began chanting. "Launch the rockets! Launch the rockets! Launch the rockets!"
"Your father is not launching anything! Do you think we want an angry rich guy like Victor coming over here after us right now when he's trying not to distract your mother?"
Aunt May turned to see Bob, who paused momentarily when she mentioned Helen. "Bob… I'm sorry, I…"
"It's fine," Bob groaned as he turned off everything on the Incredibile. "Rich guy got my car."
"So, you're not gonna steal your car back from the rich guy?" Dash asked, receiving a glare from Aunt May. "Not even blowing up his wall?"
Bob and Aunt May sank back onto the sofa when Jack-Jack sneezed and flew into Violet's room.
"Oh, dear…," Aunt May groaned.
Just then, Violet screamed as she ran away from Jack-Jack, who had just morphed into a little red monster. "What the heck is that?!"
When Jack-Jack turned back from a monster to a typical baby while giggling, Violet and Dash were shocked.
"Jack-Jack has powers?!" Dash asked in shock.
"Yep," Aunt May answered, nodding.
Violet turned to Aunt May. "You knew about this?"
"Yep."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I tried to call you about that," Aunt May explained. "While you guys were on the island, I saw these powers with my eyes." She then reminisced about seeing the baby's powers back at the old Parr home. "I was so exhausted, so… I lost count."
Violet and Dash then turned to their father, furious with him.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I don't know," Bob answered.
"We're your kids!" Dash said. "We need to know these things!"
"Did you tell Mom?" Violet asked.
"No," Bob answered.
"Why not?!"
Bob tried to speak up. "Your mother is not—"
"Do you even want us to tell you?!" Dash asked.
"Why would you not tell Mom?" Violet asked as well.
"Because he didn't wanna distract your mother's mission," Aunt May answered.
"What?"
"Because it wasn't the right time to tell you."
"Come on, man!" Dash groaned.
"Why?!" Violet asked.
"Because..."
"So uncool!" Dash interrupted.
Suddenly, Aunt May yelled in outrage. "BECAUSE YOUR FATHER IS JEALOUS AND FORMULATING, OKAY?!"
Taken aback by her sudden tone, Bob, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack watched as Aunt May exploded, venting all of Bob's feelings and her own into a rant. "While your mother and my nephew are having a grand ol' time, your father's busy taking in information and processing it! He has been doing the math! His car got auctioned! And he's keeping Jack-Jack from becoming a flaming, multiplying monster! And just how does he do it?! By rolling with the punches, BABY!"
Aunt May then pointed at Bob. "Your father has been eating thunder and CRAP lightning around here, OKAY?! When all you kids do is complain, complain, complain! Jiminy mother-lovin' toaster strudel! Do you think your father has all the answers? Of course, he doesn't! 'Cause he's Mr. Incredible! Not 'Mr. So-So' or 'Mr. Mediocre-Guy'. MR. INCREDIBLE!"
A moment of silence kicked in as Bob, Violet, and Dash were speechless…until Jack-Jack giggled.
"Just drop it! All of you! You're driving your father crazy!"
"We should call Lucius," Violet said.
"NO!" Bob said. "I can handle it! There's no way I'm gonna—" Then, he and Aunt May screamed as Jack-Jack sneezed again and flew out of the house.
Bob quickly ran outside and into the backyard while looking up to try to catch Jack-Jack. As he did, the two splashed into the pool. Aunt May, Violet, and Dash watched the two emerge from the pool.
"I'm calling Lucius," Violet said.
"Please do," Aunt May begged.
Lucius and the other former Supers came to the house a while later. He, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Thor, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and even Carol Danvers stood with Bob and the kids, watching Jack-Jack biting play in the family room.
"Looks normal to me," Lucius said. "When did this start happening?"
"I was thinking the same question," Natasha agreed.
"Since Helen and Peter got the job," Bob replied.
"And I assume one of the two knows?" Thor asked.
"Are you kidding? I can't tell her about this! Not while she and Peter are out there, doing hero work! I've got to succeed! So she can succeed. So we can succeed!"
"All right, we get it!" The Avengers said in unison.
"Seriously, Bob, you need help!" Carol said, being serious. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Since never!" Aunt May spoke up. "Who keeps track of that?"
"Yeah," Bob agreed. "Besides, he's a baby. I can handle it. I got this handled."
"Oh, really?" Steve said. "Because it kinda looks like you DON'T have this handled."
"Steve's right, you know," Tony Stark said, who brought his Iron Man helmet to do a little analysis on Jack-Jack. "I already scanned the baby with JARVIS. Let me tell you, he has some major power activity."
"Yeah, one Hulk is quite enough," Bruce Banner said while he and the other Avengers nodded, and all eyes turned to Bob and Jack-Jack. "This is not like..."
"...not like our other kids," Bob finished. "No, it is not. Full powers, totally random."
"So, now what? Is he good?" Carol asked.
"Oh, you'd think so, right? Obviously, I can't keep giving him cookies!" Bob paused, feeling slightly cracked as he sat on the couch with Aunt May. "I think I just need a little bit of 'me' time, then I'll be good to go."
"Me too," Aunt May agreed.
"Oh, you two need more than me time, Bob," Lucius said. "You need major life realignment on several levels, starting with baby super freak here! You need some solid outside-the-box thinking."
"Outside the box…," Aunt May repeated as an idea clicked in her head.
Following Lucius's advice, Aunt May took Jack-Jack and Bob to the one person for help – Edna Mode, who was not pleased about Elastigirl and Spider-Man's super suits being made by Galbaki. But she was surprised when Bob leaned back to reveal Aunt May and Jack-Jack.
"Highly unusual," Edna said.
As they walked into her gigantic living room, Edna looked at Bob, who was too worn out to speak. "You look ghastly, Robert."
"Bob hasn't been sleeping lately," Aunt May replied, trying to explain. "My nephew's dating his daughter, his supercar got auctioned to that rich Victor guy. Dash's class keeps changing math. We needed double-A batteries, but I got triple-A batteries. Then, one red thing led to another white thing, and everything got all pink. Plus, we needed eggs."
"Well, done properly, parenting is a heroic act," Edna began. "Done properly. I'm fortunate that it's never afflicted me. But you two don't come to me for eggs and batteries, Robert. I designed hero wear, and Elastigirl and Spider-Man must have new suits."
"Actually, it's about Jack-Jack," Bob said as he placed the baby on the floor.
"You also wish a new suit for the baby?" Edna asked. "I'd hardly classify this as an emergency."
"No, Jack-Jack's a particular case worth studying," Aunt May replied. "So we figured we could just leave him with you for a while."
Edna was appalled. "Leave him?! Here?! I'm not a baby person, Maybelle. I have no baby facilities. I am an artist! I do not involve myself in the prosaic day-to-day today—"
"Just…watch," Aunt May interrupted as she showed Edna that Jack-Jack slowly morphed to look like her.
"Fascinating!" Edna exclaimed.
Just then, Jack-Jack sneezed and flew up into the air. Edna tried to catch him, but the baby hovered above her hands while changing back to normal.
"Oh my god…," Edna said in surprise. "Yes!"
And just like that, Edna decided to watch the baby as she ushered Bob and Aunt May out the door. "Of course, you can leave the baby overnight. I'm sure filling in for Helen and Peter is challenging, and you are exhausted. The other children need you, miss you, and you must go to them. Auntie Edna will take care of everything, so drive safely and goodbye. I enjoy our visits."
Aunt May stood at the doorstep, relaxed and satisfied. "Our work here is done."
Bob was confused. "'Auntie Edna'?"
A little later, Peter Parker finally returned home to see Violet on the couch. "Hey, Vi."
"Hey," Violet greeted back as she wrapped her arms around Peter and hugged him. "Where's Mom?"
"At the celebration party at DevTech," Peter answered. "I decided not to go there. I needed to rest and clear my head."
As Peter went to his room, Bob and Aunt May entered the house – without Jack-Jack.
"Peter's home already?" Aunt May said as she shrugged. "Oh, well…"
"Where's Jack-Jack?" Violet asked.
"E's taking him for a little bit," Bob answered.
"Edna is babysitting?"
"Yep," Aunt May nodded as she and Bob collapsed on the couch, exhausted.
"And you're okay with this?"
"Yep."
"We don't know why, but yeah."
Violet is about to leave when Aunt May stops her. "I wanted to say something to you. I'm sorry about my outburst earlier. It's just… I didn't think Peter accepting the job would mean returning to New Urbem and everything. But now, he's paying the price for a choice he, you, and your brother didn't even make. It's just not fair, I know. And then, I let Bob make things worse by trying to...get his supercar back. Anyway... I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry," Bob apologized. "I'm used to knowing what the right thing to do is. But now, I'm not so sure anymore. I just wanna be...a good dad."
Violet hugged her father. "You're not good. You're super." Then, she realized that Bob was already fast asleep.
Aunt May turned to Violet. "Violet, take good care of Peter. He's a good kid with a good heart, and there's no one my nephew would rather go out with than you." Then, she yawned and went fast asleep as well.
While Bob and Aunt May were asleep, Violet walked up to Peter's room to see him lying on the bed. As Peter turned to see that she joined him, the two exchanged warm smiles and held each other's hands.
Around the same night Peter went home, the Deavors threw a lavish party at their penthouse. They celebrated Spider-Man and Elastigirl's success as live music played, and everyone was partying and enjoying themselves.
Like Peter, most of the younger Supers went home. Only Miles Morales, Nadia Van Dyne, Nightcrawler, and the Stepford Cuckoos remained at the party.
Winston Deavor called everyone's attention as he clinked his champagne glass. "Attention. Attention. I wanna thank everyone who came out tonight supporting superheroes and bringing them back into society!"
The crowd applauded.
"You all made it happen," Winston continued. "The need for this has been made clear recently with bad actors like the Screenslaver and Mysterio threatening our peace. His reign was short, huh? And thanks to great supers. You love them. You missed them. Welcome back, Spider-Man and Elastigirl."
Elastigirl walked up to Winston as a spotlight shined on her. Winston looked around and asked, "Where's Spidey?"
"He left the party for home," Elastigirl answered.
"Well, I want you to have these," Winston replied as he gave Elastigirl the mask and the Mysterio helmet. "A memento."
"Thanks, Winston, Evelyn, and everyone at DevTech," Elastgirl said on the microphone. "I am forever in your debt. And thanks to all of you, your pressure changed all the right minds."
"We've made amazing headway in a very short time," Winston said on the microphone. "This leads me to an important announcement. At a worldwide summit, leaders from over a hundred top countries have agreed to MAKE SUPERHEROES LEGAL AGAIN!"
Everyone cheered for that announcement.
"We'll gather superheroes and leaders from all over the planet on our boat, the Everjust, for a televised signing ceremony at sea!"
"Now, if you'll excuse us, we got a ship to catch!" Elastigirl said.
The music played again, and everyone continued the celebration. As Elastigirl watched the video, she noticed something…oddly strange. She slipped away from the party and went to the editing room to examine the raw footage captured by her suit cam.
Miles Morales entered the room in his black and red Spider-Man costume. "Hey, mind if I cut in?"
Elastigirl turned to see Miles. "Oh no, you're fine."
"I noticed you slipped away. Is everything okay?"
Elastigirl nodded. "Yeah, Peter left the party because of a lot of stuff going on. Maybe it's something to do with the Screenslaver." Then, she turned back to the screen and noticed something. "Funny."
"What is it?" Miles asked.
"Look at that. One of Screenslaver's monitors is tuned into my suit cam."
Miles looked closer. "Isn't the suit cam supposed to be closed circuit?"
"Yeah, it is," Elastigirl replied. "But then…how come Screenslaver has it?"
Miles began to ponder. "I was thinking the same thing. The Screenslaver you and Spider-Man caught, along with Mysterio, don't remember hacking the suit cam. Not to mention the simple locks on the apartment door." Then, he thought of something. "Unless…unless they were under some trance just like the others."
"A trance?!" Elastigirl asked. "How?"
"Small screen lenses on the goggles."
Elastigirl looked at the hypno-goggles from the Screenslaver mask and realized that Miles was right – small screens were built into the lenses. Miles pulled out the goggles from the Mysterio helmet, and the results were the same.
"That makes no sense," Elastigirl said. "If the Screenslaver and Mysterio were smart enough to have such technology like this, they're supposed to be smart enough to think of something to do with it. I mean, the two men we put in jail delivered pizzas."
"Maybe because the two pizza guys were being mind-controlled," Miles said.
"So, wait… All Screenslaver needs to do to hypnotize someone is get a screen in front of their eyes. But what if the screen doesn't look like a screen?"
"And what if the pizza guys…were really just normal delivery guys, but they were controlled by the screens built into the glasses!"
Miles nodded. "Exactly, Peter texted me that they don't remember anything. That would mean they weren't the bad guys – they were being controlled by someone with all sorts of technology, the real Screenslaver. So, who could it be?"
Elastigirl suddenly realized who Miles was talking about – the person she turned to. "Wait… No… But would she…?"
"Now, what do we do?"
"Go warn Peter. Go warn your friends about everything!"
Miles quickly ran off to warn the other younger Supers at the party, even trying to call them. But when he left, a hand quickly flew out, forcing the hypno-goggles on Elastigirl – Evelyn's.
"You are good," Evelyn said.
The following morning, Peter opened his eyes and looked around his room to see that Violet was not with him. He walked over to the living room to see Dash eating cereal and watching TV.
"Morning, guys!" Peter spoke up as he sat on the couch to join Dash and Violet.
"Morning," Dash greeted back, still eating cereal.
"Where's Aunt May and your dad?"
"They went to E's to get Jack-Jack," Violet replied. "I thought it was best to just let them sleep. Seventeen hours."
"How do they feel?"
Violet chuckled. "Super."
Just then, the doorbell rang, and Dash went to answer the front door, only to see Gwen Stacy and Anya Corazon standing there, wearing their civilian clothes.
Peter looked over to see Gwen and Anya looking around.
"So, this is where you live, Peter?" Gwen asked, smiling. "Nice digs."
"Gwen! Anya!" Peter cried in surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"But it's good, right?"
Peter turned to Violet and Dash. "Guys! You're never gonna guess who just showed up! Not in a million years! This is Gwen Stacy and Anya Corazon."
"Hey," Violet greeted. "You and Peter know each other?"
"Totally. Way, way back," Gwen replied. "But that's not all…"
Gwen and Anya crawled up on the wall to the ceiling, surprising the Parr kids.
"No way!" Dash gasped in surprise. "You guys have spider-powers, too?!"
"But I still don't understand," Violet said. "I thought Peter was the only Spider-Man around here."
"Oh no, there's a whole bunch of us now," Anya told her.
"Where?" Dash asked in excitement.
"Just me, Gwen, and Miles."
"Who's Miles?"
"Miles Morales, another friend of ours," Gwen said.
"Whoah, whoah, time out!" Dash said. "Let me get this straight. You guys know each other, and you got spider powers?! And everybody's okay with this?"
"By the way, how's Aunt May?" Gwen asked Peter.
"She's okay," Peter answered.
Anya turned to the Parr kids. "Hey, let me ask you something – do you know why Gwen and Miles became Supers and joined the Deavor Initiative in the first place?"
Dash shrugged in answer.
"Well, a big part of it was to see Peter again and ask what happened to him."
"What happened to me?" Peter repeated.
Gwen looked down sadly. "The Peter I knew dreamed of the endless possibilities of science. I wanted to know why you went from a science nerd to a superhero nerd instead."
"Is that so?" Peter frowned, then he took a deep breath and decided to confess. "My uncle. He meant everything to me. Now, shocking as it may sound, I was not the smartest kid growing up…"
Peter reminisced how it all began. "Despite my smarts, I had difficulty fitting in and everything. Until my uncle told me stories about how Supers protected the innocent and fought for what was right. That's what drove him to do the same and support them. He also told me that great power comes with great responsibility until that moment changed everything…when I was bitten by a spider. Also, my uncle was gone forever. But from that moment, my eyes were opened forever. I loved superheroes and the struggles that brought them together. Only one Super met my uncle way back then – Mr. Incredible."
Violet and Dash looked at each other, knowing full well that Peter mentioned that back at Nomanisan.
"I needed to get out on my own and live my own life until I became a new Super," Peter continued talking to Gwen. "I would one day wield my newfound powers against the kind of people responsible for my uncle's death. I would never forget you and Miles, but I went and made up my mind, anyway. I did whatever it took to fulfill my uncle's wishes and ensure that the Supers would return to action someday. But all along, I held my fear deep inside – the fear that one day I would come back to New Urbem and face my past…that I've been running away from for so long." He then turned to the Parr kids. "But then I cross paths with the Parr Family. After hearing and seeing what they went through, I felt I had second thoughts. I soon found myself dragged into a massive case of missing Supers. That's when I witnessed everything I had believed in unfolding. I had no choice but to lead that extraordinary life I had."
"So…you've been living in exile or something?" Dash asked in confusion.
"Not really. I wanted to distance myself from my old life in New Urbem and reflect upon who I was. Reconsider why I had chosen the path of being a Super. And when I came upon that answer, I would begin a new journey and adjusting a new life in Municiberg."
Gwen finally approached Peter, looking at him silently. Then suddenly, she hugged him. "You know, Peter. You weren't the only one who had gone Super."
"What?"
Gwen took a deep breath. "When Miles and I first heard you left New Urbem, it felt like a huge break. We became Supers when that spider bit and gave us powers, and how you fought for others, and everything on the news made us want to see you again. I know we didn't really come along because of the whole 'bring Supers back into the spotlight' thing at first. But after seeing Anya, Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Daisy Johnson, and the rest, it felt like we weren't alone on this one, that we younger Supers stick together. But I still missed you, and that's why Miles and I still carry the symbol of our friendship." She then turned to the Parr kids as well. "But now I see that having the Parr family and Aunt May in your life means more for you."
Peter was surprised.
"And what's more? You realized you couldn't face the past alone, that bringing us younger Supers together was the only way we could reach out to the future."
Violet stepped closer to Gwen and put her hand on her shoulder. "Gwen. You don't ever have to worry about losing Peter again 'cause Aunt May asked me to take care of him."
"Yeah, in a dating way," Dash smirked.
Gwen looked at Peter in surprise. "Wait, you and Violet are a thing?! Are you two dating?"
"Dash!" Violet angrily yelled while she and Peter were blushing red.
Anya laughed for a bit. After everything was settled, she and Gwen waved goodbye to Peter and the Parr kids.
Miles Morales didn't know about the little reunion at the Parr house. He sneaked into a subzero computer room where Evelyn had locked Elastgirl, who regained her senses after the hypno-goggles stopped working.
Turning invisible, Miles watched as Elastigirl tried to move and take the goggles, but she screamed in pain.
"I would resist the temptation to stretch," Evelyn said to Elastigirl. She was outside the glass wall Elastigirl was in. "The temperature around you is well below freezing. Try to stretch, and...you'll break."
Elastigirl confronted Evelyn. "So, you're the Screenslaver."
"Yes…and nooooo," Evelyn said with a mischievous smile. "Let's just say I created the character and pre-recorded the messages. Same case with Mysterio."
"Does Winston know? Or even Mr. Stark?"
"That I'm both Mysterio and the Screenslaver? No, of course not! Can you imagine what Mr. 'Free Enterprise' and Mr. 'Iron Pants' would do if they saw my hypnosis technology?"
"Worse than what you're doing?"
"Hey, I'm using the technology to destroy people's trust in it. Like I'm using superheroes."
Still invisible, Miles couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Who did Spidey and I put in jail?" Elastigirl asked.
"The pizza delivery guys," Evelyn answered with a sly smile. "And man, did they give you a pretty good fight. Or should I say…I gave you a pretty good fight through them. The Mysterio from the train and aerocade events were just holograms I made to distract your Spidey friend, or was it…Peter Parker?"
"You knew?!"
"Of course, I knew! The kid obviously knew too much!"
"But it doesn't bother you that two innocent men are in jail?"
"Ehh, they were surly and skinny...and not to mention how cold the pizza was."
"But why were you doing this to Peter as well? He didn't do anything to you."
"You still haven't figured it out?!"
"Figured out what?"
"That Peter is just like his uncle. They both knew Supers were still illegal and always put the pieces together, but one of them went and played the hero anyway!"
"I counted on you," Elastigirl said.
"And that's why you failed," Evelyn sneered. "Why would you count on me? Because I built you and Peter bikes? Because my brother knows the words to your little theme song? We don't even know each other!"
"But you can count on me anyway."
Evelyn laughed. "I am supposed to, aren't I? While Peter was busy having some strange abilities and a shiny, new costume, the rest of us were supposed to put our lives into your gloved hands. That's what my father believed. In fact, if my father had just thought for himself instead of holding out to be saved by you people, he and my mom would still be alive today. When our home was broken into… When those robbers broke into our house… My mother wanted to hide and begged my father to use the safe room. But father insisted they call his superhero friends. He just stood there clutching the end of the phone, waiting to be saved instead of heading to the safe room. He died…pointlessly and stupidly...waiting for heroes like you to come save the day."
"But why would you...," Elastigirl tried to ask. "Your brother—"
Evelyn suddenly slammed her hand into the glass wall and finished in rage. "—IS A CHILD! MY BROTHER'S A CHILD! He remembers the time when we had both parents and superheroes. So, like a child, Winston conflates the two. Mommy and Daddy went away BECAUSE Supers went away. As an added bonus, little Peter Parker went away because his uncle went away. Our sweet parents were FOOLS to put their lives in ANYBODY ELSE'S HANDS! SUPERHEROES LIKE YOU KEEP US WEAK!"
"Wait," Elastigirl said. "What did you mean 'little Parker went away'?"
"Oh, here's my little secret – I killed Ben Parker."
"You did what?!"
"I hypnotized that robber to kill him. After that, the robber didn't remember anything. Ben Parker knew Supers were still illegal. He always knew and even trusted that fact to his little nephew. But when my father said otherwise, what did he do? What did he do?! He did NOTHING to save him!"
Elastigirl now knew that she and Peter were in danger. "Are you gonna kill his nephew? Or me?"
"Nah," Evelyn smirked. "Using you to be rid of him is better. You're gonna help me make Supers stay illegal forever. But 'forever' won't be enough. He and every young Supers on the block will meet the same fate as you."
Miles gasped in horror as Evelyn pressed the button, and Elastigirl was once again under her control.
"Peter, I hope you're getting this," Miles whispered as he quickly went visible after escaping the subzero computer room. He only hoped he would find Peter and contact the other young Supers before Evelyn does.