Peter Parker

About ten minutes later, we were back on the road. With Carmilla driving and me riding shotgun, Craig was in the back seat.

"So, I got questions," Carmilla spoke up, breaking the silence before it became too long. "First and foremost, why are we making another stop in this state instead of going straight to New York?"

"Like I said, I want to visit an informant of mine," Craig replied.

I looked over my shoulder at him, seeing he was looking out of the window. "You have an informant out of state?" I asked.

"I got quite a few within the New York and Philly tri-state areas." He turned his head towards me. "This one in particular moves around since he has businesses across this region."

"What kind of business?" Carmilla asked.

"He runs a marijuana operation. I helped him out with a situation, and he volunteered to slide any information I may need my way. He was the one who gave me the tip that led me to what was supposed to be a stash house."

There was a bit of silence as I thought about what he said. "…Don't you usually go after drug dealers?" I pointed out.

"Well, first off, he runs legit dispensaries, licensed and all, so I can't go after him for that. Second of all, even before he was legit, he dealt with marijuana and marijuana products only, and I never go after dealers who deal in that unless they start trouble in the community or the stuff they sell is laced. I don't really see the point in cracking down on people selling what the whole nation is trying to legalize."

I stared at him for a few moments before I tilted my head briefly. "Good point." I frowned. "Are you saying this is a Joel Spurlock situation?"

"I hope not." Craig looked back out of the window. "This particular informant and I… we're kind of close. That's the only reason I want to give him time to explain himself without having to get nasty."

"Okay, now next question," Carmilla interjected. "What the hell happened to you? Kitty and Kaine went looking for you in Boston. When they got there, things were a mess, to say the least. Was that you?"

"I was there." Craig turned his head and looked at us. "When I got abducted, the last thing I remembered was getting an injection from some nurse I didn't recognize. I woke up in this facility. They tried to get me to break. They wanted me to admit that I'm Frictor and that I'm part of the X-Men. I told them get bent. They… did some things to me… and they threatened to go after my friends and family. What made it even worse was that they had someone with mystical abilities on their team." Craig took a moment to unzip the front of his hoodie. Hanging from around his neck on a brown fabric string that was looking frayed was a black medallion. It looked like it was made of some kind of glass. Was it obsidian?

"What is that?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes.

"Apparently, it was supposed to prevent people from trying to teleport to my location. At least that's what that witch said. So, needless to say, I knew I had to get out soon. So, I bided my time until one of the guards cocky. See, I was strapped down to a table for my whole time there and pumped with doses of 'The Cure'."

"…I'm sorry?"

"The Cure," Carmilla repeated. I looked at her. I could hear the bitterness in her tone. "It's an X-Gene suppressant taken by injection. One dose and you're without your powers for a while. It's readily available for those who want to take it consensually. But it's been weaponized. I've been on the wrong side of it before. I almost died because of it since it left me with no immunity to the toxins I carried in my body."

I frowned. "…Dang."

"Yup," Craig said in agreement. I looked back at him. "Anyway, because I was without my powers, one of the guards watching my cell was cocky. He thought he had the upper hand and was talking all crazy. He called me the weakest link of the X-Men and taunted me over getting folded by Firestar. So I waited until he was the only one looking over my cell. See, while I was biding my, I was working on my leather restraints until they were worn down. I started yapping, getting underneath his skin. I even talked about his wife since some of the other guards were gossiping about that the woman has been less than faithful. So he opened the cell and got in, thinking I was nothing without my powers. I broke out my restraints and showed him with these hands do. It wasn't an easy fight for me, though." He looked back at me. "I was still in pain after all. Anyway, after I beat him and knocked him out, I took his Mossberg and started raising hell in the facility. I found that mystic of theirs and broke both of his legs. I raided their medicine supply and took bandages and painkillers. I stole some ammunition for this shotgun I then stole one of their cars and made my escape, but not before starting a fire and shooting the tires out on the other vehicles. I made my way out of Boston." He sighed. "I also ended up robbing a store for clothes when it was late night. Even though it was a big chain store so they'd have insurance to cover it, I didn't feel right, but I couldn't move around in a hospital gown, you know? Ever since then, I was moving around, doing my best to stay under the radar and off the grid until my powers came back fully."

"Sweetie…" Carmilla began before she trailed off. I could hear the compassion and worry in her voice. "Are you sure you want to visit this guy now? You're in rough shape. We have someone who can reverse your condition?"

"That's the reason I'm back on my feet," I added.

Craig tilted his head. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked. He then shook his head. "Actually, save that for later. But yes, I'm sure. The sooner the better."

Carmilla sighed. "Fine. But if you pass out or even come close to passing out, I'm taking us straight home."

"Fair enough."

Eventually, we ended up in an apartment complex. It didn't look like much. It actually reminded me of the apartment building I live in. After we parked, Carmilla masked up. With all of our faces covered, we got out and moved towards the front of the building. As we walked in, some people out front was giving us looks. I ignored them as Carmilla and I followed Craig to the elevator. After we entered and Craig hit the button for what I assumed was the floor we're going to, the doors closed and we ascended.

"Codenames from here on out," Carmilla ordered. She then looked at Frictor. "For now, you're referring to Little Arachnid here as Dusk. We need to keep his real codename out of the streets until we're ready."

Frictor nodded. "Fine by me," he replied.

Once we landed on our floor, Scorpion and I followed Frictor out of the elevator when the doors open. The walk from the elevator to the door Frictor led us too was rather short. It was only a couple of doors down the hall. Craig lifted his hands and knocked on the door. As much as he tried to keep it quiet, I heard to small grunt of pain with each knock. I really wanted to get things over with so we can go back to New York and get the help he needs as soon as possible. From inside, I could hear footsteps accompanied by grumbling words. After some seconds, the door opened.

"Look man, I don't know what you're heard, but I don't my product out of my apartment any…" the man began before he trailed off. He looked around at the three of us before he looked back at Frictor. "…Frictor?"

"In the flash fried flesh," Frictor replied with a deadpan tone. I cringed, knowing how literally he meant that. "We need to talk, Jimmy."

The man apparently named Jimmy looked at me and Scorpion. "Who're they?"

"This is my man Dusk and my girl Scorpion. You might know the latter so you can guess what they both have in common in with me. But don't worry. They're not here for you. They're here for me. Now are you going to let us in or what?"

Jimmy stepped aside slowly. Frictor walked in, followed by Scorpion and I. As the door was closed behind us, I took in the apartment. It was little larger than mine, with the living room apparently being separate from the bedroom. The living room was furnished with a sofa and a small entertainment system. It was nothing special, but the place looked clean and tidy enough.

"I'm surprised you're out and about still," Jimmy said as he walked up to us. "Word in the streets is that you been going through it."

"That's putting it lightly," Frictor grumbled. "I got some questions. And I need some answers."

Jimmy sneered. "What, you think I got something to do with you getting jammed up?"

"Technically, you did. Remember that tip you gave me to the stash house? It led me straight to a trap, straight to Firestar."

Jimmy tilted his head. "Who?"

"That fiery woman who arrived on the scene lately," Scorpion replied.

Jimmy's eyes went wide. "…You mean that woman that packed up Spidey twice?"

"Yup," Frictor confirmed. During this, it took all of my power to keep my annoyance in check. "And she's literally the reason I'm walking with most of my body covered in third degree burns, my face included."

Jimmy looked off to the side. "Shit," he whispered it out. "That explains a lot." He looked at Frictor. "Look man, I didn't know it was a trap. I just heard a tip and figured you could use it." He shook his head. "Homie, if I knew I'd –"

Frictor cut him off. "I'm not making any accusations. I just need to hear everything from the top. What made you give me that tip?"

Jimmy looked across at the three of us. He then walked past us as he put his hand on his hips.

"You know how I turned legit, right?" Jimmy started. He turned and looked at Frictor. I looked at Frictor as he nodded before I looked back at Jimmy. "Even though I'm legit, I still keep my ears to streets, you know? I still got quite a few people from my days on the corner who aren't so happy I made it. So… I was spending some time in Harlem, right? I crashed at my homie's place while I was scouting locations for another dispensary. I'm trying to expand in a way that makes sense, you know? So, while I was there, Marcel's name popped up."

"…Marcel being the one who I was after," Frictor said. "I robbed his stash house when I found out a while back that he was lacing his weed with fentanyl. But then word around town was that he was active again."

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah he is. He was able to re-up big time, apparently. He's been popping up all over Manhattan and was spending money rather inconspicuously. He's rolling around in a Bentley truck, he's buying chains from the jewelers, and he's rocking custom suits from Dapper Dan. I figured something was up, but I wasn't worried about it. I was just focus on my business. Then, one night, I was up in the club, just vibing in the cut. All of a sudden, Marcel walks in and buys the bar with all drinks on him. It was weird, but I was more concerned this one shorty I laid eyes on. Well, I can't say she was a shorty. She was tall, just a couple inches shorter than me. But she was fine. So I walk up to her and tried to spit game, but she didn't want to hear it. She was talking up Marcel and…" He paused as a look of realization appeared on his face. "…Oh."

"Oh what?" I spoke up.

"…See, this chick was bragging up Marcel. Then she let slip that Marcel had this stash house in Queens with pills and cash. She then she told to have a good night and rushed out as if she wasn't supposed to say that. And that's when I called you and told you about it." A look of remorse came over his face. "…I really did set you up, huh?"

"You did," Frictor confirmed. "But not intentionally. That girl was probably working with people who had eyes on you for a while. But you couldn't have known that."

Jimmy sighed. "What the fuck…" He shook his head. "I try to do the right thing, and how you're here looking like a damn mummy. Man, fuck Marcel!" He grimaced. "…Things have been going to hell lately, man." Jimmy frowned. "Ever since you went missing and Spider-Man got packed up, Marcel has been expanding his operations and taking over corners to push out his product. And trust me, ain't nothing organic or pure about what he's pushing. Not only that, but he's been bragging about he was the one who sent you on a permanent protection."

I saw Frictor step up. "…Excuse me?" I looked at him. His tone said it all – he was not thrilled.

"He's been saying that he and crew took you out. When people talked about how the X-Men were going to come looking for him, he said he's untouchable and that the X-Men ain't shit. He even raided Claire's clinic after you them government agents shut them down and walked around with this ski mask, saying it used to be yours. Knowing how y'all like to crash out in a big way, I decided to leave the state for a while." Jimmy shook his head. "Like, I'm trying to figure out where he got that audacity from!"

"I can think of a couple of reasons," Scorpion said. The three of us looked at her. She looked at Frictor. "…Can your boy keep a secret?"

"Jimmy is solid," Frictor assured. "If he was any more solid, The Wakandans would have snatched him and claim him as part of their vibranium stash."

Scorpion nodded before she looked at Jimmy. "Remember Mysterio?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, the one Spider-Man killed," he replied, much to my chagrin. "Allegedly, anyway – I don't personally believe it."

"As well you shouldn't. He's alive, still. Judging from your story, he probably cut a deal with Marcel since Marcel seems to be benefitting from the X-Men being out of the picture. He's probably under the government's protection and getting paid by them under the table."

At that, Frictor started to laugh. He walked away a few steps as he clapped his hands and nodded a few times.

"So that's how it is," Frictor whispred out. "You know what? Thanks Jimmy. Now I know what I'm going to do the first moment I'm 100 percent."

"Frictor," Scorpion warned. "We can't do anything rash!"

"Yeah, fuck that!" My eyes went wide. I was surprised to hear him swear. Now I knew he was pissed. "It's already bad enough I'm in the state I'm in. But now there's some loud mouth lying to make a name off me in the streets? Nah, this ain't how this shit goes!"

"We also have to remember that Mysterio is our priority. We need to at least deal a blow. Cyclops is already putting a plan together, and we all have to play a part – me, you, Spider-Man, Silk even." I looked over at Scorpion. Silk? Was she referring to Michelle? "We can't do anything to screw that up."

Frictor stared at Scorpion. He then sighed. "…You know what? Fine. But we need to need to make our presence felt again. They need to remember that the X-Men will step to whoever wants to take us on. Fuck Mysterio and anyone working with him." He then pointed to the ground. "It doesn't matter where I am, what time of day it is, or whoever I'm talking to or about. Two things always stay the same. My name is my name and my family is my family. And no one's allowed to fuck with either!"

We were back on the road again. It was silent for a while. I knew we were headed back to New York. I didn't quite know how to feel. On one hand, I wanted to be happy to be back. There was a lot of things I was looking forward to, like being in my own bed and actually returning to work. Hell, even that crap coffee that's in the break room was something I was looking forward to. On the other hand, there were things I was dreading, like facing Firestar, seeing Mysterio…

…talking to Michelle…

"So, what did I miss?" Craig asked.

"Sweetie, let's wait until we have you healed, okay?" Carmilla suggested. "We'll explain everything after that."

"…Okay, but… can you at least explain the tail?"

"…I'll tell you, but please don't be mad at Peter." At that, I looked out the window in shame.

Craig scoffed. "Why would I be mad at Peter?"

"Peter and I ran an operation in Arizona, in Phoenix. SHIELD got a tip that this MGH operation was being ran out of Phoenix Trotting Park, this abandoned horse track. We shut down the operation and saved a lot of mutants. But, as I contacted SHIELD, one of them got the drop on me and injected me with a dose of MGH. I went into a seizure after that."

"It was my fault," I spoke up. "I got distracted. By the time I noticed my senses going off, it was too late. I got the guys off of him, but…" I frowned as I looked over my shoulder at him. "I'm sorry. I couldn't do much right lately. I couldn't even save you David's help when you saw you get abducted and tried to track your kidnappers down and –"

"Peter, let's not do this 'woe is me' thing right now, okay?" Craig interrupted. "Things happen. It's part of this vigilante life. Carmilla and I are both alive. So, we're good." He took in a breath before he looked at Carmilla. "So, Carmilla, you got a dose of that MGH. What happened next?"

"I was in a coma for a while," Carmilla continued. "Apparently, my body was adapting and evolving. While I was out, I grew a whole scorpion tail. Now I have two stingers, with one being very literal."

Craig made a noncommittal sound with his throat. "Interesting."

"…You're not feeling some type a way about that, are you?"

"I'm just a little mad that that tail's going to block my view of your rear end, to be honest!"

"…You know what?"

The two of them continued to bicker playfully back and forth. I allowed myself to smile a bit before I looked out the window. As I did, I saw the sun starting to rise.

What was next for us?