"I'm sorry we can't help more," Franklin said as the Fantastic Five, May and I all gathered around the veranda.
"No, you guys have done enough," I sighed, "honestly it's nice to know I'm going back home, eventually."
"Again, I apologize for not being of more help," came Reed's robotic voice before he turned away and floated back inside.
I eyed him and sighed, "Johnny, Ben, he needs help."
"Ever since Sue died he hasn't been the same," Johnny explained, "and frankly I don't think he ever will be."
"Relax, web head, he has us, he'll be fine." Ben shrugged.
I nodded, "right...one of these days you're going to tell me how you lost that arm."
"Sure, kid," Ben chuckled.
I turned to Franklin and smiled, holding out my hand which he shook, "thanks, Franky. For everything."
Franklin smiled back, "no problem...Spider-man."
"You could show some more enthusiasm, kid," Johnny snorted, "isn't he like your favorite superhero ever?"
"Uncle Johnny!" Franklin cried out, blushing a little.
"What?" I asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it's true, while growing up you were Franky's hero," Lyja replied with a soft smile, "he always used to go on and on about how amazing you were."
I smiled as I turned to Frankie, "heh, nice. You want an autograph?"
Franklin blushed as he looked away, "i-if you wouldn't mind."
I chuckled as I took out a pen from May's bag, 'hey!' and signed Franklin's uniform. He insisted. May and I wished them luck as we web-swung away. It was kind of embarrassing having my daughter carry me around town, but hey, that's what I get.
Suddenly my stomach began growling, "hey May, know any place we can eat?"
"I know just the place! Come on!" May called out as she swung back to Queens, landing on a diner named 'Jerry's'.
She then quickly put on her normal clothes over her costume, talking to me as she did, "my dad and I used to come here often, you know the place?"
I shrugged, "can't say I do. But hey, if I thought it was good, what the heck, right?"
We climbed down through the back and walked around, entering the place and quickly finding seats in one corner. We ordered quickly, she got some chicken drumsticks and a salad while I ordered waffles.
"Why waffles?" May asked.
I shrugged, "why not? The way I see it you should never need a reason to have the food you like."
May smiled, "nice logic, pops." I smirked. She sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you out more."
"Oh please, it's fine."
"No, it's not. When I came over to your world you found Spyral in a few hours, now I can't even do the same."
I chuckled, "hey, relax May, I'll be fine," I held her hand tight, "knowing my luck though I'll be stuck here for a few weeks, maybe more. So you should feel less sorry for me, and more worried about how you're going to deal with a sixteen-year-old version of your dad."
May's eyes went wide, "oh shit."
I chuckled, "yeah, figured you wouldn't have thought of that. Relax, I'll make sure to stay out of your hair. I can rent a motel or something, shouldn't be a problem."
"No," May snapped, "you can stay with me."
I raised an eyebrow, "I have the cash May, it won't be any trouble."
"Still no," she said adamantly, "like you said, we're family, I'm not just going to let family sleep on the street. You can stay with me."
"And how exactly are you going to explain me to your parents?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
She shrugged, "hey, I'm sure they wouldn't mind, after all my dad is a version of you."
I smirked, "clever girl. Fine, I'll talk to your dad, see what he thinks about all of this. Should be fine."
"Parker?" someone called out.
May and I both turned, "what?" we asked at the same time, only to realise what we were doing. I chuckled while May rolled her eyes.
She looked around and spotted two blonde friends of hers from school. "Hey JJ, Brad, what are you guys doing here?"
The one called JJ spoke up with a wide smile, "nothing, we were just in the area, looking for a bite to eat is all."
I raised an eyebrow, "Midtown is twenty blocks away."
"We really like this place," Brad spoke up, glaring down at me, "what's it to you?"
I smirked, "kind of defensive there, Brady. What's the matter? Scared I'm going to steal May from you?"
Brad immediately blushed, "w-what?!"
I huffed, "honestly May, you can do so much better than these blonde morons. One's way too into his own hair," I looked at JJ, "and the other obviously has issues admitting his feelings."
May put her head down, embarrassed, "please, stop."
I chuckled, "right, sorry. Anyway, you two want to join us? We're having lunch!"
JJ and Brad looked at each other, gulping. Brad spoke up, "yeah."
I smiled, "wonderful!" I made room as JJ sat next to me and Brad next to May. I turned to the three, "so how long has this little love triangle been going on?"
"P-Peter!" May cried out.
I shrugged, "sorry, just curious."
"There's nothing going on," JJ spoke up, "we're just friends."
"Yeah," Brad nodded.
I rolled my eyes, "really? Then why do you two act so defensive?"
"Maybe because some guy we never met just came in and took away our friend without any rhyme or reason?" JJ speculated, looking at me then May, "you never even mentioned him, May."
May nodded, "yeah, he's kind of a distant relation."
I nodded, "yup, way distant. Also, you two really should just admit you like her. I mean you're never going to go anywhere unless you can actually admit that. Believe me, it helps so much."
Brad growled, "what are you? The love guru?"
I shrugged, "no, not really, but something tells me I might end up married to a total babe in the future, so fingers crossed."
May groaned as she put her head down in embarrassment. Yes, little one, give in to the hate!
We got our orders and Brad and JJ took turns interrogating me. What am I doing here? Why did I come here? What did May and I do when we left school? I obviously never gave them a straight answer.
"And for the last time, Blonde One and Blonde Two, you have both taken an uncanny interest in me. Seriously, stop it," I grumbled, finishing off the last of my waffles.
JJ narrowed his eyes, "not until—"
BOOM!
May and I looked at each other immediately. That sounded close, very close. I shook my head at her, she glared and ignored me.
"I need to go," May said, leaping over Brad.
"Where are you going?" Brad asked.
"Family emergency, cupcake," she called out as she ran out the back.
I sighed, "dammit, May," I paid for the meal before leaping over the table and following May outside. I followed her into the alley where she climbed to the diner's roof and changed into her costume.
"It looks like it's coming from a block away," I told her, looking at smoke rising into the air a street over.
"Right," May took off her clothes revealing her costume underneath, "I'll go ahead, you stay here. You don't have a costume, so keep yourself hidden."
"But I—" she didn't even listen to me, instead taking off, swinging away. I saw her swinging around a building and disappear. I waited nervously for her to come back, but a few minutes passed and she didn't.
I waited, and waited. I couldn't do this, not again. I told myself I wouldn't be this city's scapegoat again...and yet...I grew worried. May...is she alright?
Growing too restless to care, I took out my tablet and transformed it into its helmet form, donning it and leaping across rooftops. It was slower than web-swinging, but it got the job done.
I leaped across a few rooftops and could see smoke rising up a few streets over. 'There!' I realised as I leaped onto a tall building and ran to the edge of the roof, just as a car came flying through the air, over the rooftop and landing on the street on the other side of the building.
'What the hell?!' I thought to myself as I looked over the edge down onto the street. And there I saw it. It was huge, maybe fifteen feet tall. Bronze scales covered draconian arms, legs and a head. Its eyes glowed like fire and it looked...deadly.
And standing before it was May Parker, the first superhero I ever loved. The reason I grew my sense of righteousness in the first place. The woman who inspired me. And she was standing alone against this thing.
"Don't do this!" May cried out, "these people are innocent!"
"No one is innocent!" He released a powerful laser beam that exploded on the ground before May, throwing her back into a light pole. "I am the strongest!" he cried out, "all will bow before the Dragon King!"
He reached around and grabbed a car, lifting it over his head and throwing it at May. The girl was slowly moving — I knew she wouldn't dodge it, she was still out of it.
I didn't realise I was leaping through the air until I was already halfway into the path of the flying car.
"I got you!" I yelled out as I landed before May, grabbing her in my arms before leaping away, just in time for the car to crash behind us in an explosion.
"Who are you?!" Dragon King asked as his fiery eyes lit up and a blast of energy came pouring out.
"Move!" May yelled as we both leaped away from the wall. The laser beams caused the entire wall structure to collapse, debris falling down onto the bystander civilians.
"NO!" I cried out, charging forward.
"I got them!" May cried out as she shot out a wide range of webs, creating a net over the civilians to protect them.
"Thank God," I sighed in relief before turning around to face the giant figure before me. I growled, "you bastard!"
SKIT!
My bone claws popped out of my hands, shocking May and the Dragon King.
"You think those claws of yours can stop me?!" he yelled as he flexed his arms, bringing up his own claws, "mine are bigger!"
"What the hell are those?!" May cried out, pointing at my stingers.
"Insurance," I growled. "What are his powers?"
"Ah, well, he has super strength, obviously. He's sort of like a golden dragon Hulk that can shoot out fire beams."
"Does he have a healing factor?" I asked.
"Ah, I don't think it's any more than normal," Spider-girl guessed.
"Stay back and distract him, web his eyes and nose. And don't worry about me, I have super healing."
"O-okay," May called out.
"Right," I rushed forward at the Dragon King. He looked at me and growled. He raised his fists and brought them down on the road. I leaped away, jumping to a lamp post before kicking off and landing on his back, thrusting both arms into him and piercing my stingers inside.
"ARGH!" he cried out.
"How's this, bitch?!" I pulled out my left hand and reached around his neck, squeezing hard.
May shot out a web line pinning his feet to the ground. She did it over and over again, immobilising his feet, forcing him to wobble about.
"Nothing can harm me—" I moved my right arm into his mouth and pierced his tongue, slicing it off in one sweep. "SKREE! NOOOO!"
"Spider-girl! Web his nostrils and throat! Cut him off!" I cried out.
"Right!" May cried as she leaped forward, landing on his chest. I held his mouth open, one arm wrapped around his throat while the other pulled his head back.
May quickly fired off several shots of webs into his nasal cavity and throat, closing it off. He quickly caught on, growling more and more violently. We were forced to leap off the struggling giant, but by then, May's job was done.
I landed behind him on the road. I dashed forward, swiping my claws across his shins, forcing him to his knees.
"Stay down!" May cried out as she leaped upwards, socking him across the jaw, sending him flying back onto the road.
"GR!" he cried out in pain as he struggled to get back to his feet, his arms going for his throat and nose.
"We need to stop him!" Spider-girl cried out.
"It's fine," I replied, "he can't do a thing."
"What do you mean?"
"You webbed up his throat and nostrils, remember? His fingers are sharp, but they aren't long enough to reach inside and free himself. He'll suffocate in a few moments. Once he's unconscious we can bag him."
Spider-girl stared at the Dragon King as he wobbled around, looking distraught as he clawed at his throat, making no progress freeing himself. She gulped, "that's cruel."
I sighed, "I know, but if we actually engage him in direct combat, a lot of innocent people will get hurt," I motioned around to the large crowd our little fight had gathered, "it's better one crazy man suffers for a while, rather than all these innocent people."
"But still," May said, squeezing her hands into fists, "this...this is cruel."
"Sometimes you need to be cruel," I said. I saw the golden Dragon look at me in rage. "Oh shit!" He roared as he pulled his legs up, breaking May's webbing around his feet. He then looked around desperately like a caged animal and grabbed a car, lifting it over his head and throwing it at us.
"I got this!" May cried out as she shot out two web lines to catch the car like a slingshot, only for a large, bulky form to get in her way, landing on the airborne car and crushing it into the ground.
"No! We got this!" the figure called out as he stood up straight. He wore a silver metallic dome-shaped helmet on his head, a black muscle shirt with his sleeves cut off and a flannel shirt tied around his hips.
"J2?!" May cried out in surprise.
"Hey Spider-girl, don't worry, I brought the cavalry!" the man smiled.
"Avengers! Assemble!" I heard a familiar cry as I turned around, seeing a black and gold version of Tony's suit fly down with a female Captain America bearing a familiar shield in tow.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed as the woman dropped down and landed beside J2. Suddenly there was a silver blur that came to a stop next to the new team. She wore a silver spandex costume and had dyed blue and silver hair with black sunglasses.
"J2, we need to contain him — tackle him down!" the gender-swapped Captain America called out.
"On it!" J2 yelled out.
"No! Wait!" I cried out, leaping in front of the big man, "I have the situation contained! He's going to go down any moment now!"
"Get out of the way, kid, let the professionals handle this," the female speedster said with a smirk. Suddenly I found myself pushed to the side — she had carried me off in seconds.
J2 roared as he charged forward, pummelling into the Dragon King. They ran backwards into a car; J2 smashed him downwards over and over.
"Get back, J2, I got this," said the black and gold armoured one, firing off rockets into the nearly unconscious Dragon King.
J2 stepped away just as the missiles hit, causing a massive fiery explosion that rocked the street. I watched in horror as slowly the silhouette of the monster rose. It threw its head back and roared, taking a deep breath, sucking in all the smoke around it.
"I'm free!" he cried out.
"Not good!" the female Cap cried out, "everyone, get him!"
"No!" I yelled, but they didn't even listen.
They charged him like a bunch of rookies. The black Iron Man fired off repulsor beams randomly, trying to wear down the Dragon King. J2 tackled him into buildings and cars while the speedster, to her credit, got people out of the way.
"Those idiots!" May cried out, "Spider, we need to help the civilians!"
I made myself look away, "r-right." I followed May's lead as we went into the crowd. May created a giant web around the civilians, protecting the people from falling debris.
When these so-called Avengers were done, that entire street looked like a war zone. Buildings destroyed, people hurt. May and I did our best; she used our webs to bandage people's wounds. Luckily no one was too badly hurt.
"They did it! The Avengers saved us!" someone cried out. People began to swarm the team, who now stood triumphantly over an unconscious Dragon King.
They smiled and waved. "You guys are lucky we happened to come around!" J2 said with a grin, flashing a smile for the cameras.
"Can I have an autograph?" someone cried out. It was an old woman with a bandaged arm. She had been hurt when J2 ploughed the monster into a building. But she didn't care. I did.
I growled as I walked up to them, pushing past the people. May noticed me and quickly followed, "what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going to give them a piece of my mind," I growled out.
"Spider, don't, they didn't—"
"—You morons!" I roared out as I tore through the crowd of civilians and stood before them with clenched fists.
The 'Avengers' spotted me, looking confused as May quickly followed. "Who's your friend there, Spider?" the female speedster asked.
"Ah, he's—"
"—I'm Spider-man," I growled, "and would you four mind explaining to me what the hell you were doing?!"
"Woah there, little guy," J2 said as he stepped up, "no need to get loud."
"Do you have any idea what you just did?!" I cried out, "we had that situation handled! He would have been unconscious in seconds! And then you four morons had to show up and destroy half the street!"
"Hey, who the hell are you, buddy?!" a random civilian cried out.
"They are the Avengers! They saved us!" cried out another.
"No, they destroyed half a city block!" I roared, "look around!" I pointed at a collapsed building, "you think that would have happened if it wasn't for them?!"
"And what brilliant plan did you have to stop him?" asked the armoured one.
I looked at him and growled, "Spider-girl had shot webbing into his throat and nostrils. His fingers were too big and short to reach in and rip the webbing out. He would have suffocated and fainted. And he was seconds away from going unconscious, until you decided to blow missiles up in his face and burn off the webbing!"
The people looked around, whispering to each other. The 'Avengers' looked at each other in surprise, not really knowing what to say.
I turned to the female version of Captain America, "you, who the hell are you supposed to be? Steve's clone? Cousin? Daughter?"
"I-I'm American Dream. I sort of just took on the title," she said nervously.
"Figures," I scoffed, "you lack his battle tactics and, frankly, his common sense. Do me a favour, girl — learn to lead before you charge into New York like a wrecking crew!"
"Hey! You can't talk to her like that!" J2 cried out, stepping in front of American Dream, who hung her head.
"The hell I can't!" I yelled back, "do you four think this is a game?! Do you even think before you act?!"
"Of course we do!" J2 cried out.
"Obviously you don't," I pointed at the crashed cars around me, "you could have jumped on the Dragon King and knocked him down, but no, you had to make an entrance and show off! Kid, if you're anything like the real Juggernaut, you have the potential to be a machine of destruction, so use some goddamn common sense!"
I turned to the armoured one, "and you. This isn't a war zone, you can't just randomly fire missiles like that! What if the giant golden lizard had thrown one aside? What if a missile had landed in a group of civilians instead?!"
"Impossible, my armour would never make that mistake," the guy shot back.
"Technology isn't perfect," I growled out.
"Mine is."
I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Sexy, hack and disable his armour."
"Understood, sir."
"Woah, what was that?" the female speedster asked as suddenly the armoured one began to twitch.
"W-what's happening?!" he cried out as he suddenly toppled over, "my armour isn't moving!"
"Technology hacked. Thanks, Sexy," I spoke out.
"You're welcome," came her reply.
I turned to the 'Avengers', "I used to be an Avenger — the originals. And I know how it feels to carry that title. The way people look up to you and all that. But you people are a bunch of jokes. You use the name as a crutch to act like idiots! This isn't a game, so act like it!"
I turned my back on them and looked at May, "we need to go." She didn't say anything, but nodded slowly as she glanced back at her...friends? Damn it, I just insulted her friends again.
As May swung away I followed behind, leaping across rooftops. I looked back to see the 'Avengers' looking defeated. Mainframe got his suit back online, but didn't seem to follow. Hm, something's off about that guy.
We made our way over to a rooftop as May landed. I quickly followed. I sighed as I walked up to her, "are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine," May replied, "it's just...you're a little harsh on them."
I sighed, "if their feelings get hurt because of a few words, then they aren't ready for this life, May."
"But still—"
"—But nothing," I snapped, "they were reckless and endangered lives. I'm sorry, I know they are your friends, but they are morons if they think they can just charge into battle like that without a plan. I know this might be new for them, but if they are going to call themselves Avengers there is no room for mistakes, ever."
And damn them for not showing up sooner. If they had...I wouldn't have had to step in. I told myself I wouldn't fight again, but now...
May sighed, "yeah...I guess. My dad actually said the same thing."
I rolled my eyes, "well duh, I just said that, didn't I?"
"Not you, I meant...argh, you know what I mean," she sighed.
I nodded. We stood there in silence for a while before I sighed, "hey, you want me to give you some tips on kicking bad-guy butt?"
May looked at me and nodded, "yeah, I need to let off some steam."
And we did just that. Until the late hours of the night we were out patrolling. May eventually got into a better mood as I showed her a few tricks of the trade, like laying down web traps for criminals to stumble into, or giving them a wedgie. Surprised she didn't know how to do that.
May did all the ass-kicking though. I took on a strict observer's role. I refused to be a hero again, especially for something like street crime. The Dragon King was the only exception I would allow myself.