Brand New Isekai (Jean Grey Self Insert)

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Spoiler Warning

This contains heavy spoilers for Spider-Man Brand New Day, so uh, don't read it if you don't want those

Peter Parker POV

Flipping over an upturned truck, I heard the bullets ping off the metal and a few whiz over my head. "Gotta say guys, not really feeling welcome. Is this how you treat every friendly Spider-Man that drops by to visit? I'm neighborhoodly too!"

Gunfire and shouted orders were my only response, though I felt my Peter Tingl- Spider-Sense, gotta call it that now - flare up with a threat from over my head. Bracing my hands against the side of the armored vehicle and adhering to it, I flipped up and over, kicking the Damage Control agent that was nearing the edge.

He tumbled over the other side and I spun around atop the vehicle, kicking down another agent attempting to get out of the side door, now standing on its end. Grabbing the door, I slammed it down and webbed it shut, trapping the agents within. This also removed the one piece of cover I had from the agents on the ground on the other side of the road, forcing me to dodge against the spray of gunfire once more.

My senses, especially including my danger sense, warned me of where the shots were coming from, and my enhanced speed and agility let me evade the shots. Despite my advantages, I still felt the familiar rush of excitement and danger as I charged in, feeling like an electric current was running across my very being as I slipped between danger.

Rushing ahead, I punched one in the gut, then smacked the heavy gun out of the hands of another before having to run away. I'd positioned myself from practice such that most of the others' shots would have risked hitting their comrades that I engaged in close combat, but these foes clearly didn't care, lining their guns up. I didn't think it was because they really trusted the dark, heavy duty tactical gear and body armor they were all wearing either.

I kept a look out for any telltale twitches and the subtle sense that there was something up with any of them, but it looked like Jean had moved on, not controlling this bunch. Firing off a web-line at two trees, I jumped, pulling myself towards one, before cutting the line off and firing another strand out to a tree closer to the first strand I was still attached to.

One of the agents was smart enough to see what was coming and jumped out of the circle of webbing I was making before it pulled tight, trapping the rest of his five buddies together. Unfortunately for him, he rolled his ankle as he landed, cursing as he landed and stumbling, unable to take advantage of his position before I casually shoved him towards the others and webbed him up against them.

"Language!" I chided. "There might be Spider-children about? What would they think if they heard an upstanding federal agent swearing like that? You know, if the kidnapping and wanton violence wasn't enough to send them running."

"You're the criminal Spider-Man, and when we get you-" I shoved the cluster to the side, watching as they flailed like a turtle on it's back for a moment before webbing them up further. They weren't giving me any more intelligible commentary and I had bigger problems to deal with, like the next armored vehicle barreling down the road towards me.

Setting off at a light jog so as to not outpace the newcomers too far while still getting closer to the gate around the compound, I saw that while they'd chosen not to run over their fellows, they had no such compunctions regarding me, not even trying to lean out the windows and shoot at me.

Backflipping over the speeding van, I sent a web line to the front of it, then yanked hard when I landed on the ground behind them. The heavy vehicle resisted mightily, but with my adhesive nature and super-strength let me combat the forces pushing it ahead, and with a heavy lurch, mental crunching from the opposing forces, the machine rose up in the air, nearly flipping over before it stopped.

Letting it drop back down with a heavy thud, I webbed the wheels to the ground and waited a moment for the doors to burst open. Snagging the first men out of the van, I tossed them to the ground, using the force to throw myself inside, kicking another in the gut. In such close quarters none of the agents could fire at me, while I launched a flurry of punches and kicks at them. One tried to stab me with a knife, but the attack seemed so slow to me that it barely registered on my Spider-Sense and I broke the offender's wrist with a slap.

The agents in the front of the van aiming through the iron mesh covered opening between the back and the front, was enough to flare a feeling of danger within me, however. Pushing the last of the assailants in the back with me down, I leapt to the ceiling, clinging there and letting the bullets whiz harmlessly beneath me and above all the others on the floor.

They adjusted their aim and I scuttled out, pulling myself around the corner and landing by the passenger side door. Ripping it open easily, I punched the first, cracking his helmet and dazing him before immobilizing the driver with a bunch of webs to neutralize her.

With them handled, I swapped web cartridges from the shooters on my wrists with the ones in my belt pouch. Seeing the guards at the gate scrambling to pull out heavier weaponry, I fired a pair of web lines at the towers by the gate and pulled myself forward.

The turrets they rolled forwards on wheeled platforms and had some big guns on them, big enough that they could have seriously hurt me… had they come anywhere close to hitting me. As it was, these were clearly not designed to fight a foe as acrobatic as myself and couldn't draw a proper bead on me before I'd webbed all the guards up operating them. Some of them cursed me, wondering, "Why are you doing this Spider-Man? You're supposed to be a hero!"

"If you knew what was being held in here, you'd know that this is what a hero does." The door in front was barred, and thick enough that I had to put serious effort into punching it open, tearing at my knuckles and making my wrist twinge.

The two agents I'd thrown to the ground before had chased after me, and I didn't even turn around to dodge their shots, letting them follow me as I entered the facility. There was practically no one inside, and I only needed to wait a moment after turning a corner inside and stopping for them to rush past me. Webbing them up before they could recover, I picked the two of them up and rushed ahead, slamming open the doors to a long hallway, at the end of which stood another agent.

There was more than that however, within his body was another presence, a controlling mind. Somehow, I just knew that Jean Grey was controlling him. Showtime.


A/N: Hello and welcome to my latest story! I got inspired after watching Brand New Day in theatres and this came to me as a fun idea. I hope you'll enjoy it.

The story started out on my snippets page, but I decided to add a little In Medias Res prologue to kick things off. It's not how I usually start things, but I kinda liked it. What do you think?

 

[Skyfyre]

A day earlier

Jean Grey POV


Alright, let's try this one more time: My name is Jean Elaine Grey and I am a telepath. Possibly the future wielder of a cosmic force known as 'The Phoenix.' Did Jean have any cool codenames beyond that? I feel like she must have, right? Scott was Cyclops, Logan was Wolverine, what's his face was, uhhh Kurt! Kurt was Nightcrawler, Henshaw was Beast- no, that's a Superman foe, Beast is McCoy. I think.

The thoughts buzzed around my head, joining the other thoughts that buzzed outside it. There was everyone on the bus, but also people nearby too. Everyone within my range of forty feet or so I could sense, no matter what obstacles lay between me and them. Their thoughts weren't distinct things I could read, no matter how much I focused, or even how few people there were around to grab my attention, but I suspected that was only a matter of time.

Jean Grey was a strong telepath and telekinetic in the comics. One of the strongest, even without the Phoenix. I didn't feel particularly strong right now, my hoodie pulled up, trying to avoid any cameras that might give me away. Damage Control wasn't omniscient, but they sure felt that way sometimes in a city like this.

New York was constantly busy, and I'd felt crowded living here even before my psychic powers had kicked in, and that was despite having lived in a big city my whole previous life. New York was just different though, and more than just the whole 'aliens/ninjas/supervillains sometimes invade' thing.

A man in a suit got onto the bus and I stiffened up. Shield? Hydra? Damage Control? TVA? As he took his place standing at the front, not paying attention to me and just watching videos on his phone, I relaxed a little. Most of those organizations are gone now, or mostly defunct at least, but still. I spent far too long worried about if some sharply dressed businessperson was actually an assassin sent to eliminate me for knowing and/or being capable of too much.

I had hoped that with Endgame done that the TVA would be neutered and I could finally live my life in peace, but then Damage Control had swooped in to ruin my life.

Shaking such depressing thoughts free, I got off the bus at the stop and walked to the nice, peaceful cemetery. It had taken a while to find it, but the 'Battle of Three Spidermen' had been pretty public. From there, finding a 'May Parker' who had died just around that time, who had been married to a 'Benjamin Parker' who was also deceased led me to Shady Groves Cemetery.

I set myself up a good ways away from tombstones, but kept them in line of sight as I sat down at the base of a tree. Zipping open my ratty backpack, I pulled out one of my journals from it. These could be the most dangerous things in the whole universe… pshhh. Yeah right. Maybe a few years ago, back when they contained the locations of the Infinity Stones.

Despite the limited use right now, it was a risk to keep some of this information contained, but too vital for me to not keep. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was a mess and while I had kept up with most of the early movies and series, that was a long time ago and I'd never been the biggest Marvel fan (see: My lack of all but the most basic X-Men knowledge). Writing everything down helped me keep track of it all and review what I knew.

My biggest issue right now is a lack of any sort of protective gear or powers. Even skills; I workout a ton and I'm great at parkour and alright at martial arts, but that's just not enough to deal with laser beams, magic, and super-strength. A Vibranium suit would be a dream, but I didn't exactly feel like pissing off Wakanda. Same for Stark Tech and the armors they kept hidden away, though I felt my chances of being able to get in and out with one of those to be slightly better.

Catching sight of movement, I cast my head up and saw a young man walking through this section of the cemetery, carrying a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. He was caucasian, brown haired, late teens. Could it be him? Finally? The last set of flowers on May's grave were getting a little old- yes! He's replacing them! It's him! Spider-Man!

Excitedly I jolted up, catching his attention, his gaze immediately whipping up to me. Forcing myself to calm down, I stuffed my notebooks back in my bag and began casually strolling over, angling myself as if I was just heading out of the park, but taking me closer to him.

The man relaxed, saying something to his late aunt as I approached, veering closer to him. He frowned as I walked up to him, standing up. He was average height, but I was rather petite in this life and he looked down at me. "Can I help you with something?"

Well, that's an open line, might as well take it. "Yes, actually. My sister, Sara Grey, was kidnapped a couple of months ago."

"That sounds like a job for the police-" He began, stiffening up slightly as he realized what was to come.

"The police won't help because it's Damage Control that took her so only Spider-Man can save her!" I said in a rush to get it all out. That just seemed to make him more nervous and he turned to leave.

"Uh wow, that sounds bad but he's not here-"

"I know you're Spider-Man, Mr. Parker, and you might be the only one who can help me. Please," I said, projecting the last word into his mind telepathically. He staggered slightly from the unexpected mental protrusion, my power clearly somewhat unsettling as he turned around to look at me, a mixture of worry and pain on his face. Damn, that aspect of my power clearly needs some work. Why is it so much easier to not just take control of people but possess them than anything else?

I wasn't sure, but I chalked it up to whatever strange continuity it was that put an X-man in the MCU. Spider-Man was still staring at me ,so I awkwardly stuck a hand out. "Uhh, hello there, my name is Jean Grey."

He glanced around to make sure no one was watching before he sighed and shook it. His grip was solid but surprisingly light for someone I knew to be capable of ripping my arm off like a toothpick. "You already seem to know who I am."

"Not really - I knew enough to remember that you had an Uncle Ben and Aunt May that had raised you, but Doctor Strange's spell hit even all of my memories of your secret identity. Changed everything I'd written about it so it all just read 'shshshshsh.'"

He let go of my hand. "How do you know all that?" He asked.

"The same way I know a lot of things. But that isn't enough to save my sister by itself, so will you help me?" I knew Spider-Man, in pretty much all his incarnations was a good guy, but just a hint of worry niggled away at me. What if he doesn't believe me? What if he's hit a slump in his and toss his spider suit in the trash?

The latter was unlikely as he had been spotted swinging over Manhattan just a couple of hours ago on the Spider tracker App. Still, it wasn't until he nodded his head that I let out a sigh of relief. Spider-Man is going to help me, everything will be alright.

Spoiler: A/N:

This was the first chapter I wrote. As I said before, I was really inspired by the new Spider-Man movie, and I've always liked the Marvel cinematic stuff (especially the Spider-Man stuff), but I've been kinda worried about how dense and convuluted the continuity can be. Hopefully I won't mess up too badly, but if I do, hey, that's what we have the multiverse for, haha.

Jean going for Spidey for help is going to drastically cut down on her difficulties, but as we'll see, there are still some bumps in the road ahead. What are you looking to most from this story? Let me know down below or on the Discord where we have discussions about this and my other story, Like No One Ever Was, a Pokemon Self Insert as Nemona from the Scarlet and Violet games.

 

[Skyfyre]

Peter Parker POV

For the fifth time today, I glanced over at the girl in the seat beside me. Even inside the taxi cab she kept her hood up, though she would turn to face me whenever I talked, or just every so often. I supposed she was pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way with freckles and short brown hair. Short dyed brown hair, I noted, my vision sharp enough to see the red in her roots beginning to seep back in.

It spoke to someone paranoid, or at least spoke more to that, as her darting glances, state of her clothes, and general huddled posture already opened the conversation on someone who had been on the streets for a while now. Despite how she made herself look small (and generally was small), she had a decent amount of slender muscles on her.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?" The cab driver said- no, Jean said, puppeting the cab driver's body as they rode to my apartment. It's unnerving; I can just tell that there's something wrong with him. "Do other people really not notice? Also, can you talk with your own voice," I requested.

"Right, sorry about that," she said. "They really don't- well, there's a bit of bodily jerk when I first take control. It's not much and I quickly take over, but if anyone was looking for it, they could tell. Afterwards, there's no outward signs and I get an intuitive sense of their thoughts and skills. It lets me mimic them fairly well though if I act out of character for whatever reason that'll give away that something's up."

She paused for a moment, deep in thought before continuing. "The people I control don't remember anything after being possessed, though I've started to work on 'smoothing over' memories. For instance, the cabbie is not going to remember any of this and just think he had a boring ride dropping off two people that look wildly different than we do to a different stop. The closer the details are to what actually happened, the easier it is to cover it up without them questioning."

"So you turn people into little puppets you can control at will and they won't even remember what happened. Not creepy at all," I muttered and she pouted.

"I didn't choose my powers," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "They're a more general telepathic set with some telekinesis but for some reason possession is the easiest power to use." The young girl frowned as if the universe had conspired in such a fashion solely to spite her. Then she snapped her focus back over to me. "You probably don't like it because of your Spidey-Sense! It's warning you of danger, or just general bad juju."

"My what now?"

"You know, your Spidey Sense. The thing that warns you when the bad guys are gonna punch or shoot you. It's what lets you intuitively know where to put your webbing on a structure so it doesn't break and mess up a swing. With practice, you could even use it as a lie detector, possibly even get minor true precognition of your own depending on how strong it is- oh right, you call it the 'Peter Tingle,' don't you?"

"No I don't," I said quickly, denying the embarrassing name I had come up with. Peter 2 and Peter 3 called it their 'Tingle' too, but were they just humoring me? Also, did they call it their 'Peter' Tingle or just a Tingle? I forget. "That would be silly, what would I even tell people that ability was called without giving away who I am? I was just surprised you knew the proper name for it."

As I did that though, my mind went into overdrive about what the psychic had just said. The pieces all lined up, and explained a lot of what I thought had been pure skill. She sounded unsure of how far I could go with my Peter Tingl- Spider-Sense, but what she was saying was intriguing. Somehow, she knows my powers even better than I do.

"Right, cause you name alllll your various powers based on marketability and public reaction. 'Oh would you look at that, he's using his Superior Spider Punch! And what a dodge thanks to his amazing Spider-gility!'" She teased in a faux announcer voice. I couldn't help but shake my head and chuckle at that, watching as she seemed so much younger in this unguarded moment. Jean should have been in high school, laughing with her friends and worrying over homework.

Just like Ned and MJ were back then. Like I was too. We were just kids… A deep pain resonated in my chest at the thought. I'd hoped it would go away. I still did. It's only been what, two years? I'll get over it. Just need a bit more time.

The cab pulled to a stop and let us out. Jean notably didn't pay our controlled cab driver so I took out my wallet and passed him the fare. He drove off without a word. "So how long can you keep him…" I gestured toward my head but she didn't say a thing. Her hoodie was back up as we walked up my apartment building, keeping her head down from anyone we passed by. She's terrified, of everything. I felt it went deeper than just her sister being kidnapped somehow, but I'd take things one mystery at a time.

Only once we reached the top floor and my shack of an apartment did she relax, unconsciously taking a deep breath, then coughing slightly from the dusty air. Jean looked on in awe at it all, from the day-old pizza boxes to my computer set up, to the workshop where my web shooters sat, currently undergoing upgrades. Maybe more awe for the latter than the former.

"Whoa, are these your web shooters? So cool," she said, practically drooling over the devices. I snatched them up before she could be tempted to touch them. "I always wondered if you used electronic or just a straight mechanical pneumatic design, I assumed the former because of the whole Iron Boy Jr. stuff, but you've moved away from the nanite suit since… actually, why have you moved away from that suit? It was awesome and so versatile."

"You think I have nanite repair money here?" I said, gesturing to the state of the room we were in. It was serviceable, but musty and old. The wood creaked constantly whenever anyone walked across it and it could get sweltering in the summer.

"Actually, yes, I think you do," she argued. "The apartment might not be much, but you live in it by yourself, with no seeming method of employment. Or at least a form of employment that lets you work from home with very flexible hours, given some of your sightings. You could do some freelance coding?" She considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "Maybe, but more likely Stark left you a bit of money after he passed. Even peanuts to that guy would be enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your days."

I blinked. It wasn't quite how it had gone - Mr. Stark really had only given me the glasses. After the events with Mysterio however, Pepper Potts had arranged for a million dollars to be deposited in my account for the next few years. I'd been distracted with the invasion of villains from other dimensions and different Spider-men and hadn't noticed until after Dr. Strange had cast his memory wiping spell. I wasn't sure how the memory loss affected that and hadn't ever gone to Ms. Potts to ask her questions about it.

Did she read my mind- "I didn't read your mind, it was just the obvious conclusion," she said, only making me more suspicious. Sighing, she added, "I may have prophetic abilities too. I had a massive conflux of visions on the day I awakened my powers, different events in this and other worlds, so I know a bit about how Tony Stark mentored you, how he gave you those glasses with all the drones."

Hearing her so calmly reveal that made me shiver. It feels almost violating to have a stranger know so much about me. Of course, some of that must have shown on my face (or she just read some of my thoughts as I still half-suspected she was doing) because she looked like a kicked puppy. Ugh, that's just no fair.

Trying to inject some peppyness into my voice, I took a seat by my desk while saying: "I've got enough to get by, but the facilities to maintain a nanite suit cost a pretty penny and more importantly, are super conspicuous for some average nobody to have. But that's enough about me, what's your story? If you can see the future, how did your sister get kidnapped?"

She huffed heavily, carefully taking a seat on the one space open on my cultured couch that served more as a holding space for half finished science projects. "I saw some things, and none of them involved me. They were big things, like the Avengers fighting Thanos, Doctor Strange sealing Dormammu, that kinda stuff. Some smaller things too," she said with a surreptitious glance towards her bag. "But yeah, none of them involved me or my sister."

There was once again more going on there, but she seemed adamant that it wasn't relevant, so I moved on. "You said it was Damage Control that took your sister? But they're the good guys, I work with them all the time."

Things between us when I was unmasked were bad, but some of that was just confusion, right? And they've changed Directors since and everything has been running super smoothly with them from then on. I really wanted to believe that there were good people in charge that I could trust; it made the whole superhero business a lot smoother, and that was kinda my whole life now.

She gave me a very flat look. "The Department of Damage Control are the authorities, not 'the good guys.' They like stability and, obviously, control. They took my sister because like me, she has abilities beyond the norm and it scared them. Or maybe they wanted to study her powers. I don't know why they took her, but they did."

Okay, so that's not going to convince her, maybe another tactic will work. "Are you sure they were Damage Control? Maybe this was some other group pretending to be them to get close to her."

Jean snorted derisively at that idea. "They shot her with a tranquilizer dart from the back. Dozens of armed goons rolled up into Central Park with Damage Control logos on their vehicles -they had drones and almost certainly facial recognition software. I caused enough trouble that they had to write the event off as a 'rogue squadron,' but they went out of their way to eliminate any mention of my sister. Only the real Department of Damage Control would have the kind of reach to pull off something like that."

Her voice was withering and Peter could empathize. Of course, that's only if this is true, and she's not leaving anything out. Finally he asked the girl, "Is there any reason why Damage Control might be after your sister? Beyond just having powers."

Jean was silent for a few minutes, understanding the real thrust of my question, of if her sister was a super villain. "Sara… was a bit more free with her powers than I was. She'd be okay with using them to play pranks or just try them out, and was even more skilled at possession than I am. Never anything that hurt anyone, however technically, any Enhanced using their powers on someone else is against the law," Jean admitted. "But! If that was the case then she should have gotten charges against her and representation. Instead, they just took her away. They wiped away any trace of her or me online too."

Opening her backpack, she rummaged through it, searching past notebooks and a small silvery case before pulling out a pair of Driver's Licenses. One of them, the learners permit, was for Jean Grey herself while the other was of a girl with dirty blonde hair. 'Sara Valerie Grey,' it said.

"She existed, we both do," Jean said, her eyes starting to water as she spoke. She held the cards out for me. Before I could roll my desk chair over, the cards floated out of her hand and into mine. "They're real, but everything about us was wiped out online. You can check that, right? With your VI and prove it?" 'Then you can save my sister' was unspoken, but clearly felt.

Going against Damage Control could put me against the law if she is just playing me… but I don't think she is. Maybe she's some incredible actor, but is this really the story someone would use for that? I put the cards aside for the moment and decided to trust her.

"I'll look into that later. For now, why don't you tell me what happened."

"It started just like any other day. My sister had taken me out to the park to practice our powers…"

Spoiler: A/N:

The question of where Peter gets the money might be a small one, but it did kinda bug me during the film, so I came up with my own answer here.

What do you think of the Peter POV? I like having him to play with and see Jean from another side, so I'm going back and forth with them for this introductory arc. We'll have other people in later arcs, but I was thinking he'd still be a prominent viewpoint character going forward, the most so after Jean herself.

 

[Skyfyre]

Jean Grey (Flashback) POV



I closed my eyes, letting the wind wash over me. I could feel the sun on my skin (I really should have put some sunscreen on) and hear the sounds of families playing. The bench I was on was sturdy and dry. It was a lovely day out, and I was trying my best to enjoy it. For some reason, I found this easier to do when my eyes were closed than when they were open.

"Hey, wake up," my older sister said, nudging me with her elbow. "We didn't come to the park just so you could doze the day away." Her voice was cheerful, teasing, but there was a quiver to it that was slightly ragged. She's trying so hard to keep my spirits up after mom kicked us out.

Technically she had just kicked me out, but she would have come up with an excuse to kick Sara out soon afterwards. Being gay wasn't the real reason she couldn't tolerate me; it was our powers. I'd just managed to successfully argue around her when we first reunited after the Blip, and I hadn't appeared to be using them for a while.

"I'm awake," I said calmly, opening my eyes. The picture in front of me, of people enjoying life entirely fit with my mental image. It was a wonderful day, and one that could have totally happened even before life got turned upside down, yet somehow by looking at it I was reminded of our current situation; living on the streets, adrift.

"C'mon, I want to show you how to Jump." My sister said enthusiastically.

"I know how to Jump," I replied. Possibly better than you, at least in some ways. The months spent following the return of everyone Blipped had seen me controlling people in Europe, unbeknownst to my family.

"Oh do you now?" Sara raised an eyebrow then smirked. "Alright, try and do… this!" A series of twitches passed through half a dozen people at the park and a woman a hundred meters away in bright pink jogging gear suddenly turned and waved excitedly at me.

"You know I can't go that fast." Her range is slightly shorter than mine, but I would need a couple seconds between each Jump. " I do wonder though, what is it that keeps our minds tethered like that? Why do we have a range limitation on our baseline range but can go seemingly any distance beyond that? Or at least any distance on Earth."

"Still thinking about going to space in another body?" Sara asked from her own body, letting the jogger go back to her routine.

"I'm thinking about going to space, period. There's so many fantastical elements yet to be discovered in the universe… though there's so much to look at here. Is there some underlying principle of Connection that enables these Jumps? It would explain why our mind needs to get settled briefly before the next Jump and why once that connection is forged we can extend farther beyond our range."

She pushed my shoulder lightly. "Neeeeerd," she teased, and I cracked a smile. You don't know the half of it. My science experiments thus far in other areas had failed, despite the notes and sample I had safely secured in my bag, but I recognized I was probably reaching too far in chemistry without enough of a grounding in the subject. Psychic potential was of great interest to me and an area I felt more comfortable calling myself an expert in. Though that only applies because I don't know of any other psychics besides my sister in this world.

"Why don't you experiment a bit if you're so keen on science," my sister said, waving her hand out at the park.

I hesitated. "What if they notice?"

"No one is going to notice," Sara argued back. "They black out and just assume they lost track of time whenever we take over."

"It's not exactly right to control people," I said and Sara frowned. This was an argument we'd had several times before, over the ethics of our powers, however hypocritical it might have been for me to argue this. Life after the snap had necessitated it before social order was restored and now that we had no home, we'd been forced to rely on it again.

My arguments against controlling people had grown weaker and weaker, especially now that we were likely free from any TVA interference, and Sara sensed that, pressing me here. "Look, no one is doing anything important right now. Taking control of them here won't hurt anyone and it'll help you learn to control your powers better. That could be really useful in the future for saving people. You want to save people, like the Avengers right?"

"Of course I do; everyone wants to be a superhero." Our generation had grown up with heroes, our lives had been wholly shaped by them. Even with a prior life than this one, I'd still read the comics and watched the shows. Living in a world where my first conscious memories were of the Avengers saving New York… it was amazing. Fantastic. Spectacular, etc.

"Then go on, try it out." With her encouragement, I sighed then focused, planning my route out. I pretended my range was shorter than Sara's both as a general measure of not wanting to give too much away about my powers and the fact that she'd started to pout when I'd begun manifesting telekinesis, even if it was only a couple pounds at this point.

Reaching out with my mind, I 'Jumped' into the mind of elderly man walking by. It felt like plunging into a pool of cold water, though I was growing used to that sensation, and the strange double senses as I felt everything he was feeling at the same time as I felt my normal senses. My control was instant, and I could feel the other minds in a range extending out now from both him and myself in somewhat overlapping fields, but it would be a few seconds before I could jump again.

He jerked a little as I took hold, but I stabilized him quickly, leaning on his cane as I prepared the next Jump, this time into a little girl who had just thrown a frisbee to her dad. I went like that, finding people I felt could best explain away the sudden jerks from (sometimes forcing the people I controlled to slap at themselves as if trying to hit nearby bugs) till I was in the woman in jogging gear.

Giving Sara a quick wave with this woman's body, I then had her return to her stretches, keeping her activities normal. It was easy to do, requiring next to no attention from myself. "Fifteen seconds," my sister declared. "You're improving."

"Ehhh," I said, waving a hand back and forth. "I've gotten better at planning and making a route, but my speed between jumps is about the same." Once or twice I'd managed to go two seconds between Jumps, but those had been straining, and only when I was in a dangerous situation.

"Improvement is still improvement," Sara declared, using some of my own words against me, when I'd pointed out how she had improved her math grades from a C- to a C+. I rolled my eyes but grinned.

"Yeah, you're right." My sister cheered before lighting her eyes on the Ice Cream truck nearby.

"I think this deserves a reward, don't you?" Despite ostensibly being for me, I knew this was more for her. She's struggling in her own ways about this and wants to feel good too. These Ice Cream trucks were stupidly pricey, but since she was going to control the person selling them, that wasn't much of a concern either, so I nodded my head.

"Ice Cream Sandwich please," I told her my usual order and she got up, walking over to the truck. Then, about three quarters of the way away, a dart hit her in the neck and she collapsed to the ground.

"What." I said dumbly before watching as vans raced in across the narrow pathway in the park meant for foot traffic more than vehicles. Men in black tactical gear, heavy kevlar and helmets rushed out, over a dozen of them rushing out to pin my sister, while others moved to ward off the civilians standing as slack-jawed as I was at the scene.

Are they after the vial? How could they have found me- no, this isn't the Power Broker, though I'm sure she could move Damage Control if she wanted too. These people rushed after Sara, they aren't even paying attention to me. Or at least it didn't look that way; none of the men were rushing towards me. I still kept my head down, not wanting to take a dart from wherever that sniper had been.

Most of the other park-goers were worried too, despite how one of the goons tried to tell them this was 'an official Damage Control operation' and that none of them were in danger now. It was shocking how much that seemed to calm people down already, so trusting they were. Or perhaps just relieved that the dozens of men with assault rifles aren't turning those weapons on them.

I still had a hold on the jogger, and after making sure to smooth over her memories so she wouldn't suddenly be unduly shocked by this, I let go of her mind and entered that of a young man who was still trying to get close and film the whole thing. He jerked right as one of the officers snatched the phone from his hands.

"Hey, give that back, man," I said, making his voice as whiny and nasally as I could while taking in the scene from his eyes. My own were pointed away as I quickly marched off, acting like many other, random citizens who wanted to avoid being part of this.

The gruff agent didn't respond to the man I was puppeteering, dropping the phone and crushing it beneath the heel of his boots. I made the man whine some more, trying to come up with a plan. Sara is being pinned and either unconscious or soon to be from that dart they shot her with. I could control one of the men and make him turn on the others. It was a possibility, but one I felt unlikely to succeed. Even with my ability to Jump between bodies, they would eventually kill the one I was controlling before I could Jump again. There was also a high risk of collateral damage, for the people nearby and my sister herself.

I waited, watching as the agents dragged my sister's unconscious body into the van. Two agents rode in the back with her, with a driver and another agent in front. The rest piled into the other vans, including the sniper who had been hiding in some bushes. At the last moment I Jumped into the minds of one of the agents watching over my sister.

The other agent glanced over briefly at me before returning his attention to my sister. I waited a few minutes, and the other agent was completely professional. No small talk or distraction from his task. Of course, even that wasn't quite enough to prepare him as I suddenly drew the combat knife out of the sheathe on my puppet's side and rushed him.

His first instinct was to attempt to level his gun at me, but the quarters were too close for that and I pushed it to the side as I rushed him, jabbing the blade towards his neck. He managed to grip my wrist, desperately trying to hold off the blade and we crashed into the side of the van. He struggled to hold me off for a moment but I let go of the hand with the gun, now too close for him to accurately use, and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him forward and onto the blade.

The fight left him as I ripped the knife out, but as it did so, his hand pulled the trigger, firing a few shots into the floor. I cursed as cries from the front came, asking what was up. Gotta go fast. Stabbing my own puppet in the neck, I Jumped into the driver. He had stopped the van, and the man beside him was opening the door to investigate.

Smoothly, I drew the new puppet's gun, smoother than I could have ever managed without his subconscious skills to aid me, and I fired a shot in the back of his head. Or at least into the helmet which cracked loudly from the impact, and he fell onto the ground. I didn't waste time to see if he was dead or not, slamming his door shut and turning the van.

It pulled out between the two escort vehicles and into oncoming traffic, narrowly avoiding an accident, but creating a traffic jame that would slow down pursuers. Or so I hoped. The other agents were clearly not willing to let this stop them, firing their guns in the air to stop any other traffic and pursuing me.

We raced down the streets for a couple blocks… before heavy traffic indicated a blockade ahead that nothing could clear. Not in time at least. Taking a gamble, I waited until the closest van grew near enough and Jumped into the driver there, then slammed the brakes hard enough to give the other enemy van no time to get out of the way.

Their van smashed into ours, jostling the man beside me who had already begun to draw his gun on my new puppet. I struggled with that for a second before Jumping back to the first driver who had done the smart thing and immediately stopped the vehicle to check on my sister. With him, I unstrapped her from the gurney they had her on and ran out.

Bullets whizzed around me as some of the other agents had gotten out and begun firing at us. Idiots! You clearly want my sister alive, don't you!? The answer to my unspoken question came from the radio in his helmet as it crackled to life.

"Target is in control of Jeffries and using him to escape. All vehicles are stalled out and unable to pursue. What are our orders sir?" One of the other agents asked.

There was a pause, then a deep voice said, "She can control them even while unconscious? Interesting. Attempt to disable him from outside her range and prevent anyone from getting too close to her. Failing that, eliminate them both."

"Sir… the asset's abilities-"

"Are no use to me if I can't control her. Getting her in alive would be for the best, but I'll settle for stopping anyone else from getting her if I have to."

The words chilled me and I realized I had to get my sister out of here, no matter what. I had a lead on the other soldiers, but that was closing, having to carry my sister. I've got more people to use than they do.

Shoving her into the arms of a man on the corner of a street, I yelled at him, "Take her around the block." The huffed at her unexpected weight, confused and shocked before I raised my gun in the air, firing a few shots. "Now!" I yelled, and he scampered off. Then I turned back to the other agents.

Immediately a shot hit my puppet in the shoulder, digging through the thinner strap of the kevlar jacket and into my arm, but I forced him to ignore that, laying down suppressive fire. The other agents cursed and shouted, diving behind stopped cars, heedless of the screams from the passengers inside.

I fired a few more times, until something changed. New orders had been given, clearly orders that didn't get transmitted to this agent's helmet anymore, and the agents surged forth, all them uncaring of death and firing a hail of bullets my way.

I'd hoped to use a smoke grenade at this guys' belt, but as a shot took him in the knee, I Jumped away. From the perspective of a civilian off twenty feet to the side, I saw the agent get gunned down remorselessly by his fellows. One of whom was sharp enough to have recognized the signs and pointed at my new body. "They twitched, they're over there!"

Diving to the ground, I took cover behind another car before waiting until I could Jump ahead, this time into the body of a kid in the back of a car. I prayed that these innocents would be okay, but when it didn't seem like they'd recognized whom I'd hopped into, I unbuckled the seatbelt and left the car, not listening to the kid's parents.

They followed him, like many others who were attempting to flee, and the armed men hesitated. I used that to race after the man I'd passed Sara off to, having to Jump a few times to catch up, even with my sister weighing him down. Did this guy do track and field? Or maybe the threat was enough to spur him onward.

I caught him as he rounded the block, Jumping into his body. From there I had him run some more before passing Sara off to another hapless civilian and Jumping into their body. Repeating the process several times, I finally felt I had lost them by the time I'd given her to a postal delivery driver and had that woman drive her away.

Should I take her to a hospital? No, they'll probably be on the lookout for her. Maybe I can take her to Matt Murdock. I hadn't kept super close tabs on him the past few months, but I bet he was still in Hell's Kitchen. Karen Paige could help at least too, especially on the legal front- no, damn, she's moved and Foggy is gone-

My thoughts came to a screeching halt, literally as an odd circular drone dropped down in front of the van I was driving. It was far more advanced than the drone of my past world, without any visible propulsion system yet hovering in the air. Also blasting me with an agonizing sonic wave.

Ah fuck! The pain was easier to ignore in a puppet body than my own, but I still felt it, and caught off guard like this, it froze me enough to let a small panel on the drone slide back, revealing a barrel. It fired twice, catching the innocent woman in the head and gut. She collapsed, and my control began slipping away. I couldn't do anything other than watch on as the drone moved over to the passenger side door, extruding two mechanical arms from its base that ended in clamps. Four more drones joined it, reaching out and ripping the door off.

I Jumped to another body nearby, but was debilitated by the sonic attack, able to do nothing but watch as the drones pulled my sister out of the vehicle and hoisted her through the sky. Letting go of that civilian and snapping back to my own mind, I fell to my knees, sobbing in the middle of the street.

Spoiler: A/N:

It's been a while since I've seen Miss Marvel, but I think I remember them having drones there? If not, it still doesn't feel like that big a change for Damage Control to have access to something like that. The drones aren't the strongest in the grand scheme of things, but they were enough to stop Jean's rescue attempt, and enough to convince her that a lower powered hero like Daredevil wouldn't be enough to save her sister, no matter how many goons they could cram in a hallway.

Oh, and it might not be clear, but Jean is not telling Peter all of this. She's leaving out some personal thoughts (especially about her adventures in Europe or about Matt Murdock) and is shading certain events, like claiming she 'incapacitated' the guards in the van, making it sound like she and her sister were just 'hanging out' in the park, etc.

 

[Skyfyre]

Peter Parker POV

As Jean finished her tale, her voice was ragged and her hands bound up in tight fists. I could feel the helpless anger coming off from her, and knew it well from the times my friends had been in danger. Must be worse for her; I was always able to do something about the situation, even if I didn't always succeed.

"That's awful," I said, searching for something else to say to comfort her. "We'll find your sister, I promise." It felt hollow to me, knowing there was every possibility she was already dead, but she brightened up at the words.

"Thank you," she said before taking a deep breath and letting some tension go. "Okay, so to find Sara we need to locate where they're keeping her." From her backpack she pulled a map of New York, Damage Control sites circled in red and marked with Xs. Wow, never realized how many facilities they had here.

"You think they're holding your sister in one of these places."

Jean shook her head. "Nah, these are all the public sites. If I was hiding a psychic, or maybe a bunch of various Enhanced illegally, I'd do it in a site completely unconnected to my public fronts." That feels like maybe you've thought about this too long and too hard. She continued, oblivious to or ignoring my thoughts. "That's not to say it's impossible they used a legitimate facility for this either; they can transport materials and troops easier to those sites as a trade off for less secrecy. The circles are for places where it would be impossible to feasibly hide Sara while the Xs are places where they could technically manage it."

"Given you don't expect it to be anywhere you know, how are you planning to find out the place they actually took her?"

"That's where you come in," Jean said, getting animated. "You're super smart, so you can code something to hack into their systems."

"Well, I mean probably yeah, but Damage Control-"

"Wouldn't keep that information on an open network. But they still need to keep it somewhere, right? DC is just too big and has too many moving parts to the agency to not keep records, even of their illegitimate activities. Maybe especially those ones. So you make some flash drive or device that can crack their security and I can take control of someone and they can carry it to the airgaped computer!"

She finished with a proud (and slightly scary) grin on her face, while I could only feel unease. "And again, are we certain that this really is Damage Control and not a splinter group?" Jean's expression became hard at the drop of a dime and I held my hands up defensively. "Sorry, but I just want to make sure that-"

"Records of severe traffic incidents and several shootings following an incident with Damage Control were reported on July 14th, 2026," EV's digital voice came from the computers behind me. She continued, noting that "While Damage Control claimed it was an incident involving a few rogue actors within their agency, no official arrests were made following this and the funereal services of all the agents killed in the incident were paid for by the Department."

"Okay that's a little odd-" I began before EV interjected again.

"Furthermore, an agent took most of the police files regarding the incident, particularly those centered around witness testimony at Central Park. Most of the recordings have been scrubbed as well, but I picked up at least three that seem to corroborate Miss Grey's story," EV said, pulling up the pictures on the screen. They were a little blurry and usually with Sara partially or mostly out of frame, but there was clear evidence that a girl had been carried by multiple people, all with proper timestamps matching Jean's story.

More pictures showed some of the damage and destruction that had been caused by Damage Control in their attempts to chase after Sara, including a couple of bodies of their own agents. They were really willing to kill so many of their own, put the civilians they were supposed to be protecting at risk, just to catch one girl… that's horrible.

Part of me felt like Jean bore some responsibility for that, but I reminded myself she was just a young girl, confused and caught up in an event far beyond her control. From the sounds of it, she likely had no time to think things through and realize the risk she was putting others in. Not like I didn't have my own share of that as a kid. I remembered how I nearly killed Brad in an accidental drone attack during our school trip.

"Alright, Damage Control is the bad guys," I admitted. "Or at least a significant percentage of the higher ups are. I can try and make something that can hack their systems, but no promises on how effective it will be. Damage Control has some serious high tech and cybersecurity - this isn't like hacking into the police database… not that I've done such a thing."

Jean didn't even bother to give me a skeptical look, and bit her lip. "But I mean- are they really that much better than Tony Stark's systems? You hacked the Iron Spider Suit. Oh wait! You didn't do that, it was Ned who hacked it! Alright, let's get him." She knows even that about my life? I was beginning to suspect that she knew a lot more than she had hinted at, but I had bigger problems for the moment.

She hopped up from her seat and began striding to the doorway before I raced in front of her holding a hand out. "Whoa whoa whoa. Hold your horses. We are not going to talk to Ned. He doesn't know who I am."

"And it's well past time he did," she shot back. "Him and MJ. You need your friends, Peter."

"Who are you to say that? Who are you to come into my life and think you know everything about me?" I demanded, finally getting a little angry, with a lot of fear to stoke those flames.

"A girl with multiverses of knowledge crammed in her head. A psychic capable of reading your innermost thoughts. Someone with eyes who can see the state of your life," she finished, throwing her arms out to gesture at my apartment. At the take out boxes, dirty dishes, and crumpled clothing scattered about. "You're alive Peter, but you aren't living. Spider-Man can't exist without Peter Parker or vice versa."

She stated it like it was a law, some immutable fact of the universe, as solidly supported as gravity or the periodic table of elements. Looking into her eyes, right now I didn't see the scared little girl desperate for help to find her sister, but someone far older and disturbingly insightful.

"They are," I hissed. "My friends are better off without me in their lives." I couldn't help but glance back to the old coffee cup on my desk, the note to MJ carefully folded up and kept inside it. Jean caught what I was looking at and she sighed. Cause of course she knows about even my most intimate and painful moments.

Aggravatingly, this girl remained firm in her position. "Peter, isn't that kinda selfish? To make that decision for them?"

"We're not doing it, we'll find another way," I stated, ignoring her. "I'm sure with EV's help, maybe I can call in-"

"Maybe I'll just tell them myself," she challenged me, jutting her chin out slightly.

"You have no right-" I sputtered.

"To make a decision that affects you without respecting your input? Hmm, wonder where I heard that before?" She's treating this like it's just some dumb debate to be won. This is my life, the life I've spent the last two years careful preserving and now it's slipping out of my hands!

"If you do that, I won't help you save your sister," I blurted out

Jean blinked looking truly thrown for the first time since I'd met her, but then slowly, she shook her head. "I don't believe you. Spider-Man, Peter Parker, he's not the kind of man that would abandon an innocent just because he was upset." How dare she? How dare she think she knows me better than I know myself? How dare she be right? "Besides, right now it feels like I need Ned more than you so-"

"Can't I be selfish? Just this once!" I screeched. "I've lost so much…" Mom, Dad, Uncle Ben, Aunt May… can't I at least keep MJ and Ned safe? My eyes were shut tight as I stood there, wrestling with my demons, so I didn't notice her approach until I felt a pair of arms around me. Looking down, I saw Jean hugging me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," she whispered. "We can go to Ned - and MJ, they're roomates - without revealing your secret identity today." There was a certain weight to her final word that said that this argument wasn't over, not by a long shot. I was too tired to fight anymore today.

Disentangling myself from her, I grabbed my mask. It was time for Spider-Man to meet Ned Leeds and Michelle-Jones Watson. Why couldn't it just be a super villain? I can fight someone like the Vulture no problem.

Spoiler: A/N:

And the main cast draws together! With a bit of pushing from Jean; perhaps a bit too much. She might not have been wrong with what she said, but was a bit too eager to get Peter back together with his friends. Speaking of his friends, they are in NYU! Yeah, I forgot that they were at MIT in canon and there wasn't a good way to fit them back into the story smoothly from there. I don't feel it's that egregious a change (much could change regarding their university applications with the spell and we know they applied to a fair number of schools) but I thought I'd just let you know here that's what is going on.

 

[Skyfyre]

Jean Grey POV



Swinging through the New York skyline was an incredible, fantastic experience. A sense of freedom on velocity that defied words. Even more than what I imagined true flight would be like, the pull of gravity catching us each time and then being funneled to rocket us across the air was a rush.

It was also incredibly awkward, the man I was clinging to not saying a word since we left. I feel bad for arguing there. I mean, he has to reconnect with them, and just in general start building a life again for himself, but… I didn't need to go that hard, all at once. I'll give him a bit of time to adjust to this. Hopefully interacting with his friends again even with the mask on will warm him up to the idea. And I'll construct a better argument next time! Less emotional, more fact driven, on why it is imperative that he reconnects with his old friends.

As we neared the university campus, several students already had their phones raised as we soared through the air, taking photos or videos of us. The Spider Tracker App, useful and I think actually good for PR, but potentially problematic.

Peter landed and I dropped off his shoulders easily. There were a few questioning glances but far more cheers. So strange, to see him so beloved here. Then again, I guess J. Jonah Jameson not getting much traction helps… though the people acted quite furious after seeing him unmasked. It can be easier for the masses to hold up an idol on a pedestal when they don't have to see his flaws.

Some of the heroes of the past had gotten away with it, but they tended to already have a great public image before it. Or at least decent public image and a boatload of money to throw at any problem in Tony's case. My thoughts on the matter kept me distracted until I heard Spider-Man ask someone for directions to Ned Leeds.

"Oh he's just in that building over there, on the first floor, room 38A. But uh, why do you need to see him, Spider-Man?" The young, probably stoned man asked as he pointed us in the right direction.

Peter hesitated so I stepped in. "Oh Ned's a friend of my cousin. After Spider-Man saved me I told him about the incredible app Ned had made and he wanted to chat with him."

The freshman nodded, as did the other students gathered around. They still stared at the superhero in their midst, but just with awe and admiration now, no longer curious as to why Spider-Man would be here.

"Good cover," Spidey said, his voice too low for any one else to hear and his mask covering the movements of his mouth. I considered sending him a telepathic message back, but those could still be a bit disconcerting, so I just nodded my head.

Making it inside easily we knocked on the door to the dorm room. After a moment, the door opened suddenly, revealing a woman that looked a lot like Zendaya Coleman. Michelle-Jones 'MJ' Watson stared down at us, the beautiful woman taller than Peter and towering over me. "Nice Spider-Man costume," she said to him after a long moment before turning to me. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Black Widow, got that real arachnid theme going on" I quipped, and she snorted. Oh right, I dyed my hair to throw off any Damage Control people that might be using old photos, so I'm not a red head right now. Ah well, there are certain other attributes I'm missing on that front anyways.

"This is the actual Spider-Man though, we were hoping to talk to your roommate about the App he developed. Is he in?"

"No," she said, then after weighing it out for a moment, stepped to the side and held the door open for us. "Come in, I'm sure Ned will be rushing over as soon as he hears you're here." And you're too much of a softy to deprive him of that chance, no matter how you act. But then again, that's your whole deal, isn't it? She pulled her phone out and typed out a quick text to Ned.

"Thanks MJ," Peter said as he entered, immediately causing her to snap her head towards him.

"How do you know my name?" She nearly demanded, narrowing her eyes at Peter. I mentally facepalmed. Dammit Peter, you're the one who doesn't want to give anything away. I still figured I should help him here, considering how hard I had pushed him earlier.

"One of the people we asked said your name and that you were Ned's roommate," I said, covering for Peter again before he could stammer out an answer. If anything though, MJ just looked even more suspicious, her attention now focused on me.

She got us some tea while we waited, not offering much by way of conversation. For his part, Peter just seemed to be taking in every detail of the dorm room, drinking in every photo, knick knack, even the textbooks on the desk as if they were an oasis and he'd been in the desert for two years. A desert of your own making, but still.

It could be hard to tell what he was looking at behind the mask, but the small movements of the black edges around the white of the costume gave away that something was going on, if you paid close attention. And MJ definitely does that, she's been watching him closely since we got in, and not just for his physique (though I caught a few glances that way too). The young woman was also looking at me curiously, raising an eyebrow. I just smiled innocently back. She's probably waiting for me to get awkward enough to offer something up, but I can wait.

We took the offered cups of tea, Peter performing a very unusual action of lifting his mask up partially as he raised the teacup to his mouth. Tipping the cup back, he drank a bit while showing off very little of his face even as he drank. As soon as he finished sipping on the tea, he rolled the mask back down.

MJ let out a sound that might have been a chuckle, if one were favorably inclined. "You seriously drink like that?"

Peter shifted a tad. "The mask stays on, always." Before MJ could reply, the door burst open and a sweaty Ned Leeds rushed inside.

"I got your message and this better not be a prank- oh my gosh," Ned let out an amazed gasp as he saw us (really just Spider-Man), sitting on the couch in his dorm. As he stumbled forward, I pushed the door behind him with my mind letting it close as if it had just naturally been sent winging that way. A bit loud though. Modulating my force is still difficult, especially on something that takes most of my effort to move in the first place. "Can you uh, do something?"

"Sure," Peter replied, likely grinning behind his mask. He glanced up for a second, then jumped up, placing his hand flat against the ceiling, hanging there for a second before flipping his whole body up until he was standing on the ceiling in defiance of gravity.

"Whoa…" Ned said, enthralled. Even MJ looked a little impressed, though she was trying to hide it. Show off, I thought fondly. This is a good thing though, getting him used to them again. I hoped it would all work out between the three of them, but my sister was more important at the moment.

"You're really him, aren't you? Spider-Man." Ned let out breathlessly

"The one and only," Peter flipped back down. "Now I know I said I wanted to talk about the Spider Tracker App-"

"Right, I made that!" Ned said proudly before glancing over at a post board on the wall with pictures of Spider-Man, various news clippings about him, and a bunch of technical notes about surveillance cameras, tracking algorithms, theories, and the like. "Oh god, it's uh, it's not stalkery, I swear! You just saved us so many times in high school and I thought you were cool and just wanted to thank you in-person," he began rambling and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Uh, I'm sorry, who are you?" Ned asked, finally noticing my presence.

"My name is Jean Grey, and apologies for the subterfuge but we aren't actually here about the app - though you should at some point find a way to adjust it so that if Spider-Man wants to be stealthy he can 'go dark' for a bit on the system to catch criminals off guard." I let that idea sink in for half a moment before continuing. "My sister, Sara Grey has been kidnapped due to the psychic powers we both possess and you're the only one who can hack into Damage Control to tell us where she is."

There was a moment of silence as MJ and Ned digested that, before he said, "Really?"

"Yes, or at least, you're one of a few hundred individuals with the skills to hack their systems and the only one both nearby and that we felt we could trust. But saying 'help me Obi-Ned Kenobi, you're the only one who can save me' sounds a lot better."

Ned nodded, and MJ pointed out, "You didn't actually say that."

"I'm paraphrasing," I countered.

"Yourself?"

"Yes," I said primly before cracking a small grin, which she matched.

Peter cleared his throat. "I know it might be hard to believe that the Department of Damage Control would do something like this, but we have significant evide-"

"Nope," MJ said.
"Not really," Ned scratched the back of his head.
"It's super easy to believe they'd do something like that, barely an inconvenience," I added.

Peter gave me a very unamused look, and I felt that was less due to the meme and more because of my own involvement on the subject. Also because we didn't have Pitch Meetings here, so that wasn't a meme.

Spider-Man and I explained the situation to them and our plan so far. "...That's why we need your skills to break into Damage Controls servers, so Spider-Man and I can go and rescue her," I finished.

"Wait, you and I? I don't want to put you at risk," Spider-Man said and I shook my head.

"I won't be there physically, but having an extra hand won't hurt. Besides, since my sister has the same powers as I do, they'll probably have stuff like double locks that need to be unlocked at the same time to prevent her from getting out if she managed to possess one guard."

"Ned hacks computers, he hacks doors," MJ said, jerking her head towards Spider-Man and then turned to me. "And you hack people. Sounds like you don't need me." She stood up to leave, and I quickly said:

"Any advice you could give us on the plan would be greatly appreciated." She paused at that and I added, "Plus, we'll probably need your help going through the files once we hack them. I don't imagine that kidnapping my sister was the first dirty little secret Damage Control hid and I want to see them pay for everything," I growled.

The sudden tension in the room was then undercut by my stomach growling. "I uh, could use some food while we work on this, if you don't mind," I said meekly. MJ nodded and Ned enthusiastically agreed ordering a pizza, and I relaxed a little. The whole Spider team is together, working on saving my sister. Just hang on a little longer Sara.

Spoiler: A/N:

Not a super dramatic scene but an important one, both to get everyone together and also to show a bit more of Jean's thoughts/character. Next up, Peter tries to awkwardly get along with MJ who has no clue who he is and then the team enacts the first step of the plan

 

[Skyfyre]

Peter Parker POV

"Sooooo, nice place you've got here. Very, umm, clean." Smooth, real smooth Parker, I thought to myself while trying not to groan at my own ineptitude. The flat look I got from Michelle indicated she noticed it, before a hint of amusement crossed her face.

"You don't do this often, do you?" She asked and I shook my head. I wasn't looking directly at her, but out of the corner of my vision I caught her gaze and tried to memorize every inch of her face. Of the way she stood, of the burgundy hoodie she was wearing, everything. It's been so long since I've seen her. In person at least. I'd been following their social media ever since that fateful day in the coffee shop.

"What do you do when outside the suit?" She asked bluntly before adding, "If you can't tell me that's fine-"

"No no, I can tell you everything," I blurted out. Everything, except what I need to say. That was part of why it had been so hard to argue against Jean when she brought up telling MJ and Ned the truth. There was a large part of me that just wanted to tell them everything, without any care for the consequences.

"I mean to say, there's not much to tell. It's mostly just Spider-Man stuff. Working out, investigating criminals, beating them up, saving people, you know. Hero stuff."

She arched an eyebrow, "Ah yes, 'hero stuff,' I know all about that ," she said mockingly. Under the mask I grinned broadly. You have no idea. You are my hero. Such thoughts led to another pang of guilt at the secrets I was keeping from her. Then, more sincerely, MJ said, "How did you end up saving her?"

I followed her gaze to where Jean and Ned were debating the nature of pizza, specifically Jean's choices when ordering. We watched Ned and her bicker for a moment.

"Pizza without cheese is unnatural," Ned declared imperiously.

"Nuh uh! Pizza without cheese is normal - they have it as an option on most ordering sites. Why would they have that if people didn't often order it without?" Jean countered.

"That's for people who are lactose intolerant. They may be far from the grace of our most holy food, but they deserve what enjoyment they can stomach." Ned was now waving his arms about grandly. "You admitted you're just not having any because you don't like it." He finished, sounding both confused and horrified, though I knew he was exaggerating, the way he did when he was having fun with a bit.

Jean narrowed her eyes. "Don't make me make you give yourself a swirly."

My friend blinked. "You can do that?" He asked paling a bit, and Jean quickly waved her hands frantically.

"Ah no! I mean, I could, but I would never actually do that. I try not to control people without their permission unless it's serious. I was just joking around there."

"I didn't save her, she found me," I told MJ. And I'm not sure if I'm saving her from Damage Control or saving them from her, I thought as Ned volunteered to be controlled for a moment and Jean had him do the chicken dance.

The pizza arrived and we dug into the food, Ned having the grace not to laugh at me for how I handled the food and my mask. MJ just smirked at it, while Jean's attention was fixed on the food, and she devoured a whole large pizza herself.

Jean had enough wherewithal to not quite act ravenous as she ate, but it was clear she was quite hungry. The teenage girl hadn't gone into much detail about her life since her sister was taken, but I couldn't imagine it had been easy.

After the pizza, Ned got to work on the program to hack Damage Control, Jean telling him everything she thought might be relevant from what she had gathered about the department. Which is extensive, and that folder is one of the slimmer ones in her backpack.

This left me and MJ standing silently again. This time it didn't feel so uncomfortable, though as we waited, I noticed some books hidden underneath a pile on her desk. "Mechanics of bioengineering?" I asked her.

She groaned. "I've got homework due for that tomorrow, but it looks like we're overthrowing the government instead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" I tried before MJ shook her head.

"It's fine, this is way more important. Besides, I wasn't sure I'd even finish that homework when I got up today." She shrugged, in the way that I knew she did when trying to play off something as not mattering to her when it was something she had clearly thought about and struggled over for a while.

"We got a while yet, I could help you look it over?" I offered. "I'm something of a scientist myself, you know."

"Did you make those webs yourself?" Ned asked, turning from where he was seated in front of the computer. "People wondered online if you had invented them or if it was Iron Man. Do they use a synthetic polymer-" his ramblings were cut off as Jean grabbed Ned's head and gently faced him back towards the computer. "Right, right, hacking first, questions later."

"Definitely, we can have a little party after we rescue my sister and Spider-Man can answer all your questions," Jean promised him. So pushy!

I hadn't the privacy to reprimand her for that however, so I took my place besides MJ at her desk. "Alright, what are we working with?" She dropped a sheet of paper. "So the first question involves Howardian principals. Howard Stark came up with a number of theorems towards the end of his life…"

I explained a few of the concepts to her, but barely needed to do anything, really. Just a few corrections here and there and she was off to the races. After a few hours we'd finished all the troublesome homework and we had gone ahead, chatting about various elements that would come up in the finals.

"Thanks," Michelle-Jones said as we finished, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear.

"It was no problem, you had it down pretty much already," I insisted.

She didn't argue the point but looked over at me curiously. "So, saving damsels from criminals and homework, you do it all, don't you, Spider-Man?" She asked, her tone somewhat teasing, but there was a sparkle to her eyes that showed real interest. God, I've missed seeing her like that.

"Well, they do call me the 'friendly neighborhood' Spider-Man for a reason," I said back before thinking about it. Was she… flirting with me there? Just a little bit, I think she was. I also noticed the proximity between us.

She's so close. We'd slowly shifted together over time. There was still a space between us, but it was so narrow now, just a few centimeters apart. I could just lean over, lift up my mask and-

Jean yawned, and it broke the spell and we stiffened up. MJ got up stiffly and walked away, busying herself in the kitchen. Probably wondering why she let her guard down so much around me. But of course she did, I knew every little thing to set her at ease, how to hold myself, how to speak, where she keeps her favorite mechanical pencils, etc. Even if I didn't do it consciously, I still took advantage of that knowledge. I might find Jean's knowledge to be creepy, but my behaviour is even worse.

Of course, that was part of why I tried to keep myself separate from MJ and Ned, but Jean had been forcing the issue. All of that would be something I'd deal with another time, though. For tonight, we had a mission ahead of us. I wandered over to my once best friend and Jean. "How's it going?"

"Sorry, but their systems are pretty tough to crack," Ned apologized. "Even using some sample code from their regular database, I can tell this'll be tough. Maybe if I was there in person I could help more, but-"

"No, it'd be way too tricky to get you in there. Maybe if we had Sling Rings, Kamar-Taj should have a few to spare after Multiverse of Madness," Jean mumbled groggily before yawning heavily again.

"You alright?" I asked. "We can wait till tomorrow."

Jean gave me a glare so heated it almost felt like the temperature actually went up a few degrees. Then the anger burned out of her, and she crumpled in on herself, slumping down and wearily nodding. "You're right, of course you are. We need to come at this fresh." Turning to Ned, she asked, "How long do you think this will take to finish the program?"

Ned's expression was focused, serious as he ever was. "I'd say about eight more hours. It's 1 AM now, so I'll have the thumb drive ready for you by 10."

I gave him a skeptical look, but Ned hurried over to a cabinet, reaching around inside and pulling out to small red tins with the word 'Sharkfire' emblazoned on the front. "These bad boys will keep me going all night, no worries."

That can't possibly be healthy for you, I thought as MJ marched over. "I thought you were done with those," she said, glowering down at him.

"Aheh, well, I was done with them, for school. Of course I'd never use them for that, but this is Spider-Man," Ned defended.

"And you kept a couple of those cans around 'just in case' Spider-Man was going to ask for your help?" She asked, and I couldn't help but chuckle. Ned gave me a look of betrayal and I shrugged. Sorry bud, can't save you from this one, especially since it seems to be MJ saving you from yourself.

I wondered briefly though if Ned would have still had this apparent problem with energy drinks had I been in his life, if I hadn't hid my identity from them. Is Jean right? Was I not actually protecting them by keeping them in the dark? Or is that just what I want to think, because I want my friends back so badly that I'll grasp at straws? Those thoughts swirled around in my head until I pushed them away. Later. I can deal with that stuff later. For now we have to rescue Jean's sister.

We worked out a plan on where MJ and Ned were to meet us tomorrow at the abandoned apartment Jean was staying in, then I took her back to my place. She insisted that it would be for the nest, in case Damage Control had somehow caught wind of her before our operation, but apologized for the risk it ran for my secret identity.

I waved her concerns off easily. Indeed, that was the least of my worries as I lay awake in bed, not any potential problems with the plan - those were easy, knowable things - but instead with the idea of telling my friends the truth. Will they hate me for what I hid? Will they understand why I did it? And what comes after? If they know the truth and stick by my side, they could get hurt again, and I'm not sure I'm strong enough to save them.

***

We got ready quickly in the morning, tension filling the air. Her for the mission and me for what came after. There wasn't any use in dwelling on that, so I changed into my spider suit, pausing halfway through as I felt her eyes on me. Ah right, too used to living alone.

When I finished putting the top of my suit on, Jean hadn't turned away nor was she blushing, instead frowning. "You're hurt," she said simply.

"Oh, those?" I said, jerking a thumb back at the bruises I knew to be on my back. "Those are nothing, I heal fast," I said easily.

"I'm sure you do," she said, in a tone that while perfectly polite, said she saw right through that to everything I wasn't saying.

"Things really aren't so bad for me," I insisted. "It's a tough job, but I can handle it."

"You could handle it a bit better with some friends at your side. We can talk more on this later, I've got some ideas and options that could help keep Ned and MJ safe. Or safer, at least. No one is ever perfectly safe in this world, no matter how much power you have or how much you hide."

That was true, I knew it. That Michelle or Ned could die in a traffic accident just as easily as to a super villain, but I still had no desire to invite the latter. She was right that we didn't have time for it. Packing up, we swung out to Jean's little apartment. Or rather, base of operations, I thought as I entered the seventh story window and into the room.

Newspaper articles were pinned to the walls and lay littered on the floor. Some of these were of Damage Control but others were of heroes and vigilante sightings. Big ones like the Avengers, but also far quieter individuals, like the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and White Tiger. Even articles about lawyers who had defended vigilantes or otherwise seemed unconnected. One side of the walls was covered in television screens, each displaying different news programs from here and a few abroad. A desk stood covered with many more folders like the ones she kept in her backpack and a top of the line computer. Very little by way of amenities however, just a bunch of research and a mattress in the corner.

"What does the CEO of a big company have to do with finding your sister?" I asked.

"Had I failed to reach you I might have gone to Danniel Rand, a man who's mastered his Chi and gained supernatural abilities through him. It's also possible that if Damage Control is going after people with supernatural abilities they'd try to grab him. I hadn't had any luck with the basic contact attempts though. I'll have to look through those files in more depth once we get her, make sure I'm not missing too much. The world is moving quickly…" she mumbled the rest of her words as she finished getting the blueprints up and everything ready for the heist.

They arrived at 9:55, Ned holding up the thumb drive boldly, stumbling slightly as he passed the threshold to the room. "The program is ready! Whoa," he said, taking a proper look at the room.

"Very conspiracy theorist chic," MJ commented as she followed.

"Not exactly the homiest, I know, but it should do. Spider-Man, you ready?" Jean asked as I took the thumb drive.

"Uh, not really. So how does it work? Will it feel… weird, when you're inside me?" There was a moment of dead silence before MJ started snickering, which set off Jean chuckling and Ned just full out howling. "Wait wait no, that came out wrong!"

"Hahaha, ah I know, but still," Jean said after she stopped laughing.

"It's pretty freaky, man," Ned offered. "I felt myself doing the actions but I had no idea why I was doing those things. They felt totally normal though, until she stopped."

"I can also make people forget the portions I've controlled them for - it's actually slightly easier that way - but it'll be better if you aren't disoriented." She explained and I gave her the thumbs up. Suddenly, there was another presence in my mind, it felt like my head had grown physically cramped though I knew no such thing had happened. "Urk!" She exclaimed.

"Are you alright?" I asked instantly, stepping towards her before realizing I could move on my own. "Aren't you supposed to be in control?" Why does it seem to hurt her more than it does me?

Because this is your mind, not mine. If you were psychically invading my mind, the situation would be reversed - and then some. Her voice transmitted mentally to me.

"Usually, I am," Jean said aloud, grunting. She steadied herself after a moment. "I'm not sure if it's due to your enhanced biology or willpower, but I can't take control of you. I'll be able to Jump from you to one of the agents however, so there should be no problem, so long as you don't try to force me out."

That immediately had me thinking about doing just that, and as she let out a few more pained sounds I worked to temp down on those thoughts. "Sorry! Should we find someone else-"

"No, we've waited too long and I'd rather possess as few people as possible. Just get going. I promise, it's okay." I still felt a little unsure, but didn't want to waste more time arguing with her. Leaping out the window, I began swinging through the city.

So, how did you get your powers? Lab accident, alien heritage, swallowed part of an Infinity Stone? I asked mentally, trying to keep it light.

I'll be glad to tell you later, but for now I need to concentrate.

Got it, no more talking. Wait, you can hear all my thoughts though can't you? Which means the only way to not talk is to not think and I'm bad at that-

It's fine, just don't expect responses.

She kept true to her word there, but I could still feel her feelings, broadcasted to my head. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or just bleeding over given the difficulty she had staying in my mind. Soon enough we were close, and I swept down, landing close to a Damage Control agent. The woman jumped back startled slightly, as well as being pushed by the force that left my head.

"Ah whoops, sorry about that," I said for any passerbys as Jean's voice came on the earpiece I'd put in before putting on the mask.

"I've got her," she confirmed while at the same time, the woman she was controlling shook her head. "No worries Spider-Man, keep on keeping this city safe," she said, offering a hand to shake. I slid the thumb drive into it and she marched towards the building.

With that done, I took to the air, finding a skyscraper nearby to perch atop, waiting. Jean let me (and Ned and MJ in the room with her) know when she was inside the building. "This woman is a bit too low-ranked to get into the database. I'll Jump into a captain, give me a bit." A minute later, "Got him too. Heading over now." Another bit of silence. "I'm in!"

That set off some cheers from Ned and I was tempted to join in until she spoke up again. "There was a bit unusual activity before I got here though, not sure what that's about. Hopefully not a problem. Alright, moment of truth, inserting the drive and… yes! It works!"

"Woohoo! I can't believe it- I mean I knew it would work," Ned shouted.

Jean didn't say anything after that, so I continued to wait. I'd been on stakeouts before, where I had to wait for something to happen but it felt weird to wait for something to hopefully not happen. If the plan went well, I wouldn't be going near Damage Control (yet), but Jean felt it better to have me around 'just in case'. At least she's giving us updates. She's been quiet for a bit though-

"I got it, everything on the database. They've been working on so much; armor suits of their own, a small amount of adamantium to test, drones, Enhanced registries- uh oh."

"What? What's 'uh-oh'?" I demanded.

"Looks like the system flagged me taking everything off of it," she explained and Ned groaned.

"Damn it, I should have known I'd screw everything up. I'm so sorry-" he began.

"It's fine, it's fine. You got me past the security system and I have the files. I just need to get them out of here. One of the guards outside the room is searching me, I've said that the Director told me to do the search but I didn't take anything, just need to Jump and… there! I've passed the file off to the new agent. I've told their partner I'm going to check with the Director and I'll be home free."

Only a few seconds later however, she was screaming panickedly. "Shit shit shit! They had a Psychic alarm and contingencies! The captain knew what was up - which means he knows about my sister. Dammit, I didn't delve deep enough into his mind, though it's hard getting more than surface thoughts and skills out anyways."

As Jean spoke, I began to dive down. "I'm coming to meet you! Where should I aim for?"

"Thirteenth floor, west side! Uhh I don't know which room you should aim for, fuck! They've hit my person," Jean's voice was panicked, but thankfully she gave me enough information. That, and bullets cracking through the glass let me know where to swing in.

"I've got you, heading in now!"

The gunfire hadn't been enough to shatter the glass, but my kick was, breaking the window into a million pieces. I hung in the air, the moment seeming to freeze in a shocked tableau. Director Bill Metzger, an African American man in a suit, had left his office at the far end of the long hallway, drawing a handgun and shouting orders. The usual order of the office had been thrown into disarray, papers flying through the air, computers sparking from the bullets that had shot through them in the chaos. A half dozen agents were the ones doing the firing, crouched behind desks. Their target was one of their own, already heavily injured with more bullets striking him with every passing moment. He - or rather Jean controlling him, twisted, tossing the thumb drive up to me.

The moment passed and I was in the thick of the action. Snatching the device out of the air, I flipped around and fired off a bunch of web strands to their guns. I ripped the weapons out of their hands as I landed, then kicked one of them far backwards. He flew across the room and I charged the others, punching and striking them before they could recover from my sudden entrance.

I beat the first lot easily, moving so much faster than them and hitting hard enough to bypass their body armor, but that wasn't the end of it. More agents poured in from the sides, and I fired off some web bursts to block off the doorways until someone shouted "Stop!"

Jean and the others have stopped talking, or more likely, I can't hear them. There must be something in here that stops communications in and out. The few agents remaining and I all came to a halt, Director Metzger striding forward. He remained a dozen meters or so away when he said, "Spider-Man, we appreciate your assistance but the problem is in hand."

"Really?" I said with an exaggerated glance at the agent they had shot to death.

"It was an unfortunate incident, but we have it handled," Metzger began, his voice hardening slightly as he added, "Or we will, once we have the device they passed you." Instantly his remaining agents grabbed their side pieces and raised those guns at me again.

"Like you handled Sara?" I spat out.

"Who?" He asked, looking confused.

"Jean's sister! You kidnapped her and are doing who knows what-"

"Ah, Jean Grey. She's a troubled youth. She might have convinced you that she's innocent, or trying to help this 'Sara,' but the truth is she's dangerous. Just look at the damage she's caused here!" I couldn't help but glance over at the body of the man she'd puppeted, his blood now seeping into the floor. Her methods got a lot of people killed before too.

"She's tried to break into our systems before and failed, so now she's recruited you to help her, making up some story about a sister to save. Please, I know you're a good man Spider-Man," he said sympathetically as he walked closer. "Those files could do a lot of harm in the wrong hands. Give them to me and we can resolve this peacefully."

He held his hand out and I could almost believe him, except I'd heard the pain in Jean's voice, seen the photos of someone being carted away by Damage Control, and I knew how she wanted to help me. She took actions that weren't helpful to rescuing her sister at all, just because she wanted to help me. Even if I don't agree with how she wants to help, she cares about me. Who would care that way about a mark they're trying to use?

"Sorry Director, but I don't think she's ly-"

"Kill him," the man ordered calmly, snapping off a few shots at me. My Peter Tingle Spider-Sense warned and I dodged to the side, letting the bullet fly harmlessly past me before shoving Metzger a good ten meters away.

He crashed into the ground as the other agents turned on me and I weaved between their shots. A sudden 'boom' saw the webbing by the doors disintegrate and more agents charged in, the ones in the front carrying large, high tech cannons. I shot webbing at those weapons, only for one of them to fire another blast off, the shockwave somehow disintegrating my webs and pushing me back.

"Weapons to break my webs? Real nice, for a guy who sent you most of your prisoners!" I shouted at Metzger before a few more bullets impacted the wall near my head. Or at least the ones you admit to taking. Flipping around, I got out of the line of fire and jumped through the broken window, diving down.

Placing the thumb drive in one of my belt pockets and zipping it up, I swung away from the building. The chatter came back, Ned and Jean screaming if I was alright. "I'm fine, I'm fine. They gave me a rude welcome but I'm in the clear no- whoa!" I cried out as my web line was suddenly broken and I was sent tumbling through the air.

The cause of that became apparent as I spotted a familiar looking drone flying nearby, with one of the web destroying cannons mounted atop it. Three more joined the first one, circling in the air around me.

"You've given us quite a bit Spider-Man, like these drones we've picked up and repurposed from your fight with Mysterio," Metzger's voice came from one of the flying machines as I tried to right myself in the air, firing off another web line, swinging for a few seconds before it was blasted apart too. "It's a shame that this partnership needs to come to an end, but sadly Sara and her sister have the potential to give us so much more-"

"Omega delta eighty six alpha centurion," I said, and all four of the drones shut down. "Do you really think I didn't program in a shutdown backdoor after that fiasco?"

The question was rhetorical, as Metzger could no longer hear me, but it felt good to say it aloud. No longer interrupted, I was able to continue my flight, webbing the drones as I did so and tossing them in a heap on a nearby rooftop. Damage control thankfully had nothing else to throw at me.

Or at least nothing physical to throw at me. As I got inside, I saw the television screens, the closed captions all declaring messages like: 'Spider-Man assaults Department of Damage Control!' 'Masked Menace Massacres Many at federal office!' 'Spider-Man: Public Enemy #1'

Spoiler: A/N:

And the action is picking up! Next chapter will be the climax of the first arc, covering what happened in the first chapter but from Jean's POV (and going beyond where Peter's ended off at).

 

[Skyfyre]

Jean Grey POV



As soon as I made sure Peter was okay, I asked, "Do you have the files?" He nodded holding it up. "Great! Give it to MJ and Ned, we gotta go."

"Don't you need to look at the files?" Peter asked and I shook my head. He seemed surprised by that, for some reason.

"I had to encrypt all the files to fit despite the surprising amount of space on the thumb drive. But I used my time at the terminal to search for my sister. She's not far from here, they've got her on Roosevelt Island." Hurriedly, I reached into my bag, grabbing a hand gun and knife out of it. For some reason this had everyone else panicking a little.

"What are you planning to do?" Spider-Man asked hesitantly.

"Rescue my sister, duh! These are mostly for self defense if someone gets too close to me, but I'll try to stick out of the way once I can Jump into a guard. Now let's go!"

"Weren't you going to sneak into the place and scout ahead?" MJ asked and I tried not to let my impatience show.

"That was the plan, but since we got caught at Damage Control HQ, they'll know we're coming for my sister. If they're accusing Spider-Man on the news, that means they've already sent people to pick her up, which means that the information we risked everything to get will be useless if we don't get to her in the next few minutes!" I shrieked the last part, the stress I was holding in bursting out.

Bad. Very bad - I, more than anyone, can't afford to lose control here. I can't afford to lose control ever. I had experience at least with keeping my emotions in check, and in a few seconds, I was centered and mostly calm. Spider-Man had passed off the files to Ned, and was waiting at the window.

"The log in password is Mar-dash-Vell," I told him. "You and MJ can decrypt the files and leak them to the press. There should be more than enough there to stop Damage Control for good." I hopped on Spider-Man's back. "And thank you, I appreciate everything you've done."

We were off before they could respond. Glad to see that Peter is taking my concerns seriously. Of course he does, he's a hero. I wanted to be one, sometimes, but I was afraid. Afraid of what might happen to me, afraid of what I might do. Both as the potential holder of the Phoenix Force but also with my own powers. Even as they are now, I could do a lot of harm.

Those powers were growing slowly too. Like right now, I thought I felt concern from Peter. That was confirmed when he spoke up, as the island got in sight. "When we get there, I want to take the lead. I don't want this to turn into a bloodbath."

"I don't want it to turn into one either. I'm serious!" I added after a moment of doubtful silence from him. "I'm not the Punisher or anything. I'm not looking to kill people here, I just want to rescue my sister."

"Yet a lot of people end up dead when you try," he pointed out, and I couldn't deny it.

"A good chunk of that is on their own willingness to immediately jump to lethal force against their own people just to try and stop me. But yeah, I suppose some of that is still on me. I'm not looking to kill these people, however… I'm not going to prioritize the lives of the people who kidnapped Sara over her."

He grunted, which I interpreted as 'that's a fair and balanced viewpoint. I understand where you're coming from, and we'll work together to both minimize casualties and rescue your sister. Let's go, Spider-Man and Phoenix Lass, best friends forever!' I might be paraphrasing a little there.

Spidey swung us under the bridge and then out, soaring high above the long, thin island. Below us, armored trucks were racing by, desperate to reach the building ahead of us. It was long and squareish, with a tower-like section sticking up out near the back. I couldn't see well from my position, but it looked like there were a bunch of guards on high alert.

The ones in the trucks are ready too, I thought as gunfire filled the air. We were too high up and moving too fast for them to accurately aim, but it forced Spidey to swing off towards a tree. Of course, he swung around even faster than they could go, flying into a kick that sent the van spinning off course, before tipping to the side and inevitably crashing down.

I unsteadily got off of his back as he jogged a few steps forward after landing, a portion of my consciousness already with the guards in the back of the van, which was opening the back doors to aim their guns at us. All but my man who was instead pulling a grenade off his belt and dropping it on the floor. Hmm, guess I should try to warn them.

"Bombs away!" I had the man shout before tackling two of the gunmen out the back doors. The other guards soon followed, narrowly avoiding the conflagration that consumed the back of the vehicle, rolling across the road and cursing. They turned on the man I had been controlling, attacking him and assuming that his desperate attempts to fight back were a sign I was still controlling him, when I'd already moved on to the driver.

The man beside him was a bit quicker on the draw than most, trying to stab the man as soon as he saw the jerking. Unfortunately for him, he'd never practiced knife fighting in a moving vehicle, and struggled to get the knife. He also wasn't wearing his helmet inside, so when I hit the brakes for a moment, he smacked his head against the dashboard, I disarmed him and slashed the knife against his eyes.

He howled in pain, clutching at his face, so I stabbed one hand straight through, definitely blinding that eye (if the previous cut hadn't managed it fully) and then stabbing his other hand to the armrest. Leather, very nice. I would have thought they'd be a bit more utilitarian, but despite the several layers of armor plating and bulletproof glass on the outside, they've got some comfort in here. Speaking of…

I changed the radio station to play something a little more amped up. Not exactly my 'awesome sauce' playlist, but not bad. Revving the engine again, I raced off, heading straight at the gates. The guards at the watch towers on either side shouted for me to stop, then began firing at me.

The armor weathered all of the gunfire, and with fires still blazing in the rear, burst through the gates, the guards on the ground diving to the sides. I came up to the solid set of doors and plowed straight into it. The doors didn't budge an inch, concrete breaking off to reveal thick metal plating behind it. None of that mattered however, as it got me close enough to Jump into a man inside the building.

But only just; they've clearly put their people on guard for this, clearing the area up to 33 feet away from the doorway. "Their mistake," I said from the agent I had taken over, turning and firing his assault rifle at the shins of the man beside him. "Was assuming that my powers manifested identically to my sisters. And you know what they say about assumptions. They make an ass out of you and- stop that."

I'd been fiddling with the key card to get into the next room, but the agent I'd shot was trying to scramble back up and fire at me, so I had to boot him in the face. And if I take a little too much pleasure from hearing his bones crunch beneath the same jackboot he so proudly wears than I should, no one needs to know. No other guards came or were nearby.

The scanner at the door beeped in affirmation and the door opened. I strode inside, only for the door to slam shut behind me, and I heard a locking sound from the doors on the other end of the long hallway. "Jean Grey, I wish we'd met under better circumstances," Director Bill Metzger's voice come out from loudspeakers tucked into the far corner of the hall.

"We might have, had you not kidnapped my sister," I replied, almost concealing the venom I felt towards him.

He had the audacity to chuckle lightly. As if it didn't matter. As if all that pain he had put me and especially her through had been a minor gaff. "In a way, this is a bit of a blessing in disguise; there's two of you! I'll be able to study your abilities in such greater detail now. Maybe I'll finally be able to crack the code, to replicate those powers so they can rest in the right hands."

I couldn't help but snort as I walked down the hallway, despite the obviously locked door at the end. "And you think yours are the 'right hands.' A man who would kidnap and experiment on little girls?"

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again, his voice noticeably colder now. "You and Sara, you were gifted with incredible powers. But you're just two young girls; you wouldn't have the vision to see how to properly use those powers. With your abilities could-"

None of the rooms to the sides had anyone close enough to Jump into, I noted as I continued. The building isn't wide enough to have many places to stash Sara there, she'll be further down. "Assassinate your enemies? Pass a bill to give you more budgeting? Oh, I know! You were going to say 'change the world,' as if that vague and meaningless statement gave you a carte blanche to cross every legal and ethical line in your naked pursuit of power!" I said sarcastically, faux-cheer dripping from every word before I grew more serious.

"I have thought about it, I think about it every day. I am well aware of how dangerous my powers can be, the potential they have," I continued. "I can't hide away from the world, sit out and do nothing as atrocities occur, but nor will I use my power for petty revenge on my enemies while dressing it up as for 'the greater good.' I'll make a real difference, small but noticeable changes that make the world a better place. Like say, lowering the price of insulin to 10 dollars a month no matter what and making health insurance far more available to all citizens."

"But that happened a few years ago when the Blip ended- that was you?" Bill said, a bit of wonder, and dare I say it, respect, in his tone.

"Yeah, that was me. Big Pharma and the senators didn't really 'discover renewed faith in humanity as a result of overcoming the Blip,' or however they tried to sell it. So I can't argue I've never used my powers to make choices for someone else. But I've always tried to do good with my power. None of that really matters to you though, now does it? Like I said, this was never about other people, this is you trying to grasp power far beyond your reach."

I'd reached the door at the end, and this time there was no one standing within range of me on the other end, but I didn't need it, as the door I'd come through shattered open, Spider-Man racing through carrying two people over his shoulders.

In seconds he'd raced across over a hundred feet, webbing up the two men at even intervals spaced across the hallway, giving me just enough time to say, "Jean here," before he caught up to me. Hearing that, he re-aimed his fist, so that instead of cracking into the skull of the puppet I was controlling, it burst the door open, sending the steel frame flying across the next room.

Damn, he beat up all the soldiers on the road, webbed up the doors on the truck he kicked over, stopped another armored vehicle that wasn't far behind us, took out everyone at the gates, and left them all in a close enough range that I can chain Jump the webbed up goons and get back if I lose the person I'm currently possessing. And he did all that in the time it took me to get this far. He really is… Amazing.

This next room was tall and circular, with metal grates blocking off access for anyone that might have tried to leap up to another level. Guards began pouring out of the doors on the higher levels carrying sleek guns and the heavy anti-webbing cannons from before. I could feel the stairways around this spire section of the building filling up with guards too. An impressive kill-zone, it would take out or be seriously dangerous even for many skilled Enhanced, like The Defenders.

Spider-Man was on an entirely different level than those other vigilantes, despite also being 'street tier.' He dodged the hail of gunfire and fired a pair of web lines to slingshot himself forward. One of the cannon holders attempted to aim at the strands, but was tackled by my newest puppet, the other one carrying the specialized anti-web weapons.

The blasts went wide and Spider-Man pulled himself forward, crashing right through the metal barrier feet first and slamming a pair of goons against the wall. He fired off a shot that kept the metal grate stuck to the wall, pinning them in place while he twisted to dodge another agent shooting at him. Then he snagged the gun from that man and snapped it back to smack into the head of another enemy behind him. Reaching out with another web line, he snagged onto the shirt of an agent even further behind and yanked him forward, bowling over the guy in between the snagged agent and Spider-Man, then carrying on to fly over the heads of the super hero and the agent in front of him to collide with a bunch of agents running up the stairs. All done in about two seconds.

I held both admiration and envy for the grace and way he could move. I'd trained my body, worked out just in case anything came up that I wouldn't be able to control my way out of (and because I liked feeling physically fit/the rush of exercise) but I couldn't manage anywhere near what he could easily do. Case in point, I'm currently hiding out behind some trees nearby but not too close to the base, because I'm too vulnerable to go in myself.

Pushing such desires away with practiced focus, I stood up with my current puppet, breaking free from the grapple with the other man and firing my cannon straight down at him. It was designed to deal with webbing but still had a good deal of force to it, likely concussing the man at least. I proceeded to toss that weapon down the hole Spider-Man made while he tried to break a metal door that surprisingly resisted his initial attack, only denting slightly.

"Break the stone around it, that'll be weaker than whatever that's made out of," I told him. Sticking two web lines onto that stone, he pulled, using his wall-crawling powers to tightly grip to the ground as he did so. With the same force he used to hold a large boat together, he wrenched the walls apart with an almighty cracking sound. Chunks of wall flew out into the air, forcing down the agents who had been trying to recover. Lines of torn stone ran up and down from where he pulled, the foundation of the tower somewhat damaged.

The door, now freed from the wall, fell down. I was already rushing through, jumping over it before it landed with a loud clang, racing to my sister. It only took a couple of meters past that to Jump into the next person. He wasn't wearing the tactical gear or business suits of agents, but instead had on a long white lab coat indicating some sort of researcher.

The room he stood in was some kind of control room, with one other researcher, a woman looking nervously back at the sounds of Spider-Man fighting the agents. The control room was dominated by several consoles with various buttons and dials, screens with readings and the like, with a long, tall window revealing a large experimentation chamber beyond. Within that was a cozy seeming room covered in glass to let anyone here look in at the occupant. Currently, that was my sister, strapped to a chair, screaming in fear, the source of which became apparent as I saw a pair of incongruous machine guns hanging from the corners of the room point down, not at the door or me, but at Sara herself.

"No!" I cried, reaching out with my telekinetic ability. I still couldn't manage more than a few pounds of force, nowhere near enough to stop bullets, but I could move the guns. Barely.

With herculean effort, I pushed the barrels away from Sara, letting the bullets fly out and scatter around her, breaking the faux-wood floor and then even the glass around the fucked up room they placed her in. The guns fought against me, the machine holding them up grinding as it tried to swivel back into the correct place, and it took all my effort to hold them back. Which is why I wasn't able to stop the other researcher in the control room from shooting my puppet.

I grunted, feeling the phantom pain, but I could push that aside easily, not being from my body and all. The other researcher had shaky hands and only a pistol, the gut shot not enough to end my control - at least not through pain alone. With all my attention on saving my sister though, I couldn't hop into the evil researcher's body, couldn't even move the body I was controlling as she steadied herself and aimed her gun once more.

Before she could fire a head shot and end this, Spider-Man burst in, his dramatic entrance pulling away the researcher's attention. "Save… Sara…" I managed to grit out, and Spider-Man's eyes locked onto my sister. Running ahead, he shoved the Damage Control researcher down, leap-frogging over her and through the window, shattering it. He broke the barrier around Sara with just as much ease and-

Everything I was seeing went dark from that set of eyes and my perceptions were shunted back to entirely from my own body. I must have been shot in the head there. Did- did he save her? He had to have, right? He's Spider-Man! He always saves… I mean, there was Gwen Stacey in the comics- no! This is entirely different! He was right there, with super reflexes and danger sense. No way two turrets could have gotten to her.

Despite my attempts to convince myself, I was still running up to the facility, taking over a guard stuck to a wall. As soon as I could, Jumped again to another one closer in, again and again. The various webbed but still conscious agents gave me a pathway ahead, all the way to the tower-like room, with no one close enough to reach my sister.

Please be okay, please be okay. The agent I controlled had next to no use of his limbs or ability to move, but he could still hear, and I didn't pick up on any gunfire or punches. "Sara! Spider-Man! Is Sara okay?" I had him shout. There were a few moments of silence before I heard footsteps and then I saw them; Spider-Man walking forward, my sister half hanging off of him.

She looked much like I remembered her, with dirty blonde hair and green eyes matching my own. She was wearing an orange jumpsuit and looked haggard, her hair a mess and her face gaunt. As she saw me though, felt the presence of my mind, she cried, smiling as wide as she ever had. "Jeanie?"

"I'm here, it's me," I said, crying back, not caring enough to stop that bleeding through to the body I was controlling. "I missed you so much."

"Me too, me too." It's so good to hear her voice again. It was a little hoarse, probably from screaming, but it was real.

I worried that this moment of hope would be torn away from me, that Damage Control would burst in with some hulkbuster-esque armor, or a sniper would shoot at her, or that someone would jump out of the bushes and grab me somehow… but nothing like that happened. Peter carried my sister out of there, grabbed me, and carried the both of us to safety. We were finally safe.

Spoiler: A/N:

And thus we reach the end of the 'Damage Control' arc, or at least the climax. There will be wrap up later, but everything is pretty solved for now. Damage Control just doesn't quite have the means to take on a smarter Jean and Spider-Man working together.

 

[Skyfyre]

Peter Parker POV

"We got him," were the first words that came through the other end of the line, Captain DeWolff's voice had a victorious edge to it.

"That means so much to me, to us. Thank you," I said and heard a cheer from the other occupants of the room. It was a nice little safehouse the police had offered to the Grey sisters after they were told the truth.

"There's still a couple dozen of them still lurking around and we need their testimony for the trial, so don't tell the girls to leave just yet, but with the rest complying with the orders to halt operations or having fled the country, they should be a lot safer."

Ned and MJ had delivered the information to Jean DeWolff and the police captain had led a furious investigation into the Department. Multiple agencies were getting called in as other Department heads, judges, and politicians of all ranks scrambled to, well, control the damage. Jean hadn't released much details, but the list of charges alone was enough to have every media outlet scrambling to cover the case. I feel like Sara and Jean need to worry more about the reporters than former agents out for revenge.

Not that I thought many of those agents actually were looking for revenge. From what I knew, most of those that had fled were just the ones that knew they were in too deep and ran to save their own skins rather than sink with the ship.

"I'll let them know. Thanks again Captain. Or should I say, Chief DeWolff?"

"Oh stop, those are just rumors. This might be a nice feather in my cap, but I don't think I'll be getting a promotion too soon. Not without some major shake ups at the department. Sorry, I've gotta go, Galo is calling me." She hung up and I walked from the hallway into the safehouse room, where the four occupants cheered again.

"I thought you said you couldn't read minds without taking over," I said to Jean, rather than addressing what they already clearly knew. Ned was busy setting up the t.v. to one of the news stations in anticipation of when the public would find out. MJ and Sara were getting drinks out for us (including apple juice for Jean).

"I said it's difficult, but this was just me trying to read your emotions. It's much easier, especially for someone like you. Emotions seem to be something I can pick up ambiently around a person without really needing to 'break into' their mind," she explained.

Sara added, "Easier for you, perhaps. Two months in that place and Metzger and his creeps tried to push me as hard as they could and I didn't manage anything like that."

"Just shows that he was full of shit," Jean said easily, lightly. And just a touch too quickly, I noted, though Sara didn't seem to notice, frowning as she obviously dwelled on what was done to her. The moment passed however, and she was soon brightly chatting with her sister again, talking about shows she needed to catch up on.

It's not perfect, but it's a step forward. A brand new day for both of them. I watched Ned talk with MJ, moaning about how they couldn't tell anyone about their involvement helping 'the' Spider-Man out (a condition of DeWolff's for them to visit the sisters in the safe house, understanding that the police didn't want them to feel locked away again while still trying to keep them safe). Maybe a new day for all of us.

"Captain DeWolff wanted to remind you not to leave just yet. There are still a couple agents on the run and they'll need your testimony for the trial," I reminded them and Sara groaned.

"I know there's reasons for it, but come on. We can handle ourselves. So long as the entire Department isn't coming after us again." She paused. "That thing is getting shut down, right?"

It was Ned who answered. "No one knows. It'll probably get kicked down the line until the election. McKenna thinks it just needs 'restructuring,' while Ross of all people is suggesting abolishing it. No idea on what he'd replace it with, though."

Michelle raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know all that?"

He adopted a faux-hurt expression. "I'm just doing my civic duty to be an informed voter. Besides, now that we have super friends, these issues are pretty important."

"Uhuh, and totally not just because you've been hanging around Jean and you overheard one of the news programs she was watching," I said. He laughed, as did the others, but there was a moment of hesitancy, a slight hitch of the breath where he processed the words and wondered. He feels awkward, because I'm the super hero and a stranger to him. He's not used to the light ribbing between friends… because I wiped it all away. And refuse to tell them the truth.

The mask was important, vital to my health and theirs, yet as I wore it and we stood around, chatting, cheering as we saw Bill Metzger get cuffed and marched away on the local news, I realized there was a barrier to wearing it (and more so than in the awkward way I needed to move it back and forth to eat and drink around them). It set me apart, placing an invisible distance between me and them that caused the others to view me with respect, caution, awe, but generally just not on the same level as them. It was even in how we stood, with me in the corner, watching over them, but not a part of the group as they sat on the couch or chairs arranged around the coffee table/television.

All except Jean, who bounded up to me during a quieter moment in the impromptu party. "Thank you."

"I think that's the fiftieth time you've thanked me. I appreciate it, but we're good," I told her.

She frowned, considering my words. "Hmm, you're right. In that case, I'm sorry. For pushing you around and abusing your good nature. You might be the kind of person to save everyone you can, but I took it for granted in our argument."

"Appology accepted. Now, are you still going to tell them the truth?" I asked cautiously.

She didn't confirm or deny it, instead asking me, "Why do you think they're lives are better without you? Because I don't think they've ever been as happy in the past few years as they are now."

"They'll die," I said, trying to keep my voice low, but level. To avoid looking like I was trying desperately to hide something, and thus draw the others' attention.

"Most people do, eventually. You're worried that it puts them at risk, to know your secret identity, but what if it's the opposite? What if being close to them is what could end up saving them?" At my confused look, she explained. "The world is a dangerous place. Vehicular accidents, criminals, even alien invasions… these dangers won't go out of their way to avoid them just because they don't know your secret identity. But if you were close to them, you might be more able to swoop in and save them from those dangers. I think you already did a couple of times in high school."

Aunt May's face flashed in my mind. "No. No- I see what you're saying, I understand how that could be true, but I was just putting them at risk back then, and barely making up for it. Until I didn't. Sometimes, Spider-Man has to do the hard thing, even if it breaks Peter Parker's heart."

"Is it? Is that really what's happening here?" She asked and I took a slight step back. How can she say something like that- "Appologies, let me rephrase: Is this Spider-Man doing the hard thing, or is it Peter Parker, doing something hard because he fears something worse? I don't deny that this is hard on you, I just feel that the motivation might not be what you're telling yourself it is."

"I'm just doing this to keep them safe," I said, crossing my arms. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Ned and the others catching our argument. Very politely (too politely), he turned up the television slightly to drown out the noise, so he and the others wouldn't eavesdrop as easily.

Jean questioned that argument. "Alright, in that case, what if they could be safe?"

Where is she going with this? It was next to impossible to predict this telepathic girl. "Against the kinds of enemies in my life? How?"

"Well, Ned showed proficiency with a Sling Ring before, didn't he? One of those could get him out of pretty much any trouble," she pointed out.

"And you happen to have one of those in your backpack?" I didn't think she did, but you could never be too sure with Jean Grey.

"Well, no, but-" she began

"I'm not asking Doctor Strange for any more favors," I said stubbornly, even as part of me yearned to do just that, right now. To keep Ned safe regardless of me telling them or not. "MJ wouldn't be around him constantly either, so she'd still be in danger."

"Actually I was going to say that while I don't have that, I do have this," she declared triumphantly, pulling out the small titanium case from her bag. Jean rolled the lock combinations to reveal a soft cushioned inside holding a small blue vial. "Super Soldier serum. Give it to MJ and she'll be able to defend herself."

"And you'd just… give it to her?" I said, disbelievingly.

"Yup. Of course, if she was that strong and tough, wouldn't she want to fight by your side? To protect you the way you protect her? And then she's back in danger again." She snapped the case back close and I realized where this argument was going.

"Fine, I'll tell them," I said calmly.

She continued. "We can't know what the future may bring for certain, can't safeguard against every possibility, but that just means we need to cherish the time we have together, rather than hide away in fear of losing them."

"One hundred percent," I agreed.

"And just delaying will only put off this realization, when I can assure you that now is the best time to tell them- wait what? You're agreeing?" Jean said, finally catching up, and I chuckled at the rare moment of confusion from her. She blushed a bit, realizing how carried away she'd been getting. "Sorry about that."

"You've made your case, and you're right. I can't put this off any longer." I think I knew it as soon as I saw them again, when I asked for their help. I reached into my pockets, but the note wasn't there. "It's fine, I'll wing it," I said, mostly to myself.

Walking up to the group, I said. "I've got something to tell you."

Ned piped up, "Is it that you and Jean are dating and you want us to keep it a secret?"

"What!?" I said, coughing slightly at random assumption, while Jean shook her head vigorously and her sister laughed.

"Hardly. Spider-Man might be her favorite hero, but Jeanie likes them curvier," Sara said. Jean blushed a bit at that, though I thought it was more from revealing that I was her favorite hero than her sexual orientation.

"Oh, sorry. I just saw you two talking, you seemed really close, you both have cool powers, and I assumed… I'm really sorry, Ned said.

"It's fine. But he's got something important to tell you two." Jean responded, walking over to her sister's side.

Taking a deep breath, I began again. "It's about my identity," I told them, beginning to roll up my mask.

"Whoa, I'm honored man, but I know it's a secret you don't have to do this for us." Ned said and Michelle stared at me intently, my mask halfway up.

"Should I be here for this?" Sara asked, slightly uncertain.

"I really do. I owe you and MJ far more than you realize. And Sara, your sister already deduced my identity so you might as well stay here for this too." I pulled off the mask entirely, revealing my face. "My name is Peter Parker."

Their faces were blank. No instant moment of clarity or strange sense of recognition as they looked at me. The spell remained, and I was a stranger to them. For now, but that will change. "We went to school together at Mid Town High."

"I don't remember you being there," MJ said, frowning even as I saw her studying me, trying to take every detail in, committing it to memory. I was still a little nervous, feeling with I was standing blindfolded on a plank, unsure where the next step would bring me.

"Sorry, me too dude. But we were saved so many times in high school, I was sure it was by someone there…"

"That's because I cast a spell, or rather I had Doctor Strange cast a spell that wiped me from everyone's memories. It started when Mysterio revealed my identity to the world…" I went through the full tale, explaining everything that happened, the two of them (and Sara) listening with rapt attention. Jean waited politely too, but for her I could tell this was all stuff she had heard before.

"... Doctor Strange cast the spell and wiped my identity from everyone's minds, saving the multiverse, but making it so even the people closest to me had no memory of who I was," I finished explaining, closing my eyes. There was silence for a moment, and then MJ broke it, speaking up first.

"You were at the coffee shop, two years ago." It was less a statement and more an accusation. Her tone was mostly flat, but I could hear the hurt in it.

She remembered that? One random stranger, over two years ago and she remembered me. It was amazing, just part of what made her so incredible. "That's right, I was there."

"Why didn't you tell me then? Why wait two years to tell us the truth?" Now the hurt was plain to hear, even for someone who didn't know her. Opening my eyes, I saw her staring at me, her eyes beginning to water.

"I wanted to keep you safe. My Aunt had just died because of me and I thought- I thought you were better off without me." Ned looked conflicted at my words; he was one of the most empathetic people I knew, and he was trying to consider it from my point of view, but this had to be tough for him too. MJ just looked hurt.

"That wasn't your choice to make for us," she hissed, and I winced.

"I know. Jean reminded me of that."

MJ turned to her, biting back her tears and very sincerely said, "Thank you." That was not directed to me in the slightest. It stung a little, but I hoped that things would be okay, in time.

"How did Jean know your identity?" Ned asked, still trying to process this. "Did you tell her after-"

"No," Jean said, quickly stepping in, "He didn't know me before that. The memory spell worked on me, but due to my uhh, psychic powers, I had enough other pieces around his identity to put it together and find him. Then, with his help and yours, we were able to save my sister."

A little heavy-handed there on the whole, 'things are good, we did well' thing you're trying to get them to focus on Jean. MJ saw right through it, but Ned did perk up a bit.

"Ah, it was no problem. I'm sure we have a ton of adventures where we helped Spider-Man out in the past, right?"

I smiled shakily. "Yeah, yeah we got a ton. I can tell you all about them." Glancing over at MJ, I was that she still looked pissed with me. But despite that, she marched over and flopped into a chair, out of solidarity with Ned or a desire to hear about the past she'd forgotten.

I began telling them all about our past, the journeys we'd gone on together, the foes I'd fought. About Ned being my 'Guy in the chair,' helping me hack Karen. About MJ giving me strength, our first kiss. And all the other fantastical adventures we'd shared, the stories going on until the sun had set and we were well into the night.

"This all sounds like some kinda supernatural soap opera. Villains and memory loss…" Sara said before turning to her sister. "Did it really all happen like this?"

"Pretty much. I only know the broad strokes, but I think he's given a pretty decent retelling of what went on." After a moment the younger telepath added, "He forgot to mention the part where he was stuck in a warehouse with his suit's AI for a bunch of hours."

"I mean, that part wasn't really relevant. It was more about the time we shared together," I defended.

"He's also trying to sell it that he always called his 'Spider-Sense' that, when I gave him that name when we met. He called it the 'Peter Tingle' back then." Everyone else burst out laughing, even MJ chuckled a little, though she quickly covered it up. Looks like she was right again; this is good for me. I could feel a weight I'd been carrying around me for years start to fade.

"Hey, Jean? Thank you for pushing me to do this. Even if you were a bit bossy," I added, teasing her lightly.

"Hmph, see if I offer you my super soldier serum again," she said, crossing her arms and turning her head up in an exaggerated fashion while still smiling.

"Super soldier serum? No way, do you have that too?!" Ned asked, and I shook my head.

"Nah, it was just a story Jean made up to get me to face the truth about my feeli-"

"Peter, that wasn't a made up example. That's really super soldier serum. Did you think I carried that around in my backpack all this time just as a prop?" She shook her head at the idea, as if that was the baffling idea, before noticing how we'd all fallen silent.

"YOU HAVE SUPER SOLDIER SERUM IN YOUR BACKPACK!?!" The four of us shouted at the same time.

Spoiler: A/N:

And there we have it! The conclusion to the Damage Control/Intro arc! But the story isn't over yet - I've got plenty more plans for the 'Jean Cinematic Universe' as it were, haha. The update rate will be slowing down a bit now though, however (though the chapters on average will be a bit longer). I'll start updating every other week, though you can find out more on my Discord. And if you want to read ahead, I have a Patreon, subscribers to the latter get early access to the next two chapters. Thank you so much and I'm looking forward to this new story, I hope you are too.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 50 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and bob my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Sara Grey POV

My little sister blinked, somehow surprised by the sheer shock and awe that we had. Possibly literally, what with her being able to read our emotions and all. I hid the tiny sliver of jealousy that bubbled up at that thought far down, where she'd have no chance of seeing it; most days, even I couldn't notice it.

"When did you get that?" I asked, giving her a bit of direction and wanting to confirm my suspicions.

I saw her thinking, not literally, but in the way that one's eyes move about one's face when they're thinking, the way Jean would bite the inside of her cheek. All the little tells of hers I knew well. "After the Blip," she settled on, telling me - us, really - the truth.

"Directly after," I said, not a question but a confirmation. "All that time you told mom and I that you were 'holding off on using your powers' and 'being good'-"

"I said that I was 'not going to do anything that would reveal me,'" she corrected. "And well, I was being good. I mean, I stole it from Nazis and criminals, that's something good."

Ned was the one to ask what was on all our minds. "Stealing a super soldier serum was you 'being good'? Man, I'd hate to see you be bad." We all laughed a little at that, the mood not quite as tense. Ned Leeds, the one who hacked into Damage Control systems and found me. He seems like a good guy, if a bit overeager at times. Even if he hadn't rescued me, which I'd be forever grateful for, I liked the fact that he never seemed scared of me or Jean just because of our powers.

"Could be fun, if the people she was being bad to were anything like Metzger," Michelle-Jones commented in a manner that was likely far less joking than it sounded. She'd helped go through the files too and was still furious about what she'd seen. 'MJ' wasn't as trusting of us as her friend, but I didn't take it personally; from what I knew, she was just less trusting in general. Her (former?) boyfriend revealing he kept the truth from her for over two years probably didn't help that.

"So, why go to all that trouble to steal it and then not take it yourself? I know you like to be fit," I said lightly, not demanding to know why she apparently offered it to Spider-Man and not for me, despite having sat on that miracle drug for months before we got separated at least.

"I do, and the thought was tempting… but the potential downsides far outweighed it." At our curious expressions, she explained. "The Super Soldier Serum is said to make you 'more of yourself,' which while hard to parse, is what seemingly made Steve Rogers such a paragon, the Red Skull into a literal monster as well as a figurative one… and led to John Walker killing people who had surrendered because of buried anger. Having mood swings like that could be really bad for a psychic, and that's even if it worked perfectly with our Enhanced DNA, which I don't think is likely. That serum is carefully balanced for a different genetic structure than our own."

Johann Schmidt was awful and I've seen the old photos of what he turned into. What would that thing do to me? I blanched at the thought before letting the conversation turn to lighter topics. Even then, I felt a bit hurt. Jeanie does it for good reason, or what she thinks is 'good reason' but she still shuts me out, still hides things from me. What will it take for her to trust me? I'm not like mom!

As if spurred by that thought I found myself saying, "I wonder what mom will think when she finds out you were using your powers even more than I was back then."

The comment was joking and meant to be funny, but Jean wasn't laughing. Instead, she said seriously, "About mom…"

***

Arranging a trip out took two days. The police wanted us heavily guarded 'for our own protection, and since this was a spot that Damage Control was thought to have been in the past, they (technically) had reason to worry. It gets old, constantly hearing them pat themselves on the back for their 'good work' capturing Damage Control agents, but at the same time claiming it's far too dangerous to let us out.

Jean had far less problems than I did being forced to spend most of our time in the safe house each day, but on the other hand, that hadn't been her existence for the past two months either. Maybe she'd feel differently then.

I pushed down the bitter thought - it wasn't me. She's the one who told me I didn't have to let my anger define me. That it was a part of me, but I could choose which aspects of me I wished to let reign. Jean had mentioned that once early on in the Blip, while we sat on the set of swings in our backyard, which were just coming into view as the van pulled in by our old house.

For a second, I almost didn't recognize it. There was one broken window on the side that hadn't been there before, and the blackberry bush was different - like it had been half hacked off then the project was abandoned, with the other half left to grow voraciously. Jeanie always loved picking blackberries, she'd collect all of them every summer and drag me out to pick more once our bush had been picked clean.

The rest of the house was the same, just not matching my memories. The chipped, more grey than white picket fence didn't match my memory of the pristine, new, fence, but it hadn't been like that since I was a little kid. Same with the back porch, no longer looking smooth and well sanded, but mouldy and full of splinters, with trash piled on top of it blocking the path.

We hopped out of the van after the plainclothes had determined the area was secure. Please, I could have done it better. The cops didn't seem to know how to deal with us, not trusting our powers over their training but hesitant and flinching around us. My sister pretended not to notice, but I knew her too well to think she hadn't seen their reactions and prepared to deal with any problems that might arise from them.

When we got to the front door I fumbled around in my bag for my keys, but Jean just gently pushed it open with a finger, the old door creaking open, revealing the shattered lock. Inside there was slightly more signs of a scuffle, the couch in the living room shoved slightly to the side, and a photo (one of the few left of us as a whole family, with little baby Jean, me as a toddler, and dad still around, standing in a park with mom) moved to a different place on the wall. Jean telekinetically shifted it over slightly to show the bullet hole that had been concealed.

"Wasn't able to find any other signs of mom, and the investigation of Damage Control didn't show any sign of her, so she either ran or…" Jean finished awkwardly, grabbing some letters from the floor where they'd been shoved through the mail slot. Mostly they seemed to be bills for late payments.

"Do you think… they'll find her… body?" I asked, unsure of why I was so tentative. I didn't like mom, we always argued. I wasn't the golden child like Jeanie. As we talked, I wandered into the kitchen, which was mostly untouched. The fruit bowl was mouldy, but other than that, the place looked decent, as if mom could come bustling in at any moment.

On the fridge I saw photos of the three of us on our vacation to the Grand Canyon before the Blip, making silly faces. Jean's report card from back then was still stuck on with a magnet, straight A's, with mine nowhere to be seen. It's not even like I was ever a bad student; I got C+s and Bs for most subjects, even the occasional A. But I'm not a genius like Jean.

"I doubt it. Damage Control had a bunch of experiments they were working on, including a disintegrator. The prototype was too bulky and slow to charge to use in a fight, but the files included mention of it for 'waste disposal' and while they didn't come outright and say it, a lot of their operations coincide with the disintegrator being used. People like us might have been seen as tools to use, but people like mom weren't even recorded in their files."

Damn Damage Control. Damn Metzger. Prison is too good for him, he should be burning in hell. The man's trial was still ongoing, and while the case against him appeared airtight, I still worried every time I saw him that somehow he'd weasel out of it, and one day I'd wake up to find myself strapped to a chair and hear his calm, too friendly voice as he forced me to use my powers again and aga-

"Hmm, these bills are adding up and we don't really use the house. Maybe we should sell it and get an apartment?" She glanced up to see my shocked face and, misinterpreting the reasoning, quickly amended, "Or we could stay here. It would take a bit more work to hang out with MJ and Ned and all, but we could make it work too. Or just discuss this later, no need to rush into things."

She sounds so… calm about it all. How can she be so in control all the time now? That wasn't to say Jean was fine with what Damage Control had done; disdain dripped off her words. But there was no fire to them either, any anger long since burned out. Maybe that's it, she just sounds calm cause she's suspected this for a while.

I remembered when I needed to be the 'big sister,' the one in charge, the one she could rely on. But did I ever really need to, or was that just a role Jean let me play to act like things would be okay when everything was chaotic? She did things like this back then too, she just acted quieter about it. If there was one thing my imprisonment had changed, it was Jean's willingness to appear more decisive.

My own tumultuous emotions weren't settling down at all, being here in this house that felt far too empty, so I walked outside to the backyard. There was a tree in the back with a set of swings. No treehouse, though we'd always talked about it. But dad left us and mom wasn't as handy and money was tighter. Not that she told us that, not to start, coming up with other excuses and distractions instead.

Sitting on the swings, I said, "I'm kinda amazed that we were able to keep the house through the Blip and all."

"They had a program for that, under the one world government. You remember how Miss Donovan looked over those forms each time she came to visit?" I nodded and Jean continued. "Some of them covered the house, got us the basics dealt with. Actually would have covered us for a few more years, but all those benefits were cut off after everyone came back."

"After the United States government came back," I said derisively. "Why did we have things go back? Things felt better then."

Jean made a see-sawing motion with her hand. "Eeh, there were benefits and downsides. More than just so many people being lost affecting communication and shipping, the unified government was beginning to get a bit… controlling."

I cocked my head to the side and she continued. "A lot of the measures for 'rebuilding' started to take a bit of a suppressive attitude. Military and police groups were formed to stop dissent of any kind, fearing 'societal destabilization,' even when it fell under the general rules of protected speech. We couldn't get much news of that though because they took control of most news stations and the internet as well. Sure, things ran smoothly enough considering the global disaster and there wasn't much discrimination or issues like that, but the government was becoming increasingly totalitarian."

Huh, I hadn't noticed. Then again, Social Studies was always one of the classes that I got closer to a C+ than a B. Jean did great with it, though she'd almost always have notes attached to her report cards with notes of being 'argumentative' in class, as she'd challenge the proscribed view in the textbooks. Might be good to look into that stuff more myself, maybe I could have seen Damage Control coming. Then again, maybe not.

"You never seemed worried about it. Did you know the Blip would end?" I asked bluntly. My sister had said she'd seen 'glimpses' of the future when she got her powers before, but she kept things vague.

Today, she admitted the truth. "Yeah, I knew it would end in five years. Or was pretty sure at least; we could have been in an alternate timeline of sorts, but things lined up a bit too well for that to be likely."

"Huh." After a minute I added, "But not about Damage Control?" She's said she didn't but-

"I didn't. I promise," Jean stressed, staring me straight in the eyes. "My sight is limited around us." She joined me on the swings, kicking back and forth. Just around the corner of the house I could see one of the police officers looking out, giving us some privacy but still keeping nearby in case any threats popped up. At least these guys don't seem too bad.

Jean seemed sincere about this. While she'd been hiding stuff from me (enough to steal a whole vial of super soldier serum), I didn't believe she was tricking me here. "Are you sure mom sold me out?"

She blinked in surprise and I did too. I didn't plan on asking her that, but… I need to know. Jean frowned, thinking it over, before eventually shaking her head. "I'm not certain, it's just a possibility."

"A possibility, or likely?" I pressed, and my little sister wavered.

"... Likely. You used your powers more than me, but you weren't that obvious about it, and we kept the power usage to a minimum after she kicked me out. There was nothing in the files to suggest they had detection methods before catching you - those came after they were able to study your powers and are still pretty limited. The kind of attack at the park would likely take more than suspicions and rumors."

"Which would have meant someone to tell them. And mom was the only one that could. Damn it. Damn it!" I shouted, letting the tears I'd held back fall freely from my eyes. "How could she hate us so much, to sell us out like that?"

My question was rhetorical, and while not an answer, Jean did have a clarification. "Given that the agents only knew to go after you that day, I think she must not have told them about me."

"Why? She kicked you-" I stopped myself, but Jean wasn't upset.

"I think that's exactly it. She felt guilty about what she did, so when she started to realize these government agents were bad news, even perhaps just subconsciously, she didn't reveal my powers. She probably felt guilty about a lot."

I scoffed. "Not exactly making up for all the stuff she did just to you, and certainly not to me."

"Oh, certainly not. Guilt isn't the most rational of emotions and mom wasn't the most rational of people," Jean said, not bothering to defend our mother now that she was gone. Jean played the peacemaker between us so many times, constantly asking me to 'see things from [mom's] point of view' and the like. It was all very reasonable, which made it hard to argue with, but I wonder how much of it was done because she really believed in it and how much was just to try and keep our crumbling family together.

"What would you do, if you were in her shoes?" What would my little sister do, if she felt guilty about something?

Jean paused, frowning for a minute, before saying, "More. I'd do more. To reach out to us, to protect us."

"Even if it's not enough? What if it's never enough?"

"Even then. Especially then. It might not be enough to undo your mistakes, but just giving up on making things better… that feels like failing all over again. And even something that doesn't feel like enough at the moment might make all the difference down the line. Like-"

"Like how mom covered for you, which left you free so you could then find Spider-Man and save me," I interrupted, following her train of thought. She gave me a sheepish look and I grinned back. You're not quite as subtle as you think you are, little sis.

I still wasn't sure about how I felt about mom yet. There was still a swirl of emotions in my gut, but the feelings weren't bubbling over any more. They were calmer, and for now, I'd take it.

***

On the ride back to the safehouse, my sister dozed off, leaning against my arm in the back seat. She'd spent the past few nights busy, compiling notes, furiously researching in her journal. She was trying to be discreet about it, but I was pretty sure I knew what she was looking into; becoming a superhero. And not just because I caught a peak of her sketching costumes in one of those journals.

Jean had always loved - no, been fascinated - by superheroes as a kid. Studying how they worked, from their powers to how the Avengers were financed and operated. She's wanted to be a super hero from day one. Even before we got our powers.

Glancing over at her unassuming form, I recalled that day. The first day she used her powers, whether she knew it or not. A day that would be burned into my mind forever…

***

The world had gone mad, people screaming, the other kids in the park going crazy. People were disintegrating before our very eyes, turning to dust and fading into the air. I latched onto my sister, my first instinct to keep her safe. Even as I did so, I felt my grip weaken and saw a spiral of dust coming from beneath me. From me.

Jean saw it too, and before I could say anything, before I could do anything, she shouted, "NO!" Her eyes glowed, not green but scarlet and golden, and despite being much shorter than me, despite me staring down at her eyes, I felt in that moment as if she was towering above me. So high up I could crane my neck as far back as I could and never reach the true height she was standing at.

A flash of light and it was all gone. The strange sensation and color of her eyes… all completely disappeared. Any hint of dust or weakness was gone from me too, as if the idea I had ever been caught up in this tragedy was just a dream.

***

I didn't have the time to look into it back then, with everything in chaos and people calling for help, but I was certain now that somehow, my little sister had done what the Avengers had failed to do, and stopped a part of Thanos' Snap. A tiny part, infinitesimally small, but still. Somehow she did it. I don't know if she knows how, or even realizes what she did that day. I'll never forget it though.

Being a superhero for real, not just pretending like little kids, sounded really risky to me. There'd be guns, and aliens, and monsters, and a whole world of craziness. I wasn't sure about it for me. For my little sister, though? Jean Grey is going to change the whole world, I know it.

Spoiler: A/N:

This was an interesting one. Since we have next to no character for Sara, I was forced to make up a lot of this wholesale. Including the part about Sara getting her powers from Jean/The Phoenix. That is very headcanony on my part, but I like it as an idea to explain how similar their powers are (but also why Jean was able to break free of the restraints when pushed by Bill, but Sara could only send out a message).

I've also added a new cover image I commissioned, to celebrate the first brand new chapter of this ongoing story! I've posted a larger version of it down below as well. Let me know what you think of it here or on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a Patreon, subscribers to it get early access to the next two chapters of this story, and the next ten for Like No One Ever Was, my Pokemon SI story. Thank you, and I hope you're having a good day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Large Image

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 56 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and bob my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Ned Leeds POV

"Sooo… How did you get your powers?" I asked Spider-Man. No, 'Peter Parker.' My best friend. I wasn't sure which sounded crazier - the fact that I knew who Spider-Man was or that we had been so close before.

"A spider bite. No, the spider can't bite you too, it's dead. Sorry," he said with a knowing grin, anticipating my next question.

"I aksed you that before?" I guessed and Peter nodded. "Sorry, that must be pretty annoying-"

"No no no! It's fine. Great," he insisted, grinning even more broadly. Perhaps a touch manically, but maybe that was just how he smiled? I didn't know. "You can ask me anything, I'd be happy to tell you all of it again. Both of you," he added, glancing over at MJ in the corner. She studiously ignored him. Or ignored him while studying - it was hard to tell how much attention she was actually paying to her schoolwork right now.

Though from the upside down text book, I'm gonna say not so much. We were in our dorm room, Peter visiting us freely now. Without the costume, he could walk in now without making a scene. No one even gave him a second glance. Man, I was so off in who I thought it was.

"Hey, I had a theory about who you were - totally not for creepy reasons, just wanted to know - but anyways it was completely off and I'm wondering if I messed up because I didn't know enough or if the spell was stopping me from figuring it out."

"That… is actually something I don't know. Maybe it's something you could ask Doctor Strange. We haven't really talked since… The Spell." Before he could say anything else, his phone beeped and he flipped it open. "Sorry, there's a robbery taking place on Fifth and Main. I gotta go. But here's my contact info, message me any time!" He shouted, running out the door.

I stood there flabbergasted before running out. "Thank you! I promise I won't abuse this power!" I shouted back, ignoring all the strange looks people in the halls were giving me. Back in the dorm room MJ was giving me a look. "What?"

***

Ned: "Hw many times cn ur web shooters shoot before reloading?"

Peter: "Depends on the type of web shots I'm using. 50 per shooter for standard web lines, as low as twenty if they're all really voluminous shots, like the web burst shots. Usually I'm getting about 45 to 30 shots, depending on how much trouble I run into."

***

Ned: "Do you hve favorite avenger?"

Peter: "Iron Man, obvs."

Ned: "Totes same. Did he for real mentor you?"

Peter: "Kinda. He was there to give me an encouraging pep talk or two, but he didn't train me personally that much. He had a lot on his plate and then… I wish I'd gotten to know him better."

Ned: "That's rough buddy."

Peter: "Nah, it's cool. He helped me a lot with his tech. And did I mention he actually saved my life waaaay back, before I got powers, at the Stark Expo."

Ned: "The one with all the exploding robots?! That's so crazy!!!"

***

Ned: "Hw high can u jump?"

Peter: "Let's find out"
Video attached

***

Ned: "Suit chafe?"

Peter: "Baby powder."
Peter: "Now at least, nanite suit adapted to avoid chafing."

***

Ned: "Wht was spice like?"
Ned: "*Space"

Peter: "Bit busy. Ttyl"
Peter: "Sorry, just had to deal with some thugs that got their hands on some gravity cannons. I hate those ajdladioja"
Peter: "Okay now all of them are dealt with. No more baggy pants to slip out of and grab their guns again."

Ned: "You gt shot b a dude in his undrwear?!?"

Peter: "I wish - apparently this criminal decided to go au natural."

Ned: "X) X) X)"
Ned: "I'm legit dying bro. That's gtta be hte craziest thing to happen to u, right?"

Peter: "For today? Yeah, craziest stuff today. Not even top ten overall."

Ned: "Whoa. Including suprvillains?"

Peter: "... Maybe top five then. Still doesn't beat the cake heist. Who steals forty cakes? Though that wouldn't have been so bad without a wedding rehearsal and LARPers we ran into too."

Peter: "Hey, what decides if someone's a supervillain or not?"

Ned: "I dunno. Cool name, flashy costume, powers or tech?"

Peter: "I see. Like these guys with their gravity guns don't count, they're just a bunch of dudes with advanced tech. But one guy had a shock gauntlet (hurt like heck) and called himself 'the Shocker' but no costume or anything. Does he count?"

Ned: "U fought a guy called 'The Shocker'? Heck yeah that count! How'd yu beat him?"

Peter: "Actually needed your help with that one. He knocked my web-shooters away and was wailing on me till you grabbed them and stuck his gauntlet."



I put the phone down for a moment in shock before shrieking with joy. This drew MJ's attention, she rushed around the corner looking for signs of danger before relaxing. She's more paranoid than before. More worried something bad is going to show up here. "Oh. Just more spider talk?"

"Yeah, and get this; I helped save Spider-Man's life! Or at least, helped him beat a bad guy. Not just as the 'guy in the chair' but actually fighting a super-villain! Can you believe it?"

"Can I believe that Peter wiped your mind of a precious moment? Yes," she said flatly, turning to head back to her room.

"Hey, c'mon," I tried, following her. "Peter means well, he just wanted to protect-"

"Just assumed we couldn't take care of ourselves," she interrupted, spinning around. There was rare anger in her voice, but it concealed an even rarer pain. "Do you realize how condescending that is?"

"It wasn't like that - no really!" I added as she crossed her arms.

"You're just putting him on a pedestal because he's Spider-Man. That's why you waste all that time texting him, acting like he's incredible just because he's a super hero," she spat out. I had heard her make some pretty scathing speeches in our time together at college, but most of those had been directed towards government officials or law enforcement officers. Probably shouldn't tell her about the system I've been working on with Peter, to let him hack all the cameras around the city and run facial recognition software through them with E.V..

It might not be the most ethical thing, the constant government surveillance, but they were doing it anyway and I trusted Peter with it a lot more than I did anyone else. Because of that, I took a moment to pause, thinking it over, rather than immediately responding to MJ's angry accusation. It hurt a little, but I know it's just because she's hurting so much.

"Look, was it wrong of him to keep all of that from us? Totally, I 100% agree, and I think he knows it too. He's trying to make it up to us, to be our fri- to be close to us." It's obvious he wants to be more than that with MJ and she… I don't know how she feels about him, don't think she even knows what she's feeling right now. "I'm happy because, well because he's my friend, MJ."

That was more true than I could put into words. MJ and I had only become friends towards the very end of high school (an event that had always seemed vague to me before but now made perfect sense), so I had assumed that my entire life, I'd just been the friendless nerd throughout school. Now, I knew I'd always had a best bud, someone I could build Legos with (the Emperor Palpatine minifigure I thought I'd lost on his desk proof of our eternal friendship). Someone I could truly count on and who could count on me.

MJ softened a little, slumping down on her bed. "He still needed Jean to push him to do that. It's so condescending of him to act like we can't be trusted to decide for ourselves! And what happens the next time something dangerous happens, and he tries to push us out of his life again? Nothing's changed for him to treat us like we're capable now."

"Jean's got that super soldier serum, why don't we ask her for it?"

MJ gave me a flat look. "She was just saying that to push Peter to talk to us for whatever reason of her own. Now that he has, she's not just going to give us one of the most valuable substances on the planet-"

***

"Sure," the teenage girl said, passing a flabbergasted MJ the case.

"Do you know how much that's worth?" I asked and Jean gave me a sardonic grin.

"Yup. One bullet to the brain," she said, miming a gun to her head with her fingers. MJ couldn't help but crack a smile at the display.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" I tried, but she waved me off.

"Nah, it's my fault. I knew what I was getting into." Then Jean paused, "Well, perhaps I didn't think it through quite as much as I should have before taking it. The serum is ironically too valuable and as such anyone I could sell it to would just try to have me killed for it instead. Plus, as I said, Srara and I can't use it so it might as well go to someone who can."

Jean walked away from the doorway, inviting us into the apartment that she and her sister were in. I'd already gone over it with her and hacked the surveillance systems so the girls could loop them with ease, and for a safehouse, it was pretty comfortable. I settled down into a seat on the couch while MJ stood, staring at the case in her hands.

The telepath settled in behind her desk and various computer and t.v. screens, absorbing information about New York and the world at a rapid rate. "So, how have you guys been?" She asked casually while still scrolling and jotting down information.

"Uhh, we can leave if you're busy," I offered, but Jean shook her head.

"It's no problem; literally. The same mental schism I use to control someone else but still control my own body lets me multitask exceptionally well. I appear to be at about 98% effectiveness in both tasks. When I'm not busy controlling another person, at least."

"That's so cool!" It really was, even if it was also kinda creepy how easily she could control people completely. I tried to never let that show though, since I knew she and especially Sara could be very sensitive about that kind of stuff. They didn't get to choose what their powers are, and it's pretty easy since they are just so cool too.

MJ asked, "You said that this would make me 'more of myself?' How do I know if that's a good thing?"

That got Jean to pause for a moment, thinking deeply on the question before she went back to looking stuff up. "That's a tough question, though the fact that you're thinking of it is a good sign. Steve Rogers set a high bar, but I don't think even he was perfect. What he was, was willing to try hard, and you don't strike me as a quitter."

My friend didn't look convinced. "I've had negative thoughts, and I heard about John Walker killing people who had surrendered…"

"John is hardly perfect, a lot of anger issues with that guy, but that doesn't mean you'll be the same as him, even if you have angry thoughts." Jean glanced up, looking MJ in the eyes. "I know things have been rough for you right now, you can take some time to think about it."

I'm not sure if I'd be able to wait, if it had been offered to me. It would have been nice but I totally get that she wouldn't want- Jean whipped her head around to face me. Oh crap, she heard my thoughts!

"I didn't hear your thoughts," Jean defended, somewhat unconvincingly. "I did feel your emotions however and it seemed like you felt a little left out or maybe hurt, and I'm sorry about not clarifying earlier. Just been busy," she nodded her head up at a t.v. screen behind us showing Metzger's trial.

Jean continued, "I didn't offer it to you because you have latent mystical powers. During the Spell incident you opened up a portal with Doctor Strange's sling ring without any training, so I thought if you wanted some cool ability, you might learn sorcery. What?" She added after a minute when I had stopped, before I shrieked:

"I can be a wizard?! That's so cool!!"

Jean chuckled. "Technicaly, I think anyone can be a wizard, if they train at it. You'd likely have a natural aptitude, for portals at least."

"What else is there to being a wizard?" MJ asked before I could, surprising me. When I glanced over at her, she shrugged, slightly defensively. I don't know why she gets worried other people would care that she's into certain things, and especially not this! Wizards are super cool!

"Artifacts? The 'sling rings' are a common one, sorta like brass knuckles and they help the sorcerers - sorry forgot to mention that they usually go by sorcerer, not wizard. Not sure if it makes a difference to the magic users. Witch seems to be specific to certain titles? Maybe. Anyways, where was I? Oh right, artifacts," Jean continued, throwing details at us rapid fire. Doctor Stephen Strange has a semi-sentient cloak of levitation, he's used the Time Stone, though that isn't magic specific, I don't think. Probably a bunch of others I'm not remembering at the moment. But yeah, the artifacts help, but aside from talent and training, there's not much else, as far as I know. I'm not the most knowledgeable in the multiverse about magic. If you want to know more, you should go to the Sanctum Santorum and ask the Sorcerer Supreme yourselves."

"How long will that trip take? We don't have months to trek up a mountain to some ancient temple to 'learn the mystic arts,'" MJ said, though her argument sounded weak. As if she was just trying to say that because she felt someone should argue against it, not like the point mattered. Which is odd because actually a good point; I can't tell my Lola I dropped out of school to become a wizard!

"That's Kamar-Taj, which thankfully there should be a constant portal to in the Sanctum Santorum, down on 177A Bleecker Street, in Greenwich village. Or if not a constant portal then at least a sorcerer who can open one up for you." Jean texted us the address before and said sympathetically, "It will likely take some time to master your skills. Not sure if you'll be able to juggle that with your schoolwork and life with that. Again though, I'm not the master of the mystic arts, you should talk to Dr. Strange. Or is it Wong right now? One of the two, they've bounced the position back and forth."

We paused, trying to take it all in and Jean frowned for a moment. "Sorry, I know that's a lot to take in all at once."

"No no- I mean, it is a lot, but I'm totally up for it. Learning about magic is great!" Ugh, I'm not saying the words well enough. Yes it's great,' but it's so much more than that. It feels like a whole new world has opened up since I met her. Since I re-met Peter.

"Still, I should be more understanding." Jean frowned again, this time the expression was directed at herself. She tries too hard to be mature. Looks too small for that desk she's in, organizing spreadsheets for… something. "How have you been? How's uh school?"

"Pretty good/Bad" myself and MJ answered at the same time. "Classes have been tough," MJ muttered, as if that was the cause, and not the effect of her mood. Still, as we exchanged small talk with the teenaged telepath, she seemed to relax a little.

Right before we left, MJ asked Jean, "Are you sure I should have this?" She held up the case.

"I'm certain," Jean answered without hesitation. "When I came to you for help, you helped me, without question."

"I think I had plenty of questions back then. Still do now," MJ responded quickly and Jean laughed.

"Questions about the situation, but not if you would help me. Not a lot of people would behave like that."

"Ned helped the most," MJ mumbled, looking a little embarrassed. "I just called the police and sent the files when we were done."

Jean turned to me, bowing. "And I'm very grateful to you too. Sorry I don't have another super soldier serum to give you."

I waved her off. "Eeh, I might have dropped a few pounds before college but I don't think I exactly cut the super soldier physique, you know?" I could imagine it though, me being faster than a speeding car, strong enough to lift a helicopter. That would be pretty cool, even if it's never going to happen.

"Neither did Steve Rogers before he got his shot. But whether it's the serum, or magic, or giving you access to advanced technology or whatever, I'll trust the two of you, because you're good people." Jean's voice was perfectly sincere as she said the most praise and trust that I'd ever heard anyone have for me before.

"Wow, umm thanks. Talk to you later." We walked out, and MJ slipped the serum case into her bag, looking contemplative.

"Let's go talk to Dr. Strange," she declared as we hit the ground floor, marching off to the Sanctum Santorum.

"N-now?"

***

"For a 'Sanctum Santorum, doesn't this look a little… pedestrian?" MJ asked rhetorically with a wave of her hand at the building in front of us. It was certainly large, and impressive in its own, old-fashioned kind of way, but hardly screamed 'magical lair.'

"Maybe it's more magical on the inside?" I offered. "The outside is just a- a camouflage, like a Tardis!" Walking up, I tentatively knocked on the door. When there was no response, I turned the handle and walked inside.

The Sanctum Santorum screamed 'old money' with everything from its layout to the decor. The foyer was dominated by the large staircase leading up to the open air second level. The floor was tiled and spotless, just like the suits of armor and portraits that hung on the walls. I suspected magic was involved, until I saw a bored man sweeping to the side. He gave us a mildly curious look before shrugging and going back to his job.

"Uh, hello? We'd like to talk to Doctor Strange," MJ said, walking towards the man only to stop suddenly as colors swirled in the air before us, coalescing into the form of a stern man in blue robes, a red cape, and salt-and-pepper hair.

"Who seeks Stephen Strange?" He demanded in the third person.

"Um I do, Mister Strange. Wait, sorry Doctor Mister- I mean Doctor Strange-" I stumbled over my own words before MJ spoke up.

"We're friends of Spider-Man, did you forget that too with your big spell?"

Doctor Strange's face went oddly blank for a moment before twisting with disdain at her words. "I did, but I left special instructions after that fiasco to never trust that childish web slinger again, instructions that I believe pass onto you. Begone," he declared imperiously.

"But we've found out a bit more about what happened then and apparently I have a gift for magic and I just wanted to ask-" I began but he waved his hand dismissively.

"And you think that makes you a sorcerer? I started with little talent, ruined hands, and no knowledge of the mystic arts, and I became Sorcerer Supreme. Mastering the mystic arts is a journey of transformation, one I doubt you are ready for," he said with a sneer.

"I- I could- I mean I just wanted t-to-" I stuttered, feeling like he'd taken a metaphorical hammer to shatter my self confidence. What was I thinking? That I, Ned Leeds, could just swagger up Doctor Strange of all people and demand he teach me? Stupid. Foolish. Worthless.

"Begone, I said!" He demanded again, clearly having no patience to put up with me any longer.

I knew I should have left then, but I couldn't even muster up the energy for that, so I just stood there. Peter told us that we were 'crushed' when we hadn't been able to get into any of our colleges when his identity had been revealed. Did it feel as bad as this? A glance over at MJ saw she was affected by his words too, but where it left me slumped down, she was trembling with rage.

"Hey, you might be some big shot in the magical world but that doesn't give you the right to act like a jerk! Just take your head out of your ass for five minutes and listen to him!"

"Did you not hear me? I said begone! Leave this place."

"Huh?" MJ and I said at the same time, tilting our heads to the side to look at him. "Are you alright dude? Are you having a stroke?"

"He's not even there," a new voice said and I turned to watch a girl in yellow enter the sanctum from a glowing blue, star-shaped rift in reality. She was wearing a faded denim jacket with American flag stars and stripes pattern and a small pride pin over her heart. She had brown hair and looked to be about Jean's age.

She stepped down the stairs, the portal in reality closing behind her. With a wave of her hand, Doctor Strange melted into a puddle of multicolored sludge that soon turned brown to match the tiled floor, seeping into the patterns.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I said while MJ looked impressed.

"It's just an illusion, don't worry. Not a particularly smart one either, which is why he was falling into a loop there," they mystery girl explained.

"Can't you make smarter ones with magic?" MJ asked and the girl gave a back-and-forth motion with her hands.

"Eeh, you could, but then you get instances like the 'Great Suds Incident' and well… It's easier to rely on hired help for basic tasks. Keep up the good work, Gary," She shouted, tossing the cleaning man a thumbs up. He just grunted in response. Then she turned back to us.

"I got a few extra minutes to pick up the bat eyes since I didn't need to walk all the way around to the stable portal so what did you need Doctor Strange for?"

Taking a deep breath, I tried again. "So, I lost my memories because of a memory wiping spell that Strange cast-"

"Oof, the Runes of Kof-Kol?" She said and I nodded my head.

"I think? That sounds like what Peter said, but-"

"Sorry, but I can't fix that. I've only heard about that spell; the masters don't like us messing with things that dangerous. I don't think even Strange could undo it, even if he were in this dimension right now."

"He's in a different dimension? Cool! But uh, that's not actually what I wanted. It doesn't really matter since the one person who does remember has been able to tell us everything-"

"I'd say it very much does still matter," MJ muttered, but I continued.

"I found out that during a time I forgot that I managed to use his sling ring and open a portal and that I might be really good at it and could maybe try to become a wizard?" I said finishing off the last part quickly, as if someone would step in and stop (and laugh at me) if I didn't do this fast enough.

The girl looked at me slightly disbelievingly. "No way. Those things are so finicky to use. Prove it," she demanded, reaching for her left hand and staring at it for a moment. Dropping it, she said, "I keep on forgetting the darn thing."

"How did you make a portal then?" MJ asked, staring at her suspiciously. The young girl just grinned broadly.

"I'm just that awesome! Unfortunately this awesome girl has to go and pick up some supplies for Kamar-Taj so I can't help you. Strange probably won't be back for a bit. If you want to train and become a sorcerer I suggest going to Kamar-Taj the old fashioned way."

"And where's that?" I asked tentatively.

"Kathmandu Nepal," she said, beginning to walk off.

MJ asked, frustratedly, "Isn't there anyone else we can ask? Why don't you just portal us there?"

The sorceress stopped, offering us a sympathetic look. "The Sanctum masters are off in their sanctums in London and Hong Kong, and they might just tell you to hit the road too. As for me… I feel for you, and the wards didn't trigger any hostile intent when you entered, but that doesn't mean you couldn't have some dark intention towards Kamar-Taj, so I'm not just going to let you in and potentially put people at risk."

"We might be fine with the sanctum of the sorcerers but not the school for them? That sounds kinda convoluted," I pointed out and she shrugged.

"Welcome to magic," she said with a chuckle, walking to another room off to the side. There was a slight 'whoosh' of air from there and a blue glow that faded soon after.

I tried to keep the disappointment from my face, but MJ showed no such restraint. "I hate magic."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. Seems pretty cool, if you're the one using it."

"Yeah, there's probably rules and limits and all sorts of things that make it better but I just don't know any of that. Feels like I don't know anything these days." She turned and marched out, and I shuffled after her.

***

I spent the next few days going through my schoolwork, while also wondering how much it would matter. Do I want to be a sorcerer? I mean, I think so. Having supernatural powers sounds cool, of course it does, but I kinda like my life here. Plus, I still don't know what I'd tell my Lola. "Hey MJ, what do you think I should- MJ?" I questioned, knocking on the door to her room and watching as it swung open. She wasn't in, but I did see a letter on her desk with my name on it, beside the case that held the super soldier serum.

Walking in, I opened it and began reading.

'Ned, I'm going off to Kamar-Taj. Finding out my memories were messed with makes me want to figure out how to never let that happen again, and that seems to be the place to learn magic. Plus, I need some space, from Peter and all of that. Don't feel bad about it or feel you need to not hang out with him. I know you like the guy and if you've forgiven him, that's fine, but I need some time.

And you let things like that go because you're a good guy. A better, kinder person than I am. Maybe Jean's right and it would be fine for me to take the serum. That I could handle any side effects and wouldn't do anything bad with it. But you could do great things with this, and I know you wanted it.

Take care,

MJ'

Spoiler: A/N:

And we leave it on a bit of a cliffhanger to be resolved next time! Apologies for that, but this felt like a good place to leave things off. Next time we'll explore MJ's side of things and get her thoughts on what's been going on.

This might feel like a bit of a surprise considering what Jean's plans/assumptions were, but much like her, I eventually realized that this wouldn't work out. Ned's a far more open character and one I realized would work better with the super soldier serum, which brings out your inner qualities. MJ also wouldn't be the kind to want to stick around right beside Peter after what he did, even if she's feeling a bit more conflicted about that because the news was broken much better here than it was in Brand New Day. Let me know what you thought down below or on on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a Patreon, subscribers to it get early access to the next two chapters of this story, and the next ten for Like No One Ever Was, my Pokemon SI story. Thank you, and I hope you're having a good day.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 58 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and bob my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Michelle-Jones POV

Expect disappointment and you'll never be disappointed. Words to live by. One time, I thought I didn't need to hold such a pessimistic worldview. When I got into NYU, I'd assumed that such a world view was pessimistic, and not realistic. I'd been hopeful about it and New York University seemed good, for the first two years. Then, Spider-Man crashed into my life.

No, it wasn't Spider-Man entering my life that messed with everything. It was crazy and exciting, but I could deal with helping out a telepath rescue her sister from the evil government facility. What turned my life upside down was Peter Parker. Stupid, aggravating, cute, confusing, Peter Parker.

I shot the man in question a glance out of the corner of my eye, catching him laughing casually with Ned before turning my attention back to my homework. Good, he didn't notice me staring. Not that it would matter, I'm allowed to look at him. He's intruding in my (and Ned's) room, he can't complain. No, focus! I've got a paper due on Monday. No time to oggle stare at superheroes.

Unfortunately my mind was distracted even when I wasn't looking at him, the words on my page looked like they were in some foreign language. I waited until Peter was gone before glaring at Ned for encouraging him to bother us before giving up all pretenses and closing my book, heading out for work. I'd be a few minutes early, but giving my boss less reasons to yell at me was always good.

***

After a small outburst over Ned's incessant gushing over Peter, we talked to Jean. She bugged me, in a similar way to the way that Peter Parker did. She knows things about me that I don't know. She thinks I'm some other girl, but I'm not here, I didn't experience all of… that.

It was less personal between her and me but still irked me. I wasn't one to turn down an offer to learn more, though, so when she offered I went straight to the Sanctum Santorum with Ned. Just from the outside, I could tell that it was an impressive building. Not overtly supernatural, but that big a mansion should catch some eyes. No one else is staring, they aren't even following our gaze at it, their eyes just sliding right off the building.

After remarking on it a bit with Ned, I entered and we were soon greeted by a very rude version of Dr. Strange, who turned out to not be there at all. At least that young sorceress was able to tell us a bit more.

"When are you thinking of going on your trip?" I asked Ned yet again, and I saw my friend hesitate.

"Ah, in a bit. Just got this coding assignment to finish up first. Oh, I've gotta return some books at the library, be back in a bit." He said and hurried out before I could say anything else.

It's been days since then, but he keeps on making excuses. Which is fine, he doesn't have to become a sorcerer or whatever. Ned's a good person and doesn't need to do anything, even if a telepathic teen is pushing him that way. And isn't she supposed to be prophetic? Why didn't she see that happening and warn us?

It was probably slightly unfair of me to blame her for that, but I couldn't help it. She'd just casually given me what was probably the most sought after thing in the world casually and I had no idea what to do with it. I stared at the serum container for a minute before getting up to clear my head.

Opening the door, I walked headfirst into something very solid. Looking down I saw Peter Parker, staring at me like a deer in the headlights. "Oh, hullo. I- um, fancy meeting you here?" He tried with a shaky smile. Does he think that cute, boyish charm of his is going to win me over and make me forget that he made me forget all our time together?... Because it's not! Obviously.

"Yes, so strange of me to be here, at the university I attend, in my dorm room," I said sardonically.

"Right, right. I just meant- I was looking for Ned, not trying to bug you. I know things have been awkward between us-" He stopped as I turned back around and marched into the dorm room. After a moment, he followed, closing the door behind him. "I'm really sorry about keeping the truth from you. I know I've said it before and that's not enough but I'll try to do anything to make things right between us to go back to how we were before."

I was silent for a moment before speaking up, not wanting to let any sarcasm slip in as it usually did when I got nervous or defensive. "This isn't about being sorry. Yeah, it hurts, probably will hurt for a while, but… you keep looking at me as if I'm that girl from your memories, and I'm not her! I don't know if I can ever be her."

"But-"

"You can tell me everything you remember of her, but that doesn't make me her, any more than watching a girl in a movie makes me that character. I can empathize, I can understand from the outside, but I don't know her thoughts, I haven't shared her experiences." I can't stand on that pedestal you've placed your MJ on. "I don't know who I am," I let out softly.

"I'm so sorry. I know I said that before but I didn't realize the pressure I was putting on you right now, though I should have, it's obvious really…" he continued to ramble and I stared at him, itching for a pencil to sketch him. The shirt he's wearing today is tight enough to just give a hint of definition to his muscles. You'd think that the dorkiness would clash with it but instead it just makes him cuter and I want to hold him and- NO, BAD BRAIN.

"It's fine!" I interrupted suddenly, and he blinked at the force of it (which mostly came from trying to derail my own internal thoughts rather than his out loud ones). Clearing my throat I said, "I mean, not exactly fine, but understandable. Ned's you're only other point of comparison and he's dealing with it a lot better than I am. I'm a mess… huh."

"What?"

"I just thought of something, a way that might help me deal with all of this," I said, waving my hands around at him and me. "No promises though on if I'll end up feeling the same way you do. And I'll need some space while I work things out." About seven and a half thousand miles worth of it.

"Sure! Take as much time as you need. And whatever you decide, so long as it makes you happy, I'm happy." How can he be so earnest? I can tell he totally means it. That didn't undo the pain he'd caused me, but it did perhaps take some of the sting out of it.

He left and I began moving quickly, packing up my things. I tried to pack light, figuring I wouldn't need too much in a monastery where they trained sorcerers. Then I sent an email to my boss telling him to go screw himself and that I quit before ordering a ticket for a flight to Nepal as soon as possible. Finally, I wrote a letter to Ned explaining things and leaving him the super soldier serum. He'll use it better than I ever could.

***

The flight was uncomfortable and had a bit of turbulence but I could barely notice that, my mind turned to the future. To what Kamar-Taj might hold for me. The pessimistic side of me pointed out that there was every chance I'd get rejected here, that I had wasted a bunch of money and a semester at NYU going here. I pushed those thoughts aside. If I let myself think that way I'd come up with excuses on why I couldn't do this, and if there's a chance this can help, I've got to take it.

The sights of Kathmandu were interesting, the stalls selling all manner of things, the different architecture, so much lower to the ground than the towering skyscrapers of New York, etc. I was pretty obviously an outsider, which is why I attracted people waving me over, offering to sell me baubles.

"Miss, miss! Do you want a tour of Kathmandu?" One man said in heavily accented English. He had a broad smile that was missing a few teeth. Cautiously, I approached.

"There's somewhere in specific I need to go. Do you know of Kamar-Taj?"

He stiffened up at my last words. "That is a strange place. Kamar-Taj… there are many rumors of it, but it does not always bring you what you want. You will not find miracles there, miss."

"I'm not looking for miracles, just answers."

Slowly, he took my words, my resolve in, nodding. "Twenty bucks," he demanded, holding a hand out. Reaching into my wallet I slapped a bill into it. "Over that way, a mile or so, by the prayer wheels," he said sharply, clearly not intending to guide me there.

Not exactly the best directions from a tour guide. They were better than the nothing I started with though, so I followed where he had pointed, making my way through the city. After finding the wall of prayer wheels I was a little lost, but thankfully there were some boards nearby with papers listing Kamar-Taj's address in English (and many other languages). Walking up, I found the long, squat building and knocked on the wooden door. After a minute it opened, revealing a Japanese woman in dark robes. "May I help you?"

Taking a deep breath I said, "I'd like to petition to become a sorcerer." She stared at me inscrutably for a moment before holding an arm out and letting me inside.

"Welcome to the halls of the Sorcerer Supreme." I walked inside, smelling the mild incense burning, looking around at the large open space. There were thin wooden walls with holes in them on the sides, letting me see the various robed people walking by while still giving a sense of separation between this room and the others. Several tables were set up on one side with books and scrolls atop them and a man with a very long, grey beard sitting behind them.

A stocky man in purple robes with a red tunic over top approached, with a teacup and pot. He had a thin mustache and short hair. "Speak your petition to the Sorcerer Supreme," the woman who let me in said as the purple robed man poured me tea.

So this is a test, to see if I'll make an assumption based on the set-up of this room who I address? Luckily, I've done my research. Turning to the man pouring me tea, I bowed. "Thank you for seeing me, Wong. I didn't expect to meet the Sorcerer Supreme so soon."

Wong smiled and waved off the bearded man. "I'm surprised you've heard of me."

"Well, you are kinda famous in the states, the whole Emil Blonsky case and all," I said bluntly, and Wong stiffened up.

"Aha, you've heard of that?" He said, taking a step back and slowly raising his hand that had a bronze metal set of rings that had to be a Sling Ring.

"I'm not law enforcement," I stated flatly and he let out a sigh.

"Oh thank gosh." Hard to believe the 'Sorcerer Supreme' is scared of American law enforcement. Then again, having seen some of the stuff Damage Control was working on, maybe he's wise to be afraid.

"I'd like to study here and become a sorcerer. Sir," I tacked on belatedly. Taking a sip of the tea, I tasted a hint of honey to the blend.

"Who do you think I am, Stephen? There's no need to call me 'sir'; Wong will do fine. Now, why do you wish to become a sorcerer? The path of the mystic arts is more fraught than waving our hands around and 'doing magic.' Even if that is what it often looks like."

"I lost the memories of someone who was, apparently, very close to me due to a spell. The Runes of Kof-Kol, I think. Finding that out, it made me angry, frightened. I've been questioning who I am ever since," I admitted. "I know the spell can't be undone, but that's not why I'm here. I want to learn to understand magic so I can protect myself from it, or at least know about it. And I'm hoping that this will help me discover who I am."

Wong stared inscrutably. "Kamar-Taj can be a sanctuary, a place to study in peace. We can teach you all about magic, but we cannot tell you who you are. That, you'll have to find out on your own; and it's something you must master if you are to learn the mystic arts," he warned.

I nodded. "I'd still like to try, Wong."

"Very well," he said before tapping me on the head. Suddenly, I felt myself pushed backwards, though my body didn't move. I could tell that because I was staring at it from the outside, watching as I drifted in the air behind it. Does my hair really look like that from the back?

Wong began speaking. "This is the astral realm, one of many dimensions that exists alongside our own. Some, like this and the mirror dimension, overlap with our own, physical realm, existing alongside, all points of the universe, though untouchable through normal means."

My spiritual body rocketed back, flying so fast everything was a blur until I found myself in outer space, floating among the stars, looking down at Earth. Wong was nowhere nearby, but I could hear his voice all around me (despite being in space and the myriad issues that should be imposed on talking).

"These dimensions are the source of our magic. We draw energy from them while using it to safeguard the barriers between them.."

"Like stopping people from parallel worlds?" I asked, forcing myself to think that this was possible. If Wong can speak here then I can too. I clearly don't need air or an atmosphere to exist in a spiritual form, so I don't need them to communicate either. Before me, the Earth seemed to split, again and again, separating into a line of infinite Earths spread out. Most were very similar looking, but the further I cast my gaze, the more oddities I noted, some continents gone/changed or worlds cast with red skies.

"Not exactly, though we do watch for such incursions as well. We don't draw energy from those worlds though, and they aren't where the greatest dangers lay." The Earths snapped back to the same space, and then I was sent hurtling away once again. I flew through the universe, or maybe it shifted around me. I found myself in another part of space, staring at a dark, nebulous cloud, one full of incredible, dangerous power. Somehow I intuitively knew it to be dangerous even before Wong spoke up.

"Most Parallel universes share very similar physical laws to our own, the other dimensions do not. Even the Astral Plane lacks fundamental traits like gravity, while realms like the Dark Dimension lack a coherent flow of time." As he spoke, I felt my body freeze, then shift, separating into multiple states, solid, then decayed, then partially disintegrated, and finally barely more than motes on the wind. Somehow all of them were me, all the different states of my body existing at the same moment.

I want off this ride now! Wong did not notice my distress, or if he did, he didn't comment on it. "Dimensions like the Dark Dimension are forbidden for good reason. The different rules and principals guiding these realms are difficult for the human mind to comprehend and can be dangerous for the unprepared. Even without that, there are forces, entities lurking within them that can hurt people. That could be cataclysmic if unleashed upon our world." The cloud shifted taking the form of a snarling face, humanoid, but so very inhuman.

Okay, okay, focus. He pulled me here because the Astral Plane is different from our world. But Peter got pushed out of his body one time and when he got back to it, he regained control, his soul snapping back in place. But he was close… so I just need to get my spirit closer to my body. How do I do that? If Wong sent me away, then I can pull back-

The universe raced around me and I crashed into my body, the physical world hitting me. Literally, as I fell against the floor, the pain stinging a little and feeling so odd after my trip among the stars.

"I didn't expect you to be able to pull yourself back already," Wong commented as I rose dazedly from where I'd fallen.

"Does that mean I pass?" I asked tentatively. That situation was crazy but I still want to try, to learn more. Please don't tell me I screwed it all up.

"Pass?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "This wasn't a test, but your first lesson. Welcome, Kamar-Taj," he declared, waving his hand in the air in a circle. In front of me a glowing portal opened up. This one wasn't anything like the one that girl at the New York Sanctum had created, instead appearing as a circle, the edges very thin and sparking with an orange energy.

Within was an austere room, with a bed and sheets, a desk, and not much else. Slowly, I entered it, not feeling like I had done anything more than walked normally, but glancing out the window and seeing the snow covered mountain peaks, it was clearly far from the room I'd just been in.

"The wifi password is on the desk," Wong called out to me, tossing my luggage in as the portal faded, closing into a few sparks. Turning back to the desk, I saw 'shamballa' written on a small piece of paper taped to the corner. Taking in the rest of the room, I saw other signs of modernity, like outlets on the walls and electrical lights, hidden among the old-fashioned decor of the room.

Kinda wish I'd brought my laptop now. At least I've got my phone. Getting it plugged in to charge and set up, I flicked through my contents. I should let everyone know that I made it in. They'd been spamming me with messages ever since they learned I left.

MJ: 'Hey, I made it in. Just finished my first lesson.' I sent the message and got almost an immediate reply, Peter being the first one to respond.

Peter: 'That's awesome!'

Peter: 'How'd it go?'

Peter: 'Hope I'm not bugging you, I know you wanted space, but I figured since you messaged me and all this was okay.'

Huh? I looked closer at my phone and saw that my traitorous fingers had me send that to him in specific rather than the group chat. Damn it. I stared at his words for a moment, thinking. Well… I mean, it would be kinda rude to just pretend I didn't or say it was an accident now.

MJ: 'It's fine.'

MJ: 'The lesson was weird. Like craziest trip of acid you've ever been on, weird.'

MJ: 'I don't know why I've said that, I've never done acid before.'

Peter: 'Haha, me neither, but I get what you mean.'

MJ: 'I met Wong and he sent me to outer space. But not real outer space, more another dimension. It looked like outer space…'

We chatted that way for three hours before I went to bed, and while I woke up a bit tired for my first real lessons the next morning, I couldn't bring myself to regret it.

Spoiler: A/N:

MJ's journey begins! This was a bit of a tough one for me, so if it feels like a bit of a mess, that's because MJ is. Trying to get her character right is tough. She's not as upset/standoffish as she was in Brand New Day because of the different circumstances, but she's not as close as she was to Peter before. The elements that attracted her to him in the early movies are still there, while conflicting with how she feels about the mind wipe.

I feel like giving her (and Ned) powers might be contentious, a lot of people feel she doesn't need powers. Comic MJ probably didn't need them to be either (though recent writers have gone that route too), but she's a very different character than Michelle-Jones. I think given the opportunity to obtain supernatural abilities, she would take them, and this path gives her the chance to grow and develop too. As seen by the ending though, she's not cutting off all ties with Peter/the rest of the group, and those relationships will continue to develop, even with some space between them for the moment.

Let me know what you thought of her side of things, down below or on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a Patreon, subscribers to it get early access to the next two chapters of this story, and the next ten for Like No One Ever Was, my Pokemon SI story. Next time we move back to some more New York based stuff and I've got some fun surprises in store there.

 

[Skyfyre]

Spoiler: Patreons:

Thank you to my 56 Beginner Tier Patreons, and an extra special thanks to RageLord, Nodal_Gravity, ExaltedRequiem, and bob my Ace Tier patreons! Your support means so much to me.

Jean Grey POV

"Wasn't this guy supposed to be tough?" Spider-Man asked, staring down from his perch at the defeated villain. "Lonnie Thompsone Lincoln, the Big Man of Crime, Tombstone, etc. etc."

"He got a few good hits on you," I pointed out.

"Psshaw. I barely got tagged. This guy was supposed to be a challenge to me going all out. Or at least 'all-out sans Symbiote, tranquil fury, or desperate need to directly save someone.'" There was a little judgment in his voice over my ranking system, but I stood by it. Power levels are variable things, acting like you'll always be at 'fighting a herald of Galactus' level and never at 'jobbing against Stiltman' is a bad plan.

"My visions aren't perfect. Different dimensions, slightly different people… you know how it is. Besides, you also usually first confronted him when you were in high school, you might just be stronger now. Also there are other contributing factors which might have led to your easy victory," I said from Tombstone's body, which I was currently controlling.

"... I still would have won, you know." He said, idly kicking one of the chairs strewn about the place from the fight. Spider-Man had confronted Tombstone in his dining room. The ensuing fight with the Enhanced crime lord had scattered and broken the furniture and the length of the elevator ride up to the penthouse suite had given them enough time to have a fight before I could end it.

"I know you could have, but after five minutes, I think you learned all you needed to know his fighting style. Besides, I need practice with my powers too. I think I timed that pretty well, Jumped in right as you punched him in the face. He should just think that the last shot was enough to knock him out when he comes to in cuffs."

Considering the physical vulnerabilities I had compared to Peter it was agreed that I should take a more subtle role in fights. Once villains realize that Spider-Man has psychic assistance they'll start planning around it. If the comics are anything to go by, these guys will adapt annoyingly quickly to Spider-Man's tactics and talents, so we gotta stay one step ahead of that.

"Speaking of, if you're done here you should get back, Ned's almost ready." Looking over at him in person, Ned gave me a thumbs up from the desktop chair.

"I've just finished fine-tuning the facial recognition tracker. With E.V. we'll be able to track any criminals on the database pretty much anywhere in the city," he said.

Sara, hanging off to the side in Peter's room, scoffed. "Not sure how I feel about crafting more surveillance tools for the state to use against us."

"The cameras already exist, we're just using the infrastructure. Besides, better we have access to tools like this," I argued.

"Maybe," my sister responded, crossing her arms. "I do trust Spider-Man, just… don't like the idea of it being possible to be tracked wherever I go."

An understandable concern. I doubt the government has access to measures like this, not yet. But realistically, it's only a matter of time till some tech company on Strak Tech' level or even just a very skilled individual decides to offer them a program on par with E.V.'s comprehensiveness and they'll be able to do the same. I should look into mapping out the tunnel systems more.

It was a project I'd put on the back burner as I'd highly doubted Morlocks (or other, even stranger options like the TMNT crew) being down there in this universe, but there might be other benefits to it. Mapping them all out will take time. I hope I have enough of it - I didn't keep up with some of the later MCU stuff before ending up in this world. I don't know when the next big incident is going to happen.

My musings were cut short after a minute with Peter entering from the balcony, clad in full Spider-Man gear. He pulled off his mask as he opened the door. "Alright. Are we ready to do this?"

"Heck yeah I'm ready!" Ned cheered. The excitement wasn't faked, it was indeed the majority of the emotions he was broadcasting, but there was more than just that. Fear and doubt lurked beneath the surface. Still, he sat down on the couch and Sara got the vial ready.

"E.V. can we do one last check on how it'll work?" Peter asked and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Again? Did you think it changed from the last four times you asked?

The AI's electronic voice came from the computer speakers. "There is too small a data pool to make accurate predictions on how the super soldier serum will impact any given individual, but like I told you last time, this experiment has been set to optimal conditions."

I couldn't help but chuckle lightly there. E.V. might have a monotone, but it feels like she's learned sass well enough. Standing up, I immediately felt awkward as there really wasn't anything for me to do. Sara had already hooked up the monitors to Ned (for further data on the super soldier serum, if we ever managed to figure out how to copy it) and Peter was crouched nearby, holding the syringe filled with the serum.

"Alright Ned, let's do this. Let us know if you feel anything strange." He nodded and Peter pushed the needle into his shoulder, then pressed down on the syringe. Taking out the needle after it was done we waited. As we did, I noted that Lonnie had been fully apprehended and was being driven to prison so I let my control over him drop.

"Soooo… How long does the serum usually take?" Ned asked after a few uneventful minutes. I shrugged, and as if that was the trigger, the young man started spasming. Peter rushed in, almost faster than I could think, holding Ned in place as his body shifted. He was yelling, thrashing about and damaging the couch as he grew stronger, muscles becoming more defined in his figure. I couldn't hold him entirely with my telekinesis, but I could control his tongue, making sure he didn't accidentally bite it off.

His strength wasn't enough to break out of Peter's grip however, and the superhero kept his friend from damaging himself even as Ned broke the couch. That was the final spasm before he slumped over, his body finished changing. Panting heavily, he raised his head and asked, "Do I still have my face?"

It took me a second to get the reference and I giggled. "All still there," I told him, poking lightly at his cheek. He laughed too and soon we all were, in relief and joy. Ned took off the monitoring devices from his bulging biceps, recovering from the procedure. My sister hauled over the full length mirror and Peter tried to direct him to another seat, but Ned managed to stand upright by himself.

"Whoa," was all he could say as he looked at himself in the mirror, touching his newfound muscles, stretching and twisting. He was still rather stocky, but now barrel chested with thick biceps. "I look like an actor or bodybuilder! Did all that turn to… all this?" He wondered aloud, lifting his shirt up to admire the new six pack he had. And he's not the only one, I thought, spotting my sister biting her lip as her eyes roved over Ned's new body.

"I'm not actually sure that it did. You're a bit taller too now, so we'd have to weigh you, but I think you've actually gained mass ex nihilo. Steve Rogers definitely did, at least. There's still much we don't know about how the serum works." Who knows, maybe one day this kind of thing will be commonplace and we'll have some better answers.

I literally felt the thought hit Ned, some of his joy turning to dread. "Wait, how am I supposed to explain this?" Luckily, I already had an answer prepared.

"Wear baggy clothes for the next few weeks, drop a few comments about 'hitting the gym hard' and bam! A new Ned. People might be shocked, but generally they'll cling onto the 'logical' seeming explanation rather than dig deeper."

"And the fact I gained a few inches?" Oh thanks for that. My sister had taken his comment in a lewder way than Ned had meant it, her gaze dropping to his groin and I could feel the arousal from her. No one mentions how annoying that can be for telepaths/empaths. Well, rather they do, once, and then never mention it again in the story, when the truth is it remains an occurring nuisance.

"Get a new haircut?" I offered. "Those details will be harder to explain away, but hopefully people will just think they've remembered wrong and that the hair cut really changed how they saw you. Oh, and make sure to actually study up on some workout routines, not just what you'll be doing now but stuff that could take you from base to a more athletic build."

"Wow, and that'll really be enough?" He sounds so optimistic. I could just let it go… but I should be honest.

"Nope, they'll think you're on steroids," I told him. "But combined with that assumption, it should be fine."

He considered it for a moment then shrugged. "I mean, I kinda did use a performance enhancing drug, just a permanent one." After staring at himself for a few more minutes he said, "So now I can be a superhero? Oh man, I haven't even considered what 'nom de guerre' I'll pick."

"The Incredible Ned?" Peter joked and the two quickly fell into a casual back and forth.

"The Spectacular Ned."

"The Amazing Neder."

"Iron Ned!"

"Doctor Leeds!"

"Captain Ned Man!"

They laughed for a bit over that and Ned went to sit back down on the couch before remembering the crack he had made along the back of it, stopping himself just before he sat down. "Whoops," he said before realizing how easily he was holding a squat. "This feels crazy, my strength, my control are all way better. My balance is so much better I almost feel unbalanced, if that makes any sense."

Peter ran a few more tests, measuring his biometrics, but when everything seemed clear, we decided to head out for the night. "We should move the couch to the side," I told Ned, Peter distracted with his phone, or more specifically, distracted messaging MJ. Telling her everything went fine for Ned is indeed important, but he probably doesn't need to lose himself messaging her for the last fifteen minutes. Not that I was upset at that outcome; I didn't hold slavishly to 'canon' like certain multiverse hopping spiders, but I was a bit of an MJ-Peter shipper. I had been worried at first I might have inadvertently scuttled their relationship.

"Allow me!" Ned declared brightly, grabbing the couch and hefting it up before I could take the other end. Or at least half of it, as the force plus the crack he'd put in there earlier ended up tearing the furniture in half. "Whoops."

I chuckled and Peter groaned at the wrecked couch (though considering he's sending a pic of it to MJ right now and will get a good story to tell her, I don't think he's all that torn up about it. Unlike the couch). "First rule of super strength: Just cause you're strong enough to move the thing doesn't mean it won't collapse under its own weight." At least with your kind of super strength. I feel like Thor or Captain Marvel could manage that, but magic or the like works a bit differently.

"Good point… How many rules of super strength are there?"

Shrugging, I said, "Wasn't actually something I had quantified yet, though I can come up with a list of common mishaps I've seen. Peter is probably best for telling you what you'll need to do to acclimatize to your new body."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "It took me weeks before I got used to my powers. Ended up in a number of… sticky situations at first." Sara looked confused before Peter did a small jump up and hung from the ceiling with just the palm of his hand before dropping down. "Now imagine that without proper control. My Aunt nearly caught me a dozen times." There was a wistful tint to his voice as he spoke.

"That's rough, but not as bad growing up with psychic powers," Sara commented good-naturedly. "Finding yourself in another person's body is a hell of a thing." She was glancing over at Ned to see if he had any reaction to that, though he still seemed overwhelmed by his new body.

"Guess I can't just jump into being a superhero right away, huh?"

"No, but luckily, you'll have plenty of time to get used to it. And to see if you want to be a superhero," I added and Ned looked at me as if I'd grown a second head. Or maybe like how someone else would look at me if I had; Ned would be far too enthusiastic and earnest.

"Isn't that the whole point of me taking the serum? So I can be a super hero like you guys?"

"It would be hypocritical of me to say you can't be one considering, but that life is fraught and full of dangers. Some that are obvious but others you won't, can't even, anticipate. You should spend this time and think long and hard about what it would mean and what it will cost."

My sister chimed in. "Yes, think about stuff like 'do I want to become an illegal vigilante and put myself and those I care about at risk of government scrutiny?' Or stuff like that," she gave me an unimpressed look and I rolled my eyes. Her concerns were valid, but I'd also already addressed them and argued with her over this.

"I see, I see, a lot to think about," Ned said, putting on his best 'trying to sound wise' voice. I figure he'll still end up deciding to become a hero in the end, but it's for the best he thinks about it now. Will help when something inevitably goes wrong, one of us isn't fast enough, etc. From my meta knowledge, hero teams tended to deal with that drama poorly. Or maybe actually better than most people. While it's usually presented in a very over the top manner, the heroes soon regroup and work things out, rather than real life people who just hold a petty grudge for twenty years as they slowly drift apart.

***

"That's the last of them," Sara said, wiping her forehead as she placed the box down in the safehouse. One of over a dozen we had brought from our old home. It looks like so much stuffed by the doorway in here, but compared to a lifetime of memories, it's actually quite small. Most of the bigger things, including the appliances, we left behind for the sale.

"Are you sure you want to sell the place?" I asked again and Sara groaned.

"I'm sure I don't want to move those boxes all the way back, at least. You could at least have the decency to look tired," she shot at me and I gave her an angelic smile. "Ugh, sitting in Metzger's little prison really weakened me."

It did, but I was always a bit stronger than you, because I actually work out. More diplomatically, I said, "You could use some of my weights to get back in shape, or possibly a built in gym. One of the apartments I've been looking at has one."

My sister gave me a flat look, easily getting what I was hoping for, that she'd start really working out and pushing herself. Peak MCU humans are pretty crazy. I don't think Black Widow ever had a serum and she pulled off some insane stunts in her movie. I wish that one day I'd be able to do something like that.

Despite her reservations, she grabbed my phone and read through the listing. "That's… wow. Five bedrooms, two bathrooms, heated floors, solid security systems. That's pretty incredible. And also incredibly expensive! How are we supposed to afford all of this?" She asked as she scrolled down to the bottom.

"With the money we get from selling mom's house? We could rent it for a few years," I argued. Sara frowned, so I added. "Having a place like this could let our friends sleepover if they ever need to pop by. It would also leave us much safer should anything bad come our way - it was remodeled in the wake of the invasion of New York, and while I question this being alien 'proof' I think it would at least be resistant to some extranormal invasions."

My sister groaned, but I caught how she perked up a bit at the idea of extra security. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with anything like that any more."

"That's the dream, but think how much more some crazy crisis will impact us if something does come up if we're trying to live in a shoebox than here." As she remained silent, I could feel that I was winning her over to the idea.

"Still think we should try and save our money. Selling mom's house, this is something that should last us the rest of our lives," she argued weakly. She started scrolling through the advertisement looking at the bathrooms and kitchen.

I felt all the lives around us, on different floors and other rooms in this apartment building. How many of you will change the world drastically? Through powers or technology? Wonders yet unknown? I didn't know, and the truth was the likelihood was slim for any of these people. Less slim than it had been before the Avengers had taken the scene, however. More and more enhanced people were popping up publicly.

"The world is changing at a rapid pace. We need to be ready for tomorrow, not decades from now."

My sister stiffened up at my words. "Is that…?"

"Not a premonition, not really. Just a sense that the period of peace we've been in post-Thanos won't last." Doctor Doom… I'd heard he was going to be in the next Avengers movie. Then again, they'd also been building up Kang, and without a need for recasting, I wonder if he'll still be a threat? No clue when either of them might be, however.

With a long suffering sigh, she nodded. "I suppose it wouldn't be bad to live in luxury. Not sure how anyone will buy two teenage girls affording a place like that without any means of income."

I smiled brightly at that, reaching into my bag and pulling out a camera. "I've got a plan for that! I'm going to take pictures of Spider-Man and sell them to the newspaper!"

My sister blinked slowly. "Jeanie, how much money do you think that would actually make you?"

I mumbled the number of the average amount freelance photographers could earn. "I'm sure that pictures of Spider-Man would be worth a bit more than just that, though. Plus, it'll be fun, living close to the edge of the action." I felt the recognition spark within her. This will let me be close enough to Peter to help him without getting too near to the danger. Hopefully at least.

"Fine, you seem set on this path and I can't seem to shake you from it. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," I promised. "Hey, do you want to practice your power a bit?" You might not be willing to train in the real world, but hopefully this will give you an edge should something bad happen. Again.

Sara tilted her head from side to side, the same motion she made when she pretended to be thinking about something just to rile me up. "Sure, why not?" She said after a few seconds, and I felt my mind assaulted by her presence trying to invade.

A playful sort of invasion, I thought as I let her into the first layer of my mind. Our attempts to psychically 'spar' in the liminal space in between our minds was weird. The 'shape' of the battlefield appeared to be affected by both of our thoughts, and particularly our thoughts of each other. Memories of a stuffed albino tiger I had, or of her first bike (or possibly our memories of each other with those things) would pop up in the odd, thin space. Fighting there was incredibly tiring though, and usually only happened during a moment we were struggling to gain control one way or the other.

Letting her into the topmost layer of my mind gave me a homefield advantage and instantly the avatar she created of herself was bombarded with bullets and missiles fired from behind the fortress walls which represented the barrier in my mind against delving deeper. My sister, being a jerk, conjured a supernova and incinerated my fortress.

"Really?" I said, cradling the vast fiery orb within four vast hands and compressing it down to nothing. The three faced god I made stared down at her, the backdrop changed from a war torn battlefield to that of a white void. In response, she made herself larger, trying to match my size. It worked, but the end result was wobbly. Her self image doesn't match that of a godly being. Mine didn't either, but I was able to hold the image better here, within my own mind, than I could have in hers.

"It worked against me when you did it," she pouted before pulling her hands back and launching a kamehameha at my face. Or at least the thing she believes represents the totality of my conscious thoughts. In truth, this was just the guardian I'd created to block her off from the second layer of my mind, the fortress reshaped in an instant.

"Escalating is good, but we hadn't even gotten into a rhythm yet for that to throw me off," I pointed out, A prism scattered the energy beam harmlessly (though the result did wobble a bit when an errant thought of how that didn't work that way entered my consciousness). While she battled that guardian, I launched an assault on her mind.

The attempt wasn't subtle enough, but it threw her off balance, flailing to both defend and attack and failing at both. I battered through the outer barrier with ease and the defenses of the first layer couldn't stand up to me, her Tribbles stuck to a floor that was suddenly made of pink goo that stuck to them and let me slide right on through, striking at the 'king Tribble' wearing a crown.

The world shifted around, and more than the cosmetic change I had done, I could feel this level lending me deeper access to her mind. I gained an awareness of her body, some small motor control, and could see some thoughts swirling about the top of her mind. Money with wings flying away, prison bars, a cheeseburger orbiting around.

The defenses of this layer, a labyrinth filled with old timey mobsters had more 'weight' to them. The bullets took more effort to block, and the walls took some focus to drill through. But with her still distracted, I was making great progress inside my drilling machine.

Sara realized the danger and tried to pull back fully, but in my head, I bound her with a weighted net, holding her back. She thrashed, not expecting I could do that. In truth, I won't be able to hold her in for long, even with this being my mind and all, but I just need a bit more time… there! I had reached the center of the maze, grabbing onto the portkey and being whisked to the third layer.

This is the penultimate layer. One more and I'd be at her core, able to take full control of her. When we'd first explored the concept of our powers working against each other, I'd come up with the concept of layers and barriers. At the time I'd made three, but now I was capable of holding six, almost seven, concurrently. She might need to work on this. Then again, I don't want to spread myself too thin. I worry sometimes that the multiple layers might distract and leave my mental combat inflexible.

With that in mind, I made a new body for myself, lashing out with white sand against the shades that this layer called to fight me, slicing them to pieces. The background of her mind was now dominated by images, mostly of mom and Bill Metzger, but also plenty of me. Her emotions were palpable here, worry, confusion and desperation battering me like waves.

"Who is that?" One of the larger shades asked. My sand failed to do much harm to it as Sara was back in her head, empowering her defenses.

"Kenton. He's a Sand Master from the world of Taldain. His father didn't think much of him due to his ability to only control one sand stream," I said while countering all of her attacks. One seemed to slip through, only to crush through a pile of sand in Kenton's shape.

"After his father and the other Sand Masters were killed, Kenton was the only one left and had to rebuild his order. He discovered secrets hidden by the order, political and of the very nature of his powers," I continued to explain. Calling upon three ribbons of sand, I flew up, above the grasping claws of the shades and over to the center.

Sara reformed quickly in front of me, and here was where I had to (briefly) match her strength vs mine, and while tough, the multiple ribbons I called upon struck through, dispersing her and letting me reach the core. "I win," I said, placing a hand on it without going any further. We would never try anything like that against each other.

"Ugh, you're too good at this," Sara complained, dropping the shadow form.

"Nah, I just got a few tricks. Creativity is a huge-"

Sara cut me off. "Part of mental combat, I know. Don't you think you should deal with that alarm?"

"Alarm?" I asked before realization clicked. "Shoot!" I pulled my focus back to my body and I realized my alarm was going off. "Damn it. Splitting my focus like that has its downsides," I told her as I turned the alarm off and grabbed my stuff.

"I can't perceive the physical world while I'm doing that. I better hurry; I don't want to be late for my first martial arts class!"

"You should be more careful," my older sister chided as I hugged her and ran out the door.

"That 's what these classes are for; making sure that I'll be careful. Or at least safe. With this and my powers, I'll be prepared for any situation that might come up. From killer robots to alien invasions, I've got a plan for everything!"

***

"Ninjas… why'd it have to be ninjas?" I questioned aloud as my hand went up to the dart that had just sunk into my neck, turning to stare at the pretty woman who had shot it from the blowgun.

She wasn't dressed in the sporty yoga/workout gear she'd been wearing when we had an appointment to discuss me joining her class. Instead, she and all the others, instructors and students, were wearing bright red ninja robes covering most of their bodies save for their eyes. All of them stood on the mats of the dojo, thrumming with anticipation and excitement (which before opening the door and getting hit by a knockout dart, I had assumed to be regular pre-class feelings).

The woman, likely not actually called 'Mary Wu,' put the weapon away and stepped forward. "You are special, Jean Grey. You shall be transformed, reborn into something new, the new leader… of The Hand!" The (interim?) leader of the Hand declared, and her followers cheered.

My body sank to the ground, my vision fading. "No fair, 'Ryozanpaku' doesn't even have any 'Hand' connotations in it in any language. I checked…" I complained, before falling down. With the last dregs of my mental focus, I telekinetically pressed a few buttons on my phone and reached out mentally before it all faded to black.

Spoiler: A/N:

We're ending things on a bit of a cliffhanger here! I know this came a bit out of nowhere, but I'll explain the Hand a bit more later. One of the weaknesses of the First Person POV is it can feel very awkward if I have Jean (or any character) spot the obvious signs to the readers that something shady is going on and she doesn't respond, it makes her look like a fool, but if I don't, the readers don't get warnings ahead of time for things like this. Hopefully the explanations that come with the next chapter will make sense and be satisfactory.

Also, for anyone wondering, these are indeed the same ninjas Spider-Man would have fought in Brand New Day. Since things happened earlier than in canon, he hadn't ended up fighting them. Yet. That's going to change soon though! On that topic, what foes are you looking forward to Spider-Man, Jean Grey, et. all fighting? Let me know down below or on the Discord. And if you want to read more and have a bit of money to toss my way, I have a Patreon, subscribers to it get early access to the next two chapters of this story, and the next ten for Like No One Ever Was, my Pokemon SI story. Thank you, and I hope you're having a great day.