Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty Four: Team Up
"No. no, no, no." Shaking his head emphatically, he couldn't let her put herself in danger like that. If a person could capture Peter without harming him as the picture had shown he was definitely a handful for anyone.
Putting her hands on her hips she arched an eyebrow at his immediate refusal.
"Why not?!" She demanded she was putting herself out there, and he refused her help! She was just about completely out of patience with this John Wayne solo act.
'Why not…' well he hadn't really thought that through. She wasn't a bystander and she wasn't MJ either. She was more than capable of protecting herself and she already knew Peter's secret. The primary reason he wanted to at least get to Peter first was that he was de-masked, it was already bad enough that this person knew his identity he didn't want more people discovering who Spider-man truly was. He would protect that as much as he could. But Jean was different she already knew everything about his life… His ponderings were interrupted as his body was lifted off of the ground telekinetically.
"Look here, spider boy! If I cannot go with you then I will just take you to the briefing room myself! Now Choose!" Ben had seen a wide range of emotions and temperaments from the redhead today and some intrigued him while others scared the daylights out of him. This situation happened to be the latter.
"I I was already going to let you go, I just was thinking over how we would get there." He lied, although he had been considering taking her along… how they would get there was just a convenient excuse.
"I lifted you off of the ground with little more than a wave of my hand, do you think I would actually have a problem with transportation?" Jean said seeing through his lie easily.
"Alright let's get out of here before more show up to tag along…" Ben said defeated.
Ben had already had a few clues by the photograph the mysterious person had sent him, in fact, he realized he had been there recently with Mr. Brown. He never would have guessed he would be going back so soon, maybe this guy has been keeping a closer eye on him than he had originally guessed.
BROTHERHOOD HOUSE
Todd was setting in the run-down house of the Brotherhood, he didn't really mind the torn-up furniture and dirty dishes, he hadn't had it any different any place he had ever lived... So, he didn't notice the difference that other people talked about. What he did mind was the ridicule from the other residents at the house. 'Todd, how long has it been since you showered?' and 'Todd, did you really eat that fly?!" or just the good ol' fashioned 'Eww! Get out of here!". He showered... maybe not daily but it was often enough not to stink too much! He just wished people would lay off! If they didn't like how he smelled then why did they smell him so often, it seemed like a personal problem to him.
He had considered just leaving this old house with the judgmental bastards, but where would he go? He had been offered by Xavier a place there at the other side, but they seemed just as judgmental as Petro and the other guys at the Brotherhood house. If he was going to be judged everywhere, he goes why not work for the side that wants to actively change the part of his life he dislikes the most. If mutants were considered... gods or something, then maybe his life wouldn't be such hell sometimes. Todd wasn't a leader and he sure as hell couldn't change the world, but he wouldn't mind lending a hand towards that goal.
He was starting to get bored, while Mystique asked them all to stay indoors for the next few days. Something about how they were waiting for a special event to fully play out and they didn't want any interference. Well... tough! It wasn't like he was going to any place too important, maybe just the junkyard.
RED ROOSTER JUNKYARD
Peter slept great! He hadn't slept that well in a while, he was always up late at night on patrol and the only time he has gotten such a good rest was... When he had been knocked out during a battle! It had finally occurred to him that this was exactly the situation he was in currently.
His eyes shot open wide to find himself strapped to a chair inside what looked like an old garage. It appeared to be a wooden structure lit with an old lantern. Scanning the area, he spotted a dark figure perched in the rafters of the roof like an owl. Peter couldn't make out his face due to a mask he wore but his long tangled brown hair was a mess around his face, reminiscent of a wild man.
Realizing his face was bare he started to struggle against his bindings in an attempt to break free.
"It's useless... I've calculated the strength you would need to break your bindings and reinforced the restraints to be above that amount." A masculine raspy voice spoke out as he dropped to the ground in front of him. It was the first time Peter heard the man's voice and it was so broken and distorted it was a torcher to hear.
"What do you want?" Peter asks calmly. If he could understand this guy's plan, he could possibly make a contingency for escape.
"You mean you haven't figured it out? What would you want if everything you've ever known was someone else's memories? What would you want if you are slowly degenerating to whatever you were originally...? Some kind of genetic material in a petri dish... A way to make things the way they are supposed to be!"
Damn this guy is crazy! How was he going to get out of this one?
"Don't worry you have help on the way... but I doubt he will be able to do anything," Kaine said with a sneer.
XAVIER INSTITUTE
Logan growled to himself. 'Damned kids!' Of course, he would probably have done something similar if it had been one of his archrivals... Sabertooth or Omega Red or Doctor Cornelius he wouldn't wait around for kids to fight his battle, and as old he was... everyone was a kid to him. He would dare any man to point out the irony of telling Ben to 'wait for a plan', and honestly, he had gotten chills the moment he had said them. At the very least, Jean was with him. With her telepathic abilities, she would become a vital link to what was going on while Logan got Fury off his rear.
He didn't like that old codger sticking his hand into X-Men business, it was too risky. Mutants were still unknown to the world at large and people like Fury have a habit of exploiting you when it's convenient. He wasn't saying he didn't trust the guy in a fight... No, he was the best person to have at your back in that time, but you always have to suspect he had his own agenda. Fury does little that doesn't benefit himself, after living so long it just came naturally. Logan also didn't want the X-Men on the other end of that ideology either.
Grumbling, he walked his way to the Professor's study; he owed a lot to the older fella. Xavier had taken a broken and confused animal and pieced him back together into the man he was today.
"Hey, Charlie we have a problem… Those kids just left us behind…" His words faded off at the worried look on his friend's face.
"That's not our only problem," Xavier told him. "I just got word that Magneto was spotted in the Sahara Desert, he's built a massive structure… SHIELD is already en route. I believe the kids will have to fend for themselves we need a team there now. I don't have a good feeling about this."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone