"Happy birthday to you~" sang Peter's friends as they were all sitting down in Aunt May's dining room. Some decorations here and there with two big balloons that together made the number 15.
Peter had a small blush as he shyly smiled at his friends, never getting used at being the center of attention like this. Not even Spider-Man had been able to make shy Peter Parker disappear completely.
Not that it bothered anyone, since Harry has known Peter to be like this since years ago and never really thought anything of it. And MJ, Gwen and Emma think of this trait as cute.
Pete meanwhile was more embarrassed at the fact that he actually forgot today was his birthday. After he stopped training with Daredevil, he fell through a rabbit hole of mobsters that worked outside of Fisk and of Hell's Kitchen, which took him almost all this week to even capture small time crooks working for the new guy.
This new adversarie's name is Alonzo Lincoln, and while Peter has never met him, much like he's never met the Kingpin, he knows he needs to go down.
The other thing that took much of Peter's mind was this new superpowered bad guy, going by the name of Scorpion. Besides wall crawling and his spider sense, Scorpions powers were on par with Peter's, being that he is as strong, agile and fast as he is.
Adding to that, the guy has really tough armor with a giant tail - similar to, you guessed it, a scorpion. And if the guy's threats are to be believed, his tail has poison that could very easily kill him.
For three days the guy came and went with the sole purpose of killing him, and if it wasn't for his spider sense and his brief time training with Daredevil, the green armored villain would have succeeded.
Thankfully, Peter was able to defeat the guy and send him to prison. Prison that Peter was starting to think was useless, seeing as how quickly the inmates are able to escape the place; even his super villains who have, supposedly, special holding cells for them.
Peter got brought out of his thoughts as he heard everyone clap.
"Make your wish, birthday boy!" Said MJ as she grinned happily at him. Peter got another round of applause as he blew his candles.
"What did you wish for, Pete?" Asked Harry, slightly disinterested.
"He can't say! Then it won't come true, y'know?" Scolded Gwen before Peter had a chance to reply.
*Pfft* "Do you still believe in stuff like that?" Asked Emma with a mocking voice and a raised eyebrow, causing Gwen to shrink down in her seat with an embarrassed flush on her face. This made MJ and Harry glare at Emma while she felt slightly bad about the way she said it.
In reality Emma didn't say that with the intent of being rude, but because of the way she was raised by her very strict father; things like birthday wishes, a magical tooth fairy and even Santa Claus were revealed as nothing more than childish dreams that adults told children.
But since her father didn't want Emma to grow up as one of those commoners; seeing greatness in her future, he revealed the truth behind those lies many years ago.
So listening to someone believing in that kind of things was weird for Emma, but she couldn't formulate the question in a non-rude way.
"Who invited you again?" MJ asked with a playful tone and a forced smirk on her face, trying to make light of the situation. Though in reality she really questioned the need of her being there. MJ and Emma never quite cliqued, and were the two that would most often say hurtful things to the other.
Mainly because of their clear crush on the brown haired boy and because of Emma's attitude towards anything that wasn't up to her standard. How Peter managed to conquer the heart of a rich brat like her, MJ would never know.
"Hey common MJ, I'm sure that Emma didn't mean anything bad by that. And we're all very glad she's here, right?" Peter said in a hopeful voice. He notices the animosity between Emma and his older friends and he hopes that one day they can all be at least friendly with each other.
Emma blushes at being defended by Peter since she'd never had anyone do for her before.
Mainly because she doesn't need to.
If she doesn't like someone or worse, someone is threatening her in any way, shape or form, she just uses her abilities to make that person regret getting on her bad side.
But hearing Peter be on her side, wanting to spend time with her and make his friends see her as he does, even when it's painfully obvious that they don't, warms her heart like few things have done before.
"Whatever" says MJ with an angry tone as she fold her arms, not liking Peter being on Emma's side instead of her's and Gwen's.
"It's alright MJ, Emma is right either way. It is a bit silly" said Gwen as she rubs her arm sheepishly.
"…anyway, I'm gonna get some plates if you guys want some cake" said Peter after a few seconds of awkward silence, getting small agreements from everyone.
*Ding Dong* sounded the doorbell as Peter walked in again from the kitchen with the plates.
"Shoot, i forgot the forks" mumbles Peter to himself, debating whether to open the door or get the cutlery.
"I can get the door" says Emma as she stands up; wanting to leave the table with people still glaring at her.
"Oh, thanks Emmy" says Peter as he turns back around, not noticing the frowns from two girls and the small blush from Emma as she went for the door.
Emma really liked that Peter now felt comfortable enough around her to call her Emmy. At first Peter tested it shyly sometimes, but now he blurted out naturally, which Emma was excited for since she's never had a relationship with someone to call her other than her regular name.
And so Emma went to the door and quickly opened it, seeing in front of her a tall and buff blonde man that was around 5 years older than her, holding a present.
"Oh hello, I'm Eddie… is Peter in?" Asked the now identified man called Eddie. Emma remembers him from conversations with Peter in which he had told her that he had a brother who's not really his brother.
"Oh! Eddie Brock, right? I've heard about you from Peter. I'm Emma Frost, pleased to meet you" wanting to get along with someone important in Peter's life, Emma showed a practiced smile and extended her hand for Eddie to shake.
"Of course, Emma! Peter's told me a lot about you!" Said Eddie excited as he shook the girl's hand.
"Does he, now? Only good things I hope" said Emma in a cheeky tone.
"Haha oh yes, like you couldn't believe" replied Eddie with a chuckle, remembering all the phone calls Eddie has endured talking to his brother about this new girl.
Eddie did have to admit that the girl was a looker for her age. How someone as nerdy as Peter managed to surround himself with pretty girls will always be a mystery for him.
"Well, please come in. I'm sure Peter will be happy to see you!" Exclaims Emma as she makes way for Eddie to come through.
"Yeah, haven't seen the guy since what happened to Ben…" said Eddie in a sad tone. He's been studying journalism in the San Francisco State University with a scholarship he got through an internship, so the times he's been back to New York have been very limited. He still keeps in touch with Peter via calls and texting, but it's not the same.
"…" Emma said nothing at that, since she never met the older man or Peter before he passed away. She's heard about how much Peter has changed and while she thinks it's natural for that to happen due to grief, she still feels sorry for Peter.
Eddie and Emma finally entered the dining room, where MJ was helping with cutting the cake while Peter passed out the forks. The birthday boy looked towards the older man and immediately ran to him with a bright expression on his face, amusing everyone at the sweet reaction of the boy.
"Eddie?! Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" Exclaims Peter as he hugs his 'older brother'.
"And miss your quinceañera? You're out of your mind kid. Plus your birthday was just the perfect day for me to give the keys to the new owners of my parent's house. After today I'm gone back down to California" Answers Eddie in a playful tone as he ends the hug and greets Peter's other friends quickly.
He's already familiar with them and finds them to be nice kids and friends for Peter, even if Harry sometimes rubs him the wrong way.
"Hey, speaking of greetings, where's May? I haven't talked with her in a while" questioned Eddie as he looked around the place, finding it weird that there's only kids here.
"She's in Boston with Aunt Jan, she's been sick lately and Aunt May went to keep her company. She's gonna be there until next week when I start school" Explained Peter calmly as he took seat, prompting Eddie to do the same.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that buddy, must be rough being home alone during your birthday" says Eddie sympathetically, knowing perfectly the feeling.
"Nah, don't be. It's alright really, aunt Jan needed aunt May with her more than I do, plus, I'm not really alone" said a tensed Peter with a forced smile at the apology, but with sincere gratitude at his friends as they returned back the smiles with the same intensity.
Eddie smiled warmly, knowing that even though Peter was lying at saying he doesn't need May with him, he didn't feel alone thanks to his friends "Well, I hope you know that May not being here is not a reason to throw a party" said Eddie with a teasing voice.
*Scoff* "You don't think I tried to convince 'Mr. Responsibility' here to throw one? But he was all like 'oh responsibility this and that' so I gave up" answered MJ with an equal teasing voice laced with real frustration - then with a mocking voice when imitating Peter that made Peter turn his head embarrassed.
Emma frowned at that because she knows (or at least is 99% sure) of why Peter isn't going to.
And it's because he has no confidence in himself and doesn't think many people would show up.
That's perhaps the only thing that Emma would change in this otherwise great boy; his confidence.
She's enamored with Peter, there's no doubt about that in her mind. But she can't deny that she finds confidence attractive, and Peter is lacking in it. And Emma can't understand why.
She gets that Peter's life has been tragic, and that has had some sort of impact on his behavior and development. But he's still the most intelligent, clever, caring and humble guy she knows. Aside from that he's still pretty handsome, has a good sense of humor( sometimes) and is unnaturally strong.
At some point Emma even thought that he was a mutant, but after a conversation she initiated where she asked Peter his opinion on mutants and felt his feelings. She can then tell if someone is lying to her or not by the way their feelings spike; which didn't happen in Peter's case.
The only thing she felt coming from him was an immense sense of curiosity and a combination of shame and pity from how they are treated. But no shard of emotion that told Emma Peter was wary of her questions.
What she didn't know is that Peter was crossing the idea of him being one because his powers were caused because of a spider-bite, rather than him being born with them; a thing that mentally led him to a rabbit while of how different powers can be obtained for different people like his enemies.
She was also glad when Peter said that he had no problems with mutants whatsoever, but Emma's paranoid mind made her unable to reveal herself to Peter. If he was lying and ended up hating her for her nature then Emma would die of a heartbreak.
She felt like her world fell apart when her former teacher/crush thought about those 'disgusting freaks' that Emma was a part of.
And the crush she harbored for that guy wasn't even a fraction of how she feels for Peter.
She will reveal herself sooner or later, preferably when they are inevitably dating and their trust in each other is at its highest peak. But until then she wants to enjoy her youth as a regular human with Peter and Chat.
And that included hiding their presence from a telepath that tries to reach both girls from time to time for unknown reasons. It kinda creeps her out when she feels his presence.
She's sure he's the bald guy that came to her home some years ago when she was still in middle school and her powers first appeared.
Charles Javier or something.
She remembers how he came to her home wanting to recruit her to a school for 'special' kids, whatever that meant, and was promptly kicked off the house because of her father.
That day Emma felt someone wanting to reach her via telepathy, and she's sure it has to be that guy since the 'feeling' is the same.
But until she has to deal with that guy, she plans to date Peter and increase his self confidence. She'll make a confident man out of himself.
After that comment from MJ, the small gathering went smoothly, with Peter opening his presents where he got fashion clothes from both MJ and Emma, with Emma's being way more expensive, making the blond to give MJ a winning grin.
Two books from Gwen, one about advanced Chemistry Engineering and the other one about Quantum Physics that she knows Peter has been eyeing for a while.
Another phone from Harry, that unbeknownst to anyone, was also a gift from Norman that he sent Peter when he found out that Harry was going to Peter's birthday 'party'. He was still secretly annoyed that Harry gifted Peter a Stark phone with his money all those years back.
And a new camera from Eddie, the same model he was using himself for his internship back in California.
The day went smoothly between friends and laughs, he even got a phone call from Chat and a text from Jessica Jones, some from his academic decathlon team and most surprisingly Liz. They haven't really talked after her dad was arrested and Peter left her at prom. Mainly because of her avoiding him, so it was pretty nice to see her reach out to him like that.
Until it was time for everyone to go home when the sun finally sat down. Once it did, Peter suited up and went out on patrol, crime wouldn't stop because it was his birthday after all.
Hours later
Peter was cursing at himself like he never had before. He was supposed to do a nightly patrol like he has been doing for several months. Everything was going smoothly until he heard something about some child snatchers.
Peter understood why many people would choose to pursue a life of crime, and in many cases he was even sympathetic to the criminal.
Sometimes it would be a guy that was wronged by a big corporation or rich guy that ruined the guys life for profit; other times might be the unfortunate financial situation that led people to commit robberies in gas stations or drug stores. Even some of his villains were the results of failed experiments or accidents that led them down a dark path.
But in other cases Peter couldn't even pretend to care for the reasons for villainy. And in Peter's book, children are untouchable.
There's no reason, justification or excuse for someone to target, rob or harm kids.
So with this in mind Spider-Man followed the clues, each leading him further and further away from the city until he ended in a hangar with a whole ass cargo plane in it.
He sneaked around a couple of very armed guards that wore a military-like outfit that Peter couldn't recognize.
When he got around the plane to the back of it, where the rear ramp is. He felt his blood boil with anger and his fists tighten hard enough to rip some of his costume off his palm.
Inside the plane, five children were shackled inside a fucking cage, like they were some type of animals. Peter could see from where he was hiding that all of them were under the age of 9, except one that was around the age of 12 or 13.
What everyone did have in common was that they were all beaten up; bruised faces, bloody nose traces and broken, swollen lips.
Peter felt himself shake in anger at the monstrosity that was happening before him. He had half a mind to storm in, beat everyone up badly and free the children. But he knew he couldn't, he had to be smart about this.
Remembering the few lessons he had with Daredevil, Peter started his detective work at analyzing the scene.
'Heavily armed men with military-like outfits, most likely not working alone. A cage big just big enough for these five kids, already planned targets. And the airplane is obviously taking them somewhere' Peter started to rationalize everything he saw, what it most likely meant and came to the obvious conclusion that this job had a master planner.
And unless that guy was brought down, these, and many more kids will most likely be in danger.
And this plane will most likely lead to that guy… maybe if he got on board…
'… NO, NO, NO. THAT'S CRAZY. That would be super dangerous! I don't know where that plane is going and-and I'm starting school in a week and aunt May is returning home and I already crashed a plane and-' Peter's inner rant went interrupted when he saw the smallest of the kids cry harder and the oldest trying to comfort her to the best of his abilities while he too was crying I'm a smaller degree.
'If you can do something and you don't, and something bad happens because of it, then it's your fault. Isn't that right, Pete?' Peter asked himself with a defeated sigh as he lowered himself from the corner of the hanger where he was hiding.
Spider-Man waited for the perfect moment; when the plane started its engine and every guard that was not inside the plane got behind it to start his attack.
He was as fast as lighting, hitting the guards and instantly knocking them out after targeting their pressure points one by one. As quietly and quickly as he could.
No one would fault Peter if he used a little more force than the needed for those guards, and no one could fault him for webbing them up upside down extra tightly against each other.
After finishing up with the guards outside, Peter sneaked up the ramp while it was still open and approached the man guarding the children silently, also knocking him out with a single move to the neck and letting the man fall silently.
"Hey kids" whispered Peter, making every kid that was hugging their knees with their head down or hugging each other in comfort look at the man outside the cage.
One kid freaked out at the sight, since the light was very low the only thing he could see was the white, creepy lenses of his mask. He was about to scream, but Peter, seeing his reaction, webbed his mouth shut.
"Ooh, sorry about that kiddo, but I can't have you making too much noise right now. I'm Spider-Man, I came to help" Spider-Man kept talking as he got closer to the cage, now gripping two bars with his hands and allowing the kids to look at him better.
The kids wanted to shout in excitement and disbelief, each one of them had heard of Spider-Man and thought of him as a super cool hero, and now he was rescuing them from the evil men!
Peter then bent the steel bars until they were open wide enough for the kids to go through while they were looking at him in amazement. When the kid with the webbed mouth came through, Peter apologized to him again, getting out a teeny tiny bottle with some liquid in it that dissolved the webbing.
"All right kids, come on, I'm sure one of that guard has the keys, you need to find them and unshackle yours-" *umph* Peter was interrupted when the little girl that was crying on the older boy's hold ran up to Peter and collided with his chest, gripping his shirt tightly with her little hands as she shaked wildly.
"I knew someone would come…*sniff* I knew someone would save us" said the little girl as she wiped her eyes and snot on Peter's costume, using all of her willpower to not wail out loud and alert the other bad guys.
"… I'm sorry I was this late" Peter said softly as he wrapped his arms around the girl, letting her silently cry her eyes out on him. She and the others cried as well when he said that while thanking him as well.
"What's your name? What's everyone called?" Peter asked as he looked towards everyone.
"…I'm Carter, and that's my little sister Chelsea"said the older kid first. Peter could then see the resemblance between both dark skinned children.
"I'm Mark" said the little red-haired boy that had his mouth webbed shut.
"Hajoon" said a kid with pale skin and black hair that looked of Asian descent.
"I'm Carla" finally added the only other girl in the group with dark hair and pretty brown skin.
"It's very nice to meet you kids, although I would've preferred it being in a better situation. I'm the always humble and amazing Spider-Man" Spider-Man said in a humorous voice, gaining a few giggles from some of the kids. Peter noted how all five of them relaxed, even a little bit.
He had found that his jokes and comedy helped easing the minds of the civilians that were in problems, aside from annoying the villains of course.
This because everyone reasoned that if he was capable of cracking a joke, then that meant that everything was fine.
Very flawed logic that at the end of the day everyone he'd saved ended up falling for, because they all want to hold on to the hope that everything was indeed fine.
These kids are no exception.
"I have to say that I've never met anyone so brave in my life before, but I'm going to need you to be even braver, think you can do that?" Asked Peter now in a more serious tone.
He smiled when everyone nodded their heads.
"Great, Carter" Peter said, suddenly calling out for the older boy, who staggered slowly.
"Y-yes?" Asked Carter.
"You're the one that'll help me here. I'm leaving everyone in your care, can I trust you?" Peter said seriously while looking directly at the boy.
But before she could answer, Carla grabbed one of Peter's arms that was still holding Chelsea and gave him a horrified look "You aren't coming with us to the city?!" She almost yelled, but managed to keep it above a whisper.
Though her comment made everyone look at the hero in fear.
"No, I have-" Peter wanted to excuse himself. But was startled when all the kids started crying even harder.
"Hey kids it's okay, it's okay, t-there's no need to cry!" Peter could hear that the engine had almost finished 'warming up' (which normally lasts 5-10 minutes after turning the motor on before flight), so he needed the kids to listen fast.
"Carter!" Now Peter yelled in his normal voice, praying to however was listening to him that the pilots didn't hear. His shout caused the kids to shut up, looking at him with sad, broken looks on their faces.
"Carter, kids, listen to me. Wherever this plane is headed has the guy that wanted you guys there, so I need to stop him to make sure that he doesn't go after you ever again, okay?" Peter once again whispered, explaining his reasoning.
"Carter, I need to entrust the kids to you" Peter said as the boy's eyes widened in disbelief.
"I'm sure there's a phone somewhere in here, and if there's not then you guys can walk towards the city's light and ask for help on the way… I know it's risky and stupid and there's probably something better I could do but I have nothing.
I need your help Carter, and I need to know if I can trust you. But if you don't think you can, then I will stay with you, but you have to tell me now" Peter didn't want to place the younger boy on the spot like he did, but everything he said was the truth.
Peter was scared, he never had to deal with a situation like this and he hopes he never would have to again.
But he needs to get to the bottom of this child trafficking incident, as well as he needs to know that the kids are going to be fine with Carter.
Carter meanwhile was at a loss for words. Minutes before he was thinking he was going to die together with his sister and some other kids. Only to be rescued by a real life superhero!
A superhero he, his sister and all his friends look up to! And now said superhero is saying he needs his help in saving himself and the rest of the abducted kids.
He can't do it. He's just a kid as well as his sister and the others, but he's not a brave guy, not like Spider-Man at least.
But why couldn't he be?
Carter looks at the way his sister clings to Spider-Man and wonders 'could I inspire this type of hope too? Could I be brave enough to save someone? To better myself for others? Could I be like Spider-Man?'
He looks at Spider-Man who seems to be waiting patiently for his answer, even if he's shifting himself anxiously the more the boy makes him wait for an answer.
"…you can trust in me Spider-Man, I'll take everyone to safety" Answered Carter with conviction clear in his voice, even when he was shaking slightly.
"I knew I could count on you" Peter said with a relieved sigh "okay soldier, here's your mission" Peter said as he let go of Chelsea, grabbing Carter with both hands on his shoulder to transmit how serious this is.
"You have to find a phone and call 911, tell them you were kidnapped and wait for them to tell you what to do. If you're unable to find a phone, you must walk to the city.
Give finding a phone 30 minutes, if you don't then switch to plan B, okay?" Mark nodded profusely at this.
"What if the guards wake up?" Asked Mark as he looked outside of the airplane, noticing 7 guards dangling upside down in one big ball of webs. .
"Aren't they going to hurt us?" Asked Hajoon with his voice full of dread.
"…nah, this cage still has it's use" said Peter as he smiled mischievously behind his mask while eyeing the cage.
"Before you go, kids, can you think of any reason these guys would want to kidnap you?" Peter has been wondering about that since the moment he opened the cell.
At first Peter thought it might've been at random, but the amount of money thrown to kidnap these children suggested something more was at play.
It could also help him be prepared for whatever it was going to be outside the plane once he landed.
Everyone stood quiet, they all knew that it was because they were mutants. It was hard not to, considering how the guards beat them all up while calling them monsters because of it. For the same reason they debated whether telling Spider-Man or not, who knows how he would react at them being mutants.
But Carter closed his eyes tightly. Spider-Man has chosen to trust in him, so he would trust him with his secret. "…actually we do, it's because all of us are-"
I'm that moment the ramp started to close, so Spider-Man without thinking Peter shouted at the kids to run, which they did, jumping out of the ramp just in time for Peter to shoot a web towards all of the guards that he luckily tied up together and yanked them towards him.
"You got this, kids!" Yelled Peter, his voice reaching the kids who ran towards something to cover them from the turbines of the plane who was now taking flight.
Peter felt the plane start to move, meaning that it was finally time for it to take off.
"I don't think you're going to be in Kansas anymore Pete…" wanting to take off some stress from his shoulder, Peter quipped out loud for himself.
He then eyes the men with an angry look that showed even with his mask on. He gripped the iron bars of the cage and opened them a little further and tossed everyone inside, webbing them again and shutting their mouths off for good measure.
He then sat in a lone, dark corner, awaiting anything to come his way. Also nervous because this was technically his first time inside a plane, and he's had bad experiences with them.
—————
The kids went out of their cover, watching from the open doors of the hangar as the plane flew away in the distance.
"…he's gone" said Hajoon numbly. If he was told a week ago that Spider-Man would save him he would've thought that that would be the most awesome thing to ever happen in the world. But now he wishes to never have to be saved again.
"Now what?" Asked Mark as he, Chelsea, Carla and Hajoon looked at Carter who had an uncertain look on his face.
"Let's look for a phone, and keys for our shackles if possible" answered Carter, already feeling the pressure of having to take care of the four kids.
"Keys like those?" Asked Carla innocently as she pointed at a set of keys that were most likely dropped by one of the guards that was tied upside down. Luckily those were the ones needed to free their hands.
After that they all went together as a group looking for a phone, in case someone had stayed behind and Spider-Man didn't notice him and they had to be forced to defend themselves.
Luckily that didn't happen, because they found what appeared to be an office in front of the only stairs in the hangar with not much in it, just some old maps of Canada, each of the kid's personal information, a window to the inside of the hangar and very fortunately, a phone.
"Look, look, there's a phone!" Shouted Chelsea excitedly.
"All right! Let's call 911 so they-" said Hajoon as he ran and grabbed the phone, but was stopped when Carter placed his hand on it, preventing the boy from picking it up.
"Carter?" Asked Carla with curiosity at the weird action the older guy did.
"What's wrong?" Asked Mark, equally confused as the others.
"… I don't think it's a good idea to call 911. They will start making questions and what will happen if the government discovers we are mutants? For all we know they are the ones that kidnapped us!" That statement from Carter made everyone tense up.
They all know how big the hate against mutants is, and the probability that they were targeted by their own government is big. At least big enough for the kids to not want to risk it.
"… so what do we do?" Asked Hajoon fearfully.
"What about our families?" Suggested Carla.
"Not mine…" answered Mark, remembering how his family started treating him when he took a test from a reverend that came to their house preaching about God and his mission to expose the devils that call themselves mutants.
His family, as devoted Christian's, allowed the man to take samples of his blood.
He's been mistreated ever since the results came in and claimed he had the x-gene in him, and that he would be showing his 'unholy' powers in puberty.
Everyone else muttered similar thoughts about they're family while muttering their denials of their families willingness of helping them in their situation.
Something in the back of their minds made them wonder if that creepy reverend had anything to do with their kidnapping, and whether their families knew of this kidnapping or not.
Everyone stood quietly, wondering what would be the next best course of action until Chelsea gasped.
"What if we call the bald man?" Said Chelsea excitedly as she remembered the nice man in the wheelchair that visited their home with a beautiful dark skinned woman with breathtaking white hair.
"Who?" Asked Carla with a raised eyebrow.
"The bald man! He came to our home like two weeks ago and offered us a place in his school, he talked to us without moving his mouth!" Chelsea explained excitedly.
"Without moving his mouth… are you talking about professor Xavier?" Asked Hajoon, remembering how the exact same thing happened to him.
"You know him too?" Questioned Mark with wide eyes.
"Yeah, the same thing happened to me" answered the dark haired boy.
"Professor Xavier told me to call him if I ever needed help, maybe this counts?" Asked Carter to everyone as they all shrugged.
"Well, it's better than nothing, luckily these guys didn't take my wallet" muttered the older boy as he grabbed a card from his wallet. The card said 'Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters', with a big, bold letter X and a phone number on the backside.
Carter picked up the phone and dialed the number, waiting for a few seconds before the other side of the phone picked up.
"Hello?" Asked a man that Carter easily recognized as Xavier. The boy felt a wave of relief at the older man actually answering his phone.
"Professor Xavier? I'm Carter, Carter Robertson and-and I need help" Carter's voice started to tremble, breaking with the intent of bursting into tears.
"Tell me everything" answered Charles instantly.
At the X-Mansion
Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath as of yet was resting in his office after a hard day preparing the next school year.
Xavier has always wanted peace and understanding between humans and mutants, but the latter's bigotry and hatred for his kind seems to make it impossible to achieve.
It also doesn't help that his former best friend, Erik Lehnsherr, has become a world wide terrorist that goes by the name of Magneto. And while his cause could be one to admire, it being saving mutants from the clutches of evil men who want to hurt them, he transformed the message into one of hate and the idea that mutants are the superior race.
Another thing that keeps him awake is the constant appearance of more and more mutants. Don't get him wrong though, he's thrilled to have more people like him out in the world, but he can only do so much to help all of them.
And one of the things he's done aside from starting his school that works as a heaven to those in need, is the construction of Cerebro. With that device he's capable of finding mutants, whether they know it or not. Seek them out and offer them a place with him and their brethren, giving them a safe space where they can flourish their abilities without fear.
And he couldn't have done it without his dear friends, mainly Ororo Munroe, Hank McCoy and James 'Logan' Howlett.
That last one has always been a tough nut to crack, even when Charles looked even younger than he did all those years ago. And now here he is looking like he is the older one between the two.
Charles was reminiscing about his friendship with Logan, how he came to him for help and at the end of it he got a friend. He was even welcome to become a teacher, but he denied it in favor of his more violent lifestyle.
He does have a room in the mansion he sometimes sleeps in as well, mainly when he checks on little Jubilation Lee and Katherine Pryde. Who came into the school when the former was only 10 and the latter 12 a year ago.
And ever since the two came into the school and met Logan, Charles could see that he became somewhat of a father figure to both girls. And while Logan tried to deny any feelings for anyone, Charles could see that his more regular visits to the mansion were a sign that he also cared for the two girls.
And as he was thinking of his dear friend who was on a 'hunt' in Canada, he got a phone call directly to his office. This wouldn't have been weird if it wasn't so late at night.
"Hello?" Picking up the phone Charles asked politely.
"Professor Xavier? I'm Carter, C-Carter Robertson and-and I need help" said the young sounding boy from the other side of the phone, fear clear in his trembling voice.
Charles recognized the voice and name instantly, he had visited his home to meet both him and his sister since they were both mutants he found with Cerebro's help.
Upon entering their house, Charles could tell instantly that the way they've been living weren't the right conditions for any kids to live in. They looked sad, malnourished and with bruises of physical abuse, most likely from the parents themselves.
Charles had seen this almost every time he went to those home visits he made with either Ororo or Logan. Hank couldn't make them because of his appearance, which would unfortunately freaked some people out.
And Charles knew that he can't mind control the parents into giving the children away, so the best course of action is for him to talk directly with the children through his telepathy and reveal the real reason for his visit, together with the promise of a safe place and help if ever needed.
Help the boy was now asking for.
Help that will be delivered.
"Tell me everything" said Charles, not wasting a second before answering the distressed boy. He, at the same time, established a mental link with Hank and Ororo so they could also hear the conversation from wherever they may be from within the mansion.
"W-we were kidnapped from our homes, we all a- oh uhm, there's five of us, and we were in a p-plane and we w-were in a cage and they shackled and beat us and…" as the boy was rambling on his situation, Hank, who was in his lab immediately got his hands on tracking where the phone call is coming from.
«Are you both getting this?» asked Charles through the mental link he installed with his friends the moment the boy asked for help.
«Indeed we are» replied Ororo with a stern voice «How certain are we that this is a real distress call?» She didn't mean to sound like she didn't want to help the poor kids, but she knew the possibilities of this being a plot of one of their many enemies to take them down.
«Hmm, I don't believe these children to be working with any anti-mutant factions because of their nature, and the Brotherhood of Mutants wouldn't act like this towards their own kind. Hank?» After Charles gave the kids his vote of confidence, he asked his friend for his.
«I also believe that the children are telling the truth, given how the young man is talking with such emotion and detail. I also have to inform you that I've located where the signal is coming from. Apparently these kids were taken somewhere in between Westchester and New York City» informed the blue fur covered man.
«Storm?» Saying her code name, Charles asked the powerful woman for confirmation from her.
«… let's go get those children» Stated Storm with finality in her voice.
"Listen to me Carter, stay right where you are, in no time my associates will be with you, kids. For now be brave and sit tightly. You think you can manage that?" asked Charles with a soft tone.
"Really!? I-I mean, yeah of course, we can wait here" Carter said excitedly as he relayed the message to the other kids, who also let childish squeals and gratitudes out loud enough for Charles, and consequently Storm and Hank to hear, making them smile warmly.
"Great, I'll stay with you on the phone while my friends arrive, is that alright with you?" Questioned Charles as he could feel how his mental link grew weaker by the distance both adults took when they arrived at the hangar underneath the mansion.
"Of course, sir!" That made Charles chuckle, and told Carter to call him professor. After that Charles mentioned that his mental link would be cut because of the distance with Hank and Storm, so if anything happened they should contact him.
Then Charles spent the next several minutes talking with all five children on speaker voice. He apologized profusely to the kids when he heard their situation with each of their families and promised all of them a place in his home, to study and perhaps, if they were willing to agree to it, a family.
The children agreed excitedly to the idea of living with others like them, who wouldn't hate their nature because they would be the same.
"Hey kids, it must've slipped my mind, but you said you were saved and that 'he' went after the bad guys aboard the plane. Who is 'he'?" Charles wanted to ask that question since the guy was first mentioned, but he knew that the children needed assurance of their safety before any type of interrogation could be made.
"Oh! It was Spider-Man!" Yelled Chelsea with admiration and childfull glee.
"Spider-Man?" Asked now a dumbfounded Xavier "isn't he a menace that terrorizes New York City?" He had heard about the guy, probably the whole world has by now, but the only things he's heard and read are about his misdeeds with his merry band of monsters and gangsters.
Every time Charles grabbed a newspaper to keep up with the events of today, Spider-Man would be mentioned at least once and he'd be called out for all the acts he's done wrongly that week. Which seemed to be a lot for even the Avengers to not capture the mask wearing evil doer by now.
He has noticed however how many of his students talked about the guy, praising him and hyping him up as a 'cool dude', as they would say.
His question caused all the kids to gasp in disbelief and briefly after that, make all of them talk at the same time in what he could recognize was a slightly angry tone.
"K-kids please, I can't understand you if you all talk at the same time" Explained Charles his predicament, hearing how they stopped talking together to the phone in favor of talking quietly among themselves until they reached some kind of agreement.
"Y-yes, sorry about that Professor. It's just… Spider-Man is everyone's hero, y'know? But for some reason he gets criticized by the news! I don't know why, but because of it many people don't trust him and that's unfair!" Carter said as he shushed the other kids so that the professor could hear him.
"But those are lies! Spider-Man is a hero, he beats bad guys and saves everyone! L-like he saved us!" yelled Chelsea, gaining cheers from the other 3 kids aside from Carter, who shushed her again for interrupting him.
'A hero… that saves everyone…' Charles pondered about the meaning behind those words.
Whoever this Spider-Man fellow is behind the mask doesn't seem to be doing it for fame, he wouldn't be wearing a mask if that was the reason. He wasn't doing it for the glory, he would have done something bold or acted against the Daily Bugle and other news stations that painted him wrongly to the public if that was the case.
And he definitely was not doing it for profit, because even when the newspapers always claimed that Spider-Man had a hand in every robbery that he makes an appearance in, nothing is ever really stolen at the end of the day.
Charles felt embarrassed, he should know better than to judge someone based on what the public says. The mutants are hated by all; painted as devils and freaks of nature when that is untrue after all.
Perhaps one day Charles could form his own opinion on this hero if they ever meet. A shame that he is not a mutant, he would've made an excellent addition to his future team of 'X-Men'.
Xavier remembers with fascination how Spider-Man and his merry band of villains with superpowers are 'mutates' rather than mutants. Meaning that they obtained their abilities from outside sources, much like Captain America did with his Super Soldier Serum.
He confirms this every time he tries to make contact with someone in New York with Cerebro and he never sees any of the previously mentioned men. Since Cerebro was made specifically to search for mutants, it was only reasonable to assume none of them are if they do not show up.
Plus every time one of Spider-Man's villains is placed behind bars, they more or less confess that they got their powers through their suits or in unfortunate accidents, further proving that none of them are mutants.
As Charles was pondering about the man, the children let out a frightened scream "kids?! Is something wrong?!" Asked the bald man in worry for their safety.
"A-another plane is landing! This one is black and well, it honestly looks very cool" answered Hajoon as he admired the vessel, even when he was scared out of his mind.
"Black? Kids I think those are my friends, please describe those who step out of the jet please" requested Xavier while he felt himself relax at the thought of Storm and Beast reaching the kids.
At the hangar
"O-okay, uhm-" "WOAH! One is like, a blue gorilla in underwear" said Carla interrupted Carter at the sight of Beast, making Charles stifle a laugh at the little girl's reaction.
"Wow, she's beautiful" muttered Mark as his eyes laid upon the goddess of a woman descending from the plane's ramp.
"Okay kids, those are indeed my colleagues. Please know that you can trust them to keep you all safe and I will be seeing you all when you arrive at the mansion" Said the Professor from the other side of the phone. His words made all the kids relax their tense bodies so much that two nearly passed out.
The kids didn't need to call out to the two adults that came in the black jet, since the blue gorilla-like being seemed to sniff the air for a few moments before looking directly at them through the window.
He waved lightly with what everyone assumed is a smile on it's face while telling something inaudible to the woman next to him, who after hearing him also looked at them with a soft smile, also waving.
From there the two adults climbed up the stairs to the office, where Storm was received with hugs of gratitude from the girls and Beast was met with amusing questions about his appearance by the two youngest boys.
"Professor, I'm going to hang up now but… I wanted to thank you. My sister, these three and myself would've been… I don't even know but-" Carter gave the professor his thanks while shuddering at the thought of what could've been, but was interrupted by the older man.
"There's no need to think what could have happened my dear boy, let's all be glad you called and we answered. Now, I believe you have a flight to take and I, rooms to make. I'll personally greet you all here." Talked Xavier with a soothing tone, bringing the bright side of the situation.
"Thank you, really thank you" Was the last thing Carter said before hanging up the phone.
After that Storm and Hank made some reassurance to everyone as to where they are going to live now, if they wanted to do so of course, the school they would be a part of, and how they would all do their best back home to keep everyone safe.
And so the children got on board the newt now known to them as the blackbird and flew to safety, to their new home.
With Peter
Peter was probably the most nervous he's ever been in his entire life.
Sure, he's been in many life threatening battles, but they were all on the moment, never has Peter had to wait for hours for the inevitable battle that's about to take place once the plane lands.
What's worse is the fact that Peter actually fell asleep in a corner of the cargo bay. He would have never done something as stupid, but he spent his entire day with his friends and his entire night searching after the kidnapped kids so when he got a chance to 'relax' his body shut down in need of rest the moment it could.
Maybe it was a good thing, he was sure he needed all the energy he could have for wherever he was going.
His alarm came in the form of his spider-sense, who warned him about one of the guards who was about to shout for help from inside the cage, now with the webs that were on his mouth dissolved into dust after an hour.
Luckily for Peter, the guards were not only knocked out, but exhausted from a hard working, kid kidnapping day, so they also fell asleep during the majority of the trip.
Once Peter woke up and webbed the guards again, he took notice of everything he had with him. Suit, web shooters, web cartridges and that's it. The webs on his shooters were really running thin.
'I should really think about getting a wider utility belt, maybe a place to keep my flip phone' thought Peter as he was munching on some supply crackers he found on one of the boxes while staring at the guards who were glaring daggers at him.
Peter knew that the flip phone was for trading information and asking for backup if ever needed. Thing he desperately wanted to do. He didn't know what Daredevil could possibly do in this situation, but anything was welcome at this point.
Peter was thinking of how he wished he had someone with him this time around, when he felt the plane tilt forward meaning it's decent.
Peter tuned out everything, bringing his mask down covering his mouth again.
His heart hammering in his chest boomed in his ear, it was the only thing he could hear asides his heavy breathes.
He could feel the plane land softly on the runway as the speed decreased more and more.
'Alright Pete, you don't know what's on the other side, but the other side also don't know what they're in for, calm down and think' Peter started to think of his best course of action in this situation, thinking first of going out full force as soon as the ramp lowered, hitting everyone on sight before they even know what's going on.
And so he did.
The ramp went down and Peter Peter waited until he saw his first target, a man with the same military uniform as the ones from the cage, only this one had a giant white cross on his chest.
The guard, upon walking up the ramp, widened his eyes at the sight of his comrades caged and webbed up, but before he could say or do anything anything, got Spider-Man jumping at him from the shadows. Delivering one heck of a punch that kneocked him down instantly.
After that Spider-Man flew out of the plane with an impressive jump that startled every guard on sight, so they aimed and fired at the hero with fear clear in their eyes at the showings of power the masked was making.
"Not the kids you were expecting, right?!" Quipped Peter as he hid behind a truck, only for him to kick it in the direction of the rest of the guards who ducked just in time for the vehicle to go past them.
They weren't fast enough to avoid Spider-Man jumping towards them; suddenly finding themselves face to face with a barrage of punches, kicks and quips that made fool out of them.
"All right, I think that's-" Peter started saying as he looked around, seeing everyone but himself knocked out. Even the pilot and co-pilot had been defeated when they tried sneaking out of this new hangar.
But then, Peter felt his spider-sense go off, screaming at him to move his head, which he did, tilting it to the side.
*WHIZ* sounded in his ear as he looked at the bullet that he barely avoided hitting in the ground in front of him. Calculating the angle in a millisecond, Peter turned around and looked up to a man with a sniper rifle aiming at him from his vantage point.
A little square near the ceiling where the guy had an eye on the entire room, accessible only by the ladder underneath it.
The sniper looked shocked for a second, probably because instead of seeing brains painting the floor, he was looking at Spider-Man glaring at him through the mask.
The sniper knew it was impossible. Everything that has been happening since the plane landed has been.
There's no way one of New York's freaks stowed away on the plane and went unnoticed; there was no way said freak single handedly defeated every single guard but him in no time without a proper gun, but instead throwing webs and trucks; and there was no way in hell that he had a chance at avoiding the bullet.
But he did all of that, and now he was glaring at him with what the guard could feel in his bones was a predatory rage. So he shot again, but this time the spandex wearing guy was prepared.
Spider-Man ran from his position at a humanly impossible speed, avoiding the bullet and then jumped 10 meters (≈30 feet) in the air in a single leap and stood up easily in the railing in front of the sniper.
The sniper shaked slightly in fear, but he still aimed at Spider-Man who was now at point blank from him.
"Really dude?" Asked Spider-Man with an annoyed tone as he gripped the barrel of the gun and *KRAKK* crushed it with his hand before he could fire it.
Spider-Man knew it was more or less his fault; he knows he wouldn't stand idly before he's a hundred percent sure there are no more bad guys lurking around. But the fear of his death turned into anger at the guy, so he could justify himself to anyone if asked why he punched every teeth out from one guy and not the others, right?
"Come in brother, do you have the children in sight?" Peter was slightly startled when a distorted voice came from the bloodied man's chest, but he quickly realized it was a radio.
"Do you have the children on sight?!" The same guy pressed on, now changing his tone from cocky to a nervous one.
Finding the radio in the sniper's clothes, Peter grinned mischievously.
Moments before
Wolverine was running around a facility that reminded him a little too much of the Weapon X's, and that made him very angry. Dumbasses even placed it in Alberta a few hours' ride away from the first! Luckily for him this one was much, much smaller.
He had been tracking the purifiers for a few weeks now, and the last lead he's had from the group brought him here with hopes of finding some kidnapped children from New York City that reverend Stryker has been trailing after.
Apparently he wanted to see when a child turned into one of those devil worshipping mutants, so he planned to kidnap ten kids and monitor their progress and see if there was a way to stop it from happening.
5 kids he grabbed are from Westchester county and 5 others from New York City. Wolverine arrived just in time to the facility to see a plane landing on the other side of the base, so he knows he's got a chance to save some of the kids.
Once he does he'll have to look for the others in another base, hopefully it's near this one.
And so, Wolverine has been running for a few minutes now through the place, finding first the control room where the cameras are. Once he found where the hangar is, he ran there as he killed anyone who got in his way.
He got shot quite a few times but nothing that would stop him.
"Stop right there!" Said one man in what appeared to be a different outfit from the rest. While everyone has military outfits, this one was wearing a black clerical shirt and robe with a huge white cross in the middle. This guy was clearly a higher up in this place.
*Grrr* "I ain't stoppin' for nothin" answered Wolverine as he popped out his claws with a loud *SNIKT*.
"Heh, don't be so sure. I was told you might come here by reverend Stryker, so I have contingencies. If you do so much as take a single step without me ordering you to, my men will shoot the kids." Said the man with a smug grin.
"Yeah? And what if I make a skewer out of ya' right now?" Asked Logan as he licked his claws in a menacing way.
The man then picked up a walkie talkie and shaked it in front of him for Wolverine to see.
"Come in brother, do you have the children in sight?" Asked the man in a cocky tone as he watched Wolverine stiffen. He was sure the man wasn't bluffing, and he had hostages to spare so there was nothing much he could do.
"…" both the man and Wolverine stood quietly as they looked at the radio on the man's hand not responding. Wolverine felt a grin tugging at his lips as the other guy felt his nerves skyrocket.
"Do you have the children on sight?!" Demanded to know the guy now desperately as he looked at the menacing grin on Wolverine's face. He got a flicker of hope when the radio on his hand started making some noise.
"Hello, hello? Can you listen to me? I'm sure you can. Anyway, you said children? There aren't any here, just some knocked out uglies here and there" both men heard from the other side someone clearly young answer in a mocking voice.
"W-what?! Where are the kids?! W-who are you?!" Questioned fearfully the man as he saw Wolverine walking calmly towards him.
"The kids? Oh, those little rascals are safe back in New York, most likely… and as for me, who am I? Well I'm your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man! A little bit far from the neighborhood but… you get it" What Peter didn't know is that the man that he was talking to was already dead by the time he stopped talking, and Wolverine was just looking at the radio with a wondering look.
'Spider-Man, huh, I've heard about him before' Logan remembers the time weeks or even months ago when Kitty and Jubie Lee asked him if this guy was a mutant, but were disappointed when he relayed a message from Xavier explaining that neither him or any of the guys he fights are mutants.
Even so, and despite the news about the guy being a menace, every student in the mansion seems to admire the guy.
But Logan was not so easily swayed, he needed to know what was the agenda of the guy before he could trust him.
He had to admit though, if he really did save those children, defeated all the guards and then made an opening for him by making fun of the prick now laying dead at his feet, the guy was on the right path.
"Hellooo?" Asked the masked guy from the other side of the radio as he felt ignored.
'Kinda annoying though' grumbled Wolverine as he walked through the door leading to the hangar.
Smelling the air, Logan was able to locate the guy after some seconds. Normally he would have been able to do so almost instantly, but this guy smells like something he's never smelled before, like something unnatural. And that smell covered almost every corner in the hangar, as if the guy flew all over it.
Until he sniffed enough and turned around, seeing the red and blue costume wearing guy standing perfectly horizontally with no help of any kind wall from which Wolverine just entered through with his arms crossed.
It was a creepy sight for Wolverine, with the guy standing still like that on the wall, his unnatural smell and his soulless masked eyes staring directly at him.
"Did you really find me by sniffing the air? Are you a dog or should I feel offended?" Asked Spider-Man in a mocking tone as he sniffed his armpits.
"Did you do this?" Asked Wolverine, ignoring the questions as he looked at the beat up guards covered in webs and the truck upside down in a corner of the room.
"Me? Nah, you just missed the guy who did it though, handsome fellow" quipped Spider-Man as he jumped from the wall with a front flip and landed gracefully in front of the short man.
"He requested me to ask you guys why would someone kidnap children, so, you're going to tell me the good way or the bad way" Spider-Man kept talking as he crouched in his battle pose.
"And I'm assuming you're going to beat the answers out of me?" Asked Logan with a cocky smile.
Spider-Man confusing him with an enemy came in perfectly, this way he would be sure to know what he wanted with the mutant kids. He just needed to make sure he didn't hurt Spider-Man too badly.
"If I have to, mustard man" answered Spider-Man with a serious tone while making fun of his yellow suit.
"What do you want with the kids anyways, bub? What's in it for you?" Logan asked as he started walking to the side at the same time as Spider-Man, circling each other with the tension of a fight high.
"What's in it for me? Just the knowledge that those kids are safe from people like you" answered Spider-Man, still assuming that the guy in front of him works with the bad guys.
"You don't know anything 'bout me bub, and I bet you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what those kids really are" Logan had seen it a thousand times. Some Good Samaritan tries helping someone that is being beaten up or something only to find out they are mutant. Then they join the assaulters with disgust for the poor mutant.
Logan has no reason to believe any person is any different.
"Those are kids in danger, that's enough reason for me to beat your ass" Spider-Man said with seriousness in his voice.
But this guy was actually giving Logan reasons on why to trust him, maybe he is a hero like every kid in the mansion claims after all.
*SNIKT* "Let's dance then" said Logan as he pops his claws back out while Spider-Man's mask narrows.
They each charged to the other.