We sat in Jean's living room. The girls were on the couch, fidgeting nervously with tin foil hats on their heads. It wasn't the best solution against Xavier's powers, but it was all I could do in the short time available.
Logan and Storm were standing on either side of Xavier, with Erik unconscious beside him, tied up with my strongest webbing. I sat on a lounger, looking at my phone.
"What are you doing?" Logan asked.
"I'm calling SHIELD," I replied, motioning to Erik. "They'll prepare a cage for him."
"I don't think that would be wise," Charles spoke up.
I looked at him. "One, I don't give a damn what you like, and two, this isn't up for debate." I connected the phone to my helmet, which I still had on. I waited for it to ring before David picked up.
"What?"
"Magneto — do you know about him?" I asked.
"What?! Why?! Peter, don't do something stupid! What's going on?"
"Earlier tonight Magneto attacked me and my friends. He's currently unconscious in Jean Grey's living room. Tell Fury to prepare a cell for him — no ferrous metals. You could use titanium, but you need to treat it. Come quickly; I don't know how long he'll be out."
"What?! What the hell are you—" I hung up. Annoying little shit.
"There's nothing to worry about, Peter. Right now I have him in an artificial coma — he won't wake up any time soon," the bald man told me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't call me that."
Charles looked surprised. "W-what?"
"I'm wearing this costume for a reason, you bald fool," I spat out. "Why don't you just advertise my secret identity to the rest of the world while you're at it?"
"I'm sorry — Spider-Man," he quickly corrected. "It will not happen again."
"I don't believe you," I shot back.
"I don't make it a habit of reading the minds of others," Charles sighed, looking at Felicia. "I am truly sorry, Ms. Hardy. I had no choice." Felicia flinched slightly.
"Don't you dare look at her!" I growled. "A man who compromised his morals once can and will do so again. If you want to act like the Martin Luther King Jr. of mutants, you'd better start acting the part."
"Show some respect, kid," Logan growled.
"You show up in my city and reveal my secrets — why the hell are you people here?" I asked.
"Because of Ms. Grey," Charles smiled at Jean. "I discovered your powers quite recently. I wasn't aware that Erik had done so as well."
"Discovered? How?" Jean asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"A machine that lets me locate mutants such as yourself," Charles explained. "It detected your presence the moment your powers awakened."
"Great — a giant mutant detection machine. I'm sure there's no way that'll ever be misused," I rolled my eyes.
"Huh, kid's got a mouth on him," Logan chuckled.
Charles sighed. "Yes, he does."
"Why did you come looking for me?" Jean asked. "Are you trying to recruit me like Magneto?"
"Oh, heavens no," Charles shook his head. "I'm trying to teach you. I have a school upstate where I help gifted mutants learn to control their abilities. There, I teach students to live in harmony with humans and master their powers. I would very much like it if you joined us, Jean."
"M-me?" Jean asked, shocked.
Charles nodded. "Yes, you. You see, like you—" He went silent, closing his eyes.
Jean suddenly gasped. "H-how are you doing that?" Charles remained silent, and slowly Jean closed her eyes too.
Logan growled. "I hate it when they do that."
"W-what's going on?" MJ asked.
"They're communicating telepathically," I replied with a sigh. "Which is really quite rude."
"You'll get used to it," Storm finally spoke. She looked at me and the girls and smiled. "Hello. I am Ororo Munroe, and this man is Logan. We are teachers at the school."
"S-so you're mutants too?" Liz asked slowly, her courage returning.
"Yes, we are," Ororo nodded. "I can control the weather — make it rain, snow, whatever I wish."
Logan growled. He held up one hand, clenched it, and brought out his claws. "I'm nothing special."
I looked at him properly for the first time. This Logan was shorter, his frame wider. Judging from the costume he wore, this world's X-Men were from the X-Men Evolution TV show. But judging from my actions, I had probably already changed the events of said show. Damn it.
"So, Furry — what's the deal with you and growling?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow and growled. "See what I mean?!"
Ororo chuckled while Logan gave a short smile. And then Liz exploded. "Peter! You're freaking Spider-Man!"
I sighed and leaned back. "So you finally got it, huh?"
Liz gaped. "B-but how?! When?! Why?!"
"Peter, how long have you... been... you know," MJ looked at me, examining my costume from head to toe.
I sighed. "Since the day the Hulk destroyed Harlem." MJ gasped and I nodded. "Yeah. When I told you I went to help people, I really went to stop those two from destroying the city."
"Wait — you're that kid in the red and blue hoodie who stopped that grey abomination?" Logan asked.
I nodded. "Yeah."
"Impressive," Ororo's eyes went wide with surprise.
"Not really," I shrugged. "I just closed off its air passage and made it suffocate."
"So you're Spider-Man?!" Liz asked.
"Yes, Liz, I am," I rolled my eyes. "I promise I'll explain everything to you guys later. But right now we need to focus on Jean."
"Oh my God," Liz whispered as she began thinking to herself. I could almost see the wheels spinning.
"And you knew?" MJ asked Felicia, in what I figured was a jealous tone.
Felicia gave a small smile and nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
MJ looked pissed. She turned to me and glared. "Why did you tell her and not me?! I'm your oldest friend!"
I shrugged. "I trust her more."
MJ looked hurt. "Y-you don't trust me?"
"I do, MJ, I really do — but this was something too big. Plus, you were dating Harry at the time. I didn't think you'd keep my secret."
"Peter, I would never do something like that!" MJ cried out. "I'm your friend first, Tiger. You can always talk to me!"
I sighed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. We'll talk about this later, MJ." I glanced at Jean and Charles, who seemed to be wrapping up. "First we deal with this."
Jean opened her eyes and let out a sigh. "This is so strange."
Charles smiled. "Yes, I find talking with our minds to be much quicker and more... liberating than using our mouths."
"Yeah," Jean nodded. "I get what you mean."
"So? Have you given it any thought, Jean?" Charles asked.
"I... I accept," Jean spoke slowly.
"What?!" Liz cried out. "Jean, you can't go with them! You heard Peter — he read Felicia's mind! And ours!"
Jean nodded. "I know, but... I need to learn, Liz. I need to know what my limits are and... I can't do that here."
I sighed. "You know the problem with your choice?" Everyone turned to me, and I glared at Charles. "You can't be sure who's making it. You — or the man who can control people's minds."
"I assure you, Spider-Man, I would never manipulate a student like that," Charles defended himself.
"A student? What about everyone else? Do we not count?"
"I merely meant I wouldn't force anyone to join my school," Charles calmly explained. I'll admit I was being unfair, but screw him — he had violated my girlfriend's mind.
"Jean, you can't go," MJ said slowly. "With all that's happening... we need you."
Jean lowered her head. "No, MJ, you don't. Peter can protect you, but me... I'm useless to everyone until I can figure out how my powers work."
"Don't talk like that, Jean," Felicia cut in. "Pete didn't become who he is overnight. It took time and training — a lot of it. He grew into his powers, and so can you."
"Yeah, but come on, we all know Peter's something special," Jean smiled at me. "I still can't believe you're Spider-Man."
I smiled and shrugged. "You would have figured it out, Birdie. You don't give yourself enough credit."
"Jean, do you really want to do this?" Liz asked slowly.
"I have to, Liz. I want to protect you all, but I can't do that without... without help," she sighed, her pride wounded by the admission.
I stood up and looked down at her. Jean met my eyes and slowly stood as well. We faced each other. "If you go with them, you're going to get into a lot of trouble."
"I can handle it."
I grinned. "I bet. But when you're off growing into a powerful mutant and all that, I want you to remember what you learned from us. That humans won't always be cruel — that sometimes they can be kind as well. Don't ever forget that, Jean."
Jean slowly nodded. "I won't. I promise."
"This is so not fair!" Liz cried out as she hugged Jean. "We literally just started hanging out and you're already leaving?!"
"I'm sorry, Liz. I wish I had more time," Jean sighed as she held her friend, a few small tears rolling down her cheeks.
Slowly the others got up and hugged Jean as well, whispering how much they would miss her. Soon SHIELD arrived and took Magneto away. Charles, Logan, and Ororo left shortly after, Charles promising to speak with Jean's parents about the transition first thing in the morning.
The next day was a Sunday. Charles had convinced Jean's parents to send her to his school. I had Jean make sure her parents weren't being mind-controlled, just in case. So now she had to pack all her things, and the girls and I volunteered to help.
I walked up to her home in normal civilian clothes and whistled at the sight of the wreckage. I hadn't fully taken it in the night before, but Magneto had really done a number on it. Her room was now open to the sky. I could see MJ, Liz, and Felicia inside, helping Jean pack.
"Hello, girls," I walked up to them with a smile. "Working hard, I see."
"Hey, Tiger," Felicia smiled as she gave me a quick peck on the cheek. She took my hands and sighed at the cast around them. "What did the doctor say?"
"A few weeks to recover," I smiled. "Meaning I'll probably be fine by tomorrow."
"So, is that like one of your powers?" Liz asked in a quiet whisper.
I nodded. "Yeah, my body heals fast. But maybe we should hold off on that discussion until we're somewhere a little more..." I glanced at the missing fourth wall. "Private?"
"Yeah, maybe," MJ agreed.
With my help, we had the packing done by lunchtime, when Jean suggested we go out to eat. She told her parents it was a last meal with friends, and they quickly agreed.
We went to an Italian place a few blocks over and found ourselves a quiet booth in the back — somewhere I knew we wouldn't be overheard.
"How did you explain the missing wall to your parents?" MJ asked.
"Professor Xavier told them their foundation was cracked," Jean shrugged. "They didn't really believe him, but they don't know what else to think. I think my dad's going to hire someone to figure it out."
MJ nodded. "Cool. By the way, what happened to the crazy magnet guy?"
"SHIELD has him locked up," I told them. "As of last night he was taken to a black site and locked away with the key thrown out. We won't be hearing from him any time soon."
"Okay, can we finally talk about this now?" Liz asked, her patience finally running out. "You're Spider-Man!"
"Quietly!" I hissed, looking around. Thank God no one overheard that. "Yes, Liz, I'm Spider-Man. Happy?"
"How?!" she asked.
I sighed. "Remember that field trip we took? The time I got bitten by that spider?"
"Yeah," she drew out her answer.
"It altered my genetic code and gave me spider-like powers. I became faster, stronger, and could cling to walls. Hence, Spider-Man. There — happy?"
"But how? It was just a spider, right?" MJ asked in surprise.
"No, it was a genetically altered, irradiated spider," I replied. I didn't mention the fact that my blood could also adapt in various ways — too much information for now.
"What about the webs?" Jean asked.
"Artificial," I shrugged. "I designed them myself at home."
"You did that?" MJ asked, then rolled her eyes. "Of course you did. Why do I even bother asking?"
And so I spent the rest of the afternoon and better part of the evening explaining what I did and why I did it. I didn't tell them everything — things like my research into my own blood, or SHIELD training me.
"So wait, you found a way to reverse-engineer the Iron Man suit?!" Liz asked in shock as we walked through a local park.
I chuckled. "Not all of it, no — just the arc reactor and the repulsor beams. It's fascinating, really. Top-notch stuff."
"Wow," Jean said. "So like, do you know other heroes?"
I shrugged. "Not really. The ones I know are the Fantastic Four."
"Wait, do they know about your... other job?" MJ chose her words carefully.
"Yeah. During my first fight with Doom I got knocked out, and they took care of me and found out. But they were totally cool about it — Johnny especially. He was so excited to have a buddy to play superhero with."
"Oh my God, this is so freaking weird!" Liz yelled out. Felicia chuckled, and Liz narrowed her eyes at her. "And don't you dare laugh! How long have you known?!"
Felicia rolled her eyes. "Since December."
"December," MJ repeated slowly. "Almost half a year. And you... how did you keep it a secret for so long?"
Felicia smiled and wrapped her arms around mine. "He's my Tiger. How could I ever betray him?"
I smirked. "Oh, Kitten, just for that, you are so getting some tonight."
"Oh no — no, no, no — you two aren't doing anything tonight!" Liz quickly announced. "Tonight is Jean's last day in New York, so we are spending the time together!"
I looked at Felicia, who shrugged. I nodded. "Alright, fair enough. Any ideas?"
Liz grinned. "Yeah... party time!"