C482 Spider-Man (Patreon)
Content
The battle had come to an end, and Kang the Conqueror lay defeated, reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. Peter Parker, still clad in his Spider-Man suit, stood amidst the aftermath of the epic confrontation, surrounded by the citizens of Axia who looked at him with a mixture of fear and gratitude. It was a moment of triumph, but there were loose ends to tie up.
With a casual snap of his fingers, Peter summoned the power of the Reality Stone once more. The air around him shimmered, and in an instant, the missing heroes reappeared. Tony Stark, Genie, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym, and Janet Van Dyne blinked in confusion as they found themselves back in existence.
"What just happened?" Tony exclaimed, his suit's HUD displaying multiple error messages as it tried to make sense of the temporal anomaly. "One moment, we were about to be Kang's hostages, and the next..."
Hank was equally bewildered. "I don't understand. Did we just vanish into thin air?"
Peter cleared his throat, his voice calm and collected. "You did, but for good reason. I had to keep you safe from Kang. He was using you as leverage."
Scott scratched his head, still trying to piece together what had transpired. "So, you made us disappear? How?"
Peter smirked beneath his mask. "Magic."
Hope shot Peter a curious look. "What happened to Kang? Did you defeat him?"
Peter nodded, his eyes shifting to the pile of ashes nearby. "He's gone. For good."
As soon as Janet heard those words, she couldn't contain her emotions any longer. Her heart swelled with a mixture of relief, joy, and grief that had been building up for far too long. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she looked at her husband, Hank, and her daughter, Hope, who she’s finally reunited with after an eternity apart.
"Where is he?" Janet's voice quivered with anticipation, she had to be sure that he was dead. After all, Kang is like a mutated cockroach, he could survive just about anything.
Peter silently pointed toward the smoldering remains of Kang. Janet stared at the ashes, disbelief washing over her. Kang, her eternal nemesis, the source of so much suffering, was finally defeated. She couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.
Hank, equally moved, embraced his wife tightly. She had fought a seemingly endless battle against Kang, and now, she could finally find some semblance of peace. Though she wasn’t the only one in tears. The surrounding Axia citizens couldn’t help but cry out in relief and sorrow for the many years spent under Kang’s oppressive rule.
Just as Hank and Janet found solace in each other's arms, a set of footsteps approached them. A middle-aged man, his features etched with a mix of shock and hope, stepped out from the crowd of Axia citizens who had gathered to witness the battle's conclusion.
"Janet," he called out, his voice trembling with a strange blend of guilt and longing.
Janet's head snapped toward the newcomer, her eyes locking onto his face. Recognition flickered in her gaze, followed by a bone-chilling glare that sent shivers down the man's spine. This man was Krylar, her former lover from her time in the resistance.
Krylar flinched away from Janet's intense gaze but tried to muster the courage to speak. "Janet, I... I love you. Everything I did, it was to make a better future for us. And now, with Kang gone, we can rule Axia together. We can make it a better place..."
Janet's sneer cut through his words like a razor. The man who had betrayed her, who had chosen to side with her greatest enemy, now wanted to rule Axia with her. Her expression darkened as she realized she might not have known Krylar as well as she thought she did.
Hank, shocked by this revelation, looked at his wife with a mix of confusion and hurt. He hadn't known about Janet's relationships during her time in the quantum realm.
They were separate for a long time, so Hank couldn’t blame her too much. After all, even he tried his hand in few dates throughout the years, though not a single woman lasted more than the third date. His love for Janet seemed to always dwarf that of anyone else, except their daughter, of course. But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel the slightest bit betrayed by his wife.
The only question was who would she choose? Her long lost husband, or the man she found in the quantum realm. And could Hank live with the fact that she had moved on, replacing him with another man? Only time would tell.
As Krylar's words hung in the air, Janet's anger boiled over. She pushed Hank away and walked toward Krylar, her steps filled with purpose. Hank and Hope called out to Janet, trying to understand her actions. “Janet?!/Mom?!”
Krylar, blinded by his own desires, thought that Janet was coming back to him. He eagerly opened his arms to embrace her, but as Janet leaned in, she made a swift, unexpected move. With lightning speed, she reached for the blaster holstered at Krylar's side.
In the blink of an eye, she drew the blaster and unloaded it into Krylar's chest. The once-confident man crumpled to the ground, coughing up blood that mixed with the crimson pool forming beneath him.
Everyone around gasped in shock, except for Peter, who let out a low whistle of approval.
“Your mom’s kinda scary…” Scott whispered to Hope.
Janet looked down at Krylar, her expression cold and unforgiving. "We're even now. See you in hell…"
Krylar, struggling to speak through his dying breaths, gazed up at Janet with a mixture of disbelief and regret. His betrayal had cost him everything, including the woman he had once claimed to love.
With a final, rasping exhalation, Krylar succumbed to his wounds, leaving behind a world that would move on without him.
Janet stood over Krylar's lifeless body, a sense of finality in the air. Kang was gone, and now, so was the man who had betrayed her. The weight of her long-fought battles and tangled emotions had finally begun to lift, leaving her to face an uncertain future with her husband, Hank, and her daughter, Hope, by her side. She only hoped that her husband could look past her indiscretion, praying that Krylar’s death would help show who she really cares for.
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As Janet explained her actions to her confused family, the trio of Peter, Tony, and Genie seized the opportunity to sneak away and begin their looting mission within Kang's citadel. Scott Lang, torn between joining the heist and making a good impression on his future mother-in-law, chose to stay with Hope and her family, at least for now.
The trio swiftly moved through the labyrinthine halls of Kang's fortress, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. They knew that within these walls lay treasures from across the multiverse, and they were determined to claim them as their own.
Tony couldn't resist the opportunity to dig deeper into one particular mystery that had been bugging him. As they scoured the citadel for valuables, he turned to Peter, who was walking beside him.
"So," Tony began casually, "I couldn't help but notice that Kree friend of yours, Genie. He seems... interesting. You care to explain?"
Genie was a few paces ahead, preoccupied with a holographic display of a rare artifact. Peter realized that Tony's curiosity extended beyond mere observation.
Peter glanced at Tony, considering his words carefully. He made sure that Genie's true nature as a powerful Djinn was a well-guarded secret. Peter had instructed Genie to keep his powers and identity hidden, given the potential danger if others were to discover it.
"Well," Peter replied in a low voice, "Genie is a friend of mine. He's unique, and I trust him with my life. That said, if you want to know more about him, you'll need to earn his trust. I can't spill all the beans, you know."
Tony arched an eyebrow, clearly intrigued but also slightly annoyed. "Come on… Can’t you just tell me?"
Peter chuckled beneath his mask. "No."
Tony grumbled but decided to take Peter's advice. He walked over to Genie, who was busy examining a collection of alien weaponry.
"Hey," Tony began with an overly friendly tone, "Find anything good?"
Genie gestured to a nearby rifle, a wary look on his face. "I think that gun might turn people into food paste..."
Tony groaned in disgust. “Eww.”
As Tony and Genie struck up a conversation, Peter managed to find Kang’s original ship, but of course, it was missing the multiverse engine core. ‘It should be out in the wasteland somewhere…’
After stashing the ship into a portal, Peter decided to slip away for a moment. He turned to his two companions and spoke up, "I'm going out for a bit. You guys have fun here, and feel free to explore the city once you're done. Who knows what other goodies you might come across."
Opening a shimmering portal with a wave of his hand, Peter stepped through and emerged in the wasteland just outside the city. Reaching into his pocket, Peter pulled out the gem containing Kang's soul. Immediately, he could feel Kang's intense glare boring into him from within the crystal.
"Kang," Peter began, addressing the trapped conqueror, "I have a question for you."
Kang's voice echoed from the stone, laced with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. "What could you possibly want?"
Peter's tone remained cool and collected. "I want to know the location of your Multiverse Engine Core. Where is it?"
Kang's initial shock at Peter's knowledge quickly turned to realization. He deduced that Janet had shared this information with Peter, but why didn’t she just tell him? After all, she knows where it is.
"F*ck off," Kang retorted defiantly.
Peter let out an exasperated sigh. "Kang, you have two choices here. You can either work with me, or I can deliver you to the Council of Kangs as a bargaining chip to keep them away from my universe. Either way, I get the council off my back."
Kang hesitated, weighing his options. He had faced countless challenges and manipulations throughout his existence, but Peter's threat struck a nerve. He knew that dealing with the Council of Kangs would be far from pleasant.
With a resigned tone, Kang finally relented, revealing the location of the Multiverse Engine Core.
Peter smirked under his mask. "Thank you, Kang. You've been most helpful."
The conqueror's angry protests were silenced as Peter stored the crystal back in his pocket, where Kang could neither see nor hear anything. With the information he needed in hand, Peter created another portal, this time leading him to the location of the Multiverse Engine Core.
As he arrived at the colossal structure, Peter marveled at its sheer size. With a snap of his fingers and the power of the Reality Stone, Peter shrunk the engine core down to its original size, catching it effortlessly in the palm of his hand.
‘I’ll have to permanently shrink it with Pym Particles later…’ He thought as he eyed the core with a greedy glint in his eyes.
The tiny, yet incredibly powerful, Multiverse Engine Core pulsed with energy, which brought a smile to its new owners face. With his prize secured, Peter was ready to rejoin his companions, knowing that this could be exactly what he and Tony need to finish their multiverse traveling project.
A/N: 1864 words :)