Issue 20: Avenger's Initiative Part II

Peter walked in and watched as Steve punched through a bag filled with steel. The bag shook as it was ripped from its hinges and thrown into the wall exploding in a spray of metallic bead-sized pellets.

Peter nodded his head as he thought to himself, "He does look a lot stronger than Steve from any incarnation I've seen before. Although he still has the looks of the MCU's Captain America."

Steve turned around and looked at Fury before he asked, "What, another mission?"

Peter walked up to him and held out his hand before gushing over one of his heroes, "Hi, big fan! Did you ever get a chance to punch the real Hitler? My dad and uncle used to tell stories of how my great grandpa saw you in that show you put on to boost morale. He followed your work right up to before you rushed out to fight in the war."

Peter then pulled out a pen and a picture that his great-grandfather took. It showed the moment when Steve was supposed to punch the actor playing everyone's most hated German Leader.

Steve started laughing as the memories of his past brought him joy, and after signing it he handed it back to Peter before saying, "I haven't thought of that stupid act in a long time. Actually, after going out to fight, I really did end up punching the real Hitler. Unfortunately, an old foe showed up to save him before I could do anything else. So, your grandfather was a soldier in the fight? Anyone, I know?"

Peter laughed before he said, "That would defeat the purpose of wearing a mask, Mr. Rogers."

"Please, call me Steve or Captain. Seeing as you're the new recruit Fury's been talking about," Steve replied and pointed to the ring. "Care to try me out?"

Peter jumped into the ring and said, "I think I'm more than a match for you."

Steve laughed and said, "You're right Fury, he really does hide his feelings behind his jokes."

"I wasn't joking," Peter said as he invaded Steve's space.

Peter quickly looked to Fury who was grinning at him before turning back to Captain America and held his hands out in a boxing stance.

Steve smiled as he mirrored the Spider-Hero before the two started to fight.

Peter stood still to test Steve's speed and began dodging with great accuracy, only moving an inch away from his attacks every time he avoided the WWII hero fists.

Steve continued to change up his tempo in order to confuse Spider-Man. However, his Spidey-Sense made him untouchable.

Peter had to admit though, without his spidey-sense he might've lost this sparring match. Steve's experiences were bountiful, and his fighting style impeccable, without waste.

During the whole fight, Peter was absorbing all the tips Steve was putting out, just from looking.

Seeing he was getting nowhere with boxing, Steve started to put in other martial arts into his assault.

Peter smiled and countered with his own martial arts. The two then fought back for a while, trading punches and kicks, when all of a sudden, Peter managed to score a takedown and put Captain America in an Arm Bar lock.

Captain tapped the floor and as Peter let go and the two stood back up, "Point for me."

"How did you?" Captain America was amazed. He had never been so thoroughly defeated before.

Being the good guy that he was, Peter quickly explained, "I have a danger-sense of sorts. It alerts me to your real attacks. No matter how good you are with feints, you'll never be able to fool my senses. However, if not for the training I had with my master, my senses wouldn't have been good enough to keep up with you. Also, if we both fought for real and I suppressed my Spider-Senses, then maybe you would've won."

Peter held out his hand and said, "I look forward to you being my instructor. I'm sure there is a lot for you to teach us."

MJ hopped up into the ring and pounded her fist together before she said, "My turn. I'm next!"

Captain America laughed as he once again experienced defeat. MJ also experienced how crazy good at fighting Captain America was. She could only compare him to Shang Chi and noticed that he was just a little less experienced. The strength he had, however, was actually a bit stronger than the two of them and Shang Chi.

Peter asked what made him want to train his super-muscles when Captain America said, "Actually during the war, I never really worked out. However, after being thawed out of the Ice, I started working out to pass the time. At first, I didn't notice any change, but after a few years of continuing to do so, I could feel myself getting stronger."

Peter nodded his head as he listened, it appeared this Captain America early release allowed him discovered the secret to his super muscles sooner than the Ultimate Captain America.

"So, is there's a way to remove that special sense while I train you?" Steve asked,

"Yeah, I think so," Peter answered.

Thanks to their Symbiote's abilities they could indeed suppress their Spidey-Sense, and after informing him that they'd done so, Steve's Spartan-like training began.

The two were constantly being beaten up without the aid of their senses, Peter and MJ had to admit that it was hard to predict where Captain America would attack, and when they thought they figured him out, he switched up, and managed to deal a blow against them with ease.

Thanks to Steve's regiment, they started to show signs of improvement only after sparing for 8 hours straight.

The Spider-Couple felt like students again as Captain America schooled them with his years of wartime experience. When Steve noticed that they had a good healing factor, he pushed them even harder.

After the physical and combat training, they began their education in spycraft by learning from the very elegant Black Widow, a.k.a Natasha Romanov.

After reintroducing herself as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, she began teaching them about the trade of her craft. Things such as hacking, infiltration, acting, and stealth tactics were drilled into their bodies and minds.

The two soaked up the information like sponges and continued to go through this routine for a week.

Even though they still couldn't defeat Steve while working together, their summertime was all used up and it was time for their planned vacation.

MJ invited Harry and Liz to go out to the beach with them for the weekend while Peter invited Johnny to come and play as well. They rented a nearby hotel and told them they would spend some fun times together before school starts.

The group agreed and spent the whole weekend playing on the beach.

Harry and Johnny were the only ones who had their license, so they decided to take two cars.

Peter and MJ rode with Johnny in case any Spider-related issues popped up, with luck on their side, the group made it to the beach without any incident and met up Harry and Liz.

When MJ saw Liz, she jumped into her arms with a hug and shouted, "Liz! It's so good to see you again!"

Liz laughed and replied by saying, "Sorry, MJ. I've been spending a lot of time with Harry recently."

MJ questioned Liz about her hiding the fact that she was dating Harry relentlessly, and while the two started gossiping, Peter nudged Harry on the back with his elbow and said, "You should have told me too!"

Harry responded, "Sorry, I know Liz used to pick on you with Flash, I thought you wouldn't approve."

"Nah, that was all Flash the ass, sure she laughed, but it's not like she made fun of me as well," Peter said casually.

"Liz told me she felt bad about how she acted and said she wanted to better herself, one thing led to another, and we started dating," Harry said, defending his girlfriend.

Peter laughed and asked, "So, you like her?"

Harry nodded his head, "A lot."

"Anyhow, are you going to introduce us to your friend there, Peter?" Liz asked as she pointed to Johnny.

"Ah, where are my manners?" Peter stated before he held his hands out in a presentable manner and said, "This is Johnny Storm, otherwise known as the Human Torch."

Johnny held out his hand and shook the hands of the shocked Harry and Liz while saying, "It's a pleasure to meet this nerd's friends. He's told me a lot about you two."

"I...I...It's a pleasure to meet you," Liz said as she shook his hands with a starstruck expression.

"Likewise," Harry said before he looked to Peter and stated, "I guess you have two rich friends now."

Peter laughed and said, "I think I'll be joining that rich-guy ranking pretty soon myself."

MJ giggled as Harry and Liz looked at him with a strange appearance on their faces.

"He's telling the truth, we managed to sell some stuff to make our own money," MJ said as she laughed at their silly expressions.

"It's true, this guy made a hundred and fifty grand from his first pay-check. I would know, my family was the one who gave it to him, and from what Pete told me about MJ's job, she isn't making much less," Johnny declared as he placed his arm around Peter's neck.

Both of them went wide-eyed and slack-jawed as they looked at Peter and MJ like they were freaks.

"Close your mouths the flies will get in," MJ said as she lifted Liz's jaw closed with her finger.

"MJ's too nice, I wanna see Harry swallow a fly," Peter fake-pouted as he crossed his arms.

"Sorry, Pete. It's just that it came as a surprise," Harry declared as he regained his composure.

"Oh, so this is what it feels like when best friends keep secrets. You are so taking me out shopping later," Liz demanded as she joined Peter in a fake pout.

"Hahaha! You guys are a riot! Now, if you'll excuse us ladies, we're going to go get changed," Johnny said hooked his arms around Peter and Harry before heading towards the changing rooms.

The girls giggled and followed behind. After changing they all met up at the car.

Peter, Harry, and Johnny all stared at the girls with red faces and open mouths.

MJ was wearing a red two-piece bikini. Her body was toned, supple, and well-formed. MJ had the muscles of a top-of-the-line acrobat and showed it with every step she made. Peter couldn't take his eyes off of her, especially her bouncing breast.

Liz, while not having any muscles, had a fit body and well-formed curves, Harry drooled a little as he saw her hips swaying.

"Man, I need to get a girlfriend at least twice as hot as your girls," Johnny said before sighing.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Peter said with a goofy smile on his face.

"I agree with Pete on this one, no girls can compete with ours," Harry stated as he gave them a fist bump.

"Looking good, boys!" Liz said as she looked over everyone.

Johnny and Harry were only wearing swim trunks and sandals, while Peter was wearing a baggy grey t-shirt that hid most of his muscle.

Harry was a bit more built than Peter remembered, though not nearly as much as Johnny.

MJ growled as she looked at Peter and said, "Shirt, off."

Peter sighed before he said, "Do I have to?"

MJ nodded her head as she responded, "Yep! Now, give me my eye candy!"

Liz and Harry looked a little puzzled while Johnny chucked at MJ's choice of words.

Peter lifted the shirt revealing his sculpted abs and rock-hard muscles.

Both Liz and Harry went wide-eyed and shouted in unison, "When'd you get those?"

Peter scratched his reddened face as he said, "MJ and I have been training together for about ten months now."

MJ ran her hand across Peter's abs and stopped at his pecks before saying, "With these bad boys right here, Peter will never be picked on by a bully like Flash again."

"And you get to enjoy the sight too," Liz said with a little blush on her face.

Harry felt a little jealous and decided to hit the gym more often when he gets back.

Johnny shook his head and placed his hand over his forehead while he scanned beachside, "Oh, pretty ladies!!! Here comes, Johnny!"

Everyone laughed as they watched the Human Torch dash out with a child-like grin on his face.

Peter then yelled, "Hey, you're supposed to help us carry the stuff!"

To which the rest of the group responded by laughing harder.

Peter carried their stuff with Harry and set up a nice little spot near the water.

As the group enjoyed their vacation by tanning, playing ball, swimming, getting to put suntan lotions on their girlfriends, both Harry and Peter looked at peace as they watched MJ and Liz splashing the ocean water on each other.

"This is the best," Harry said with a goofy grin.

"I too agree," Peter responded while nodding his head.

"Me three," Johnny said before he took off laughing after dodging the angry boyfriends' wild swings.

"I still can't believe you know one of the Fantastic Four," Harry said as he watched Johnny approach a group of pretty girls.

Peter shook his hand in front of his face and said, "Oh, no, he's not that special."

Peter then laughed, making Harry lift a brow and ask, "What?"

Peter chuckled before explaining what it was that he saw, "Johnny strikes out again. Man, he has no talent for hitting on the ladies. He was bragging about his superhero identity, and they apparently didn't believe that he was the Human Torch...and here it comes in three, two, and one..."

Like Peter predicted, Johnny activated his flame on ability. However, as a result, the ladies were now crowding around him in hoards.

"Had to rely on your name to pick up a girl!" Peter shouted to embarrass Johnny, which he succeeded in.

The first nightfall, they returned to their hotel in a joyous mood and tanned skin. The boys and girls slept in different rooms, of course. While the boys chatted about their hobbies and life goals, the girls gossiped about fashion and their boyfriends.

Thye spent the weekend having fun the entire time. When it was the last night before school started, they all sat around the bonfire they made on the beach, enjoying each other's company while talking about various subjects.

Johnny was bragging on how they fended off Galaticus and saved the world from being eaten when they suddenly noticed a girl in the distance that started screaming.

Peter, MJ, and Johnny then looked to see a red-headed girl bursting into flames.

They ran over to see none other than Angelica Jones the original Firestar manifesting her power.

While Peter was in awe, Johnny suddenly shouted, "Calm down!" as he entered his Flame On mode.

Seeing Angel started to calm down, Johnny began coaching her on how to control her power to the best of his abilities.

When she managed to land and withdraw the power into her body, MJ and Liz abruptly covered their boyfriends' eyes. She had burnt her clothes clean off and was standing in the nude.

Angel was looking at her hands in amazement when Johnny quickly covered her with a towel with a flushed face.

Peter was still shocked that he'd meet Angelica here of all places, in the Ultimate timeline, it was Liz who transformed while on the beach. It appeared this was another major difference that he discovered in this world.

Angel didn't exist in the Ultimate Universe, and once again the strange alienation of red-heads continued in his previous life's entertainment industry and Agengilca was wiped from their cannon and her power given to a blond preppy bitch.

Even if Angel was the Ultimate Universe, she at the least, remained as an unimportant character.

Peter and the rest watched as Angel's friends had all ran away while calling her a demon, monster, and a freak.

Even her boyfriend gave her a disgusted look when she found out she was a mutant.

Peter sighed when she asked Johnny, "Are we the same?

Johnny then went on to explain that she was a Mutant, rather than a Mutate like himself Liz showed a face of disgust for a moment; when Peter frowned and said, "Something bothering you, Liz?"

"No...I mean, she's you know a mutant!" Liz complained.

Peter frowned from her response and said, "So What?! Every living thing on this planet is a mutant, you, me, the plants, the animals, and all the life on this planet grows and evolves. The word mutant is nothing more than an explanation for evolution. If you're afraid of her, then what would you do, if someday, your child or grandchild mutates to become a powered person, will you scorn them too? Cause I'd love to burst your bubble, Liz, but everyone has a dormant X-Gene within them, only question is, when will it manifest."

Liz was taken aback by Peter's speech and forced to do some serious reflection while Angel seemed to be thankful for his attitude smiled at him.

Peter didn't want to be a dick to Liz, he liked her much better in his universe rather than the ones he read about. He also knew that a lot of her thinking habits about mutants came from the influence of Liz's racist father.

Angel gave Peter a gentle smile and said, "Thank you, Peter."

Tears started to come out of from Angel's eyes when MJ smiled and held Peter's hand and said, "Angel, how about you join us, I'm sure Liz won't mind you rooming with us."

MJ glared a bit at Liz, and in response, the blond nodded her head in acceptance and shame.

Angel was reluctant but couldn't resist the pull of MJ's charisma. After spending some time with her and getting to know her, Liz started to see Mutants were no different than herself and started opening up to Angel.

Johnny was making googly eyes at her all night which left Peter and Harry laughing as they teased him.

Johnny gave Angel his number and address before they went to bed, that night a loud explosion of noise that shook their hotel room and tore off the wall that led to the ladies' bedroom.

Peter, Johnny, and Harry heard the noise of the girls shouting in panic and shot out of their beds like bullets.

The boys then dashed to their room to see Magneto floating outside the hotel.

Peter knew he was in trouble because the two couldn't suit up in front of their friends, and both Johnny and MJ knew it too.

Peter gave Johnny a nod and watched as he activated his Flame on the form before taking Harry and Liz out of there as quickly as he could.

Magneto attempted to stop him. However, Peter and MJ activated their suits before webbing him, flicking their arms, and pulled him towards the ground.

Luckily Johnny was moving so fast that his passengers couldn't see their friends turn into superheroes.

Just before Magneto hit the sandy beach grounds, he stopped and floated above a small disc of iron sand.

Magneto then looked to Peter and MJ before saying, "That's odd I wasn't expecting more mutants."

Max Eisenhardt otherwise known as Erik Lehnsherr, moved his vision to Angel before he held out his hand and said, "I was sent by your father, as a fellow member of the brotherhood I promised to take care of you should you ever uncover your powers."

"You're not taking her anywhere grandpa! And what's with the red drapes? Getting ready for Christmas?" Peter teased.

"Peter, I think that's supposed to be a cape," MJ followed up.

Magneto's eyebrow twitched as he controlled a series of scraps and sent them after MJ and Peter to restrain them.

However, Johnny had returned and melted them down to slag before it could get near them.

"Good job, Johnny, I see you knew that heating a metal past a certain point removes any magnetic properties. See, Sue was wrong about you. You do study," Peter said with an impressed expression.

"Um...that's right! Of course, I knew that!" Johnny bragged to cover-up his lack of knowledge.

"I don't think he knew about that, Spider-Man," MJ said as she shook her head.

"Way to ruin my groove, Spider-Woman," Johnny said as he slumped his shoulders forward and pouted.

Erik growled before he raised his hands and made several dozen chains out of the iron sand around them. Lowering his hand, the chains shot out towards the group as if they had minds of their own.

As they dodged, Peter was so glad Magneto was an idiot. If he had even half of the intelligence that he or Prof.X had, then he would've been far more powerful than he ever realized possible.

Magneto controls magnetics, the atoms that exist everywhere are held together by a magnetic field, and if he could manipulate an atom, then he would be like a god.

Technically Magneto should be classified as an above omega level Mutant, but his failure to understand his own power was one of the biggest reasons he wasn't classified as such.

If he mastered and fully understood it, the only beings that would be a match for him would have to be on the same level as Owen Reece, also known as Molecule Man.

If there was one power Peter wanted, to copy, it would be the one owned by Magneto.

Peter stared down the villain and managed to reign in his emotions. Right now he couldn't even get close to him, much less subdue him and steal his power.

Suddenly Johnny shouted, "Hey, caped badly! What if she doesn't want to go with you? Will you just leave already?!"

"Johnny, what is the Brotherhood of Mutants?" Angel asked with a curious expression, she had thought her father dead and knew nothing of his past.

MJ sighed before she answered by explaining, "I've heard of the Brotherhood of Mutants, they're a group dedicated to the cause of mutant superiority over humans. Throughout its various incarnations, the Brotherhood's agenda gravitated towards either subjugating the human race to the will of mutants or eradicating humanity altogether."

Peter grabbed his chin and said, "So, they're modern-day Nazis!"

Magneto looked like he was about to pop when he shouted, "We are not Nazis!"

Peter looked back at Erik and shouted "Explain how you're not a Nazi! If any of what she says is true, then I completely disagree with you. Humans are Humans, no matter the mutation, or emerging power. A single change in our biology isn't the only thing that makes us the same species. You say you want to enslave mankind because you view all mutants as a superior species, Hitler thought the same thing about blond haired blue eyed people; you want to kill simply because some people are lacking the X gene. Well, I hate to break it to you, Gestapo, the Nazi party thought the same thing about the Jewish. Face it, Magneto, you're a modern-day Nazi, and a hypocrite too if you think otherwise."

The ground beneath them started to shake achieving what Peter wanted to do, pissing him off so much that Xiaver could locate them. Causing a small tremor like this was sure to alert the X-Men to what was going on.