Issue 73: A New Age Part 10

Riding the wormhole wasn't as bad as it was the first time. Peter and MJ were together while the Space Amethyst shielded their bodies.

When they popped back up in their world, they fell a few dozen feet before landing on a roof.

"Huh? We're back right?"

Peter looked at the clock on the large screen in the distance, "It's only been a few minutes. Cool."

"Think we'll see them again someday?"

"I know we will," Peter smirked, "Come on, let's make sure the Fantastic 4 is okay. I've been meaning to offer them a place on the Avengers."

MJ nodded before they swung off and landed at the Baxter building.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when they went inside. They had clearance to come and go whenever they wanted, so they rode the elevator up to the lab to see Richard on the ground panting.

"Hey, you okay?" Peter ran over.

"Strange…it shouldn't have done that," Reed got up and moved to shut down the system.

"What happened?" MJ asked.

"The machine just turned on. I barely had time to get up here before that…shockwave," Reed frowned as he looked over the data.

"It was activated in another universe, that energy tied everything together," Peter explained.

Reed's scan ran across Peter for a second, "Huh, you have the same radiation that you get when passing through a wormhole without shielding."

"Yeah, we just got back from a trip from another universe. Met me again," MJ said with a smile.

"Dude, there were like four of me, five if you count the cartoon pig,"

"Pig? Wait, are you saying you went to a universe that had a cartoon pig?" Reed nearly laughed.

"No, a cartoon pig got stuck in a universe with us," Peter replied.

"Ahahaahah. There's a cartoon universe, that's hilarious, what am I, and zebra?"

"Hehe, cause you stretch. That's pretty good. I think you're pigs too, or was it cats? Porker said you guys call each other the Fantastic Fur," Peter scratched his head.

Reed laughed harder.

"Maybe we should shield this thing so we don't get a repeat and end up falling into another universe."

"Right, a tachyon field and a wave jammer ought to do," Reed started thinking.

"Hey, can we use this thing to visit other universe?" MJ questioned.

"Yeah, but we would need something to track the universe you want to go to. Like an object, or…"

"The radiation our bodies are emitting," Peter smirked.

"Yes, that would work, Peter. Brilliant idea!" 

 MJ handed over her stabilizer cuff and said, "Here. You'll need to make some of these. Going to other universes with tech has issues."

"Like?" Reed lifted his brow as he inspected the tech.

"Like having your molecules ripped apart. Though, I'm not sure you need it."

"Bah, it was probably some side-effect of traversing a wormhole without sheilding. With a good enough vessel, you might not even need this. But I will take it into consideration," Reed smiled as he took it over to his desk and started dismantling it.

"Hey, want to join the Avengers?"

"Peter, I'm far too busy for that. With a kid on the way, studying the technology and data you brought back from a Skrull planet, and keeping the Baxter Foundation going…well, my hands are tied," Reed stretched his hands out into the shape of a pretzel.

"Well, there are some good benefits that might entice you,"

"Such as?" Reed smirked.

"What if I said I perfected the Super Soldier Serum,"

Reed nearly choked on his own spit before he coughed and said, "What?"

"On top of that, I can make a temporal room that can operate on different times. How would you like the Baxter building to turn a day into a week? I know you can spend a lot of time in the lab and with your kids. We can even offer you magic training at Avengers Tower."

"That…sounds like a pretty good deal," 

"I'll even throw in another building in my city for you to make a new lab," Peter grinned.

"Alright, I already had a house there, and I was searching for a building to purchase."

"Yes!" Peter pumped his fists.

"How many seats do we have left."

"Let's see, there's Tony, Charles, Erik, Fury, Peggy, Steve, and myself. With Reed, that makes nine."

"So, three more," MJ nodded her head, "Who do you have in mind?"

"You,"

"I told you I didn't want the seat," MJ lifted a brow.

"Can't blame a guy for trying. I need Strange and someone else whose used to the darker side of magic."

"You think you can get our teacher to join?"

"Oh, I know I can. I'll wear him down until he agrees," Peter smirked.

"Your gonna bug the hell out of him, aren't you?" MJ chuckled.

"I'm gonna bug the hell out of him," Peter nodded his head, "Especially now that I've learned to make clones," 

As her soon to be husband laughed, MJ shook her head and said, "I feel bad for him."

Rubbing his hands together, Peter was thinking of all kinds of shenanigans he could pull.

In response to her soon to be husband's antics, MJ rolled her eyes and called Fury, "Yeah. We fixed the problem. Anything else."

"Just keep up the good work."

"Anything on Hydra?"

"Still cutting them down. They have a lot of resources and way too many hideaways."

"Actually, I've been working on something that can help with that," Peter smirked.

"What?"

"A spell I've managed to work out. I tested it with a little trip into space. How'd you like to put an end to Hydra on our terms."

"I'm listening," 

"Good. Tomorrow, we'll wipe Hydra from the world and end one of its biggest threats. There's a lot I have to unpack and tell you guys as well, so I'll go over with the rest of the council."

"You found more right?"

"Once again, how do you know I just filled another seat," Peter scratched his head.

"Kid, your call is coming from Reed's lab, it doesn't take a genius," 

"That you are not," Peter snorted as he heard Fury cussing him out before he hung up.

"You really have to stop teasing him," 

"Why? It's so fun!" Peter laughed as he held up his hand, "Wait for it."

Their comms rang as he Peter answered, "Calmed down?"

"Fuck you! Who did you have in mind?" 

"Hahaha, Master of the Mystic Arts, Doctor Stephen Strange, and Slayer of all that goes bump at night."

"I know about Strange, but who is the other?"

"His name is Blade. Kills vampires mostly," Peter explained.

"Never heard of em,"

"His real name is Eric Brooks, and trust me when I say this, the guy is worth the trouble,"

"More trouble," Fury sighed, "Alright, fine. I'll look into him." 

Peter smirked and said, "I have a lot to set up for Richards, so I'll be busy next week."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, prep the serum for the Fantastic 4. I want my friends to live long and healthy lives."

"What do we do about the Thing?" Fury sighed.

"Oh, I'll take care of him," Peter smirked.

He had done tests with Reed and pretty much confirmed his suspicions when he used the Symbiote to inspect his body.

"Hey Reed, how is the Cosmic Infusion Project going?" Peter asked.

"Almost done, it's why I built the collider. If we're going to mimic the cosmic radiation that changed us, we'll need access to the realm that gave Ben his powers. Hopefully the universal bridge will hold up until it's done."

"What are you talking about?" MJ asked.

"Curing Ben," Peter smiled.

"How close are you?" MJ asked.

"Very, I should get it up and running in a month or so. I…want him to be able to feel his nephew when he holds him. To hold Richard without fear of hurting him…I just hope it works."

Peter put his hand on his shoulder, "You'll figure it out, Reed. You almost as smart as I am."

"Funny," Reed rolled his eyes before letting out a chuckle.

"Come on, let's go home, I'm tired," MJ said as she yawned.

"Have a goodnight you two," Reed said as he watched them crawl out the window and web away.

They met with their family and hugged before they explained what happened. On top of visiting an alien planet, they went to an entirely different universe. They saw the pictures and video footage of their highlighting moments.

After they ate and went to bed, Peter smiled happily with the love of his life in his arms.

Tomorrow would be the day everything changed. 

They woke up ready to work. Some breakfast, a little family time, and they were out the door and off to Avenger's tower.

They waited for the team to come in, and surprisingly enough, Fury wasn't the first one through the door.

"Hey kiddo," Steve waved his hand. 

Peggy gave him a nod, "It's good to see you again, Peter,"

"You too, Peggy, and dude, I'm almost 20. Can we quit with the kiddo stuff?"

"Huh? Weren't you 18?" Steve showed a confused expression.

"No, MJ and I spent a year inside a room that moves at a faster time. Week out here, year inside there. We also recently spent about 4 months in there recently."

"Oh…sounds like an interesting place. Maybe we could take some time off from Hunting Hydra," Peggy sat down and took a deep breath.

"I think I got just the thing for that. I made a Spell that'll help us in a number of ways."

"So, how have you two been?" MJ said with a smile.

"Well, other than fighting Hydra, we've taken…ahem…quite a few breaks after missions," Peggy blushed.

MJ smirked, "Well, how was it, what'cha do?"

While they talked Steve sat down and asked, "Life treating you well?"

"Well enough…honestly, I kind of want to lock myself up in the lab for a few weeks. I've been working on something monumental."

"What?"

"Interstellar Travel. I'm even thinking about buying a few star system that has multiple planets with habitable environments for humans to live on."

"Really? You can buy planets?" Steve's eyes went wide.

"Yep, and ones that habitable but don't have intelligent life on it. I'll explain that later. What I'm working on now is way better. I mean, wow dude, I'm talking infinite resources and so much more."

Fury walked thought the door, "Hey, it's my favorite cue ball!"

"Bite me, Spider-Bitch," Fury sat down.

"Ooh, someone's in a bad mood," MJ chuckled.

"I cleared out a bunch of my teams from Hydra Hunts. This better be good."

"It is," Peter smirked as Tony came in.

"Hey Spider-dude," Stark shouted by waving his hand.

"Why are you talking like that? Just because you are younger, doesn't mean you should act it," MJ rolled her eyes.

"Ha!" Fury let a rare laugh out, causing everyone in the room to look at him in surprise.

Peter scanned Fury, and while the light ran over his face. The bald Shield leader then looked at the Spider- Hero and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not a Skrull," Peter explained before the room burst into laughter.

"I hate you," Fury's eyebrow twitched.

"No, you love me and you know it," Peter chuckled.

Next came Eric with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver before Charles entered with Jean and Cyclops.

"Good morning, everyone," Charles said with a smile on his face, "We we're in the middle of a mission, so I hope you don't mind the company."

"It's fine," Peter said as he held his hand up, "Any X-Man can consider themselves Avengers too."

"Good to know. Can we get this over with, things on Mars are…"

Peter could see the rings under Magneto's eyes, "Not so easy running a new planet, is it?"

"It's…complicated for sure," Erik groaned.

"So, this is the Spider-Man," Pietro said as he ran over and looked Peter up and down.

"He doesn't seem so tough. How'd you lose to this guy, pops?" 

"Son, Spider-Man is quite strong I assure you. He may not be as fast as you, but his greatest weapon isn't his body but his mind."

"Pops? Son?" Multiple people in the room gasped.

"Ah, yes, let me introduce my children. I managed to save them from a Hydra base a few months ago," Erik said as he held his hand out, "This is Wanda and Pietro."

"I bet that was a shock, but you guys seem pretty tight now, kind of like a magnet and a couple pieces of metal," Peter snickered.

"Ugh, are all his jokes this bad," Wanda groaned.

"Yes," Erik sighed.

"Aww that's crap, man. I'm hilarious," Peter rolled his eyes.

The door opened again, and the rest of the Avengers minus Thor entered.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, I have some good news, and some bad news," Peter said as he pulled up a holographic display in the center of the table. 

Images of their trip to space started playing, "Good news, we're not alone in this universe, and the bad news, well…as you can see, not everyone in space can be considered an ally."

"Hold up! You went to space?" Tony looked betrayed while the rest of the group was marveling over the images.

"Well…we stopped by to take you, but you were…ahem…busy. Maybe sound proof your garage or at least leave a sock the door," Peter scratched the side of his face.

"At least Pepper seemed to be enjoying herself," MJ laughed.

"Uhh…ignore that," Tony looked at the other to see them all giving him funny looks, "You're taking me to space, and knock at the front door next time."

"Well, more good news. We made friends with an intergalactic police force called the Nova Corps. This can be a bridge and useful partnership that will help us in countless ways. I'm sure you understand the most, Fury."

Fury shook his head to snap himself back to reality as he said, "Yeah, this is certainly good news. Sword would be a good match for seeking partnership."

"That's what we said," MJ smirked before she suddenly smiled and passed out a 6x4inch black box, "Peter and I also got you all some new phones. These are secure, untraceable, unhackable, and can allow us to talk wherever we are. I made enough for everyone that will become part of our council members."

"Ooh, can't wait to take apart," Tony smirked as he checked out the phone.

"On to more bad news," Peter opened up a portal and dropped Loki's scepter on the table and grabbed it, "This here isn't what we thought it was."

"Pete, how'd you know where that was," Fury frowned.

"Well, for one, the Radiation it emits harmonizes with my Merlin Gemstones, which means that this isn't some cube of immense power."

Peter crushed the glowing gem and revealed the stone inside it, "This is an Infinity Stone, and the Mind Stone no less."

While the room marveled at the energy the stone emitted, he stored it in his vault, and felt a sense of relief that he now had two of the stones that would forever be outside Thanos' reach.

Before they could ask, Peter replayed the Collector's explanation through his own words.

"As you can see, these ingots are too powerful to trust humanity with. If someone collects all six, they can use it to quite literally become a god. On top of that,"

The video played of Ronan and the team that took them down, "You guys remember the Chitauri that attacked us, well, meet one of their commanders. Turns out, the guy commanding Ronan sent his troops to Earth in order to get the Mind Stone. Our new allies, the Guardians of the Galaxy had information about who's behind this and what their goals are."

The image changed to Gamora explaining Thanos.

"He's after the stones because he believes that if he collects all six, they'll grant him the power to wipe out half the life in the universe. He's a sick and demented man that is as old as the universe itself."

"You're being hyperbolic, right? There's no way he's that old," On screen Peter asked.

"I don't know, but I know he was born from a race called the Eternals, and according to him, they were the first species to be born in this universe. They are powerful, eternal lifespans, and have more knowledge than the majority of life forms that I've come across."

"What did you do with the Stone?" Fury asked.

"I stored in a pocket universe to keep any and all radiation from leaking, and that's where it'll stay until I find a way to get rid of them for good. Thanos is probably scratching his head trying to understand where it disappeared to."

"You plan on destroying them?" Erik lifted a brow.

"I plan on sending them to the end of time and space. Well, there are ways one could get them if needed, but that would require a cosmic entity to pull off. You need to be a time traveler with a shit ton of luck, be the physical manifestation of a Phoenix, or have a power like the Enigma Force to recall all 6."

"What are these cosmic entities?" Charles asked.

"Well, the Phoenix Force is a Cosmic Entity of Rebirth, meaning it is the physical manifestation of life, death, and rebirth. Her job is to keep the universe from stagnating. The users of the Enigma Force are heralds of the universe itself. It only manifest in a few chosen hosts during dangerous moments that threaten all existence in some form or way."

"How'd you figure all this out?" Fury questioned.

"Oh…I didn't tell you guys. Okay, check this out. These Merlin Gemstones on my back are mock creations of the Infinity stones. In each of my gemstones contain a universe of their own, and I while can only activate them at most for 60 seconds every day, it's possible to use them in a variety of ways, one method is searching the universal web of information."

Peter held his hand out, "By combining my magic with the Time and Mind Stone, I can peer into the past and get just about any bit of information I need."

Peter brought up the search engine and said, "Search for a listing of all known Hydra members on the planet Earth as of one second ago."

A huge list started compiling on the screen with detailed information on every living and active Hydra member.

Everyone's eyes bulged as they saw the names, pictures, and information.

"Next, I'll use the Reality Topaz and print it all."

A stack of papers appeared on the table while Peter grinned, "So…think it's helpful for taking down Hydra?"

"YES!" Everyone in the room shouted.

"Are you sure they won't have problems in the future?" Fury asked.

"If you're worried about someone stealing, they only work for me. They would need magic stronger than the maker to overcome his security measures. Even if Thanos somehow got ahold of them, and if there was some way he could use him, he can't accomplish his goal as these stones only contain a fraction of the Infinity Stone's power."

"And yours were made by a mythological wizard?" Tony lifted a brow.

"Merlin was real, and he might be the strongest spell caster in existence. He can make entire universes, has already moved to a higher dimension outside time and space, and might have evolved into a 5th dimensional being." Peter explained.

"None of that sounds real," Wanda spoke up.

"Well, it is. There are demons and gods that live out in space, and humanity, is an ant just waiting to get stepped on at the moment."

"Great…just what we need," Fury groaned.

"Hey, it's not all bad. In fact, one of the cosmic forces I spoke about is on Earth," Peter grinned as he looked at Jean.

Everyone followed his eyes and made the red-headed psychic say, "What?"

"Jean Grey. You are the current host of the legendary cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force."

The room gasped while Charles furrowed his brows.

"W…what?"

Peter pulled up some scans, "Tell me, have you ever been bombarded by Cosmic Radiation like the Fantastic 4?" 

"N…no," Jean shook her head.

"Well, you're emitting a lot of cosmic energy," Peter showed the scans to everyone in the room.

"How do you know that it's this Phoenix thing?" Scott asked.

"Well, for starters, the same person who made my Gemstones, made a contract with the Phoenix Force. I'm sure you've felt that strange attunement to me since you've walked in the room, correct? I'm guessing he made these stones when he had the Phoenix Force."

The room gasped again.

"I'm reacting to your gemstones?"

"That you are. You don't need to freak out about this. You're not going to get your body hijacked or anything. You just have to believe in yourself. Jean, your psychic potential far surpasses that of the Phoenix. But if you two can work together, you might be our best chance at stopping Thanos."

"M…me?"

"You two should receive training from the Ancient One and learn magic," MJ said while pointing at Jean and Wanda.

"Why me? I get birdie over there,"

"Oh my gosh, she's got jokes, I think I like her, Erik" Peter said as he chuckled a few times, "and to answer your question, it's because you have an insane amount of magical energy, honestly, it might be as powerful if not stronger than the power of the Phoenix."

"I do/she does?" The twins shouted with their father.

"Yeah, honestly, when I first saw you, I thought I was staring at the Reality Stone. You don't have that on you, do you?" Peter asked.

"N…no!"

"Oh, good. Be weird if there was a third stone on Earth," Peter sighed.

"Third?" Tony lifted a brow.

"Oh, yeah. Our master is in possession of the time stone. Hey, I didn't think of this before, but it's probably what's keeping the ancient one alive," MJ spoke.

"Hey, I think your right. Man, it's going to awkward to ask for it," Peter groaned.

"We don't have to take it right now,"

"No, after this meeting, I'll go on over and see if our S.S Serum is enough to extend the Ancient One's life. I've also been working on a longevity potion with those Philosopher Stones I can make."

"Hold up, you never told me you could do that! When you brought me the stone, I thought you were joking! Those were legit Philosopher Stones? Why didn't you tell me?" Tony shouted.

"I asked if you wanted to learn Alchemy, but you laughed at me," Peter stuck his tongue out.

"I want to learn okay! I spent months trying to figure out how you stuffed all that energy into such a small object!"

"I'll lend you some books," Peter snickered.

"Can we get back to the Phoenix issue?" Charles asked.

"Right…um, after you train, we can talk about that more. The only reason I'm telling you guys this is in hope that you don't create a Dark Phoenix. If you reject the Phoenix, try to suppress the Phoenix, or harm it, it will just straight up corrupt you. Your impressions on this age-old deity shape how it will act. Treat it with respect, but don't allow it to control you, and you'll be fine.

"You make it sound like I'm not carrying a nuke in my body," Jean sweated.

"That's because it isn't. You can communicate and reason with her. It just takes time and a lot of mental strength," MJ said, "I read up a lot on the Phoenix and other mythological beings during my magic studies, and there were Phoenix Heralds that were great heroes and or terrifying destroyers. You can do this, Jean."

"Thanks, Spider-Woman…and it's good to see you again."

"Yep, you too! We should catch up after Hydra's defeat. Knowing Pete, he's going to lock himself in the lab for the next couple of days. He's got that itchy twitch again," MJ laughed.

"Ah, my soon to be wife knows me well," Peter snickered.

"So, how are we going to deal with them?" Fury questioned as he looked through the stack of papers.

"I was working on a spell in combination with my Soul Emerald and Space Amethyst. I can teleport everyone on this list into a star right now. However, there are lots of victims and bases that are holding innocent people, so I suggest I teleport them all to Venus and take them down as a team. Eddie will never see this one coming."

"We'll need every abled fighter and then some. I've also prepared equipment that emits hypersonic vibrations for you all. If Hydra has Symbiotes then we need to use their biggest weakness."

"So, get some sleep and prepare, tomorrow we carry out the biggest mission in the Avengers history," MJ said as she opened a portal.

"We have work, so we'll pick this up after removing Hydra from Earth," Peter opened a portal to Kamar-Taj, "Scarlet Witch, Jean, I've contacted the Ancient One for you and she has agreed to be a teacher for you both. Please step in the portal."

Wanda looked to her father who nodded her head while Scott and Jean looked at each other with a nervous expression.

"I promise, depending on how you are trained, it won't be that long. A year maybe,"

"A year?!" Both women shouted.

"Did I forget to mention there is a room where time flows quicker? If you do the training in there, a week is about a year," Peter chuckled.

"What about the mission?" Charles asked, "Won't we need their fire power?"

"Oh, I think we'll be fine. After all...we have a Hulk." 

"Finally," The voice of Bruce Banner echoed in the room as he stepped through the portal. Only, he was 8feet tall and green.

"Hey guys!" The hulk called out.

"Banner?" Tony tilted his head.

"Yeah! It's good to be back. I've got a lot to catch up on," 

"Nice tattoos," Tony said as he saw the tribal-like ink bracelets.

"Oh, the only thing I could do was work on Mental-Type spells. These are kind of like training wheels. It keeps the Hulk in check until I can control it without them."

"So, no more outburst?"

"Actually, I can do one better," Bruce started to shrink down to roughly 6,5 feet and looked way less bulky.

"Isn't it cool, the cloths shrink and grow with me. Though, I feel uncomfortable, like I'm squishing my own body," Bruce held his arms out in a presenting manner.

"Well, I'll be damned," Fury looked at Peter.

"What, you want to learn Magic too?"

"Not my thing," Fury rolled his eyes.

"So, you girls ready?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Wanda walked through the Portal before Jean gave Scott a kiss and went in after.

Peter saw Scott pouting as the portal closed, "Relax, Scotty boy. Look at the upside, it's just a week for you."

"And a year for her," Scott sighed.

"Yeah, but think about it this way, she is going to be pent up when she comes back. You might not even make it to your rooms before she rips your pants off. Red heads are feisty that, I would know."

Scott blushed as his jaw dropped. Everyone in the room snickered before the hero Cyclops responded, "The hell, Peter?"

"Sorry, couldn't resist. I just glad MJ already left," Peter opened another Portal to the NY Sanctum, "Oh, fill the jolly green giant in on what's been going on. I've kept him updated for the most part, but a lot has happened these past few months."