Chapter Text
Intro Music: Spider-Man: TAS 1994 Theme
BGM: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows – Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven
Hey everybody… Peter Parker here. Your friendly neighborhood… Well, I'm sure you know the rest. To say that life has beaten me down more times than I could possibly count recently would be the understatement of the century. I mean, life usually beats the crap outta me, but it seems like my Parker Luck has really outdone itself this time.
Mary Jane Watson, the girl next door, the woman I love, I lost her. I lost her during a fight against one of my greatest foes, the Green Goblin AKA Norman Osborn, who's the father of my best friend Harry Osborn. I tried to do everything in my power to protect her, to save her, but… I wasn't good enough. Honestly, it kinda seems like I'm never good enough. Mary Jane disappeared without a trace. The last image I have of her is her falling off the George Washington Bridge.
No body, no signs of life, nothing could be found.
Even after all that, I still tried to save Goblin from his own demise, but he was sucked into a portal. I guess he's defeated, but it doesn't change the fact that Mary Jane is gone.
To make matters worse, my best friend Harry unfortunately followed in his father's footsteps, claiming vengeance on Spider-Man as he became the new Green Goblin. The man I once knew, the friend I once had, was completely gone. He turned insane, almost like something possessed him. After I won our fight, I had to send him to Ravencroft. Maybe… Maybe he can get the help he needs there.
It's wishful thinking.
Finally, my Aunt May and I are in the midst of losing our home, the only home I know. She's been trying so hard to pay the bills ever since Uncle Ben died, and I've been trying to help her with my job at the Daily Bugle, but my boss J. Jonah Jameson isn't paying me enough, especially considering he's slandering my name in the process, even if he doesn't know it. I've tried everything. Everything was packed into my schedule and I had to give something up. I was always late for Dr. Connors' class, and my grade was rapidly dropping due to me never having enough time to focus on school. Dr. Connors knows I'm his most brilliant student, but he also thinks I'm his laziest. That's not true, it's simply not true. So many things were crashing down in my life all at once. I got to a point where I realized I wouldn't be able to do everything I wanted… So, I dropped out of Empire State University, fully focusing on being Spider-Man and getting as much money as I could. Heck, I've tried getting other jobs. Whether it's working at a pizza place where we have a stupid 29-minute guarantee, or other stress filled jobs… even they weren't enough. Some of them I got fired from because of Spider-Man duties interfering, but the additional money I was making still wasn't enough to keep the house.
We're in the middle of packing up, but both of us have no idea where we're going to go, what we're going to do.
It just seems like my life is falling apart day by day, and I feel completely helpless because I have no idea how to stop these things from happening.
No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try… the ones I love…
Will always be the ones who pay.
The X-Mansion
"It's a perfect day to go horseback ridin'!" a southern accent said, getting the attention of her fellow friends. Green eyes, tip top shape, long auburn hair with a streak of white in front, along with a whole lotta southern charm, this was no one other than Anna Marie, AKA Rogue.
"Rogue, this is like the tenth time you went horseback riding this week. Don't you ever get tired of it?" a man asked. Wild black hair, blue eyes, and sometimes a bit of a grouch, say hello to Logan, or Wolverine of the X-Men.
"Tired of it?" repeated Rogue, shaking her head. "Naaah! It's always excitin'!" Rogue replied, her head turning to one of her best friends. "Whaddya say, Storm? Wanna get some fresh air?"
Storm sighed quietly, but it's not like she was going to turn her friend down. Light blue eyes, long white hair, and a certain elegance that's always carried with her, Storm was a force to be reckoned with.
"I suppose." she said, forming a small smile.
"Awesome!" Rogue exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Storm's shoulder as they began to walk outside. This left Logan and Gambit alone. Logan would turn to Gambit, raising an eyebrow.
"How come you don't go with her? Don't you two have a thing going on?" Logan casually asked.
As for Gambit, the main things about him are that he has brown hair, black eyes with red pupils, and a whole deck of cards for him to throw. One of the go-getters of the X-Men. "There's nothin' goin' on between us." he said, but in a manner where he definitely didn't feel like talking about it. He would walk away from Logan, leaving him a bit confused.
"What's his problem?" Logan spoke out loud, crossing his arms.
The two friends were now riding on the horses. Comparing both Storm and Rogue, it was clear who was the master at this and who wasn't. Even if this wasn't her intention, Rogue was showing off, while Storm was being ever so careful. Two completely opposite styles.
"Come on, Storm! You gotta live a little!" Rogue said, speeding with her horse.
"I'm fine going at my current speed." Storm replied, not wanting to chance anything with her horse possibly going out of control.
With them continuing to go around the mansion, the two were making their way towards the gates. Everything was fine until…
"Wait a minute… are my eyes deceivin' me?" Rogue spoke, stopping her horse. She got off and flew over the gates, landing on her feet. Her initial reaction was one of shock, her eyes widening. There was a body looking absolutely lifeless near the gates, and by the looks of it, the body had a whole bunch of cuts.
Storm stopped her horse as well, moving to Rogue's position so she could find out was going on. "What's wrong, Rogue? You stopped so suddenly-"
Now it was Storm's turn to be shocked, officially knowing why Rogue stopped.
"Spider-Man?" Storm questioned. Though, there was no doubt about it. The red and blue costumed hero was no one other than Spider-Man. There were so many questions going through their minds right now. Sure, Spider-Man and the X-Men have helped each other out in the past, but… why was he here? More importantly, why was he here while looking like he's been through a fight?
Rogue knelt down, getting closer to Spidey as she tried to hear some kind of heartbeat. Luckily, there was one.
"We gotta help him!" Rogue proclaimed, Storm giving a nod.
A Couple of Hours Later
Given the way he looks, it was a long, long night for Spidey. Still, how lucky was he to end up at the X-Mansion of all places? Given all the possible outcomes, maybe he could've been six feet under.
It wouldn't be too much longer before Spidey started to wake up, moving ever so slightly as he was groaning in pain. His vision was a bit blurry, but he started to come around the more aware he became.
"Where… Where am I?" Spidey said, holding his stomach in pain. He felt like he was on a bed, and by the beeping noises, it honestly sounded like he was in a hospital.
"Easy, Spider-Man. I advise you to take it easy."
Spider-Man looked to the side, his vision getting clearer as he saw a blue figure. When he was finally able to realize who it was, confusion would take over.
"…Beast…?"
"Nice to see you again." Beast said, Spidey's vision fully revealing the large blue mutant and his blue hair. "Though, I would have liked for it to be under better circumstances."
Spidey slowly sat up, continuing to look at Beast. "What happened? Why am I here? How did I get here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same question, actually." Beast said, taking a quick look at Spider-Man's vitals before coming closer to him. "You were unconscious near the gate with a bunch of cuts all over your body. Luckily for you, Rogue saw you along with Storm and took you in. You're also lucky your injuries weren't too bad."
Beast grabbed a seat for himself, now sitting right next to Spidey. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell me what happened to you."
Spidey looked at Beast, being deep in thought as he tried his best to remember what happened to him. But as time passed, it's like his mind went blank. There wasn't a single thing he could point to.
"I… Last night I was-"
Before he could finish, Spidey's eyes went wide under his mask, getting a scary flash in his mind which caused his body to jerk a little. Hank noticed this immediately, asking, "Are you alright?"
Spidey looked down, holding his head. What in the world did he experience? "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I don't remember what brought me here, but other than that, I'm fine."
Beast put his hand on his chin. "Rather peculiar." he paused, before asking Spidey another question. "Are you sure you can't recall anything?"
Spidey looked at Beast, giving him an honest nod. "I wish I could tell you, but it's like my mind is blank."
Beast would give a nod of his own. "I see. That's probably due to you needing more time to recover."
Suddenly, their conversation would get interrupted by a hoverchair entering the room, revealing a bald man in a black suit. There was no mistaking it, this was Professor Charles Xavier.
"Good to see you're finally awake, Spider-Man." he said, having a small smile.
"Long time no see, Professor Charles Xavier." Spidey said, Beast now turning his attention to Charles.
"He said he can't remember anything."
"Really?" Charles said, acknowledging Beast's confirmation before looking back at Spider-Man. "Not a thing?"
"Not a thing." Spidey confirmed even more. "Though, I did hear Rogue and Storm found me while I was unconscious. I would like to thank them."
Charles nodded, but then he would let out a sigh. "That will most likely come in due time. Excuse me for a moment," he said, not turning his head because he sensed someone was close by. "Jubilee, you can come out now. I know you're there."
Jubilee peaked her head out the corner, giving a wave. "I just wanted to see Spider-Man up close!" she said, now making herself known as she walked into the medical room. Short black hair, brown eyes, and being the youngest of the group, Jubilee never failed to act like a kid sometimes.
"She's a big fan of yours." Beast said.
Spidey slightly laughed. "I remember." he replied.
"I mean, this is only like the second or third time we've met up?" Jubilee said, her smile being giddy. "I meant to ask you this before, but uuhhh…"
She suddenly brought out a piece of paper and a pen, catching Spidey off guard. "Can I have your autograph?"
Spidey looked at Beast, and then at Charles. Honestly, Spidey couldn't help but to chuckle some more.
Lord knows he hasn't been able to do that in a long time.
"Well, I do love my fans." Spidey said, grabbing the pen and paper, signing his signature. He gave it back to Jubilee, and you could tell his little gesture made her day.
"Thank you so much!"
Happiness.
Spidey wishes he could be as half as jubilant as Jubilee right now.
Moments later, and Spidey proved to be walking fine. Though, it did look like he was getting lost due to the size of the X-Mansion, being completely different from the size his home was. Continuing to walk, he would run into two people. Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men besides Charles of course. The dude probably has the most powerful eyes in the universe.
Well, it could be debated, at least.
Next to him was Jean Grey. Long red hair, green eyes, the two main features that reminded him of Mary Jane… which probably wasn't the greatest thing.
Heck, he has a problem when it comes to redheads in general.
"Hello there, Spider-Man." Jean greeted, both her and Cyclops having a small smile.
"Feeling better, I presume?" Cyclops asked.
"Well, if you're not counting me getting lost in this huge mansion, I'm mostly feeling better." Spidey told them, managing to make a joke. "A lot different compared to my home, that's for sure." he said. "But enough about me, how are you guys doing?"
"We're doing great." Cyclops said. "I'm not sure if you know this already, but Jean and I got married some time ago." As he said this, he looked at Jean with happiness, as the redhead returned the look.
"Married? Really?" repeated Spidey. "Well then, congrats! You guys are like a serious power couple."
"Thank you." Jean said, liking the power couple compliment.
Cyclops would turn back to Spider-Man. "What about you, Spider-Man? Is there a lady in your life?" he asked curiously, but then the mood totally changed. It wasn't Cyclops' fault, he doesn't know what Spidey has recently gone through.
Spidey looked down, his tone becoming saddened. "It's…" he began, closing his eyes under his mask as he sighed. He looked away from Cyclops and Jean, soon giving his answer. "It's complicated."
Cyclops and Jean noticed the mood change immediately. They figured it would be best to not ask Spidey about relationship stuff anymore. "I'm sorry for asking. Clearly you don't want to talk about it, so it's my mistake for even bringing it up." Cyclops told him apologetically, but Spidey would make sure he wouldn't take any blame.
"No, no. You're fine, you didn't know." Spidey assured him. "I've just… been through a lot. It's taken a toll on me, and I don't really feel like talking about it."
Cyclops nodded. "I understand." As he said this, though, now he and Jean are wondering what Spidey could have possibly gone through to make him feel this sorrowful. Spidey forced a smile under his mask, even though he knew Cyclops and Jean wouldn't know he was doing it.
He walked away from the two, leaving Cyclops and Jean to look at each other in concern due to Spidey's mood.
As Spidey continued to walk throughout the halls of the X-Mansion, thanks to Cyclops' question, his mind kept on going back to Mary Jane. The information about Cyclops and Jean being married also did more harm than good, because before MJ disappeared, he was planning to propose to her.
He never got the chance.
For whatever reason, it's like Spidey can never have the chance to be truly happy, and this is especially true when it seems like things are beginning to look up for him, only for all of it to come crashing down.
His walk around the mansion would come to a stop momentarily, though, as he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders.
"Good to see ya walkin,' sugah!"
Spidey turned to see a smiling Rogue, with Storm not being too far behind. They got word from Charles that he had recovered, although he couldn't remember why or how he got here in the first place.
"It was a disturbing sight to see you like that, but it's good that you've recovered. Better here than anywhere else." Storm told him.
"Recovered physically, but not mentally." Spidey thought to himself, but had to put up a façade to hide his true feelings. "Thanks to you guys, I turned out okay. And winding up at the X-Mansion was probably pure luck, but hey, I'm glad it happened."
A smirk formed on Rogue's face. "I'm glad it happened too." she said, but she wouldn't end there. Now it was time for the southern belle's plan to be put into action. "Hey Storm, mind if ya give me and Spidey a moment?" she asked, winking at Storm.
Storm got the message. She could only shake her head at what Rogue was trying to do, but she wouldn't get in the middle of it. "Of course." she said, acting like nothing unusual was happening and walked away from the two.
Now Spidey wasn't a dummy, he knew why Rogue asked that question. When he and the X-Men first met up, Rogue wasn't shy on speaking about her attraction to him. Fun flirting, if you want a name for it.
And hey, if Spidey was being honest, Rogue is beautiful, and she did have her southern charm which made her more attractive. But… making a move on her, he feels like he would be betraying MJ.
Is the reasoning stupid? Does he need to move on? Her body hasn't been found, which either means she's alive, or she's dead.
But it's been so long… he's tried to search for her everyday, trying to find any possible clue or hint, the one glimmer of hope where he finds out she's alive.
Unfortunately, this glimmer of hope he has only continues to get smaller.
"Hey, Rogue." Spidey said, as Rogue took a step back and were now facing each other. "How's my favorite person in the X-Men doing?"
"Favorite person? You mean that, sugah?" Rogue inquired, being playful.
"Definitely. My second favorite probably has to be Beast or ol' Wolvy. Wolvy can be a grouch at times, though." Spidey joked, succeeding in making Rogue laugh.
"That he can be. But in my opinion, Ah feel like it's an act sometimes."
Spidey raised an eyebrow under his mask. "An act?"
Rogue nodded. "Yeah. He likes to put up this wall, but Ah know deep down, there's not a thing he wouldn't do for all of us."
Spidey listened to Rogue, acknowledging her theory on Wolverine putting up a wall. Heck, to be honest, maybe he and Wolverine aren't so different. They have their reasons for doing things, but they do it in different ways.
Spidey eventually became silent, Rogue noticing the change in his mood by his body language. "What's the matter, sugah?" she asked in concern. Dang it, she noticed.
"Nothing, nothing." Spidey retorted quickly, but Rogue wouldn't back off so easily.
"Come on now, ya can't fool me. I know somethin's botherin' ya." Rogue told him. Spidey sighed deeply, knowing there was no way out of this one.
There was a part of him that wanted to talk about his recent struggles, but the other half was screaming no.
Though, he realizes if he never talks about his issues, all it's gonna do is eat him up inside. And really, there was something about Rogue that made him feel like she would understand. Like, she gave off this comforting feeling.
"Can we… talk about it somewhere else?" Spidey asked.
"Sure, sugah. We can talk about it in my room." she told him, making Spidey freeze in silence. She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Get your mind out the gutter."
"That's not what I was thinking at all!" Spidey said, making Rogue sigh.
"Mhm." she replied, soon leading Spidey to her room. Closing the door behind them, Rogue was now giving him her full attention. "So, what's up?"
Spidey stood there in silence for a few moments, wondering how he wanted to say this. "Rogue… I… Gah, how should I say this."
Clearly, he was having trouble.
"Just spit it out, sugah. There's no need to worry." Rogue assured him, her tone being sweet.
Spidey needed that assurance more than she knows. "Okay. Well… You're obviously part of the X-Men."
Rogue was sorta confused on where he was going with this, but she went along with it. "Yeah?"
"But you had a life before the X-Men too, right?"
Rogue looked down, remembering her life before the X-Men. It went all the way back to how everything started, when she found out she was a mutant when she kissed her crush Cody Robbins.
And then he proceeded to go in a coma.
She couldn't have skin on skin contact with anybody, and this fact still hurts her today.
Though, since this was about Spidey venting, it was time for her to put up her own act. "Yeah."
Spidey nodded. "I don't know if you've completely left that life behind, but the point I'm trying to make is I've been trying to combine being Spider-Man, and the actual man under the mask for years now. And… it's like everything is progressively getting worse because of it."
Now, he would begin to really explain what's going on with him.
"In my life as a regular guy, I had this girl I was ready to get serious with. Mary Jane Watson was her name. But I couldn't protect her, and it all points to my enemy knowing my secret identity and wanted to strike me in the heart. The Green Goblin, Norman Osborn… he captured her, and during our battle, the final image of Mary Jane I have is her falling off the George Washington Bridge. There's been no signs of her since. No body to confirm if she's alive or dead, it's just… it's driving me crazy."
As Spidey began to open up, Rogue had a look of concern on her face. She wanted to say something initially, but didn't want to interrupt him in the process.
He would continue talking.
"To make matters worse, I was best friends with Norman's son, Harry Osborn. But once he found out Spider-Man was connected to his father's disappearance, he went down the same path and progressively started to lose his sanity. He became the new Green Goblin, and I had to defeat him too. But in the process… I had to send my best friend to Ravencroft."
Finally, he would touch on the last part.
"When I'm not wearing the mask, I try to help my Aunt May out with the bills. My Uncle Ben died some time ago, and it's made me try to step up as the man of the household, but I can't even do that right. We're in the middle of losing our home, and I've tried absolutely everything. Multiple jobs, having jobs that slander my own name, but the money still isn't enough. We have no idea where we're gonna go. I dropped out of college just so I could focus on making extra cash while being able to be Spider-Man more often, but it hasn't worked out. Nothing has worked out."
Spidey's hand met with his face, his voice sounding tired, sad, and frustrated above everything else. A bevy of emotions were hitting him hard. "Everything I had, almost everyone I love, it's like I'm losing it all at the blink of an eye, and I don't know what to do to stop it."
To say Rogue felt her heart break when she heard Spider-Man's story, Peter's story, my goodness, this dude has been through a lot. He puts the entire world on his shoulders, but it's like his failures are the only things that are magnified.
She was speechless, not knowing what to say. Even if she did know what to say, how in the world would she say it?
Rogue came closer to Spider-Man, and did the only thing that could come to her mind.
Hug him.
With Spidey having his costume on and Rogue having her gloves, she could do that. Spidey was taken back by this action at first, but he proceeded to return Rogue's warmth by hugging her back.
"Gosh, I'm so sorry, sugah. No one deserves to go through that." She tried to think of something else to say. I mean, this conversation was obviously a personal one, but Rogue feels like she could do more.
The hug would end, as Rogue began to explain.
"To answer your question further, Ah definitely did have a life before Ah joined the X-Men. Ah wasn't always called Rogue either. Ah went by Anna Marie for a long time." she said. Though, she wasn't saying it to get Spidey to reveal his identity. She was just trying to find ways she could relate to him.
Maybe someday down the line, Rogue will talk to Spidey about her problems.
She did notice Spidey became silent when she gave out her name. "I'm not trying to get you to reveal your identity, if ya wanna know. Ah know that's the last thing you want to do."
Spidey nodded. "Yeah... Whenever people find out my identity, nothing good comes from it."
Rogue understood where he was coming from, and wouldn't want to harp on that topic any longer. The room was quiet, both of them being in their own thoughts.
But then something hit her.
"You could stay with us!"
Spidey looked surprised at Rogue's suggestion, to say the least.
"Wait, what?"
"You said you and your Aunt have no idea where you're going to go. Problem solved, you could stay here with us at the X-Mansion!" Rogue repeated once more.
"That's… I…" Spidey couldn't get the words out. Rogue was making it sound so simple. He only wishes his life could be so simple. "Rogue, I appreciate the offer, but it's not that simple. My Aunt doesn't even know her nephew is Spider-Man. I would have to explain so many things to her, and some of them… I don't want to explain."
He was referring to him being the main reason why his Uncle Ben died, when he let Dennis Carradine, Uncle Ben's murderer, initially get away on one faithful night because of his own selfish reasons.
Rogue looked a bit sad at Spidey's reasoning, but she understood it. "Aw, okay. Ah don't want to force you to do anything you don't wanna do. Ah do think the professor would be cool with it if it ever got to that point."
She looked at Spidey, showing a smile. "Besides, Ah like your company."
"The feeling's mutual." Spidey responded, smiling under his mask. "Though, I probably can't stay for too much longer. My Aunt is probably worried sick about me." He was about to open the door and walk out, but he stopped himself. He turned around to face Rogue so he could tell her something. "Rogue, thank you for listening to me. I feel a bit better after talking about my problems."
Rogue kept her smile, folding her arms. "Glad Ah could help, sugah."
Spidey kept his smile as well, beginning to walk out of Rogue's room.
Outside The X-Mansion
"Ohhhhh, there's the X-Mansion! Jeez, I can tell I haven't been here in ages if I forgot where it was." a voice of a man said. His head would turn to the man who successfully led him here. "Thank you, good sir!" he gave an exaggerated salute, showing his thanks to the man.
The other man was clearly older in age, having grey hair, cool glasses, and an exuberant personality. "Not a problem. That's what Stan The Man does!"
The man had another question for Stan, though. "But seriously, how does someone like you know where this place is?"
Stan could only laugh, as he began to walk away. "I have my ways." he said, eventually being out of sight as he gave one last wave to the man he helped.
"The most interesting man in the world right there." the man said, turning his attention back to the X-Mansion and jumped over the gates, getting closer to the mansion itself and rang the doorbell.
Inside The X-Mansion
Everybody heard the doorbell ring, along with the security systems telling that somebody was here. Logan walked through the halls, his increased sense of smell making him be able to figure out who it was.
"Oh no…" he said, already feeling like he was about to go through an existential crisis. He had walked passed Spider-Man, who was clearly confused. "What's going on? Who's here?"
"The one person on the planet that's more annoying than you, Bub." Logan explained, Spidey now acting like he took offense to the comment.
"Boy, I'm hurt. Somebody on your annoying list is more annoying than me?" Spidey said, but Logan would ignore him.
Logan would make it to the door, opening it and saw a red and black costumed mercenary loaded with guns and swords.
"Logan! It's good to see ya, old buddy!"
Logan's palm would meet with his face, as he now felt like he wanted to kill himself.
"Oh God…"
Deadpool has joined the battle.
END OF CHAPTER 1: A WORTHLESS SPIDER
BGM: Spider-Man TAS 1994 – Ending
Deadpool: The writer has decided to put me in here for funsies! YAAAAYYYY!
Logan: I'm gonna go kill myself now.
Rogue: Well, this is definitely his worst nightmare. Spider-Man and Deadpool in the same place at the same time.
Spider-Man: Oh come on, I'm not that bad!
Next time on Spider-Man & The X-Men: Dreams & Nightmares!
The Offer
Xavier: Wade? What brings you here?
Author's Note: If guys enjoyed what you read, leave a kudos, a bookmark, and a comment! See ya guys next time!