Tangled Web - 4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

::Lessons Learned::

* * * * *

I awoke in my bed to the sound of one of those cheesy teen comedies and Peter’s laughter. He was obviously trying to be quiet, as he was desperately clutching at his mouth, but was losing the battle. His face was red, and his shoulders were moving up and down as he giggled quietly.

“This movie sucks,” I said.

Realizing I was awake, he just let himself go, falling out of his chair and rolling around on the floor.

Finally his giggles died down enough for him to speak…somewhat coherently.

“Dude!…his underwear is on…his head!” he degenerated back into another laughing fit.

I looked over to the screen and discovered that the character in the movie did indeed have his underwear on his head. I looked back over to Peter, left eyebrow cocked.

Peter pointed to his own head. “Underwear on…his head!”

I was about to completely make fun of Peter again, when a blue cat-person walked into the room.

Yes, I said blue cat-person. I was left so speechless at the sight of him, I couldn’t even make the sound of a gasp. He was wearing a white lab coat, and had a stethoscope around his neck. Seriously, he looked like a living, breathing character from a bad Japanese Anime.

“I’m glad you’re awake, Benjamin,” the cat-monster said with a kind sounding, deep voice. His nametag said, “Dr. McCoy”. It suddenly became very hard for me to imagine anything other than a classroom full of medical students…one of them blue. And furry. With pointy cat-ears. And whiskers.

“Well then, you seem to be doing better today,” Dr. McCoy said jovially. He smiled, and I slid backward on my bed at the sight of his pointy teeth.

“I take it you aren’t used to being treated by such a handsome doctor. I assure you, it’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Oh…umm…okay…” I stuttered brilliantly.

“First and foremost, you’re going to be okay. There was no need to keep you in the medical wing, because you’ve only suffered some minor injuries. I just need to check that there’s no lasting damage, then I’ll be on my way.”

He did what a doctor usually does. He checked my heartbeat, my breathing, my hearing, and my vision. He asked me to lift my shirt, and he poked me in places strategically designed to be as painful as possible, then asked if it hurt. It didn’t help that each time he poked me I could feel the tip of his retracted claw, and it only heightened the pain.

He handed me a typical prescription bottle. “Take one of these every four hours for pain for the first four days, then take them as needed.”

With that, he left, and I was alone in my room with Peter. I looked over at him, my confusion plainly written on my face, and he was once again trying not to burst into a fit of laughter.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me the doctor was a scary blue monster?” I asked angrily.

He laughed, unable to contain it any longer. “Dude…you shouldn’t…” it was taking a long time for him to control it, but finally he calmed down. “Doctor McCoy is a certified genius, you shouldn’t talk so badly about him. And he’s sensitive about his appearance.”

“It’s not my fault he’s a giant blue cat monster!”

“It isn’t his, either,” he said, sobering me. “You need to learn something real quick. Not all mutants are as lucky as you or I. The mutant X-gene is unpredictable. It gives some of us awesome powers, but for others it’s more of a curse than a gift.”

“I’d never thought about it that way.”

“Most people don’t. But look at Mr Summers or Miss Frost, they for the most part, look like normal people. Even Professor Logan, in all his gross hairy glory, looks perfectly normal. We can blend in, but some mutants don’t have that luxury. Like Doctor McCoy, who’s code name is Beast.”

“Or Gigantor?” I asked, remembering the name of the mutant we’d been talking about a few days ago.

“Well…yes, technically,” he said, his brow furrowing. “She looks fairly normal, but her size is a dead giveaway. But Gigantor is a bitch, so make fun of her all you want.”

I laughed, and threw a pillow at him. It hit him square in the face, catching him by surprise.

“I thought your code name was ‘Dodge’?” I asked, in between giggles.

“I…shut up Benny,” he said, laughing and turning away from me. “It’s late, I’m going to bed.”

* * * * *

It was a full week before I was allowed to participate again in team skills, and even then, it was a much different class. Doctor McCoy, who I learned was also a mechanical genius, was going over the designs for the robots, trying to figure out what went wrong. In the meantime, we were paired off by Professor Logan, to run through some basic combat drills. Doctor McCoy recalibrated the collision detectors on our belts to work on human opponents, so the effect was the same. We still moved as if we’d been hit, but felt no pain. I was paired with Peter, who was obviously taking it easy on me.

“Come on, Peter, is that all you’ve got?” I taunted, trying to get a rise out of him.

“I don’t want to overwhelm you on your first day back,” he said, making a feeble offensive attack.

“Well, at this rate I’m going to die of boredom.”

“Switch!” Professor Logan called out, which was the signal to switch from offensive to defensive, and vice versa.

“Now you’re in for it,” I said with a grin.

“Give me your best…”

He was cut off in mid-sentence as his head rocked back from the punch I delivered.

I threw another punch at his midsection, and he doubled over as if I’d actually connected. I ended the round by kicking at his head, sending him sprawling.

“You know, these machines might prevent pain from the punches and kicks, but the floor still hurts like it always did,” he said as he staggered to his feet. He took a moment, arms out to steady himself and then looked up at me.

“How’d you do that?” he asked in confusion.

“What, kick your ass?”

“No, seriously. My mutant power should have prevented you from doing that. How’d you counteract it?”

“Oh, just admit when you’ve been beaten,” I said chuckling.

“He’s right, kid,” Professor Logan said from behind me, startling me. “He’s damn near as good as I am at defense, how’d you beat him?”

I looked at the both of them like they were crazy. “I have no idea…”

“Spartan, come here,” he called. Spartan jogged over to Professor Logan, sweat standing out on his brow. It looked as if someone had been giving him a workout.

“Make an offensive attack on Dodge.”

Dodge and Spartan both took fighting stances, looking every bit like trained fighters. In a blur of motion, Spartan made my feeble attempts at an offensive attack look like crap, seeming to dance with the moves. But amazingly, Peter was able to block most of the attacks, and the ones he didn’t he was able to redirect them so as to take as little damage as possible.

“Okay, now you try, Spider-Boy,” Professor Logan said, making me cringe at the name. I really needed to come up with a better one.

I walked over to Peter, and took a fighting stance.

“You’d better not be holding back, Peter,” I said.

“Who?” Professor Logan growled angrily. “In the middle of a combat situation, you CAN’T use real names! It could get you killed!”

“I’m sorry…” I said, surprised by his outburst.

“Just…don’t forget it,” he said, waving for me to continue with the exercise.

Once again, I attacked Peter. He blocked my first punch, but the second and third he took to the face. Then I laid him out again with a kick to the midsection.

“Okay…Dodge has to be faking,” Spartan said, looking at the both of us suspiciously.

“Trust me dude, I’m not faking,” Peter said as he staggered to his feet again. He rubbed his jaw, having hit it on the floor.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Professor Logan said to himself. “Frankly, kid, you just aren't that good.”

I’d almost taken offense to that statement, but then realized the truth in it. Peter, by all means, should be able to wipe the floor with me.

“It’s because they’re brothers,” Mr Summers’ voice said from the other side of the room. I turned to look over at him.

“Wow…” I whispered when I saw him. Or…what he was wearing. He had on a form fitting costume, like the rest of us, but his was dark blur with a small amount of yellow trim. And, well, he was a whole lot hotter than the rest of us.

“Okay, why wasn’t I told that?” Professor Logan asked, looking at Mr Summers like he wanted to tear his head off. “When I took this job, it was for Chuck not you, Cyclops. But that doesn’t mean you get to withhold vital information about my students!”

“Calm down, Wolverine, I just found out. Technically they’re half brothers, but still, their powers won’t work on each other.”

“How’d you find out?” I asked Mr Summers. “We only figured it out by accident, and we haven't told anyone.”

“I met with your father,” he said to Peter, causing him to tense up.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Peter asked, clearly afraid of something.

“I’ll talk to you about it later, but it’s nothing to worry about. The main thing is, when I went to meet your father and a blonde Peter Parker answered the door, I figured it out.”

“Oh…” I responded brilliantly.

“So… Why’re you here, bub?” Wolverine asked.

“Well, I was going to take Peter and Benjamin aside and see what they knew about this, but since they figured it out already, I’ve got some free time,” he paused, and smiled wickedly at Wolverine. “X-Men against the Brotherhood?”

Wolverine smiled back, and looked around at all of us, who’d been standing around watching their conversation.

“Now you’re speaking my language.”

They divided the class up, making two equal teams based on the strengths and weaknesses we’d shown in class. Since I’d sat out for the last week, I was given the option of sitting out. But I decided to just go with it.

Mr Summers, or Cyclops, was leading one of the teams, and Professor Logan, Wolverine, was leading the other. I was on Cyclops’ team with Unix and Alchemist, and Peter was on Wolverine’s team with Spartan and Con-Man.

We were the X-Men, and they were the Brotherhood, and we each had to defend our flag from the enemy. This game really utilized the true power of the Danger Room, deploying its holographic capabilities. It created two bases, one on each side of the room, and various obstacles to overcome between them. It was so detailed, that if you didn’t know there were holographic devices being used, you’d think you were in a war zone.

Unix, Alchemist, and I worked very well together as a team. Kate was essentially our team leader, because she was able to think up tactical strategies in an instant with her computer-like brain. Kyle’s ability to change substances into similar substances was useful in taking out the obstacles that we’d come across. And my web slinging and agility allowed me to enter their base and get out as quickly as possible, scoring us a point each time I did. Wolverine and Cyclops were mainly there for support and advice, but occasionally stepped in to give a tactical advantage.

We were tied, four to four, as the game was winding down. “New strategy,” Unix said, gathering Alchemist and I together. “Alchemist and I are going on an offensive run, straight down the middle.”

“That’s going to get them a point real quick, because you’ll be taken out immediately,” Cyclops said.

“That’s why Benny here will have to take them out as soon as he sees them. After Alchemist and I are taken out, Dodge and Con-Man are going to gloat. They’ll be out in the open, and all you’ll have to do is web their faces, disabling their vision and taking them out of the game. Then all you’ll have is Spartan.”

I smiled, liking her style.

“But Spartan is no pushover,” Alchemist said. He looked over at me and grinned. “You think you’re up to it?”

“Are you kidding me? My father’s been taking on guys tougher than him since he was my age. No problem!"

We set the plan into motion, and Kyle and Kate took off. I swung up to a higher vantage point, so that I could see their progress. For a large girl, Kate really had some moves! She evaded the standard traps and obstacles as well as Kyle did. They turned a corner, past some wrecked cars and what looked like a small shed, and Kate was taken down by Con-Man’s kick to her midsection. He then zapped her with what looked like a small gun of some kind, taking her out of the game. Kyle touched the small shed, and in a flash of light it turned into a sticky tar-like substance, immobilizing Con-Man.

He kept moving, knowing that it wasn’t going to keep him down for long. A matter of seconds later, Peter took out Kyle as he ran past, zapping him with one of the guns. I wondered idly where they’d gotten them, and then figured it was probably Professor Logan cheating, as Cyclops warned us that he does.

Peter ran over to Con-Man, and after helping him free, they slapped hands and celebrated for a moment. But a moment was all I needed. I swung down, as fast as I possibly could, and shot a minimum amount of web over their eyes, not enough to stay sticky for very long, but taking the two of them out of the game just the same. I finished the swing, let go of the web, and flipped twice before landing on the ground in a crouch. I was close to the base.

But the entrance was blocked by Spartan.

I squared off with him, about fifteen feet away. He was looking smug, as if I presented no challenge whatsoever to him. I shot a ball of web at him, and he ducked out of the way easily. I tried shooting a line of webbing at him, hoping to be able to put him off guard. Then I saw my opportunity.

I shot another line of web, but this time it missed him completely, landing over his head.

“Come on, aren't you even trying?” he asked, amused at how easy it was.

Then I pulled with all my strength on the web, and the loose rock over his head came free, landing on him and knocking him to the ground. I’d taken out the entire team. I ran into the base, passed a grinning Wolverine as I went, and grabbed the flag. As I got back to our base with it, my team was there to congratulate me.

“End program,” Cyclops said, and the holograms vanished, leaving us in an empty room.

The “Brotherhood” team made their way over, and congratulated us on our victory. Con-Man didn’t look quite so happy, but I didn’t care too much at the moment.

Spartan grinned at me, having clearly underestimated me, something he rarely does. “I’m gonna have to remember that move.”

“Not bad Spider-Boy, not bad,” Wolverine said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t have fell for it, but for a kid, it wasn’t so bad.”

I cringed again at the code name “Spider-Boy”. I looked around me, and my eyes settled on Peter. He’d been fast becoming my best friend, and when I saw how happy he was for me, I came to a decision.

“Scarlet Spider,” I said to Wolverine, choosing the same code name that Peter’s father had used.

“Oh? You think you’ve proven yourself?” Wolverine sneered at me.

“I think he did,” Mr Summers said. The rest of the class agreed.

Wolverine cracked a smile. “So be it, Scarlet Spider.”