The team was ready to set out on a mission, with Spider-Man joining them to provide additional support. Everyone had gathered together and prepared themselves for what was supposed to be their next assignment.
Suddenly, an alarm went off.
The sharp, blaring sound echoed throughout the school, immediately putting everyone on edge.
"An intruder! Level five!" the security system announced.
The alarm indicated that the intruder had breached the underground floor of the school.
Logan's expression immediately hardened. Emma narrowed her eyes, while Storm and Beast exchanged concerned glances. Spider-Man looked toward the direction of the underground floor before quickly following the others.
"Looks like we've got company," Logan growled.
The five of them quickly made their way downstairs. Their footsteps echoed through the underground corridors as they moved deeper into the facility. The further they went, the colder and more tense the atmosphere became.
Eventually, they reached a large underground chamber.
Standing in the middle of the room was Magneto.
He turned toward them with a calm expression, almost as if he had been waiting for them.
"Well, looks like you're a little late for the party," Magneto said with a faint smirk.
Logan immediately stepped forward, his fists tightening.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
But before anyone could move, something behind Magneto slowly stepped forward.
A massive figure emerged from the shadows.
He was enormous, covered in blue skin and wearing ancient-looking armor. His imposing presence alone was enough to make the entire room feel smaller.
Storm's eyes widened in disbelief.
"No way..." she whispered.
Her expression quickly turned into one of anger.
"That's Apocalypse?!"
Beast stared at the towering figure, his face becoming increasingly serious.
"Good heavens..."
Storm stepped forward, glaring directly at Magneto.
"What the hell did you do after what he did?! Magneto, he tricked us back then, and we aided the X-Men!"
Magneto remained completely calm despite Storm's fury.
"I have my reasons," he replied.
Storm clenched her fists.
"You have your reasons?! After everything that happened?"
Magneto simply turned toward the portal behind him.
"Until then, we'll meet again."
A swirling portal opened behind Magneto and Apocalypse. The two began walking toward it as the X-Men prepared themselves to pursue them.
"Wait!" Logan shouted.
Magneto and Apocalypse continued forward.
But just as they were about to enter the portal, the swirling energy suddenly flickered.
The portal began collapsing.
Magneto stopped.
Apocalypse slowly turned his head.
The two of them looked back and saw Spider-Man standing nearby, one hand raised toward the portal.
A small mechanical device on his wrist emitted a faint blue glow.
Spider-Man gave them an apologetic shrug.
"Sorry there. Can't let you out of the party, you poopers."
Magneto's eyes narrowed.
Apocalypse stared at Spider-Man with visible confusion.
"Who is this bug...?" Apocalypse asked, looking toward Magneto.
Magneto glanced at Spider-Man.
"Don't know. Must be a rookie for them."
Spider-Man tilted his head.
"Wow. Rookie. That hurts."
Logan glanced toward Spider-Man.
"Kid, move."
"Working on it."
Before anyone could react, Magneto suddenly raised one hand.
The metal pipes running throughout the underground facility violently twisted and tore apart.
Spider-Man's eyes widened beneath his mask.
"Uh-oh."
Gas began rushing through the broken pipes.
Spider-Man immediately looked around.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!"
Magneto's expression remained completely calm.
"Goodbye."
"Waiiiit!"
BOOMMM!
A tremendous explosion erupted through the underground floor.
The entire chamber was engulfed in fire and smoke. The force of the blast sent debris flying in every direction as the floor violently shook beneath everyone's feet.
Logan was thrown backward and slammed against the ground.
"Gah!"
Storm quickly raised her arms, creating a powerful gust of wind to push the flames away from herself and the others.
Beast grabbed onto a nearby support beam as the ground continued to tremble.
Emma shielded herself from the flying debris while Spider-Man was thrown across the room.
"Whoa!"
He flipped through the air before firing a web toward the wall.
The web caught.
Spider-Man swung around and landed heavily against the floor.
"Okay... definitely didn't have that on my schedule."
Another violent tremor shook the facility.
Cracks began spreading across the ceiling.
The floor above them began to crack as pieces of concrete broke loose and crashed downward.
Everyone looked upward.
Logan's eyes widened.
"Move!"
Another section of the ceiling collapsed.
CRASH!
Dust and debris filled the underground chamber.
For several seconds, everything became eerily quiet.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
Step.
Step.
Step.
A man entered the school carrying a card in his hand.
Everywhere around him, the chaos seemed to freeze.
He casually took a bite of a Twinkie bun as he continued walking, completely unfazed by the destruction surrounding him.
"Huh...?"
He glanced around curiously.
Then he put on his headphones and began playing "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics.
He put on his goggles and began running faster than the speed of light. In an instant, the world around him appeared to freeze. The flames, debris, smoke, and even the falling pieces of concrete seemed completely motionless.
Pietro looked around the underground basement as he moved through the frozen destruction. His eyes carefully scanned every corner, taking in the familiar surroundings.
He had been here before.
For a brief moment, memories of his first time in this place flashed through his mind.
"Ah, man... here we go again," he muttered to himself.
Pietro cracked his knuckles and immediately got to work.
His body disappeared in a blur.
The first person he reached was Logan.
Pietro grabbed him and moved him away from the collapsing area before returning almost instantly. He then rushed toward Emma Frost, pulling her out of the danger zone before returning for Beast.
But just as Pietro was about to grab Beast, a voice suddenly caught his attention.
"Took you long enough, Pietro Maximoff. A.K.A. Quicksilver."
Pietro suddenly stopped.
His shoes scraped against the floor as he came to a complete halt.
He slowly turned his head.
Standing there was Spider-Man.
Unlike everyone else around him, Spider-Man was completely unfazed by Pietro's incredible speed.
Pietro's eyes widened.
"Wait?! Who are you, and how are you not affected by my powers? I literally can run so fast that time itself stops!"
Spider-Man looked at him calmly.
"We'll talk later. For now, get everyone out while I stop the explosion from spreading."
Pietro stared at him for a moment before glancing toward the rapidly spreading flames.
"You're seriously asking me to just trust you?"
Spider-Man turned toward the explosion.
"Pretty much."
Pietro gave him an incredulous look.
"You're weird."
"Been told that before."
Spider-Man suddenly raised his hand.
His magical scarf came to life, twisting and swirling around his arm as mystical energy began flowing through it. At the same time, Anti-Venom emerged and began merging with the magical energy.
The white symbiote spread across Spider-Man's body, its tendrils moving alongside the glowing magical scarf.
"V, host with Quicksilver to enhance his Limit Break," Spider-Man commanded.
Venom immediately turned toward Pietro.
The symbiote extended one of its tendrils toward him.
Pietro cautiously reached out and joined hands with Anti-Venom.
The moment they touched, the symbiote's energy surged through Pietro's body.
"Oooo..." Venom said, seemingly fascinated. "This is new."
Spider-Man glanced at him.
"No funny business. Get to work."
Anti-Venom and Spiderman order that to Venom.
Venom sounded slightly annoyed.
"Sheesh. What a party pooper."
Pietro suddenly felt something completely new coursing through his body.
His eyes widened.
The sensation was overwhelming.
His muscles tightened as an enormous surge of energy flooded through him. His heartbeat accelerated, but instead of slowing him down, it seemed to synchronize perfectly with the immense power now running through his body.
Pietro looked down at his hands.
"What... did you just do to me?"
"Upgrade," Spider-Man replied.
Pietro grinned.
"Well, that's one hell of an upgrade."
He lowered his body into a running stance.
A strange energy began gathering around him as he channeled the enhanced power flowing through his body, combining his natural speed with the new symbiote-enhanced ability.
Then he vanished.
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted from where Pietro had been standing.
In less than a fraction of a second, he began moving through the underground facility, rescuing every adult and child caught within the disaster.
One by one, they disappeared from the danger zone.
Teachers.
Students.
Mutants.
Staff.
Anyone trapped inside was carried away before the spreading explosion could reach them.
Pietro continued moving faster and faster, his body becoming nothing more than a blur of silver and white.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man remained behind.
He slowly cracked his knuckles.
Then his neck.
Crack.
Crack.
He stared directly at the expanding flames.
"You ready?"
Anti-Venom formed a grin across Spider-Man's shoulder.
"Let's do this, partner."
Spider-Man raised both hands.
His magical scarf floated around him as mystical symbols began forming through the air. Anti-Venom spread across his body, merging with the spell and amplifying its energy.
The surrounding flames began reacting to the magical force.
Spider-Man concentrated.
He wasn't trying to extinguish the explosion.
He was going to reverse it.
He began creating a spell designed to manipulate time itself, focusing its effect specifically on the explosion.
The magical energy intensified.
Spider-Man slowly twisted his hand as though turning an enormous invisible crank.
The flames began moving backward.
Slowly.
Piece by piece.
The fire that had already spread across the underground floor began retracting into itself. Burning debris lifted from the ground and returned to where it had originally been.
The shattered concrete began rebuilding itself.
The smoke started flowing backward.
The explosion itself was slowly reverting to the moment before it had ever happened.
In a moment, Spider-Man was able to stop the explosion from happening, while Pietro was able to get everyone out of the underground facility as fast as possible.
The last traces of the reversed explosion disappeared, leaving the underground floor completely intact.
Spider-Man released the spell and immediately swung out of the building through one of the openings above. His web attached to the edge of the structure, and he swung himself outside before releasing the web and landing smoothly on the ground.
Pietro was already there, standing nearby with his arms crossed.
He looked down at the white substance still covering part of his body before holding out his hand.
"You can have this... thing back, I think?"
"Thing?!" Venom immediately snapped, clearly annoyed.
Anti-Venom's voice came from Spider-Man.
"Ooo... he doesn't like being called a thing or a parasite."
Pietro looked toward the symbiote.
"A parasite?"
"A PARASITE?!"
Venom's voice echoed loudly as the symbiote began reacting.
"ENOUGH!!!" Spider-Man yelled.
Both symbiotes immediately went silent.
Spider-Man sighed before looking at Pietro.
"Can we just keep the introductions for later?"
He reached toward Pietro and activated the magical energy surrounding his hand. The Anti-Venom symbiote began separating from Pietro's body, its white tendrils slowly pulling away from his arms, chest, and shoulders.
The symbiote flowed back toward Spider-Man before merging with his body once again.
Pietro looked at himself, flexing his fingers as the strange sensation finally disappeared.
Spider-Man turned toward him.
"You can stop now, you know."
Pietro blinked.
He suddenly realized that he was still moving at his enhanced speed.
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Pietro released his power.
In an instant, the world returned to normal.
The sounds of the surroundings came rushing back all at once. The wind moved normally again, dust settled onto the ground, and everyone who had been rescued finally had a chance to catch their breath.
Logan slowly pushed himself upright.
He looked around, clearly confused by what had just happened.
"What happened?"
Storm looked toward the school before turning her attention to Spider-Man.
"Why are we outside while Apocalypse just escaped?"
Beast adjusted his glasses, still trying to process the events.
"Indeed. One moment we were underground, and the next thing I knew, we were outside."
Spider-Man glanced back toward the school.
He then explained what had happened underground, telling them about Magneto, Apocalypse, the explosion, and how Pietro had arrived in time to evacuate everyone while he stopped the explosion from spreading.
As he spoke, Spider-Man couldn't help but think about how perfectly the timing had matched his memories.
He had predicted that Quicksilver would arrive.
Just as he remembered from his previous life.
Still, Spider-Man carefully kept that part to himself.
There was no way he could explain how he knew Pietro would appear without revealing the truth about his past life and the fact that he was a regressor.
For now, that secret had to remain his alone.
"Great, now what do we do?" Logan asked, looking toward Spider-Man.
"Simple. We use him."
Spider-Man snapped his fingers.
A magical portal suddenly opened beside him.
Everyone turned toward it.
Out came Deadpool, still trapped inside the same cube from before. He tumbled onto the ground and rolled a few times before finally coming to a stop.
"Oh, man, I'm alive!" Wade exclaimed. "I would have been Toast-erpool by now."
Emma stared at him with an unimpressed expression.
"How does using this nitwit help us?"
Spider-Man looked toward the others.
"Before Apocalypse and Magneto escaped, I planted a tracking device on Magneto's cape."
Logan raised an eyebrow.
"You did what?"
Spider-Man shrugged.
"Long story."
He pointed toward Deadpool.
"And as for Deadpool, he's the bait."
Deadpool's eyes widened beneath his mask.
"Wait, bait for what?"
He suddenly began shaking the cube.
"For WHAT?!"
Spider-Man simply turned toward the direction where Apocalypse and Magneto had escaped.
"That's the part we're about to find out."
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"
Deadpool's voice echoed from inside the cube.
"Why does nobody ever explain the important part?!"
---
Chapter 34 — End