"Illyana, please. We are trying to show them that we are not the enemy."
So punching someone in the face is his way of saying 'Let's be friends.' Boy if everyone he knows thinks like that then he'd have more friends than Iron Man has money.
"You are correct brother, we are their saviors. If they cannot see that, then they deserve their fates."
Fate huh. For some reason that word really ticks him off.
"Sister please you are starting to frighten me."
Metal man thinks he's scared. He should try laying facedown on the floor with his face caved in.
"S-see wha-what I mean Col-Colossus," Spidey said with great strain, "The Phoenix is -kuh-making your si-sister all wacky," he struggles to push himself off the ground, "How long 'cough' do you think it'll take you to turn dark?"
The metal skinned man looks to the downed hero and ponders the question. It's true he has been fighting certain dark urges, such as wanting to crush the New York heros skull beneath his foot, but he figured since he hasn't really given in to any of them he is still a long way from being turned evil.
His sister is where he truly is concerned. While traveling all over the world fixing its problems, he noticed his sister taking actions that were definitely crossing a line. When they were ridding the worlds armies, she executed several hundred soldiers all over the world. Some even when they surrendered only because they still attacked her in the first place. It's as if any sense of good has been wiped away from her.
"An insect like you should not be insulting his betters," Colossus is brought out of his thoughts when his sister speaks, "Especially not when they are already being merciful enough in letting you keep your little insignificant life."
"You keep saying little," Spidey says with a strained voice as he puts himself on his knees, "and yet I'm slightly taller than you."
He knows if he keeps pushing her, she'll do something he'll regret it, but he has to keep pushing to enact his plan.
"Always with a pitiful joke to mask how pathetic you are."
"Well we all have our ways of dealing with our insecurities," he says as he looks right at her. One of his lenses is broken so one of his eyes is showing, "Me, I try to be funny. Iron Man drinks, Thor brags about how mighty his hammer is, and you," he laughs a little buts coughs a bit instead, "Well yours is even more pathetic you-"SHLUK
He stops and widens his eyes when he feels an intense pain in his chest. He looks down and sees Magik pierced his chest with her sword.
'Well, I should've seen this coming,' he thinks to himself as he looks back at her with a scared expression, while she looks back with utter contempt.
"As I said," he hears her say, "We were being merciful in letting you keep your little insignificant life," she leans in and whispers into his right ear, "but I just ran out of mercy."
She pulls out her sword and he coughs up his blood as more begins to pour out of his chest out. He places his hands on the hole in his chest to stop the bleeding.
Meanwhile Colossus is shocked at the deed she had just done. Their opponent had been defeated and she still decided to stab the defenseless hero.
"Illyana," he calls to her as she wipes her blade on the bleeding hero's costume, "What have you done?"
"I did what needed to be done."
"He was beaten, you did not need to-"
"Enough!" The blonde mutant shouted at her brother, "He was in the way and I removed him permanently! As we should have been doing from the beginning! We should be getting rid of all who are against us!" She lowers her voice and looks back at her brother with disdain, "If they will not submit then they will perish. And if you cannot accept that, then you are not worthy of possessing this power."
Stunned at the declaration her sister just made, Colossus begins to see what Spider-Man was saying. He has been able to fight off the darkness that has been creeping into his heart, but it seems sister has not. In fact, he doubts she even tried to ward off the dark influence of the Phoenix force.
And if that is the case, then he knows what he has to do to save his precious little sister.
"Illyana," he speaks to her calmly, "You are no longer suited to wield this power give it to me now."
Magik narrows her eyes, challenging her brother, and says, "Try and take it."
She lowers her stance and raises her sword as Colossus lowers his stance as well, readying to charge at her. Both look at each other intensely not blinking. Neither of them showing any hesitation or a sign of weakness. Both are very committed to taking the other down.
All the while Spider-Man, still holding his bleeding wound, looks on with a half droopy eye and thinks, 'So, two cosmic powered mutants are about to fight for the others power right in front of me... in an enclosed space... while I'm bleeding out... Yeah, this is gonna-"
FA-BOOOOOM!
***
(Portal in front of the Mountain)
All the snow that once covered the mountains for miles has now been evaporated. The ground around the partially destroyed mountain is steaming from all of the evaporated and the still falling snow.
The Avengers that first came through the portal come through again and see the destruction with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"The hell happened here?" Wolverine asks the question on all their minds.
Xavier closes his eyes and concentrates, "It would seem that Magik and Colossus did battle with each other for more power of the Phoenix. I can sense the faint traces of its power resonating here."
T'challa looks around the area cautiously and asks, "Who won the battle between them?"
Xavier focuses inside the mountain and feels two presences, "It would seem that neither possessed more power than the other, so they defeated each other."
Wolverine thinks on why the two siblings would duke it out and comes to one conclusion, "Web head must have made them turn on each other while he was getting beat on."
Captain America looks at the destroyed mountain with worry and asks, "Where is Spider-Man right now?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Charles responded, "I cannot sense his presence insi-" he stops when he notices a faint signature. His eyes open shock and horror, "Oh no." He then breaks off into a sprint towards the entrance of the mountain before the others could ask him what was wrong. They can assume from his actions that it can't be anything good.
They reach the entrance into the cavern where they left him, seeing as most of the debris was removed from the explosion. Once they enter they see at the center of a crater both Magik and Colossus unconscious and injured.
Wolverine snorts at the sight, "I always figured those two would eventually turn on each other."
"I-It wa-wasnt as ea-easy as y-you think."
All of them turn and see Spider-Man. Though the thing that really gets their attention is the fact that he looks bleeding as if he's bleeding from every pore of his body. He collapses onto the ground and his teammates rush immediately afterwards.
"Spider-Man!" Captain America shouts as runs towards the young hero. He reaches him first, gets on his knees, and holds his head up delicately while looking at him with worry. The rest of the team circle around him and the badly beaten hero, all with the same expression as the patriotic soldier.
They especially focus on the wound on his chest which is bleeding profusely.
Spider coughs up a bit of blood and says, "I've b-been through 'cough' worse."
Cap looks at the others with urgency, "We need to get him medical attention quick!"
Dr. Strange kneels down, waves his fingers around, and mystical energy begins to gather at his fingertips, "I know of a few spells that can help with his healing factor."
Strange stops when the whole mountain begins to rumble and stalagmite fall from the ceiling.
"We need to move!' Cap shouted as he picked the younger hero bridal style.
Xavier looks over at the two unconscious mutants and then back at the Avengers, "We have to get them out as well!"
Wolverine growls and reluctantly heads down the crater to pick up Magik and flings her over his shoulder, not really caring if she's comfortable or not, while She-Hulk picks up Colossus and carries him like a fireman. They follow Cap and the rest out of the cavern and avoiding the debris at the same time.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man feels his consciousness slipping. His eyelids become heavier and heavier and he begins to lose feeling all over.
"Stay with me soldier! We're almost there!"
He hears Cap shouting but he sounds so far away for some reason. Why does he sound so far away? The man is carrying him. His face is right next to his own, so why?
He should say something.
Something he should've said a long time ago.
"Ca-Cap."
He's just realizing how hard it is to say anything right now.
"Cap."
At least that one was louder.
"Don't say anything! Save your strength, we're almost there!"
Alright, he heard him. Now he just needs to say it and then he'll listen to his orders.
"I'm sorry I wasn't good enough."
Hey, he didn't struggle speaking this time. Although now he can't hear what the Captain was saying to him. It's all muffled. And is it just him or is it getting darker.
'Oh wait, It's not getting darker,' he thought to himself as he came to the morbid realization of what was happening to him. As it slowly started to get darker, a few faces came to mind as his last thoughts, 'Aunt May, Mary Jane, Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny, Val, Frankie, and heck everyone, I'm sorry I wasn't good enough.' He finished his thoughts just as darkness took him.
In his last moments, he would've sworn he saw a cloaked figure standing at the entrance of the cave.
The Avengers finally get outside just as the entire mountain collapses in. They all breathe a sigh of relief, especially those who were carrying some bodies. Wolverine drops Magik to the floor without a care and She-Hulk just chucks Colossuses body.
While they do that, Cap carefully lays Spider-Man on the ground and says, "We made it soldier, we made it."
It is at this point Steve notices how still Spidey is and dread starts to sink in, "Spider-Man?" He says to him expecting a response, "Spider-Man?" He calls out again, this time loud enough to get the attention of others attention, but still nothing from the younger hero.
Wolverine rushes over, gets on his knees next to him, and gently nudges him, "Peter?," he says, "Hey c'mon kid, this ain't no time for jokes." He's really hoping that the young hero wakes up and says he was just kidding.
Strange is the next to get on his knees next to the Patriotic Hero. He grabs Peters hand and places his fingers on his wrist to look for a pulse.
He doesn't...