Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were walking home from school. Naturally, they noticed the three weirdos sitting on a bench, looking like they'd taken a wrong turn on the way to a costume party.
The teenagers exchanged glances with John's team. After a painfully long second of mutual observation, they moved on.
[I wonder what his Spider-Sense told him about us…]
"How do you even know that guy's a superhero?" Cain pointed after the retreating teen. "Spider-Man's supposed to be strong—lifting cars and stuff. That kid's a twig."
"You forgot I can read souls," John sighed. "That twig, as you put it, has the exact same soul signature as the guy who smears windows with webbing on a daily basis."
"Just another damn mutant," Juggernaut spat. "I'll squash that bug."
"I won't let you hurt the boy!" Jane's voice boomed as she dropped her hand to Mjolnir. "Touch him, and you answer to me!"
"Round two, sweetheart?" Cain clenched his fists, grinning.
"Chill out, roosters," John stepped between them. "No one's punching a high schooler. That'd be pathetic. Nobody's gonna respect us after that."
Juggernaut looked into the calm, steady gaze behind the skull mask. He let out a breath and unclenched his fists.
"You're right, man," Cain patted his shoulder. "Mutants just get under my skin. Childhood trauma. You know how it is."
"No hard feelings," John glanced at Jane, who was slowly relaxing. "Besides, picking a fight with a superhero right now is a bad idea. News says Iron Man's been trying to recruit Spidey for the Avengers. Tony's already on edge after yesterday, and if we break his golden boy, he might lose it—start raining satellite lasers or some other techy bullshit."
"So what do we do now?" giant asked, jerking his thumb at the teens walking away. "We missed our shot! The redhead's already home!"
"That might actually be a good thing," Ghost Rider nodded. "Conversations like this are better held without an audience."
[Also, that mutant with the unknown spider-sense makes me nervous.]
"Maybe we should've warned Mary we were coming," Jane suggested. "Sent her a message on social media or something."
"Have you seen her Instagram?" John asked with a smirk. "Bikini pics and thousands of likes on each post. Girls like that don't reply to random strangers."
"Bikini pics?" Cain pulled out his phone. "Gotta see this."
Jane rolled her eyes.
"Doc said Mary lives with her aunt," John glanced toward the rundown house. "And my sin detector says she's home alone right now. Let's move."
John and Cain marched toward the teenager's house with zero hesitation. Jane hesitated for a moment.
"Maybe we should've changed clothes first?" she gestured to her hammer. "We look way too aggressive. Maybe at least take off the helmet?"
"And lose protection?" John frowned. "We're about to meet Lady Phoenix. We need to be fully prepared."
"She's got a point," Juggernaut unexpectedly paused. "We're visiting a lady, after all. Gotta show some respect."
The giant walked up to a bush, picked a red flower, and pinned it to his outfit, making himself look even more like a stereotypical mobster.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Cain smirked, checking himself out in the reflection of a window. "Ain't a single chick who could say no to a stud like me!"
John and Jane simultaneously facepalmed.
They approached the house and knocked politely—not like they would on the Sorcerer Supreme's door.
The door opened. Mary's mouth dropped open slightly when she saw the three freaks. For a split second, her eyes met John's, and that was enough—Zarathos and the Phoenix "sniffed" each other out.
The meeting of two fire-bound aspects of infinity sparked a connection—kin-like, almost intimate.
In her emerald eyes, like a mirror, flared the reflection of a fiery bird—a harbinger of the Phoenix awakening.
"Down!" John shouted, grabbing Jane and covering her with his body.
[I can only hope Juggernaut's destructive shield will protect him.]
Mary clutched her stomach, curled into a tiny black dot—and a moment later, a loud, blinding explosion shook the air.
Juggernaut stepped forward, placing himself between John and the epicenter, knowing his shield would hold—or almost.
John carefully got up with Jane, making sure she was unharmed.
[Phoenix fire can't harm Zarathos fire. Same deal as with Jane and Thor's lightning. Two attacks of the same element cancel each other out.]
Cain frowned, but showed no signs of damage. His shield held too.
Out of the rubble stepped Mary—or what she had become: a creature seemingly forged from white bone, a hybrid of human and bird, with twin flames flickering in her empty eye sockets. She studied the strangers.
"Mary Jane Watson?" John raised his hand, signaling the others not to interfere. "Did I get that right?"
She tilted her head like a bird, as if seeing the world for the first time. Ignoring John, she turned toward the remains of the house.
For a moment, John thought he saw it—in her eyes, buried deep within the fire—Mary, screaming for help. Her desperate cry drowned in the wail of the ancient bird.
"RESTORE!" Phoenix roared across the street.
Rider and his team covered their ears. The entire neighborhood peeked through windows—someone was already calling the Avengers hotline.
Flaming wings spread from the Phoenix's arms. She flapped them, releasing glowing feathers. From the rubble, the house reassembled itself—exactly as it had been before the explosion.
"Restore, restore, restore!" Phoenix chanted wildly, throwing feathers everywhere—healing cracks in the pavement, sealing cuts in tree bark, turning yellow leaves green again.
"This isn't Mary," John whispered. "I've been through this. Right now, there's some cosmic crap inside her that doesn't care about anything around it." He turned to Juggernaut. "Knock her down. Now!"
"What?! I ain't hittin' a girl!"
[Idiot! You've been throwin' punches all day, and now you're a gentleman?!]
John quickly pulled out his chain and flung it at Phoenix. Fire cancels fire—but even a second might count.
"Jane, hit her with lightning! Now!" Ghost Rider bellowed.
"Why?!"
"Because she doesn't know what needs to be restored!"
"I won't strike an innocent girl," Jane said firmly, crossing her arms.
Phoenix tore through the chain, spread her wings—blasting everyone back—and shot up into the sky.
John could only watch helplessly as she flew away, scattering feathers everywhere. Two of them drifted down onto an old bicycle.
The first feather smoothed out dents, transforming the bike into something brand-new, like it had just come from a store.
The second feather brought back the rust, turning it into a pile of scrap.
"God, you absolute imbeciles..." Ghost Rider clutched his head. "You really managed to screw this up that bad!"
"Man, what's gotten into you?" Cain approached calmly. "I don't mind wreckin' some cocky punks, but why you pickin' a fight with a schoolgirl? You're the one who said this was a damn circus."
"Yeah, and she didn't even hurt anyone," Jane added with a nod. "Mary fixed everything. Even the neighbor's limping dog is fine now."
"Fuck! How can you be this stupid?!" John shouted. "You think Phoenix is off to heal kittens? HELL NO! That greedy aspect of infinity wants a lot, and it wants it now! Look!"
Far off in the sky, above downtown New York, the Phoenix hovered midair.
At her beak, a fireball was forming—growing larger by the second.
"Phoenix is building a fire sun—a bomb that'll cleanse New York back to the Stone Age. In her mind, that's an act of restoration. To us? It's the end. Giant trees will flatten buildings and bury millions. Dinosaurs and ancient bacteria will finish off whoever's left.
Yes, Jane, Phoenix doesn't give a damn about human lives. That stump hasn't been taught mercy."
"I didn't know," Thunderheart said softly.
"That's why you're supposed to listen to me!" Ghost Rider turned on Juggernaut. "And what the hell was that back there? You've been through this! Why'd you suddenly go all gentleman on me?!"
"You said hittin' kids makes you a loser!" Cain said, twisting his face in frustration. "So I got confused!"
"Christ..." John ran his hands through his hair. "You guys are gonna be the death of me..."
"Quit whining!" Juggernaut slapped John on the back hard enough to make his spine crack. "What's the plan?"
"We can't let New York be destroyed!" Thunderheart exclaimed. "Get up! You have to come up with something, now!"
They all looked up at the fireball forming in the Phoenix's beak—it was now the size of a watermelon.
[Why me? I just want to live.]
"Cain," John's voice turned sharp. "Find a car we can all fit into. Forget the morals."
"Say no more!" Juggernaut immediately ran off to start ripping open the neighbors' garages.
Jane pressed her lips into a thin line. It hurt to see all this chaos—but she knew when to hold back.
"What should I do?" she asked.
"Fly up to the Phoenix and keep an eye on her," Ghost Rider ordered. "Don't engage. If you do, the bird'll just take off and we'll be chasing her around the globe.
Attack only if she finishes charging that blast and we're not ready."
Thunderheart nodded and took off into the sky.
"Got it!" Juggernaut rolled out a minivan with the doors ripped clean off.
Crude—but effective.
All the neighbors peeked out of their windows, but not a single one dared step outside against people with superpowers.
"Well?" John smirked, igniting the minivan with flame. "Let's go save the damn world."
/////
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