Chapter 7 ~ Responsibility

Part 2: Consequences

With the Six down and out, and the hostages being freed and evacuated, the Future Foundation members finally had a moment to regroup.

"Doom approves of your new attire. Striking fear into the hearts of your enemies gives quite the advantage, and leaves a lasting impression." Dr. Doom says in an approving tone. Spider-Man isn't entirely convinced he likes the compliment.

"Trust me you haven't seen my scary costume yet." Spidey retorts. He notices Franklin and Valeria looking him up and down. His godson obviously impressed by the new look, while his goddaughter seemed to look beyond appearances into practicality. Then again she was easily one of the smartest minds on the planet, and would only grow more so as time went on.

"Where have you been hiding this?" Valeria queries.

"Same place I hide the Christmas presents in the nunya." Peter smiles at her behind the helmet.

"Nunya?" She looks up at him confused by the location's name.

"Nunya business." Spidey snarks, oh so happy she took the bait, and boops her nose with his gloved finger. She frowns deeply at the tease, and huffs while crossing her arms.

"HA! Nice one Pete!" Franklin laughs heartily at his sister's expense and holds up his hand for a high five. The Wall Crawler happily claps hands with the boy, chuckling himself.

"Not funny." The blond girl pouts. Doom steps up next to her, and stares down the hero.

"Agreed. We have more pressing matters at hand. Namely Ultron's invasion of the city, and our tower." The ruler of Latveria reminds, bringing the mood right back down. Spider-Man sighs and straitens up to match his business partner's height, so they are face to face.

"Your right. And it's not 'our tower' Doom." Spidey says, and then taps the side of his helmet, near his ear. The comm channel opens up. Each passing second it goes unanswered Peter grows more tense. Finally after about half a minute of no reply he cuts it off, and looks back to Doom.

"I'm not getting an answer from Jen. Can you teleport us there?" The kids both look up at the two men worriedly. Doom crossed his arms over his armored chest.

"Of course I can." In Dr. Doom fashion he makes the simple question an affront to his genius.

"Of course you can. Alright." Peter kneels down to the kids and rests a hand on a shoulder a piece. "When we get back to the tower I want you two to get to the panic room. Got it."

"Right / Right!" The two Richards children say without hesitation and nod to him. Peter was proud that they knew it was best to hide, and not argue.

"That's my kids." Spider-Man smiles then stands up.

"Wouldn't young Franklin and Valeria be safer here away from the fighting?" Doom asks in a rare instance of compassion. To his bad guy credit he plays it off as an afterthought, but the damage is done. Still Peter didn't have time to tease. He looked around at the freed hostages, specifically the children. They had put some distance between the family of heroes and one dictator. Even the teachers and grown ups kept some distance, stealing glances at them and whispering among themselves.

Despite stopping Osborn, he still won a part of the fight. He turned the crowd against the Richards children. Fallout that would need to be addressed after they put to bed this Ultron threat.

"That's exactly why their coming with us. The panic room at the tower is specifically designed to keep them safe." Peter said with an authority he rarely used. Doom narrowed his eyes behind his metal faceplate, then looked where Spidey had.

"Link hands." Doom says without argument, and reaches down to Valeria, who takes his hand, and grabs Franklin's, who grabs Peter's. Victor's eye glow through the eye slots in his mask, and a few incantations later the family vanishes in a green flash of light.

X X X X

The group reappears in the foyer of the Fantastic Four's home. At a glance the shield must be holding, since the place was still intact. That and the sounds of a heated battle outside. Spider-Man flips up his right wrist, and the panel on the gauntlet slides open again.

"The shield is still up, but it's draining fast. It's at twenty-five percent capacity right now. We don't have long till..." The red alert alarms go off interrupting him.

"EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN PROCEEDURE INITIATED." The house system speaks up, and immediately all the windows and doors have heavy reinforcements slide down over them. "INTRUDERS DETECTED IN THE LABS." It goes on to relay.

"Crap." He looks down at the kids next to him. "Squirt, Val, get to the panic room, Location 24. Hold out there until I come get you. Val you know what to do once you get there, and Squirt you keep both of you safe, got it?" Spidey instructs them, and the two nod, agreeing to it.

"Doom your with me. I have a feeling I know what Ultron is after here." The four split off into two groups, as the kids make their way to their rooms and safety. Spider-Man and Dr. Doom make it to elevator leading to the labs in a tense silence. So far nothing has stopped their advance, but they both expected it.

"You getting the chills too, or is it just me?" The Web-Head asks, pressing the call button.

"Doom doesn't frighten..." Suddenly the lights flicker around them, then the entire building goes dark. They both look around then at each other.

"What about now?" Spidey grins, and sticks his hands to the elevator doors. He breaths in, prepping himself, then starts prying them open. It's a slow process, and not nearly as easy as he makes it look. The elevator is specially reinforced, including the shutting mechanism. It's meant to deter a good amount of strong individuals, or at least slow them down.

About ten seconds pass before Viktor's impatience gets the better of him. "You are wasting our time. This door should pose no problem."

"Ten seconds, a new record." Peter grumbles sarcastically, and manages to get the door open enough for them to get into the lift. He breaths a relaxing sigh then grabs the top of the frame and swings himself up. Kicking the ceiling maintenance door off it's hinges, he expertly slips through it in the same motion. Doom follows along floating in place with his trademark crossed arms, and green magic powering him.

Spider-Man quickly climbs up the suspension wires, as Doom floats along with him. Luckily its a short ascent. "No offense, but I kinda always figured you'd be the one to try and steal the battery." Peter says as they stop at the next floor door.

Doom remains silent, but the glare he gives Spidey is downright chilling. "Right... I talk to much." Before he can get to the door ledge Doom waves a hand at it, and its ripped open with magic. Directly in front of the two men are about seven Ultron robots. There is a split second of realization that the enemy is amongst them, which Spider-Man takes full advantage of.

He soars out of the elevator, and flips over the closest bot. Landing in the middle of the Ultron group he back kicks the one he vaulted over, sending it toward Doom. Doom reacts just as violently as one would expect, and reaches out with a single hand. In a crushing gesture the robot is enveloped in a green aura and crushed into a shiny metal ball.

Dr. Doom pulls that hand up and back. He forms a shimmering shield in front of him, just as the energy bolts start flying at him. Spider-Man tackles the next Ultron in line, and they tumble once, until the bot is over him. Peter kicks up with both feet launching the robot into the ceiling. Before the robot can fall back down it's plastered to the roof with webbing.

Magic lightning fires from Doom's free hand and pierces the third Ultron. It surges through the construct before arcing out of it into the fourth, frying both. Spidey weaves between energy blasts, grabbing a stool along the way. He throws the stool at the fifth bot, who easily catches it, legs aimed toward it's chest. Spider-Man drops kicks the stool's seat immediately after, piercing the robot through the chest with the legs via super strength.

The sixth levels it's blaster arm at the Wall Crawler, only to be grabbed in the back of the head by Victor's metal hand. Electricity courses from his hand into the head, short circuiting it's positronic brain. The final Ultron opens up it's chest revealing a bomb. Spider-Man's helmet lenses wipe to blue, as he lands in front of the kamikaze Ultron. The four ports on his back pod open up, and Waldoes spring out of it.

Each Waldo stabs into one of the robot's limbs, immobilizing it, as Spidey places his right hand directly on the bomb. An intricate blue circuit pattern covers the explosive. "Diffuse Protocol!" He shouts out loud, activating the V.I. Program in his suit. In a flash the blue pattern on the device changes to green then recedes away. At the same time the Ultron bot shakes then the lights in it's eyes flicker away, and it goes limp against Spider-Man's Waldos.

The slim metal arms free themselves of the machine's limbs and return to the pod. Peter breaths a sigh of relief then turns to Victor. The stoic ruler of Lateveria gives him a slight nod, either in thanks or being the slightest bit impressed by his tech and thinking. Spidey couldn't tell but decided on the former, it'd sound cooler when he says Dr. Doom thanked him for saving them both.

The holographic HUD inside his helmet alerts Spider-Man that the special projects lab was being broken in to. "Ultron has breached the battery lab!"

"The automaton will not take what is Doom's." Doom announces, and they take off to the inner labs.

X X X X

"ULTRON!" Spider-Man shouts as he jumps through the massive seared hole in the lab's door. The AI in question turns around, its faceplate glowing a menacing red. In it's hands is the containment pod for the Parker Particle battery. On either side of him is a robot guard.

"Spider-Man and Victor von Doom. What an odd pair to see together. Irrelevant. My mission is complete. I must thank you for creating such a wonderful piece of technology." Ultron gloats, holding the canister up for them to see. Spider-Man fires a webline at it, only for it to be intercepted by his right robot guard bringing up it's arm and as small energy shield sprouting from it.

The two guards seemed considerably better built than the previous minions. They were in for a fight if that was the case. Doom's hands alight in green energy, and he lets slip an angered growl.

"Did you not have the forethought to see this coming Viktor von Doom? Did you not think I had fail safes in place should my older designs be re-purposed? It matters not. I'll take my leave now." Ultron brings his free arm up and taps a device that sprouted from his forearm. His body alights for a moment, and just as Dr. Doom sends a magic bolt at him, he teleports away.

"Doom, what did Ultron mean?" Spider-Man asks in an accusatory tone. The ruler of Latveria stays silent, only turning around and waving his glowing right hand in the air in front of him. A glowing green portal opens up there, and Doom gets one foot into the magic tunnel before a webline sticks to his cape.

"Doom!" Peter pulls back hard on the webbing with both hands. Victor is flung backward right into one of the guard bots. Both slam into the far wall, then fall to the floor. Doom manages to land in a kneel, while the robot clangs to the floor unceremoniously. As his cape floats down around him his eyes flash in anger behind the metallic mask covering his face.

"What did you do Doom?" Peter asks again in a hardened tone. Spider-Man walks menacingly toward his colleague, determined to get an answer. Doom stands up and faces down the oncoming hero. Neither seem to care or take notice of the two Ultron enforcers in the room with them.

Dr. Doom throws his right hand forward, alerting Spider-Man's sixth sense. A bolt of electricity arcs from his palm toward the Wall Crawler. Spidey fires both web shooters at the bot standing off to his side, and pulls the construct into the path of the lightning. The machine intercepts the attack, sparking and short circuiting mid-air before exploding from it.

Behind the explosion Spidey jumps onto the ceiling latching to it upside down. His Spider-Sense fires off, but he's helpless to prevent Doom's magic from mystically grabbing him and slamming him back down to the floor. The impact doesn't hurt, but he's held in place..

"I owe you no explanation, Arachnid. Ultron now has in his possession what could be the single most powerful energy source on the planet, mayhaps the galaxy. Yet you turn your ire to me. How narrow focused can you be?" Doom berates Peter, as he aims his other hand at the Ultron enforcer behind him. The bot is lifted into the air, trapped in a green magic haze, until it is crushed like a pop can, and dropped to the floor.

"NARROW FOCUSED!" Peter shouts past the crushing force weighing down on him. "We were sharing this technology for the greater good of mankind! But you had to be the cliche'd villain, and try to steal it for yourself! You all but literally had it in the palm of your hand before trying to take it. Are you so power hungry you'd work with Ultron?!"

"I simply re-purposed his designs to alleviate any suspicion to myself. I misjudged the A.I.'s influence over his discards." Victor sneers as he walks up to stand over the flattened hero.

"Anyone ever tell you your schemes are ridiculously complicated? Wait..." Peter managed to lift his helmeted head off the ground to look up at Doom's face. "... did you send Osborn to the school? Did you put the kids in danger just to show up and play the hero?!"

The only response Spider-Man gets is a derisive snort.

"HOW COULD YOU?! Those kids are innocent, and you sent OSBORN of all people to them! He's the most pathologically psychotic nutcase I know! What if he hurt them?! They look up to you Doom, they consider you their uncle!" Spider-Man barks in anger, getting his hands against the floor and fights to push himself up.

"Osborn was under strict orders to only detain the children. He would face my wrath should he disobey." Doom pushes his outstretched hand down, forcing Spidey to press flat on the floor again.

"I thought you were smart. He was more then happy to hurt them just to hurt me! And you gave him the chance to do just that!" At this Doom seems to pause. Out of the corner of his vision Peter swears he sees a flash of remorse in Viktor's eyes.

"What's done is done. Now I must focus on finding Ultron and retrieving the battery, or the life of billions could be forfeit. You can either assist me or continue to struggle and whine incessantly." Viktor lost a good chunk of the edge he had in his voice a moment ago.

"What makes you think I'm ever going to work with you again?" Peter growls up at him.

"I can topple the life you've built here. Your reputation can be stripped from you and with it the Richards children and Future Foundation. Our bargain gave me access to everything, and I can leave you with nothing. I can end the Fantastic Four once and for all, not in battle, but with a simple file transfer." Doom doesn't need to elaborate further, Peter whole heartedly understands the threat. Still didn't help him from wanting to punch his face in. "You have no other option."

"I can fight, take my punishment for believing in you, and then devote the rest of my life to doing right by my godkids." Spider-Man says behind grit teeth. "I've lived with being a menace for years, it's nothing new to me. But something that is new to me is SONICS ON!" Spidey's armored gauntlets begin emitting a ridiculously high pitched sound, something that Dr. Doom had no defense for.

The villain immediately grabs the sides of his head in his hands, trying to block the sound. In doing so he releases his magical hold on Spider-Man. Spidey gets his feet under him, and lunges at Doom. However Victor sees this and waves his left hand in front of him. A repelling force field bubbles around him, and Peter slams into it. The hero is blown back away from him, but the strength behind the blow staggers Doom as well.

Hitting the far wall behind him, Spider-Man lands back on his feet. SPIDER-SENSE! Dropping to the floor, a magic bolt scorches the wall where he just was. Doom launches several more close but wild shots, each avoided as Spider-Man hops, rolls, and jumps around the room. Landing upside down on the ceiling, Peter aims his web shooters at the man below.

"ENOUGH!" A bubble of magic explodes from Victor. The wave of energy washes over Spidey and immediately his HUD scrambles, static fills his ears, and his pack, gauntlets, and boots all short and spark.

SPIDER-SENSE! Peter just barely manages to pull his helmet off before it cracks and explodes. Unfortunately the rest of his gear explodes on his limbs and back. Shouting in pain Spider-Man falls to the floor, amidst a room full of detonating tech.

As fire starts around the lab, Doom walks over to the curled up hero. The miniature explosions from his tech tore through his TGUS under layer, leaving exposed scorched hands, feet and a large burned patch on his back. The dictator stops a few feet from Peter, and aims a glowing green hand down at Spider-Man.

"You brought this upon yourself Parker. I gave you the opportunity to help in correcting my mistake. Yet you defy and assault me. By now Ultron has covered his tracks and following him will be neigh impossible. You have brought this new ruin upon the world." Doom talked down to his hurt foe. Spider-Man looks up at him with red lenses, and starts laughing past the pain.

"It's funny you still think Ultron got the battery." Peter rolls to his belly, and shakily pushes himself up on his knees. All his limbs scream in agony as he does this, be he's had worse. Doom's eyes narrow behind his faceplate.

"Explain." Doom commands.

"Heh heh..."

Ultron's Hideout (Undisclosed Location)

Inside a blast chamber Ultron watches on as his machines break the final encrypted seal on the battery's container. Several mechanisms spin around the canister unlocking it, and in the instant the final lock frees alarms sound in the room. A small explosion covers the room in red smoke.

The ventilation system activates, and soon the room is clean again. Ultron's fists clench at the sight before him. Sitting on a pedestal is half the container, and from it is a card that reads "Sorry not a winner, here's a consolation prize.". Behind the card is a single chocolate chip cookie.

The Baxter Building

"C'mon Doomsy, I'm smart enough to have contingencies in place should someone want my dangerous tech way too much. Right now it'll be at A.R.M.O.R. in Jocasta's care. She's ready to jettison it into a deserted alternate reality and set it off if I don't contact her within the hour. So don't worry your pretty little emerald cape. The only world ending here is your ego." Spider-Man smiles triumphantly up at Dr. Doom. The Latverian ruler is silent for a few tense moments.

"Then this was a lost venture. Doom acknowledges your resourcefulness, Arachnid." Doom lowers his hand, the green glow dissipating from his palm. He brings that arm up and taps a few buttons that appear on the gauntlet. "This battle is yours. I have called off my drones."

"Okay, good start? But how does that stop me from telling everyone this was all you?" Peter questions, but already knows the answer.

"The Richards childrens' welfare should provide more than enough clout."

"You know one day your not gonna have that noose around my neck." Spider-Man stands fully, if not a bit shakily on his damaged legs. The two men are face to face, searching the other for any break in their resolves.

Once again a silent pregnant moment passes between them. Then Doom turns away and opens a swirling portal with the wave of his hand. "A day that shall hold great significance to the both of us." He takes a step into the portal.

"You could kill me, blame it on Ultron, and have no loose ends. So why? Why just leave the chattiest hero alive knowing he knows what you did?" Peter asked as his right lens widens with that brow.

"Doom's machinations are well beyond your miniscule though processes." Victor glowers, and steps through the portal, which closes a second later.

Peter lets out a relieved breath, and turns around to leave the lab and go find the rest of the team. There standing in the giant hole in the lab's door is Jennifer. He freezes in place, watching her with an unblinking fearful stare. She-Hulk's fists tighten and her gaze hardens. Her emerald eyes shatter whatever resolve he has left to be able to salvage this. As in them he sees nothing but betrayal.

X X X X

Four days later Peter is slouched down in his chair, his right hand covering his face. He sits in a silent room with only the humming of the computers around him breaking it. The simultaneous attack on New York's protectors is still seen as an attack by Ultron. Spider-Man explained to the other teams and his allies that it was all a diversion to get his new battery. Ultron failed in his mission, but the project was no longer a secret.

Three days ago a joint team of Tony Stark, Hank McCoy, and Amadeus Cho, on behalf of SHIELD, was constructed to oversee the final stages of the battery's construction. It was moved to a secret facility of Tony's, and has been there since.

Yesterday Peter had to attend a meeting with the school board committee where Valeria and Franklin attended. Like he figured the concerns of both teachers and parents about the safety of their children was the main topic. He fought for their continued attendance as best as he could, and after a few hours of talking the meeting adjourned without a conclusive result. Since the school would be shut down for about a week to facilitate repairs, the committee would discuss and come up with an decision by the end of that time.

Despite how much Val and Squirt both would say they disliked it, they both enjoyed going to school and seeing the friends they made there. He had a nasty feeling about the upcoming decision, but still held out hope. He really didn't want to tell the kids that they weren't allowed to go back. It would break their hearts and his.

Honestly, he could work around loosing the battery, which may have been for the best in actuality. At least Doom shouldn't be as brazen about trying to steal it from a bunch of heroes. And he could probably convince the school board, if necessary, to let the kids keep going there. All this wouldn't be hitting him as hard if it wasn't for Jennifer leaving.

After seeing and hearing how he just let Doom go, Jennifer got angry. Not Hulk angry, but betrayed angry. She helped make sure their home and the kids were okay, but she would not utter a word to him. Two days ago she left, saying nothing to him or the team, only leaving a note for him to come up with an excuse since "that's what you do best.". And he couldn't blame her, but without his girlfri... well probably ex-girlfriend's, support he was a wreck with everything stacking up.

What really happened that day has strictly between Doom, Jen, and himself so far. And he hated himself even more for that. Both the team and the kids knew Victor would probably betray them, but this... Doom pulled the noose dangerously tight that day. If it was in house, just between the Four and Doom, then things would have been so much simpler. Now he sat here thinking of how the foundation he built with them all was a foundation built on sand.

Slipping further down into his chair, he sighed for the millionth time. Then a beep announced that he had mail on his terminal. Slowly he pulled himself back up into the chair and tapped a few key buttons to bring the hologram screens to life. He pressed the air where the mail icon sat, and he frowns at the sender: Doom.

"How are about to make my life worse, Doomsy." Opening it he reads a statement issued to Valeria and Franklin's school. A sizable donation had been sent to them, along with a request that the Richard's children continue to attend. This included renovations, restoration, and complete upgrade in every department of the school. Reparations to the families of the children of the incident were also sent. Along with all this is a public promise of protection from the sovereign of Latveria. And under the statement is an reply of acceptance from the school board committee.

Peter blinks at the message, and has to reread it several times. "What..." He can't even finish his sentence, as every other word just falls apart before reaching his mouth.

It's then that the board on the table next to him lights up. A holographic chessboard forms from the board, with the first move already made.

CHAPTER 7 END

b And the conclusion to the mini arc "Responsibility". For every choice there is a consequence, and I think this chapter made that point very clear. The main choice being trusting Dr. Doom, and the consequences of that. Now don't get me wrong, I have seen and read enough about Victor that I know he has the capacity for great good as well as evil. And I hope the little bit at the end shows just how much an impact Peter, Val, Franklin, and the rest of the FF have had on him. A bittersweet ending to be sure.

Yes a lot of bad things came out of this chapter. Jen leaving, the kids possibly being black booked from attending public school, and the very real possibility that Spider-Man could be outted as working with a well known super villain willingly. But this story isn't over yet, and if Spider-Man is anything he's tough and strong willed. He can bounce back from this.

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. And I finally revealed the final take away from the five suits, the Waldoes from the Iron Spider Suit. Well till next time I bid you all adieu.

~Wiggles

Guest #1: I guess saying half a year wouldn't count as soon huh?

Jpg2497: I did mean Mark 3, but I was in a rush to get the AN's out so I must have mistyped. I have thought about bringing in a Reed Richards yes, but it's on the back burner for now. Thanks for enjoying the story.

Angel of Atonement: Indeed, but this chapter might just have nulled most of that.

SolarEnergy07: Thank you. Most of the thought put into this chapter was that suit... and it's already gone. Dangit.

Croniklerx: A ruse! Misdirection! Bwahahaha. But seriously though did you see that coming? To be totally honest I meant for the last chapter to be much more serious than It became, but I think this chapter more than made up for it... I hope. A bit of off screen knowledge for you my friend, Peter talked with Franklin about the use of his powers. As the toppest tier level of mutant his powers could radically alter reality if he lost control. So they agreed to only use it as a last resort until he was trained. Since Osborn wanted Spidey there Franklin and Val agreed to wait and only use it if things went south. Yup the reboot that shall not be named had already happened in this timeline. Aye I have been watching a good bit of the MCU. I hope you enjoyed the chapter Croniklerx.

im ur misconception: And what an opposite reaction it was.

Devilboy101: Kay

The Richmaster: Glad you enjoyed it, here's more.