Shout outs:

Proponent of EVO: glad you're lookin' forward to it.

Agent-G: a very good point. You'll find out how Peter reacts in the final chapter, the one after this one. The Brotherhood will show soon enough too; better late than never.

Mark C: exactly. Peter wants to help because that's what he does. You'll have to read and find out how he does.

Riderazzo: look for those three in the final chapter.

Disclaimer: I dont own SpiderMan or X-men: Evolution.

Chapter 12: Struggle

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"Everyone get ready. I'm going to blow the wall down. Expect anything and everything to come, so be on your toes." Scott ordered and aimed at the large wall in front of him and his teammates. The wall succumbed to one optic blast, reduced to a pile of rubble in mere seconds. The debris shifted though, after falling still on the ground, and then started to vibrate.

"Get back!" Peter shouted, flipping backwards and clinging to a nearby pillar. The New Mutants leapt to the ground, Kitty phased herself and Rogue through the floor, and Kurt teleported away with Scott. Chunks of rubble soared through the room as if being tossed by poltergeists. Nobody in the room was safe, as the debris in the air acted like aimed missiles, targeting and following anyone who tried to dodge. Peter took a blow to the arm, rendering his sleeve into tatters and leaving a nasty gash along his biceps. Hardly fazed, he continued to whirl and swing about to avoid the dangerous projectiles.

Below him, Bobby, Ray, and Jubilee took to firing their own projectiles, managing to less the amount of flying debris in the room. Amara and Tabitha rushed back to warn the others. Peter had to tackle them out of the way of a rather large chunk of debris, which ended up nicking him with a sharp edge along his back. After making sure the girls got out safely to warn the rest of the team, Peter tenderly tried to check the long but thin cut that stretched along his broad back. He knew his current injuries were only a taste of what was to come, but the pain still bothered him. Quickly checking on his battling teammates, he found that they weren't faring any better.

Jubilee lay along the ground unconscious, sporting a bruise on her temple. Bobby did his best to protect his girlfriend and continue destroying the scatter debris, despite the injuries he had already received. The front of his shirt had been shredded badly, and small cuts covered his stomach and chest. He was also limping a bit, due to the gash along his calf muscle. Ray's shoulder looked wrecked as well, blood oozing from a large slash along his broad shoulder and soaking part of his shirt slightly. He kept up the electrical pressure though, in spite of a small scarp of metal smacking him in the face.

Ahead of them slightly, Kitty and Rogue gained ground by casually walking through the chaotic maelstrom of rubble, due to their incorporeal state. Kurt kept up with them, slightly slower, having to teleport continuously to dodge. Scott stood his ground closer to Peter, taking the worst beating but never giving up on fighting. With Jean at stake, Scott would never cease his efforts to save her, despite the damage he was taking. A few minor gashes covered his legs, while the worst gash, across his upper torso, showed through the rips in his shirt. His sleeves were torn up, small scraps and bruises scattered from his hands to his biceps and shoulders. A crack in his visor caused some optic energy to go astray as he fired, but Scott took care to keep any scatter beams far away from his teammates.

Peter darted past Scott, flipping through the air and swinging by his webbing, and managed to avoid the majority of swirling rubble and scarps of metal. Although, he still ended up taking a scrap of metal that slashed the back of his shoulder, and a large rock of rubble that exploded against his thigh. Peter landed roughly on the ground, but continued to move on after Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt. And eventually to Symbiote Jean as well.

His three comrades up front moved through the room unscathed, but all exhausted. Kitty's repeated use of her powers caused strain on her and Rogue, while Kurt was about to drop from all the energy it took to move so fast. Peter swung through the air close to them, just in case any of them crumbled. He could take a beating longer than they could, and his body could act as a great shield.

As if I haven't been taking enough of beating already, Peter thought painfully. So far, he'd taken three slashes, one to his arm, shoulder, and back, as well as a nasty bruise to his thigh. It's only going to get worse, he reminded himself for motivation, though Peter doubted it was helping. Up ahead, the three teens in front moved into the second room, Peter hot on their trail. Jean floated high above them, almost touching the ceiling, gazing down at the scattered bodies of Logan, X23, and Hank. All three lay weakened and beaten, though Logan refused to stay down. He tried crawling to his feet, only to have Jean knock him down. Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue caught their breath and tried to recover some energy quickly, while Peter took to the stage for a one-on-one against Jean.

Chunks of debris targeted Peter quickly, causing him to dodge wildly. One large chunk smashed against his back and sent him on to his back. Peter flipped up quickly, as Jean started to use metal scarps against him now. He tried going aerial with his webbing, but scrap after scrap cut away his webbing, leaving him to fend on his feet. One of the pieces slashes across his cheek, leaving a tear in his mask. Another one skimmed across his broad chest, tearing right through his shirt and barely slashing skin. Peter fought them off as best as he could, taking two more gashes across his arms, until Kitty managed to grab his wrist and phase him through the dangerous flurry. Peter's energy was draining away due to his extensive measures in evasion, as well as the punishment he'd taken.

Coming in behind him though, were Bobby, Ray, a recovered Jubilee, and the returned pair of Amara and Tabitha. The group quickly set force with attacks on Jean, who simply deflected and redirected them. Peter watched helplessly as his teammates were beaten almost as bad as he'd been beaten. Yet the distraction could be useful, and while it pained him to not try and help his teammates, who were taking injury after injury, knew he need to strike Jean hard and fast.

Sneaking up from behind, Peter aimed an attack for Jean's back. If she could sense him, she wasn't able to turn in defend because of the New Mutants. As he steadied himself, Peter saw Scott rush into the room. The leader exchanged words with Rogue and Kitty, looked at Peter, and nodded at him. Despite not knowing the plan, Peter lunged at Jean from behind. He tackled her in the air, and brought her down to the floor. The New Mutants immediately stopped fighting, and watched what was going to happen.

Kitty reached at Symbiote Jean's face, phasing part of the alien outfit off Jean's face. Then Rogue immediately placed her bare hands on Jean's cheeks, initiating the absorption. As she did, Scott immediately tried to speak to Jean. Peter listened intently, watching as Scott tried so hard to win his love. After agonizing seconds, Rogue freed her grasp and crumbled to the floor. Kitty continued to struggle with the Symbiote, while the real Jean seemed dazed and disoriented, as the Symbiote left its focus from Jean and turned to fight Kitty.

Peter assisted Kitty in trying to pry the alien from Jean's body, while Scott continued to talk with Jean and help Rogue recover. Soon, the others were all yanking at the Symbiote's body, yet it refused to be freed from Jean. Around them, the walls shuddered and cracked, but Jean started to recover a bit. Scott kept up with his emotional motivation for his girlfriend, and it seemed that Jean might actually be able to escape the Symbiote's control. Seconds turned to minutes, as no one would give up on the struggle. The group opted out of using their powers incase of Jean getting hurt, which left them to rely on their strength alone. The Symbiote was fighting back now, still harnessing Jean's TK prowess, and knocking everyone around her flat on their back. To everyone's dismay, the Symbiote wrapped around Jena again, intent on regaining control. I few teens still tried to grab onto it, while Scott started talking to Jean again. Yet, all their attempts did was cause retaliation from the Symbiote in the form of a telekinetic battering ram. Debris and rubble continued to fly around, propelled by the TK force. Soon though, everyone found themselves spinning around with the powerful current as well and being tossed around the room and slammed into each other. None of his or her efforts could stop the Symbiote, but nobody gave up. Kitty managed to grapple Jean and phase the Symbiote away, while Rogue tried to take another whack at draining the alien and Jean. Scott stopped her though, knowing the pressure would surely injure both Rogue and Jean.

"Ya got a better idea?" Rogue protested loudly, but Scott only shook his head. Next to Jean, Kitty continued with her efforts to phase the Symbiote completely off Jean, but the alien suit fought back and knocked Kitty off her feet. Scott tried to blast a chunk of the Symbiote hanging off Jean, but the blast didn't do any good. A sudden rush of TK suddenly slammed him backwards.

Defying Scott's orders, Rogue suddenly lunged forward, whispering an apology to Jean before placing her fingers on Jean's temples. Both girls screamed out, as well as the Symbiote, all three being affected. Peter quickly dashed forward, grabbed onto the Symbiote, and with all his strength, ripped it off Jean and chucked it through the air. The instant he did though, the last remaining affects on Jean from the Symbiote dispersed in the room of a telekinetic burst, sending everyone in the room a good twenty feet backwards, as well as smashing the walls.

To everyone's horror, the warehouse started to cave in, crumbling into rubble about to topple onto the mutants below like a concrete waterfall.

Jean regained her control.

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A/N: Well then, find out what happens in the final chapter, Epilogue. Read and review please!