Chapter 9

Saturday, November 13th, 2004

New York, New York

4:18 P.M.

Doc folded up his last shirt with an air of satisfaction. "Finally done. After what's happened in the past few days, it'll feel good to get home."

"I know," Clara agreed, stacking the folded clothes into their suitcase. "I've never liked it when you've had to fight against supervillains. I always wonder if I'm ever going to see you again."

"I know the feeling, mein Liebe." Doc reached out and pulled her close. "But I'll always do my best to stay alive for you and the kids." Clara smiled and kissed him.

There was a sudden giggle to their left. Doc and Clara turned, frowning. "Marlene. . . ."

Marlene reappeared, grinning. "It's fun," she said in her defense.

"That may be so, but you can't go around spying on people," Doc said sternly. "Your powers are supposed to be used for good."

"Yes, I fail to see the entertainment value in watching Emmett and me kiss," Clara agreed. Marlene pouted. "Do your parents know you're over here?"

Marlene shook her head. "Daddy's helping Mommy pack."

"Marlene? Where are you?"

Marlene looked startled. "He was helping Mommy pack. . . ."

"No doubt he used his power to speed things up a bit," Doc smiled. "You'd better get back over there."

"Okay. Here I am, Daddy!" Marlene called, running back down the hall to the McFly's room.

Verne appeared from his room, lugging his suitcase. "Just said goodbye to all the pigeons," he said, looking a little sad. "I'm actually going to miss those birds. We were a great team here."

Doc patted Verne on the shoulder. "Indeed you where. I'm sure those pigeons will be getting a lot more respect from New York."

"At least until they start pooping on everything again, anyway."

Jules came in as well, holding both his suitcase and a letter. "We ready to hit the road?"

"Almost. Who's the letter for?" Clara asked curiously.

"Uh -- no one," Jules blushed, trying to hide it. "Just a friend."

"Is that friend named Martinique? A.k.a. Mastermind?" Verne teased, poking his brother in the ribs.

Jules blushed harder. "Please don't be upset," he begged his parents. "I know she's in jail for working with Magneto, but -- we got to talking after the fight, and she really didn't seem all that bad. At least, she didn't call all humanity scum."

"We know, Jules," Clara said soothingly. "You're an adult now -- we certainly can't make you choose your friends. And the fact that she surrendered to us is a real point in her favor."

"Just be careful, all right?" Doc said. "She was a member of the Brotherhood, no matter how nice she may act."

"I know, Dad, and I will."

There was a knock at the door. "How are you doing in there, Doc?" Marty's voice called.

"Just waiting on J.C.," Doc said. "Come on in."

The McFly family filed in. "Well, just another fun-filled adventure in New York," Marty commented. "God, it's weird to think that just two years ago our 1987 selves were here and meeting the X-Men for the first time. Speaking of which, where is J.C.?"

"Just finishing my packing," J.C. called. "I've picked up a few souvenirs."

"Oh, okay," Marty called back. "Souvenirs?" he added to Doc.

"Don't ask me," Doc admitted, shrugging. "Knowing her, though, they're sure to be unique."

Suddenly, there was an audible "twhip" by their window. A moment later, the red and blue figure of Spider-Man filled the frame. Jennifer laughed and opened the window. "Hey Peter."

"Hey Jennifer. I just wanted to stop by and wish you guys a safe trip back home. I know it's been a tough few days for all of us."

"Tell me about it," Marty groaned. "I'm going to have Juggernaut nightmares for months now, I just know it."

The twins hugged his legs. "Don't, Daddy," Douglas said, stretching his arm to pat his father on the shoulder. "We're fine. He didn't get us."

"I know, kids. And I'm beyond glad he didn't." Marty picked them up and hugged them tight. "I love you both so much. Thank God your powers expressed when they did."

"Excited to have mutant kids in the family?" Peter asked, cocking his head.

"Sort of -- though it's me against three now," Jennifer said, chuckling a little. "Hopefully they won't be any harder to handle then their father."

"I'm just a phone call away if you need advice," Clara reminded her.

"So am I," Jules nodded.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it."

"Peter's here?" J.C. rushed in, holding a jar. "Good. Pete, do you mind giving me some of your webbing?"

"My what?"

"Your webbing. It's for my collection."

"What is your collection?" Doc asked, puzzled.

"Just stuff to remind us of our trip," J.C. said, shrugging.

"Like we need reminding," Verne snorted.

"Ha ha. I've got a copy of The Daily Bugle, a flower from Pete's wedding, a piece of cloth that ripped off Blob's uniform, one of the Professor's old lesson plans, and formerly some of Pete's webbing. It appears to have been misplaced."

"Actually, it's more likely that it dissolved away," Peter admitted. "My webbing's never been that permanent."

"Oh." J.C. pouted. "Damn. I really wanted some."

"But what would you do with it?" Jules asked, baffled. "I mean, how exactly do you display webbing? Outside of Halloween, anyway."

"It's still fun to have. Anything else you could spare for me, Peter?" J.C. asked. "Like, got any old costume bits lying around or something?"

"Actually, weirdly enough, I think I do," Peter admitted. "I've still got one of my old trashed costumes -- keep meaning to have it fixed, but I never remember. Want anything from that?"

"Sure! Just something like a glove or an eyepiece will be fine," J.C. grinned. "Thanks a lot."

Another loud "thwipp," and Venom joined them, grinning widely. "Back to California?"

"Yup," Marty said evenly, holding his kids close. Despite the fact that Venom had reformed, he still wasn't that comfortable around him. "New York is just too strange."

"We'll agree with that," Venom nodded. He looked over at Peter. "What have you stopped today?"

"Two muggings, a robbery, and I saved some kids from a homemade bomb. You?"

"Prevented three traffic accidents and stopped one mugging. Don't worry, we didn't eat him," he added, noticing everyone's suspicious looks. "Just a quick bite on the arm. Something to think about."

"Good." Verne shook his head. "It's still kind of weird to think of you as a good guy."

Venom actually looked a little embarrassed. "We know. We are sorry for trying to attack you before. We really did think we were doing the right thing."

"We know. Thanks for learning from your mistakes."

"Hey, Venom, want to contribute to my souvenir collection?" J.C. grinned.

"She's collecting bits and pieces from our adventures here," Marty explained. "Personally, I don't see why. Whenever we have an adventure, we generally end up bruised and bloody."

"I find them inspiring. And in my line of work, I need a lot of inspiration. So what do you say, Eddie?"

Venom licked his lips thoughtfully. "We're not sure what exactly we could donate."

"Well, does your webbing dissolve away to nothing?"

"Not to our knowledge. It merely weakens." Venom smirked at Peter. "Unlike yours."

"At least mine doesn't argue with me about what to make for breakfast."

J.C. held out her jar. "Then mind squirting me a bit?"

Venom obliged, and soon black webbing filled the jar. J.C. screwed the lid on tight. "Thanks a bunch."

"Our pleasure."

There was a sudden wail of sirens from down the street. Peter's and Venom's heads snapped toward the sound. "Uh-oh. We'd better check that out." Peter looked sternly at Venom. "Now remember, no attacking the police."

Venom grumbled. "We don't attack the police. The police attack us. We have to defend ourselves."

"Then keep it to just webbing up their guns. You really don't need to cocoon people."

"Come on, the looks on their faces are priceless."

"Eddie. . . ."

"Okay, okay, we'll be good." He grinned toothily at Peter. "Sometimes we think we should have eaten your brain just so you couldn't lecture us."

They couldn't see it, but the rest of the group could tell by the tilt of his head that Peter was rolling his eyes. "You guys care to join us?"

"We'd prefer not to," Doc said. "I want all of us to get to the airport in one piece."

"I gotta agree," Marty nodded. "This past week took a lot out of me. We don't fight supervillains regularly like you guys do."

"Good point. Have a safe trip home, then. I'll mail the costume part to you, J.C."

"Thanks Pete." Spidey and Venom swung off, ready to fight crime.

"You know, I'm glad this particular fight ended without a lot of bloodshed," Clara admitted as they finished packing up. "And with Venom and Mastermind coming over onto our side. I guess some of the villains aren't that bad."

"Yeah, but most of them are," J.C. said, putting her jar away. To herself, she muttered, "Jewish or not, that asshole's still a Nazi."

"He has his ideals, we have ours," Doc said, overhearing. "Of course, he's in a jail cell, and we're not."

"Is he back in that plastic prison they constructed in Mount Haven?" Jules asked as they gathered their bags.

"I believe so, for the moment. I think Xavier's trying to get him moved. Says that Mount Haven has too many bad memories for all concerned."

"I believe that," Jennifer said with a shudder. "I still remember when we lived through the near double-genocide."

Marty winced. "Not fun."

"We don't remember that," Marlene said, looking puzzled.

"Be thankful you don't, sweetie," Jennifer said. "It was a very scary day."

"I don't even want to think about it," Clara said, hugging a suitcase. "I just want to go home, where life is nor -- well, more normal."

"Hear hear!"

They lugged their suitcases out of their rooms and into the lobby. Jennifer went to take care of a cab while the twins chased each other around. Doc and Marty looked out the large glass windows and down the street. More police cars were zooming by, sirens wailing. "Man, there must be something big going down," Marty commented, frowning.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide. "What the hell?"

"Great Scott!" Doc gasped. "I don't believe it!"

Thundering up the road before them was a giant robot! Huge tank-like treads propelled it forward, mercilessly crushing everything in its path. Two huge arms, with vise-like hands, were extended outward in an attack position. Doc and Marty could see that Spider-Man and Venom were the ones currently being attacked. There was a large viewport in the robot's head, through which there could be seen a figure, laughing maniacally. "If you two think you can stop me, you don't know Jack All!" he yelled through a hidden loudspeaker.

Marty couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Why do they always pick such dumb names?"

By now, the rest of the group had also seen what was going on. "Wow!" Douglas gasped. "That looks like a robot from a cartoon!"

"Well, technically, it's not a robot," Doc said. "Robots don't have operators."

"Whatever it is, it's wrecking the street," Jules noted. "And it doesn't look like Spidey and Venom are having much luck disabling it."

There was a pause. Then, slowly, Doc, Marty, Verne, and J.C. looked at their families. Clara sighed and smiled. "I guess we can stomach one more adventure."

"Besides, I need to mail my letter," Jules winked.

Jennifer kissed Marty on the cheek. "Go get 'em, tiger."

The X-Men smiled. Then, just like that, they were out on the street, in full costume. "Hey!" Marty yelled as they ran up to the robot. "Is that the new Hummer?"

Clara rolled her eyes. "Why do they always feel the need to make such terrible jokes?"

"Morale boosters," Jules said. "And the jokes go with the awful names the villains pick. I'm going to go mail this before Jack All tears up the rest of the street."

"Yeah, we're going to have to wait a while for a cab now," Jennifer said, sitting down. Through the window, she could see that the robot had finally stopped. Spidey and Venom were both pounding on the viewport plastic, while Doc doused the robot with electricity to fry the inner workings. As usual, Verne and J.C. were working on dispersing the crowd. She didn't see her husband, but she had no doubt he was doing something important. "Yup," she grinned at Clara, "just another average day in your average superhero family. Douglas, Marlene, don't hit each other with your suitcases."

The End