Chaos Revisited
Part 4
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Of course, Jameson realized. Peter would be worried about the safety of his family.
"Just give me 24 hours so I can get MJ and Aunt May out of town. Don't print the story until tomorrow morning. That's all I ask," he requested.
Peter had never expected to be pleading with his boss not to print the story revealing his secret identity. Yeah, he'd always known that it was a possibility, but somehow, he'd never believed that it might actually happen.
It was three years after he had defeated Doctor Octopus. Three years after he'd saved the people from the train Ock had wrecked the brakes on, nobody had come forward to identify him. No one had gone to the cops or the newspapers, as far as he knew. Peter wondered if any of them knew who he really was, especially after the mutant terrorist attacks had made him a minor celebrity.
Harry was in prison for the crimes committed as the Hobgoblin, but he'd never told anyone. He was also in drug rehab. Peter thought that might have something to do with it. No one ever believed drug addicts when they claimed to know stuff.
As a result, Peter had gotten overconfident. He realized that he'd made the mistake of assuming that his secret identity was nearly impenetrable, and it was about to cost him everything.
"No," Jameson said, realizing that Parker still thought he was going to be fired.
Peter looked crestfallen. His boss was going to announce to the world that he was Spider-Man. As a result, the bad guys would come after Mary Jane and Aunt May before he had a chance to get them to safety. They'd probably get killed and it would be his fault, just like Uncle Ben. He sighed.
"Okay. I'll go. But if MJ and Aunt May die because of this·" he let the words loom threateningly in the air. Not that he would ever do anything, but he thought it was his only chance to convince Jameson not to print the article.
"Parker, use your brains. That's what you're good at, isn't it?"
He stared at his boss uncomprehendingly. "But you just said·"
"I said no because I'm not going to print the story. You don't have to leave town, and you don't have to worry about your wife and aunt."
Peter's jaw dropped. He'd been so focused on Mary Jane and Aunt May -- well, mostly Mary Jane - that he hadn't picked up on Jameson's thoughts.
"You're serious? Why aren't you going to print it?"
"Because there are more important things than headlines." Jameson took a deep breath. He had never told anyone what he was about to say. "Also, because I've always felt that you were like a son to me. My son John never wanted to go into journalism. He had to shoot for the moon, literally. Not that I'm not proud as hell of him, but sometimes I wish there was another journalist in the family. Don't you dare tell anyone I said that," Jonah warned. "If you do, your secret identity will be the story of the decade."
Peter's eyes widened even further. "So I'm not fired?"
"No. But don't think I'm going to go any easier on Spider-Man because of this. As far as I'm concerned, he's still a menace until you prove otherwise. Now get out of here before I change my mind."
He nodded and hustled toward the door.
"Wait. You got pictures of the robots this morning while you were flying around, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Good. Go get 'em developed, then. What are you waiting for, Christmas?"
Ben Urich and Robby Robertson were still chatting by the water cooler when Peter left J. Jonah Jameson's office. They looked at him with concern.
"How'd it go?" Robby asked.
Peter grinned from ear to ear. "I still have a job. I'm not fired!"
Robby nodded. "I knew you wouldn't be."
"Great going, kid," Urich replied. "Hang in there."
Peter nodded. He headed to the darkroom to develop his photos. With any luck, they'd be front page material.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen was working undercover in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They knew who he was. He'd spun a well-concocted lie about hating the rest of humanity for the way they now treated him, especially Lois and Clark at the Daily Planet. After Jimmy had proven himself by hacking into a bank and stealing a million dollars, Magneto had let him join. It was a good thing there were no telepaths in the group, or he'd have been dead meat.
His mutant abilities included a psychic gift that worked sporadically, as well as the power to alter his molecular structure and make himself insubstantial. Jimmy also had the ability to time travel, but not more than five minutes into the past. He couldn't go into the future for some reason, maybe because the future was not yet fixed. He'd read up on time travel theories since gaining his powers, but most of it didn't make sense to him.
Olsen was glad that he'd managed to call Peter Parker and warn him about the impending Sentinel attack. This was Magneto's latest plan - control the Sentinels and make them hunt down those who opposed the Brotherhood of Mutants. The Sentinels had been controlled by Bolivar Trask at one time, but he was dead now.
Magneto did not know that Peter Parker was really Spider-Man. The Brotherhood's leader only knew that Peter was a mutant and that he worked for the Daily Bugle. The Bugle was known for being critical of people with super powers, even heroes. The Sentinels were sent to the protest because Magneto believed that the X-Men were secretly behind Mutants for Justice. Jimmy had no idea how Magneto knew that, but Olsen knew that Peter could stop the Sentinels if he got there in time as Spider-Man.
"Check it out," Pyro said, gesturing to the TV. The young man flicked his cigarette lighter on and off. It was an annoying habit. "Magneto is going to be pissed."
Jimmy glanced around. He saw Peter Parker flying around. The Sentinels were shooting at him. What's he doing flying around without his costume on? Oh, yeah, Spider-Man can't fly. Still, that's a huge risk for someone with a secret identity, he thought.
There was one moment when he thought that Peter was going to get toasted for sure. Both Sentinels closed in on him and fired. He waited until the last possible second before flying higher. The laser fire missed him, hitting both of the robots instead. They exploded as a result. Olsen's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Who is that guy?" Pyro asked. "He's not one of the X-Men, unless he's a new recruit and they stopped wearing spandex."
"Peter Parker," Magneto answered as he entered the room. Jimmy and Pyro looked at him. "He is a photographer for the Daily Bugle. He's known for his photos of Spider-Man and other super heroes, as well as the Purple Chaos terrorists. The organization disbanded after its leader was captured a third time." The tone of his voice made his disdain clear. Magneto did not tolerate failure in others.
"Is Parker a threat to us?" Pyro wanted to know.
"That is a good question. I don't believe so. He barely managed to destroy the Sentinels. It was sheer luck that he survived. I think we can safely ignore him for now. Let's concentrate on our main goal, which is destroying Mutants for Justice."
"How do you know for sure that they're part of the X-Men?" Jimmy asked.
Magneto smiled coldly. "Let's just say I have my sources."
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