Spider-Man Mayhem

[Third Person's PoV] 

"I guess all that's left is the two of you," Gwen said, glancing at Lizzy, whose skin glowed orange, and Felicia, who was hissing at Johnny for almost burning her as she perched atop Peter's head.

"Meow!" Felicia exclaimed haughtily, slamming her paw on Peter's hand as if demanding something.

They turned to MJ, who let out an amused sigh. "She said Lizzy can wait. Her issue isn't as important; all she has is glowing skin, while Felicia is stuck as a cat."

"Not important?! I have literal cosmic radiation resting in my pores! That could be dangerous for all we know! You're safe as a cat, I'm not!" Lizzy retorted, glaring at Felicia.

Felicia let out another meow and turned her head away, scoffing at Lizzy.

"She says if you were in any danger, Aria would have informed us already. Since she hasn't, it means you're safe and have nothing to worry about," MJ translated awkwardly.

"Felicia is right," Aria interjected. "Lizzy is currently the safest."

Felicia snapped her head toward Aria, letting out a worried string of meows.

"She said, 'What do you mean Lizzy's the safest? Why is Lizzy the safest? Am I in danger of remaining a cat forever?'" MJ translated, her concern growing.

"No, don't get me wrong," Aria quickly clarified. "I didn't say she's the safest because something's wrong with you. I said she's the safest because we know exactly what's wrong with her and how to solve it. Your situation is less certain because I don't know what's happening with you. It seems to be a magical issue, and my systems aren't suited to analyze magical energy or its effects. This is out of my hands."

Aria's response reassured Felicia slightly. She was still worried but not as much as before.

"Magical issue? What does she mean by that?" Susan asked curiously.

"Oh right, I guess you wouldn't know," Peter began. "Let me start by saying that magic is real."

Reed chuckled slightly. "Come on, seriously, Peter? I thought you were a man of science. There's no such thing as magic."

Peter gave him a look. Reed shook his head. "Even if there was, it's probably just science we don't understand yet. Science disguised as magic."

"You haven't been to Kamar-Taj, so of course you'd be ignorant about the ways of magic," Harry smirked.

"The Kamar what now?" Ben asked.

"Kamar-Taj," Gwen repeated. "It's the home of the Ancient One in Nepal. She's the Sorcerer Supreme, safeguarding our reality and dimension from threats of other dimensions."

"She's also our magic teacher," Peter added with a raised finger.

"The Ancient One is the Sorcerer Supreme… wow, that's a doozy," Johnny chuckled.

"You guys don't believe us, do you?" MJ said, noticing their expressions.

"It's not that we don't, it's just hard to believe outright," Susan retorted awkwardly.

"How is that any different from not believing us?" Peter scoffed in amusement.

"Anyway, to move things along, just pretend you believe magic is real. Out of all of us, Felicia has the most magical potential. The way to solve her problem involves visiting the Ancient One, so that can wait," Gwen said, waving her hand impatiently, eager to move on.

Felicia's cat face contorted in slight displeasure, but she understood they had to wait. With nothing else to do, she flopped back onto Peter's head, resting her small head on her crossed arms with a bored expression.

"So, that means solving your issue comes first," Harry said, looking at Lizzy. "Although I wouldn't call it an issue. Orange really is your color, by the way."

"You think so?" Lizzy asked cutely, batting her eyelashes at him.

"So, Aria, what exactly is Lizzy's gift? If I had to guess, it has to do with radiation, right?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's more than just radiation. Thanks to the cosmic radiation, Lizzy's potential has increased significantly. Before, her mutant gene gave her the potential to control one of the four fundamental forces of the universe: the Weak Nuclear Force. However, her powers are still developing, and we've been focusing on the basics, like her ability to manipulate microwave emissions," Aria explained.

Susan and Reed looked at Lizzy in astonishment. "You have control over one of the fundamental forces of the universe?!" Susan asked, amazed.

"That's what everyone tells me, at least…" Lizzy said awkwardly. "The problem is that I'm not really smart enough to understand how to use it properly. My grasp on my powers is pretty basic, so I know I've barely scratched the surface."

"What are the fundamental forces, anyway?" Johnny asked curiously.

"They're the forces that hold our universe together: Gravity, Electromagnetism, the Weak Nuclear Force, and the Strong Nuclear Force," Reed explained.

"Wait," Gwen said, drawing everyone's attention as she looked at the Spider-bot. "You said 'before.' What do you mean by before? What about now?"

There was a short pause before Aria revealed, "Before her body was exposed to cosmic radiation, Lizzy had the potential to manipulate the Weak Nuclear Force. The extent of her control was unknown. However, after being bathed in the cosmic storm, her original potential evolved and mutated. Now, she has control over both the Weak and Strong Nuclear Forces."

Peter let out a whistle of surprise and amazement, while Harry looked at Lizzy in awe.

Lizzy simply looked annoyed. "Great, more power I won't understand how to wield."

Harry chuckled, placing a supportive hand on her back. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. We'll help you with them. All you need is practice to fully understand them."

"Not to mention," Peter said, placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder, "Bruce here is an expert in nuclear physics, one of the best there is and the best you'll ever find."

Bruce wore an embarrassed but proud expression. "You'll have nothing to worry about. I'll be helping you understand how your powers work and the principles behind them."

Lizzy let out a heavy sigh. "It's not that I don't appreciate it, because I do, I really do. It's just that… well, compared to everyone here, I'm not exactly the smartest in the room. Which means I'm not going to get it right away, and it'll definitely take a while." She looked down in shame, feeling humiliated by admitting her insecurities.

"Don't worry about that. We'll take it slow; there's no rush. No one's saying you need to learn everything in a single day. It will take time, and yes, it might be frustrating. It's not about how smart you are; it's about whether you have patience," Bruce reassured her with a sincere smile.

Lizzy nodded softly. Her intelligence had become a sensitive topic, especially since she was surrounded by Peter, Harry, Gwen, even MJ, and Felicia, who all showed signs of high intelligence.

"So, when can I get rid of my orange skin exactly?" Lizzy asked, eager to change the subject and avoid further embarrassment.

"Aria?" Peter asked, looking at the Spider-bot.

"The containment unit for the cosmic radiation was successfully completed approximately five minutes ago. It is ready," Aria confirmed.

"Perfect," Peter nodded. "Bring it out."

Shortly after, a couple of Spider-bots flew into the room carrying a glass cylinder with black metal ends, equipped with handle grips.

The container was placed in Lizzy's hands. She grasped the handles, looking confused. "So what exactly am I supposed to do with this?"

"You release all the radiation stored in your skin. The handles act like a lightning rod, attracting the radiation. It will then flow from the handles into the container, where it will be safely stored and secured," Aria explained.

"Alrighty then, so do I do it right now or what?" Lizzy asked, positioning the container closer to herself.

"I would recommend that Susan Storm create a protective force field around Lizzy to contain any excess radiation that might leak during the process. The force field should remain until all the radiation is fully absorbed into the container," Aria advised.

"And are you sure this container will be enough to hold everything?" Lizzy asked cautiously.

"Yes, I have measured the amount of radiation stored in your cells. The container is adequately sized for the radiation you have lingering in your body," Aria confirmed.

Lizzy nodded toward Aria, then looked at Susan. "I'll start when you encase me."

Susan concentrated on Lizzy, extending her hands to create a force field around her. With the container in hand, Lizzy closed her eyes and began releasing the orange-colored radiation stored in her body.

Waves of cosmic radiation flowed from her, but instead of dispersing uncontrollably, the radiation was drawn into the container. Lizzy's orange pigmentation faded as the container filled with the vibrant, sun-like energy.

Lizzy continued until she felt there was no more radiation left to release. Opening her eyes, she looked down at the container, now filled to the brim with a glowing, pulsing orange radioactive energy.

Seeing she was done, Susan dissolved the force field. Lizzy handed the container to Peter, who took it in his hands, his spider senses detecting no danger.

"Good work," Peter nodded, examining the container filled with cosmic energy.

"What are you planning on doing with it?" Reed asked cautiously.

"Examine it, to see if there's a way to make Ben's transformation controllable," Peter said, turning the container over in his hands.

"Let me help you. With our two brains working together, it should be a straightforward case," Reed smiled. "Though I must admit, I'm really curious to study the energy that gave us our powers."

"Yeah, it would be better if I supervise you as well in case you decide to do something stupid with it like make a machine to rob us of all our powers" Peter teased.

"Why would such a machine be such a bad thing? In fact that's actually genius" Reeds said, placing a hand on his chin already doing the mental math. 

"Reed…" Peter let out an exasperated sigh, "Let me make this clear, when you think of creating something as dangerous and stupid as I suggested I want you to consider, 'what would happen if this were to fall into the wrong hands'. I want you to always think about that… there are so many inventions I've prevented myself from making due to the fact that if it fell into the wrong hands then the case would have been catastrophic" 

"Hmm… I hadn't considered that…" Reeds mutter. 

Peter patted Reed's shoulder, "Wisdom and Intelligence aren't the same thing buddy…" 

Reed looked at Peter with both an amused and offended look, while Johnny laughed along with Susan and Ben. 

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