Chapter 47

Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 24– I Will Survive.

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Ahh, what the hell?

I wake up, but I can't open my eyes.

Hmm, I am so tired.

I am at that point where you wake up but have yet to open your eyes, and so you just want to snuggle deeper into your covers and go back to sleep.

Let's just sleep a little longer. I literally can't get up. So I go to turn, to snuggle deeper into my be-.

"Aghh!" An intense pain erupts in my side, and I flail in panic and-

"Ugh." I muffle out a groan against the hardwood floor pressed against my face. It turns out I was either on the sofa or the very edge of my bed because when I turned and agitated my stomach, I ended up falling face-first into the ground. Actually, why the hell does my stomach actually hurt?

Let's see, I had gathered information from a bunch of assholes about a meeting, so I was preparing to go. But then, when I got home, Felecia tried to talk to me, so I avoided her and made a tactical retreat. And then I arrived near the meeting spot when- I got blown up.

"Ben!" Someone shouts, but I don't pay any attention, more distraught by the rapid barrage of memories assaulting my eyes, informing me of the immensity of the dire straights I was in. That fucking Bullseye bastard got the jump on me and then proceeded to kick me while I was down and had a piece of metal going through me. I would have died there, no doubt about it.

"Why the hell are you on the floor? You need to rest and recover. Just stay here, and I will take care of anything." So the feminine voice says as they help me up and move me to lay back on the sofa, but again I am more distracted by worrying thoughts. I would have died right then and there, and I don't think anybody would have missed me, and I wouldn't have even had a funeral.

It was only because of the bullet shooting the gun out of Bullseye's hand that I had the opportunity to fight back and escape. The only thing I saw from that direction was a flash of red, even with my enhanced vision, showing just how far whoever that was took the shot from. Thank you, my red angel, you have given me more time, and I am not going to waste it. I don't know who they were or why they were there, or even their intentions towards me, but they saved me, and I won't forget that.

"BEN!" The shout brings me out of my fugue, and I look up from my laid-back position to see Felecia hovering over me, her face worried, probably because I wasn't responding to anything she was saying, which might have made her fear that my head was actually not okay since I might have suffered some brain damage. Thankfully, I have not... I think. I was just bifurcated by a quarter—no big deal.

"Not so loud, geez. I'm injured. Don't you know you are supposed to be gentle with the infirm?" I say, lightly joking to wipe that weird, worried look off of her face. But, seriously, it is creeping me out. Not aesthetically, I quite like that look on her face, but it just seems too unnatural. I have literally never seen such an expression or anything like it on her face before. It is usually a seductive, lazy or bored expression, so this is new and is making me feel off.

"Shut up, you idiot! You would be dead right now. What the hell did you do? If you got here any later, you would be dead!" She says, not getting the message and continuing on the grim theme, plus she is angry now, which is an emotion on her face that I am more familiar with. Still, I am really surprised and glad to be alive. I really thought that was the end.

"Oh wow, you patched me up? Thank you, you must be an amazing medic or something because I really thought I was a goner." Seriously, I was bleeding out, and I am pretty sure that I ran out of the adhesive seal to keep my blood inside. I don't even remember getting home, losing a bit of my consciousness while flying through the air. I vaguely remember landing home and then giving someone a greeting before suddenly feeling a great rush of air, and that was it.

"Are you kidding me? I didn't do shit. I just wrapped you up the best I could and was going to try and get you to doctors, but then..." She hesitates, and why wouldn't she? I mean, my injuries were more than life-threatening, and I was most definitely on my deathbed. She should have definitely taken me to the hospital, but she didn't. And somehow, I am still alive, and I don't feel like I have a hole inside of me.

"And then? Why didn't you take me to a hospital? And why am I not dead?" I ask, very curious. I am not accusing her or anything because I am clearly alright and alive, so everything worked out. But why? Why am I okay, and how did Felecia do it?

"I... I heard a voice?" She says, clearly finding it ludicrous herself though I am instantly on guard hearing that. Hearing voices could mean you are crazy, but we live in a crazy world, so it is equally- no, actually, more than- likely that it was another person or spirit or something talking to her. Telepathy is a worrying thought, purely because it is a very insane invasion of privacy with not a lot of defences for it.

"A voice? Okay, and what did this voice say? What kind of voice was it?" When it comes to matters of the mind and people that like to fuck with it, you are almost spoiled for choice in the Marvel universe. Pretty much every asshole and their grandmother has some method to mess with the mind, but there are a few big contenders. Namely the mutants, Charles Xavier, Emma Frost and a few other fuckers, including that rapey mutant fucker whose name I have forgotten. Not that purple guy; that is mind control, not telepathy. Well, whoever it is, it is a big problem.

"It- It was an old women's voice. Very old, like over a hundred, brittle, on the edge of death old. She told me not to take you to the hospital, that everything would be fine and you would live." That does not ring any bells. I have no recollection of any telepathists that are that old and female, which means I am probably dealing with an unknown, which is even more worrying since I don't know what to expect or prepare for.

"And you just listened to her? The random voice in your head?" Honestly, I would find it very hard to start trusting a random voice in my head, especially in such a dire situation where every moment counts. I was dying, bleeding out, and my only hope for survival would be the hospital, and yet there was this utterly unknown voice telling her to do nothing, and it would be fine. No way anybody would just go along with that. They would be incredibly dumb if they did.

"She knew about you, Ben. Like, everything about you. She talked about your future, your destiny, and she told me you would live. But, not just that, she showed me things, things that could not possibly be faked." Okay, this is legitimately weirding me out now. Speaking into someone's mind is one thing, but projecting the type of things Felecia is talking about is a lot different.

"And what exactly did she show you? What convinced you to listen to her and trust that I would be okay?"I do have concerns and worries, but I am also fine and alive. A bit bruised, but all my organs are inside me, and the blood is contained to the inside of my body. So she told the truth and knew I would be fine, either through expertise in biology and science using a sample to determine my powers or something more mystical like seeing the future, which isn't out of the question.

"She- She showed me a lot, things I couldn't believe and things that made no sense, but I just knew them to be true. I-It wasn't anything about you. It was about me so that she could gain my trust. She told me some things that I didn't know before, but they are true. I checked afterwards. I- I can't elaborate, but just know I was assured that you would be fine." She says nervously, understanding that her answer is basically dogshit with nothing to back it up or serve as proof. But I will leave it for now, things worked out, and there is nothing more I can get from her.

Still, from what she has said, I really don't have a clue just who it was that apparently knew about me, including my future and the capabilities of my body, because I had no clue that I could survive and heal from that. Actually, I was pretty sure that I couldn't, given my past experiences with the original Spider-Man, at least, that was according to memories before the absurd clone situation. So I guess I have changed, at least somewhat, if I can do this because I know other Peter can't do this.

Nobody knew I was capable of this, and yet someone did, enough so that they could rest assured that I would live without the aid of the hospital. Putting it all together, I can't disregard the option that this might not be a mutant and might actually be a very skilled mage, which might explain some of the things Felecia has seen that she does not want to share. It could be a mage and a mutant. The two aren't exclusive, after all.

"Alright, fine. I understand. And I am clearly fine, so I guess it is better not to look a gift horse in the mouth." Sighing, I accept her refusal to say anymore. I sit up on the sofa, Felecia hovering around me with a concerned look on her face, worried that I am doing too much too early. I am, too, because my body definitely hurts, but nowhere near the levels of pain, it reached last night. Plus, I am curious. Just how good is my apparent healing factor? How much have I healed from that injury?

"Alright, let's look at the damage. Say, how long was I out?" I ask, reaching down to pull on the bloody bandages wrapped around my midsection to see if there is still a hole there. But before I can peel it away, Felecia grabs me by the shoulder and starts to scream at me.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? DO YOU WANT TO KILL YOURSELF!?" She screams at me, shaking me profusely, not realising what she is doing could also seriously exacerbate my injuries. What she was doing was actually hurting me, while what I wanted to do was only to take a peek at my wounds. Finally, having enough of it, I reach out and grab both her arms by the wrist, stopping her from shaking me.

"Hold your horses, Felecia. What you are doing is what is going to kill me. All I want to do is get a good look at my injuries to see how bad it is and if there is anything I need to do to aid my recovery. Okay?" I say, spelling it out clearly for her. And with my message across, she lowers her hands, her expression downcast after realising what she was doing. And so I get back to looking at my injuries, and I wonder how big the hole is now.

"You were out for about fifteen hours or so. I wasn't really keeping count." Felecia helpfully supplies, going along with me, which I appreciate. I give her a nod to show that I heard her before reaching down again to my bandages which, now that I touch them, I realise they are stained with dry blood, which is good because it isn't fresh blood, so that bodes well for me.

Gripping the edges, I pull it away from my body and look down into that gap, and I refrain from showing any emotion, keeping my face neutral to keep from revealing anything to Felecia. Right now, I am glad that I have excellent vision because I can manage to see my wounds with the current light, and I don't have to shine a light down there, which would allow Felecia to see it as well. It is not a nice sight down there.