47. Selfish brat!!

"It would have been an inspiration to the man. He would have seen the love that the two of you had for each other and desired to gain it as well. In the form of a returned Jean Grey."

If he was shocked before, he is now gobsmacked, "What?"

Mistress Love nods with a saddened expression, "Yes, Jean Grey would have returned to earth as a result of an event similar to the one your world is currently dealing with, but not so tragic. Had your marriage still existed, then Logan and Jean would have been together and had a beautiful family."

Peter looks down with eyes wide and heart-wrenching, "Logan would have been married too?"

Is he really responsible for such a drastic change in the world due to his marriage? He and MJ can't be that important.

Can they?

"Some mortals in your history have often said it," she speaks up, "Love is a powerful force. It is capable of creating life as well as ending it. Love can start wars and end them. It can inspire or bring despair. Yet you gave away a magnificent aspect of your life for selfish purposes."

That knocks Peter out of his funk as he bolts up, "Selfish?!" Peter shouts defensively, "I did that to save my aunt's life!"

"Because you despised yourself for your part in her demise," Master Hate responds with his deep grating voice, "You could not live with yourself, so you bargained away something you believed was not as valuable."

He shakes his head vehemently, "No no that's not true! I just-"

Master Hate interrupts him, "You hated yourself for your decision in revealing your identity to the world even when you knew the consequences would be dire."

"None of you could understand!" Peter yells angrily, "You think it's easy to live with something like that! To live with the fact that you got someone you love killed!"

"Yet you still despise yourself!" Master Hate yells back just as angrily, "You constantly torture yourself for your failings! You never allow yourself to be at peace!"

Peter reels back before he shouts, "I can't let myself forget those mistakes! Besides, aren't you the guy who wants hate in the universe?!"

Master Hate groans in frustration, "Mortals. You always think so simply," he glares at the man, "My desire is to see hate satisfied!"

"What the hell does that mean?!

"Enough," The Tribunal speaks and his voice reverberates across the realm, "The webs champion shall control his temper."

"Me?!" Peter shouts in indignation before he gestures to Hate, "What about him?! He was shouting too!"

"DO NOT SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A MANNER!"

Peter holds back his voice as he realizes who he just yelled at.

(End of flashback)

*****

.(Present)

Peter looks at his reflection on the table blankly. He just waits for the older men in the room to give their feedback.

And he does not have to wait long.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Strange yells at him as he bolts up from his seat, "Yelling at the Living Tribunal?! A deal with Mephisto?! How many more idiotic decisions have you made that we aren't aware of?!"

Normally Steve would reel his friends from losing their tempers, but in all honesty, he feels the need to yell at the younger hero himself. Hell, the kid made an even bigger stupid decision than every time Tony did. Combined.

Tony and Reed meanwhile don't know what to say. Tony because he just got his memories of Peter back so he can't make an unbiased statement, while Reed feels like this is a kind of situation he can't provide helpful insight.

Doctor Strange begins pacing back and forth as he continues to rant, "Of all the stupid decisions in history, you somehow managed to top all of them!" Strange then focus his frustration on the revived hero, "How could you do something so stupid?!"

Peter calmly responds, "Because I was a selfish brat who didn't know any better."

"Well, I agree with that completely!"

"Strange," Captain Rogers calls out to him, "Enough."

"No! Dammit, Steve, no! This isn't something that can be just looked over! We have to talk-"

"Doc!" Tony this time interrupts him as he raises his hands in a placating manner, "I get you want to chew the kid out, but how about you do it after when he finishes his story? I mean the ending can't be that bad if we're all still here right?"

Strange wants to retort, but mulling it over for a few seconds, he can't help but agree to a degree. So he takes a breath to compose himself. He waves his hand and his seat is returned to its position, but he doesn't sit in it. Instead, he opts to stand in the corner of the room. Not being able to be near Peter right now.

Seeing things have calmed down, Steve motions to Peter to continue, "What happened next?"

Peter takes a breath, "Well after Love and Hate said their piece…"