The Amazing Spider-Man
Chapter 1: Sins Of The Father
Ben Parker walked casually down a busy suburban street with his hands resting easily in his pockets and a slight grin on his face. People passed him all in different forms. This was New York, the city that never slept and kept on the move despite the rest of the world.
Ben however wasn't really feeling that well about anything right now. He and his wife of 6 years, May Parker, had been trying to concieve a child for the longest time. But after several miscarriges, they finally gave up and decided to try and adopt when they had the money. Money was an entirely different problem, Ben had recently been let-go from his job as a technician and May had just finished her piano classes. That alone wasn't going to support their money issues.
If it hadn't have been for a call from his younger brother, Richard, Ben probably wouldn't have gotten off of the couch all day. In his call, Richard sounded extremely distraught, almost as if he were injured. Richard gave Ben an address and told him not to tell anyone where he was going.
Ben had no idea why his little brother had called him out of the blue like this. Recently, Richard had been assigned to some job at Oscorp Industires and since then he hadn't called, wrote, or drop by to say hello. May assumed that with his wife Mary being pregnant, he has been a little busy with her but Ben knew Richard too well and something was bothering him.
Ben stopped at a corner of a street and looked around. He pulled a peice of paper from his pocket. The paper had the directions to Richards' location. Ben looked up from the paper to see an alley dead ahead of him. Further into that alley was Richard Parkers' car.
Ben quickly made his way to the car, stepping over several pieces of trash and trying to ignore the smell of the alleyway. Finally, he made his way to the car and opened the passenger door and sat down. Richard was sitting in the drivers seat looking at Ben as he made his way into the car.
"What took you so long?" Richard asked smiling at his older brother.
"I don't leave home much Rich." Ben responded. He looked at his brother and smiled back. "It's good to see you."
"You too, Ben." There was a small moment of silence between the two brothers.
"So what did you drag my ass off of my very comforable couch for?" Ben asked.
Richard took a deep breath. "You remember when I told you was put on a special project at Oscorp? Well now I... I made an extremely huge discovery. An earth shattering discovery." Richard paused and reached into his pocket and revealed a test tube with a red liquid inside.
"Is that blood?" Ben asked eyeing the tube strangely.
"Yes. Well... Sort of. It's what I've been working on for the past few months. It's a cure for cancer."
Ben's eyes widened. "You can make that?"
Richard looked at it. "Yes. It's really quite amazing. Amazing."
Ben rose his eyebrow. "You want me to leave you and the blood alone for a while?"
He chuckled. "Anyways," Richard looked looked away from the test tube. "Norman Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp, rounded up a few genetic scientists, including me. It was Dr. Curt Conners, Edward Brock, Osborn, and myself. We were assigned to this cure and told specifically to not mention this to anyone. Not even family. Well I guess it's safe to say I broke that rule." Richard rubbed his head. "A few days into the project, we had a... a falling out. Basically, it resulted in Conners working on some sort of regrowth formula, Brock making his own cure, and Osborn placed Oscorp in some government contract. I still had our original formula. I didn't have a lot of faith but... I had to try."
"Try what?" Ben looked at his brother concerningly.
"I started expirementing with the formula and... poof... there it was."
Ben rubbed his temples. "Okay, where are you going with this? I told May I'd pick up some eggs on the way back and it's already pretty dark out."
Richard sighed and giggled a little. "Fine. Basically, what I made was a genetic cocktail and it... well it's remarkable to say the least. It holds similar properties to an animal and a human. Cross genetics, Ben." His brother gave him a wild eye as if saying: 'I don't know what the hell cross genetics are, you crazy mad scientist." Richard kept talking. "Cross genetics is when you take the genes from... lets say a dog and then you cross those genes with that of a human. The host becomes a perfect cross between the two."
Ben blinked a few times. "So... The... Host would... Look like a... Dog?" He asked.
"No, no, no. The host would look perfectly normal." He paused. "Well maybe a few odd features-."
"Like a tail and long ears?" Ben interrupted.
"Maybe. But my point is: I made this at Oscorp. The formula. It's theirs, technically." Richard looked at the tube in his hands. "But I can't let them have it."
Ben chuckled. "And why not?"
"Because Osborn is..." Richard looked down. "You don't know the danger this could cause in the wrong hands and trust me Ben, Norman Osborn's hands are probably the most dangerous I've ever encountered. If I give this to him, he'll just use it in his military projects division and use this as a weapon. I won't have anyone's death on my hands, Ben."
"Why don't you just quit?"
"It's not that simple. And by the time I could even find a box to put my stuff in Osborn will have the formula and all of my test subjects. And with all of the police officers itching to get a few more dollars to their name, I can't trust any of them, so no cops. Especially to take down Osborn. He has lawyer upon lawyer. Even if I do sue him, they can say that just because I made it in his lab, with his tools, and with his resources that makes it Oscorps." He sighed. "I'm afraid of what he'll do to get this." He opened the top of the tube. "Not only what he'll do to me but to Mary... And the baby."
Ben put his hand on his brother's shoulder. Richard has been married to Mary Parker for three years now and she was nine months pregnant with their child. The baby was due at any time now.
"Rich," Ben's voice was soft and sympathetic. "You, Mary, and the baby can stay with May and I for as long as you need to. If you want, you know."
"I can't do that to you guys, Ben. I'll only be endangering you and May even more. As much as I'd love to, I can't." Richard declined.
"So where will you go?" Ben asked him. Richard reached into his pocket and retrieved two plane tickets. He handed them to Ben. The older man read them. His eyes went wide. "Italy?"
Richard shrugged. "Mary always wanted to go to Venice." He took the tickets back.
"Does she know about this?"
"No. I didn't want to worry her."
"Then what will you tell her?"
"Well, I could call it the honey moon we never had." Richard smiled.
There was silence as Richard eyed the tube of genetically enhanced blood in his hands. "When will you be back?" Ben asked him.
Rich shrugged again. "Whenever I feel like I should. Or until Osborn gets old and dies. Hopefully." He said under his breath. Rich looked up to see the worry in his brothers eyes. He wanted so bad to tell him that he'd be okay but he knew he could never completely guarantee that. He gave a faint smile before reaching into the back seat and grabbing a bundle of three folders all tied together by various rubber bands and paper clips. He handed them to Ben.
"Ben," Richard started. "This is my lifes work. For obvious reasons I can't take it with me but I want you to take them and hide them." He instructed.
"Where?"
"Anywhere. I'm going to need them when I get back." Rich hid his uncertainty with a clean grin.
"Sure thing." Ben took the folders in his hands. He pointed at the tube. "What are you going to do with that?"
Richard looked at the vial. "This?" He opened the drivers side car door and poured the blood down a nearby drain leading into the sewers. He then threw the tube in a garbage bin and closed the door. "The sewage in both the sewers and the garbage will contaminate the blood. Even if Osborn's lackeys do find it, it'll be completely unusable." He explained.
Ben took a deep breath. "Come back, Rich. When you're done with whatever the hell you're mixd up in, come back. You hear me?" Ben asked with all seriousness laced in his words.
Richard grabbed his older brother and pulled him into a hug. The two embraced for a few more moments before they parted. "I'll try my best." Richard responded. "Now go." He wiped a tear from his eye. "You have some eggs to pick up."
Ben opened the door and got out of the car. He gave his brother one more worried look before closing the door and watching him off as he backed out of the alley and drove down the New York streets until he was unable to be seen anymore.
Ben took one more look at the folder he still held before tucking them under the waistband of his pants and pulling his shirt over them, rendering the folders invisible to anyone he happened to walk by. With that, Ben continued home with a lot more on his mind than he cared to think about.
. . . . .
Ben closed the door to his home in Queens, New York before hopping on top of his couch and laying in a very comfortable position. It wasn't long before he dozed off into a rather peaceful sleep for almost half an hour.
Ben opened his eyes to the sound of a sweet sensation to his ears. "Ben?" He fully opened his eyes to see his wife, May Parker standing over him, her black hair reaching past her shoulders and her glasses placed carefully on the bridge of her nose. She smiled as her husband drifted back to reality. "Ben." She called again.
The man smiled as he rose from the couch and kissed May on the lips. "The perfect thing to wake up to." He said sweetly.
May let her lips curl as she brought herself closer to Ben. "Ben, honey." May said in the seductive voice she knew Ben loved.
"Yes sweety?" He responded as he kissed her neck.
"Did you remeber to get the eggs?" She asked him, still in her seductive voice.
Ben stopped in his tracks as May pulled away from him. "Look May..."
"I'll take that as a no." May looked down at Ben sternly.
Ben stood from the couch and moved towards the door. "I'll go get the eggs if you want the eggs now."
"There's no point now." She said. "Besides," May looked down at her feet. "We have something... More important to talk about."
Ben sensed the seriousness in her voice and slowly turned around. "What's wrong?"
May looked back up at Ben. "I... I went to the doctor's today while you were gone to see if there was anymore hope but..."
"Oh, May." Ben grabbed his wife and pulled her into his arms. "It's okay."
"He said that the chances of us having a baby were... slim and I just..." She was beginning to tear up.
Ben looked May in the eyes. "We'll just have to keep trying, won't we?" He gave her a comforting smile.
May responded by hugging him. She then opened her eyes, feeling something on Ben's stomach. "Ben, what is that?" She looked down and lifted his shirt, revealing the folders Richard had given him. She pulled them out. "What are these?" She asked, taking notice of Richard's name on the top of one of the folders. "Are these your brother's?"
Ben sat her down on the couch and sat down himself. "Yeah. Rich asked if I could watch a few of his things while he and Mary... Go out of town for a while."
"What? Why? Where are they going?"
Ben tried to muster up a fake chuckle but it came out more like a cough. "Well, get this, Richard thinks some big company spooks are trying to steal something he created. So you know Rich, he's paranoid enough to leave the country and all. But he'll be fine in a few days." As much as Ben wanted to believe his own lie, he coudn't.
May looked deep into Ben's eyes. "Ben, do you think this is serious?"
"What? No." He waved it off. "Richie will be fine." He said more hopeful than anything else. "He'll be fine." May looked at him the same way he looked at Richard before he left; with worry and confusion in her eyes. He quickly recoiled from his mood. "Anyway," He took the folders from May and placed them on the coffee table. "Lets talk about something else. Or better yet, we don't have to talk." Ben smiled as he moved closer to her.
May smiled and got up and ran up stairs, making her way to their bedroom. "Last one up." She laughed as Ben stood to chase after her. But as Ben climbed the stairs, the phone in the kitchen rang. He stopped and gave a sigh of impatience. "Ben..." May called in her seductive voice that nearly made Ben forget the fact that he had a phone and dash up the stairs.
"One sec." He said as he grabbed the phone and put it up to his ear. "Hello." He paused. "Yes, this is... Of course but..." Ben felt his body run cold. "Wha- What?" He could barely form words. "No." He whispered as he felt hot tears run down his face. "But what about his-?... Where? We'll be there as soon as possible." Ben hung up the phone and took a moment to sit and cry.
May slowly came down the stairs. "Ben?" She rushed to his side. "What's wrong?"
Ben looked at his wife. "We need to go to the hospital, now."
. . . . .
Ben and May Parker rushed to the Emergency Room as a nurse stood waiting for them with a group of police officers. Ben approached the group. "I'm Ben Parker." He stated.
One of the officers turned around and greeted Ben. "I'm officer Stacy. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." He said with compasion in his voice.
"Thank you. Where's my brother's wife?"
The nurse grabbed Ben and May and lead them down the hall. "She went into labor shortly after finding her... husbands body. She was brought here as quickly as possible." The nurse explained.
"Will she be alright?" May asked her.
"Everything seems to be happening quite normally at this point. We'll keep you updated." As she finished her sentence, a group of doctors, surgeons, and nurses ran past them with Mary Parker on one of the hospital beds being moved to another room.
"Mary!" May called as she chased after her sister-in-law with Ben close behind her.
One of the doctors was about to 'shoo' the two away but Mary grabbed his wrist. "Relax doctor hard-ass. They're family."
"How are you holding up sweetie?" May asked.
"You know, holding." She tried to sound okay but on the inside she was hurting deeply, not only because of the baby kicking inside of her but because about a half hour ago, she walked into her house to see her dead husband laying on the floor with a gun in his hands.
"You poor thing." May held Mary's hand as she comforted her.
The medical staff had arrived at the room Mary would be giving birth in and stopped Ben and May from going in. "I'm sorry," One of the doctors said. "No one besides us allowed past here." He then ran into the room, leaving the couple to stand outside and listen to the horrible, ear splitting screams of Mary Parker.
. . . . .
It had been only ten minutes but to Ben and May it seemed like hours. They sat in the waiting room patiently. Ben tried to wrap his mind around the fact that his little brother was dead. And what's worse, they're saying it was suicide. He knew that what he and Richard had talked about only hours before, it was definitely no suicide. But right now, that wasn't the top of his 'Worry about list.' That honor went to the child being born down the hall.
To the right of him sat the police officer he had met previously, George Stacy. He too seemed to have much on his mind.
"What are you here for?" Ben asked George.
Stacy looked at Ben then pointed to the opposite hall. "My wife is pregnant. She'll be due any moment now. I'm just waiting."
Ben nodded his head. "Well good luck." He told him.
"Thanks." After a minute or two, another police officer ran into the waiting room. "Stacy, we gotta go." He said.
George stood up. "On it." He stopped before he passd Ben and May. "Good luck to you, too." He said before running to his police cruiser outside.
Ben wrapped his arm around May. "We're going to need it."
Before Ben could get comfortable, the doors to the room Mary was taken to opened and a nurse stepped out. Ben and May stood up together and met the nurse halfway. "Is she okay?" May asked.
"The baby was delivered successfully. But her overall health is dropping." The nurse paused. "It doesn't look good. The doctors are worried."
May felt a pit open in her chest. A pit of sorrow for her best friend. "Can we see her?"
"Of course." With that they walked towards their friend.
"Knock, knock." Ben said as they stepped into the room.
Mary was sitting up, sweating and obviously tired with a baby in her arms. She still smiled nonetheless. "Hey, you guys." She said weakily.
May sat down near the foot of the bed and noticed the baby. She smiled. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
Mary looked down. "It's a boy." She said proudly.
May tried to stay positive and keep away from 'touchy subjects.' It was obvious Mary was hurting deeply over the loss of her husband. She hid it well with her trademark nonechalant attitude but to the people who have known her for most of her life, she may as well had been bawling her eyes out.
"So what are you going to name him?" Ben asked.
"When me and..." She stopped and wiped a tear from her cheek. "We came up with a lot of names but the one that really stuck-." The heart monitor next to her bed began to been more rapidly. She coughed.
May stood up. "Mary?" Her voice was riddled in concern.
Mary looked to May as they both began to cry. "Peter." Mary said to her The woman smiled and looked to her baby. "Peter Benjamin Parker... He's a special one... Special-." She drifted off then closed her eyes for what would be the last time.
Ben ran to the doorway. "Somebody get in here, now!" He yelled at a few nearby doctors who ran into the room.
One of the doctors grabbed the now crying baby from Mary's motionless hands and handed him to May Parker.
It seemed like everything happened so fast. The doctors tried to revive Mary with every tool they could use but in the end, she was still gone. Just like Richard Parker.
. . . . .
Ben and May stood in front of the doctors with Peter in a baby car seat.
"Peter will be adopted by you two? His aunt and uncle, right?" One doctor asked.
"Yes, that's correct." Ben said, holding May in his arms.
"Alright. There's some paper work you'll need to-."
"Look, we've been through a helluva lot in just one night. Can we please do this some other time." Ben asked.
"Sure thing." The young doctor agreed as he handed them a small stack of papers.
"Thank you." May said as she looked at Ben and then the baby. "Ben, what are we going to do? We don't know how to raise a baby and-."
"Shhh..." He hushed her. "Peter is our responsibility now, May. We can raise him. If for nothing else, for Richard and Mary. He needs someone."
May looked at Peter again who stared at her, smiling back at her. May smiled at him and turned back to Ben. "I hope you know what you're doing."
. . . . .
"Norman Osborn, sir." A man in a very dark suit and black shades started. "We found nothing at Parker's house. He either destroyed or hid his research."
Norman sat at his desk in Oscorp. He sighed deeply. "What about his family?" He asked in a very firm voice.
"His wife died giving birth to their son tonight. Our informants in the hospital tell us that the boy will be living with his aunt and uncle, Parker's older brother." The man reported.
"Name?" Osborn asked him.
"Ben and May Parker. They live in Queens and-."
"Not them." Norman interrupted. "I mean the boy. What is his name?"
"Peter Parker, sir."
"Well," Norman stood. "Lets keep an eye on young Peter Parker." Norman smiled.