This is probably my most 'out there' idea yet, combining my love of the Ultimate Comics line with trademark Disney shows, and their characters.
This will be the first of a 'Young Ultimates' line, with Violet starring as our Spider-Girl, and the ANT Farm cast as her friends, back up, and possibly enemies.
And yes, let's be clear: this will have Violet as the central character. No like? No Read.
Ultimate Spider-Girl
Prologue: Family Sacrifice
Mark Taylor casually walked down his street, whistling as he went. He had a small grin, and patted his pockets gently to the tune in his head. He loved San Francisco; it was a great place to live in, being so diverse and acceptant, but also having a strong moral code. In that way, he was like the city, or it like him.
Mark was feeling great. He had just married the love of his life, and they had moved into a nice house with a great view of the Bay. Add to that his well paid job in sports marketing, and he had it all. Well, except for a child, but he and Dana had agreed that they would wait four to five years, until they had established themselves, so that they could commit to raising a family.
The only thing troubling him was the call from his older brother. Matthew Taylor was one of three leads on a new project at Sirta Industries, the large biotechnology firm that had set up in San Francisco. Matt had the life: great job with flexible hours, a lovely wife, and a young daughter. But Mark knew his family, and had the feeling that Matt was in serious trouble.
Mark stopped to look down a side street, and briefly consulted the directions in his hand. Sure enough, his brother's car was parked. Something was off about this. Meeting here? In a car? Mark was nervous: just what was his brother into?
Mark quickly made his way to the car, and got in the passenger side. He shot his brother a quick smile, and they both relaxed for a moment.
"Stop to see the sights along the way?" Matt asked, his grin ruining the sarcasm.
"I'm not very good at this cloak and dagger routine that you are," Mark replied. "It's good to see you again."
"And you," his brother replied. He waited a moment before speaking again. "The reason I asked you here is to do with my work at Roxxon. That big project I told you about? It's yielded surprising results." As he spoke, Matt reached into a pocket in his coat and produced a test tube with a strange red-black fluid inside.
"What is that? Is that blood?" Mark asked, eyes widening.
"No! No, it's… more of a serum, really. It started as a cure for cancer."
"What? Is that possible?" Mark asked.
"Yes and no. It started as a cure, but became something more," Matt said, replacing the test tube in his pocket. "Roxxon hired me, along with Doctor Quimby and Professor Doyle to create the cure. But we kept hitting a wall. No combination of DNA worked, until Doyle suggested using animal DNA. Cross-Species Genetics." Matt rubbed his head and frowned. "We had a falling out over the procedures, and wound up losing the base equation for the formula, which only I had access to."
"So wait, your saying that what you have there is all that's left of the research?" Mark asked, bewildered and concerned for his brother.
"Sort of. We had run tests with a group of spiders, and created an enhanced species. The possibility of Cross-Species Genetics remains, but only if I hand over this serum," Matt said. "Then why not? You'd make a fortune!" Mark replied. Matt shook his head and sighed. "It's unethical. And dangerous. Giving ordinary people genes from animals could have any number of side effects, and those could be fatal. That and any profits go directly to Roxxon, not the researchers."
"Then why not quit if it's that dangerous?"
"Nothing's that easy. Especially with sensitive information. If they knew that I had spoken to you, or taken any of the research, then we'd all be in danger. I can't let Violet get dragged into this. Anne and I need to disappear until this thing goes away," Matt explained.
Mark patted Matt's shoulder. He understood the problem: Violet was only three, and needed to be kept from harm's way, should things take a turn for the worse.
"I get it," Mark replied. "You want us to take care of Violet, while you do whatever you need to with this research, so that Roxxon will leave you alone. Dana and I can handle raising one little girl."
Violet was a lovely child, who was ecstatic about sports, always watched her favourites on TV. Not many three year old girls knew the names of sports teams, but Violet was special. Just like her parents.
"Thanks, Mark. Anne and I should be able to convince everyone that we're just taking the honeymoon we never had. Violet doesn't need any stress right now. I just wish she didn't have to be involved at all," Matt said, sighing at his predicament.
Mark silently eyed his brother, cursing the day Roxxon had shown up. "When do you think you'll be back?"
Matt shrugged. "I'm not sure. When the time is right. Or after Roxxon shuts down. Hopefully." Matt met his brother's eyes, and the concern in them. He wanted to tell Mark everything, and escape this situation, but that was impossible. He could only protect his family from the fallout, and hopefully get rid of his research in the process. He lifted a bundle of folders and slid them into a satchel before passing it to Mark.
"Mark, this is all that's left of my work. I need you to hide it somewhere for me, that no one else will find. I might need it when I get back," he explained. He opened his door, carefully removing the vial in the process, before dumping its contents down a drain.
"Matt, you'd better hurry. If anything happens…" Mark drifted off, exiting the car.
"I know. We'll drop Violet tonight. Stay safe," Matt replied, starting the car.
"You too," Mark replied to the retreating car. He waited until it has joined the street again, before heading back home, glancing at the satchel he held in his hands. He had more on his mind than he had ever wanted, and found a creeping sense of dread rising from his stomach. This was going to end badly.
Mark returned home, and headed straight for the basement, knowing just where to hide the satchel. He moved the tumble dryer slightly, and placed the satchel in the small hollow space behind, hiding it from sight.
Satisfied with his deception, he headed back upstairs, to sleep on his nice sofa. He settled comfortably, and drifted off for half an hour. Or two. Maybe more, it wasn't important to him right now.
He was woken shortly before six by a gentle shake and a soft voice calling. "Mark," Dana Taylor said, shaking her husband of two months from his sleep. "Mark, we have visitors. Matt and Anne are here, with Violet. What's this all about?"
"Sorry. I meant to tell you. Matt and Anne have to leave for a while, and need us to take care of Violet while there out of town. All I know is it's something to do with work," Mark explained, telling his wife a half-truth. As much as he hated lying to her, he needed to keep the family safe.
"Is it serious? Are they in trouble?" Dana asked, gauging Mark's expression.
"What? No." He waved it off. He said it more in hope than anything else. "Come on, we better not keep them waiting if they need to be going soon." Mark and Dana entered the kitchen, where Matt and Anne waited at the table, with Violet playing over by the door. Everyone smiled at Violet, but leaned in to whisper, so that she wouldn't hear.
Violet couldn't understand why her parents were whispering with Aunt Dana and Uncle Mark. She overheard them talking about her staying, and them leaving, which made no sense. They were family! That meant they had to stay together, no matter what. Everything they said made her head hurt. She just wanted to play ball and go to the park.
He parents hugged her as they readied to leave, giving her words of encouragement; that she'd be okay, that she's in safe hands. "But I want to go with you!" Violet protested to her parents.
"I know sweetie, but mommy and I have to go away for work for a while," her dad explained. "We'll only be gone for a little while. We'll all go out to a ball game when we get back, okay?"
Violet nodded, knowing that her parents wouldn't change their minds, and watched as they headed for the car. She called out, just before the door closed, "Daddy!"
He looked back, smiled at her reassuringly and said, "Be good." Then he was gone. The car pulled off, and headed away, Violet didn't know where. She just stood there, by the door, waiting for her parents to come back. She refused dinner, and went straight to bed, waiting for her parents to come back in the morning.
She'd be waiting for them to come back forever.
And that's the prologue! I know, it's very similar to what we all know, but it's needed to set up what comes later in the story.
I also wanted to use her parents leaving (later dying) as the reason for Violet's temper: she's angry because they abandoned her, and she will attempt to figure that out as the story progresses.
Violet is an under-used character in my opinion, and I'll be fleshing out a detail or two about her life in the first few chapters, up to her discovering what really happened to her parents.
N.B.: I'm using Roxxon from the Ultimates here, to tie things together more neatly.
Until next time!