Author's Note(s):I know I have othe rstories in the works, but I've wanted to get a start on this one for a while.
THE SPIDER
By FAH3
The dark clouds that hung in the night sky were ablaze with lightning as the thunder rumbled and torrents of rain fell upon the city of Upperton. Rain soaked everything in the urban jungle of concrete and steel to try and give life to what little plant life remained. Sitting atop of the Daily Bugle building, one of the most profitable papers in the United States, a young woman was crying. Her flowing red hair was now soaked and matted to her head as the rain that fell on her face and helped to hide the tears that fell. Her body was clad in a red and blue jumpsuit while a red mask was gripped firmly in one of her gloved hands. In her other hand was the picture of young red headed girl and a young blonde boy that she did her best not to crush. As she looked at the picture, the tears began to fall even more. When she looked at the mask, her anger surged and began and burn within her mind. As the thunder rumbled again, she raised her eyes to the skies above and glared. As if she could see something in the sky that no one else could.
"Damn you." She said in almost a whisper before standing onto her feet. "DAMN YOU, GOD! YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS BASTARD!" she screamed as her anger began to break free as the lightning flashed. "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! I ONLY TRIDE TO HELP PEOPLE!" she screamed once more and received silence as an answer. "All my life, I've only wanted to help people. And you've damned me for it." She cried as she fell to her knees. "Everything's gone wrong. All of it." She whispered as she looked down at her hand that held the picture of the two children. "My life has gone straight to hell. And it's all because of a stupid bug." She said.
As she sat crying on the Upperton skyscraper, her mother sat with a letter in her hands. In her home in Middleton, her mother sat in the room that her daughter had lived in while growing up. As her mother read the letter, the mature woman couldn't help but raise a hand in shock as she read its contents. Her own tears began to fall as she continued to read before letting the letter fall as she clasped both hands over her face and began to cry. As she sat in the room by herself, the words of the letter continued to echo in her head.
"Dear Mom,
I know you've been worried about me. And lately, I've been less than honest with you. But all these secrets I've been hiding are starting to take its toll on me. And if I don't tell someone, I'm going to go insane. Also, you deserve to know the truth. This past year has been a nightmare for the both us. After everything you've done for me, you deserve to know the truth. I just hope you can forgive me after reading this, because I don't think I can ever forgive myself.
It all really started last year, when my senior class went on the tour of Oscorp."
18 MONTHS AGO
It was times like this that Kimberly Anne Possible wished she had agreed to let her tech friend, Wade Load, upgrade her Kimmunicator to play mp3 files. A normal trip to downtown Upperton usually wasn't so bad for her and her best friend, Ron Stoppable. However, this trip was far from normal. Kim was stuck sitting in a humid buss, crammed with the students of her senior class. The bus was an older model which meant there was no air conditioning to help many of the students to cool off. And to make things worse, the windows were rusted shut. So all the students were doing their best not to suffer from a heat stroke, and it seemed they were failing miserably.
"KP, stick a fork in me. I'm done." Ron moaned as he removed his long sleeve shirt while keeping his jersey t-shirt on.
"It isn't that bad, Ron." Kim said as she used a folder from her backpack as a fan. She was thankful she decided to wear her usual green tank top at that moment.
"Easy for you to say. You don't feel like a rack of lamb that being broiled to death. I wonder if this is how Hansle and Gretel felt."
"Ron, they pushed the witch into the oven." Kim said to him.
"Poor old woman. I now know your pain." He said melodramatically.
"Wait a minute. Where's Rufus?" Kim asked as she finally noticed that her best friend was missing his hairless companion.
"You know how I always keep a few Nacos hidden in the back of my fridge in case I need a midnight snack?"
"Yeah?"
"Little rat ate them all when I was asleep. Now he's got indigestion so bad that he could barley move."
"I hope he's going to be okay." Kim said.
"Don't worry. If I know the little guy, he'll be eating all the cheese in the house by the time I get home." Ron said as he looked out the window in an effort to forget how hot it was inside the bus. "Out of curiosity, where are we going?"
"You fell asleep in class when Barkin announced the field trip. Didn't you?" Kim asked.
"Can I plead the fifth on that?"
"Ronald!" Kim said. She had known Ron for most of their lives, and she knew he had the potential for being so much more. So whenever he decided to sleep in class, or procrastinate on any kind of homework, it irritated her to no end. She knew she was probably sounding like her mother, or an annoying older sister at that moment. But she couldn't help it. The last thing she wanted was to see her friend being held back in high school. They started school together, and they were going to finish it together. Come hell or high water.
"It wasn't my fault this time. Felix kept me up."
"Oh, really? Doing what?" Kim asked him.
"Um," Ron stammered as he began to sweat even more. "By – helping me – he was telling me how to beat zombie slayer 4." He finally admitted.
"I swear." Kim muttered to herself. "We're going on a tour of Oscorp headquarters." Kim told him.
"Okay. Wait a minute! Oscorp?! They're really super secret, hush-hush about everything there! How did we get a field trip there?" Ron asked.
"Remember when we stopped that break-in last month? The vice president was so grateful that she decided to let our science class see their R&D labs. And Wade works on special projects, so he was able to put in a good word for us." Kim said.
"Way to go, KP." Ron said, becoming even more impressed with his friend than he already was.
In the downtown skyscraper that almost appeared to be a giant prisim from the future, with the words OSCORP written in huge green letters going down one side of it, two figures were looking over various projects and made sure everything was secure.
"I can't believe you talked me into this, sis." Harry Osborn said as he took two ant-acid tablets and chugged down a bottle of water.
"Would you relax, Harry? We've got everything on lock-down and the major projects have been relocated the secured labs." Sharron Osborn said as she tied her long black hair into a stylish pony tail. "Besides, this is great stuff for the PR department."
"I still say this is a bad idea." Harry said as he put on an Oscorp lab coat and popped his knuckles. A bad habit he had picked up from his father years ago. His sister and mother found it irritating and did their best to get him to stop. Sharron even thumped him behind the ear every time he did it for years. However, nothing seemed to work. So it seemed like the trait was hardwired into his brain.
"You know, you've been doing your best to keep everything a secret. It's been a PR nightmare ever since Dad willed us the company."
"Well, that was before we had so many military contracts. And need I remind you of our meeting with General Ross and the head of SHIELD?" he asked as they began to make their way to the elevators.
"We're not dealing with that twit Coulson today?" Sharron asked.
"I wish. Nick Fury himself is coming to see our progress on the Super Soldier project." Harry said.
"Show them the glider and the armor first. We've already ironed out the kinks with the weapons system and the horizon glide in the glider and the HUD display with the helmet."
"But what about Strom?" Harry asked his sister.
"What about Dr. Strom?"
"He hasn't gone to you? He must actually be trying to,"
"Harry?" Sharron asked her brother, interrupting his train of thought.
"It's the Performance Enhancer. Strom is convinced that Gobulin Green isn't ready for the next phase of testing. In fact, he's been adamant about it for the past month." Harry said.
"Out of the forty tested lab rats, I thought only one failed."
"It did. That's why he's convinced it isn't ready for human trials."
"Damn, Strom! He's too much of a perfectionist. Keep him busy with anything you can think of during the inspection. Whatever you do, don't let him talk to either Fury or Ross. If we loose this contract, our stock will drop and leave us open for a hostile takeover."
"I'm on it." Harry said as he made his way toward the secured labs.
"You better be, big brother. Or there's going to be hell to pay." Sharron said to herself as she went to go greet the high school students.
"Check this out! Is this an office building, or a hotel?" Brick Flagg asked as the students began to enter the large cooperate home office of Oscorp.
The lobby itself was immense. The entire lobby seemed to be at least two floors tall with faint blue led lights running along the edge of the floor where the met the wall. The walls were as smooth as chrome steel that were painted a perfect unstained white. The large wide rounded columns that supported the ceiling were of metal that were so finely polished that they casted a perfect reflection of their surroundings. The tiled floor looked like it was a massive piece of emerald green granite with various oval shaped benches with soft black cushions were placed in key places all through the lobby. In the center of the lobby was a large round fountain green marble with a circular wall of water falling perfectly into the fountain from the high ceiling overhead. Ahead of the group, beneath the large Oscorp logo, was the fifteen foot long information desk with a woman wearing a dark green women's business suit seated ever three feat with a flat monitor computer in front of them.
"It looks like they didn't spare any expense." Ron said to himself.
"You think?" Kim asked.
"All right, class. We are here today as guests of Oscorp, so I don't want any horsing around or loud talking. If any of you disobeys me, our host, or so much as puts a toe out of line; then you'll be running fifty laps around the high school every morning and handing me a 100,00 word essay until the end of the school year. Do you understand?" Mr. Barkin, the school's principal, demanded.
"I'm sure they're not that bad." A woman said as she walked toward them wearing a top of the line suit from Club Bannana's business wears line and her long jet black hair tied back into a pony tail.
"You'd be surprised." Mr. Barkin growled as he turned his head slightly to glare at Ron Stoppable. As Ron cowered where he stood, he still couldn't figure out why the man hated him so much. From day one, it was like the former military officer had made it his personal mission in life to make Ron's life an absolutely living nightmare. And Ron got along with just about everybody, including the kids that would tease him. This had been going on for so long that Kimberly herself was starting to get sick and tired of it. "And you're name would be?"
"Sharron Osborn, and I will be the one conducting your classes tour of our facilities." She said as she firmly shook Barkin by the hand.
"I'm Steven Barkin, Middleton High School Principal. We don't mean to keep you from anything important. I'm sure there's someone else that can lead the tour for us." Barkin said as he did his best not to stare at the woman before him.
"It's no trouble at all. Besides, it's the least I could do after Miss Possible saved us from loosing months of research." Miss Osborn said as she glanced at Kimberly.
"It was no big." Kimberly said, waving off the attention and thanks as she usually did. Unlike many other people in the world, she truly wasn't looking for fame and attention. She refused any reward that people tried to give her, and avoided the spotlight as much as she could. She really did just enjoy the fact that she was able to make a difference in so many lives.
"Now , I must ask all of you to keep your hands to yourself and no pictures unless I give the go ahead. Some of the projects are very sensitive. Just stay close to me and enjoy the tour." Sharon said as she began to make her way to the elevators.
Keep Strom busy. That was easy for his sister to say. Out of himself and his four other siblings, his sister always had it easier since she was the only girl out of the whole bunch. Their father gave her the best he could afford. Nothing was too expensive for his kids, but she had to be the prodigy. She could have done anything she wanted, she even had a teaching degree to fall back on. Not only that, but she could have gone to the Olympics as a gymnast! Every coach that she ever had ensured everyone that if she decided to compete in the Olympics, her skill and grace she possessed as an athlete would have won the gold hands down. So what does she decide? She wants to go into the family business with Daddy and big brother. It was more like she wanted to show off. Their father, Norman Osborn, had built this company from the ground up and had sacrificed a lot to keep it going. One of the many things he had sacrificed was the marriage to their mother, despite seeing several marriage counselors.
Harry admitted that things didn't come as easy to him as it had for Sharon. He wasn't as smart and talented as she was, but he busted his butt to scratch and claw his way to the position he had in the company with the scars to prove it. He imagined in some sick and perverse way, their father enjoyed seeing both of them fighting against each other for not just a seat on the board of directors but for their father's respect as well. Harry did everything to the best of his abilities and then some, and he always felt it just wasn't good enough. When their father passed away from a late diagnosis of cancer, Harry was surprised that their father had left the company to both of them. Both he and Sharon were now the majority share holders and had to share the role of being the head of the board. But his methods of doing things and his sister's methods were both completely different. There was a very important reason for all the secrecy around some of their projects.
There were many projects Oscorp had been working for some very powerful people, and the funding wasn't from the military or the government. Harry was smart and knew it was suicide to try and take on such powerful figures of the criminal fraternity that dwelled in plain sight of society. And Harry wasn't about to try and see if he had a set of brass balls or not. For now, brains were more than enough. So Harry did his best to continue these projects in secret while his sister seemed to want to flaunt everything Oscorp was doing. If anyone found out what Oscorp had been responsible for during their father's time as chairman, the company would be bankrupt and more people than Harry could think about would be behind bars.
He couldn't think about that now. Since the passing of their father, a lot of people who had done business with Oscorp in the past were beginning to back out. Because of the inexperience both he and Sharon had, a lot of people thought Oscorp wouldn't be as strong and capable as it once was. That's why this military contract was so important to them right now. The success of it would not only bring in more revenue, but it would bring back their old clients and a whole slew of new clients. This was going to show that he and Sharon were more than capable of running this company. But in order for that to happen, he had to make sure that Dr. Strom was pre-occupied. The man was a perfectionist in all sense of the word. The only time he would ever consider their performance enhancer was ready was if there were no side effects or test failures. Oscorp had lost more than a fair share of contracts thanks to him. Well, not this time. And Harry new the perfect man to handle Strom until today's inspection was over.
As Harry entered one of the secure labs that was beneath Oscorp and safe from prying eyes, he saw the man he wanted right off the bat. He could recognize that balding head of hair just about anywhere. Even if he was hunched over a high powered microscope.
"Doctor Stillwell!" Harry called out as he approached the geneticist.
"Mr. Osborn. What brings you down here today? I thought you were meeting with General Ross and Colonel Fury."
"Does the whole building know about that?"
"Pretty much." Stillwell answered.
"Perfect." Harry muttered to himself. "Stillwell, are you still working on that project with Dr. Connors at the University?"
"I was looking at some lab results from one of Amy's genetic experiments, but I'm still working with Connors on the side." The man said.
"Good. I want you to get Dr. Strom to help you with that project."
"Strom? Mr. Osborn, I'm more than capable of handling that project on my own."
"I know, Stillwell. But right now, I need Strom out of my hair. I don't care if you have him counting molecules in a Petri dish, but keep him away from the special projects lab." Harry stressed.
"Mr. Osborn, I can't risk compromising,"
"I'll triple your funding and set you up with a private lab if you keep Strom occupied." Harry said. Whenever reasoning doesn't work, try bribery. That's one of the things his dad used to say to him. And those words of advise did wonders whenever he had to deal with his younger twin brothers.
"Are you serious? My own private lab?" Stillwell asked him.
"Your own lab, and all the resources that you need for whatever project you're working on. Just keep Strom in here. Do we have a deal?" Harry asked him.
"I think I can find something to keep Strom occupied." Stillwell said with a sly grin.
"Thank you." Harry said as he turned and left the lab.
Saying that the lab was spotless would have been a major understatement. No smudges, no fingerprints, not even so much as a pen was out of place. Everything was clean and also reeked heavily of alcohol. There were various machines and chemicals all over the place that were spinning, being boiled, strained, or who knows what. But what was also slightly disturbing was the fact that there were several caged animals in the lab. There was a wide range of various breeds of rats, reptiles, and several insects. As the group of teenagers looked at the various things, Ron couldn't help but feel a small shiver run down his spine as he looked at the caged rats.
"Maybe it is a good thing that Rufus stayed home." Ron said as he looked all around the lab.
"If you're rat was here, I'd hand him over to these scientists gift wrapped and ask them to rip out its vocal cords as a demonstration." Barkin growled in Ron's face.
"Sir, two words. Breath and Mint." Ron said as he tried his best not to gag.
"You non-conformist punk. I ought to,"
"Is there a problem, Mr. Barkin?" Miss Osborn asked quickly.
"None at all. Please, continue." Barkin said as he made the gesture that he was keeping his eyes on Ronald.
"The man needs to learn how to relax." Kim said as they followed their class mates.
"The man needs to seriously get a life." Ron whispered to his best friend.
"This is only one of the smaller labs, but here is where our best minds our making gigantic leaps in genetic research. By studying the biology and make-up of other animals might one day help us discover cures for some of our untreatable diseases." Miss Gough said as Ron swore he just saw a rabbit bleat like a sheep.
"What's with all the bugs?" Brick asked as he saw a wall completely covered in nothing but containers that contained various insects.
"Those aren't bugs, Mr. Flagg. Those are arachnids." Miss Osborn said.
"Huh?"
"They're more commonly known as Spiders, young man." A husky woman wearing red wire framed glassed said as she ruffled her uncombed short brown hair.
"Students, this is the head of our genetics division. Dr. Amy,"
"Dr. Amy Hall, bio-geneticist!" Kim Possible shouted as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Why, yes. Are you you familiar with her work, Miss Possible?" Miss Osborn asked her.
"No, but she is known to have one of the largest collections of Cuddle-Buddies on the planet. There are even rumors that she may have several very rare cuddle-buddies that haven't been seen in years." Kim said.
"Oh, no." Ronald groaned to himself. If there was one thing Kim loved more than cheerleading and saving the world, it was cuddle buddies. They were stupid stuffed animals line that combined two different animals to create one doll. Ronald, with the help of Kim's dad, had gotten her a Pandaroo doll for Christmas one year. Ever since then, she had been hooked on the mutant toys ever since.
"Oh, are you a collector too?" Dr. Hall asked excitedly.
"I have several from series three through five, but Pandaroo is my favorite." Kim said.
"Oh, my favorite is the Otter-Fly. But no matter how many you get, you always stick by your first."
"Tell me about it." Ron grumbled, wondering if this was how Kim felt whenever he would start going on about games and Bueno Nacho sometimes.
"If we could get back to the tour at hand." Mr. Barkin said as he did his best to look unimpressed.
"Ooh. Who's the cutie?"
"Dr. Hall, this is Steven Barkin. He's the principal of Middleton High School." Miss Osborn said.
"Is there a Mrs. Barkin?" she asked as she tried to look sexy. Noticing how uncomfortable Mr. Barkin was looking, Sharron decided to quickly get things back on track.
"Amy, why don't you tell us about the project you've been working on?" Sharron asked.
"Right! Well, we've learned a lot about spiders over the past few years. One thing that we've learned is that their senses are so finally tuned that they can detect imminent danger. Like an early warning system."
"Like when the news tells us about a thunder storm coming?" Tara asked.
"Not quite. This early warning system of theirs almost borders on precognition. It's almost like a strange kind of Spider Sense." Dr. Hall said.
"Sounds like something from a comic book." Ronald said as he looked at all of the spiders. "What's with all these blue and red spiders?" Ronald asked.
"Those are actually a new breed that we've engineered." Amy said with pride.
"You created a new bug?" Brick Flagg asked.
"Arachnid, young man." We're still observing and testing them. One of my hopes is that they'll help balance certain eco-systems that are over run with other pests. But they're webbing is also something we're interesting."
"Why is that?" Tara asked.
"Spider silk has a tensile strength that's greater than steel, and more elastic. We even have some divisions doing research into maybe using it to create artificial tendons or bullet proof clothing." Miss Osborn said. "If you'll follow us, you'll be able to see some of the advancements we've made in our cybernetics division." Sharron said as she began walking toward the door with the class following her.
"I still think it's pretty weird." Ron said as he looked at the spiders.
"It is creepy that they can actually create a new breed of bug. What happens if they decide to go bigger?" Kim asked her friend.
"Sounds too like Frankenstein." Ron said as he turned to follow the class.
"You actually read a book?" Kim asked, surprised at her friend.
"No. I saw the movie with Robert DeNiro." Ron said.
"Why am I not surprised?" Kim said with a chuckle. As she began to follow Ron, she felt a sharp sting on top of her left hand. Looking down to see what was wrong, her eyes widened as she saw a rather large spider biting at her flesh. Instincts took over as she jerked her hand quickly, flinging the attacking arachnid to the floor before her foot swiftly came down on top of it and crushing it flat with a rather loud crunch. "Little monster. That hurt." Kim said as she looked at her hand and saw that the bite was already becoming red and starting to swell. She made a mental note to herself to put some alcohol on it when she got home.
"KP, come on! You don't want Barkin to give you extra homework!" Ron yelled after her.
"Coming!" Kim said as she shook her hand one last time and jogged to catch up with her friend. If Kim had taken a closer look at the wall of spider's, she would have noticed that a cracked container with a small hole in the bottom of it had a small screen that said "Specimen 15." And below it, flashing in red letters, was the phrase "Specimen missing." On the floor, what's was left of the spider that had bitten her, was colored blue and red.
With a loud screech that sounded like a screaming bird, a winged machine that no bigger than a surf board flew over the heads of several observers. Out of fear, all who had been watching ducked for cover as the machine passed harmlessly over their heads and fired several mini machine guns at targets that hung from the ceiling. With seconds of firing, the wooden targets were now nothing more than pieces of scrap as the machine preformed a sharp turn and fired two mini missiles at a large Hummer that was filled with dummies dressed in army uniforms. Both missiles found their target with supreme accuracy and turned the vehicle into a massive fireball as the force of the blast made it fly high into the air while pieces of machinery and mannequin flew about the room. With effortless ease, the flying machine hovered aboard a large platform before docking with it.
"As you can see, the Glider has met all of our expectations. It can also be equipped with several of our experimental grenades that my sister has colorfully named Pumpkin Bombs." Harry Osborn said to the gathered military officers and the Oscorp board of directors that had been watching the demonstration.
"Why Pumpkin Bombs?" a tall and very intimidating black man with a trimmed goatee and eye patch over his left eye asked.
"As you can see," Harry said as he raised the shell of one of the grenades he had been talking about. "the sphere shell is orange, and the grooves that allow it to collapse for storage give it the image of a cybernetic pumpkin. And when activated, the grenade has an eternal yellow glow which almost makes it look like a jack-o-lantern. Just a small inside joke." Harry said and felt as if the eyes of all people in front of him were trying to burn a hole through him.
"For the implications we have in mind for them, they better not be a joke." General Ross said with a large frown on his face. "How effective are they?"
"Allow me to demonstrate. You see the wall we have twelve feet behind me? That is five feet of reinforced concrete. Watch what happens when the grenade is active." Harry said as he pressed down on the top of the grenade with his thumb, causing it to glow a faint yellow. With one mighty throw, the grenade sailed through the air and exploded as soon as it hit the wall with a loud blast of fire and rubble. When the dust cleared, a large gapping hole that was seven feet all around was in the concrete and allowed everyone to clearly see the other side of the advanced laboratory.
"With this glider and these grenades, any pilot would be a miniature one man bomber."
"Are there any other weapons you have in mind for this project?" the black man asked.
"We have prototype repulser technology in the gloves of the survival suit the pilot would wear while piloting the glider. It has various stun settings, but the highest setting would feel more like a wooden peg to the gut after being fired from a shotgun. We've also designed a razor-like boomerang that can easily be stored in a utility compartment."
"You mean, a batarang? Like in the comic books?" Ross asked him.
"If you want a very simple explanation, General, then yes. But unlike Batman's weapon, ours can cut your hand off or slit the throat of an enemy." Harry said.
"I'm impressed with your work so far, Osborn." The black man said as he stepped forward and looked at the glider. "This is far more advanced than anything your father ever gave us."
"Thank you Mr?"
"Fury. Colonel Fury." The black man said.
"C-Colonel Fury? I-I'm sorry. I didn't know what you looked like and I,"
"Save the ass kissing for later, Osborn. Seeing at how powerful this thing is and the multiple G's it can put out, I'm guessing that no ordinary pilot would be able to fly this thing?" Fury asked.
"You would be right, sir. This equipment would have to be operated by a more physically enhanced soldier." Harry said as he felt his stomach begin to do flips. The one problem Harry always had was his stomach when he got nervous. The more nervous he got, the more gas his stomach produced. And since he now knew who this tall gentleman was, he felt like he was going to let out a fart that would rival anything on the TV show South Park.
"And that's the reason why we're here, Osborn. The United States Army and SHIELD gave you this funding to try and create a Super Soldier for us. And if you've been lacking progress of any kind, I won't hesitate to pull my funding and look elsewhere." Ross threatened.
"Then you should be pleasantly surprised, General." Harry said with a determined smile as he pulled a remote control from his coat pocket and activated several large monitors that were to the right of the crowd that began showing data and CGI models and simulations. Silently, Harry was hoping to make the old war horse in front of him eat his words. "We've had the best in the fields of genetic research creating a formula that will be able to not only increase the strength of an inoculated soldier, but it should be able to increase their intelligence, resistance to various toxic substances, as well as stamina and the ability to regenerate."
"What do you mean when you say regenerate?" Ross asked. If this was anything like his daughter's fiancé was trying to talk about, it looked like he would be getting a nap earlier than he expected.
"We've been working with Doctor Curt Connors in the possibility to re-grow missing limbs. We haven't achieved that goal yet, but the research we have conducted with him so far has yielded us the ability to increase the body's speed of repairing itself. Scratches and bullet wounds would heal practically over night. Fractured bones would heal in days instead of months. We've code named the formula Globulin Green." Harry said as the monitors began to display rat activity before and after taking the enhancement serum. As the gathered audience watched the footage, Harry's cell phone began to vibrate like mad in his pocket. Making sure that everyone was looking at the screens, he quickly turned away and answered his phone.
"What the hell is it?!" Harry demanded.
"It's Stillwell. Strom gave me the slip!"
"What?!" Harry whispered.
"One of the lab assistants mentioned that you were already in a meeting with the top brass. He hauled ass out of here, and even stepped on one of the insects in Dr. Hall's lab."
"I don't need this. Stillwell, find him! Find him now, or that deal we had is terminated! And so will you!" Harry said before hanging up his phone and raking a hand through his hair.
"Something wrong, Osborn?" Fury asked him, causing the young man to stiffen.
"Nothing's wrong, sir. It's just a restless employee that's causing some minor trouble. It's already taken care of." Harry said.
"Then perhaps you can tell us the status of your Globulin Green formula." Fury asked him.
"Well,"
"WAIT! WAIT!" a voice shouted from a balding man as he ran into the lab, followed by a slightly younger man who was trying to catch his breath.
"Who are you?" Ross demanded as Harry began to grind his teeth.
"S-Strom, sir. Dr. Mendel Strom. I'm one of the scientists that created Globulin Green." He said as he tried to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry, sir." Stillwell whispered.
"Just get out of here. I'll talk to you later." Harry whispered and sent the scientist on his way.
"Mr. Osborn was telling us what Globulin can do. It's all very impressive, Dr. Strom. But I need to know if there are any side effects?" Ross said.
"I'm afraid that there is a defect in the formula, sir. The radiation we used to stimulate the chemical compounds had brought upon unexpected side effects." Strom said.
"Is that true, Osborn?" Ross asked, almost sounding like a threat.
"Mendel is a bit of a perfectionist, but I'm afraid we did have one defective test subject. But we implemented a strict screening process of the other animals to make sure that we wouldn't have a repeat of the incident with the one failure. All other test subjects have been in perfect health with no adverse reactions at all."
"I'd like to hear what the side effects to this one test were, as I'm sure everyone else would as well." Fury said as everyone present agreed with him. "Dr. Strom?"
"Violence, aggression, and eventually insanity."
"As I've already stated, that was one defective trial. But the rest of the staff and myself have certified that Globulin Green is ready to begin human testing immediately." Harry interrupted.
"Dr. Strom, in your professional opinion, is this serum ready for human trials?" General Ross asked.
"In my opinion, sir?" Strom asked as he saw the glare Harry was giving him. "We need to take the entire line back to formula."
"Back to formula, are you nuts?!" Harry growled.
"Osborn, let me make this clear." Ross began. "We gave you this project because your father was able to create many tools for us to use. We were hoping you'd be able to come through for us on this project. But it looks like we were wrong."
"We can't afford any more delays. We're already beginning our own projects to create a super soldier, so I'm going to give you this one chance. I'm giving one week to produce a working serum that's ready for human trials. If you don't deliver, both of us are pulling your funding. And we will most likely go to your competitors for future contracts. One week. Is that clear?" Ross asked him.
"As crystal, sir." Harry said. As the top brass began to leave the lab, Harry slowly turned to look at Strom and could hear all the bones in his hand pop and his skin stretch like leather as he balled his fist. "I hope you're happy, Strom. You've just killed my father's company in one swoop." Harry growled as he began to walk away.
"Mr. Osborn,"
"SHUT UP, YOU TWIT!" Harry screamed as he left.
"KP, you're not looking good at all." Ron said as he felt the young redhead's forehead and felt that it was warmer than usual. Ever since they had gotten on the bus to come home, Kim had been sweating like crazy. One thing Kim hardly ever did was sweat, and he had been with her in the middle of Death Valley and the Sahara during the hottest times of the year. And she barley broke a sweat on her forehead. But now she was covered in sweat from head to toe. What worried Ron even more was how pale she had gotten, and she was really unsteady on her feet.
"Maybe we should go see your mom at the hospital."
"No, I-I'm fine." Kim said as she felt her mouth was suddenly dry. "Mom will be home in a little bit, and she can take care of me then. I just," Kim stammered as she staggered and almost fell over with Ron catching her in time. "I just need some sleep."
"I'm not so sure, Kim." Ron said as he draped her arm over his shoulders and helped her walk.
"Ron, please. J-just get me home." Kim said as she felt drowsy.
"All right. But I'm staying close to you until your mom gets home. Okay?"
"That's fine." Kim said as she felt the bug bite on her hand stinging once more.
"When we get you home, how about I fix you a bite to eat?" Ron offered, trying to keep her awake.
"No thanks. I've already had one." Kim moaned as she leaned her head on Ron's shoulder. As they continued to walk, Kim was loosing her fight to stay awake. And for one brief moment, she thought her hand was sticking to Ron's shirt.
"I'm not in a good mood right now, so this had better be good." Sharron Osborn said as she entered the security office where Dr. Hall, Dr. Octavious, and a security guard stood waiting for you.
"This is about the deceased specimen in Dr. Hall's lab, ma'am." The security officer said.
"I thought you told me Strom had stepped on it." Sharorn said as she planned how to ruin the scientist's life after she had heard what the loud mouth old man had done in earlier that day in the middle of Harry's presentation.
"Originally, that's what we thought since he used Amy's lab to bypass Stillwell and get to the stairs. But we looked over the footage and found something interesting." Dr. Octavious said as the guard rewound the footage. On the large monitor in front of them, they watched the tour group from earlier pass by as Kim and Ron lingered to look at the spiders. As they began to walk away, they saw Kim shake her hand and stomp her foot before leaving.
"Don't tell me I just saw that." Sharron said.
"I'm afraid so." The security guard said as he rewound the footage again, paused it, and zoomed in on Kim's hand to show a bright red and blue spider sitting the young teenager's hand before she shook it.
"Did it bite her?" Sharron asked as she began to try and figure out a way to fight against what she feared would be a large law suit.
"It appears so, Miss Osborn." Dr. Octavious said.
"Dr. Hall, is that spider deadly?" Sahron asked her.
"I – I don't know." She said.
"You don't know?! What do you mean you don't know?!" Sharon demanded.
"We created them mainly for their webbing. We have no idea what affect their venom will have on a human subject. We didn't plan this." Dr. Hall said.
"What do you want us to do?" the security guard asked.
"I want you to find a way to get a sample of her blood so we can test it. It's one thing if we have a dead teenager, but this bimbo has actually saved the world. If she dies because of that spider bite, we're all royally screwed."
"I've talked with her father before." Octavious started. "If I remember correctly, her mother is a doctor at the local hospital in Middleton."
"then keep eyes and ears open at that hospital. If that girl is admitted for anything, even a cold, get someone in there to draw a blood sample." Sharron ordered as she glanced at the monitors for a brief moment. After a few seconds, Sharron's face formed a small look of confusion.
"Harry?" she asked out loud before she turned around and left.
Later that evening, inside the mostly vacant walls of Oscorp headquarters, Harry was inside the underground lab that housed the glider and the performance enhancer known as Globulin Green. All the hard work he had been pouring into this project, all the money and the time spent on the research. And in one moment, it all came crashing down on top of him. It took months just to get where they were with Globulin Green. How was he supposed to have a working formula and human trials ready within a week? Damn Strom. Damn that asshole to hell and back. This was all his fault. Because of that man's fat mouth, Oscorp was going to burn like Rome during the reign of Niro.
His father would be so ashamed of him right now. If his father was running the company, he'd make sure this formula would work and silence anyone who said other wise. Wait a minute. Maybe that was it. Harry had to prove that Globulin Green would work. But how? Now that Strom had voiced his own opinions, there was now way he'd get the green light for a human test subject. Unless he had a willing volunteer to test the serum on themselves. Bu no one would be crazy enough to do that. No green light from the big boys, and all being hush-hush? No, there was only way he was going to prove Globulin worked. He would have to take it himself.
Harry immediately walked to the cold storage unit of the lab and entered, walking straight to the rack that was filled with large cylindrical tubes filled with a forest green liquid. There were no bubbles or anything in it at all. It was as clear as a glass of water, but as thick as cough syrup. Harry could hear his heart pounding as he thought about what he was fixing to do. He prided himself on being a smart man, and what he was thinking about had to be one of the dumbest . . . scratch that. This had to be the stupidest thing that he was thinking of. But his father put his sweat and blood into this company. This company was the only thing he had left of his father, and he would be damned before he would let it collapse under his watch. He was made CEO for a reason, and it was time to show everyone he had earned it. Taking a deep breath, Harry twisted the top off of the cylinder and drank the contents in one gulp.
Harry immediately took a deep breath after swallowing everything that was in the vile. It had a heavy metallic taste, almost like copper. But it burned its way all the way down his throat and into his stomach. It felt like he had just swallowed liquid fire or a highly corrosive acid. His stomach burned as he felt overwhelming nausea wash over him. He tried to vomit up the Globulin Green as best of he could, but was only successful in shooting spit onto the floor as he kept heaving. Soon, the burning was spreading. His entire abdomen felt like it was on fire as every muscle clinched into a severe cramp. Haryy collapsed onto his back as he tried to gasp for air. He could almost swear that his lungs were shutting down and refusing to fill with oxygen. Everything was nothing but mind numbing pain and burning. He couldn't breath, he couldn't think. Before he was given the gift of being unconscious, his last thoughts were of his father in his youth. How strong he had looked, almost like he was one of the Olympians. Before he passed out, Harry whispered
"Dad, I'm sorry."
Strom was going over the Globulin Green formula over and over again until his eyes were hurting. He knew Osborn was mad at him, but he had to tell everyone about the side effects. These were people they were talking about, human beings. If they were going to do something as dangerous as change their body make-up, then they had to make sure no harm would come to them. Strom hoped he could find a way to make the Green safer. But only one week? That dead line was impossible. Strom had been looking at the formula for hours and couldn't find a correct substitute for some of the key chemical compounds. If he didn't find a way to remedy this, who knew what Osborn was going to do. As he did his best to rub the sleep away form his eyes, he heard a firm knock at the door to his apartment.
"Who is it?" he asked. It was two in the morning, who would be here at this hour?
"Telegram." A strange voice said from behind the door.
"What?"
"Telegram."
"Those aren't around anymore."
"Candy-gram."
"What? Who are you?"
"Maintenance."
"Look here, I don't know who you are. But if you don't leave right now, I'm calling the police!"
"Avon calling."
"I mean it, do you hear me?!" Strom said as he grabbed his cell phone and tried to see who was on the other side of the door through the peep hole.
A gloved fist punched through the thick metal door and grabbed Strom by his throat. The grip on the man was incredible! It was just the smallest amount of pressure, but Strom could feel his airway being cut off and could feel the bones in his neck starting to pop against their will.
"What was it you said earlier? Wait, now I remember." the voice, now deep and menacing, said before slamming Strom's face against the door in a swift and hard motion. The impact shattered Strom's nose, and sent several bone fragments into the middle aged man's brain. "Back to formula."
As blood poured freely from his broken nose and eyes, the figure holding him chuckled as he let the man slump to the floor and walked away. Within moments of the scientist's death, a strange noise was heard outside the man's window. It almost sounded like the noise of a small jet had just flown past before several orange orbs crashed through the window. Within seconds, the apartment and part of the floor it was built on exploded in a massive explosion that rained fiery wreckage and glass onto the crowd below. And all the while, a strange figure on a flying screaming glider flew away while laughing at the chaos they had just caused.
Kim Possible is owned by Disney, Spider-Man is owned by MARVEL. I work with neither and wrote this for fun.