Chronicles of the Spider
Disclaimer; I don't own anything related to Marvel, DC or any other franchise.
Prologue; A look into the Past
He bright lights were weary to look so he settled on staring turning his head so that his forehead was on the steel lab table. Using his elbows he got his head of the table and shook it lightly a few times before rubbing his eyes with the index and thumb finger on his right hand.
"Five all nighters in a row," he recognized the voice of his colleague. "That's a personal record Richard, I only made it to three."
Adjusting his eyes to the light, Richard looked over to Curt who was opening up his briefcase. "I bet you would have made to my level had Martha not had you so whipped."
"I seem to recall a certain scientist calling his wife every hour at five P.M," Curt said as he laid a few papers out on the table.
Richard grumbled something under his breath as he adjusted his lab coat.
"So make a new discovery last night?" asked Curt.
"No, nothing new at all came last night," Richard replied while stifling a yawn. "Every oppurtunity I seemed to find always led right back to the same impossibility."
"Nothing much is impossible these days Richard," said Curt. "What with the whole meta-gene becoming a distinct possibility amongst people these days."
"A regular hero house this world is turning into," Richard chuckled before he started to slowly frown. "Then again with all good things there has to be a bad side."
"I miss him too Richard," Curt said as he looked with sadness down at a sheet of paper. "No one could have predicted what would have happened in that lab Richard; it's not your fault."
"It doesn't change the fact that I could have put a stop to doing what he did Curt," Richard looked at the black vile on the table across from him. "This was supposed to be our project; Eddie would have loved to have seen the good it would have done when it's completed."
"Eddie would have also wanted to make sure that you didn't lose yourself like he did," said Curt as he looked into the brown eyes of his best friend. "That's not what he would've have wanted."
"I know Curt but," Richard trailed off as he stared at the papers next to him on the table. Each paper described in detail of a possible cure for disease and sickness. All of these but one were written in Richards own hand writing and that was the one giving a possible theory. "This can change the world for sickness and put an end to disease and live long illness. If I can finish what Eddie thought of; then our children and their children wouldn't have to live in fear over something that can't be cured."
"That doesn't mean you should lose yourself over this Richard. I'm confident that I'm not the only one who still wants you in this world."
"I know Curt," said Richard. "But that's not the only thing that brings you here is it, at least not with a briefcase that isn't yours."
Curt remained silent as he took out a couple of papers from the briefcase before placing down a thin file in front of Richard which he immediately opened up.
"It seems Eddie had more planned than we thought," Curt looked at Richard and saw his eyebrows slightly rise before he continued. "That is your name written down on the paper as well as your signature at the bottom. Eddie took out a large grant from Trask to try to make what you're doing possible and now Trask is calling it in."
"I had nothing to do with Eddie's project in the beginning," Richard retorted as he dropped the files on the table. "He told me these were the files for a loan from some bank, not from some big company. I co-signed so he could be able to get the money without much problems, said he needed it for his family at the time."
"He tricked you Richard but I don't think he intended for this to happen," Curt said sympathetically.
"I don't have the kind of money to pay back what he took out," Richard started to clench his right hand into a fist. "They'll take the house and all my possessions before I know what happened. I have to finish this project soon Curt, before they start to take away things from me and Mary."
"I'll help you Richard; the best I can."
"I can't drag you in to this Curt. You and Martha are just starting out; I don't want to put you in a position like that. I can finish this on my own, just do me a favor and tell Mary I won't be home for the weekend."
Two days later; Saturday night.
He watched the black substance roust in the flames; another failure.
It was the second attempt Richard had made into making the substance stable. At the moment though, his attempts weren't really working only leading to backtracking and even throwing around some papers on his part.
Currently he was making a third one, trying to mix around the formula a little on how it's made. He was in the process of nearly finishing it when he let his mind wander as he was moving around the beaker.
'Why would you do this to me?' he kept thinking about how Eddie used him to try to make a project of his work, on a theory that Richard himself had thought of. 'You played me like a fool.'
Richard looked to see that the black substance was starting to stir and stopped to look at it. When it stopped, he moved his hand slowly over towards it but stopped just above the tip of the beaker. He stared at the black substance but it stopped moving and after a few seconds, Richard released a sigh and looked at it in disappointment as he drew his hand back.
Picking up the beaker, he moved it over towards another table across from the one it was at before. He stared at the black substance for awhile, his brown eyes never leaving it only stopping to blink for a split second. Richard stared at it for the longest time, hoping that seeing it move wasn't a part of his imagination, that maybe he wouldn't have to live in debt for the rest of his life.
RING!
The sound of the phone made him whip his body around, his hands which had been gripping the sides of the small examination table went up. One went to close to a small knife, used for dissection.
"Ah," the small noise of came from Richard from the stinging pain he felt on his left hand. He looked at it and was relieved to see that it was only a small cut across his palm. He went over to the faucet and ran some cold water over it, gritting his teeth slightly at the sting. He was washing his hands with some soap by the time the phone stopped ringing and then started putting some disinfected on his hand.
One can never be too careful in a science lab.
When he was done, Richard walked over to the small knife and put in the faucet deciding he would wash it later. He walked over to the phone, past the moving black substance-
Richard stopped and looked down at the beaker, the black substance was moving around in the beaker. It was swirling around like it was some kind drink being swirled in someone's hand before it started looked like it was making its way out of the jar.
Thinking quickly, Richard grabbed a glass jar and carefully dumped the black substance into it which now looked more like pudding than water.
Richard placed a lid on top of the jar and watched as the substance started to move from within the jar, short black globs nearly touched the lid of its prison.
'It's moving on its own, acting on its own accord,' he thought as the black substance continued to move about. Richard then went over to the faucet and grabbed an empty measuring glass from the cabinet. Turning on the faucet he filled the glass cup with a small ounce of water before shutting off the faucet with the glass jar in hand he moved back towards the jar.
The black substance was still moving; Richard hesitated a little before quickly opening the jar and pouring a little bit of water into it before closing it. With a strange fascination, he saw the black substance completely absorb the water and then grow slightly bigger in size.
"It's a symbiote," Richard found himself saying out loud.
"As you can see," Richard said as he pointed to the large tube beside him. The symbiote had grown in the past few days since the night he had first made it. It was now the size of a boom box and from what Richard expected it was still going to grow. "This is a symbiote; a being that bonds with a host. This is something that with enough study and copies can heal psychical injures and improve the overall health of whomever it bonds with."
Hitting the clicker in his left hand, Richard showed a few images of the black substance going over different types injures.
"The symbiote will bond with whatever is placed within touching distance of it," Richard continued as he hit the clicker which showed more images on the white screen behind him. "Keep in mind I only used small samples of it, yet it healed wounds that would take months to heal with no signs of a scar on these insects. I will have to develop it a little more for human use of course, seeing as though the small samples on the insects return immediately to the symbiote after use."
A round of applause came from within the slightly darkened room as the lights went from dim to full. Richard put down the clicker as he looked at the symbiote in the jar which had hardly moved during the proposal but it had moved and that's what had hopefully gotten attention.
"An excellent show Mr. Parker," a man in a lab coat with a round belly said to Richard as he was packing things up. The proposal had ended thirty minutes ago and Richard was packing things up back into car. The tube had been the first thing he placed in there.
"Thanks," Richard said as he closed the back seat of his car.
"You seem to have made a remarkable discovery that could change the world as we know it," the scientist glanced at the tube in the back seat of the car.
"It's a scientist's life dream to be able to make something that could change the world for the better," Richard replied, "Yet something like this is beyond my capabilities of looking into further."
The scientist smiled as he put a hand in his left pants pocket. "I work a certain someone who happens to take an interest in life changing discoveries. The technology of tomorrow is used today by me and my colleagues to better the world."
"You should know that technically this is a project that is co-sponsored by-"
'Trask Industries, I know. Who do you think had been pressuring Trask for something like this? Someone like you who can help the world become a safer place should be given the tools to make it better."
The scientist pulled his hand from his pocket and held out a small card for Richard to take which he did.
"Think about it," the scientist said as he turned to walk away but stopped and turn back around. "If you do take us up on the offer, my name Otto Octavius, look me up."
Richard watched as Otto walked away and he slowly got into his car and drove off.
"Wait, WAIT!" Otto saw a man holding a pen and notepad run to Richards's car as it turned into the street and was soon speeding off. "Oh man, Jameson is going to kill me for not getting that interview." On the camera written in black marker on the side of it read 'Gargan', something Otto took note of for whatever reason before continuing to walk away.
FIVE DAYS LATER
Why had he agreed to follow through with this?
Normally Richard wasn't one to follow up on business cards but there had been a mild curiosity about the prospect of using the symbiote to the fullest.
He had followed the address on the card and that had led him to tall building near the edge of uptown. He parked his car, finding it to be the only one in the empty parking lot which Richard didn't really mind as he could park closer to the building.
He walked towards the building and opened the glass door, stepping inside to find it was air conditioned. It fit Richard just fine seeing as it was the middle of the summer and wearing brown business suit didn't help at all.
Looking in what he assumed to be the main lobby; Richard stepped on the soft green carpet and took in the brown couches and the lavender walls.
He saw a young woman behind a large white desk, typing away on a computer.
Walking over to the front of the desk, the young lady turned her attention towards Richard as he looked down at her.
"Hi my name is Richard Parker and I was-"
"Card," she said cutting him off and held out her hand.
Richard looked at her confusingly before he reached into his pocket, pulled out the card and handed it to her. The lady looked at the card before placing it on her desk lamp which Richard found odd until a blue light scanned the card twice. The lamp beeped twice and the lady pulled out another card and handing it to Richard. She picked up the old business card and tore it up before opening the lid to her trash can and dropping it in. the trash can closed itself and then a red light appeared at the top of it before going away.
"Secrecy huh," Richard said as he looked at the blank gray card he now had.
"You'll see," young lady said as she pressed a button on her desk, "Go to the elevator and hit three."
"Thank you," Richard said to which he got a nod in response as he walked towards the elevator.
He hit the button and watched as the big gray doors opened up before stepping inside. Looking to his left he was the button dials but there was no number three. The elevator door closed and Richard looked for the number three before a thought came into his head.
It was crazy but he at least had to try. Raising his right hand, Richard pressed the number one and two buttons. The elevator gave a loud beep before lowering into the ground at a normal rate. As it got lower, Richard realized that he was going underground, how far he didn't know.
Then the elevator stopped, making a buzzing noise as the doors opened up.
Richard was met with two guys, clad in black armor and holding guns. The one on the left pulled out a small black square the size of beeper which he waved up and down in front of Richard. The device beeped green and the guard put it away.
"Richard Parker," one of them said, to which Richard nodded his head, "Their waiting for you, follow us."
"Who's waiting for me?" Richard couldn't help but ask.
"You'll find out when we get there," one of the guards replied.
Richard walked behind the guards, taking note of the many number of rooms sealed off by steel doors. The guards stopped by a larger door which opened up to reveal a man whose appearance took Richard by surprise.
"You must be the one that I've heard so much about, my name is Norman Osborn."