Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Marvel; all rights belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 26
Birth of sin
New York City, 1 Month Later
Spiderman swung through the city of New York, leaping and vaulting into the air. A month had passed since the Crossbreed invasion of New York. Things had gotten back to normal, or as close to normal as Peter's life had been previously. After Reed Richard's genetic wave all the infected had been returned to their human forms. All except the originals, Vermin, and Scorpion. According to the Invisible Woman Vermin had never been human. Its DNA was originally one of the experimental rodents from Oscorp's genetics lab; Miles had apparently spliced the DNA of the rodent with a human's as part of his experiments. Mac, however, was still trapped as a near mindless monster. SHIELD had taken both Vermin and The Scorpion into their custody. From What Captain America had told him, they would be incarcerated in the Triskelion. Needless to say peter was not happy about Mac's position, but he knew there no other options short of killing Scorpion. Connor's had been taken by SHIELD as well, but Jessica had assured a concerned Peter that the arrangement was not permanent.
Spiderman swung onto a nearby building and clung to its surface. He then began to crawl up the towering structure to overlook his recovering city. He could still remember when SHIELD finally arrived to aid in the repairs of New York. The city was still recovering, but most of it was like nothing had ever happened. Peter still remembered when the Director of SHIELD had spoken to him.
…...
Baxter Building, One Month Earlier
Spiderman and the gathered heroes had been repairing the destroyed area around the city. Spiderman himself had been assigned to aid the Fantastic Four with repairing part of the Baxter Building. Spiderman lifted a large piece of rubble off of a pile of machines. "Man, Dr. Richards how much tech do you just leave lying around in the building?" Reed Richards stretched himself over the area and examined the pile of broken equipment. After a moment, in which Reed scanned the rubble with a portable scanner, he decided to answer Peter's question. "Well as you know the Baxter Building isn't just our home but a think-tank for many gifted individuals of all ages. Normally the students would be conducting their research and experiments now. But due to the attack on the building we had them evacuated. After repairs are done they can return." Peter thought this over before answering. "So they had to up and leave all their stuff? That kinda sucks." The Thing walked over to the two individuals carrying a large pipe. He dropped the piece of debris in an ever-growing pile of rubble. "Yeah well they can salvage pretty much anything with the brains they're carrying around in their skulls, so it shouldn't be a problem." Spiderman took another look around the building before he saw a black man wearing a long trench coat approach the heroes. Ben and Reed followed Spiderman's line of sight. Reed was the first to speak. "Director Fury, what an unexpected visit." Fury continued on his path until he stopped in front of Peter. "Its good to meet you after a while Mr. Parker." Peter stepped back in shock, unsheathing his claws as he did so. "How did y-" "I'm Nick Fury director of SHIELD." Spiderman looked at the man in surprise. 'This guy is the dude Jess wants me to work with!? Man I do not like the vibe he gives off!' Fury simply smiled at the young vigilante's reaction. He then turned to look at Reed and Ben, "I know I really have no right to ask this, but do you mind if I could speak to Spiderman alone?" Mr. Fantastic and the Thing looked over to the young hero, seeking his permission. Peter nodded in response. "Fine, but so long as you're here you could get some of your agents to help in the repair efforts." Fury smiled at Reeds suggestion, knowing it was more or less and ultimatum before the FF decided to kick the Spy out of their building. "I already assigned the clean up crew to help. They might need some oversight on what not mess with though." Richards nodded at this before he and Ben walked off, leaving Fury alone with Peter.
"Jessica has told me a lot about you Peter." Spiderman retracted his claws, but he still remained on guard. "Yeah and the same to you, Jess really seems to admire you." "Can't say that I'm the best role model for her, but I like to think she turned out okay." Peter looked over the damaged area they stood in before he spoke. "Did you help her when SHIELD found her?" Fury looked at Peter before smiling. "She was a keeper according to what Widow told me." Peter looked a little surprised at this statement. "Romanoff was the one who found your sister, I helped to keep her clear with SHIELD, our organization isn't very friendly with Hydra, even with former members." "I guess I should thank you for keeping her semi-safe." Peter said rather reluctantly. Fury smirked in response. "I couldn't let my top agent's daughter be kept in Hydra's hands." Peter looked even more shocked at this comment. "My mom was your top agent!?" "Guess Jess left that part out from your little catch-up sessions." "She told me mom was SHIELD, but never that high up." Fury gave a small laugh. "Well she'd be proud of you, your father to." Peter looked at Fury before giving a response. "So are you trying to sell me a pitch to join SHIELD? I doubt this was just a social call." Fury nodded at the young man's guess. "Technically you don't have to decide until your eighteen. But knowing ahead of time might work for your benefit." Peter looked at the man before speaking again. "I told Jess when it's time I'll decide. Thanks for the help, but I can't decide just yet." Spiderman then walked past Fury to rejoin the clean up effort. Fury gave another smirk as the young hero walked off. "Kid is just like his mom."
…
Present
Peter took a deep breath, as he over looked the city. "Man…it's good to kick back and enjoy the view. He sat overlooking his city before his communicator went off. "Sup?" "Hey Pete, MJ here." Peter stood up on the ledge he had been using as a seat. "What's up? Do we have a robbery? Mugging? Car chase?" "No!" Gwen's shout cut off Peter's line of questioning. "We are heading home for the night. There are only so many excuses we can use before our families get suspicious." "Alright, be safe. I should be able to handle the rest of patrol by myself. Thanks for the heads up." "No prob!" The line then ended as Peter again sat down on the ledge. 'Man if only days could be mellow like this everyday.' Peter decided his break had lasted long enough as he dived off the building and plummeted face first towards the street below. He fired off a web-line before swinging through the streets and up into the air.
After the events of the citywide attack Peter had been working over-time with the FF and several avengers to help the city clean up. Unfortunately Spiderman's heroics had been overshadowed by the appearance of the FF and the Ultimates. Normally peter wouldn't have cared, but in this case it meant that the NYPD still had an arrest warrant out for him, although their attempts at catching him seemed to be half-hearted at best. Peter had a feeling they would only really give it a shot if he blatantly committed a crime. To his immense relief though, the SCU had been disbanded. Apparently Rumlow had killed the mayor, and his men had been arrested. Rumlow himself was still missing. This unsettled Peter of all people the most. That psychopath was nearly as strong as he was, how he'd survived his wounds were a mystery, but Peter swore he would end him the next time they met.
Spiderman had to admit that the Daily Bugle seemed to be bolstering the Ultimates and the FF more since the assault on New York. This apparently didn't stop the chief editor from ripping Spiderman a new one. Peter did his best to ignore them, especially since he found a way to get extra cash by sending in photos of Spiderman. His job at Oscorp had been stable, but extra cash never hurt anyone, at least not for average income families. He had also gotten some new equipment, courtesy of the FF. These consisted of a new holo-map he installed on his web-shooters. Now he could sync up to his warehouse's computer system to access info whenever Gwen or MJ weren't available. He had also been registered as a meta-human by SHIELD. Fury told him it was standard procedure for potential new allies. It had taken some convincing from both hi sister and Cap, but he finally relented. Fury might've given off a suspicious vibe, but Peter trusted his sister and Cap's judgment. He seriously doubted if the WWII vet was capable of lying. Fury had also given him a homing pin to be used in emergencies. Being the science geek that he was, Peter had tampered with it so that it only went off when he activated it, as opposed to all the time. As of currently, Spiderman perched himself on top of a New York skyscraper that overlooked about 30% of the city. His wrist monitor began to beep rapidly. 'Cool! Looks like we got a robbery!' Spiderman leapt from his perch and descended to the streets below.
The robbery was occurring at the Museum of Art, a place that house countless amounts of exotic sculpture and paintings. Spiderman landed on the roof of the building as loud crashing noises emanated from the building, followed by several gunshots. Spiderman dashed in through the building's vents, he crawled through the vents before dropping onto a balcony that overlooked a good portion of the museum's exhibits. He saw several guards being trounced by a massive man wearing a yellow and gold suit of bladed armor. The man effortlessly threw one of the guards into his companions. Spiderman decided enough was enough. He leapt from his perch and tackled the armored criminal to the ground. Peter back flipped from his position on the floor and landed up right, before he assumed a casual position of leaning against one of the museum's cases. "So…what do you call yourself? Blade-man? The Blade Master? Ooh! Ooh! I know…the shredder!" The armored giant lifted himself off the ground before charging forward, swinging his bladed fist into the case. Spiderman easily dodged the blow, vaulting over the goliath before using his left leg to deliver a powerful sweep kick to the man's knee forcing him to the ground. "Dude! You really aren't a professional!" Suddenly Peter's spider-sense flared allowing him to barely dodge a set of flying daggers that the man had unleashed from his suit's left shoulder. "The name's Gladiator! And these artworks are going to make me rich!" Spiderman unsheathed his claws before charging forward. The villain known as Gladiator rushed to meet his agile adversary. The large brute struck with his left wrist, the blades on his gauntlets began to rotate like buzz saws. Spiderman barely dodged the man's attack, getting a small cut on the side of his arm as he moved over the attack. Spiderman landed on his feet and unleashed a net of webbing to ensnare his target. The blades on Gladiator's armor began to buzz as they began to slice through Spiderman's webbing. 'Oh crap!' Spiderman rolled to the side, swapping the settings on his web-shooters to fire off impact webbing. 'It may limit firing options, but lets see those blades cut through this!' Spiderman whirled around and fired off a volley of impact webbing at Gladiator. To the giant's credit, he was surprisingly fast. He nimbly dodged a good portion of the shots, although several found their mark on his shoulder and left leg. Despite the webbing's impact, Gladiator rushed forward and used his bladed gauntlets to slice Spiderman apart. Peter had to admit that Gladiator, while not a trained burglar, was more than proficient in a fight. He was handling the young hero rather well, landing several cuts on the web-slinger. Spiderman finally had enough as he delivered several super-powered blows to the man's armor. Gladiator flew into a museum case, shattering the structure.
At that point several cops burst into the room, guns drawn. Gladiator saw this and fired a volley of daggers from his right wrist. Without thinking twice, Spiderman leapt into the path of the projectiles taking several knives to his body. Two blades sank into his stomach, shredding through his suit's Kevlar lining. Peter could feel the cold metal pierce his skin. Despite his injuries, Spiderman whirled around and fired a thin line of webbing that stuck to Gladiator's arm. Spiderman wasted no time in unleashing a massive burst of his Venom blast into the assailant's body. Gladiator began to seize and spasm before he went limp. Spiderman collapsed on his knees gripping his sides. "Spiderman!" Peter turned his head to see several policemen. "Are you okay?" Peter grunted as a response. "I'll live, you might want to take that guy though…" Spiderman nodded his head in the direction of the downed Gladiator. "Right!" two of the cops walked over to the downed man as they began to arrest him. One of the remaining cops looked down at the still wounded hero. "Are you sure you don't need a medic?" Spiderman nodded in response. "Got a healing factor…it'll kick in in about minute or so…" Spiderman then used his web-shooter to create a make shift bandage over his stomach wound. 'Guess you'll have to arrest me another time…right?" The officer nodded before joining his fellow officers in handling the still unconscious Gladiator. Spiderman dashed out of the museum firing a web-line into the air as he swung through the city. He eventually stopped on a rooftop ledge where he once again collapsed. 'Damn! Those knives cut deeper than I thought, I might need some actual first aid before my healing factor kicks in.' Peter began to assess his situation, he couldn't go to Gwen or MJ's houses, that could cause them more problems than they needed. He wouldn't make it to the Baxter building, and he sure as Hell wasn't calling SHIELD. He lifted his right arm to his mouth before speaking a command. "Locate Horizon Labs." The computer on his wrist beeped before displaying his desired location. He was closer to the location than he had previously thought.
He quickly layered another bandage of webbing to last him the trip. He swung through the city heading for his new destination.
…..
Horizon Labs, Genetics Department
Curt Connors was currently busy reviewing the data his lab assistant had dropped off earlier. He was in no rush, but the nightmares had kept him up. After Reed Richard's genetic wave had washed over the city, Curt's condition had reversed. Unfortunately this had the side affect of removing his newly regenerated right arm. However, Connors was more than grateful for the loss of his crossbreed powers. He had stayed true to his word as he requested punishment for his forced aid in the crossbreed invasion. SHIELD had been rather lenient with him, mostly due to the pleading of Spiderman. Instead of incarcerating him in the Triskelion, SHIELD had him sent to Horizon Labs under a house arrest protocol. The new science company was a private one that SHIELD helped to fund. They agreed to take Connors on as a new researcher. He was provided pay so he could continue to provide for his family, although his chances of seeing them were limited to a few times every month or so. All in all Connor's felt his punishment was justified, even if he had been under mind control. He was worried about Otto however. After the Jackal's defeat, both Dr. Octopus and the symbiote Venom had vanished. Curt could only hope his old friend was safe.
"Dr. Connors…" Curt whirled around in his chair almost falling out of it. The voice that startled him was revealed to belong to his savior, Spiderman. "Spiderman! What are you doing here?" Peter was still half enveloped in the shadows of the darkened lab room. He stepped forward as the doctor's eyes widened in concern. "You've been hit! Gunshots?" Spiderman shook his head. "Knife wounds…got a little careless. Mind giving me a hand?" Curt looked a little put off by this. "I'm not that kind of doctor… you know that…right?" "Yeah I figured…do you know first aid?" The scientist nodded. "That'll be enough…healing factor… will take care of the rest…" Peter was bordering on unconsciousness at this point; he had lost more blood than he had thought. "Alright sit here." Connors cleared a lab table as he brought out a first aid kit.
About five minutes later, Spiderman was almost completely patched up. Connor's had really undersold his medical abilities. Most of Peter's wounds were closing, leaving thick scabs. "Thanks for the patch job Doc." "No need for thanks, this is the least I could do for you after you helped me." Spiderman looked at the doctor before answering. "You helped yourself doc. You were the one who ripped yourself free of Miles' control, you saved your family." Connors looked down at the bloody instruments he had used to aid his vigilante ally. "But you trusted me to help stop Miles. I still haven't repaid you for that." Spiderman stood up balancing himself with the table as a brace. "I'm pretty sure this makes us even. How have you been since the whole Lizard thing?" Connors looked away in shame. "I still have nightmares. What if I turn again? Richards still couldn't determine if the entire crossbreed DNA was eliminated in me or not! I'm…I'm afraid that I still might become that monster again. I might hurt my family if I do." Spiderman finally stood up straight before responding to the troubled scientist. "You'll be fine Doc. Remember, New York can always count on your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!" Connors smiled at the masked hero. Spiderman disappeared in the shadows, leaving the scientist alone.
Connors looked down at the bloody instruments. Spiderman's blood lay before him. A human who had powers that could make himself more than human. Connors took the blood that had collected on the surgical tools before he began to analyze them.
…
Warehouse, Next Day
Peter awoke the next morning, groggy and exhausted. His healing factor had luckily kicked in to fix the rest of his cuts and wounds overnight. He now only had slight scars on his torso. "Well good news is I'm not bleeding to death now." He got off the couch he had used as a bed before walking over to his terminal station. Peter had outfitted the warehouse with a large portion of his personal items, including spare clothes. He had basically turned the place into a second home. He looked at the time and realized he had about an hour before school started. "Shit. Better get ready." He mumbled before walking towards his discarded pile of clothes.
…..
Midtown High
Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy walked through the doors of their classroom and sat at their respective seats. The girls looked towards the seats of their friends, namely Peter, Harry, and Liz. They could pretty much guess where peter was, but Harry and Liz had been missing class a lot lately. Ever since the attack on Oscorp Harry had been absent from both school and the group's social circle. Liz had been absent frequently as well, she claimed she was having stomach cramps but MJ and Gwen knew better than that. Peter seemed to realize this as well but he had kept quiet for his own reasons. Most of the class had filled the room by this point. The girls looked at the seat of their friend to find it still empty. The two girls looked at each other before they turned their attention back to their teacher as she began to call roll.
…
New York
Spiderman dodged another volley of rockets as he swung towards another building. He landed on the side of a tall building that over looked the now destroyed street. 'I can't even get to school on time because of this asshole!' Peter looked up at the red and silver figure that floated in the air. The figure was clad in red and silver armor with two glowing eyes on his helmet and flew through the air via the use of four glowing green wings. The villain's helmet looked a lot like an insect's head. "So what do you call yourself!?" The villain remained silent as he leveled his right arm and unleashed another barrage of missiles. Spiderman tossed a web grenade into the air and let it explode. The impact webbing spread threw the air and coated the missiles in the durable webbing. The missiles exploded prematurely, the explosion reduced due to the impact webbing acting as a buffer.
Spiderman swung through the air tackling the armored assassin. About twenty minutes ago Peter had been running to school when the armored assailant suddenly attacked a limo. Peter had wasted no time in getting to work. As he interrupted the attack, Spiderman noticed that inside the limo was Robert Kingsley, an unscrupulous businessman. Peter pretty much figured that the entire event was probably a business assassination.
Peter flipped through the air avoiding the onslaught of laser fire that emanated from the assassin's palm. Spiderman continued to avoid his adversary's attack while returning fire with his web-shooter. "Maybe we can talk this out! How about you don't kill the sleazy business man and I don't beat you up!?" Spiderman's proposal was met by an energy blade stabbing into the building he had just landed on a mere second ago. "Okay so no to that! How about you leave the guy alone and I still beat you up!?" Again his response was met by a brutal attack, this time in the form of missiles. The armored criminal looked around for any sign of his target, but all he saw was normal cars and people fleeing the scene. With its intended target gone, the assailant saw no reason to stay. Spiderman launched himself at the villain but was met with an energy blast that shot him through a building's window. The flying assassin took off into the sky leaving little trace of his existence.
Peter groaned in pain as he lifted himself out of the rubble that had pile on him after he had been thrown threw the building. He saw his foe was no longer around and leapt from the building, headed for the warehouse. 'If I'm late for class I might as well skip the day to look up who that guy was.' Peter arrived at his warehouse and saw a familiar figure lounging on his couch. "Jess, what are you doing here?" said woman raised her head from the magazine she was reading and looked up at her fraternal twin. "Sup, bro! Why aren't you in school?" "Took the day off to catch an assassin in high-tech bug armor, what about you?" Jessica shrugged her shoulders before responding. "No missions today and I was done with training so I thought I'd lounge around here. Did you say armored assassin?" Peter walked over to his computer terminal and began to play the video he had captured using his costumes micro-camera. Jessica got off the couch and looked at the battle on the monitor. "Peter you were lucky that this guy wasn't after your head!" Peter looked up from the screen to look at his sister. "I assume from the concern that he is some kind of big shot right?" Jessica nodded her head. "Try one of the best international terrorist/assassin for hire. Goes by the name the Beetle. His armor rivals Ironman's and he has none of his morality." "Well I guess he doesn't like needless conflicts unless he's getting paid for it. He bailed as soon as Kingsley escaped." Jessica returned her gaze to the battle-taking place on the monitor. "Yeah from what SHIELD has on the guy, the dude does not come cheap. He's pretty good too. Both Natasha and Barton had trouble bringing him in, he then broke out about an hour after his capture." Peter's eyes widened in shock, "You mean to tell me that this guy took on two Ultimates and still got away!? Man lady luck thanks for your aid today!" Jessica nodded at her brother's statement.
"I'll let Fury know the Beetle's in town. In the mean time you can start on some more patrols." Peter nodded his head before he got up from his seat and walked over to his workshop. He reloaded all of his webbing cartridges and web-grenades. After checking his gear he began to walk towards the warehouse door. Before leaving he stopped. "Hey Jess…" His sister looked back at him from the couch she had just planted herself on. "Yeah, What's up?" "Does Fury want us on the Ultimates or for something else?" Jess let a smile creep onto her face. "He's thinking of creating a separate team in case the Ultimates are killed or otherwise indisposed. He's also working on a team for…nah never mind." "Hey don't build up suspense for nothing! Speak woman!" Jessica laughed at her brother's child like behavior. "Don't worry about it. I know you may not trust Fury but trust me, OK?" Peter hesitated a moment before sighing. "Fine, I'll trust you. But in the future…I hope you trust me too." As Peter left the building Jessica mumbled something under her breath. "Already do."
…..
Oscorp
Norman Osborn stepped into his private elevator as it began to descend towards the underground labs. As the elevator opened up at Norman's desired location a group of scientists looked at him. "Sir we run all the required test both physical and psychological. His physical attributes are off the chart, but he is psychologically unstable…sporadic even. Perhaps…we should maybe remove the serum from him." Norman walked past the scientists as he punched in the correct code to open the sealed door that stood in front of him. "You will not take away my son's new found power. He has finally been given a chance to be more than a privileged brat." The doors opened to reveal a young man with unkempt brown hair. The man wore what looked like prison clothes but with a straight jacket locked around him. Norman approached the teen before sitting down in front of him. "Report." The brown haired teen said nothing, as he stayed seated. Norman sighed before standing over the brown haired teen. He then slapped the boy across the face before speaking again. "I said report!" The teen final raised his head to reveal the disheveled face of Harry Osborn. "I had the dream again…" Harry said as his eyes looked unfocused. "…Everyone was there…Pete, Liz, Flash, You…and even mom…" He stopped speaking for a moment as his breathing began to increase. Norman looked down at his son before speaking. "I'm listening Harry, continue." The young man nodded as he struggled to control his breathing. "There's something else there too…a goblin…scrawny and orange…he had a tattered cape." Harry stopped talking as he began to chuckle rather darkly. "It told me…to kill them! He said it would be so simple…all I'd have to do was split their skulls! Peter is the first I kill! I grab his throat and squeeze it 'til his head bursts! Liz and mom are next…but he tells me to save you for last dad…" Norman continued to look at his son a completely neutral expression rested on his face. Harry continued to speak as his chuckles turned into mad laughter. "He told me to make you suffer… to make everyone scream my name!" Norman finally spoke up as his son continued to laugh like a mad man. "And what is your name? Is it Harry Osborn?" "NO!" The young teen roared in defiance. "MY NAME… MY NAME IS… THE HOBGOBLIN!" He screamed in Norman's face spitting on him as he did so. "I see. So tell me Hobgoblin what are you going to do now that you are locked in here?" Harry again began to laugh, "First I'm going to break out of here…then I'm gonna pay Pete a little visit… and then Liz… and everyone else who knew Harry Osborn! And once I'm done with them…" His laughter began to echo in the small room as he continued his insane rant. "Then…I'll pay you a visit DAD! And I'll kill you too!" he then broke out into unrestrained laughter, his madness reaching a point of no return.
Norman walked out of the room as his son continued to cackle madly. The scientists looked even more concerned than before. "Sir…maybe we should stop him…" "Stop him? Why on Earth would you want to stop him!? He has finally become his own man!" Norman then stormed off down the hallway leaving the confused scientists behind. As he rode his elevator to the top floor he could only think of one thing. 'Kill me Harry!? If you do I'll be truly proud to call you my son! Especially if you do it when I have this at my disposal!' Norman removed a small vile of green liquid from his suit's pocket. 'The Hobgoblin will face off against the true Goblin when the time comes!' Norman then began to chuckle before it broke out into mad laughter, similar to that of his son.
Another chapter done. Having a bit of writer's block though on my Avengers story. Check it out on my profile and let me know what you think! I've also done some editing on the previous chapters mainly 7, 11, and 12. Read at your own leisure.