Disclaimer: Spider-Man and other Marvel-related content belong to Disney Marvel. Any other content that includes OC's and plot belong to me
Beta read by: Grammarly and W.Y Traveller
Chapter 7
The following morning, the guest tenant of our mild-mannered hero awoke.
Her eyes fluttered open, blurring at first, then clearing; the last thing she remembered was fighting this creature.
She felt a pair of arms around her. She smiled as she turned in his embrace. Her eyes landed on Peter.
The poor man looked exhausted. She leaned in, kissing his forehead. She hoped that besides this unfamiliar attraction they had, they could be friends, and if down the road something more. Her old life was gone, and starting over would be nice for a change, with a new friend.
She sniffed. Her nose wrinkled.
He smelled terrible. What time did he come home? She untangled herself from him, though not without pained grunts or winces. That creature almost did her in; who was that? As a matter of fact, what was that? She mused to ask Peter about it later. Cindy was still sore from yesterday and the only clothing she had was ruined. Not that she enjoyed that Hello Kitty shirt – she didn't. But it was something to keep her clothed.
She went through his drawer. It was an invasion of privacy, she knew, but what choice did she have? There was no way she would be parading around in her birthday suit. Neither running around in webbing was going to be an option either. She found a t-shirt, a pair of boxers, and tighty-whities.
She looked at Peter's sleeping form, then blinked. She scoffed. What was he, four?
She looked and it was a size small. She sighed. This would have to do for now, not to mention she would have to get personal items as well for woman's hygiene. Cindy went into his closet. Everything he had was going to hang off her loosely. She winced going through his belongings, hissing in pain whenever she reached for something.
Once she was satisfied, she went to the door, but stopped when she noticed a white envelope with Peter's name on it.
Grimacing as she bent to pick it, her curiosity got the better of her as she opened the letter: 'Dear Mr. Parker …'
As she continued to read, her brows went from furrowed to widening surprise, with a small gasp on the side. She dropped the clothes, making a beeline towards Peter, jumping on him and causing him to wake abruptly.
"Cindy!" He gasped out. "What is your problem!"
She placed the letter in front of his face.
Confused, still in a daze, he took the letter, reading it out loud: "Dear Mr. Parker." He paused. "It is with deep regret that I must inform you that due to lack of payment on the rent you are hereby evicted from your apartment, effective immediately. By the end of the day you must be out any further delay will result in local authorities' intervention in removing you from the premises. Sincerely, Fedir Ditkovitch."
He laid his head down sleepily. "So, I'm getting evicted."
It took a mere second. Peter jerked up, fully awake. "I'M GETTING EVICTED!"
Cindy quickly jumped off onto the ceiling as he soared out of his bed towards the door, swinging it, nearly breaking it off the hinges. She dropped, back down onto the bed as she hears banging on the door.
"Mr. Ditkovitch! Open the door. We need to talk!" Peter banged on the door again. "Mr. Ditkovitch!"
The door opened to reveal Ursula, who was still in pain after the rejection of Peter. The two stared at each other; one with a look of fury and the other with a pained expression. Seeing her a little distraught, he fastened his temper down.
Calmly, he asked, "Ursula, where's your father?"
She was silent, studying his face, then she called for her father. "Papa!" Ursula was then replaced by Mr. Ditkovitch. The man was unamused with his former tenant. He was in a t-shirt with pyjama pants on.
Peter's eyes narrowed a bit before relaxing. He took a deep breath and held up the letter. "What is this? We had a deal. At the second week I would get you your money and now you're kicking me into the streets without warning?"
"Parker, let's get one thing straight," The man said. "I've given you chances after chances. I've been patient enough with you. No more. Now I want you gone by the end of the day. Let's not be difficult, or else I'll take you to court."
Peter couldn't believe this. Then again, his landlord was petty enough to take money from anyone, even if it was birthday money. Then it hit him.
Last night with Ursula. He looked over the man shoulders, the girl wouldn't look him in the eye. "I see. Break daddy's little girl's hearts and all of sudden you get thrown out like trash. To be honest, I did not want to hurt Ursula. I care for her as a friend and I don't see her as anything else but one. However, that doesn't mean you have the right to throw me to the curb, but I get it … I get it … you won't be seeing me here ever again."
Ursula let a single tear fall to the ground. Perhaps telling papa was a bad idea.
Her father closed the door, then addressed her. "Don't worry little one. There are more fishes in the sea. Don't let this one rejection stop you from pursuing another."
"Papa, you scare away any boys who come near me! And the one boy I actually like, I end up hurting him. Papa, I don't want to talk to you ever again!" Ursula ran to her room, crying, slamming the door.
Mr. Ditkovitch rubbed the back of his head, sighing deeply; he wasn't blind that his daughter was infatuated with Parker. He felt that no one was worthy of his daughter, yet Parker showed no hints of returning her affection. He treated her right and tried to make nice with her, but still he wasn't interested. The sign of young love was there. He was young once, as well as in love, and he tried to warn her that he wasn't into her the way that she thought.
Ursula wouldn't listen. He wanted to protect her from this happening, but alas it happened. She was strong like her mother; she'd bounce back.
Peter slammed the door shut, causing the Asian girl to jump. He was livid. He still couldn't believe that he was getting thrown out of the apartment. All because he didn't return Ursula feelings! Were people that petty?
"I have a suggestion. Perhaps we can …"
"Venom! Not now!'
'Temper, temper Parker," the symbiote teased.
"Peter?"
"What?" he snapped.
"Wow, hold on their Mighty Joe Young!" Cindy snapped back, holding her hands up in a take-it-easy motion. "It's not my fault you're getting kicked out, so please don't bite my head off over something I don't have control over."
Peter seethed. "Take a shower and get ready to pack. I'm going out." He changed into his Spider-Man outfit. "After I brush my teeth."
"Wait a minute! I don't live here, so why is it my responsibility to pack your stuff!?" Cindy was not a servant, nor was she going to be treated as such. "You are a grown man capable of doing amazing feats!"
"Just. Do. It," Peter hissed, spitting out the paste from his mouth into the kitchen sink. After a short gurgle he spat the water out and took off from the balcony.
Cindy raced after him, stopping in front of the railing. "I'm not your maid either," she grumbled under her breath. She turned, looking around the room. "Might as well shower before I get started. Can't believe I'm doing this! I wouldn't mind helping out, no problem, yet leaving me to figure out what goes or not … pfft, not going to be my problem if he loses something."
Stark Industries
Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark, a billionaire industrialist, a founding member of the Avengers, and the former CEO of Stark Industries. A brash but brilliant inventor, Stark was self-described as a genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist. With his great wealth and exceptional technical knowledge, Stark was one of the world's most powerful men following the deaths of his parents and enjoyed the playboy lifestyle for many years, until he was kidnapped by the Ten Rings in Afghanistan while demonstrating a fleet of Jericho missiles.
With his life on the line, Stark created an armored suit, which he used to escape his captors; though not without the sacrifice of Ho Yinsen, who was in his cell with him, and along with an electromagnet attached to his chest to prevent the shrapnel from entering his heart. It was there he showed Yinsen his plans, hidden with multiple blueprints, to build a suit of armor which he would soon be use to finally break them out of the cave. Yinsen was both impressed and inspired by Stark's plan and then assisted him in installing the Arc Reactor inside his chest.
Too bad they had little time or else Yinsen would still be alive.
Tony shook his head. He sighed sadly. The past was the past. Right now, he was surrounded with holograms and blueprints for a new design for Iron Man.
He called it Project Mark 50; the armor would feature advanced Nanotechnology which helped in forming new structures and shapes of weapons in the suit. The entire armor was stored within a new removable Arc Reactor, which also served as a storing unit for the Nanoparticles and could be deployed when needed. Although the suit would be composed of billions of nanoparticles, the suit possessed incredible durability, power, and flexibility never seen in any of the other previous Iron Man armors.
He was muttering to himself. "Change the calibration here, a little tweak and presto, instant nanotech coverage. Make sure, Jarvis, these blueprints are saved and download them into the hard drive of the database. I want to take a look at these in a little bit after I meet with congress."
"Yes, sir," the AI chimed in. "Sir, it appears that you have a visitor."
He groaned. "I thought I told Pepper that I wasn't to be disturbed, not when I've found inspiration on building a new suit!" He sighed. "Who is it, Jarvis? Paparazzi, new media? Tell me, which one of my old flames is it?"
"Neither, sir. Spider-Man is here to see you," the AI responded. "Apparently, he says he must see you."
This got Tony's attention. Spider-Man? Wait, not Spider-Man, the wisecracking vigilante? No, his old protégé Peter Parker? Wow, talk about a blast from past. "Jarvis, where is our web-slinging friend?"
"He is currently outside, sir, upside-down on a web."
When Tony looked outside his tower he saw the wallcrawler waving at him, indeed upside-down. It was strange how he did that without the blood rushing towards his head; a mystery that Tony still had not discovered.
Tony was surprised that Peter was in a black suit version of his costume. It reminded him too much of the alien costume.
Shrugging, he opened the window. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. What is New York's wisecracking Spider doing here in my neck of the woods?"
"Hey, Mr. Stark." Peter extended his hand.
"Up, up, up … Mr. Stark was my father, Peter. We've been through this about how many times?" Tony shook his hand, then walked to his bar. "Drink?"
"Sorry, force of habit. And no thanks. I'm not here for a social call," Peter stated. He uncovered his face as he followed his old mentor.
"What kind of suit is that, Peter? Nanotech? I don't remember you building one during your time here. Unless of course, you have been holding out on me. You haven't held back on me, right kid?"
Peter was uneasy as his costume morphed into clothes. "It's complicated right now. Umm, do you remember the symbiote?"
"Yeah, I remember it making you a prick three years ago."
Peter winced.
"It's in the past," Tony added quickly with a laugh. "It's not like you are wearing it now." He paused, stared at Peter. "You're not laughing … don't tell me …"
Peter sheepishly grinned while shrugging.
Tony dropped the soda in his hand and pulled up a chair in front of his former apprentice, looking at him squarely. "Kid, do you remember when you came to me after you had gotten rid of the suit?"
"Yup."
"Do you remember I helped you build that sonic belt for that guy called Venom?"
"Yup."
"So why in the world do you have that suit back? Knowing full well that thing changes you. A scientific discovery, if studied, we'd be able to make prostate arms or legs and help people regenerate lost limbs. But that thing is dangerous," Tony added sternly. "Explain."
"Look, long story short. This is the piece that I gave to Dr. Curt Connors from the original suit that I wore," Peter said, "and it matured back to its original size and sought to find me to re-bond with me." He placed his hands on his head. "Eddie escaped. I need the suit to take him down. Plus, I would like a job here, if you don't mind."
Tony clicked his tongue. "Okay, why should I hire you, Peter? Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want you here. I'm just confused for the reasoning. Don't you already have a job?"
Peter looked up, made a fist, then counted on two fingers. "Two reasons. One, I lost my job at the Daily Bugle. My old boss J. Jonah Jameson fired me because I didn't want to take any more pictures of Spider-Man. He turned half the city against me. And two, I was behind rent and my landlord decided to kick me for the reason that I broke his daughter's heart. Is that good enough for you, Tony?"
The man held up his hands in defence. "Easy there, kid. I'm on your side, remember?"
Peter banged his head on the table. "Sorry … I've been under a lot of stress lately, with the breaking up with my girlfriend, finding out my worst enemy escaped, finding a girl who was alienated from society, getting kicked out of my apartment and the passing of my aunt …"
"No!" Tony was shocked. "May passed? I seriously loved her homemade chocolate chip cookie brownies; they were to die for! I never got the recipe from her."
Peter held his tongue. "In short, it's been rough, especially now that Venom is out of prison. And I'll tell you it wasn't for good behavior that he's out."
The businessman drummed his fingers. He looked at Peter very closely. He could see he was stressed. There were bags under his eyes. He was tired; not physically but more mentally.
He made up his mind. "Alright kid. Here's what I'm going to do … Jarvis, I want an ID badge for our new employee here."
"Right away, sir."
Peter did a double-take. Was this really happening now?
Tony continued. "Do you have a smartphone?"
The young hero took out his phone; a broken Samsung screen.
Tony raised his brow. "This is crap, you know that, right? Hold on a moment." He took out his own transparent phone from his pocket, then began his magic. Peter watched as he hacked into this own phone and downloaded all the data from it. "Damn I'm good. Jarvis, please download this into one of our newest Stark mobile phones."
"Wait, wait, wait … you are going into cellular plans now?" Peter asked. "I thought you were supposed to be building tech for the military?"
"Oh, I still am. Yet with today's technology, advancing thanks to yours truly, I know an opportunity when I see it. Today's people cannot get enough of their smart phones, so there is a better way to inform the public to keep data and privacy safe. Stark Industries is now going to be a new mobile carrier called Iron-Spot …" Peter raised a brow. "Okay, the name is crap, I know, but it's the best I can come up with."
"Sir, the badge and phone are ready," Jarvis interrupted
"Great! Have Michelle bring it up." He took a sip of his drink. "Now, about your predicament living on the streets. I'll have you live in one my penthouses for the time being, until you can pick yourself up from the ground. Bring your lady friend. Just make sure that you two don't wreck the place."
Peter was about to respond when a knock at the door revealed the receptionist from downstairs, her gaze sternly fixated on him. "Mr. Parker, what a pleasant surprise to find you here. How did you get past the desk?"
"Details, details, Ms. Jones," Tony cut her off. Do you have what I requested for?"
She eyed her boss suspiciously, then glanced at Peter. She handed over the two items to him.
Tony motioned to her to stay put. He addressed Peter next. "Okay, Peter. Monday morning I want you here working in our research department at 8:00 AM sharp, given that you are not interrupted by anything else. Starting salary $100,000; hourly wages $20.00 per hour and you get paid twice a week. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what just happened? There's no way I could afford to pay for myself and my guest."
"You just leave all the expenses to me," Iron Man said. He placed the items in his now-employee's hands. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Parker."
After her debriefing, Teresa set herself up to find her supposed long-lost older brother.
She was dressed casually in simple dark blue jeans and a yellow blouse, blue sneakers on her feet. The young redhead girl looked at the apartment. She frowned. It almost looked like it was going to fall apart. Everything was chipped. Some bricks were missing.
This is what her brother had been up to?
She paid the driver, grabbing her backpack and luggage. She hoped that his apartment would be big enough for the two of them.
She looked once again at the address she had been given. "He lives in a dump." Teresa went up to the door and pushed the button buzzer on the intercom.
A feminine voice was heard after a moment of silence. "Hello?"
"Yes, hello," she responded. "I'm looking for Peter Parker."
"Peter's unavailable at this time. Who is this?"
"I'm his sister."
Silence, nothing but a pregnant pause. Teresa looked away to her left, then refocused her attention to the intercom. "Hello?" Again, she was greeted by silence. She surveyed the area. "Well, that just happened."
She was about to leave when a voice called out to her.
"Hey, you!" She stopped and turned around to find the source of the voice. "Up here!" She looked up to find a girl with raven hair, a smile on her face, wearing a shirt twice her size. You are Peter's sister?"
"Yeah," she said, loud enough to hear.
A few moments later, Cindy finally managed to let her in, after trying to figure out how the buttons worked to make buzzing to let the unknown girl into the apartment complex.
As she climbed the stairs, she noticed how small the inside was. Again she gave small 'tsk'. It was official. Her brother lived in a dump. What had he been doing with his life? The walls were cracked, stains in some places. In a word: dump.
Now at his small apartment, she was really going to have to talk with him. This was not what she had been excepting at all. A small room combining all the necessity into one. It was hardly kept; everything was a mess. She noticed the luggage with the folded clothes inside. What was going on here?
Cindy hummed a tone her mother used to sing to her when she was little as she folded another piece of his clothes. She spoke. "Sorry about the mess. Unfortunately his royal grumpiness has been kicked out of his apartment, so his fair maid needs to do the pickup here."
"You don't say?" Teresa was already getting the impression that her brother was rather irresponsible. "What caused him to be late on his rent?"
Cindy shrugged. "Don't know. Never asked him. I would offer you something to drink, but I don't know if he has any cups left in his cupboard." She packed another shirt in the luggage. "Peter never mentioned he had a sister. Who are you anyway?"
"My apologies." Teresa dropped her luggage, extending her hand "My name is Teresa Madden, or you can call me Teresa Parker. Either-or."
Cindy shook her hand. "Cindy Moon is mine. I'm Peter's guest tenant, foreign exchange student from South Korea."
"It seems that my brother has an exotic taste in women," she said. "Yet, I'm not convinced that you live here, considering the fact this place was only supposed to be able to handle only one occupant. Care to explain?"
"It's complicated," Cindy responded. "Very complicated. I don't know what we are. Friends with benefits … no, acquaintances with kissing benefits … yeah, that's probably it."
Teresa clicked her tongue. "Let me ask. Are you his girlfriend?"
"Err …"
"Cindy!"
Saved by the nerd himself, Peter arrived through the door with the biggest smile on his face. "Hey Cindy, you'll never guess – I'm sorry, who are you?"
Teresa dropped her backpack on his bed. She examined him from head to toe. She pulled out an old wrinkled photograph, her eyes scanning the picture. She looked at Peter and smiled. "You look just like our father." She rushed towards him, hugging him. "It's finally nice to meet your acquaintance, big brother. I'm Teresa Madden Parker. I'm your younger sister."
The world stopped spinning for Peter. He had a sister?! Uncle Ben and Aunt May never mentioned to him that he had. Sure, they said his parents wanted him to have a sibling …
"You have a sister!? Since when!?" Venom screamed in his mind. "I demand to know how this woman is related to you, in what way!"
"Call me sceptical … but, umm, I don't have a sister. I grew up an only child, so since when do I have a sister?" Peter detached the young woman from his body. Then he thinks 'Mysterio or the Chameleon or that blue mutant woman that can shape-shift. My spider-sense is not going haywire, so this isn't a trap.'
The woman who called herself his sister gazed into his eyes. "You have father's eyes."
"Okay, stop with this! Let me make myself perfectly clear; I. Don't. Have. A. Sister! My parents died when I was incredibly young, plus I hardly remember them. They left me with dad's brother Benjamin and his wife May. Neither of them ever mentioned siblings. Ever!"
Teresa sighed; she had been expecting this type of reaction. After all, she too would be skeptical if one day a random stranger told her she had a sibling out of the blue. She pulled another photo from the back of her pocket, revealing another set of their supposed parents. "Did you know that Richard and Mary Parker were CIA agents?"
"Yes."
"Well, I didn't." She gave the photo away to Peter, who traced his finger over his parents. "Heck, I didn't know about the name 'Parker' until yesterday. I grew up adopted with the Madden family."
Peter's thoughts raced. He examined the photo. 'There's no way! My parents in a maternity ward! I know photography, this is not faked or documented …' He gazed into Teresa's blue eyes, unsure how to process the information. "Let me ask you this. Why would they keep you a secret?"
"How old were you when you found that they were spies?" She countered.
'Oooh, I like this one. She got sass.' Peter ignored his symbiote tenant. "Point. But you are, extraordinarily vague, claiming to be someone's blood relative."
'Perhaps a DNA sample would be in order,' Venom suggested. 'Remember what I told you. I can scan her memories to see if she has an ulterior motive.'
'Hmm, we have to be very incognito about this.'
Cindy could tell the tension was there, so she decided to end this by throwing Peter's shirt at his face. "Hey mister-attitude, I did the best I could, alright?"
Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Look Cindy, I'm sorry for snapping at you. Mr. Ditkovitch evicted me from the apartment. This is my first eviction. It's stressful."
Cindy's annoyance dropped a little. She went up to him, embracing the young hero. She kissed him on the lips, which he responded to. It was a small kiss. "You are forgiven. Now what was it that you wanted to tell me?"
A mover came in with a knock to the door. "Mr. Parker?"
He turned around, still holding on to Cindy, which Teresa noted. "Yeah?"
"We're here on behalf of Mr. Stark to move your items to the penthouse," He said.
Teresa blinked; Peter knew Ironman! Well, this certainly got interesting. She would have to ask Tony how the two met when she got back to S.H.I.E.L.D or before some life-threatening alien attack occurred.
"Penthouse?" asked Cindy.
Downtown Manhattan
OSCORP; also known as OSCORP Industries, a multibillion-dollar multinational corporation headquartered in Oscorp Tower – a cold, black monolithic skyscraper right in the middle of Manhattan. Oscorp's President and CEO billionaire industrialist, Norman Osborn's icy blue eyes darted rapidly back and forth. Norman was in the office, consuming the Wall Street Journal as the radio played in the background. Some opera music.
He turned the page, then frowned. It was an article about Spider-Man.
The man who wore a mask intrigued him. The scientific possibility of engineering super soldiers should increase his profits, hopefully to take away some business from Stark.
He hated Tony Stark. He was one of his many rivals for many contracts for the military, and not just him as well. Reed Richards of the famous Fantastic Four was another, yet he was more towards advancing in the medical field.
Most importantly, Norman would never forgive that wall-crawler for sending his son to the mental institute. He had to pull a lot of strings to get Harry out of there, a few bribes here and there. It cost him a fortune; yet his son was home with the best doctors working with him to make sure that he was mentally stable.
A knock at his door
"Enter."
"Mr. Osborn. The board of the directors is here."
Now Norman did not consider himself a startled man, however when it came to the board members he had to impress them with stocks of the company. It had been on an all-time low and if he didn't come up with something soon … well, he refused to dwell on it.
"Thank you, Grace, I'll be right down at the lab," he responded.
Little did he know that the board of directors of Oscorp was there to discuss sensitive business with him; about a certain formula to enhance the human body. However, they were not alone. With them was General Slocan and a few others from the U.S. Army scientific field.
Norman quickly made haste to the lab. He reached an elevator, one of the two glass ones that clung to the side of the building. The twin elevators were guarded by two more security guys, wires in their ears and sunglasses. One set of doors whooshed open as Norman approached: he stepped inside as the door closed behind him. Impatiently, Osborn pushed one of only two silver buttons on the panel next to the door.
The motor started to hum, and the elevator moved. It zipped downward, into and through the sidewalk, disappearing. Large red and white horizontal stripes whipped past as the elevator dropped far into the ground, beneath the streets of Manhattan.
Suddenly, the elevator stopped, and the doors zipped open on a massive underground laboratory. Row after row of test tubes, beakers, piles of micro-circuitry, half-assembled devices, scribbled formulas, schematics, warning signs. The sheer volume of thought that went on here was humbling.
Norman noticed that one of the scientists was showing them the glider.
"We solve the horizon glide as well as the Multi-g balance issues," He said to the General.
But the General was not impressed. "I've already seen the glider! This is not what I am here for!"
As the pilot settled the glider on the top of the base, from which it took off the door of the laboratory, it opened to reveal none other than Norman Osborn.
"General Slocan, good to see you again."
The directors and the military looked to see the figurehead of Oscorp looking well and welcomed him. "Mr. Balkan, Mr. Vargas." He continued to greet them with a smile.
"Norman," The man named Balkan greeted him, looking up from his wheelchair. "Hopefully all is well."
Norman descended from the balcony to be at an even level with them. "As always, it a pleasure to have the board of directors pay us a little visit."
General Slocan rolled his eyes. "Enough sweet talk, Osborn. I wanted to see the report on the progress human performance enhancer."
"We tried vapor inhalation with rodents …" said the scientist, Stromm.
Norman quickly caught up to the General. "They showed an 800% increase in strength."
"That's great news," One said from behind.
"Hmph. Any side effects?" He said nonchalantly.
"There are side effects, and it was in one trial," A new voice interjected.
Every head turned to see Dr. Conners, coming towards them, with a robotic right arm. A clipboard was in his left hand.
"It was just one test; all the others have been successful," Norman said quickly.
"And in the trial that went wrong. What happened?" asked the General.
Before Norman could speak, Conner spoke up. "They showed a propensity toward violence, central nervous system breakdown, domination obsession, decompensating, insanity, and finally death."
"And what do you recommend?" asked the General.
This time Norman spoke, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. "That was only one test." He spoke to the scientist next to Connors, then he spoke proudly. "Except for Dr. Stromm and Dr. Connors, our entire staff is ready, willing, and able to go ahead with human testing."
"Dr. Stromm, Dr. Connors. Your opinion on this?" The General asked.
Both scientists looked at each other before Dr. Stromm spoke up. "We need to take the whole line back to formula."
"Agreed."
General Slocan was not pleased with this. Neither was Norman, who was glaring daggers at both scientists as he whispered in a low menacing tone, "Back to formula?!"
Both scientists shrugged. They weren't sure what their boss wanted them to do about it. The Green Formula was tested once and that was with the son of Norman Osborn, though nobody liked to talk about it.
"Dr. Osborn!"
Norman turned to face the man in the uniform.
"I've never supported your little program, nor do I care for it. You can thank the army scientist for that, as well I gave the go-ahead to Quest Labs to build a prototype of an exoskeleton design."
Norman was dumbfounded at the revelation. He knew if he did not come up with results fast, this could be the end of Oscorp, and he knew they would lose the contract to their rival Quest.
"They test in two weeks, Osborn. If by then you do not come up with a perfected performance enhancer with a successful human trial, I am going to pull out of the funding that is supporting your little project and I will give it to them."
Norman swallowed dryly as the directors and military personal left the man to his thoughts.
He needed something fast, but what?
His thoughts drifted back to the wall-crawler. Of course, the answer was right in front of him – Spider-Man!
He turned to his lead scientist. "Dr. Stromm, with me. I have something to discuss with you."
The scientist gulped as he followed his CEO to another part of the science lab. They entered the room where lights the and computer monitors were illuminating. On a computer screen, it was showing Spider-Man as he swung through the city. Their attention was on figure, looking at him with great interest, but it soon cut short as a group of scientists surrounding the man in a business suit as he started to speak.
"General Slocan has given Oscorp two weeks to prove that we can develop a working serum for the new super soldier project. We must work effortlessly to make the serum work. If not, we could lose the contract with Quest labs. Given the fact of how much we invested in this research, I need not remind how important the results are." Norman looked at each one of his employees, especially at Stromm, since he was a scientist in the research department. "Losing the contract could bankrupt Oscorp. I can only assume that Spider-Man can solve our problem someway."
One of the scientists spoke up nervously. "Um, yes … well, Mr. Osborn, as the video showed, Spider-Man possess all the attributes. The project hopes to create …" He paused for a moment.
"Well don't keep me in suspense. Tell me what's on your mind?"
He nodded as he continued, walking up to the screen where there was a DNA structure on it. "My fellow colleagues hypothesized that he has a spider DNA system, and we feel certain that a sample of his blood would enable us to complete our serum."
Norman crossed his arms, putting a hand to his chin, looking at the man with great interest as he continued to listen.
"We can modify the new hunter-killers to track this DNA signature and capture Spiderman!"
"Do it," said Norman, "and I want no mistakes when you try to capture him. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now get to work!"
Felicia Penthouse
Felicia threw another vase at the wall.
Last night was a complete, utter disaster. She'd gone to confront Hammerhead into how he'd found her secret address. According to the mafia man, he had been keeping tabs on her ever since she moved back to New York, courtesy of the King Pin Wilson Fisk.
How he didn't know about her daughter when she came back was a miracle all in itself, not only that he had taken Felicity hostage after they found her at Lorina home, which proved too much for the White Rabbit to take on by herself, thus leading to her capture as well. So now she had to worry about her best friend being captured and her daughter.
Screaming in anger, she flipped over her glass table.
Why? Why couldn't she just be in peace?! Felicia just wanted to turn over a new leaf, forget about her past life, try to get back together with the father of her daughter. She picked up a picture frame, about to chuck it, when she stopped in the middle of her rampage.
She looked at it, then her anger evaporated. The photo was taken a month before she left. In it was a picture of her and Peter in civilian clothes, one of those rare occasions when he had asked her out on a date like a normal person. It was winter, she remembered, when that photo was taken. They had been in Central Park ice skating. Peter had suggested they go to the photo booth to take pictures.
She stared at Peter claiming her lips. He really did love her. His lips had been soft and gentle against her own. Felicia enjoyed her outing with him; it was one of those rare moments that she allowed herself to slow down. Deep in her core, she wanted to do it again.
It was the same time she found that she was pregnant. She couldn't bear to look Peter in the eyes, not when at the time he was dating her, that red head woman unfortunately. The ups and downs of being a single mother in motherhood, at first, she did not know what to do or who to turn to. The itch to steal was great. By chance she ran into Lorina, who was taking a break from stealing here in the States. She became her tenant in England, where the criminal White Rabbit had a suite all to herself. Though rabbit-themed, it was still better than having to sleep in a motel.
By the time she hit mid to third trimester, she began showing the signs of her pregnancy.
She still remembered the conversation she had with Lorina.
Flashback
Felicia stared herself in the mirror.
She was still in shock that she was round; not just round – she was pregnant with his child. Another living being growing inside of her. She held her stomach. She could feel the baby kicking.
If only Spider was here to feel this. She sighed sadly. How would Spider feel if he found out? Why didn't she just tell him? She had the perfect opportunity to tell him, yet she hesitated.
"I know I'm going to regret my decision. Spider's alter-ego is so … geeky. He is just so … what's the word …"
"Talking with yourself, Felicia?" A new voice chimed in with a laugh. "That's the first sign of insanity. I mean, we are already insane, since we're already walking around, wearing skin-tight costumes and stealing from the extremely wealthy." She hummed, coming into the room with a little sway. "Well this is interesting, to see the legendary Black Cat with a child? Who's the father?"
Felicia stayed silent, looking in the mirror as Lorina wrapped an arm around her shoulder, nudging her.
"Well? I'm waiting."
Again, Felicia was silent on the subject.
Lorina frowned. "Alright then, I will be guessing. It's a past–"
"Would you shut up?" Felicia shrugged her off. "It's none of your business anyway."
"Oh, touched a nerve, I see." Lorina sat on one of the chairs, stretching herself out. "It certainly means something. Do you actually care?"
Felicia growled. "You are not going to drop this, are you?"
"Nope!" The woman had playfully leaned forward. "Well?"
"If you must know," Felicia spat, glaring at the woman, "It's a complicated relationship that I have with one of the supers."
"Oh, like to live on the edge? Is it someone I know? Please share with the class. We're dying to know who this mysterious man is."
Rolling her eyes, Felicia gave no indication that she was going to be continuing.
Lorina frowned. "Alright, spoilsport. One of these days you are going to tell me." When she got to the door, she paused. "Though I do have to ask, Felicia, are you sure this was the right decision, leaving your baby daddy?"
End Flashback
Even unto this day, she never did reveal who was the father of her daughter, which drove Lorina insane.
She clutched the photo to her chest. Something leaked and she touched her face. It was wet. Was she crying?
She paced carefully due to the broken glass. Felicia had not cried in years. Not since she was defiled by her ex. Ever since then she was very reluctant to share her room with anyone. Looking back at it now, it was the stupidest decision she made. Did she regret leaving her baby daddy? Yes, a million times yes. Felicia was terrified for Felicity's safety.
Over the years, she and Lorina bonded over Felicity, with her becoming somewhat of a surrogate aunt to her.
Now she was in the custody of Hammerhead and Wilson Fisk made sure it was an offer she could not refuse. She was forced to steal data from the Maggia old city crime families. King Pin last night told her he wanted all the information.
Information was power.
Perhaps she could get Peter …
"No, I will not call him. I can do this! I will not be in over my head, not this time. Even if I did call him who's not to say that Willy already has my place bugged." With King Pin holding the cards, she had no choice then to do as he command. Plus, if he was making her a new upgraded suit, might as well enjoy some benefits to this. She could only pray that her daughter was safe for the time being.
Location Undisclosed
Felicity held on to her aunt for dear life. She had been crying for the past hour.
Lorina hugged her tightly, consoling her. "It's okay. It's going to be okay, sweety."
She sighed heavily. Felicity was a sweet little girl, always curious, always looking for something new to do. The strawberry-blonde was there when Felicia gave birth to her. She tried to pick up on any traits that would resemble her friend, yet she found none, and it wasn't a face that she knew. "Ssh …"
"I want my mommy."
"I know, baby girl, I know."
"Hey, would two shut up in there!" A Hammerhead thug banged on the cell. It caused Felicity to squirm and whimper deeper into Lorina's neck. "All that crying is driving me insane!"
"Tough luck, bub!" Lorina shot back. "We've got a frightened child here. It's not like she has a mute button!"
He cocked his gun. "I'll gladly make one if you don't get her to shut her hole up!"
"I dare you!" Lorina hissed. She held tightly to Felicity. He would have to kill her first before he got to her niece.
"Mr. Bianchi!"
She knew that voice. It was none other than the King Pin of Crime of New York City.
"M-Mr. F-Fisk, s-sir!" the man stammered.
Wilson Fisk. Truly little was known about the Kingpin before he first took command of the East Coast mobs.
He had described himself as having been an 'unpopular, blubbery child', before he began his lifelong pursuit of bodybuilding. Wilson Fisk was impoverished as a child, had claimed his father was a crack addict and committed his first murder when he was twelve. From the start, Fisk was determined to be the best in whatever he did, and he believed physical strength to be a major factor in building power in the underworld.
Hence, he fanatically trained himself in various methods of bodybuilding and personal combat, finally concentrating on the Japanese art of sumo. His sumo training led to his interest in the Orient, which would manifest itself in other ways. In addition to his devotion to physical strength, Fisk realized the importance of intelligence. Being from a poor family, Fisk's formal education was limited. He became self-taught, acquiring or borrowing (or sometimes outright shoplifting) books from libraries or bookstores in whatever he could find. Although Fisk learned a great deal in sciences and arts, he became particularly fascinated by political science. He decided that another key to success would be in using political techniques in organizing and directing groups of criminals.
The King Pin voice sounded again. "A child crying is something that even you must be able to tolerate, not extinguish. Children are important, for they are the next generation to come after us. Have it that Ms. Hardy and Ms. Dodson find them as my guest for lunch today."
Two hours later, both girls found themselves at a small table with waiters taking their order. Felicity had not eaten anything since last night's dinner, and looking at the food was making her drool. Yet, touching the food was forbidden until Fisk arrived, and once he did, they were served with drinks and appetizers.
Taking a sip of his wine, he hummed his approval. "Pinot Noir, one of my personal favorite wines to date to drink. Would like some, Ms. Dodson?"
"No, I don't want any, thank you." She poked at her Penne vodka, watching Felicity greedily eat her helping.
"Come, eat. You are guests here. It is not poisoned, I assure you, or else I would have been poisoned myself." King Pin took a bite out of his steak. "Delicious."
They were silent. Only the sound of utensils hitting the plate were heard until Dodson spoke. "What's the game here, Fisk? Why do you have me and Felicity here?"
"I assure you, you'll be treated as guests should you behave. If not, you will be sent to the enforcer. I'm fairly sure that you, Ms. Dodson, would not want to be separated from this lovely child. After all, you have quite the criminal record, White Rabbit."
Lorina balled her fists. "What exactly do you want?"
"From you? I want to hire you for a job that I have planned, involving yourself with the likes of Electro," He said simply. The he stares at the little girl, "To think that Felicia Hardy would have a child. Makes you wonder who the father of the child is."
Lorina knew Felicia was tight-lipped about who the father was. The most she got was it was an old flame, and it was from the hero community. She gazed at Felicity; she was a mess, sauce all over her face, her clothes dirty from spaghetti, and to top it all off she was wearing a white dress!
King Pin chuckled. "Quite the grubby eater, that one. I suppose a bath is in order. My men will escort you to the lavatory for some privacy. Feel free to freshen yourselves up. A new set of clothes will be waiting as well, as a surprise for the child."
Once out, they were indeed escorted by Fisk's heavily armed men.
"Guests, he says. More like prisoners," Lorina snorted, holding Felicity's sweating hand.
They arrived at the destination. Once inside, the woman drew a bath for the child. "Alright, Felicity time to … umm, Felicity?"
The small girl was gone.
"Felicity Katherine Hardy!" She heard her giggle. She was close. "It's time for your bath." How could a child that small just disappear?
"Look aunty, look! I'm up here!"
"Up? What do you … oh my!" Lorina dropped the soap in her hand. She gaped.
The child was squealing for joy as looked down at her aunt.
"How did you get on the ceiling?"
"I climbed," Felicity responded innocently.
"Child, get down here!" She jumped, grabbing her. She squealed as something else scratched her. She took the sandy blonde girl's wrist.
On it was a fork. Examining her wrists, she Lorina pulled the fork to reveal oozing pearly white fluid, almost invisible slits about a quarter of an inch long; the slits were puffy.
"What the–?" She pushed on the skin next to one of the slits. To her dismay, the ooze shot up to her face. A yelp escaped her lips as she effortlessly pawed the white out of her face. Holding the other wrist, away from her body this time, another strand fired. The silk shot up to the ceiling, sticking there, with a line flowing out of Felicity's wrist.
"String! Can we play with more string?"
After clawing the ooze off, she paused. Wait a minute! She'd climbed the ceiling. She shot webbing! Could she be?
Lorina knelt at her niece's side. "Felicity?"
"Yes, aunty?"
"Did mommy ever tell you who your father was?"
The young girl shook her head. Felicia had said nothing to her about her father yet. It suddenly dawned as to whose daughter she had been looking after for these past years. This was none other than that wise-cracking knucklehead on a sandwich, the web-slinger himself who foiled her plans to rob a bank: Spider-Man!
"Felicia, what have you done?" She whispered.
LXD: Shout out to W.Y Traveller for taking the time to beta read the chapters. Chapter 7 beta-read and ready to go, funny thing to I met this beta over 2 years ago and I'm glad I ran into the same person again 2 years later. As always leave a comment, rate the story, subscribe to it if you haven't done so already and I'll see you next update.
Responses to the Reviewers:
clown2107: Good guess but not happen, or will it?
TheReckless1One: They will get burned on the symbiote that's for sure if they don't know what they are messing with. Now Shocker does strike me as the type to get revenge if nessecary but in this case it was more delay tatic and off spider-man if given the chance. Reards to the change don't worry, Peter will have his darker moments in the story whether it be symbiote influenced or not. Now will Carange be introduced? It may happen soon. I don't know if the Comics confimed if Tersea Parker was the biological sister of Peter Parker, it's anyone guess, I know that Marvel Wikia says she is. Here in this story? You'll have to wait until I confirm or deny it. Believe me this story will not pass 'T', I don't 'M' stories nor I will indulge in them.
spiderman1fan: Thanks, and regarding Nick, he will pop up from time to time.
Soledge1: Techinally speaking, that's not true in terms of symbiote, the only symbiotes who have posion names are the following: Venom, Toxin, Anti-Venom, Posion (Peter Parker) and She-Venom. The rest are named after mayhem names. Yup, Peter love life stinks terribly even in the comics, the authors jump from one girl to the next make up your mind! Oh, wait it's Mary Jane -_- again. I honestly I would have preferred Cindy and Peter dating which could have blossomed into something more.
nataku2709: Thanks I find symbiote story insteresing (minus Knull :p). Though I'm sure if I could come up with a composite identity for Peter/Venom unless he says 'We' like Eddie.
Guest: Eh…I really don't ship Eddie with MJ under any circumstances.
Guest: That is a possibility.
kaffeenator666: Awesome, but in all seriousness it reviews like this I look for. Give me constructive criticism and I will take what you are saying into consideration but if someone says to me that 'I suck' or 'I need to stop writing and rethink my life' or something similar that's where I draw the line. Glad you enjoyed the re-write of chapter 5.
Oh don't worry you'll find out if Mary Jane was thinking irrantional or not. Not to fear Spider-Cop will be on the case soon enough!
I do thoroughly enjoy the black suit and if given the chance Spider-Man would have permantly been stuck in the suit in the comics but the fans refused to have the newer version of Spider-Man thus forcing the writiers to find a way to rid Spider-Man of said symbiote into the Anti-hero we all know today. Which kind of sucks…I don't mind his original suit but you have to remember it not that durable easily exsposing Peter to the public.
Now regards, to Venomized of Dr. Kafka I did draw inspiration from Webs of Shadow wher Spidey give a piece of his suit to Cat, and Carnage well…heh…eh call Human Torch! I won't say what will happen with MJ and the symbiote in the near future.
Regrading my previous chapter 1-6 however, Chapter 6 has been beta-read and reuploaded prior to that no I only used Grammarly to help me catch my mistakes. Stay tuned…
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Glad to see you on board for this story, it's strange seeing your review outside of the Kaiju Jailor. Lol. I'm glad you are enjoying it hopefully more to come, stay tuned. Anyway, 6 reviews I'll try to answer them here goes:
Chapter 1: Thank you
Chapter 2: Okay, I think I might use that as a banter between Venom and Peter. ^^
Chapter 3: More still come XD
Chapter 4: No, no you have a right to scream at the red head. Eh, after keeping silent that she was pregnant with Peter's child and fully knowing it…she still went ahead and made the deal with Mephstio? Sure…she's isn't that bad…Mary Jane (:P) Felicia=Cindy (: D) at least in I.M.H.O. -_(o.o)_-
Chapter 5: I'll make a note of it
Chapter 6: Just refer to what I said to you before : D
NOnormal99: More or less yes, all the symbiotes have the tendency of healing the host.