Author's Note: And I'm back. Late, I know. But back regardless. I apologize. Hello there readers and writers. Hope everyone's doing well. Updates are going to be slow but I'm still going to try nonetheless. Or 'nevertheless' lol. This schedule of mine has to be more adjusted. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. It's a lot of fun. Enjoy!
Growth Episode Eight
For what seemed like a long time, Miles Warren stood impatient. Looking out the window, he gazed out at all the buildings before him. He couldn't let his frustration win him over. Even a man as he knew that progress took time. It had been some time since they took the body and studied it. The body of the deformed and defective Spider-Man. It had been shot close range by Sable Manfredi, an instant kill. He had told his best people not to come back to him unless they found out anything crucial regarding him. No news had been given to him as of yet.
Aaron came in.
"I know." Miles said in a bored demeanor before Aaron had a chance to even talk. "Nothing new."
"That would be correct." Aaron walked to the large window and stood next to him. They were side by side. He too, stared out. "I know you're not one to let things go without a reason..."
"You're saying we should stop this?"
"We got the body. Why do you insist on doing experiments? You created him, remember? What more could you learn?"
"We need to know what caused the abnormality." Miles simply stated as if it were already obvious.
"That will take a long time. Years, maybe. We should stop and take a moment to be grateful. In a way, the asset's escape in the beginning allowed him to tarnish Spider-Man's reputation even more."
Miles was still displeased. "And we didn't do anything useful with him. I had the chance to finally figuring out who Spider-Man is and finally taking down said Spider-Man. The real one. If nothing new continues to develop, I'll go with the 'golden goose' mentality and accept it. But I'm doing this so that I can learn from my failures. Finding anything could avoid any more mistakes in the future."
"It seems we didn't think quickly in time..." Aaron said sadly. "I'm not here to tell you what you already know nor about having failure trophies."
"What's up?"
Aaron sighed. "Jameson. He's frustrated. Wants the information."
"Tell him too bad. Even 'I' don't know who this boy is! Only Norman Osborn knows. His people never told me his name. I looked up his DNA myself. That was the first thing I did once we received the body the first time a while ago. His information was classified from all databases. His birth, his parents and place of origin. All a mystery. If Norman Osborn wants his identity to be kept secret...I must respect his wish. The best Osborn gave us was just a face underneath a mask. That...to me is enough. Jameson on the other hand, is of no concern to us."
"Miles...he knows about our operations. He has the evidence. He's made some threats. We could have a serious situation here."
"No...'he' does." Miles turned to him and turned angry. "We may be backed into a corner but we...and by 'we', I mean this company will 'not' fall, not when it has been inspired greatly by our idol...Norman Osborn! We will make him proud!" He declared and then grew pensive and a smile grew on his face. "Leave Jameson to me..."
'The last 24 hours were very interesting indeed. There's never a dull moment when it comes to being a certain webslinger, is there?' Peter said in his mind as he tried to assess everything that happened. He had gone through many changes and all he could do was face them. Especially overwhelming ones. Prevailing them was nothing short of a miracle.
"Also coming up with a damn good excuse to people as to how I got back into original shape? That's going to take some serious thinking." he said running up the stairs.
Peter had wasted no time and got to Felicia's apartment. Arriving at her doorstep, he had knocked but there was no answer yet and so he waited. Even still, Peter was nervous. He didn't know what he was going to say. He had a lot to explain for. His heart began to race due to the anxiety.
"Wow...I can handle superpowered beings all day every day but I can't handle talking to women. Especially Felicia. What do I even say to her?" he whispered as he waited for the door to open.
He knocked again only for the door to open. The door all this time, was never locked. It was already a growing concern when Peter went inside slowly and looked around the area. Felicia was nowhere around. He stood in the living room. "Hello?" he said a few times.
"Leesh?"
His spider-sense acted up. The familiar anxiety was building within him. He looked around but couldn't see the danger anywhere. That was when a gun clicked.
"Don't move..."
It was from behind. Peter raised his arms. He recognized Felicia's voice. It was that distinct.
"Leesh?" he turned.
It was her. The curvy young woman with long, wavy white hair, Felicia. Looking fearful with the gun in her shaking hands.
"Well, this is a hell of a welcome back alright. What's going on here, Leesh?"
"What was the name of the restaurant we went to for our first date?" she said carefully.
"What?" Peter frowned. He didn't understand. For a second, Peter thought he was dealing with the real Black Cat again.
"Just answer the question!"
Peter's mind raced until soon it was all over the place. With the universes having merged a while ago and with the new memories he gained, he tried to look for the answer fast. His new memories included meeting Felicia and getting to know her.
"Please...Leesh...why are you doing this?"
"If you're really Peter Parker, you'd know this! Say it! Say it now!"
He blurted it out. "Silver Spoon Cafe!" he said shaking his head and blurted it out as if having made it up in his head.
He waited and soon enough Felicia put the gun down. He was right.
"My God..." she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I just had to be sure it was really you. You have no idea what I've went through..."
"I'd like to take you up on that..." Peter said thinking of his own experiences.
She ran toward him and hugged him.
"It's been Hell."
"What happened?"
"It was terrible. There was a clone of you. Another you."
"OK, you win. You have been through a lot more than me. How and why?" Peter was in disbelief.
"I don't know why. All this time, I thought he was you. He looked just like you! All I keep fearing these past few days is if he ever comes back!"
"What did he do to you?" Peter said worried.
Felicia's head slumped. She didn't meet his eyes and for that Peter began to get shocked.
"Leesh, he didn't-?"
"No...I...I stopped him. I defended myself."
"That's good. Lucky for him." Peter sneered. "But you did good. Y-you're strong. You always were."
"Pete, what if he comes back?"
"I won't let him. I'm here now...that is...if you, if you want me to."
"There's a lot I want to know about you though. Where have 'you' been?"
"Another place and another time as a way to get renewed. I was in bad shape."
"I take it it's a long story." Felicia nodded. "It seems as if we both took some time away from one another because we're both afraid of one another."
"That's why I'm here. I'm not. Not anymore. However, the question is, are you still afraid of me?"
"I don't know."
Peter sighed. "I just want things the way they were before."
"How? How were they before, Peter? Everything seems different now."
Peter couldn't answer that. "We can try...Leesh." he cupped her shoulder and brushed it downward and up. "Let's just take things slow for now. Yeah? We can hold off on the wedding until everything is alright between us. If we have to start over, I will. I'll wait as long as it takes...for you."
"Is that what you really want, Peter?"
Peter sighed. "No. But I know when people go through such things, it takes a while for them to get back to normal. I know because I went through them myself recently and in the past. I'm not surprised you don't see me the same way. It saddens me but I get it. Felicia...it's OK. Really. I understand."
Felicia finally met his eyes and replied after a long while. "Alright."
"Thank you."
"Welcome back." she said softly.
Passing by the muscle-bound bodyguard standing beside the entrance, he went through the hideout with a careful look. Everything looked the same. The same building and the same people. People working on old mechanical parts. Car mostly. The place didn't seem that different than a junkyard.
One young woman took notice of him and walked toward him, having stopped her blowtorch and raising her metallic mask upward. Aaron smiled.
"Well, look who comes crawling back!" a young man said taking his glasses off and smiling.
"Don't you mean 'welcome home'?" Aaron grasped the man's hand firmly.
The young woman then took her turn and walked toward him, looking eager. She gave him a hug.
"Long-ass time!"
"No need to remind me of that. But hey, it's nice to see you're getting by." Aaron told her.
"Nice to see you took advantage of the prison break." Aracely smirked.
"Not an idiot. How you guys holdin' up?"
"It's been slow. We've had a few mishaps. Almost got caught. Cops aren't the wiser, which is the good news. We've stolen some items but it's not enough for a proper trade, let alone getting a good decent amount of money. That's the only bad."
"Hey, not getting caught is an accomplishment in and of itself, so you got that, at least. Maybe it's time we go after the big bucks. I've been doing some thinking while I was in the joint. I thought of a few places to hit. Although one comes to mind that...well, if there was another word for 'profitable' then that'd be it."
"Banks?"
"No. This is huge. I'm talking about going after the Inner Demons."
That made everyone stop what they're doing. One could hear a pin drop. It was that silent.
"You serious?!" a man finally blurted out.
"Either prison's made you crazy or suicidal." Aracely looked stunned. "Aaron, nobody messes with the Inner Demons. They're the top gang of New York!"
"I'm not crazy and if I was suicidal, I'd have stayed in prison. Listen, I got a plan and it will work but only if everyone here agrees to do it."
Aracely still looked hesitant. Aaron pushed further.
"Race...this is not just for us, it's for our families...remember? We do this, we'll be set for life. We also wouldn't have to hide who we really are."
Rummaging through his pockets, he took out one of the few things he had in his possession. It was a state photo ID of him and with the alias he had always used named Hobie Brown. Aaron threw away the fake ID to the trash.
"Aaron Davis couldn't get set before, soon he will." he said.
"How do you want to do this?"
"Not now. Soon. This requires a lot of time and effort. One thing though, I need my armor and weapons back." Aaron said. "That's the only way we stand a chance against the Demons."
"We've tried but we couldn't find them." Aracely said. "La policia has it."
"I know how to get it. It'll be risky though..."
"Aaron..." Aracely seemed reluctant.
He shook his head and interrupted her. "I'm getting the suit back myself. Don't worry. Besides it's not my first picnic tricking up the police."
The students were about to return from their spring break. In his office at ESU, Miles Warren was beginning to find university work tedious. The menial tasks of telling students what they should be doing when they will gladly be doing the opposite in the future was serving very little to him. It was also taking his time away from dealing with Jameson. The ambition was declining. Going through the databases of incoming students for the returning semester. He was told by the dean that new people were coming in and Miles going through the list, knew he was going to care less who was coming in and who was staying.
He was quitting by the end of the semester. He had only done teaching as a favor. He was still feeling annoyed at his failure back at his company.
His phone rang making him more exasperated and upset. Miles answered it regardless.
"Yes?"
"It's Jameson. Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"The sound of opportunity coming and going. You're not taking advantage of it, pal."
"I know where this is going, Mr. Mayor. And I can tell you this, you're fighting a battle you cannot win. Your involvement in our operations speaks volumes."
"I was just the trigger-happy spectator. You have nothing on me. No evidence."
"Neither do you."
"Are you sure? You don't think a guy like me knows how to dig up enough past dirt? Don't forget, I used to work at a newspaper, son. I still got resources. You're not exactly a saint. Never was I should say."
Miles stayed silent and let the anger get to him. The phone in his hand shook.
"I take it by your silence that I just hit a major nerve. So I'll make this short. I wouldn't want you to piss in your pants. You give me that web-freak's identity soon and I mean, 'soon' and I'll let this slide under the rug. You got my number." There was a click and the line went dead.
Miles after a while, let loose and in a thrashing manner, threw aside his papers and other objects from the table to the floor. He then slammed his fists in front of the computer. That was when the list on the screen rolled due to the mouse being frantically moved due to his rampage.
He then totally forgot his anger and saw something appalling. He grabbed the mouse and focused on the name and picture. Passing through a boy and making his way to a young girl's statistic. He stopped. His eyes had come up across something or rather someone.
"Wait a minute..." he frowned as he finally focused on the main individual that caught his eye.
It was nothing short of a breakthrough. The boy's features were similar. The resemblance was uncanny. It was the boy in his class. He couldn't believe it, the identity of Spider-Man was in his class all this time. 'While I was looking too close for his identity, the answer had been right in front of me this whole time!' he realized.
"It's him...!" his eyes widened in awe. "You...Peter Parker."
Peter was having dinner at a grand restaurant downtown sitting in a booth with a beautiful-looking Felicia, having dressed up so elegantly for the occasion. Peter had just finished what had transpired in his life. The dinner was a way to start over. The restaurant provided a warm, welcoming atmosphere. They had been talking for over an hour now. Everything seemed alright. Peter was explaining what had happened to him.
"Wow, it's hard to believe you were in that bad of a shape." Felicia said blinking in surprise.
"You and me both. It was like I didn't know who I was anymore. I forgot what I stood for. Makes me realize how many more creeps like that Sharon girl are out there."
"You're making a lot of enemies these days, Peter. Doesn't that bother you?" Felicia asked.
"It does. But like I said time and time again, it's my responsibility."
"You're making waves." Felicia said. "If our relationship is going to hang on, you can't afford to be dealing with any more of these people. That takes up a lot of time."
"I agree. Maybe one day, someone will take up the mantle, who knows? Until then, I do have some...help. I mean, I'm not the only superhero in the world."
"Yeah, you should take it easy. You barely got back this time."
"Yeah and it's a good thing Mary-Jane helped." Peter said as he gulped down more grilled chicken.
"Mary-Jane Watson helped you?" Felicia was taken aback.
Peter gulped down his food and realized he had said too much. "Oh, yeah, might as well tell you about that. She was possessed by the spirit of this warrior woman and we went to another world that…long story short, she made me who I am again."
"My God, Peter. Spirits and other worlds, this is getting to be crazy."
"How do you think I feel?"
"What happened to her?"
"Mary-Jane? She's…she's back in Callie." That made the whole conversation stop. Both looking awkward. Until Felicia decided to speak first.
"You should have came to me, Peter. I would have helped you. Why didn't you?"
"Like I said, I figured you needed your space given what we discussed the last time."
"I guess things change. People change too for a reason. Maybe I'm a hypocrite saying that."
"You're not. No one changes or adapts right away. It takes time. I'll admit sometimes it's hard for me to accept change even though it's what I keep trying to imply. I feel like a hypocrite. I can't accept what's in front of me and I just wish things weren't so different. For instance, it's a shame that Joe's Pizza went out of business." Peter said as he dug into his salad.
"Joe's what?" Felicia asked frowning.
"Joe's Pizza. It was here on Bleecker street. Seems a new establishment was set up. Mr. Aziz used to make the tastiest pizzas. Man, I miss it."
"Peter, there was never any Joe's Pizza here in Bleecker." Felicia said as if it were obvious.
That made Peter stunned. "There wasn't? Ever?"
"No." Felicia shook her head.
"Wow…" Peter looked away and had a marvelous expression.
"Is this still because of that alternate reality thing you told me before?"
"I think so."
"Peter. How do you see me now? Before you were afraid of me being this crazy, psychopathic burglar-assassin or whatever? Do you still feel the same way?"
"No." Peter said with as much confidence as he could. "I see a wonderful, good and strong woman with a lot of heart and a good soul."
"That's sweet of you to say. But...how do you feel about Mary-Jane?"
Peter was rather upset that she mentioned her. "N-nothing. Nothing at all. I've let her go. It was the right thing to do given after she and I-" That made Peter stop. His eyes widened. He had realized what he almost said. Mary-Jane had really been on his mind lately.
"Almost what?" Felicia frowned.
Peter felt nauseous. He had thought about when he and Mary-Jane then as Red Sonja made love in that cell. 'I can't believe I'm messing this up!'
"What did you guys do?!" Felicia said almost standing up.
"It's not-I didn't mean-"
"Did you guys-?!"
"Felicia, please..."
"Look me in the eye and tell me the God's honest truth, did you guys get together? Did you?!" she repeated.
There was no way of avoiding it. If Peter had lied, he would felt a lot worse. "Yes." he replied quietly.
Felicia hung her head and a tear began to drop. Peter however, noticed it.
"But it was a mistake! We thought we were going to die! I told her it wasn't ever going to happen again. Because I know now the only woman I love is you!"
"I don't know what to say..." Felicia shook her head. "How could you do this?!" she said angrily.
Peter sighed. "I don't know."
Felicia stared at Peter with as much disappointment as she could muster. "I thought by you coming back, everything would be alright again. But everything just gets worse. I thought you would have by now, know what you really wanted. But you're still just confused. You let that girl confuse you!"
"Felicia-"
"I don't want to hear another Peter Parker apology!" she growled.
Peter remained shameful and silent. He had to take another chance. It was one more try.
"I'm not perfect! Never was. Even with me being who I am...I make mistakes. But I can fix them. Please let me fix this." Suddenly Peter looked out the window where several police cars sped by with their alarms blaring. There was a disturbance apparently. "Besides, it's what I do. Fix things."
Felicia began to pack her things. "I'm not going to lie. I 'do' still have feelings for you. But you slept with another woman! I will never, ever forget that! That's why I'm giving you a chance. One 'last' chance and if you blow this, we're done forever. There's no going back. This relationship was already damaged but I don't want it to be 'damaged beyond repair'. You have plans tonight doing your superhero thing, I get it. So tomorrow night you better show up to the apartment so we can better talk about this. I'm too disgusted to look at you, let alone hear what you have to say. You want to fix this? Then fix it..." Felicia then left the restaurant without another word.
The Next Day
Peter walked through the Daily Bugle with a solemn expression which given what happened yesterday suited him best. Many people stared at him as he passed by, to which he couldn't care less. Many in amazement and some even giving him friendly waves. Getting out of the elevator and into the main department, Peter was greeted to more shocked awes. He spotted someone up ahead, chatting away on her smartphone. For that, Peter became a bit hopeful again.
"I'm telling you, I'd rather be a secretary to Jameson again if I-" The woman's eyes traveled to who was facing her on the other side of the cubicle. Her mouth dropped.
"Hey, Betty." Peter smiled.
Her serious demeanor diminished and awe grew on her face. "Peter! Um...I'll call you back." she hung up her phone and stood up. "Wow. Peter, you...you look...great!"
"I'll say..." Betty's friend Joy appeared and stood beside Peter giving him a seductive stare. She gave an over-the-top grin. Her formal wear was anything but, given her cleavage showing not much to the imagination. Peter tried not to give a frown.
"Joy? Private conversation here?" Betty said seriously.
Joy snapped out of it and stared at Betty. "Oh, sorry. Just dropping by and seeing what's up. Robertson wants those reports in five minutes." she told Betty.
"Tell him I need more time."
"Alright then. Let me work my magic then. See ya! And see you later Parker!" A grinning Joy said running off.
Peter shook his head.
"I missed not having attention, you know?" Peter told Betty.
"Yeah, right. You liked it though. Don't lie."
"No!" Peter tried to be innocent. "Of course not..."
Betty gave a skeptical stare.
"Look, I like a woman with a nice personality-"
"Sure you do." Betty cut him off and rolled her eyes. "So tell me, how'd you do it? And so fast too!" Betty said looking interested at him down and up.
Peter gave a weak shrug. "Anything's a quick fix these days. Just running, lifting and eating right."
"All in a matter of a week?" Betty indeed sounded dubious.
"Took these new weight loss supplements. Uh...OsCorp ones from long ago." Peter lied.
"OsCorp? That's pretty risky! You know those are dangerous, Peter!"
"I got myself checked out. I'm fine. Really. No abnormalities. No side effects."
"This is OsCorp we're talking about, Peter!"
"Betty, I'm OK. Really. I'd never...lie to you." Peter couldn't help but feel ashamed saying that.
"OK, fine. Strangeness is a common thing now anyway. So why complain about the obvious?"
"I did it because as they say 'desperate times calls for desperate measures' right? I'm here because I'm ready to come back to work. I also wanted to say thank you. For pushing me. For believing in me. I understand I needed help. Thank you for doing so. You motivated me."
"I'm always here for you, Peter."
"Also, I heard I have a doppelganger running around this city?"
"Yeah. About that. Never met your Bizarro counterpart. At least...I don't think so. But if what I found out is true from my contacts...he's dead."
"What?!"
"Shhh!" Betty motioned for him to keep quiet.
"Sorry, but how? Who?"
"I'm trying to find that out right now. Access to major systems takes time. Whoever these people are, they're relentless. I don't even know why they made a clone of you."
"This is nuts..."
"This is getting too weird, you mean. Why are people after you?"
"I feel like I've been asking that question many times myself. I'll never get a straight answer."
"Leaving questions unanswered leads to more and more questions."
"One question is this: why are you so interested in all this? Me, for instance. Helping me out?"
"Well, at first it was to help you out. Still is! Still is! You're my bud!" she pointed out with a grin. She wanted to make Peter he was important still. "But truth is, the fact that they're doing stuff like this, it's unethical. This could also be my big break."
"Ambitious, huh? Well, hopefully you'll be filling Robertson's chair one day."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far. Running my own newspaper? You think?"
"Weird things have happened." Peter repeated her earlier words.
"Thanks. I...guess I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is."
"Guess the old Parker charm is also back." she smiled.
"Well, I better go and talk to Robertson." Peter said after an awkward round of silence between them.
"Yeah. " she cleared her throat.
"One last thing."
"Yeah?"
"We're we...together? Once?"
Betty turned just as solemn as he. "Once. Doesn't matter anymore, remember?"
"No...no I guess not." Peter said slowly. "Well, see ya." He then went straight to Robertson's office. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. 'Come in' was heard from inside. Peter did so.
"Hey, Mr. Parker! Nice to see...you took my advice seriously. Seems like you've undergone a serious life change. Good for you and so quickly."
"Thanks, Mr. Robertson. Yeah, I was 'that' determined. It's amazing what a million jumping jacks can do. Listen...I'm here because-"
"You want your job back I take it? I don't know Parker...you really think you can do this job?"
"Absolutely. Yes, I can. Please, Mr. Robertson? Aside from me coming back to my old self, I've been having one of a hell of a week." 'Felicia and I are on non-speaking terms...' He then continued. "It's hard to explain what came over me and even then, it's still no excuse. This is a great institution. It always was. Regardless, I promise to be more serious towards myself and to this job from here on in.
"Seems you have learned a lot."
"I have."
"I bet. My father used to say learning is growing." Robertson smiled.
"And I like to think of myself as a fast learner." Peter smiled back.
Felicia received her coffee and began to get ready to go to work. She was still upset. She hoped the work would ease her stress. She was just about to exit the diner when a hand grasped her shoulder from behind.
She gasped.
"Felicia!"
"Eddie?" she said seeing the man in front of her clear as crystal.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, just..." Felicia still couldn't believe the fight she had with Peter at the restaurant yesterday. "..what are you doing following me? Have you been here this whole time watching me?"
"I just wanted to see if you were OK." Eddie said.
"I 'am' OK. I'm OK, alright? Geez! Look, I'm sorry but..." Felicia regained control of her emotions. "I've been asked time and time again if I am. Even asking myself if I truly am."
"I knew there was something wrong. You can't fool me nor yourself. What is it? What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Eddie asked. "You can tell me."
"I have a lot of things on my mind right now. I'm sorry. I took it out on you. I guess it's hard to adjust."
"I know you're still not alright no matter how much you try and convince yourself. You can't. You'll mess yourself up even more." Eddie stated.
"Even now that Peter's back, everything still seems messed up."
"Wait, what?"
"Peter came back. The real one."
"I see." Eddie said with a dry mouth. "That's good. Real good."
"What is it?"
"Nothing, I'm glad." Eddie cleared his throat.
"You don't seem like you are. Eddie really, what is it?"
"I'm glad that Peter's back. I 'am'. He's my best friend." Eddie said trying to be clear. "It's just all this time...with you...being with you, I was getting the feeling that-"
"That what? What is this? Do you-oh my God..." Felicia realized.
"Yeah." Eddie nodded. "I think I'm falling for you."
Felicia didn't say anything and just paced around, saying nothing.
"Well?"
Felicia was in awe and finally managed to speak. "I don't know what to say."
"You're not back fully with Peter because deep down you feel the same."
"No." she said quickly. "No, I don't."
"Felicia, you have feelings too."
"I don't! Look Eddie, I'm sorry but we can't. We just can't."
"I can't stop thinking about you. You're going to deny all the nights we had? All those times you were feeling down and I was there! Peter wasn't! 'I' was! I looked after you!"
"I don't know what you thought you and I had, but you're wrong. I've always loved Peter."
"Do you still after what his clone tried to do?"
"That wasn't Peter. That was a fake!"
"But every time you see him, you're going to think of him. I know it."
Felicia slapped him across the face. Eddie let it sting.
"You don't know me. You only think you do."
She then left the diner.
The evidence area was heavily guarded with touch activated sensors located beside the doors. Aaron knew how to get in however. Behind the building, the officer stood beside the door, taking a smoke.
'That's my prey...'
Having incapacitated a police officer in the alley outside. Inside the installation, Aaron donned the police officer's uniform, his weapons and his thumbprint which he had on a slip of tape that he held between his fingers, hidden out of sight. He only had a small window of opportunity and he had to make it count. Going through hallway after hallway, Aaron realized finding the room was going to be a problem. He had to ask someone. There was a woman in the counter, going through her files.
"Hey, uh you know where the evidence room is?" he asked a clerk. "We got this suspect downstairs and we're going to show him this item and hope that it restarts his memory, if you know what I'm saying."
"Down the whole and to the left."
"Thank you. He's going to crap his pants when he sees this..." he chuckled to her.
"Thanks for the mental picture..." the woman muttered as he went on his way.
PROPERTY ROOM was the one thing that made Aaron want to skip. Going in, he saw numerous amounts of objects and clothes of all kinds. Most on shelves and a few in boxes. All previously confiscated and labeled. That was when he saw a box full of heavy gear inside. The color purple was that distinct in the box. The ammunition lay beside it.
"Eureka!" 'My skin...' he thought happily and held it in his hands. The feel of the armor was euphoric.
"Hey!" an officer stood at the doorway.
"Who are you?" Aaron asked once he turned around wildly.
"I'm the evidence technician. You got reason to be down here?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to take this because this suspect-"
"Nobody takes property out of here without clearance." the man interrupted. "Do you got it?"
"Oh, so you want to see my clearance? Of course I got it." Aaron asked. "Here you go!"
That was when he used the gauntlet in his hands to shoot a sleeping pellet from the base of it. It exploded. The police officer coughed and began to fall. Aaron covered his mouth using his hand and went out of the room fast before the smoke billowed further. But the damage was done. Fire alarms sounded off in the whole building. All Aaron could do now is get out of the building.
Aaron was near the door and feeling almost homefree when someone behind him yelled.
"You there! Stop!"
"Dammit..." he muttered.
Yet, the officers that had been behind him ran past him.
'What the-?' he thought. Aaron frowned and realized the police weren't after him. They were after a large, scantily clad woman up ahead to his left holding up the woman in the counter with one hand.
A police officer aimed his gun at her. "Put her down!" Numerous police officers surrounded them now
"I said: where's the one called Spider-Man?!" the large woman yelled. "This place is supposed to have names of people!"
"Don't know...!" the woman choked.
"You're not useful..." she threw her aside to the officers who had guns drawn, but they fell once the woman's body hit them. This distracted the rest of the officers and so she took the time to use her strength and speed to subdue them with just one single push and touch. Bullets were fired to which she evaded with incredible agility.
"None of you are worthy challenges!" she kept on saying.
Aaron didn't stick around and got outside quickly. Once he did, a man was thrown out through the window from the inside of the precinct and landed on top of a car. Apparently there was still a lot of action inside.
He prepared to run.
The doors burst open as well, revealing the woman looking around and turning to face Aaron, who stopped. She glared at him with narrow eyes.
'Don't have time to get this armor on!' Aaron thought frustrated.
She began to walk towards him. Rummaging through the box he carried, Aaron found a gauntlet. But he didn't fire it. The muscular woman was now in front of him.
"Nice get-up you got there." Aaron said nervously. "You from American Gladiators?"
"Spider-Man. Where is he?" she sized him up.
"Believe me darlin', you and me both. If I knew the answer to that question, I'd have a bestseller on my hands. But what I do know is that given that he likes stopping crime and stuff, he should be coming here in a little while. He's always at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"How do you know?" she snarled.
Aaron scoffed while adding a roll to his eyes and answered the question as if it were obvious. "It's Spider-Man."
"Freeze!"
The woman never touched Aaron. The woman turned and her attention drew on the police officers coming out from inside the precinct. Aaron took the chance and ran as fast as he could. He found a van beside him following him fast. It honked at him. Turning, he saw the driver through the window.
"Race?"
"Get in quick!"
"You're the wind beneath my wings, Race!" he told her as he got in.
"We followed you. So what happened?"
"Got it! Got my stuff. It's a long story. Everything escalated fast. I'll tell you about it afterwards." Aaron said as he was looking through the contents in the box.
As the van sped, Aaron took a quick glance out the window where the action truly didn't stop. On the sidewalk in front of the precinct, the woman threw aside officers very easily as if they weighed nothing. She hit another one in the chest sending him away to a wall, hitting it.
"Who is she?"
"I don't know. But we're too much in a hurry to find out. Go!" Aaron said.
"I don't wanna know either. She looks like she lifts more than the guys at the gym!" a guy in the back of the van suggested.
The van sped along in the street. Aaron felt content. Now the plan was about to begin.
"City cannot pretend to stay awake. That's not its way, sad to say. That's why I still got to come in...make sure the bad guys really do go night-night!" Peter said as he swung away using his webbing.
Then his spider-sense rang.
"Alright I hear you loud and clear spidey-sense thanks. I'm at the right place at the right time. Whatever comes my way, please...just please let me win one. It'd be nice." he said as he let his webchord swing him below. The street looked ravaged with cars overturned, some small fires, debris and people lying weakly on the ground.
A woman was holding a hurt police officer with one hand on his lapels.
"Does anyone here not know who they are dealing with?! No one can take me! I am Thundra!" the woman roared on top of an overturned vehicle raising her arms in the air, as if in victory.
Landing on the ground a few feet away, Peter saw the muscular woman. She was very recognizable. "No way!" Peter was in shock to see who it was.
She wore skimpy gold and red warrior clothing that showed her strong midriff, arms and legs. She was holding a police officer with one hand around his neck.
"Put him down, Xena!"
The woman turned. "Spider-Man!" she said after having thrown the man to the side carelessly and placing her hands to her hips, looking smug.
"You! How?" Peter should have known that when he and Mary-Jane went through the portal, Thundra had gone in with them.
"Did you really think you'll ever escape me? I'm not one to let challenges get away from me so easily!" she hopped down from the car. "I've given you time but you'll evade me no longer. Now your death awaits!"
"So, you followed me."
"Oh, yes. And now that you're here our grand battle will begin. A battle to the death! Yours! And seeing as how this world is, I intend to change it and make it to my own image!"
"Oh good, a psychopathic tyrant now. I thought you were all about peace." Peter said sarcastically. "Now I just see you're really a monster."
"It's all relative." she shrugged. "You're a monster to these people. What do you say to that?"
"I say...you don't know anything about me. I 'am' going to stop you."
Thundra frowned. "You can't! I am beyond you!"
"I'm never going to have a good day, am I?" Peter muttered to himself. "Look, you need to stop this! You're putting people in danger! What do you really want?"
"Haven't you heard a word I said?! I've been searching and waiting for you. Now my waiting has paid off! This is a fight to the death! With you out of the way, I can lay claim to this city! The future will be mine!"
She then charged at Peter while he swung his way toward her. The fight began with Peter and Thundra showing their impressive skills to one another. Peter didn't realize how insanely strong the woman was until her fist was brought down hard and Peter blocked it with the back of his forearm. The force was amazing and she pressed hard until Peter was brought to a kneeling position. The back of his foot was leaving a dent to the ground. It was an incredible display of strength.
Quickly, his legs then pressed to her abdomen and rolled her until she was thrown behind him. Peter then webbed her up entirely until she was a standing cocoon.
Incredibly, she burst out of the webbing and looked angry now. She then took a long chain she found on the ground and twirled it until it was thrown to Peter and wrapped it around his neck. She pulled him towards her. She began to choke him using the chain.
"I want to see you die up close..." she seethed.
Peter tried to shake her off by punching her everywhere in her body. But all his hits didn't have any effect.
"Stop that!" she tightened her hold on him and threw him around and around until she let go. He was thrown to a brick building.
'What the heck?! She's indestructible!' Peter thought.
"You annoy me now with ridiculous tactics!"
She ran towards a shocked Peter and proceeded to hit him. Peter went on the offensive and defensive all at once. Even giving her a punch to her nose and one to her chin. But she ignored the hits, the pain, and gave a harder punch to Peter's face. The force of the punch was enough to send Peter several feet away.
Thundra wiped the blood off her nose and sneered.
Peter fought back again, this time faster. As quick and agile as his abilities let him. But Thundra parried his own attacks.
Thundra had grabbed Peter by his throat and slammed him hard to the ground. She raised him and slammed him again. She quickly repeated the process. The ground was beginning to leave a dent. She finally stopped and held him down with her foot on his chest squeezing and squeezing. Peter was beginning to have trouble breathing. He tried pulling her foot off but it was difficult.
"Accept your death already!" she said frustrated.
She then went with a different approach. She picked his limp form up and gave him a final kick which sent him to a parked car, slamming into the passenger's car, making the car a lost cause.
Thundra began to approach him menacingly. She was inches away and Peter saw that she didn't get closer due to her being rammed by a slender figure. Thundra was pushed away and hit a metal post that supported traffic lights. It had bent slightly.
"Leave him and these people alone." she had said.
Peter blinked to make sure he was seeing clearly. It was Julia in her Spider-Woman outfit.
"Hmmm. Another insect to destroy?" Thundra sneered.
"Plenty of us to go around..."
"Good!" Thundra engaged Julia who amazingly fought on equal footing.
Julia managed to come up with some kicks and punches to Thundra's face however, she shrugged off the blows and grabbed her by the chin and pulled her towards her.
"You're not a worthy challenge either, much less a worthy woman!"
Julia tried to speak but found it difficult to.
"Can't you see I'm the one true ruler of this Earth?"
Julia finally got the chance to speak.
"All I can see is you're going to lose."
"Bold words." Thundra smirked. "Or foolish words."
Using her knee cap, Julia used it to hit Thundra in the abdomen repeatedly, finally relenting her hold on her after a final hard one, making her groan in pain.
"True words!"
Thundra threw Julia to the side, knocking her out when she hit a metallic post. Peter saw the chance. Shooting a webthread to a sewer plate on the street ground and taking it out with incredible strength, he spun the webbing with the plate and as Thundra turned to face Peter, he rammed the plate home to her abdomen hard, making her feet lift off the ground and throwing her to the wall of a building behind her.
"How dare you!"
She ran toward Peter where she charged at him like a bull taking him into her arms and going at such a fast speed. They soon crashed into an abandoned building. The interior was dark, large and round with columns that served as arches, surrounding the area. Peter's back hit a wall.
Thundra looked around. "Fitting..."
She then took a weakened Peter and held him to a wall where she hit him again and again.
"It offends me that you think you can win against me. You don't have a chance. No one ever did. I was never defeated before. The weak will soon be discarded but before then, your death will commence!"
The pain was tremendous each time. She then threw him behind her to where he crashed hard on the floor.
Peter gave a slight groan and moved slowly.
"No. Why are you not dead? Why do you keep going on?"
"I go on so I can stop people like you. It's this whole destiny thing..." Peter managed to say, even with blood that he felt inside his mask welling up in his mouth.
Thundra growled, went to him and grabbed his neck and hit him again and again. "You can't! You're not ready!"
Peter was spent and felt he couldn't go on. But he did.
He grabbed her next punch in his hand miraculously.
"I really hate to do this..." he then headbutted her in the nose.
Backing away and staggering, Thundra was disorientated but nevertheless more mad. Peter blocked her next punch and with all his strength, hit her in the stomach and webbed her in the eyes.
"WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS?!" she shouted as she tried to get the sticky material out of her eyes.
He got into a kicking stance and tried to concentrate as hard as he could. He readied his foot and finally kicked it forward to her abdomen, sending her to a wall and going through it.
Thundra emerged from the hole, looking even more enraged than ever. Having gotten rid of the webbing in her eyes, she looked around for him while he hid. He was in the ceiling looking for the right moment to strike and he took it when she wasn't looking in his direction. He let himself fall and aimed a punch.
It made contact hard, staggering her. He even gave her a spinning kick to her face for good measure.
Peter held up his fists. He had to use his spider-sense and all his facilities. He remembered what Mary-Jane as Red Sonja told him a while ago. 'When will you be ready?'
The way Peter saw it, Thundra represented his own mistakes, the women who he lost and the ones who exploited him. The way he was dishonest and how that must all change. That was when the rage took hold. He used his speed and his senses to anticipate any attack. No longer was he just on the defensive, he was going to be offensive.
In the blink of an eye, he even managed to shoot webbing to her hand with the end of the chord sticking it to the ground, making her use her only other arm. He gave her two hits to her face with both fists.
Angry, she pulled the long webbing upward and a piece of concrete broke off. She spun it only for Peter to dodge it and kick it away with his foot. He then gave her another punch. Disorientated from that punch, Thundra didn't realize the momentum of the concrete spun around in a circle and back to her face level...until it hit her right in the face. The concrete shattered completely. She knelt and rubbed her face with both hands.
"I hate fighting women..." Peter muttered. "It makes me look bad..."
He then managed a strong uppercut sending her back.
Shooting two webchords from his wrists, Peter's sticky webbing clung to Thundra's chest. With his own incredible strength, Peter spun her around and around so incredibly fast with his webbing, she became a blur later on. He then stopped and threw her hard to the ground which caused a great slam.
"Well, I feel like that was something out of Dragonball Z..."
Thundra began to get up but struggled and fell back down, trying to catch her breath. Peter did it. He had won.
Standing next to her defeated form, Peter waited. Her head rose slightly.
"Go ahead...do it..." Thundra panted.
Peter's fists dropped to the side.
"No. I'm not going to be what you make me out to be. Men and women aren't weak. Especially not me. Instead, I'll let you live with the fact that you got taken down for the very first time."
"NO! I never lost before!" she yelled in sadness.
"Like my aunt always says: 'there's always a first time'. I'm getting the police so that they can take you to this little thing we have, called 'justice'."
"N-no..." Thundra tried to get up. "As long as there's an ounce of breath in me, I'll-"
Suddenly she was stunned from behind. A blue, circular ring wrapped around her waist and by the convulsing, she was indeed being shocked. Her head then hung and her whole body lay limp while remaining standing.
Peter saw the four individuals coming toward them. A large rocky humanoid among them who took the woman Thundra in his hands, lifting her and soon she was in his arms.
"Strong..." he marveled in his deep voice.
"Spider-Man." the leader nodded.
"Fantastic..." Peter shrugged.
"I like how you said that with meaning." Johnny smiled as he crossed his arms to his chest.
"You guys are late..." Peter said holding his head with his hand. The ache was still getting to him.
"Eh." Johnny shrugged. "We figured you had this."
"Sorry, we couldn't come sooner." Reed said.
"Let's just say I'll never trust Google Maps ever again." Sue said beside Reed.
"You guys use 'Google Maps'?" Peter was shocked.
"We don't." Sue said. "Johnny decided we should. As a change of pace." she said giving her brother a serious look.
"She's sedated. We'll take it from here." Reed said.
"Just showing up for the prize, I take it?" Peter said.
"You got someplace to hold this girl?" Johnny bit back with a raised eyebrow.
"Point taken."
Reed then came up to him. "We already have enough confusion with this new universe. If we keep her here any longer, the catastrophes will be incredible."
"Wait, you guys remember-?" Peter was astonished.
"We do. 'We' were the ones that created that wave."
"Wait, stop, time out. Both waves?"
"No...we still don't know where that other one came from."
"And I'm knowing this now?! Why didn't you guys tell me?"
"The less people know the better. We're sorry, Spider-Man. We were trying to fix things too." Sue explained. "We knew it was an alternate reality and I guess we decided to change it back."
"All we got was a bit of a mix-up." Johnny said. "But in hindsight? All we did was stitch things back up."
"I can't believe this..." Peter hung his head.
Reed put a hand to his shoulder. "We understand things are different but it's the lesser of two evils. We see nothing went wrong and the universe is safe."
"I only want to know one thing..." Peter said seriously.
"Yes?"
Peter finally let it out.
"Are you ever coming back to ESU to teach?" Peter said quickly.
Reed looked astounded and sheepish.
"You're a...teacher?" Thing said to Reed.
Johnny stifled a chuckle with his fist.
"Long story. Answer to that is...maybe." he smiled.
"Got it. I'll let this slide. But I want to be kept in the loop next time! Alright, stay out of trouble guys!" he then left to see Julia at the other end of the street.
Seeing her on the roof, he made his way toward her. He landed right next to her.
"Hiya."
"Another 'beautiful day in the neighborhood'?" Julia asked.
Peter nodded. "I know, right? Just testing out the old reflexes, whether they were rusty or not." he said. "Nice to see you're pretty good on your feet too."
"And it's nice to see you're doing well after that whole-."
Peter cut her off quickly. "Thank you! Yes, yes and let us never, ever speak of that again. That was humiliating and un-Spider-Man like. It still leaves a bad taste on my mouth. Besides, something tells me Shathra may come back. Gotta be ready on all fronts."
"I understand it's been hard for you. You still have many more challenges ahead of you. Going through anything that comes in your life and you still manage to put one foot in front of the other."
"Yeah, I'm amazed at myself. It's not 'everything' but 'anyone' rather. And it's a slow process too which frustrates me to no end. I'm mostly going through one of those 'one foot forward, two steps back' phases."
"I know why you're looking for me." Julia asked. "You don't have to worry about your clone. He's gone. I was there firsthand."
"What are you talking about?"
"My first official failure as part of the whole superhero club..." Julia looked away and looked ashamed now. "I tried. I really tried to pull him back from the brink of the darkness. But...I was too late."
"You make it seem as if he wasn't all that bad."
"Because he wasn't. You of all people know that some people are just misunderstood."
"How do you feel about that particular concept still?" Peter asked. "Not being able to help?"
"It haunts me. It makes my anxiety act up like crazy but all I can do is keep going. If I stop, that to me is considered having given up. How do I feel, you ask? I feel hopeful. You however, are confused."
"Statement or fact?" Peter challenged.
"You don't know who you really want to be with."
"I do. I made my decision. I'm staying with Felicia. Mary-Jane...she's no longer in my life."
"I see."
"You don't seem pleased with my decision."
"Because you're not."
Peter sighed.
"I am. OK? I am."
"Let me ask you this...why are you compelled staying with this version of Felicia Hardy?" Julia asked.
"Because she's a good person. She's the Felicia Hardy I always wanted her to be."
"I want you to be honest with me and with yourself. You're only with her based on memories which you yourself are unfamiliar with. But that was 'that' Peter Parker. You're no longer that Peter Parker. You have knowledge of two lives. Which life are you most associated with?"
Peter was frustrated. "Fine, in your personal opinion, which do you think I should have? Huh? Huh?!"
"Neither."
Peter was taken aback. "What?"
"Neither." she repeated. "Think of everyone you've ever been with, Peter. Has it ever ended well? Whoever you end up with, you're putting her at risk with the kind of life you have. Danger follows you like a shadow. Do you want your partner to be at risk? Subjecting you to even worse pain?"
"Maybe Felicia will turn out different." Peter said. "Look, I'm leaving but I respect your opinion. Don't worry, this time I'll be careful. I made mistakes, sure. But I won't. Not anymore."
Julia looked rather taken aback and a look of realization etched on her face. "In a way...she won you after all."
Peter half-turned to Julia and went serious. "She's not Black Cat." he then jumped off the edge and swung away.
Julia had a grim expression.
"Yet..."
He came through Felicia's apartment through her window. Felicia wasn't home yet. Peter was all alone. His thoughts racing. Two women were on his mind. Mary-Jane and Felicia. Which one he was going to be with. He had said Felicia sure but now after further thinking, he was no longer sure. The feelings for Mary-Jane have never went away.
Memories of Mary-Jane then swept over him. The time he saw her at OsCorp when he was trying to evade Flash and his friends. Her leaving for a while. Returning. Going to the prom. Mary-Jane as Black Cat. Mary-Jane as Spider-Woman. Mary-Jane as Red Sonja. The point was she was always there. To guide him. To save him.
He acted after a long while.
"I'm gonna do what I should have done a long time ago..." Peter punched in the number on his smartphone and confidently waited. He put it on speaker so he could hear well.
"Hello?"
"Hey, MJ. It's me. Peter."
There was a long silence.
"Peter?"
"Yeah, just...just wanted to call and see how you're doing."
"I'm good. I'm doing really good actually. I got to admit. I uh...this phone call from you was unexpected, Peter."
"I know but I did it because if I didn't, I'd never forgive myself. I've thought about calling you for days but I never had the courage to. Until now."
"What do you want, Peter?"
"I just wanted to talk is all. What's new with you?"
MJ sighed on the other end. "Well, I'm an actress, believe it or not."
"Really? An actress? Holy cow. That's amazing."
"Yeah, I got second billing in this play I'm currently in."
"Amazing where life put us, huh?"
"You said a mouthful."
"Yeah..."
"What did you really call me for, Peter?"
"I'm just...tired. I'm tired of not fulfilling my promises. I'm tired of always settling on anything or anyone. I'm tired of being...what I am."
"You shouldn't. You're a hero."
"A hero who doesn't have what he needs or earns."
"Peter-"
"I called because I missed you. I miss you a lot. And I'm sorry, that things got in the way for us."
It went silent for a while and Peter thought she had hung up.
"I've thought about you every day. I miss you too, Peter..."
"You have no idea how good that sounds. I'm just...I'm just so confused is all."
"You're wondering if you should stay with Felicia or be with me?"
Peter nodded. "Yes. I have."
"Peter, we've talked about this. You agreed we should move on."
"Sometimes I feel we shouldn't."
"Are you saying you do want to be with me?"
Peter finally replied. "Yes..."
"Peter..."
"I realized it's time to be honest with you and to myself. I can't keep living this way. I can't let go of my true feelings. I love you, Mary-Jane."
"I love you too, Peter."
His big smile fell when he turned and found Felicia standing at the doorway, apparently having heard everything. She had a stunned, shocked expression.
So did he.
Jameson was heated. "Another street in need of fixing. Can't believe this. I think this city's breaking a record! This is ridiculous. Where's that crazy Damage Control agency? Aren't they coming to fix this mess? Am I ever going to speak to a representative?" he said as he walked fast to his office.
Jameson hummed himself a tune while heading to his office. Getting in he gave out a satisfactory sigh and took out a stogie from the pocket of his suit.
"Now, it's all about life's little pleasures..." he said preparing to light up.
"It'll have to wait..." a dark figure came out behind the doorway. The man was all in black and wore a matching mask concealing his face.
"What the-"
A gun was shown from the intruder's hand and a shot soon rang.
Jameson gasped and for a split second saw a hole had been made to the right side of his chest.
"This is just...great." he rolled his eyes and fell down.
The shooter left bolting out the door and knocked over a secretary and a few office associates as he did.
"Mr. Mayor!" an aide came to him.
Jameson groaned.
"You're shot!" an officer worker said worried.
"Call an ambulance!" another man said.
"For what?!" Jameson said grimacing and sitting upright. He took out a zippo lighter from his breast pocket. The lighter had a bullet hole to it rendering it useless.
"I doubt they can defibrillate this thing..." he said sighing. "It was my last one, dammit! Ain't that a crime or what!"
"What are the odds?" someone asked.
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, now shut up! Why's everyone so amazed and worried all of a sudden? Don't these punks know I'm hard to kill? All of you should have known that from the get-go. Now help me up, I got a city to run."
The man stood in the middle of Miles Warren's office looking embarrassed. Not to mention anxiety creeping in on him. Several people including Miles Warren were watching the news. Warren then turned it off.
"Jameson survived." Miles nodded. "The chance of another hit upon him is now low given the amount of security he has on him now."
Nels sighed and he could see where this was going to go. "I can only imagine you're disappointed in me."
Miles merely looked at him in all earnestness and admiration. "In what?"
He looked startled and proceeded carefully to remind him. "I failed to kill Jameson."
"On the contrary, I'd rather be disappointed if you hadn't tried. Do not worry. The fact that you tried says everything."
"When I'm hired to do something, I perform it to the best of my ability. Now, I know that's been said time and time again but growing up in a bad town in the city, not doing anything is deadly."
"Couldn't agree more." Warren got up. "To me that suggests you're worthy."
"Worthy, sir?"
"What do you know about Norman Osborn?"
"Big fan of him and what he's done for the city and to the world. Shame he's gone."
"Even the greatest of titans should fall. But the empire? That's another story. You are worthy as a disciple, Mr. Van Adder. You see, Norman Osborn has spoken to me..."
"Norman Osborn? How?" Nels said rather appalled. "Impossible! He's-"
"Beyond me and mere mortals. And yet, he has managed to communicate to tell me that it is time for the next level to begin and you will be a big part of that."
Suddenly his arms were grabbed by two heavy imposing bodyguards. "Hey what the-?! What is this?!"
"Your reward, Mr. Van Adder." Miles held up a syringe filled with red fluid. "This was the last of the serum Mendel Stromm had in his possession. A prototype. Norman Osborn never used it and at the moment, for the interests of science..."
Van Adder's sleeve was rolled upward.
"...it must be utilized.
The needle stuck into the man's skin and he let out a loud scream.