"Are you sure it's this way?".
"Absolutely. With the resources of the temporary alliance between Symkaria and Latveria, it's hard to lose track of someone like him. The signal we intercepted from the alliance hasn't flanked at any point but we still have to keep a low profile, remember we're not with them."
"Well, I guess I should trust the one with 'Agent' in his alias."
"Haha, very funny."
Andi rolled her eyes and decided to follow her mentor silently. She was already kind of tired of all her attempts to raise his spirits not turning out in the least.
Of course, it didn't mean she didn't understand how he felt. He had just been resurrected a short time ago only to find out that his best friend was in one of the worst times of his life and his ex-girlfriend was expecting a child by her ex-husband who, in the young woman's opinion, was a jerk.
As if that wasn't bad enough for him, he had to watch as she was nearly killed by Carnage. Fortunately, him powers could heal almost any wound which healed her physical body in time and she struggled to heal the spiritual side that had also been wounded by the symbiote unleashed by Cletus Kasady.
It had been hard going to the underworld seeking to sell her Hell Mark in exchange for her being able to return to her body and not be left in a vegetative state. Several offered her pacts, among them Mephisto himself, but in the end she received help did not expect.
Doctor Strange and Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider who once ruled hell, offered she a helping hand.
She had no idea what they did, but was gone. The Mark of Hell was gone and it was no longer hurting his current symbiote, Scream.
That was how she had come here, on a personal mission to Europe to hunt down one of the individuals responsible for the chaos in Latveria and Symkaria as well as in the forced removal of Wilson Fisk as mayor of New York.
Not that that was a bad thing.
"Come on Flash, I'm doing my best here, at least give me a hand."
Flash Thompson, the Agent Anti-Venom, turned his head and focused his gaze on Andi before pulling back his symbiote and exposing his face.
He didn't look good; he had large dark circles under his eyes, his hair was long and he had a poorly shaved beard. The only bright spot was that he hadn't relapsed into alcoholism, although Andi thought it was because he had been too busy with Carnage's most recent move.
With a weary sigh, Flash approached Andi.
"I know, I know...and I thank you for it. It's hard, but I'll be able to get through this, I just need time, okay?".
"... Sure, if there's one thing you've learned well, it's to get up whenever you fall."
He didn't say anything at those words, but he was tempted to. He wanted to talk about him.
Just as he was about to let go and say it, the bracelet on his wrist began to emit a low frequency beep that only they could hear thanks to their symbiotes. The frequency was set so that it wouldn't hurt them.
"Just as I thought, I was in this hotel. Hidden in plain sight, huh?".
He may have been a master of disguise but even so it wasn't easy for him to outwit certain technologies, especially when they were built by a lunatic genius from another universe.
If anything, it surprised both of them that their employer had and provided them with such efficient technologies to pursue this person. After all, it was Flash who had suggested it and he wouldn't lie that it was more of a whim.
The game of The Chameleon wasn't over yet and Agent Anti-Venom knew it.
"Huh, he really likes to impersonate an old lady."
Scream and Agent Anti-Venom watched as The Chameleon looked back and forth as he walked around a corner between a bar and the hotel they saw him leave.
They both made a clicking sound with their mouths, it couldn't be a positive sign at all.
"Andi, you go for the roof, I'll confront him head on to give you the opportunity. Consider this your test."
Scream's carrier nodded to her mentor, then let the symbiote cover her entire body and took a big leap.
Standing alone, Flash approached at a normal pace to the place where The Chameleon intended to hide. To the agent's surprise, he didn't hide, he simply stood in the middle of that spot without having on the disguise from a few minutes ago.
'What the fuck...?'.
"Flash Thompson, 'the agent out of this world' finally comes home. How was your new trip with The Guardians of the Galaxy? Wait, you didn't go with them, Osborn killed you...".
"Cut the worthless talk already Chameleon. I'll make you answer for all his crimes."
"Hmph, too bad, I thought death would change your Boy Scout attitude. I guess it can't be helped, it was having too much faith in a guy who idolizes Spider-Man."
Without making a sound, Scream stood behind The Chameleon's back ready to knock him unconscious.
Just as he was about to make his move, a smile appeared on the impersonator's face and he simply clenched his right fist.
Instantly, Agent Anti-Venom and Scream began to writhe and collapsed in pain.
"I thought with all you two have been through, you'd be immune to the vibrations. Oh well, there goes another disappointment", he said dropping the device that emitted the painful sound. "Do you like it? It was a last gift from my deceased colleague, Karl Fiers."
Andi gave him an angry look and forced herself to address a few words to him.
"... F-Fiers didn't have access to tegnology like this... you fucking pathological liar."
"Wow, you got me."
Feigning innocence, The Chameleon walked up to Andi and delivered a sharp kick to her jaw to shut her up.
"Son of a...", Flash couldn't complete what he wanted to talk about as he ended up getting kicked too, only he got kicked twice, both in the jaw and in the stomach.
Dusting off his gray business suit, The Chameleon checked his watch finding it was time to go.
"Well, this was a total waste of time", he said pulling out a briefcase which he hid behind some trash cans. Briefly, Flash could see the briefcase open leaving to his knowledge that the contents were several advanced technology devices. "The battery on that emitter will run out in about ten minutes, but I'll be long gone by then."
As he was about to disappear from the sight of both symbiote carriers, the villain chose to speak once more.
"By the way, they're following the wrong lead... You should have checked Fiers' body, so you'll know it wasn't me who killed him. Oh, and that emitter? It was a little gift some bastard got from Alchemax, they should take a look at it when he stops tormenting you."
Flash stood up leaning against a wall. He really wanted to go after The Chameleon but it would be foolish, the pain would make him collapse again before he reached him.
"W-why...?".
"Why give you this information? Ha, let's just say I don't like imposters which is ironic."
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Sigh... I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore."
With support from Dylan, Eddie stood up. All eyes turned to him in that instant.
"I have a confession to make. There is another reason I am here present beyond exaggerated concerns about The Chameleon coming to make use of symbiotes."
"What's going on Brock? I know you're a little paranoid but if you have an even more fickle motive then I'll know you're even more so now", Mockingbird told him.
"Ouch, that hurts. But... no, my motives have nothing to do with worries. Well, at least not mine."
"Mr. Brock, may we know what you're referring to?", Steve Rogers asked politely.
Eddie hesitated a little again. Dylan walked over to him and nodded, he had to tell them sooner or later.
"You see... I already sent people after The Chameleon."
In an instant, Carol, Thor, Tony and Teresa looked at Eddie doubtfully, as if telling him to choose his next words wisely.
Unconsciously, Dylan moved closer to Venom who was in his dog form in case the situation got out of hand.
"... I take it back, the paranoid ones are them."
"Bobby!", cried Teresa in embarrassment, but it was embarrassment from trying to contain her laughter.
"Okay, before this turns into an episode of The Office, I must ask the question I'm sure we all have in mind", said Iron Man. "How? No offense Brock but you don't have the resources to 'send people' after villains."
"¿...? I thought... you guys would know."
Eddie looked doubtfully at the rest of the superheroes in the room, wanting to believe they were playing a bad joke on him.
He couldn't reason that this information hadn't gotten back to them but upon further thought, it wasn't unusual. Everything had happened during "The Fall of the King" and to this day, the information about everything that happened that day was confusing.
"Know what?", said T'Challa.
"When The Finisher and The Chameleon made The Foreigner's casino their stronghold to attack Fisk", Dylan began to recount. "Someone who was on their side attacked one of Alchemax's warehouses that contained some very peculiar technology."
To everyone, the boy's shudder as he finished speaking did not go unnoticed. At that, Eddie placed a hand on his son's shoulder to try to comfort him.
"The warehouse contained technology left behind by that bastard The Maker."
Reed clenched his teeth and fists at hearing that name again. The rest of the Fantastic 4 shared his emotions about it.
"And apparently, someone snuck out. Dylan was nearby so he got to see the whole thing, especially how that guy took on Clash and beat him."
"Wait, Clash?", interrupted Bobbi looking puzzled. "What no that guy had disappeared after his whole show at Parker Industries?".
"I thought so too, but apparently he's now one of Alchemax's watchdogs. Or at least a temporary one from what he told Venom."
Captain America watched as Eddie wanted to tell him something with his eyes, something they needed to talk about in private.
"Okay, okay, we get the point. Mysterious attacker and tech from a bad Mister Fantastic. How does that relate to the fact that you sent someone after The Chameleon?"
A bit fed up with the tone the Iron Avenger was using, the God of Symbiotes grabbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.
"Excuse me if I bore you Stark, it's not my fault Flash Thompson and Andi Benton wanted to go after The Chameleon himself for stealing a few Alchemax devices and some files from old Oscorp."
Iron Man was quiet after that, even making some people think his armor had been deactivated.
"Heh, you deserved that", Captain Marvel taunted him.
"Hold on", Jonnhy Storm finally noticed something they had missed in the older Brock's words. "Did you say it was The Chameleon who robbed that warehouse?".
"That's right."
"But that's impossible", Susan argued. "He would have had to have been in the casino."
Eddie shook his head.
"When Dylan saw this guy, The Foreigner's casino had barely appeared over New York. In fact, if I make the timing add up, it was just as Spider-Man, Daredevil and Jessica Jones were taking on Jack O'Lantern, Chance and The Foreigner himself."
"When they were sent to the mainland as a distraction...", Steve connected the points. "And when he disappeared?"
"Hmm... By that time the casino had been taken down and the Kingpin along with his goons were keeping their attackers at bay. Let's say about 30 minutes before he was
left comatose."
"And the warehouse was nearby", Dylan added.
No one wanted to add anything.
The information was too confusing because as of today, it had not been possible to question The Chameleon about his motives for attacking the Kingpin but at the same time trying to take control of both Latveria and Symkaria, and now he was adding the theft of technology from The Maker and information from the dismantled Oscorp.
Their actions made no sense, it was what was on everyone's mind.
"That's the last time we do that."
"But it was fun!".
"... It pains me to say it, but I agree with her."
The silence was such that four new voices were heard in the distance. Gradually, the people who were talking came into the meeting room.
"I kinda missed this place."
The first to enter was the emerald super heroine, Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk.
To everyone's surprise, she looked different than when she left alongside Silver Sable. Instead of her purple sports bra and shorts —also purple—, she was wearing a full body sports suit with the colors blue and black, similar to the Fantastic 4 costume. In addition, she seemed to have lost muscle mass reaching an intermediate between her original self and her more recent "wild form".
Behind her were Valeria and Franklin Richards who ran directly to hug their parents. They looked very happy.
And the last person who came with them...
"... Hello Victor", Reed greeted dryly.
Victor Von Doom entered the meeting room with a stoic expression.
Sooner or later it would happen, he would have to come to Avengers Mountain to report on how things were going in Latveria. Still, it was awkward having a supervillain diagonal anti-hero in this place but it had to be accepted.
They knew Victor's ego was too much to leave it all up to Silver Sable, this part included.
"Oh, I don't like this", Teresa muttered to Mockingbird.
Slowly, Doom began to pace until he approached Reed who rose from his seat and glared at him.
When the ruler of Latveria reached into the bag he was carrying, the Fantastic 4 stood at attention. Contrary to them, Franklin and Valeria looked at them amused.
"... They wanted me to give this to them because they made me carry it... 'Sigh', this is very humiliating for Doom."
Dr. Doom set a tub of ice cream down on the side of the table between Susan and Reed as he put a hand to his face and walked over to the holographic player.
"Doom just...".
"Yeah."
"... You guys went, didn't you", Ben Grimm looked at Susan and Reed's children.
"We wanted ice cream and the road was long", Valeria replied.
"Heck, it's the first time he's actually done something a godfather would do."
As the Fantastic Family and the rest of the superheroes came out of shock at the bizarre thing that had just happened, Victor inserted a USB drive into the projector and started talking backwards.
"We have the results of the Karl Fiers autopsy", he said.
Everyone turned to look at him, this was of great importance in piecing together the absurd puzzle of that expert imposter.
"Silver Sable and I came to the conclusion that everything here has to do with some project."
"What's that?", asked T'Challa pointing to what was in the plastic bag Doom left on the table.
"This, King T'Challa, is the only thing we got from Fiers. A memory unit that someone hid in his body and Doom suspects that someone was the one who killed him."
The various files contained in the found memory began to be displayed on the projector.
At first they were strange images and test results, ranging from a baby's hands and feet to blood tests, weight, height and activity cycle.
There were also some notes about the Life Foundation's activities which made Eddie and Dylan know it couldn't be any good.
At the end, there was the name of this project which was spoken by Teresa Parker.
"Project MAH302...".
... ... ...
... ... ...
"You know, despite everything, seeing you like this, I can't hate you no matter how much I try to force myself. I still reject you, but I can't hate someone who has nothing left."
Richard Fisk stared at his father, he looked so comfortable in that bed, as if he was in the best sleep he'd had in decades.
As for Richard himself, he didn't look so good. He was still dealing with some Bullseye related stuff and looking for a way to make contact with the two Daredevils.
If he didn't succeed, his plan couldn't get off the ground.
At first he thought about contacting other heroes, be it Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, Clint Barton or Spider-Man but after mulling it over, he saw that it wasn't a viable option.
The first three because he was sure to be beaten before he could explain and Spider-Man was laying low since his fight against The Chameleon.
Rumor had reached his ears that he had been replaced, that was the only explanation some of his thugs could find for the Spider-Man spotted 3 nights ago in Washington, D.C.
Red suit with dark blue and a black spider extending from his heart, that was the description given.
"I... I made you a promise when I got to the office where you ended up like this and I'm determined to keep it", Richard said as he stood up, leaving behind a ring and necklace.
Both were his late mother's.
"I will destroy everything you built as the Kingpin and the Fisk family name will get redemption, that's my promise", those words were directed more to himself than to Wilson.
As he walked out of the hospital room, he could see quite a few staff heading to a single room at the end of the hallway.
They all looked pale and panicked, carrying all kinds of equipment from injections, gauze, even an oxygen machine.
A young nurse approached Wilson Fisk's room as she tried to calm his breathing, she had probably been told to keep watch and take care of the former mayor while the veteran staff attended to the emergency.
"Excuse me lady", Richard approached her. "What's going on?".
"... Someone attacked a-a patient...".
... ... ...
... ... ...
He could not organize his thoughts.
He was aware but that only made the experience more hellish.
Still, Norman Osborn knew he deserved this.
To find out how he ended up prostrate in a hospital bed covered almost entirely in bandages, have to go back to that day.
The Plague of Sins.
Harry, Carlie Cooper and he were at Ravencroft trying to figure out what the hell had happened. Norman was sure that "Harry" was now calling himself Kindred, so they all agreed to talk to Spider-Man to find out if something was going on.
When they confirmed their suspicions, an impulse came over Norman. At superhuman speed he told Harry to call his wife and with Carlie to get away from Ravencroft as soon as possible.
What happened next let him know he had done well.
A wave of Kindred's followers attacked him as they kept proclaiming that his time to face his sins had expired, so now he must pay with his life.
He still had the Goblin serum coursing through his veins, so he was able to defend himself at least for a while.
But it wasn't long either.
Without his equipment and still wounded from Kindred's escape, the followers quickly overtook him, they were determined to kill him.
The only thing that could stop them was Spider-Man defeating the center of it all, Kindred himself.
While they didn't beat him for long, the blows they inflicted on him had caused a brain concussion, internal bleeding, a punctured lung, a broken arm and ribs, just to name a portion of his condition.
"Hell Norman, seeing you in this state makes me even feel a little sorry for you... Nah, not really, why would I empathize with a monster?".
The —supposedly— retired Green Goblin's eyes slowly opened looking from side to side in search of the person to whom said voice belonged.
"Ah, you really don't recognize me just by listening to me? Geez, looks like Sin-Eater really scrambled your brain."
Out of nowhere came a man of average height dressed in a gray business suit. Norman panicked when he saw his face.
A gray mask that made him look as if he had no face.
There was no doubt, it was The Chameleon.
"Y-you-!"
"Sssshhh, don't strain yourself", with a single step, he approached Norman's bed holding a pillow that he was nothing away from putting over his head. In one swift motion, he set the pillow down and simply stood there.
He was trying but his brain was betraying him. If he called a nurse it would do no good, The Chameleon would kill him before he could warn and call the police. He thought about the cameras in the room only to lose hope when he saw that they were destroyed, the wires had been cut.
A physical confrontation was pointless, he would explode all the wounds that were not yet 100% healed.
Norman Osborn had no idea what to do.
"It's poetic to see you like this, you know, defeated, living in the shadows because of your pseudo redemption but trying to get close to your grandson believing that someday you'll have a bond with him."
"Don't m-mette Normie into this...".
"Why wouldn't I? The brat was of value when that 'Maximun Carnage' almost screwed us and there are those for whom he still has value, too bad they're not here yet."
"What?"
"Ah? Oh, forget what I said. It's stuff from my new employer. She's really got a great plan, you know."
Norman was going to keep asking her these questions in order to buy time but he stopped suddenly. A horrible pang invaded his entire lower body in a moment.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Looking at the place from where it came from, he found a purple dagger stuck in his left leg.
"It has a very efficient poison, you won't be able to move for at least about three hours. Oh, and if you produce too much adrenaline, your heart will stop."
Concentrating on the pain, Norman didn't see the blow to his right hand coming.
He didn't even scream but he really wanted to, probably one or three fingers had been broken.
"Hehehehe... I really want to hurt you a lot more. It's so, so tempting to blow your breasts off", from his suit jacket he pulled out a simple pistol that had a silencer. "But no, I know well that despite ruining many lives, including mine, you deserve to live a long life... A very long life for you to see how you get nothing of what you want."
Another punch, now in the face.
"Now that I mentioned it, you know one of the things I find most sickening about everything you've ever done, Norman? About everything you've ever wanted? The way you manipulated the life of that snooty blonde, I think her name was Gwen."
The current Ravencroft headmaster's whole body began to shake. He didn't even mind the punch The Chameleon gave him on the nose.
"Make her believe that she had something with you, keep expanding this belief even after her death. Ha, something tells me that even you yourself came to believe it...", Norman's eyes wandered slightly, that just formed a smile on the impostor's face. "Sick, you really believed it? What a surprise, another egomaniacal businessman who goes after young women in his twisted fantasies, although yours was on another level."
Another punch in the face. Now his lips were bleeding.
"And finally, what you think you did to a mere baby? That really has no name. I mean, it's not like I care about disappearing Spider-Man's newborn daughter, but I probably would have raised her as a Chameleon, not do what... you think you did."
This time there was no punch.
"I know what you really did to her and let me tell you Osborn, my employer is very interested in that. She says it's her 'continentis perfecti' ".
The gun he had been holding was placed to Norman's temple. His finger was on the trigger and he looked uneasy making clear the intent to fire if he didn't give her an answer that pleased her.
"Where is Project MAH302 located?".
"... Queens, near the World's Fair..."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Having everything he was looking for, The Chameleon hit him with the gun knocking him unconscious, he didn't care if the hospital staff arrived in time or not.
"Well, I've got to hurry up and get to Queens because this family man thing isn't my thing...", he said to himself as he stormed out of Osborn's room. "Hang in there a little longer, then you'll have a future Chameleon...".
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Were you really taking his work as a basis?", Peter, wearing a lab coat over his classic red and blue suit, asked Otto.
"I may already have some fragments of the method I used to create my previous previous body but they're still a bit of a blur."
"No, no. I'm not blaming you for anything, it's just that you know, it's a little awkward... using the Jackal method."
Beyond what Miles Warren had done to him in the beginning, most of Peter's discomfort came from remembering the actions of someone he might have come to think of as his brother.
What Ben Reilly had done as the second Jackal was still very much on his mind.
"Yeah, I knew that but I was desperate, you know, I've got a life meter for this body and apparently I don't have more than six days left...".
"I told you, it doesn't matter, could we say this is your own method? I mean, you're adding something new like Krakoa's medicine is", Spidey didn't help but think of a doubt that had been in the back of his mind. "Come to think of it, why Krakoa medicine, Otto? I've heard how miraculous it is but I don't see how it fits in here."
"...You mean you've been looking at his cells through a microscope without understanding what it was all this time?"
"Don't change the subject."
'Huh... this thing is the medicine? But... it has such weird integrity. For a moment I thought it was something from a plant or fungus because of the speed at which it duplicates, regenerates and attacks other malignant cells', thought the arachnid hero.
"Heh, I heard the medicine was used in cancer treatments and after checking it out, it came to my mind that by getting to its core I could make it work so that it accelerated cell growth without risk of accelerated degradation."
"Oh, that makes sense."
Shrugging, Peter went back to work.
"So if this is like a Krakoan plant, it should have something similar to chloroplasts but adapted to Gen X or something...".
"Eureka!"
Peter stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Octavius shout.
"What now?"
"That's Pete, the chloropasts! That's where I'll find what I'm looking for!".
'Did call me Pete?'.
Using his bare hands instead of steel tentacles, Otto typed out some sort of formula for a while with Spider-Man remaining silent knowing what he was doing.
In about 13 minutes, the formula was ready.
"This is... With this it is possible to get my old body back."
Spidey had no idea what to say.
At times he doubted what he had been doing here. Was Otto not being too friendly with him? Was he doing wrong by covering for him and not telling Logan that he was responsible for the theft?
With a shake of his head he pushed such thoughts away. Otto looked all too determined to prove he could be more than a supervillain all his life.
He really wanted to earn the title of hero and was aware it would not be an easy thing if not quite the opposite.
"What are we waiting for?", said Spider-Man with his mask raised to show what a smile he had. "Let's bring back the Inferior Spider-Man."
" 'Sigh', now you're going to torment me with that. Too bad the Scarlet Spider title has already been taken... twice, hehe."
... ... ...
... ... ...
"Agh!".
Beetle's mask twitched a little at the curses she was saying to the one who had thrown it against a beam.
This had been a really bad day for the Syndicate: they discovered that ,for some reason, Kraven the Hunter's daughter was after them. As if that wasn't bad enough, White Rabbit had suggested asking for help from someone with experience dealing with the Kravinoffs, of course, that was worth a full hour of discussion.
And finally, when it all seemed to be over, they were ambushed by something or someone that seemed to have come out of the darkness of the night.
"My, you really changed Electro", said the person who ambushed them. From her voice, she deduced it was a woman.
In the rafters of the ceiling she could see how the woman moved nimbly with the support of what appeared to be purple webbing.
"Did you know someone had plans for you? Hmph, it was going to be too forced, forcing them to team up with guys who want to kill. Too bad, the ego of villains and villainesses is sometimes greater than the hatred they have for some hero."
The woman showed her hand that seemed to be clothed by the shadows of the night. In it, she held... a dead centipede.
"This little thing was a gift from the guy who died when I tried to help him. Ha, what a klutz, he'd rather die than take me up on my offer to take down the superhero who caused him so many headaches. Oh, and he could see his daughter or something."
As she said it, she pointed to a pile of sand lying in one of the corners of the warehouse.
"But you guys aren't going to be like him, are you?".
Beetle wanted to scream at her and order the rest of the Syndicate to attack her but she could sense how dangerous she was, she knew that would be a foolish action.
"I said. Didn't. I?".
Janis took a step back on instinct.
Out of nowhere that woman appeared in front of her holding against her neck a piece of that purple web only this one was coming straight out of her fingers.
She felt it, the web was irritating her skin and emitted a smell that made her dizzy, she deduced that it was because it was poisonous and corrosive.
"... Yes...".
She couldn't tell if he was smiling or not, the only thing visible on his face were those two eyes like lantern.
"Now you can rejoice", she said as he stood on the highest ledge in the place. "When the Spider Wasp rules over the Web, you guys can proudly say you were a stepping stone."
"You guys...?", confused, Electro looked around trying to find someone else.
She could see three different groups.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"I listened to one of your podcasts the other day. It's nice that... you're still so passionate about telling the news."
"Did you just call me a screamer in a fancy way?".
"Oh look, this looks delicious."
J. Jonah Jameson rolled his eyes as his question was ignored by the woman seated across the small table.
He was still intrigued as to what Betty Brant wanted to tell him.
He had the day off today and while he expected that at any moment Norah Winters would call him asking to do some emergency podcasting, he was grateful that Betty saved him from such a possible situation.
"So Betty, what do you need? You were so nervous when you pulled me out of the Threats and Menaces offices."
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, I was just getting a little tense watching you yelling at that poor intern. You know, pregnancy stuff and such...".
The former Daily Bugle boss couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, he didn't have a good feeling about his former secretary trying to deflect the subject.
"Betty, seriously, what's going on?".
The aforesaid stopped her flipping through the menu of the cafeteria they were in.
She was tense, folding the edges of the menu and with her lips trying to open to speak only to close on the spot.
"Did Ned do something to you? Because if so, I'm calling the police right now."
It was no secret to anyone that Jonah wasn't convinced that Ned Leeds wanted a normal life together with Betty.
Going back in time, he realized that their marriage was broken from the start and even when eed was given the opportunity to fix things, he simply dismissed it.
Since then he had been very attentive to the man and that he didn't lay a hand on Betty. Norah knew this, not for nothing did she spit out her coffee when she saw Jonah's PC full of news about abuse in a relationship.
"No... Ned hasn't done anything."
"Hphm, that's an a-."
"But I feel uncomfortable, he's been acting a little strange."
"Define 'strange' for a man who came back from the dead."
Betty let out a weary sigh. She had memorized her partner's strange behaviors that listing them again made her feel sick.
"He comes late to the apartment, spends hours tucked away in the other room he now calls his 'private study' and sometimes I hear him mumbling things I don't understand."
She forgot to mention that the former Hobgoblin had been acting like this since the day The Foreigner had been following him. That is, the same day The Chameleon and The Finisher had made their move.
"Hmm... Very suspicious", Jonah said then took a sip of his coffee. "Do you think he might be involved with some criminal network? I hear there's a lot of sides forming now that Wilson Fisk is out of the game and Tombstone is keeping a low profile."
"I'd like to say no but... god", not caring that anyone else might see her, she let out a few tears. "Why did I go back to him? I thought I'd finally changed, that everything would be like that time at the Daily Bugle again."
Betty clutched the bridge of her nose obviously mortified. At times like this she could simply shake her head and flash a fake smile at how naive she had been.
"... Listen, no one blames you for your decisions. The last time I saw Parker he told me how happy you looked and hey, everyone has a right to pursue their happiness or something", Jonah had a point of reference for that last one. "That's what my father and daughter believed."
"Wow Jonah, it's weird to see you so philosophical."
"Don't read too much into it. My point is that you shouldn't be blaming yourself for something like that."
"I get it but still... What if Ned is into something bad? I'm afraid for my baby."
Something clicked in Jameson's mind after mulling it over for a bit. The last time he had used it nothing had gone right but the circumstances were different.
"I think I have something that might help you."
... ... ...
... ... ...
His skull burned like hell.
He had left with such peace, having made something of a pass at his lifelong enemy and knowing that the person he loved most in this world would be okay.
And then that bitch had brought him back just to make him suffer.
First, without knowing how it had gotten there, she pulled a centipede out of his ear. The centipede seemed to be long dead despite being preserved but his biggest question was, how had it gotten there?
Secondly, he had somehow put it together once again. He hadn't used science if not some weird magic that he didn't care to understand if he wanted to retain what little sanity he had left.
He had told her very clearly that had he wanted to, he would have brought him back completely but in his current state it was enough to fulfill his purpose and once he did, he would finish completing it.
Of course, he refused.
He had been there at his end and had been sincere.
He might still not like her but he wouldn't attack Spider-Man just because a crazy woman in a suit made of shadows told him to.
When he refused, he suffered agonizing pain from the curious webbing the woman who called herself Shathra produced from her fingers.
He had to get out of there and he saw an alternative; to let himself slip into unconsciousness and pretend that this temporary resurrection had not worked.
Apparently she bought it because she was able to walk away without him noticing, only leaving behind an inert piece of sand.
"I can feel it, I don't have much time... I need to find someone, whoever."
William Baker, better known as Flint Marko and Sandman, was desperate.
Not just for his own well-being, but for what this woman had in mind. If someone didn't stop her in time, tomorrow after noon New York would be a disaster zone.
"Funny, you found someone already."
That voice.
That damned voice he never wanted to hear again.
Sketchy form and all, Flint turned sharply to glare hatefully at the man who had had the gall to speak to him so casually.
"How dare you."
He so hated to see that white cloth patterned with phosphorescent green.
"It's nice to see you too William."
That night, the resurrected Sandman had met The Superior Octopus.
... ... ...
... ... ...
"No Fred, I'm not going to buy Fallout 76 from you."
"Oh come on! I hear the game is doing really well now."
"Maybe but A) I don't have any money, B) aren't you kind of rich?".
"... I lost almost all my money on that trip to Las Vegas I took over the weekend."
Peter felt so much like grabbing one of his roommate's boomerangs and throwing it at his head.
To retaliate, he grabbed Fred's controller and pulled the batteries out before he could react.
"What the hell dude?! I lost my streak!!!".
"Too bad, it sure will be a lot of grief for you staying up all night playing video games while I try to sleep and Randy curls up with his pillow while crying about how cold Janis is or Gog's fits."
"Hey!", from the kitchen the third occupant of the apartment was heard to stay.
"No, Pete's right, it's normal for your pillow to be full of snot and tears", Fred said.
Randy could only be heard to make a whimper pretending how hurt he was.
"By the way Peter, I hear you're finally going back to dating."
The wallcrawler almost choked when he heard Fred, it wasn't possible for him to know because it had been something only he and Felicia had agreed to yesterday on a rooftop.
"W-what? Where are you getting that from?".
"You were talking in your sleep last night, something about a date with a platinum goddess or something."
At that moment, a sharp pain hit the web-head. It wasn't like when his Spidey Sense was going crazy, it was a pure pain that came from deep inside his head to understand throughout his body.
"... And how was it that you heard me?".
"Peter, as soon as you arrived you opened the door to your room and fell unconscious, you were really exhausted."
"Oh god. Listen, whatever it was you heard me talking to myself... just forget it, will you?"
With a pessimism that came out of nowhere, Peter retreated to his room to think a little more clearly.
As soon as he entered, he shut the door tightly and sat on the edge of his bed holding his head and imploring the pain to go away already.
As a form of mockery to his pleas, the pain only continued to grow and this time it began to drive him mad. Not enough, the sensation that something was coursing through his skin began to set in.
That's when it happened.
Everything went blank.
Everything went silent.
Everything was covered by small spiders that quickly and evenly formed a giant fist.
Peter didn't have enough time to react and was hit by the fist although it seemed to just go right through him.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a blank space and was wearing his Spider-Man costume but it was radically different.
The fabric was a very dark purple, almost like black. Upon closer inspection, the color had a lot of similarity to obsidian. The web pattern as well as the spiders on its chest and back were golden, as if they had been made of gold.
Out of sheer curiosity, Peter touched the spider on his chest confirming that it was solid gold.
"This goes beyond ten on my weirdness meter."
"Aaaaaaaagh!!!!".
Alarmed by the scream of pain, Spider-Man searched for the source of it all over the place where previously there was nothing.
What he found left him speechless.
There she was, Shathra.
She was posing triumphantly as she put more and more force into her leg crushing the chest of a man in a suit Peter recognized well.
It was the same suit worn by Ezekiel Simms in another universe but he could feel it, an instinct told him so.
That wasn't Ezekiel from another universe, that was the one he had met years ago.
"Take a good look at him, Uru!", Shathra exclaimed euphorically. "Your champion has fallen!".
The scene began to shift to the temple where Peter and Ezekiel had last clashed.
The memory was clear enough for the wall-crawler, he couldn't forget how that man tried to take his place as the Spider Totem only for him, in the end, to be left behind and accept the punishment of the nameless spider god they called The Guardian.
However, the scene something different. The afternoon sun was beating down on the temple as The Guardian stood motionless, slowly disappearing.
Reality seemed to freeze as from the chest of the unknown spider god emerged a delicate but bent hand. Then the other hand emerged revealing that both hands were held together all the time.
Whoever it was came into full view only a moment later.
It was a dark-skinned woman, dressed in clothes of fine cloth but devoid of all color. Her hands moved erratically as she went about her never-ending task: weaving.
All information about her identity came to Peter Parker's mind like an electric shock.
She was She Who Always Weaves beyond the Web of Life and Destiny, The Princess Uru.
He watched as the princess began to weave with increasing speed until she formed a male body wearing that costume.
Ezekiel slowly stood up looking at both Princess Uru and The Guardian, clearly intrigued as to what was going on.
To the older man's uncertainty, The Guardian stomped on the temple steps and reality began to break down to that blank space where Peter started.
Simms tried to look to Uru for answers but she did not say a word to him, she simply nodded her head to where he should go.
Resigned, he walked and walked so long that it seemed like an eternity. That empty space seemed endless.
Or so he thought until he came across her.
Chained to a stone wall with a spider engraved on it was Shathra.
Ezekiel recognized her bindings as the same web spun by Uru and so came to a logical assumption.
When Peter and he ambushed the Spider Wasp in the temple and she was eaten by spiders, she returned to the plane where she belonged, this time chained for her crimes against The Center.
Then, when Ezekiel was killed by The Guardian, She Who Always Weaves united he spirit with Shathra's so that she would never cause trouble again. He had become something like the one in charge of keeping the Spider Wasp at bay, at least until Uru could find someone better suited for the job.
The recent weakness of The Center caused by Kindred's actions had given Shathra enough power to break her bonds which led to a fierce battle that lasted, in Earth time, weeks.
As Simms fell, his spirit was finally consumed by The Guardian and the Spider Wasp's passage to Earth was finally free.