nicholasm1198 - Thank you for your kind review. As of right now, we are approaching four months post accelerator explosion. Meaning in six months, Barry will wake up. And with my certain timeline, I might jump ahead a few months (or just make him wake up sooner and skip the difference) in the next few chapters. I'd say at least 5/10 more chapters before Barry wakes up. As for Barry's relationship...it's still in the air. (Whisper: I already have an idea where it's gonna land. But I don't wanna rock the boat.)
Back in the city, Peter had just dropped off Bobby back at the place that the betting slip led him to. Bobby is hoping to talk to Mark before he gets in too deep with his gambling and gets sucked into debt as Liz said.
Peter on the other hand was going into the sewers. He should have switched positions with Bobby. After Connors went into the sewers, Peter had a suspicion that he would need proof to tell the cops of what he saw. He knew nobody there would believe anything he would say, he would barely believe him if he came in with no proof. Not to mention the fact that Spider-Man is still a wanted criminal after Electro, Shocker, and even the Lizard's attack on the bridge.
Peter made it to an intersection in the sewers where it would be the best place to lay out his trap and cover miles of sewers without his suit getting wet. He shot several strands of webbing down the tunnels leading to the intersection. He also brought his camera and connected it to a web so that when it is shaken, it will snap a picture. Connecting them in the middle of the room, Peter climbed on top of it and started to wait for the next move for him to make.
It was taking longer than he first anticipated. To the point that he just ended up laying down on the web and playing on his phone. Angry Birds; the greatest time savior. But then he felt the sudden vibrations on his web, meaning it was time to act. Getting up, Peter puts on his mask and started to look around as all of his webs started vibrating. Questioning how that was possible, Peter saw a dozen lizards all crawling on his webs and going down one specific tunnel.
Peter was going to crawl and follow them, just for his senses to go off and look around. The Lizard then jumped down and landed on top of Peter, causing his webbing to shake and the camera to go off and take photos. Peter tried to hold the Lizard back and tried to fight, but he was stuck against his webbing and being held down by the creature at his neck, choking him.
"You stopped me once!" Lizard said as his fingers suddenly grew nails to start cutting him. "You won't stop me again." He then sliced his nails down Peter's suit, tearing a portion of it open. "I'm getting stronger every day!"
Peter then pushed through the pain and ripped the webbing and sent the two of them into the pipe below the web. The two were pushed and tried fighting one another while the current pushed them along the trail of the water. Peter tried to get out using his webbing, but his shooters were shorted out due to the water. In his defense, he never expected to be swinging in the sewers. Punching open a smaller pipe, he was able to get away from the monster.
But it also meant he would be stuck in the sewers even longer, to the point that he was starting to suffocate due to the lack of air. Knocking his head against one of the tunnels, he saw flashes again, almost the same as his dreams. He saw...he saw a woman?
Someone he swears he should know. He has seen that face before. Her smile. Her flowing red hair. He knew her from somewhere. But he couldn't worry about that right now as he finally got out of the water and climbed out to get some real air as he ripped off his mask.
"Who...who the hell was that?" Peter asks, feeling it had something to do with those names: Henry, Nora, and Barry. He's connected to them somehow.
Wait...no.
Could they be? Could these people he's hearing and seeing in his head be connected to his real family?
The Watcher looked down at the experiments the Goblin has created over time and space. "Goblin is responsible for many villains and criminals throughout the universe. Rhino. Scorpion. Even in some cases, using his son to hide his plans. Now with metahumans and the technology in this universe, there is no telling the damage he can do."
Mark and Norvock have been sent over to a location where the Green Goblin had sent them. It was an old police precinct that was abandoned and boarded up in an old part of town.
"We can't go in there," Mark told Norvock. "It's a police station."
"Relax," Norvock said as he pushed a piece of the board away. "Cops don't come by since they got their new place further in town."
The two of them then made their way inside as Norvock tossed Mark into an empty interrogation room. "Wait here. And I'd remove your shirt."
He went up to the other side of the room and came across Otto Octavius, put in charge of this. "I am not sure about this."
"Big Man says what to do, I just follow orders. And so do you." Norvock reminded Otto.
Otto sighed and got to work. "I have created what he has asked. Trust me, it's not easy to come up with nanotechnology in an afternoon. One infusion of these nanobots can be distributed across the subject."
"Whatever that means." Norvock could care less about the Scientifics.
The two of them made it into the room, Otto carrying a syringe with the nanotechnology inside using one of his arms.
"Alright, Mark. Shirt off." Norvock demanded Allen.
Mark did what was asked and looked to Otto. "Are you sure he's a real doctor? This place doesn't look sanitary."
"Trust me. It's a fast and painless procedure." Otto said and took the needle to his arm, injecting it into his arm.
"That it?" Mark asked, surprised that nothing was happening. But then something did happen. His skin started to turn into ash and his body was engulfed in flames while he screamed in terror. "What...what did you do to me?!" He tripped over and burned the table in the room just by touching it before turning to the two of them. "How do I get this off?!"
"Calm down, Allen." Otto tried to calm him down. "You can control it with your mind. Just concentrate."
"Okay..." Mark started to calm down and the fire started to go away and cool him down.
"A calm and concentrated mind can turn it on and off. It's indestructible and renewable." Otto assured Mark.
"Looks like you did your job, doc." Norvock complimented the doctor.
"So... we're square, right?" Mark asked as he put his shirt back on.
"Sure." Norvock supposed and tossed the kid some money. "Here, go bet on that horse of yours. On me."
Mark then left the station and sighed in relief at his luck. Debt cleared, armor to help him in the future, and a one hundred bill.
Peter crawled out of the sewers a while ago and was swinging with three giant claw marks down his chest. With his injuries, he didn't wanna risk getting caught by May going home with the giant scratches until they healed. Knowing Bobby wouldn't be around to help, Peter went to the only person that he believed could help him.
Landing on the fire escape outside her window again, less graceful this time and more tumbling. He landed on the side and knocked on the window as Gwen was working on her computer.
Smiling, she didn't notice the scars and wounds on him. "Come in." Peter opened the window and slipped inside as Gwen was stopping what she was working on. "You should consider coming in through the lobby. My father is already under consideration that you need psychiatric attention."
Peter chuckled at that and slid inside, causing Gwen to notice the tears and scars. "I might have to agree."
"Oh, god!" Gwen said as she ran over to help Peter to her seat. "What happened?"
"You should see the other guy," Peter said as he laid down and Gwen looked over his wounds. "The other guy being a giant mutated lizard."
Gwen ripped the last stitches off his suit and started to tend to his wounds. Peter groaned as she put a wet cloth up to his wounds. She sighed and Peter didn't like the look on her face.
"What?" Peter asked, knowing something was wrong. "I'll be fine, my powers will heal me up."
"Yeah, but it's not guaranteed to always happen." Gwen sighed in sadness. "Peter, every day my father straps a badge to his chest and a gun around his hip. Every day, I would pray that he would make it home."
Peter was starting to understand where she was coming from but wondered what that meant for them. "I understand. What are we gonna do?"
"I'm not quite sure," Gwen admitted, not sure if she could continue a relationship like this with a hero. "I know you can't stop, but...is this really your responsibility? To stop him?"
"This time it actually is," Peter admitted to her. "Because I created him. I gave Connors the formula to turn him into that...thing. It was something my...adopted father was working on...guess the formula wasn't finished. I have to fix it. Make things right."
Gwen didn't like this and looked away from him. "You're gonna need a new suit."
"Got any ideas where I can get one?" Peter asked jokingly.
Gwen smiled and got an idea. "Go home. Rest. I'll think of something."
Back with Mark and Bobby at the horse race, Bobby was looking around to find Mark before he did something he would regret later. Neither of them knew that the Green Goblin himself was there, a remote in his hands as he watched the races.
The races started and Mark watched to see his horse was winning, but he didn't know that Norman himself rigged the game. Placing small explosives around the track, he waited for the right moment to set them off.
When the small unnoticeable explosion went off, the horse Mark bet on tripped and Norman saw this as his chance to activate the nanites remotely. The moment the horse lost and Mark became infuriated, he activated them.
Once they activated, Mark slammed his hands to the railing, causing it to melt at his touch. His clothes scorched away and left him in the fireproof shorts Norvock gave him.
"What?!" Mark asked, trying to calm down. "Go away! Go away!"
This outburst seems to have caught security's attention as they came to detain him. "We're not going anywhere.
Bobby was walking underneath the stairs and heard screams, thinking they were cheers. He strolled around, looking for Mark when he saw the security men fall and parts of their jackets or shirts were on fire as they ran for it.
"Okay...something tells me I'm gonna need some backup for this one," Bobby commented.
While people were running for their lives, Bobby pulled out his phone and sent a text to Peter.
After his talk with Gwen, he did his best to stitch together his suit after Lizard's claws cut through it. He should be focused on Lizard. Focused on finding a way to stop him.
But...that woman. He can't get her out of his head. Using his computer, he googled anything that could be associated with Henry, Nora, and Barry. As a bit of help to narrow it down, he also added in his dreams. The lightning flashes of red, long red hair, and that was when he finally found it.
DOCTOR ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE
NORA ALLEN DIES
That was her. It was her face that he has seen in his dreams. Looking further into it, he finds that the Henry of his dreams is Henry Allen, her husband. And Barry?
Barry Allen. Their son. His brother?
But digging further into it, he discovered that they had another son. One that was kept on a low profile as much as possible. But when he found a photo of the night of Nora's death, he could see Ben in his prime carrying a baby version of Peter (He knew that due to baby photos).
Peter Allen.
He knew he was adopted. There is nothing to deny that.
Could this have been his real family?
Before Peter could get too deep into this, he got a text from Bobby, and he needed his help with a new powered individual.
Back at the races, Mark had made his way onto the tracks where he spooked the horses and caused one of the riders to fall off. He was about to be trampled on by the other horses.
That was when Peter swung in and picked him up, getting him to safety before coming across Mark himself and was shocked at what he was seeing. He was wearing a secondary suit that he made, just in case, anything happened with the other one.
It was a red spandex ice skater suit, the mask covered with two slit eyes, and a blue jacket with a ripped hood. The spider symbol on the chest is made to look smudged, making it appear to be spray painted. The red suit is also given texture, with areas on the shoulders and legs having a lined surface. The web-shooters and belt also have an additional canvas or cloth material.
"Wow, is that an Oscar with my name on it?" Peter asked as he looked over the flaming man. "I was hoping for an Emmy, but Spiders can't be choosers!"
Peter then shot out webbing at the man, only for when they made an impact for his skin to burn them right off. Since Peter had a grip on the webbing, he was sent falling backward and got up to watch Mark approach him.
"This is why we don't play with fire!" Peter declared as he shot out hundreds of strands to try and wrap up Mark, unsure what to do.
"Stay away from me!" Mark said as he pulled Peter, the webs burning off as Peter was sent skidding. Seemed that these nanites also increased his strength. "I need to get to Norvock and get this stuff off me!"
As he went to grab Peter, Bobby had no idea what came over him and he reacted. His hands pointed in his direction; he sent a giant blast of mist over to Mark. The mist of ice hits him, cooling down the armor for a quick second.
"What are you doing?!" Mark asked, suddenly making Bobby realize just who he was facing.
"Mark?" Bobby came forward, a giant mist of ice covering his face so he couldn't be spotted or recognized as he made his way over to Peter. "You okay?"
"Define okay, then get back to me," Peter stated when the mist cleared, and they saw Mark was gone. "We better get out before the cops arrive."
"Good idea," Bobby said as he shot more mist to keep their escape hidden from others. "What about Human Torch boy?"
"I was thinking of naming him Molten Man if anything," Peter commented as they made their escape. "And we don't know where he's going."
"I actually might have an idea," Bobby told him, thinking of somewhere that Mark would go.
Back at the bar, Liz was going to the location herself to talk to her brother. She wanted to figure out if he truly was gambling again and try to stop him. She figured Bobby might try and get involved and she wanted to stop a battle between the two.
"Hey, Liz." A familiar voice to Peter called, getting Liz to look and see that it was Mary.
"Hey, girl, what are you doing here?" Liz wonders.
"Thinking the same to you," Mary commented. "Not the best place for a girl to be walking by herself."
"You're here." Liz reminded her.
"I'm the kind of girl who lives for the danger. And looking out for the ones who shouldn't be here, like you." Mary explained to her.
"Well, I'm looking for my brother," Liz told her and showed an address she got from her brother's room. "Know where it is?"
"Down this way. Come on, you'll need me at this place." Mary said and started to lead her.
At the bar, Mark had exited the place already due to the point that they all ran away at the point of a man of fire entering.
"What's wrong with me?!" Mark asked Norvock. "I can't turn off the armor! Being a freak for life wasn't part of our deal!"
"The deal was you played guinea pig and your debt would be cleared." Norvock reminded him. "Not my fault you're not mentally controlled enough to control it.
That only seemed to steam Mark more (literally and figuratively) as he got ready to strike him. "I'll show you mental control!"
The Green Goblin then chuckled, him being the only other guy in the bar and was currently stirring his drink. "Perhaps we should tell the boy the truth." He then stopped stirring and took a sip of his drink. "You never had control. I just needed to make sure that you believed you did. Otherwise, you would have never gone out in public, and I'd never be able to test my remote."
He then pressed the button on the remote and Mark watched his skin turn to normal and he sighed in relief. "Thank you." But he immediately saw Goblin going in to touch the button again and cried. "Wait! Wait!"
That didn't change Goblin as he pushed the button and Mark cried in pain as the fire turned back on and scorched his body. "So if you ever want me to push this button and get control of your life again, you need to do me a favor...eliminate Spider-Man."
"The web swinger is bad for my business," Goblin said as he just started playing pool. All of the balls going into the holes, apart from one of them that Goblin pointed a finger at and zapped. "And with the rise of these new powerful people such as people like yourself, he's ruining my business."
"Then why don't you take him out?" Mark asks.
"Nothing would please me more," Goblin confesses to him. "But we stick to the plan."
"But Spider-Man's a hero. I don't want to mess with him." Mark tells the Goblin.
"You'll get over it." Goblin scoffed. "Unless you wanna wear that sheet of fire forever."
Mark then went in to punch the Goblin, only for him to leap out of the way and land on his glider. "Please. You're lucky I'm offering this deal. The angrier you get, the harder they become to turn off." That seemed to scare Mark. "And I'm tempted to leave it on to see the long-lasting effects. You're a gambling man. Would you bet on duration or frustration? You'll be able to go back to your life...as soon as Spider-Man is dead. Oh, and don't mention my name. I prefer to leave gifts anonymously."
With that, he flew out the back way just as Peter came swinging in and saw Bobby was right. "Mark Allen?"
He has got to see if there's any relation to his family.
"Just the spider I was looking for," Mark said as he stormed over to Peter.
"Mark, I don't wanna fight." Peter tried to calm him down. "We can get you help."
"I don't need anyone's help!" Mark cried as he tossed the pool table Peter was crouching on and sent it flying.
Peter leaped and landed on the light on the roof, seeing there was no reaching Mark right now.
Norvock sighed at the mess that the two were causing as Mark tossed fireballs at Peter as he kept leaping and dodging the attacks. That only ended with the fireballs hitting the other pool tables around the room.
"Come on, I just got it cleaned from the last mess." Norvock sighed.
"Relax, grouchy," Peter said as he landed on a pillar and tried to use his webbing on Mark again. "We'll be done in a moment." He then turned back to Mark. "You should really chill."
Mark then burned off the webbing and snarked. "You told the wrong guy to chill!" He then leaped and tackled Peter, causing him to cry and fight quickly to get off and see his suit get more scorched.
Outside the bar, Mary and Liz heard the cry and recognized the voice. "Is that Mark?"
"Let's find out," Mary said as she was the first to approach the door and opened it to see the fight between them.
"Listen, I know you owe this guy money!" Peter said as he dodged the fire the best he could.
"Not anymore," Mark replied as he waited for Peter to go in for a kick, only to interrupt and smack him into the bar.
"Ow. This day can't get any worse." Peter cried when he opened his eyes to hear coughing and met with Liz and Mary.
"Hey, tiger." Mary greeted the hero with a smile.
"Right. Because I opened my big mouth." Peter groaned in annoyance.
That's when Mark came back and grabbed him by the leg, throwing him through a pillar. Peter got back up and knew he needed to at least get Mary and Liz out of here before the fire took them down.
"Listen, Molten Man, there are innocent girls back there," Peter tells him, thinking him knowing his sister was in danger might stir him to rethink.
"I'm not falling for that!" Mark stated as he approached the slinger again.
Liz looked up and was shocked as she watched her brother fight off the hero in a burning bar. Peter dodged a swing from Mark and landed near Norvock who was coughing due to the smoke.
"Couldn't get a sprinkler system installed?" Peter asked the guy.
"Hey, I just run the joint, I don't own it," Norvock stated.
Peter then saw a portion of the ceiling crumbling down on the girls and shot a web to stop it like a net. Once it stopped, the two crawled away just as Peter's web snapped. He then looked over to Mark who came out of the flames.
"I gotta get them out of here," Peter said and jumped away from Mark and grabbed the girls. "Come on!" The two got up on the bar and grabbed onto Peter. "Let's get you out of here!"
As he started to escape, Mark was shocked to see that he was telling the truth. "Girls?"
Norvock watched the hero swing away with the girls and was shocked. "Hey, itsy bitsy, what about me?!"
Peter shot a web out and yanked Norvock, nobody left behind, and swung out an opening out of the building before the roof could cave in on all of them.
"Everyone okay?" Peter asked when he looked back at Mark. "Go!"
"Wait!" Liz called out. "He's my brother!"
"Yeah, I figured as much," Peter said to her.
But while he was facing away from the man, Mark shot a giant fireball that sent him flying into a wall. Peter was sent tumbling and crashing into the sidewalk.
"Good. Now they're out of the way, this is between me and you!" Mark went to finish him off when Bobby came in and saw his friend injured.
"Hold it, Mark," Bobby said sternly as he walked up to Mark and stood between him and Peter. "You're not getting near him."
"Bobby, walk away," Mark demanded. "You don't know what you're doing."
"Maybe not. But I won't let you hurt him." Bobby promises, surprising Peter with his bravery.
"Fine." Mark sighed, knowing he couldn't waste any time with this. "Have it your way."
Mark then shot a wall of fire at him, followed by Bobby creating a giant blast of mist toward Mark. That first surprised Mark and curious as to how this happened, but he couldn't focus on that right now. The two powers collided in the center, causing an impasse to happen. The two elements were fighting one another, both trying to overpower the other.
But the angrier Mark was getting, the stronger he was becoming, overpowering Bobby. Bobby fell to his knees and tried to fight off the heat as best he could while Peter was getting back up.
"You're in over your head, Bobby," Mark said as he approached the boy. "Maybe you should just go back to school."
Peter was getting ready to intervene, no idea what this heat would do to his friend when two hands emerged from the flames, revealing to be ice blue and even see-through. Bobby stood up and showed his entire skin has suddenly become as had as ice, to the point that it has been replaced by ice.
Head-butting Mark, Bobby stood over him as he was knocked out. "You never should have left."
Bobby then kept freezing Mark until the Goblin flew by and saw that he was stuck. Peter shot webbing to keep him still while Bobby was keeping his skin cool.
"Oh, well. That's what I get for betting on an amateur." Goblin commented and shut off his skin, causing them to notice this and Bobby stopped.
Peter looked at his friend and patted him on the back. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Bobby said.
Peter then looked over his skin. "This a permanent thing or something?"
Bobby looked at himself for a moment until his skin started to change back to normal. He then looked over towards Liz who was shocked and ran off after everything. Bobby took a few steps before seeing that she might need a moment after everything.
Mary however was still there, looking at the two of them before giving a friendly smile. "Nice job. See you around." She then heard sirens and knew someone needed to explain. "I'd get out of here."
Peter was shocked to see she was here and was just waiting for the police to cover for them like it was nothing. "She is...strange."
"Good strange or bad strange?" Bobby wondered.
"Not quite sure yet," Peter admitted, needing to know about her sooner or later.
They then heard sirens themselves and decided they needed to make their escape before they showed up. Yet, one day in the field, he once again needed a new suit to replace the one that was burned to a crisp.
The Watcher eyed them as they escaped and smiled. "Things are being set into motion. Spider-Man is becoming a hero. His friend, Bobby Drake, will soon be following him." He then looked over to Liz as she ran off and was sorry to see this relationship end. "But as always, there are sacrifices in the life of a hero." Then he looked over to Mary. "Sometimes the sacrifices see worth it. We're just too blind to see them in the moment."
Back with the Lizard, due to him being stronger, he was able to make his way back and crawled up the hole he fell into. He crawled out into the opening where a web was left and stuck to his shoulder. Pulling on it caused the camera to go off and cause Lizard to turn and face where the flash came from.
Crawling his way over to it, Lizard yanked it off the wall and noticed it was marked.
'Property of Ben Parker'
Lizard then immediately knew who Spider-Man was with this given information.
"Peter Parker."
"And some things that are set into motion...are worse than expected." The Watcher commented as he knew what was soon to follow now.
