I decided to change Harry's character a bit; he's smarter, and I liked in the PS4 video game that he had a passion for ecology.
Also, in this chapter, we'll see a few faces from the past!
I own nothing from Marvel or Spider-Man
Chapter 5: Sting of the Scorpion
"Who in this room can tell me, how ONE guy in a costume manages to always interfere with my operations?" A deep voice, coming from a man standing by an office window overlooking the city asked all the men in the office.
No one answered.
"Sytsevich was a top Russia Mob enforcer, yet the bug still got him," the man continued. "I had a list as long as my arm on bidders for the plutonium, and who's money is that?"
Again, no one answered.
"That wasn't a rhetorical question."
"Your money, boss," One guy spoke out.
"Exactly," The man stepped into the light, revealing a strangely shaped head. It was almost completely flat at the top, with black hair, and almost triangle shaped going down. His big forehead had a few surgical scars down the middle, and a pair of brown eyes. He wore a dark blue business suit with a red shirt, and black tie.
"You know, I hated the Kingpin, but I respected him as well. That man nearly had the entire city under his boot, and in his second outing, turned the fucking FBI into his personal army to eliminate his competition! HAHAHAHAHA, WHAT A GENIUS! ...Despite that, Daredevil took him down; both times!"
"Boss?" One of the men spoke out. "Gargan is here."
Hammerhead smirked, "Excellent, send him in."
A rather small man with a shaved head walked in. He had a scorpion tattoo on the left side of his neck.
"Mac Gargan, what a pleasure," Hammerhead turned to face him.
"So, I take it you bailed me out?" Mac asked.
"We have a mutual enemy; a certain web-swinging do-gooder," Hammerhead replied. "I figured you'd want payback."
Mac smiled sinisterly, "Like you need to ask?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, how are things with Peter?" Marisol asked MJ as they down the hall together.
This year, MJ had made some effort to make more friends, and Marisol Fuentes was an easy one. She was a pretty Latina who rivaled her and Peter in brain power.
"Things are pretty well," said MJ as she went to her locker. "How about you and Mikey?"
"It's good," Marisol replied. "But still, you know how he is."
"Like a puppy constantly doting his master," MJ remarked. "No offense."
"None taken," Marisol looked around the hall. "Where is Peter? It's not like him to be late."
"He still helps at Stark Industries, especially after Tony's death," MJ made an excuse.
"Man, he really looked up to that guy, huh?" asked Marisol.
"He was like his mentor," MJ replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spider-Man swung as fast as he could toward Midtown Tech, hoping he wasn't cutting it too close.
He had to save a few people from a burning building, but that's the life of a hero.
Suddenly, his "Spider-Sense" (As Aaron had called it) started buzzing loudly in his head! He spun in mid-air and caught the armored hands of a large scary man in some kind of green and black armor!
"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Well, that's not very neighborly!"
The man's armor had three fingered claws, two clawed toes, large orange eye lenses, and a long thick tail with glowing light green lights on it.
Spidey maneuvered around and threw the man into the side of a building, but he rebounded and landed...sticking to the wall like he could!
"Hey! I told the last bad guy I fought that that was my schtick!" Spidey shouted.
The guy in the suit went up the wall to the roof, so Spidey chased after him.
Just as he got to the roof, his spider-sense warned him of incoming...and he just barely avoided some kind of sizzling green liquid...which melted the concrete!
"Hey, I ain't the Wicked Witch, Dorothy!"
"Still a comedian, bug-boy?" The man snarled.
"Do I know you?" Spidey asked.
"Staten Island Ferry, you almost kicked me off the damn boat!" The man angrily reminded him.
Spidey thought for a minute, then remembered, "Oh right, uh...what was it, Gorgan?"
"GARGAN!" He leapt at the wall-crawler, quicker than he expected, but managed to avoid, Only for Gargan to spin around and hit him with his tail! "But now, I'm the perfect predator for a spider! Call me, Scorpion!"
"OOF!" Spidey cried as he ended up crashing into the wall of a building, but managed to regain his senses in time to avoid getting punched by Scorpion's fist!
Then, he whipped his tail around and managed to scratch Spidey in the shoulder! He cried in pain and held his shoulder; it was bleeding and had a green mark!
"Me, I'd end it now, but my employer wants you to suffer," Scorpion said. "I respect that."
He then left, but Spidey couldn't get the strength to go after him. He started feeling nauseas, and a lot of pain.
"Karen, what's happening?" Peter asked his AI. "What did Scorpion do to me?"
"It looks like he's injected you with a toxin!" replied Karen.
"Yeah, I gathered that," Peter gasped through the pain. "But what kind?"
"I'm currently analyzing the sample so we can create an antidote," Karen answered. After thirty seconds, "It's a powerful hallucinogenic neurotoxin; your brain is going to create nightmares that your body thinks are real as it slowly kills you."
"Oh, fantastic," Spidey muttered in indignation. "Is there a chance you can make an antidote faster?"
"I'm afraid not," Karen apologized. "Peter, I think it's best to head to Aaron's place. I've already sent him a message about the situation."
"Okay, I just need a second to...Oh, my, God...!" Peter looked over the city, and he couldn't see the street! All the buildings and structures below at least ten stories was surround by an ocean of...poison?!
"W...what the hell is this?!" Peter asked.
"You're seeing things, Peter," Karen reminded him. "But your body will think it's real. What do you see?"
"A sea...of poison," Peter said. "I can't even see the street!"
"Stay above it as you swing," Karen advised. "Empire State University's campus isn't far from where you are. The greenhouse should have an Eclipta alba plant; it'll buy you more time to get to Aaron's."
Peter took deep breaths to calm himself before he began to swing across the streetlamps.
"Sure hope it's in season," Peter muttered before he began to swing across the city, avoiding the poison as he used his webs. He swung a considerable distance before he saw the greenhouse. He landed a little haphazardly on the roof, went inside the greenhouse, and collapsed from the effects of the poison.
When he woke up, he was still inside the greenhouse...or so it seemed.
"What...it's gone?!" Peter saw that the plant had vanished, and as he left the greenhouse, he was...at his school. "Is this real, or in my head?"
"Who says it can't be both?" A familiar voice called out, making Peter gasp loudly.
"Mr. Stark?!"
Sure enough, Tony Stark appeared in front of him.
"It's the hallucinations intensifying," he said. "You can get through this, kid."
The school was broken into several floating masses of earth in a large expanse of green fog.
"Tony, I...I'm sorry," Peter cried as he started running.
"There's nothing for you to apologize for," Tony replied. "Strange said "One out of 14 million scenarios, we'd win". But, I guess it required me to make a sacrifice. And hey, I'd do it again, if it meant the rest of you survived."
"But, Pepper, and Morgan..."
"Yeah, that sucks..." Tony looked sad. "But she still has her big brother." He pointed right at Peter when he said that.
"...You...you really think I can protect them?" asked Peter.
"Peter...I KNOW you can," Tony answered. "Now get your ass in gear; you got shit to do."
Peter nodded, then web-zipped across the rocks until he got to the last big one, and the table with the plant he need reassembled itself.
He picked off some of it, applied it (I don't know how), then the rocks disappeared and he started falling into the fog! He screamed as he plummeted with seemingly no end, bursts of red light flashing through the fog until he finally broke through and he was back in the city again...but the sea of poison was still there!
"That plant bought me some time," he said, "But I need an antitoxin to mix a permanent antidote."
"Pete, it's me!" Aaron's voice exclaimed from his coms. "Listen, I have the materials for an antidote! Get over here as quickly as you can!"
"Okay, I'm on my way!" Peter managed to responded, then started swinging again.
As he swung, a gigantic tail suddenly rose up and tried to grab him, attempting to drag him down into the poison, but luckily, he avoided it.
"Giant deadly scorpion tails," Peter said, indignantly. "Lovely."
As he kept swinging, and more giant tails popped out of the poison sea...
"How are you feeling, spider?" Scorpion's voice spoke from his coms, but it sounded creepier. "Raw panic crawling up your spine?"
"Scorpion?! How'd you get this number?"
"Always asking the wrong questions," Scorpion responded. "It's not "How am I calling you", it's "AM I calling you". Maybe I'm just the fevered screams of your dying brain..."
"Real or not, once I'm cured of this poison, I'm coming for you, Mac!" Peter threatened.
Scorpion laughed maniacally, "Big talk from a little bug. Have fun chasing pink elephants."
Peter kept swinging through the city, avoiding the giant scorpion tails as he went.
"Man, I don't even wanna know what Freud would make of those," he said to himself, and before too long, he finally arrived at Aaron's warehouse!
But, because of the sea of poison, he couldn't go in!
"Pete?" Aaron's voice said in his ear. "Listen, I need you to lift your mask up from you neck, and I'll get you inside."
A little weirded out by the request, but Peter did as asked and lifted his mask up to expose his neck. He then felt a small pinch in his neck, and he lost consciousness.
Making sure no one was around to see; Aaron got to the roof and carefully brought Peter inside. He cleared a space on one of his worktables, set Peter down, then got some synthetic atropine. He quickly mixed it together, put it in an injector needle, then removed the top half of Peter's suit.
"Sorry man, this isn't gonna be pleasant," Aaron whispered, then gently administered the atropine into Peter's right arm.
As soon as he did, Peter grunted in pain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Inside Peter's mind~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter was back in the void, but this time the fog was orange.
"Not again!" He web-zipped to one of the rock masses, and a burst of smoke conjured up an unwelcome guest; Scorpion.
"Thought I forgot about you?" he asked.
"Are-are you even real?" Peter asked.
"Hold still, I'll show you," Scorpion lunged at him!
Luckily, Peter dove out of the way before wrapping Scorpion in webs, then delivering several punches and kicks. After delivering a backflip kick to his jaw, Scorpion disappeared!
"Another illusion," Peter muttered. "Well, at least he had an imaginary glass jaw."
Before he could get moving again, all the slabs of earth moved around the void into a new pattern, and a giant gauntleted hand grabbed hold of one of them!
"Always running to wherever there's trouble, never satisfied with what you have," A new voice taunted, one Peter thought he'd never hear again.
"Beck?!"
Sure enough, the giant gauntleted hand belonged to Mysterio, who floated in from below, and was now enormous!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a couple periods, MJ was starting to get really worried. It wasn't like Peter to be this late.
She spotted Ned coming toward her, also looking concerned.
"Hey, have you heard from Peter?" he asked.
"I was about to ask you," she responded.
"That's kinda why I came looking for you," Ned replied. "I haven't seen him all day."
"Me either, and I haven't heard from him," MJ said, keeping her composure, but still sounding worried.
She checked her phone and there was a missed call notification. Her phone was on vibrate while she was in school, so she never heard it. She checked it to see if it was Peter, but it was Aaron, and he left a voicemail. She put the phone to her ear, and after a few seconds, she looked panicked.
"What's wrong?" Ned asked, now also scared.
"We gotta go to Aaron's!" MJ whispered loudly, then they both sprinted down the hall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back in Peter's Dream~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Welcome to your nightmare, Spider-Man!" Mysterio exclaimed, looming over the slabs of earth in the giant void. "I control all of reality!"
"Don't need to get a swelled head about it," Peter whispered before he ducked behind a wall.
He then ran to a pillar before he swung to another platform, hiding behind another wall, making sure to stay out of Mysterio's line of sight.
Also, he had to stay out of any source of light. He web-zipped to the next platform and hid behind another wall just as Beck lit up the environment.
"Come out, come out~!" Quentin taunted.
"You're full of…somethin'," Peter muttered as the light down, allowing him to web-sling to another platform and hide there.
As he hid on another platform, Mysterio taunted him again.
"Like I said before; you're just a scared little kid in a sweat-suit!"
Peter continued to web-zip to each platform, until he got to one that was right behind Mysterio, at the same height as his giant fish-bowl head.
Peter grabbed him with his webs and pulled his head into the platform, hard, cracking his helmet!
He held his head, then descended into the void, then the platforms broke apart and Peter started falling! But below, he saw Beck further away from him!
"Free falling?! Awesome, I've always wanted to try this!" Peter exclaimed.
As he fell, Peter had to dodge debris as well as the green magic circles that only had enough space for him to fit through, and these green blasts of energy, as well.
"Shame the real you didn't have this much imagination!" Peter quipped he continued to dive.
Once he got close enough, he web-zipped to Mysterio's helmet and punched relentlessly, then pulled Beck's own fist into his helmet with a web!
He jumped out of the way before it hit, then performed a web-slingshot back into the cracked helmet, delivering a double kick that broke it!
"NOOOOO!" Quentin screamed in defeat before he vanished.
The void disappeared, but Peter was back on planet Titan. Before he could even wonder why he was here, someone appeared in front of him...!
Someone he really, really, REALLY didn't want to see again; Thanos!
"Oh, no...!" Peter whispered in horror, just as Thanos raised his hand, showing the Infinity Gauntlet! And all the stones were on it! "You're not real! Tony erased you from existence!"
"Like I told Stark, I am...inevitable," Thanos snapped his fingers, causing a blinding flash!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"AAAAAHHHH!" Peter screamed.
"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Aaron held Peter's shoulders to calm him down. "Peter, it's okay! You're safe!"
"A...Aaron...?!" Peter whispered as he looked around.
"Yeah, it's me man, and I'm real."
Peter saw he was inside Aaron's warehouse, and the gloves of his suit were off, as well as his mask.
"You were poisoned," Aaron reminded him. "Which is weird, Scorpion didn't poison me until our fourth encounter."
Peter tried to get up, but pain gripped his body and he grunted.
"Hey, easy," Aaron told him. "Your body is still recovering, and I think that suit needs some upgrades."
Peter nodded, grunting in pain a bit, "Yeah, thanks."
The door to the garage opened and Ned and MJ came in, looking frantic.
"PETER!"
"MJ? Ned?" Peter asked as he saw them come in.
"Soon as we heard from Aaron, we rushed over!" Ned stated as MJ hugged Peter.
"Aaron said you were poisoned, are you okay?"
"I'm recovering, but yeah," he responded.
"Mac Gargan, one of the guys Peter caught on the Staten Island Ferry," Aaron stated. "He's back, in mechanized armor modeled after a Scorpion."
He brought up a 3D projection of Scorpion for MJ and Ned to see.
"Oh, great, another lunatic," said MJ.
"Where'd he get this suit?" Ned asked. "Gargan was good with toxins, but not machines."
"Someone with deep pockets, probably," MJ stated.
"And that someone picked Gargan, because he has a grudge against Peter, or, Spider-Man," Aaron added.
"He mentioned that someone hired him, otherwise he would've immediately killed me," Peter mentioned.
"Who would wanna hire someone to fight you?" asked Ned. "And why would they wanna leave you alive?"
"Well, some of the crooks I've caught, they could be part of something bigger," Peter said. "But I have no clue why they'd want me alive, for now."
"We can worry about that later," Aaron said. "For now, go home, get some rest and recover. Next time you go out, use the Iron Spider suit."
Peter nodded, gave Aaron his current suit, got a change of clothes, then MJ and Ned got him home.
"How do you feel now, Peter?" asked MJ.
"Mostly okay," he said. "Still feel a bit of pain."
She helped him over to the couch, where he groaned as he sat down.
"You know we, uh- we kinda skipped school because of this," Ned mentioned.
"Sorry about-" Peter was about to apologize, but MJ shushed him.
"Shut up dork, you have nothing to apologize for," she told him. "This is an occupational hazard."
Peter chuckled, ad MJ smiled warmly at him, as well.
"So, what now?" Ned asked. "Watch a movie?"
MJ shrugged, "Okay."
"How bout Aquaman?" Peter suggested. "That has two strong females in it."
"Yeah, that sounds cool," MJ replied as she got comfortable with him.
Ned sat on the floor.
In the first fight of the movie, MJ admitted that Jason Momoa is a hunk.
Much later, during the final battle and Arthur and Mera's kiss...
"That's such a cliché in movies; kissing in the middle of a battle," Ned commented.
"The only other time I remember it happening was in Pirates 3," Peter responded.
MJ just rolled her eyes, "Nerds."
Eventually, the movie was over and Peter, MJ, and Ned were cleaning up.
That's when May got home.
"Oh, hello, what are you three doing here?"
"Please, don't be mad, but we cut school early because Peter got hurt," Ned said.
"What?" May asked, worriedly. "W-what happened, Peter?"
"New supervillain, attacked me before I got to school, he poisoned me, but Aaron gave me an antidote," Peter explained the short version.
"Who's Aaron?" May asked.
"Remember Beck lied about being from a Parallel Earth?" MJ asked. "Well, the Multiverse is actually real, and Aaron is Spider-Man from another Earth."
"Oh!" May said in surprise.
"Yeah, it's weird, but he's been a big help," MJ said. "So far..."
"How?" May asked.
"He's upgraded my suits a few times," Peter responded. "He's like, super smart! Honestly, his workplace looks like what I imagined Tony's would look like."
"I see," May said. "Michelle...Ned...may I talk to Peter for a bit?"
Since she didn't call Michelle by her nickname, they knew it was serious.
"Sure," Ned responded, nervously. Then he and MJ went into the apartment hallway.
Soon, May was sitting down with Peter, who looked at her, worriedly.
"...We're gonna be having one of those talks where you think I might be in over my head, aren't we?" Peter asked.
"What do you think?" asked May.
"Yep," Peter replied.
"Peter...don't get me wrong," May replied. "I'm proud of what you do, but...you're still young, you know."
"I know," Peter replied. "You just...want me to be more careful."
"I just don't want to watch the news one day and see 'Spider-Man Is Dead' on the headlines," said May.
"I know," Peter replied. "One of Aaron's upgrades to my suits is making them bulletproof, which my Iron Spider suit already is."
"I need to meet this kid," May told him.
"Actually, he's in his mid-late twenties," Peter added.
"Still a kid to me," May joked.
Peter couldn't help but laugh. Even in a serious situation, his Aunt May always had a sense of humor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surprisingly, Peter, Ned and MJ had managed to become friends with Harry Osborn.
He was much different than what MJ expected; he wasn't just some spoiled rich kid who thought he was better than everyone.
What cemented it was one of the times Brad Davis was giving Peter and Ned crap during P.E., mostly because of his jealousy for Peter getting together with MJ. First, the class warmed up by running around the gym, then came the day that Peter knew Ned dreaded: rope climbs. There were two ropes, so two students could go at a time, often racing each other to the top. Peter and Ned almost always made sure to go together, mostly because before he got his powers they would both struggle through it together. That day, however, Ned had lined up to do it with Betty, and Peter was right behind them. Brad was next as well.
Ned and Betty stepped up for their turn, and the teacher hit go, pressing his stopwatch to start their time. After about a minute and a half, Betty had made it, but Ned was still struggling, until he couldn't hold on anymore and his grip failed him.
Peter stepped up and caught him by his armpits, easing his fall as his best friend's feet hit the mat on the ground. He could see Ned was disappointed, but he gave him a pat on the shoulder as Ned went to the back of the line; their teacher that year was gracious when he saw a student couldn't make it. Just before Peter turned back around, he caught Brad sticking his foot out, tripping Ned. Worse, he acted sorry as he got down to help him up. "Gee, sorry about that," Brad feigned in a remorseful tone. "Just not your day today I guess."
"What are you, five?" Harry spoke out.
Everyone turned upon hearing him call out to Brad...who did not look the least bit pleased.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"Tripping someone; that's elementary school," Harry added.
"Back off, Brad," Peter told him.
"You want to race, Parker? Would that make you happy?" Brad challenged.
"You're on," Peter replied without a moment's hesitation.
"Alright you two, a little friendly competition never hurt anyone," the teacher said, and he instructed the student who was next to Peter to step back, but the class as a whole abandoned their line formation so that they could all see the action.
Peter and Brad stepped up to the ropes, but MJ ran up to Peter real quick, whispering a quick message in his ear. Peter nodded in response, then turned to face his destination, not even looking at Brad.
"Go!" the teacher said, activating his stopwatch once again.
Immediately Peter pulled ahead of Brad at the start, shimmying up the rope with speed and precision. He glanced over at Brad a couple of times to see where how close or far away he was, but he never truly let up.
Finally, a mere 28 seconds later, Peter climbed on to the top of the platform, with Brad following a few seconds later. When they climbed down, MJ, Ned and Harry ran over to Peter to celebrate what the class was treating as the biggest underdog story they had ever seen.
Many of the students were cheering, a result which Peter had not expected.
"Peter! Peter! Peter!" everyone was chanting, causing him to grin in triumph.
After a moment, the teacher got the class back in order and they finished it out for the day. After they had all changed and went back out to head to their lockers, Peter was greeted by Ned, MJ and Harry.
"You okay man?" Peter asked his friend.
"Dude, I just got to watch you smoke Brad Davis on the rope climb!" Ned said excitedly. "That was more rewarding than any of the few times I have been able to make it up there myself."
"It did feel pretty good," Peter acknowledged, then turned to Harry. "Thanks for sticking up for Ned."
"Ah, no worries," Harry shrugged. "I hate guys like that. Besides, I'm guessing the issue between you two is because of her?" He gestured to MJ.
"You guessed correctly," MJ replied.
"Well then he's the one being immature," Harry said. "No one should treat a girl like she's a reward for a competition."
"You know, Harry, I think we're gonna get along great," said Peter.
Even MJ was impressed, but she still kept an eye on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spidey was currently holding back Scorpion's tail with one of the Spider Legs from his Iron Spider suit. He finally pushed it back and kicked Scorpion away with another Spider Leg!
"OOF!" Scorpion grunted as he stumbled back. "Damn you!"
This time, instead of poison, Scorpion fired purple-colored lasers from his tail!
Thankfully, Spidey's reflexes helped him avoid getting hit, "Oh, come on! Poison is bad enough, now you've got lasers?!
"Think you're the only one who gets upgrades?" asked Scorpion as he shot another laser at the web-slinging hero.
Spidey sent some rapid-fire web-balls at the green-tailed villain, one got him in the face, temporarily blinding him. He zipped over to Scorpion, kicked him in the face, only for his tail to wrap around the wall-crawler and slam him into the ground a couple times! Spidey used his Spider Legs to break free, then drove Scorpion's tail into a streetlight, hitting the electrical line! Scorpion got electrocuted so much that he passed out!
"Yeah, and stay down!" Spidey exclaimed a little winded, then webbed him up for the police.
After that, he swung away, his job now finished.
He headed straight for Aaron's garage, where he, Ned and MJ were waiting for him.
"That makes baddy number 4 you defeated on your own!" Ned cheered.
"Well, Dr. Connors wasn't in his right mind, so I don't think he counts," Peter argued.
"Ah, right," Ned agreed.
"I'm glad you sorted that one out, at least," said MJ.
"Okay Pete, I'm gonna make a more convenient and quicker way for you to put your suits on, so you'll have to use that armor for a while," Aaron said.
"Okay, thanks," Peter responded.
Ned's phone dinged from getting a text, "Dude, Harry just invited us to his place!"
"Wait, really?" asked Peter in surprise.
"Yeah, he wants us to come over tonight!" Ned replied.
Peter looked at MJ, expectantly. She was initially gonna say no to spending time at some stuffy, rich guy's place.
But she remembered Harry was nice, so...reluctantly...
"I'll be there after I'm done at the F.E.A.S.T. Center," she said.
"We'll see you then," said Peter before he and Ned left.
MJ sighed quietly, feeling some pressure. She didn't necessarily want to go to Harry's, but she didn't want to be the asshole who went back on what she said.
"No need to be so nervous, Harry is nothing like his father," Aaron spoke out. "He's actually decent."
"I know, it's just not my scene," MJ replied.
"Stepping out of your comfort zone is part of growing up, and making more friends," Aaron stated.
"I just wish it were that easy," MJ replied.
"Life rarely is," Aaron said.
"What are you, a fortune cookie?" MJ refuted.
Aaron chuckled, "No, but I have a friend who is." (AN: Iron Fist reference! XD)
MJ couldn't help but chuckle, too. "Okay, that was funny."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow Harry, this place is dope!" Ned exclaimed, looking around the penthouse. Even Peter was in awe.
When one say penthouse, they think of something that looks like an apartment building. However... this penthouse looked more like a castle!
The inside was very spacious, stretching into two living rooms, dining room/kitchen, two master bedrooms, a patio, and a pool and jacuzzi.
"Yeah, it's nice," Harry said, like it was no big deal. "I just feel bad for those less fortunate, that they don't have as much."
"You should check out the F.E.A.S.T. Center, my Aunt works there and MJ's currently interning there," Peter mentioned.
"I've heard of that place, it really got busy after The Blip," Harry said.
"Okay, where's that collection of Halo and Devil May Cry games that you said you had?" Ned asked in anticipation.
"Ned," Peter said in a warning tone.
"No, it's okay," Harry assured.
He led them to his bedroom; it was spacious as well. Two couches, a BIG window with a good view of the city, a 4K Ultra HD Flat Screen TV, a PS4, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, complete with a big speaker sound system. Several bookshelves were around the room as well.
While Ned went over to check out the TV and gaming consoles, Peter checked the books on the shelves. Most of them were about the environment, pollution and subjects related to it.
"So, you're an ecologist?" he asked.
Harry chuckled, "In training at least. It's what my Mom's passion was, and it meant a lot to her. Dad wanted me to take over his company, but what's the point in having a multi-billion-dollar company if the planet we live on can't sustain us."
"You sound like a less extreme Poison Ivy," Ned joked.
"The way I see it," Harry began. "Money means nothing if you can't use it to help the world."
Peter nodded, while Ned finally found what he was looking for; Halo games.
"Haha! Jackpot!" he exclaimed before he went to play.
"It's too bad MJ couldn't join us," said Harry.
"She'll be here after she's finished at the F.E.A.S.T. Center," Peter told him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the F.E.A.S.T. Center, MJ was in the kitchen helping with the food. She chopped some carrots and put them in the boiling pot.
"You never mentioned you could cook," May stated.
"You never asked," MJ remarked. "Plus, when your Mom works a lot and your Dad's a no show, you gotta learn to take care of yourself. Especially if you have a younger brother to look after."
"I understand," May said. "You felt like you had to take over things."
"Mom also taught me," MJ added.
"It's always nice to learn things from your parents, even if you have to do things yourself," A new male voice spoke out.
MJ turned to see a Chinese man in his thirties, wearing a white dress shirt, black tie and pants. She immediately knew that this was Martin Li, the founder and owner of the F.E.A.S.T. Center.
"I'm guessing you're Michelle; the intern May hired?" Martin shook her hand.
"Uh, y-yes sir," MJ stammered a bit. She mentally slapped herself for getting nervous.
"Martin, how'd it go?" May asked.
"Very well," Martin replied. "Nelson, Murdock & Page are excellent attorneys. They got Osborn to back off, for now."
"Ugh, Osborn has some nerve," May scoffed. "Trying to buy this area for another records building, or whatever."
"If there's an opportunity to profit from someone's suffering, Osborn will take it," Martin stated, his voice laced with venom.
MJ cleared her throat a bit, "Luckily, the apple falls very far from the tree."
She finished preparing the soup, gave some to the residents, and took her leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter, Harry and Ned were playing a game of "capture the flag" online on one of the Halo games.
Ned's character got killed, and to add insult to injury; someone stood over the character and t-bagged him!
"Oh, man!" Ned complained.
"Not cool, man!" Peter exclaimed.
Ned's character revived and was back at his team's camp.
"Let's hold the fort until Pete and Nate-Star get back with the flag," Harry suggested.
Fifteen minutes later, they won, and MJ arrived.
"Hello!" she called. "Peter? Ned? I'm here!"
Peter exited Harry's room to greet her, "Hey!"
"Hey yourself," she replied. They shared a brief kiss and she looked around. "This place is as big as the school gym."
"Tell me about it," said Peter. "Hey, we're playing Halo. Wanna join us?"
MJ shrugged, "I guess so."
They went back to Harry's room.
"Hey MJ!" He and Ned greeted her.
"Hey dorks," she replied. MJ talked to Harry a bit about how much he cared about the environment, coming to the conclusion that he wanted to be an environmental lawyer when he grew up.
"You're good," said Harry. "Ever thought of taking up a side-job in counseling?"
MJ chuckled, "I don't know about that."
A half hour later, Peter, Ned and MJ had to head home for the night. However, just as Harry was escorting them out, they were greeted by Norman Osborn himself.
"Oh, great..." MJ whispered in irritation.
"Ah, these are the new friends I've heard about," Norman stated rather than asked.
"Yes sir," Harry answered.
One by one, he shook their hands with a firm grip, identifying who was who, "Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, Peter Parker; I've heard much about you."
Peter smiled nervously, "Sorry if this was an incon-"
"Don't you dare apologize, son," Norman interrupted. "I never do."
This was different from meeting Tony for the first time; when they met, Peter had been meeting one of his idols, and Tony had given off a strong yet friendly aura.
In this instance though, the one he was meeting practically sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn't put a finger on why that was; maybe it was the man's fierce, overwhelming expression, or maybe it was some of the rumors he heard about the man's malicious business practices.
Sensing her boyfriend's nervousness, MJ spoke out, "It was nice to meet you sir, but the three of us need to get home."
"Of course, hope to see you again," Norman said. With that, the three of them soon headed for home.
"I don't trust that man," MJ stated.
"Me either," Ned agreed. "He makes my skin crawl."
"It's hard to believe he's Harry's father," said Peter. "Maybe I should ask Pepper if she knows anything about him."
"Or Aaron," MJ suggested. "If there's a Norman Osborn on his Earth, maybe he's like the one on ours."
"I'll ask him next time I see him," replied Peter.
It'll be a long time before we see Martin Li's dark side, but Harry will never turn that corner.
So how about that; Peter got encouragement from Tony from beyond the grave! But then Mysterio and Thanos...
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