Now that the two "prolouge" chapters are out of the way, I will open the story with a quote from Henry Kissinger: "Power is the great aphrodisiac." Okay, so he was talking about political power, as opposed to the power you get from, say, getting bit by a radioactive spider, or having mechanical tentacles welded on your back, but I sure got your attention, didn't I? Happy New Year!

Legal reminder: I own Austin Smith and his family. However, almost all the other characters belong to Stan Lee and the other Marvel people. And any songs, poems, or plays I quote from belong to their respective owners. (phew. Now they won't sue me.)

Now, a few words to my reviewers, whom I graciously thank:

To daveykins: Not to give anything away, but the tentacled father and son pair won't be meeting up for a while yet.

To moonjava: Thank you.

To jla2snoopy: Yes, and I also gave May her father's job too. How about that?

Now, for the story! And remember, read and review! Questions, comments, compliments, and flames welcome!

Chapter 3: Felicity

Austin Smith walked toward the campus of Empire State University, wearing his backpack. Naturally, his tentacles did not appreciate this.

Can't we come out now?

No.

Come on, they cajoled. Puhleeze?

No, goddammit! Stay inside!

But we can't breathe.

You're machines. You can't breathe.

For a moment, in the one private area in the back of his head, he considered telling the tentacles to quit acting so much like people. Then, thinking of his accursed father, he thought better of the idea.

Austin was approaching the front steps. He looked at his schedule, and then looked at the huge campus. What if he got lost? What if he looked like a fool?

You're not a fool, Brother.

Just shut up and behave.

"Oh, look, there's a cute one." Austin's mental conversations were interrupted by a blonde girl, pointing and staring at him. The blonde was nudging a brown-haired, green-eyed girl.

"Who?" asked the brunette.

"That one there! The brown-haired guy with the sunglasses and black coat."

"You mean that one there?"

"Yeah, he's gorgeous, isn't he?" asked the blonde.

Those females are talking about you.

I know, I can hear them too.

He really didn't need comments from the peanut gallery now. He blushed. He had never been considered an Adonis—being the bastard son of a mad scientist supervillian wasn't exactly a turn-on for most girls.

"Hi," said the blonde. "The orientation's not for a few hours. Would you like to sit by us?"

Austin sat down on the steps, as carefully as he could without drawing attention to it. This was the first time girls had actually paid attention to him—besides Mandy Jennifer Wilson, who was his girlfriend in high school. She was the fifth person he had shown his tentacles to.

The blonde introduced herself as Felicity Hardy. Austin could see this was no ordinary All-American blonde—she had an exotic, almost cat-like beauty.

The brunette introduced herself as May Parker. She was smart, but a bit shy and self-conscious.

Then, a third girl, this time with wavy, deep auburn hair, showed up, screaming, "You've got a guy and you didn't let me know?" She shoved her way in. "Hi, I'm Noreen Osborn, what's your name?" she said, batting long eyelashes.

"Um, Austin Smith," he said, but he was more worried that Noreen now had her arm around his back.

Oh God, if she feels the tentacles under there…

Austin extricated himself, as fast as he could, from Noreen. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, I have to unpack my car!" He ran as fast as he could.

"What's wrong with him?" wondered Noreen.

That was a close call, Brother.

What did they want with you?

Later on, we're going to have The Talk. Do you know what I mean?

God, he wished he could get in touch with his father. But even if he could reach him somehow, there was no guarantee he'd even want to be reached by his son. On that rainy autumn night four years ago, he'd driven away the one man who could help him.

Austin didn't get to unpack properly until after orientation. In the privacy of the locked dorm room, Austin was taking a nap on the bed as his tentacles were arranging his belongings.

knock knock

Austin woke up with a start. Oh, crap. Get inside my coat now!

Aw, can't we see who's visiting you?

However, they hid inside his black trench coat, with the exception of one, who had poked its pincers out from beneath, staring with one blue "eye" towards the door.

Damn you! Austin slapped the tentacle, prompting it to go wiggling back in.

Sorry, Brother.

Austin knew by his father's example that he had to keep the actuators under tight rein. He knew that his father's mistake was to trust his tentacles too much.

Austin hurriedly tied the belt that was built into his coat. "Come in?"

It was the brunette girl.

"You're May Parker." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. Listen—would you like to go on a date sometime? Only we have to do it when I'm, you know, available."

"From what?" asked Austin.

"Oh, my job. I'm something of a local celebrity."

Austin hesitated. There was something about this girl that was, well, different. But you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Sure, I'd love to. Your friends are something else, though."

May laughed. "Oh, don't mind Noreen much. She gets away with things because she's richer than God. In fact, if she could steal the money from God, she would."

May gave Austin a peck on the cheek. "You're so cute. And smart, and interesting. I'd love to get to know you better." As she turned to say goodbye, Austin noticed an unidentifiable piece of fabric peeking out from her pants pocket.

There was definitely more to this girl than meets the eye.

"Wait," Austin called. "What job do you have?"

"Oh, I'm a newspaper photographer. See ya."

"See ya."

Another girl wants to go on a date with Brother!

I still don't exactly know what a date is…

But what happened to the Mandy Jennifer girl?

Not only did they have artificial intelligence, they also had a memory.

She went to a different college. No one stays with the same girl forever. Things change.

But don't you humans say that the more things change, the more things stay the same?