Gab the Panther: Well most of the people that write the stories about the spawn of the Spider are female, so they chose daughters, I myself am male, and not being able to fully comprehend the complex infrastructure that is the female mind, I stick to what I know, and gave them sons. However, I think we should just be happy that there are so many female fans of Spider-man, without them, it'd be boring.
The Trickster: Who ever said that Ben was going to follow in his dad's footsteps? I never did… Oh, and Mike…. Well… you'll just have to read and find out.
Agent Silver: Peter's not going to die like Uncle Ben, but someone else might… As for the good doctor he will make an appearance in his own good time, but not until a little bit later.
Morph: Well I think I have an idea as to what to do with Mike, but I don't think I'll say anything for sure just yet.
Rachel: Hmm… finish it…. There's an idea. Thank you for the compliment! And the review!
Author's Note: Sorry that this one took so long to get up, I ran into a little bit of writer's block… well reversed, more like a little bit of writer's overdrive, and I couldn't make up my mind what to do in this chapter, that is of course, until now. Enjoy. And remember, if you read it, it's polite to review it. FLAMES WELCOME!
Chapter 4: Revelations in the Family
Norman 'Normie' Osborn sat deep in thought in his penthouse living room. This was one of the rare opportunities he took when he wasn't working, one of his rare chances to relax his body a bit, and just sit back and think about things. Most often his mind turned to work again, and he soon returned to it, but this time it was different, Ben's birthday party was the next day, the surprise party, and Norman was stumped on what to get him, he was thinking about that, but evidently, his mind had other ideas.
"Norman, Norman, Norman." A voice said sympathetically, sounding as if it was behind him.
Literally jumping out of his seat Norman whirled around, his gelled back red hair not even moving as he did so. "Who's there?"
"I am." The voice said again from behind him. "You let them degrade you with that ridiculous nick name, you eat at their table, you share their food, you help them pay their bills, and for what?" The voice was now speaking very quick, and very angrily, and Norman was beginning to think he was crazy. Yet, at the same time, he was drawn to it.
"Who… who are you? What are you talking about?" Norman asked cautiously.
"I'm talking about the Parkers!" The voice yelled. "You're a traitor to your father, a traitor to your grandfather, and worse, a friend to the Parkers! You look at their son like he's a little brother, you look at Peter like an Uncle, and Mary Jane as an Aunt, or worse, a mother."
"Who are you?" Norman asked, now returning the yelling.
"I am your family! I am your hope! I am your dream! I am your nightmare! I am your Grandfather!" The voice was now joined by the reflection of a man, at least twenty years older than Normie, in the mirror hanging on the wall behind him.
Norman whirled around to face it. "What the hell do you want?" Norman yelled to the mirror.
"I want vengeance! You're father was too weak, but you, my blood runs through your veins, you will be able to defeat Parker, you will avenge me!" The man in the mirror screamed.
"No! The Parkers are my friends, they're like family to me, and they haven't done anything to hurt me!" Norman yelled at the mirror.
"They killed your father." The man, 'Norman' spoke in soothing tones now. "And they killed me. They twisted the facts, they fed you lies, they pretended to be your friends, but they never were. They never were!" Norman yelled again.
"They… They what?" Normie asked looking at the mirror as he sat down, more like fell down, into the chair behind him.
"You heard me, it was Peter, he killed me, and your father! Avenge us!" Norman yelled.
"I don't know how!" Normie yelled, not knowing what to do or say.
"Listen carefully…" The voice started, speaking again in soothing tones.
Warehouse 64
"Tell me again what we're doing here?" Mike asked as he and Ben walked into the old warehouse, now abandoned.
"I wanted to show you something." Ben said with a slight smile on his face as he turned on the lights. "You remember the other day, when I broke Thompson's hand?"
"Yeah, and you threw up and went to the hospital, of course I remember, it was just the other day man." Mike said as they walked towards the center of the empty warehouse.
"Well I don't know what happened, but watch." Ben said with a smirk.
Mike just shrugged, sat down, and looked up to him. "Okay, I'm watching."
"Funny." Ben said with a roll of his eyes as he readied himself. "Okay… Here goes." Suddenly Ben squatted down and leapt up into the air, and not just a normal jump either, he was a good twenty to thirty feet in the air when a strand of stuff came out his wrist and attached itself to the ceiling, giving it a good yank catapulted him onto the ceiling, which he stuck to, crawled to the side of, and down the wall. Then leaping off the wall, back to where he had been with a few aerobatic stunts through the air as he went.
Mike stared at him, not saying anything, not sure to trust his own voice, not sure how to react even.
"I know what it looks like, maybe I'm a mutant, maybe I somehow got these powers from somewhere else, I don't know, but dude, look! Look at what I did! Isn't that cool? This is our ticket to big bucks! We don't have to worry about anything anymore! Thompson bothers us at school, I can kick the crap out of him, girls will adore us, guys will be jealous of us! Of us! It's our dream!" Ben shouted, obviously happy with his newfound abilities.
"Dude, those powers can't be mutant." Mike said standing up. "I've researched it, a mutation doesn't just give you myriads of abilities, it's a genetic alteration that usually changes one or two things, and this… this is more than that."
"Who cares?" Ben said leaping over Mike to the wall again.
"These powers are a gift man, use them responsibly!" Mike said coming over to the wall.
"I will!" Ben said as he crawled up the wall.
"No, right now you're head is just full of dreams, images of glamour, money, girls, and even power. I mean you have to use these to do some good in the world, help others, those without powers." Mike said, pleading his cause.
"Dude, these powers are a gift, to us! Me, and I'm sharing them with you! You and me, best friends, we can rule the school! We'll be the most popular guys in the whole class, nobody will mess with us, and think of all the money I could make with these powers!" Ben said leaping down to the floor again.
"How will you make money? Use your abilities to sneak into a bank vault? A jewelry store? Steal from honest hard working people? People that you should be using your powers to help might I add." Mike said, still trying to get his point across, but failing.
"Maybe. I don't see what it would hurt, the banks get their money from the government anyway, the government just pays them back, and they're insured. And besides, I didn't ask for these powers, no one says that I have to use them to help those who can't help themselves." Ben argued.
"Are you serious?" Mike asked raising a brow, and now raising his voice. "You would rob a bank? Do you hear yourself?"
"I didn't say that I was going to rob a bank." Ben argued. "I just want to use these powers to benefit us, me, you, nobody has to trample over us anymore."
"And instead of people trampling over us, we trample over them?" Mike asked somewhat sarcastically.
"I didn't mean it like that." Ben said, now getting a little angry.
"Look at Spider-Man, all he does to help people, look at my father, they both had a choice to make when they got their abilities, my father made the wrong one! Ask him! Talk to him! He'll tell you himself, he made the wrong choice, and now he's paying for it!" Mike was now yelling, even though he didn't really want to.
"Dude, Spider-Man…" Ben stopped, his mind beginning to race on something.
"What?" Mike asked raising a brow.
"Nothing, nothing, you're right, and I promise, I'll use these powers responsibly, maybe I'll go join the X-Men or Fantastic Seven or something, but right now, I have to go, I'm going to make some money." Ben said with a smirk.
"You're seriously not going to try that amateur wrestling thing, are you?" Mike asked with a roll of his eyes.
"Why not? You want to come? I figure I go there, do that, my Mom picks me up at the library, I go on a date with Felicity, and all is right in the world." Ben said with a smile.
"Unless of course you lose your wrestling match, or you get your butt beat." Mike said with a smile.
"Not going to happen man, now that I've got these powers. I'm unstoppable." Ben said with a smile as he shut off the lights and they began to leave.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Mike muttered under his breath.
"What?" Ben asked as he opened the door.
"Nothing." Mike said shaking his head. "Absolutely nothing."
MEANWHILE
Peter and MJ were sitting at home, watching TV together; today was one of the few Saturday mornings that Peter hadn't gone out. Peter was still hoping to talk with Ben, but Rosie had said that he and Mike had gone for a bike ride earlier that morning, his only real hope was to pick him up at the library, instead of MJ, so that he could talk to him before his date with Felicity. "Ben has a date?" Peter thought out-loud. "I never had a date when I was his age."
MJ smiled. "Ben isn't you Peter, he's… less of a geek than you were." She said with a smile as she left a kiss on his cheek.
"I wasn't a geek." Peter defended, obviously a little reluctant to be reminded.
MJ laughed as she changed the channel. "Peter, you will always be a geek, but you're a geek with a beautiful supermodel wife, so be a happy geek would you?"
"Yes dear." Peter said with a smile.
"I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing that." MJ said returning his smile.
"What time should I go and pick up Ben?" Peter asked changing the subject of conversation.
"He told me to pick him up at the library around four thirty, so I guess that's when you'll pick him up. Do you want me to come?" MJ asked resting her hand on his.
"No, this is something between father and son." Peter answered. "It'll be better if it's just me and him."
"Well be prepared, cause you know he'll be a little reluctant about it all." MJ said with a little bit of warning in her voice.
"I know." Peter nodded. "But I don't care, I'm just going to go through with it, tell him, and explain everything."
"Good, now maybe we can get back to a normal life, without the hostility between you two." MJ said with a smile.
"Well, as normal as our life has ever been." Peter said with a shrug.
MEANWHILE
"It worked, I'm signed up!" Ben said as he came towards Mike in a dark hallway near the arena's doorway. He was wearing a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, almost black, no shirt, and a blackish blue mask with two holes for the eyes.
"You look so stupid in that costume, and when did you get washboard abs anyway?" Mike asked as he looked towards the arena.
"Same day I got the powers." Ben said with a shrug. "I woke up with them. And don't worry about the costume, after I get some money I'll get a better one."
"Uh huh. I'm still against this you know." Mike said turning back to look at Ben. "I mean you're my friend and all, but don't you think you should tell your parents about your abilities?"
"No way, and you won't either, you can't tell anybody, and you know that right?" Ben asked a hint of concern in his voice.
"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul, I owe you that much at least, but don't do anything stupid, remember you promised me you'd act responsibly." Mike said almost sternly.
"I know, I know, don't worry dude, everything will be fine." Ben said with a nod.
"So when are you up?" Mike asked looking back to the arena, and the fight going on.
"In about ten minutes." Ben said with a nod. "I can't wait. What would you spend the money on?"
"College." Mike answered honestly as he looked back to Ben with a smile. "But knowing you, you'll spend it on something big and flashy to impress Felicity."
"Maybe. Then again I might surprise you. Maybe I'll spend it on a gift for her, maybe I'll use it for myself, maybe I'll get you something." Ben said with a smile.
"Or better yet, maybe you could donate it to a charity or hospital and do some good with it." Mike said, seriously, though he knew that Ben in his current state of mind, filled with images of stardom and glory for himself wouldn't hear any of it.
"Hmm." Ben said thoughtfully.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a little short, the match, the talk, and surprises are coming in the next chapter. Hope you liked this one. Please read and REVIEW! FLAMES WELCOMED!