Initiative 2029

Goblin Queen

The Negative Zone, a dying alternate universe of depleted energy and inhuman monsters. In the ripped off upper floors of the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, humans survived in this bleak place...

"So wait a minute," Johnny Storm noted, "Gwen Stacy didn't sleep with Norman Osborn? But what about the kids they had?"

"It's a LONG story," Peter Parker sighed.

Johnny gestured to them being trapped in the Negative Zone. "We've got time," he noted.

The two were sitting in the 'entertainment room' of the FF headquarters. There was a TV, Blu-Ray player, gaming system and tablets to access ebooks. Sadly they had pretty much watched everything, which left them time to chat...

It started with Johnny discussing how he married a Skrull for a bit. Then to 'old shames' in general. Then they got to 'enemies bedding your girlfriends' and Gwen/Norman came up.

"Well, I originally bought the story. There were the kids, obviously. And Gwen's diary, plus MJ backing parts of the story up," Peter noted.

"Right," Johnny agreed.

"But the timing was... weird," Peter continued. "And honestly, I wondered if Gwen would have put kids up for adoption, too. So I looked into it, and eventually found out things were very strange."

"How so?" Johnny asked.

"The kids were the children of Norman and a clone he had created of Gwen," Peter revealed.

Johnny took a second to process that, "What."

"You know my enemy, the Jackal, right? Nut into cloning folks," Peter explained. "Well, it turns out he got his initial funding for his lab from going to Osborn. And as a demonstration that his cloning technology worked, he provided Norman a clone of Gwen."

"I can guess where this is going," Johnny made a face.

"Yeah. Norman had sex with the clone, and surprisingly she got pregnant. He hired a medical staff, and nine months later she had the twins," Peter revealed.

"So why the fake diary?" Johnny had to ask.

"Norman had this creepy obsession with dicking with me," Peter admitted. "And I think he got a kick out of trying to tear Gwen down for me, too."

"Ugh," Johnny reached over and patted his arm. "What happened to the twins?" he asked.

"Gabfiel Stacy had some issues. He even became the 'Grey Goblin' for awhile. But last I checked he had straightened out," Peter said.

"And Sarah?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, she... it didn't turn out as well," Peter admitted.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Alchemax was burning.

The Dallas offices were afire, the sky filled with smoke. Pumpkin Bombs had been tossed through the upper floor windows, exploding in gouts of flame. And soon, secondary fires started in the labs and in the air ducts.

And above it, the woman on the Goblin Glider watched coldly.

An Iron Spider asinged to the city swung in, his red and gold armored suit gleaming. "Goblin Queen, by the authority of the Superhuman Registry Act and national statutes, I am calling on you to surrender!"

The women in the ragged cloak turned in the air. She wore a scale armor undersuit, and a green tabbard over it, along with gold belt, boots and gloves. Her face was covered by a fully concealing hood with glowing red eyes.

"A fake Spider? How droll," her voice came out clearly despite the mask.

"I repeat: you must surrender now! Or I will not be responsible for the consequences!" the Iron Spider called.

The Goblin Queen just laughed. "I have no feud with you," she said, "leave this place, or I will not be responsible for the consequences." She echoed him mockingly, hovering above him on her jet powered glider.

With a snarl the Iron Spider leaped up, firing 'stingers' from wrist mounted launchers...

JUST then she dodged even as she chucked a bunch of pumpkin bombs in his face.

"Eeep," he managed to gasp just as the explosion tossed him back in a burst of orange smoke and flame. Flailing he managed to fire off a webline and stop his rapid fall, but he crashed hard into the side of the building. He groaned in pain, feeling his ribs moving, not to mention probably having broken his arm.

Goblin Queen could have finished him then, but she just hovered there a moment. Then she smoothly wheeled around and took off, disappearing into the night sky even as fire alarms wailed and emergency responders arrived...

Early the next morning, a jump jet from Washington was landed, and a group of the Defenders were on scene.

(The 'official' Texas team was The Rangers, but they weren't exactly considered A-list. Alchemax had money and influence, havking donated heavily to the President's election campaign, so their CEO was able to pull strings and get the Defenders sent there.)

Daken looked around, sighing as he added, "It's hot, but at least it's a dry heat."

"Oh god, kill me," Miss America groaned.

"I have air conditioning," Iron Patriot noted smugly from her armor. Commander Erica James was settling into her new role as Super-hero, though she still found it weird.

Miss America scowled at her, "I hate you."

"I can live with that," Iron Patriot added cheerfully.

"Could we keep our minds on business?" Spider Woman asked.

Charlotte Witter was a former super villain who had fought both Spider Man and various versions of Spider Women. She had been defeated and left in a coma for several years, shuffled through various care homes. A scout for President Richards found her, and with government help she was revived and put to work.

"Yes, Mom," Daken teased.

Charlotte just growled. The team reached Alchemax' headquarters, taking in the skycraper's burned out shell. The damage was nearly total, and the framework of the building itself looked like it could come down any minute.

"I am NOT going in there to try finding a scent," Daken noted, looking up at the wreck.

"No, not a good idea," Miss America agreed. "We're supposed to meet with the CEO of Alchemax...?" she wondered aloud.

"That would be me," the attractive blond smiled, "Liz Allen."

"Mrs Allen," Miss America nodded. "We should get somewhere secure, just in case."

"Agreed. We have a location nearby," Liz nodded.

The group ended up at another office tower one not owned by the company. There was also a lot of visible security around, though one wondered how much good that would actually do against the crazy flying lady...

They settled around a meeting table as Daken noted, "We're read the file, of course. Not long after Spider-Man disappeared, this woman started attacking Oscorp facilities."

"Alchemax," Liz corrected.

"Actually, they were also all former Oscorp facilities," Iron Patriot corrected.

Miss America gave her a look then nodded to Liz. "They are all Alchemax favcilities now, but all were formerly Oscorp. We think her vendetta is focused on that," she said.

"Is it true she's Norman's daughter by a clone?" Spider Woman asked, visibly amused.

Liz just GLARED at that.

"Spider, down," Daken said dryly. He nodded to Liz, "My apologies. My teammate spent the last five years in a coma. It errodes social skills."

Liz sighed and nodded. "We don't actually know who Goblin Queen is, other than she's using my ex-father in law's gear." Before anyone could add anything she continued, "YES, I know the prevailing theory in law enforcement is she's Sarah Stacey, Norman's daughter by Gwen Stacey's clone. But it's just a theory."

Iron Patriot tilted her head slightly, "If it's not her, who DO you think it is then?"

"Mary Jane Watson Parker," Liz ticked off, "she has plenty of motive to hate Oscorp. Menace, the Goblin Serum victim. Again, lots of motive. Charlie Cooper, also a Goblin Serum victim. And..."

"Okay, okay, conceded, there are multiple possibilities," Miss America cut her off.

"Admiitedly, Sarah is the most likely candidate," Liz conceded, "but..."

"While they are in town, Goblin Queen will probably try to hit any other former Oscorp facilities," Daken noted.

"There's a pharmaceutical plant from Norman's days at the edge of town," Liz told them, "we have added security staking it out."

"Her pattern is hitting places at night, so we'll set up there this evening too," Miss America said to her.

"We'll appreciate the assistance," Liz agreed.

"I hate to ask... but is Gobin Queen aware of where your son, Normie is?" Iron Patriot asked.

"If she did, she'd go after him already," Liz sighed. "He's under tighter guard than I am..."

To be continued.

Notes: 'Sins Past' was an actual, canon story in which it was revealed that YES Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn had consentual sex and Gwen got pregnant and had twins.

Yes, actual COMICS CANON. Not a dream, not an imaginary story.

In the author's defense he had wanted the kids to be Gwen and Peter Parker's, but editorial decided no, it would make Peter seem too old. So, Norman. ALSO in the Author's defense, he intended to retcon it away in the 'One More Day' story, but that got overridden by editorial too. So to the best of my knowledge, this is all still canon.