"Peter! Where have you been?" A tired voice called out as Peter rushed into the confined lab.
"Uh, sorry, Curt, got into a bit of traffic at Fifth Avenue." Peter apologized as he rushed in, careful not to spill anything in the hazardous laboratory. Reptiles and rats scuttled in glass cages, each with labels on them.
"Heard it on the radio." Dr. Curtis Connors smiled. He was a man in his late forties who had a worn out lab coat on, through the thing that set him apart was the lack of his left arm, amputated after an incident that Curt refused to tell. "Gangs these days, always fighting for what? Power? Respect? Money?" He shook his head. "As your old man once said-"
"With great power, comes great responsibility." Peter nodded. "Something I never really understood until he almost died." He shuddered as he remembered the incident, as Ben laid on the ground with blood on his hands. "If he didn't make it..."
"It's always until they're gone that we miss them." Curt agreed. "But I don't think I'll be able to keep your internship through life lessons. We've got a bit of biochemistry to do. The board isn't happy with our lack of results."
"Again?" Peter frowned. "Thought you convinced them to give you more time."
"Peter, that was about a week ago." Curt chuckled. "Time really does fly, doesn't it? By the way, take a look, think we finally isolated that particular genome."
"Really? Guess our efforts weren't in vain." Peter said as he looked into the microscope. "Hey, Curt, something about this seems odd..."
Before Curt could respond, the door opened and two people entered, one of whom was carrying a tablet.
"Dr. Connors." The first said. "I hope you have better results for us than just...empty findings."
"Fortunately, this time I do. We've finally extracted the genome, and I can assure you, in the next phrase-"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Connors. Our stocks are dropping faster than before. U-Gin's creating marketable tissue, Fisk Tech. is patenting a new tangibility armor, and I hear that Oscorp-"
"I know!" Curt interrupted, his face reddening. "I admit, U-Gin's Cradle tech has the ability to change lives, but all Fisk does is make weapons. And don't you dare start with that son of-"
"Dr. Connors!" Peter took a hold of his mentor's remaining arm, trying to calm him down. "Deep breaths, okay?" Begrudgingly, Curt stepped back and breathed deeply.
"I still don't get your personal vendetta with Mr. Osborne, but it doesn't matter. We need results, not progress. So unless you have them within the week, you're both fired."
"I - I understand." Curt hung his head in defeat as the two board members left. "Damn you, Norman!" He cursed, slamming his fist into the table, causing some of their test subjects to scurry in their cages in fear.
"Curt?" Peter asked, with Curt sighed again as he wiped his forehead.
"Sorry, Peter, but I'm afraid you may need to start finding another job soon." Curt apologized. "I fear we may not have enough time."
"But - where can I go?"
"I dunno, Peter." Curt sighed as he got up and headed to the door, pausing momentarily with his hand on the knob. "Only thing I know is that we're on a sinking ship."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Gwen Stacy bolted through the corridors of the recording studio, throwing on a green jacket over a black blouse with floral pattern. Her blonde hair was done in a half up, and she had dyed the tips a bright pink.
"So, so sorry, girls!" Gwen panted as she rushed into the booth, nearly tripping over the wires of the floor. Inside, the two other members of the girl band Arachne looked at the newcomer.
"Jeez, girl, where you been?" The Korean asked as she tuned her keyboard. Cindy Moon may not have the best sense of humor, but she could play her keys like wildfire. "You're lucky that the last section went overtime, we just settled in."
"Come on, Cindy." The redhead in the middle of the room flicked a guitar pick at the keyboardist. "There's a gang fight at Fifth Avenue, traffic was jammed."
"Ugh, MJ, this isn't university, stop making excuses. And why isn't your dad doing anything?" Cindy turned back to the blondie. "He's a cop! They should be helping."
"Come on, its Hammerhead and Tombstone who were fighting. One's got a skull thicker than a tank, the one's got immunity to pain. It's like a battering ram versus a blockade." Gwen retorted, pulling out a pair of drumsticks from her bag. "Trust me, you don't want to stand anywhere in between those two."
"Sounds like you know a lot."
"Where did you think I just was...?" Gwen fought the urge to knock some sense into Cindy with her own guitar, just as MJ, sensing the tension, spoke up.
"Right! Ladies, enough bickering, we're wasting valuable time for recording!" She announced, handing Gwen a music sheet before heading to the mic. "It's a new song that they gave me, so I'm giving you a few minutes to settle in with the beat."
"I think I can skip the minutes." Gwen grinned as she skimmed the sheet. "So, Sunflower, take one?"
About an hour or so later, they finally managed to make progress. Each of the trio had their own strengths, but together, they made up for the other's weaknesses. The same could be said for their music, they weren't particularly impressive on their own, but together? Gwen sometimes wondered why they didn't started their careers of professional musicians way sooner.
Right, because we were up with debt at the time. She mused, putting back her drums.
"Nice job, ladies!" MJ declared as they packed up. "I'll send over the demo tonight, hope they'll love it!"
Gwen opened her mouth to respond, just as she heard the sound of tapping glass. Confused, she looked over at the door, before seeing a familiar face. A young man who had graying brunette hair underneath a beanie, a gray blazer over a black shirt and a bouquet of roses in one hand waved back at her. She looked back at the two, who gave her a thumbs up.
"Harry!" Gwen grinned before running out of the recording booth and into his arms.
"Hey there." Harry planted a deep kiss before retracting his lips. "Brought you some roses, I hope you like them."
"You shouldn't have." Gwen smiled, taking in the flowers.
"Well, well, Mr. Os-heir." Cindy joked as she and MJ came out. "Here to take your girlfriend out again?"
"Gwen told me about her schedule, I'm just here to pick her up. There's very little we hide from each other." Harry replied, which MJ raised an eyebrow to Gwen's direction, something which Gwen quickly picked up and realized what MJ was planning to do.
Even though it was probably not the case, Gwen refused to take any chances and took ahold of Harry's arm and dragged him off.
"Yeah, and speaking of which, we need to go. Talk later!"