Two days had passed since Dr. Doom's dramatic declaration live on TV. Peter had been trying to get in touch with his daughter ever since.
But for some reason, the call would just never connect.
He was of half a mind to head on over to the city and meet her in person, but his wife's failing health kept him by her side.
"Last Sunday, Dr. Victor Von Doom shocked the world, as he hired the Avengers for an oncoming threat from the Celestial named Galactus. Mission Reports from Earth's allies from minutes before they were decimated have corroborated his claims.
"But that is not all, mass panic and protests have sprouted throughout the world as a direct consequence of that claim.
"Protesters agree with Von Doom's claims that the avengers were ignoring clear signs as Earth kept ignoring the signs as our allies were slowly extinguished by the Devourer of Worlds. The Panic and fear have spread so far and wide that a few government facilities collapsed within a day of the announcement, just in the US alone.
"Prison breaks have caused a drastic increase in crimes throughout the cities, and many heroes affiliated with the Avengers have started working alongside the police to curb protests and bring in escapees from prisons.
"One such prison that has seemingly collapsed in New York's Rikers, where escapees used boats, and helicopters stolen from the on-site police to cross into the state. Some even chose to swim across the Hudson and into Manhattan, while most –" Peter cut the television off, as he tossed the phone onto the sofa.
"Is it still not connecting?" Mary Jane asked her husband, as she watched him take a seat on the couch.
"No, it is connecting, but she isn't answering. She must be busy." Peter sighed, as he ran his hands through his grey hair.
Mary-Jane hummed and suggested "Why don't we head on out back to Manhattan then? We can take the car."
Peter shook his head and replied "It will be a nightmare getting out of there again, We all know Galactus will first appear over Manhattan anyway. I don't want to take that risk."
MJ smiled at her husband and said "Pete, you can just say that you're worried about my health. Trust me I can handle a little travel. I am a strong girl, you know."
Peter chuckled as held his wife's hand and replied "You got me. I know you can take the stress, you've been by my side for so damn long, you're the strongest person there ever could be. It's just, New York…. I have ….."
MJ squeezed her husband's hand firmly "Hey, it's all right. May could just be trying to reach out to us anyway."
It was then Peter felt a sensation he hadn't felt in over a decade.
His spider-sense that had laid dormant for so long, blared alive giving him a massive headache, and he strained to work his locked old muscles, as leaped into action.
He tackled forward, crossing the table that separated him from his wife, and wrapped his arms around, flipping the table in the process, just as the wall behind him exploded.
He protected MJ from flying rocks, splinters of wood, and debris using his entire body, taking much of the brunt himself.
A low familiar mechanical buzzing was the first thing he heard, as he looked down at his wife in his arms. Blood flowed out of a small cut on her forehead, but she was fine overall.
"Peter Parker." A raspy voice sounded throughout the house, as a fire slowly started spreading through the curtains "Old, yet still just as agile. Pathetic."
Looking down into his wife's widened fear-filled eyes, his heart clenched as his life Parker luck reared its head again.
It had been docile for a decade, he thought he should have expected something to go wrong, especially when the end of the world was near.
Turning around, he turned to face his adversary and was shocked at the sight.
"Norman" He breathed as he watched his oldest adversary float on his glider in front of him.
His mask was discarded, which showed his old wrinkled face.
The trail of smoke emitting from the glider, and the fire that had crawled up the curtains made him look like a green devil.
"Twenty-Five years." The Green goblin chuckled humorlessly "For twenty-five years, I've rotten away in prison. Mourning my son. The same son you killed."
Peter stood straight, as he prepared himself for an attack, still shielding his downed and bleeding wife.
"I didn't kill him Norman," Peter replied as he tried to manoeuvre MJ out of the room behind him.
"LIES!" Norman Osborn shouted as he fired a volley of bullets toward the couple.
Using quick thinking Peter kicked the marble table that he had flipped initially to save MJ from the explosion and used it as a shield from the Bullets.
He immediately grabbed MJ and went further inside the house toward the open kitchenette, and crouched behind the low wall separating them and the goblin.
"There is a spare canister of web fluid in the cupboard just above. If you can get it,…." MJ whispered her voice trembling slightly, as her heart started running a mile a minute.
Peter nodded and grabbed a couple of plates from beside them. Using them as projectiles, he distracted Norman as they plates him square in the head.
Grabbing the web fluid from the overhead cupboard, he immediately ducked as his Spider-sense blared to life and Norman began firing bullets into the kitchenette.
"You think hiding behind a kitchen counter will save you from me!" The Green Goblin laughed, as he pressed a green button on a bomb.
Peter quickly inserted the web fluid in his web-shooters and looked at his wife who smiled a trembling smile at him.
"Go get him, Tiger."
Nodding at her, Peter heard the very familiar click of the green goblin's bomb and leaped into action.
Webbing the oncoming bomb he redirected it out of the window of the house.
"Still the same pesky little insect as usual I see." The Green Goblin commented.
"What can I say Norman, old habits die hard I guess. Clearly, you know a thing or two about that!" Peter replied as he charged at the green goblin who smirked at him. Blades erupted forth from his glider as he powered on forward as well.
Peter strained his old muscles as he performed a flip to kick Norman in the face, as he expertly dodge the oncoming blades. The kick connected with the green goblin and sent him hurtling off his glider, and out through a window.
Yet, the injured goblin had a trick up his sleeve, as the glider started firing a missile into the home that Peter webbed to prevent it from exploding, yet it still managed to knock off a chandelier and the cutlery in the kitchen.
Blood sprouted from the kitchen, followed by a loud scream.
"MARY JANE!" Peter screamed as he dashed toward the kitchenette again, just then, the glider manoeuvred like a bat and head straight toward Peter.
Spider-Sense blaring again, Peter struggled to jump and was able to dodge the oh-so-familiar move from the Goblin, but the blades managed to open a wide gash on the side of Peter's thigh.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Not as agile as before, Old Timer!" The Goblin laughed as he blew another hole in the wall. "I know how to make this more fun. I killed someone you loved so very long ago. Gwen, back on that bridge. I suffered for it. Yet you took my son from me. I think a little payback was due. Now, old timer! I will go for your daughter. And break her like I did your wife. SO LONG SPIDER-MAN!"
The green goblin laughed as he flew away in the direction of New York City, but Peter couldn't care less at the moment. He gently lifted the bleeding form of his wife and webbed the stab wound to prevent it from bleeding more.
"Stay with me MJ, Stay with me. I am going to get you to a hospital." He chanted as he rushed to his garage.
"P-Peter." She whispered, through tears.
"Just hold on MJ! God! Just hold on!" Peter said as he placed the bleeding form of his wife in the back of his car.
Quickly getting in, ignoring his own wide gash on the thigh, Peter turned on the ignition and sped off toward the nearest Hospital.
He hoped beyond all hope that Mary Jane would survive, his heart clenching as he raced through the empty roads.
[New York City, Avengers' Mansion]
"...So, what we've got to do right now is to first build some sort of Fleet, like a barrier. To delay Galactus' arrival." Captain America spoke to the group gathered in the main conference room of Avenger's mansion.
The current meeting was ongoing between the avengers and Dr. Doom. Among them, there was Riri Williams' Iron Heart, Miles Morales' Spider-Man, and also a few more superheroes.
"No, we shouldn't get into conclusions this quickly. All we know is corroborated reports provided by Dr. Doom" Commander Steve Rogers looked at Dr. Doom who was sat among them. "And according to all of it, Galactus has become unreasonable. And we have lost Reed and his wife, and along with them, the Ultimate Nullifier. So, we don't have any defense against the Celestial. And the only other person who has faced him before is Dr. Doom himself. Does anyone have any other suggestions?"
No one said anything. A second passed, and another. Everyone just looked back at Steve knowing it wasn't going to work as how it was going. Everyone was out of ideas.
"Alright, let's just hold to it—the nothingness. I think we should ask Nova what was happening there," Steve uttered.
"Yeah, I agree."
"Yes"
"That's a good idea"
"Finally"
"Should've started with that!"
Everyone was thinking that Commander Steve Rogers might get something to lead on with the situation if they contacted the Nova base.
But little they'd know, the entire Nova Corps was dead.
As Steve headed off into the Avengers intergalactic comms room, the others started discussing the situation among themselves, fielding ideas and theories left and right.
Among them, spider-girl, Mayday Parker stood while her eyes went from one hero to another.
She was thinking too many things at once.
'If Galactus is someone who'd suck the entire Earth off at once, this most likely be the end of it all. What would dad do?'
She decided it would be worth a call home, to get advice from her father.
Opening the phone, with the intention of giving a call and knowing the situation at her house, she saw a few missed calls from her dad.
'Four missed calls? Is everything alright?' May thought to herself and called the landline number.
Twice in a row, the line was dead.
'What the heck?'
The next phone number she tried was the personal number of her dad.
This time, the phone was switched off. It was then that Steve returned with a somber expression on his face.
"The latest transmissions from Xandar reported that the Worldmind has uploaded its core into the dead section of Andromeda Galaxy, and the Nova Corps as we know it, is dead. So are the Guardians of the Galaxy."
The silence following that announcement was suffocating. And Mayday could see tears in Hulkling's eyes. The death of the Nova Corps meant that the Kree were dead too.
"I will capture Galactus' Herald when he arrives, and siphon his cosmic energy." Dr. Doom's voice cut through the palpable tension, and May could see the fiery determination in his blue eyes, visible through his cold metallic mask.
It was when everyone looked into each other's eyes. A brief moment of silence passed between them.
"That's actually a good idea. But we need to be more specific with the thinking," Mayday said while walking to the front.
"Who would use that cosmic energy?" Sam Wilson asked.
"Isn't that obvious? It's me? None other than me possesses the skill, or the experience with Cosmic Energy. I will graciously do as I must." Dr. Doom replied as if they were just talking about a taco on a normal Tuesday.
"So you can use the Cosmic Energy to terrorize the Earth after Galactus is dealt with? I think not." Wiccan commented snidely.
Dr. Doom said nothing, but his silence was louder than everyone else's thoughts.
"Are you serious right now?" Mayday asked.
"This Earth is mine to rule. Galactus may not have it. But do not take me for a coward. I do not need a power-up to lay claim to this planet. You have my word, I will release the cosmic energy that I siphon from the Herald into Space, once its Job is complete." Doom replied.
"Why should we trust you? You have given us no reason to trust you. All you have done, again and again, is exploit your diplomatic immunity for your advantage while racking Millions in property damage, and taking who knows how many innocent lives in the process" Riri Williams interrupted.
"You are not in any position to lecture me about morality, Riri Williams. All of you here have your hands bloody. All of you would do the same things I have for your country as I did for mine. Do not insult my honor so blithely." The powerful monarch retorted.
May tried to control the situation and said "We both want one thing here, Dr. Doom. It is to protect the Earth. Let's get back on topic and decide how we're going to handle this situation-""
The argument and the loud talks were interrupted by Viv-vision.
"The attention of everyone is immediately required," Vivian said grabbing the attention.
"What is it now?" Steve questioned, knowing that whatever was yet to come, was bad news.
"A Space Ship designation, Hope, has entered into a Geosynchronous Orbit around our Moon. They are requesting permission to travel here. They claim they are refugees." Viv-vision said.
"What?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Are they available to connect as of now?" Mayday asked.
"Yes, I believe so."
Spider-girl quickly got into action and walked down to the computers to answer the space call.
On the screen there was Nikki, and on her shoulder there was a little Groot, looking at the screen with big black eyes.
It had been just a few days after Groot had died, and already his little seedling had sprouted into a tiny baby Groot.
Everyone looked at the screen, and it was still a one-way call. The video of them was visible to the people inside the room, but neither their video nor voice was heard for them.
"I am Nikki-Rel-Quill. I am the captain of this refugee ship. We request refuge on Terra. We will abide by any regulations that Terra has in place for Refugees. A list of onboard passengers is being sent via this transmission link." Nikki said.
"Is that baby Groot?" A man asked from behind and Spider-girl nodded.
"Refugees are a burden here for Earth. This is no safe haven. What we need is Warriors. Refuse them entry." Dr. Doom strictly said as Spider girl looked at him from the glass.
"Earth is not yours to make decisions for. You are on foreign soil. Diplomatic Immunity will take you only so far. The Avengers are not yours to command, they are mine. I lead them." Mayday replied succinctly.
With that words coming out of her before Dr. Doom could make a remark, she immediately transferred coordinates of the Avengers Mansion for the ship to Land.
The other avengers just nodded and continued to listen to Mayday.
"We have just formed a temporary alliance Doom, remember that. I have sent Nikki coordinates to land by the base of the Avengers," she said.
"Nikki, can you see us, and are we audible?" Mayday asked, and Nikki's voice came over, and MayDay guided them through the standard procedures of Refugee vetting.
After she settled everything, the meeting seemed to come to a halt, as the Avengers scrambled to help the refugees, and Dr. Doom returned to the Latverian Embassy.
And May decided to swing home. The risk the Earth was at seemed to stress her more, but somehow she had to put on a strong front. The fact that her parents hadn't replied to her calls, kept bothering and she too kept checking her phone from time to time during the whole time.
She passed street after street, and everything seemed to blur into itself, as her mind tried to figure a way for them to fight the Colossal danger they were in.
Something that caught her attention was the protest. There were hundreds of people on the road, holding boards and shouting asking what had happened back with Dr. Doom's announcement.
"STOP LYING SAYING WE'RE SAFE! WE NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH!"
"AVENGERS! AVENGERS! TALK TO US AND LET US KNOW WHAT IS IT!"
"DR. DOOM IS RIGHT! WE DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH!"
"ARE WE GOING TO DIE?!"
The voices were so loud that even from fifteen stories high, as she swung through the street, Mayday was able to hear the sounds and figure out their words.
Not long after, she reached her destination. Her apartment.
She was living in an upstate apartment. It was highly secured, considering that she was the CEO of Parker industries.
Mayday was also world-known as The Spider-girl, and she knew she needed a highly secure apartment to live in. That is why she had both SHIELD and SWORD agents around to secure her apartment. It was one place where she could let her guard down.
With a sigh, she walked inside the apartment. What caught her eyes shook her to the core.
Her thoughts were everywhere and her eyes narrowed down to what was inside.
Norman Osborn stood in the center of her living room, a glass of Scotch in one hand, and a manila folder in the other.
St. Mary's Hospital, Crotonville, New York
"It's touch and go at best, Mr. Parker. We've done everything we could, but the chandelier broke off and ruptured her lung, and it barely missed the heart. She's in a Coma, on the ventilator, but we don't know how long we can sustain her. I'm sorry sir." The doctor reported the sad news to a devastated Peter Parker.
Unable to formulate words, the old man collapsed in a chair behind him as he clutched his head in sorrow.
The doctors at the hospital decided to leave Peter to his grief, as they carried on with taking care of other patients.
Hospitals aren't actually white. Peter had forgotten that. As he stared at the grey walls of the countryside Hospital, his mind worked a mile a minute. Anger, resentment, loathing, and most of all self-hate, all emotions that he'd been familiar with throughout his life surged forth with a vengeance.
It took more effort to move his old bones and muscles, and make his way into the room in which the beautiful form of his wife was resting. Seeing her, still attached to a ventilator, in a coma, Peter couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Collapsing into the chair, he sobbed continuously, venting all his emotions into the fabric of the hospital bed till sleep finally took him.
He woke up late afternoon to Mary Jane's phone ringing in his pocket. Blearily he rubbed the sleep and dried tears from his eyes, as his mind caught up to the present.
Fumbling with the phone, he saw that the call was from his daughter, and his heart nearly caught in his throat, as the Green Goblin's final promise repeated over and over in his head.
'She's Spider-Girl, she has the proportionate strength of a spider, and he's just an old man. A relic of the past, just like me. She will be fine.' He consoled his beating heart and answered the call.
"Peter Parker….." The oh-so-familiar voice of Norman Osborn spoke from the other side, and Peter was immediately on edge. His hands clutched the white fabric of the hospital bed, and his knuckles turned white. "I did promise you, didn't I? I will take everything you've ever loved, just as you did from me…"
"What did you do to May, Osborn? If you touch a hair on her head..." Peter replied, his voice hard as stone.
"And you'll do what? Come now, Peter. We've done this song and dance, for well over 4 decades now. You don't need to worry your old brain about your daughter. She's free, I haven't done anything to her. Yet. But, that may not remain the case forever you see. Brooklyn Bridge. Six Hours. I have a surprise for you, don't keep me waiting. You will not like it, but you know that by now."
And the call cut off, as abruptly as it had started.
Peter sat there, motionless, his knuckles white, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He knew what he had to do. He had to be Spider-Man again. He had to become the man he'd swore he would never be again, take up the mantle that was once his. For his daughter. For his family.
"I am sorry, Mary Jane. But, I have to do this."
Walking through the familiar streets of Manhattan, taking in the distinct smell of the city, that even after all these years, was still exactly the same, Peter dreaded the coming confrontation. Memories that once haunted him, of a familiar face with blue eyes, and golden blonde hair assaulted his mind. Memories that he had thought were behind him, that his wife had worked tirelessly to help him move past, yet the situation called for those memories to resurface again.
'No. Never again. MayDay is in a class of her own. She's my daughter. She's stronger, faster, and more resilient than I was. She will not end up as Gwen did.' Peter chanted in his mind, to fight against the nagging feeling in her brain. Yet, the Green Goblin's threat played again and again in his head.
As the Brooklyn Bridge came into view, Peter was again assaulted by the haunting flashback of a falling figure. As his heart sped up.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed down his old beating heart. Taking a turn into an alleyway, he removed his Shirt, which hid his old Suit underneath. One that he had dusted off after decades of disuse.
Despite the world knowing his identity as Spider-Man, it had been long enough for people to not expect him to walk in their midst in plain clothes, and his old habit of changing into the suit inside damp alleyways was still something that stuck with him.
Climbing up the wall, to the roof, Peter was surprised that his bones could still support his heavyweight, but then he'd always known that the strength had never really left him.
Standing on top of the roof of the building, Peter could see right into the New York harbor, just beyond the Brooklyn Bridge. The familiar sight worked to soothe his fraying nerves, and he turned his gaze to the top of the bridge.
He could clearly make out two figures on either side of the gate of the bridge. One was his daughter, and the other was the Green Goblin. Seeing his daughter free, and there of her own free will let Peter release a breath that he did not know he was still holding, yet he remained on edge for whatever surprise the Green Goblin had for him.
It was time for him to face the music. One more time.
Putting on the mask to complete his suit, he was hit with a sudden sense of courage, and bravery. Something that he hadn't felt in so many years. Even standing on the edge of the building, Peter knew that this is where he was meant to be.
'Thwip'
He shot a web and prepared to swing into action. Steadying his nerves, on the edge of the building, taking a deep breath just like he did so many years ago when he jumped off the Oscorp tower for the first swing, he readied himself.
And he jumped.
His muscles strained against themselves, yet remained as strong as they'd ever been as he swung toward his destination. The wind once again in his face, working to soothe his nerves, clearing his mind. A form of meditation that was so unique that very precious few ever came to take part in it.
With a clear resolved mind, he leaped off his web, as he flipped in the air, as a warm-up to whatever action he was about to face. His target getting larger in the distance, his mind getting clearer and clearer, his muscles roaring with the very familiar fury, his anger at the green goblin returning with a vengeance, and most of all, his desperate desire to protect his daughter settled at the forefront of his mind.
He was Spider-Man once more.
Flipping again mid-air, Spider-Man realized that he was just in range of his destination. Shooting a final web, he pulled himself downward as he backflipped his way to perch himself nimbly on the stone structure, right between the Green Goblin and his daughter.
"What did I say, May? You hero types are all the same. Even after all these years, a little threat to his family, and he comes running." Norman taunted, as he stared down at his nemesis. "Oh well, now that you're here..."
Norman turned around and removed his mask. Revealing a perfectly young face. The signs of old age, his white hair, everything gone. It was like Peter had been sent back in time, and it hit him straight in the gut.
"Like the new me!" Norman taunted Peter who was reeling from shock.
"You bastard, tell him the whole truth!" May shouted from behind Peter, still not moving.
"Tch, dear you need to keep your mouth shut. You know exactly what's at stake here." Norman taunted, or the collar will zap you."
And Peter could see a blinking light right underneath May's mask.
"Is this your surprise Norman? You don't think I recognize the signs of a clone? I've had to experience them so many times, that I can tell a real person from a clone in an instant. And let me tell ya, the last few clones I met, all of them didn't do so well. Each and every one of them ended up as a pile of goo. That's what you're in for!" Peter taunted right back.
Surprisingly Norman laughed "Hahahahaha! You forget Peter, I invited you here for a surprise. And this," he said gesturing to himself, is just the beginning. "Your true surprise is coming right up!"
Saying that he pressed a button on his gauntlet, and a hologram appeared "Say hello, Project-Spider 17. A perfectly new body made from your DNA, and the unlimited potential that was once carried by Rogue Anna Marie. Say hello to your son!"
Peter was baffled by what the Green Goblin had just revealed. The environment turned up by a few degrees and Peter couldn't help but open his mouth to ask the raging questions in his mind.
"What- How would you-"
"I realized that clones are unviable. I prepared an organic body, made using your DNA, and that of a mutant with limitless potential, Rogue, or Anna Marie." the green goblin mouthed out, making it harder for Peter to listen.
"What are you even talking about?" Peter asked, totally taken back from his words.
"Yeah, well, let me explain to you better. That, my naïve old friend, is basically a clone that has your DNA running in its genes. The extra set of DNA proved vital to stabilize Miles Warren's cloning process. D'you know what the kicker is? All I had to do, to get your daughter captured, was dangling her new baby brother in front of her face, and she folded like a house of cards." Green Goblin said and let out a deep throaty laugh.
Peter's mouth remained shut as he took all of it in.
"Can't you see what I did with just this little trick? The odds are exactly as they were back then with poor innocent little Gwen!" He laughed heartily, which made Peter clench his fists.
A few seconds of intense silence passed between them before the green goblin started to talk again. The whole time, his scary yellow eyes were focused on everyone including Peter's daughter, Peter, and the little environment they were on.
"Might as well move on to the encore, seeing as there's no quippy little comeback from you this time, you can work right now to save your daughter, which would mean that I'd possess an innocent child's body, using Ol' Otto's ingenious little invention. Or you can save your son, which would also mean that your daughter's life would no longer have any purpose, either way, I get to take one member of your family from you again! First Gwen, then your precious Wife, and now either of your children! HaHaHaha!" Green Goblin said and shrugged as if it was no big deal.
Spider-Girl nudged closer to Peter by a few inches, and whispered, "Dad! Trust me and go for the boy. I know what you're thinking dad, and trust me, it is the right thing to do. If you selected me and you saved my life today, I wouldn't feel any better than I'd have been if you selected… my brother. I will find a way out of this," her voice was almost inaudible, but Peter figured out what she was saying.
Peter reluctantly walked away to save his—child. He couldn't believe that he was in this position, and saving a kid that he just got to know was his.
'This has got to be the worst kind of prank to ever fucking exist' he thought as he started to walk away from what was happening.
"You do know Norman, nothing will come between me and you after this. And this time, I will not hesitate in taking your life. Your days are numbered." Peter threatened as he stared through the bug lenses of his mask, at his greatest foe.
He knew after he gave the word, that it was too late for him to change anything or save his daughter.
"Oh, I am counting on it." Norman chuckled "Now, scram! I have your daughter to kill. You may want to watch this though, it's going to be a rush of nostalgia for you!"
Right when he started walking away, the green goblin let out an evil laugh. Loud and sorrowful.
"You made your decision, Parker!" he said while pressing the button which was basically connected to what May was hanging on.
With the shock collar attached to her, she fell off the bridge and kept falling and falling down into the water.
Peter looked back to see his daughter falling. Flashbacks hit him like sharp knives stabbed into his gut. It looked just like how Gwen had fallen off so many years ago.
'This is not the end. I trust her. She's Spider-Girl. She will be alright!' Peter chanted, as he forced his almost lead-like feet to move away from the horrifyingly familiar scene behind him.
Peter kept looking at how she hit the water, and his eyes wandered around the spot she drowned in—his heart throbbed. There was no sign of her coming out of it.
Just as the entire scenario happened in front of his face, the Norman clone at the bridge melted, showing the volatile nature of clones. They melt when the time expires—and just like that, the monster was gone out of Peter's sight too.
With one last glance at the calm waters below, in which he'd seen the figure of his daughter fall, Spider-Man rushed in the direction of the lab where he knew Norman was holding his son.
[In the lab]
Peter walked inside the lab furiously. Rage of sadness and stress covered his mind, and he threw whatever obstacle was on his way to get inside the lab.
Inside, there was no one other than the old and frail figure of Norman Osborn working tediously, as he adjusted the readings of the gauge on the mechanism in which the body of the almost childlike son of Peter Parker was kept. The tube in which he was held, was labelled Spider 17, and behind him was a line of other tubes, some broken, some still filled with green goo. Each of them held what Peter could discern were dead embryos in various stages of incubation. One of which was an almost lifelike human body, that showed no signs of life.
"What you did… Norman, you better know that I will kill you for this" Peter's voice echoed through the lab and the old Norman Osborn laughed hysterically.
Peter saved no time as he moved himself to the front to fight the man who made things hell for him all this time.
He swung in Norman's lab, hitting his webs to places so that he could reach the old man and give him what he deserves. With every swing he came across, Norman had activated traps.
*Boom!" A loud noise erupted, and Spider-Man's spidey sense blared to life, yet he wasn't quick enough to react as he went crashing into the large glass doors of the cupboard that stood straight in the lab.
*cough! cough!*
It was a gas bomb. If he hadn't known any better, the gas that erupted might have blinded his vision.
With almost no noise Peter landed on the ground with his hands on the floor and his legs extended from the landing.
He walked further inside the lab to reach for where all the noise was coming from. It was finally he saw how Norman Osborn was hurriedly working his way to activate the clone.
The clone was genetically the son of Peter Parker, but for how quickly Norman was working, it seemed that he hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly.
"I am not letting this happen!" Peter yelled across the lab, With two swift movements, he was right behind the doctor, and his Spidey sense blared alive again, and he narrowly dodged another trap that tried to zap him.
Another blare from the Spidey sense, and Peter was on the roof, as he was too late to dodge the strike from the traps that Norman had set around him,
*Swooooooooosh* The doors of the two chambers that connected the bodies of Norman and his son closed.
With the loud noise, getting angry with every passing second, Norman successfully activated the possession transference.
"Stop it!" Peter said, and yet only a creepy loud laugh echoed in the entire lab.
"Stay still, just a little longer old boy, I will kill you using your son's own two hands!" Norman taunted him from behind the glass tube.
Spider-Man tried punching the glass walls of either tube, yet they wouldn't budge even after the massive amounts of Force he used to try and break them.
"Do you take me for a fool, Peter?" Norman chuckled, as the wires attached to his body. Spider-Man could see his son convulsing in the other chamber. "I know your limits from back when we were young, no matter how much you try, that glass is not breaking!"
Giving up on using brute force, Peter moved to the computers and started entering things into the massive board of keys. Sweat started forming on his forehead, as he still kept going on while clicking everything possible.
"You're forgetting Norman, between you and me, I was the smarter one," Peter commented as his fingers typed at break-neck speed, as he tried to break the Kernel code in the computer's operating system. "Surfing the web, is kind of my thing."
That was right at that instant when he saw the red light which possibly could be a way to stop the entire body possessing process.
Without thinking, he clicked it and the entire engine came to halt.
Peter didn't know what happened, but things had already taken quite a turn even before he arrived.
Cosmic forces had decided to meddle in even this chapter of his life. Forces so powerful decided to imbue the body of Peter's son with a consciousness not of the very multiverse, in an effort to thwart the imminent destruction of the multiverse itself.
"I-Is he dead?!" Peter yelled while his son was unresponsive in his arms.
"Hahahha! Hahahaha!" the laugh of an annoying bastard came from behind Peter.
"You killed your son… and your daughter! Just as I promised," Norman's voice came out weekly. Evidently having his soul nearly ripped out for transfer put a lot of strain on his already dying body. "I killed your wife, your daughter, and now you killed your son! I won, I avenged my ….. my son!"
Those were the last words that came out of Norman Osborne's mouth, as his soul finally gave out.
Peter's heart clenched yet again, as Norman's words kept repeating in his mind. He was alone, all over again.
Yet, miracles shined even on the tortured Spider, as the body in Peter's arms started shaking, and signs of life returned to it.
The body that was in his hands, as he was on his knees started to shake slightly. Peter felt the heavy feeling slowly going away. Peter stood up and let the kid put his entire body on the table that was behind him.
His head was throbbing as if it was ready to blast into millions of pieces.
He finally gathered a little ounce of energy to open his eyes. He squinted his eyes to adjust the lights in the room.
He couldn't say anything as he saw the entire room–the lab was a mess. The lights were dangling and there were electric cables everywhere. A part of the lab reeked out of the smoke, and the other part was filled with test tubes and other scientific things, and green goo.
Finally, his eyes focused on the man whose eyes were also focused on him. As soon as he saw his eyes, the little guy's focus shifted to the suit that the man was wearing.
As his eyes fell on the symbol on the chest of the man in front of him, memories poured forth in his brain, as he clutched it tightly in an effort to retain consciousness.
'Owww!' he hissed in pain as he tried to stand up.
He groaned as he pulled himself up on the table that he had been placed on, clutching his head in a desperate and failed attempt to find the massive migraine brought on by the sudden rush of memories that assaulted him.
He stumbled, as he tried to stand up, finding his feet too short than what he was usually comfortable with.
"Easy there, son" An old voice wearing the very familiar costume that he'd only seen in comics and movies whenever he had the luxury to indulge in them. His years of practice and experience as a spy and assassin led him to conclude that the old man was tense as if expecting a fight. The cuts and blackened marks on his costume suggested that he had recently been in battle. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"
"Water." He whispered hoarsely, as he tried to balance himself in his much smaller frame. Looking into the broken glass panels around him, he noticed the body of the old man keeled over just outside a glass tube, that he himself had felt being moved out of. He filed that information for later. He observed his figure in the reflection of the glass panels.
He had short brown hair, with white streaks at the side. He stood just a little taller than five feet eight, and based on his guess, he was anywhere between thirteen to fourteen years of age. He was shirtless, as thick green slime, of the consistency of viscous honey, stuck all over his body.
'Either I'm inside an elaborate comatose dream state, or my final wish of being free and living in a comic book world actually came true. Or I'm in a madhouse, and I just asked a madman parading in a Spider-Man costume, to get me some water.' He thought 'Come on Jason. Pull yourself together. But, man, I didn't expect my last wish would come true.'
He had died on an espionage mission in the Kremlin when Russian FSB agents caught up to him; he had sacrificed himself to stall for time so that his team could make their escape. Being a spy, and a secret service agent had been his entire life, and his only true solace in his life had been the various pop culture novels and shows that he had the luxury to enjoy when he spent time away from civilization as a whole.
This was why his last wish when death had caught up to him, was to be able to enjoy those comics once again. And it looked to him, as though some higher power had fulfilled that wish for him, and given him more than he could have imagined.
His musing was broken by the voice of Spider-Man.
"Here you go son," he said, as he handed Jason a glass of water.
Making sure that there wasn't anything funny mixed in the water, Jason chugged it all down.
"Thank you." Jason said, and then said, "Are we going to ignore the dead body in the room?"
"Uhmm, I'd rather really not look at him," Spider-Man replied after a moment's pause "He's caused me enough grief as it is. Uhmm, what should I call you?"
Jason pondered over what to say here, protocol dictated to give a fake name upon introduction, but he was in uncharted territory here. He decided that he'd rather stay truthful for now.
"Jason." He said finally.
Peter nodded and said "Jason, then. Let's get you out of here son"
Peter hefted the dead body of Norman Osborn in his arms and guided Jason out of the lab, after finding him a clean towel and questionable source of water to clean the slimy sludge off his body, and finding an appropriate coat to cover his torso.
Stepping outside of the lab, Jason and Peter came into a wide courtyard, which Jason assumed was the loading area of an abandoned Warehouse. Looking around for any identifying symbols, he found a broken neon sign. The letters that once read 'Oscorp Labs' were falling apart.
"So, uh. I… Uh… gosh I don't know how to do this, but I guess I should be as upfront as I can be." Peter, who was still carrying the dead body on his shoulder hefted, said.
But before he could continue telling whatever he meant to tell, bright lights lit the open loading area they were standing in the middle of.
Jason's battle instincts were already on alert, yet he could not see the silhouette of the object that made the light. He looked for cover and was about to drag the old man with him when the object in question finally became visible.
And with the object becoming visible as if it was hidden like a sheen of water on the dark sky above, a powerful hum also became audible. It was a jet, unlike any Jason had yet seen. Its design was sleek, mimicking that of a falcon with its wing spread wide. It reminded him of the V-TOL jets that he had the pleasure of piloting on a couple of occasions, yet it was slimmer, and it hovered midair without any telltale signs of the jet engines that he generally associated with a hovercraft, the smoke was absent as well.
"The Quinjet?" Peter questioned astonished beside him, and Jason noticed that the man was not tensed by the sudden presence of the jet.
The aircraft slowly descended in the middle of the empty loading yard, and a hatch at the back of the craft opened. Smoke first exited out of the, followed by a brilliant white light. Jason had to shield his eyes, as he observed the person who stepped out.
She wore a red and blue outfit similar to Peter and walked with a grace that he had seen in some very nimble fighters. Her brown hair flowed freely, and she wore no mask. Her gaze first fell on the man beside him, and Jason heard Peter breathe a sigh of relief.
Dropping the body from his shoulder, uncaring of its condition as it made a loud thud noise, Peter rushed to embrace the woman.
"May!" He cried, as he engulfed her in a very tight hug. "My baby girl! I thought you were dead, are you hurt?" He said as he looked her over for injuries.
The woman smiled at the man. Shaking her head, she said "No, dad. I wasn't hurt. I was very quickly rescued by my friends."
"How was this possible? If they knew you were in trouble, why didn't they help out earlier?" Peter asked his daughter, apparently having forgotten the presence of the lone bystander watching the pair.
"They didn't know about the trouble. It was only when my vitals dipped a certain level, that the Avengers HQ was notified. Riri had all our suits outfitted with emergency beacons that send a signal to the HQ when we are in mortal danger. That led them to send Kate, and Yelena to help me out." She replied, and then she glanced at Jason.
She took a careful note of him, and then asked her father "Is this him? Is this my brother?"
That was news to Jason. He did not know anything about the body he was currently occupying. It quite obviously wasn't his previous vessel and by the little information, he had been able to gather when he had followed Peter out of the lab, he had assumed he was either a kidnap victim who had been experimented on or a synthetic human body.
Being Peter Parker's son would certainly be awkward for him.
"Yes, this is him. Though, I didn't want to break it to him this way. I don't know much about what he knows, and what he doesn't know. And like Cindy and Ben before him, he seems to have some idea of who he is. He calls himself Jason, so at least he has a name. I assumed Norman trained him. Why he did so, I don't know. Probably to test his stability." Peter had started rambling by then, as he started listing hypothesis after hypothesis of why he knew in his brain.
'He sure has a mind on him. Well, not surprising. If this is a variation of the marvel world, it's none that I know of. Peter Parker has a daughter, that's not something from the main universe.' Jason thought as he slowly made his way to join the father-daughter duo. He completely ignored the cold dead body beside him, it was not his problem to deal with.
The woman, whom he now knew was May, turned to get a look at him properly. Jason could see that the situation was new to her too, and she was out of her depth to deal with this. But she quickly found her words and said "Hi! I am MayDay Parker, and now apparently your elder half-sister."
"Uh, Hi! I am Jason. And I am totally confused." He said. He could already see the awkward questions that were sure to follow soon. His head hurt even more.
How was he going to navigate these conversations, without giving away his bizarre isekai condition?