Chapter 3: Bonding
"Alright Franklin, lets give it another shot." Peter said standing behind the young boy with crossed arms, currently in his Future Foundation Suit. Franklin Richards groaned, more annoyed than tired, as he raised both hands out in front of him, he too was in his FF uniform. Peter's head turned to the small sealed room off to their right about fifteen feet, and gave them a thumbs up. Valeria was standing on a step stool as she looked over the panels, screens, and dials on the console in front of her. She was in her her uniform as well, but a large white lab coat was covering it. Her sleeves were rolled up, was wearing glasses, and she had her hair pulled back into a small pony tail. She was very professionally cute, as the woman standing next to her mentioned earlier.
Sajani Jaffery, a coworker of Peter's back in Horizon Labs, was watching the screens and stats along with the young prodigy. She readily accepted Peter's invitation to be a part of his research team at the Baxter Building, even after his public announcement of being Spider-Man. After all, how often does one get to mess...err work with technology developed by Reed Richards. In fact Horizon Labs itself was offered a co-op by Peter, to help interpret and distribute technologies resulting in their findings. Sajani was one of the few in Parker's inner circle of scientists who had access to some of the more restricted and unsharable projects. That and Valeria took a huge shine to her, both relating in the girl genius area, and snarky attitudes to match.
The two in the booth gave Spider-Man a return thumbs up, and he turned back to focus on his godson. "Let'er rip Squirt." Peter fist pumped next to Franklin, who smirked and pushed his hands forward a bit more. In the center of the large test area was a watermelon on a very thick and welded into the floor pedestal.
For a few moments the fruit sat idly, and the young boy focused a bit harder. It shook a few times, and then slowly separated from the pedestal, floating into the air. Franklin's concentration became even more visible as his face started to grow a slightly red tint, and was scrunched into a deep frown. Peter watched the young boy like a hawk, paying very little attention to the actual test at hand. First and foremost was his godson's safety, and that was why he had made sure to really tune into his Spider-Sense during these tests.
The watermelon wobbled a bit in the air, and then slowly started changing color. The light green and dark green stripes started to brown, with the stripes slowly fading into the brown and becoming one solid color. Ever so slowly the brown color started to lighten into a crimson, and the watermelon started to compact in on itself.
Spider-Man watched the young boy begin to hold his breath. He took a knee next to him, resting a hand softly on his shoulder. "Don't hold your breath Kiddo. Let it out slowly without losing your focus. Remember this is your mind working, but your body has known how to breath before you could use your mind. So let it do it's job." Parker whispered calmly, and patting his hand on Franklin's shoulder. Franklin did just that, he let his breath out evenly, which slowly removed the red from his still determined face. Peter hazarded a glance at the floating produce, which was down to the size of a cantaloupe now, but looked like a very large tomato.
"You're doing great Squirt." Peter reassured, but his Spider-Sense started to thrum in the back of his head.
"Pete..Peter, I can't... I'm about to lose it. I feel it coming undone." Franklin said with a shaky voice. Spidey turned to look at the fruit, and watched it start to pulse, bulging outward quickly.
"Are you sure? You are almost there." Peter asked calmly, seeing the boy starting to go red in the face again from strain. "C'mon, I know you got this." He encouraged, giving a thumbs up to the child.
"I'll...try." Franklin inhaled quickly, his knuckles going white with how tight his fists were.
"That's my boy, just keep breathing calmly." Peter glanced back to the watermato, which was starting to shrink again and stopped beating like a heart. In a few seconds the watermelon was the size of an apple, and looked almost exactly like one, outside of the very dark red stripes. "Almost there."
"Yeah..." The young boy gave a defiant smirk, and in one instant the fruit shrunk the rest of the way, completing it's transformation into an apple. It fell back onto the pedestal, and rolled off onto the floor, bouncing before rolling to a stop. Franklin inhaled deeply then let it out as he started to wobble. Peter put a bracing hand on his back, and the large smile on his face could be seen through his mask. "I'm awesome." The young Richards said finally, a huge toothy smile on his own face.
"Cannot argue with you there Squirt. Amazing job." Peter held out his free hand in front of the boy, and Franklin high-fived him. "At this rate you'll be floating around the room by next month. Remind me to get you a leash." The older man joked. Franklin rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway.
"Franklin! That was sooo cool!" Valeria shouted happily as she ran to the two of them, and hugged her big Brother.
"Thanks sis. Almost thought it was gonna blow up again, but I got it."
"Not that I don't like watching your Gallagher impersonations, you did great. One small step for now, but one big leap in becoming even more awesome." Once he was sure Franklin could stand on his own, Peter stood up, and started walking toward the until recently, watermelon apple. "Time for the big reveal. How are we looking Sajani?" He asked as he approached the apple.
"All the readings we're getting is it's stable and says it's an apple. Should be good to take a bite boss man." Her voice sounded from a speaker, as she was still inside the booth going over the readings. He looked over to her, catching a mischievous grin on her face, and he raised a brow at her. He grabbed the apple, and tossed it in the air once, feeling it's weight. It felt about right, maybe a bit heavy, but close enough.
"What are you waiting for?" Franklin's voice came from behind Peter. He turned around to see the siblings looking at him and the apple expectantly.
"Just doing the preliminary checks there buddy." Their godfather said as he held the apple down to them, and they both looked it over carefully.
"Dr. Jaffery said all the readings are normal. So what are you hesitating for? Spider-Man is not scared, is he?" Valeria jabbed at him, and Peter was glad he had his mask right then. He was sure he the uncertain look on his face would have given her teasing fodder for a good long while.
"C'mon sis, he's Spider-Man. He's not afraid of anything." Her brother said with an unwavering confidence only a child could have in their heroes. The young boy had a deathly serious look on his face, sparkling with admiration for his godfather. While Franklin's approval of Peter's past time gave him an ego boost, it also made it harder for him to say no. Swallowing his caution away Parker smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Careful now, you're making me blush." Peter said, and he grabbed the hem of his mask with his free hand, then pulled it up and off, revealing his brown hair and eyes. He gave the two kids his best smile, and brought the transformed fruit to his face. He took one last look around the room, resting his eyes briefly on everyone there. His godkids, Sajani who had the most sadistic grin he'd seen in a while, and the other two onlookers in the observation area. "Welp, through the teeth, past the gums, look out stomach here it comes." He recited then took a big bite of the apple.
X X X X
"You know there really could be a market for Waterapples. I bet travel sized watermelon's would sell like hotcakes during the summer." Peter said as he worked on picking the last tiny watermelon seed from his teeth. After discovering the apple was only an apple on the outside, he ended up with several wedged seeds in his gums and teeth. It wasn't all bad though, as Peter enjoyed the taste of watermelons.
After he cheered Franklin up, telling him his powers can only grow from here, Peter decided that as a reward everyone was going out for ice cream. That included Sajani, who he was very tempted to leave behind to check the readings, after her rather long fit of laughter. On the way out they met up with Jennifer, who was waiting for them to finish and entertaining the third guest. She happily joined in on the ice cream run.
They were all sitting around a large table in the ice cream shop, minus their three guests. The kids happily devouring their triple scoops, while Sajani dug into her frozen yogurt, and She-Hulk worked on an extra large coffee flavored bowl of ice cream. Peter was holding aside his soft serve Rocky Road cone while picking at the last seed.
"It's not a half bad idea, I mean we could try replicating the fruit. Heck why not just plant some of the seeds and see what we get." Sajani replied after some thought. Peter nodded, finally getting the seed out and putting it on his napkin.
"You hear that Squirt, from failure comes success. You might have just created a whole new trend in food. This is why we keep trying." Peter congratulated the boy, who just beamed with pride under the smearing of ice cream on his lips.
"Ya hear that sis? I'm awesome." Franklin boasted, only for his little sister to roll her eyes in mock annoyance.
"Yes yes, you are the prodigal son Johnny Appleseed reborn." Valeria answered subtly sarcastic, and with a smirk.
"Who's that?" Franklin asked genuinely confused by the analogy. The group shared a laugh at his expense, but the boy was to happy with himself to care and joined in. During the round of laughter Jennifer lightly nudged Peter's arm with her elbow to get his attention, since she was sitting next to him at the table. She nodded her head back toward the entrance where two figures were standing outside the windowed front. One was puffing on a cigar, and the other obviously looked annoyed with him.
"Guess their ready to chat." Peter said softly to her. She agreed with a nod, and set her bowl of ice cream down.
"We'll be right back, gotta see our guests off." Jennifer said, and together with Peter and his cone, they headed out the door.
"You sure you don't want anything? The ice cream is really good here. If you don't like ice cream, god forbid, they have gelato, lattes, non dairy..." Peter asked Logan, Rachel, and Emma, before he took a lick of his ice cream. Emma Frost, one of the head faculty of the New Charles Xavior School for Mutants, wrinkled her nose at the offer. Probably more because Peter was eating right in front of her, disregard for proprieties. Logan, headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, just gave his long time friend a gruff humph. Indicating he was fine. Rachel Grey, a faculty member at Logan's school, actually seemed to consider the offer. "Ah I see that Rachel, c'mon you know you want some Rocky Road." Peter slightly waved his cone at her.
"He's not wrong you know. They do have some of the best stuff here." She-Hulk addressed the fence sitting Rachel, her hands resting on her hips as per usual.
"Please Jennifer don't encourage Parker's behavior. You're better than that." Emma regally dissed, giving Walters an incredulous upturned eyebrow. Jen furrowed her brows at the blond, then grew a smirk.
"Well Em, you'll have to excuse me if I like to recommend the shop that I introduced to him." The green bombshell ever so subtly sniped. Logan chuckled a bit when he saw Emma trying to look unfazed by the unintended insult she gave to the lawyer. Emma crossed her arms over her dress suit covered chest, and decided to be quiet for the time being. Rachel burst out laughing seeing her former teacher attempting to stay dignified.
"Thank you for that by the way Jen. I really enjoy this place." Peter added, and She-Hulk gave him a smiling nod. Rachel just busted out laughing more.
"Not that I don't like seeing blondie humbled, but can we get back to business?" Logan interjected.
"Sure. So what do you guys think?" Peter took another lick of his cone. Emma was quick to get her piece in, as any longer being in the Arachnid's presence was not a pleasing prospect.
"Franklin is decidedly powerful, even in his adolescent developmental state. He demonstrated telekinetic power and even more troubling matter reconstruction. Being able to fundamentally..." She was interrupted when Peter raised his hand up in front of her suddenly.
"Troubling? Why do you say that?" He asked after a slow lick. Emma's brow twitched.
"For a child," She continued with some spite in her voice. "to have this much raw power, with his prepubescent mind, and no one of similar talents to teach him..." Peter once again raised his hand up to stop her, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is your one and only warning to stop interrupting m..."
"Oh get off your high horse Emma. Obviously he understands this, which is why he called us, right?" Rachel stopped the older woman this time while looking at Peter, earning a cold glare from the other psychic.
"Yup. I do understand the risks at his age. Heck we've all been through this, maybe not as young as Squirt, but we did. That is why I wanted your assessments." Peter bit into his ice cream after saying this, taking a sizable chunk with it.
"We want him to have a tutor so he can develop his talents safely." Jennifer continued. "But we also wanted to know just how far along he is." After a moment of processing this Emma looked at Peter, not saying anything. She blinked surprised after a few moments, and he smiled at her knowingly after licking his lips of ice cream.
"Now now Emma, no need to be so hasty in rushing this discussion." He turned his head slightly to the side, and with his right index finger, pushed his ear forward a bit. There behind the ear was a small blinking piece of tech. He tapped it a few times before looking her strait in the eyes with a grin. "Is that any way to act toward someone who's asking for your help?"
"Trust me Parker, the simple act of asking for help has led to far to many incidents." She shot back coldly, obviously not liking the fact she couldn't read him.
"We know. We're in the same game remember?" Jen said, also tapping her right ear to indicate she had one too.
"Obviously you already have your preference, so why even bothering contacting me?" Emma said suspiciously, eying Spider-Man.
"Because while you and I have had our spats in the past, you are one of the leading psychics in the world. And despite what you think, I respect you, your powers, and your expertise. My transparent feelings that Scott is a dick is not going to stop me from all possible avenues in helping my godson." Peter said in all seriousness, which obviously had an effect on the blond woman. At least until he took another lick of his ice cream that is. Emma was silent for a few moments. Peter guessed she was reconsidering her stand point on him.
"Every once in a while you manage to surprise me kid." Logan said, a sideways smirk on his lips.
"Indeed." Emma agreed quietly.
"I just want what's best for them, the Foundation, the Four, and possibly the world itself. So how about we get back to our serious discussion." Peter said just before he brought his ice cream cone up to his mouth, and with a completely strait face licked it again. Jennifer rolled her eyes, as she looked away from her teammate. Rachel couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, and started breaking up right there on the sidewalk. Logan grumbled something about the last time he compliments this idiot. Emma, well she felt that special headache she always got when talking to Peter coming back.
CHAPTER 3 END
A/N: Well here's chapter three. A little back story for this chapter. I wanted Peter and the kids to have an honest relationship. Thus Peter waited till Franklin and Valeria were comfortable enough with him to tell of Franklin's mutant powers. He did already know about them through Reed's files though. Once everything was out in the open Peter consulted with the Future Foundation and the FF about it. It was pretty much unanimous in training Squirt. Hence this chapter.
And of course who else do you call to help mutants, the X-Men and affiliates. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Like I said I wanna space them out a bit, so I don't run out of them while on other projects. Hope you enjoyed. Later taters, Wiggles out.
Wonderbee 31: Being constantly around a person, you see both good and bad sides. Not just the impression from a few encounters. I believe even the Spider hating Shulkie would warm up to him eventually.
im ur misconception: Thank you. Yeah Chess seemed like a game that Peter could propose to play with Doom, and not get too scoffed at. That and I feel Peter would certainly want to be in constant contact with his 'business' partner.
Bael92: No worries, May will show up. I'd have to be crazy to keep her out. Game night huh? That brings up many possibilities.
Karlos1234ify: Yup.
Matt Kirby's Jinchuuriki: Well glad to know I have the same tastes as others.
A: Sorry, but you'll have too.
TS24: Oh yeah from like month two Peter was in a bind. Don't you worry, like Shulkie said he's not keeping the backroom deal from them. So they have time to think of something. And Shulkie will be, I mean he's notorious for the Parker Luck, and he's kinda new to this life. So yeah.
cabrera1234: This is very true.
hollowichigo12: The way I see it, Peter knows there is good in Doom. Heck he's experienced it... if I'm not mistaken. He's gonna treat Doomsy like a person not a dictator and super villain. Sometimes all you need is a friend. Oh yeah the clock, it was a random idea I had when I remembered just how into their work scientists could get, and like you said constant power outages and shenanigans. I don't think much, at least yet. The franchise reboot is a scary premise as I've grown up with these characters and their stories. I can only give them time to see what happens.
Ben Firebird: Count on it.
Angel of Atonement: Oh by far. However this deal could potentially turn in his favor, if things go right. I'll remember the italics speak for future chapters.
Brown-Eyed-Fiend: A wise man once said: Thanks brah.
ScorpinokXV: Oh yeah, Peter knows just how bad secrets can be. He wont try to make that mistake with his new family. Yep both the kiddies are super dangerous in the wrong hands, but we know Peter will go to the ends of the Earth for them. That is also basically why I made this chapter. If he draws in the X-Men for help, he has another source to protect them.
huntergo123: Possibly...
Guest 1: Of course I will.
: Thank you. I look forward to this too.
TheWickedTruth89: Can do.
Guest 2: And updated NOW!