Chapter 7: Does whatever a spider can
"Well-well-well. Look who decided to wake up."
"G'morning Wong", Via yawned tiredly behind her hand. Behind her, the wolf-like mutt, Buddy, hobbled in, being careful not to put weight on his injured paw.
It was nine o clock Monday morning when she had shuffled into the New York Sanctum's kitchen in her pyjamas, where Stephen and Wong were having breakfast.
"I thought you were going with Stark to meet Norman Osborn today?" Stephen muttered behind his newspaper, briefly reaching down to pet Buddy on the head.
"He and Happy are picking me up at eleven, and then it's straight to the Oscorp Tower," Via mumbled as she served herself a bowl of Wong's homemade porridge from the stove.
"I trust you have something nice to wear?" Wong quirked a stern brow at her. "Oscorp is a prestigious company-"
"I know." Via grumbled through a mouthful of food, "And don't worry; I got an outfit; I ran it by Natasha last night."
"Natasha? As in Romanoff?" Stephen quirked a brow.
"Yes." Via scowled sleepily. "She sent the Oscorp files along with a dress code."
"Good." Wong nodded in approval as he settled down for his meal. "And now onto more important matters."
He turned towards Stephen, who had put down his newspaper. His face was grim.
"It's to do with my training." he explained quietly, "to become the new Sorcerer Supreme."
"Oh…" Via blinked. "Okay…what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's…" Stephen sighed, rubbing his beard. "It's master Fan-"
"What about him?" Via scowled angrily. "Is he causing trouble again?"
"No…at least not yet," Wong muttered darkly. "It seems he's finally found those old records we've been looking for."
"Old records for what?" Via stiffened uncomfortably.
"Old records about the selection process for New Leaders of the Order", Stephen answered. "Apparently, the Ancient One wasn't the only one in her position-"
"Well, of course, she wasn't." Via rolled her eyes, "the Order of the Mystic Arts was founded by Agamotto and then has been maintained by other human Grandmasters for centuries."
"I see you've been paying attention to your history lessons," Wong smirked approvingly at the young apprentice, who just shrugged.
"History, shmistory! So, what's the process for choosing a new leader for the Order?"
"A series of trials…apparently," Stephen sighed. "Each one dangerous"
"What else is new?"
Wong's disapproving glare silenced via's snort of amusement.
"These trials were designed to push the human form beyond the brink of normal magic." the Librarian said sternly. "More specifically, tests of the mind, the body and the soul."
"What kind of tests?" Via gulped, not quite liking where this was going and sure enough.
"We're not sure; we're still looking into that. All we can say is that from the records, many participants of the trials have died in the process." Wong muttered.
"You can't be serious?" Via turned to Stephen, wide-eyed.
"We are." Stephen sighed. "If I'm to become the next Sorcerer Supreme I will have to go through these trials."
"Which means a lot of strenuous training," Wong finished.
"Anything I can do to help?" Via leaned forward.
Both Wong and Stephen's smirked softly, the latter reaching out to ruffle her mussed up curls.
"Not now. It'll be a while until we find out the exact details, but we'll let you know when we do. We just wanted you to be in the loop."
Via opened her mouth to speak, only to get interrupted by a loud beep.
"Message from Tony." She grumbled, "Might be coming ten minutes early. Guess I gotta wrap up here if I'm gonna get ready in time."
She quickly wolfed down the rest of her food, washed her dishes and dashed out the door, followed by a very eager Buddy who nuzzled her hand for petting as they rounded a corner.
Wong and Stephen both sighed heavily.
"I still think we should've told her about Mordo," Wong muttered, glaring sidelong at Stephen, who scowled. "I mean…about him being spotted in America with Cassian-"
"No," Stephen clipped firmly. "You saw how upset she was after that mess with Russo and Kaesilius. If she knew about Mordo being here, she'd go after him and Cassian, and there's no way in hell I'm letting that boy get his hands on her. God knows what he'd do to get revenge for his father."
"Indeed", Wong agreed bitterly. "Indeed…"
"Hey, Peter! Peter! Over here!"
"Hey, Ned", Peter Parker yawned as he shuffled his way to the back of the bus, hoping against hope that people would be too busy to notice him.
His prayers went unanswered as a taller boy with dark skin and hair and a smug face sneered at him from among his posse of taller, rich-looking teens.
"Hey, everyone, look who decided to show up? It's Penis Parker!"
"Come on, man," Ned urged Peter, who kept his head down, avoiding all the cackles of taunting laughter that followed him.
He slumped down low as he sat down beside the plump form of Ned beside him.
"Just ignore Flash." Ned muttered, bubbling over with excitement, "So Oscorp, huh? What do you think we're gonna see? Oh-oh! Do you think we'll get to see some cool-"
Peter shut his eyes as his best friend blabbered on beside him, unaware that he was glazing out.
He wasn't sure why, but he felt like things were going to change today.
Little did he know that one of those changes was speeding towards him in a fancy sports car alongside Tony Stark himself.
"So now you're giving me this?" Via sighed, holding out the Stark industries smart tablet.
She was in the front passenger's seat next to Tony, who was driving the car himself in one expensive suit with a sharp pair of sunglasses, which he rolled his eyes behind.
"Honestly, you've got to be the only kid I've seen who would complain about getting spoiled," he grumbled, and Via pouted.
"I'm not ungrateful. I'm just not used to it." she mumbled softly, flicking through the files on Norman Osborn. "There's something off about the info in these files."
"I know. That's why we're investigating Oscorp today." Tony muttered before adding quickly, "Oh, by the way, good job with the clothes."
"Oh, this?" she flushed a little pink as she checked her neat ponytail in the mirror. "Thanks…I just tossed it together this morning. Natasha said I'd need something feminine to keep up the act-"
"And she was right." Tony nodded approvingly. "Norman Osborn is a very picky guy when it comes to appearances. Usually, I wouldn't care about what my interns wear to work, girl or boy, but when it comes down to Osborn, he's-"
"A misogynistic ass?" Via snorted. "Yeah, I've seen the news. And honestly, I'm not a fan."
"Yeah, Osborn has never been great at keeping his cronies' hands to themselves." Tony chuckled. "Whatever the point is that this is a huge operation that requires a great diversion, so I'm taking you along with me and not Pepper."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Via frowned.
"Norman sees Pepper as a threat. She's the CEO of my company; he'll be even more on edge if both she and I meet him face to face. You, however, are a young teenager; Norman will most likely overlook you." he droned.
"Right, and you need him to overlook me because…" she prompted.
"Because I need you to use your pretty face to case the joint before sending Nat and Clint tonight."
"Excuse me?" Via spluttered, but Tony just waved her off.
"You heard me. I need you to look at the security measures around Oscorp tower. Nat and Clint are currently getting all their resources ready to break in tomorrow, but they need more intel, and the less the security cameras get a look at them, the better. I'd ask Thor or Steve, but they're too easily recognisable. And Bruce can't go near such a radioactively charged area with the big guy. Which leaves you and me, and quite frankly, you've got more chance than I do of getting away with murder."
"So basically, you're sending me, a teenager, to sneak around a giant building filled with secret projects, radioactive substances and scientists? Yeah, that won't look suspicious at all." Via scowled.
"Don't worry; once we gain entrance and have talked to Norman for a little bit, I'll dismiss you to go have lunch. Then you'll go down a few levels and latch onto one of the school tours. From there, you should get a good view of all the security measures in place without arousing suspicion." Tony explained calmly.
"Right, and what if someone realises I'm not one of them?"
"They won't. Don't worry if you behave and follow them quietly. Worst comes to worst; you could always say you got separated from another tour group. But most likely, it won't come to that. Just keep your head down and try to keep the sass to a minimum. I know other teens can be idiots, but you need to fly under the radar if this is gonna work. Chances are no one will mess with you, seeing as you look cute."
"So basically, you're saying play nice with the other children and be the perfect little Barbie doll assistant?" Via rolled her eyes.
"I'm saying that you've got a pretty face, so why not use it?" Tony smirked as he checked the rear-view mirror. "Many people look at you and think you're adorable; they won't expect you to be smart or fight back when backed into a corner. That's something you can use to your advantage. You know, keep the element of surprise and all that jazz."
Via didn't say anything. How could she? Her already shot nerves were now racing through the roof of the car.
"If I get out of this alive, remind me to sick Buddy on you." She grumbled.
"Whoa-whoa, wait, who's Buddy?" Tony frowned in confusion.
"Never you mind." Via snorted, corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she entertained thoughts of the great big wolf chasing and pinning down the oh-so-brilliant billionaire.
It probably wouldn't come to fruition, but what the heck.
A spider sorceress could dream.
Back when I was first learning magic back at Kamar Taj, there came a discussion about the idea of fate and destiny.
Many of the other students of the mystic arts thought that fate was something that we had no knowledge or control over before events happened. Others believed that we create our own fate.
I find myself constantly stuck between the two. On the one hand, I can look back and see that in the past, certain things were supposed to happen to make the present we're in now. However, when it comes down to predicting future events there is always a possibility for something different…something new and unexpected that we can make for ourselves.
The words the future isn't set in stone are very true…and yet that day when I went to Oscorp I knew right down in the very fabric of my being, that, that day was going to change the world.
How that was going to happen I had no clue…
The induction into the building was boring.
The security checks were long-winded and dull.
The tour guide's introduction was a monotonous drone.
The only thing that kept Peter Parker in awe was the massive beautiful building that surrounded him and his classmates.
"Oh my god! Oh-my-god! We're actually in Oscorp right now" Ned was busy gaping at the high glass ceiling of the lobby through which glorious sunlight was streaming.
"Now if you'll please follow me class" the Tour guide forced a very rehearsed smile onto their face.
"Come on Ned" Peter hissed grabbing Ned by the elbow.
But Ned wasn't listening. His eyes were now staring transfixed at the doors they'd just come through.
"Dude…check it out" he breathed.
Peter and the rest of their class quickly turned around to see what he was looking at only for all their jaws to drop.
There, striding through the glass doors and on those marble floors was Tony Stark himself, tailed by several bodyguards led by a rather beefy looking one with sunglasses, and someone with a head of gold.
It wasn't as if he wasn't in awe of Tony Stark appearing.
Tony Stark was a superhero, a billionaire, an inventor, and one of the great Avengers. He'd fought against Alien invaders and had created so many amazing machines that Peter could only dream of.
And yet there was something about the head of golden curls that just drew his eyes away from the man of Iron.
She was wearing a simple blue and white floral dress that fell just above the knee with a short navy-blue cardigan over the top and a small brown belt around her slender waist. On her feet, she wore a pair of cute but simple black ballerina flats. Her pretty face was smiling as she talked to the bodyguard next to her, who seemed to be grumbling about something.
She was just about to pull out a smart pad from her black leather satchel as her eyes met his.
They were a bright blue, so sharp it almost felt they could pierce him straight through the heart of the ocean.
"-Stark's doing at Oscorp?" Ned's voice floated into his ears, however, it seemed as if it was coming from a long way away.
"What?" Peter shook his head to clear it, not taking his eyes off the girl as she and her group were quickly greeted by a woman in a very corporate black and white dress.
"I said" Ned sighed in exasperation "I wonder what Tony Stark is doing at Oscorp?"
"Probably some business deal?" Peter muttered distractedly, now craning his neck to get a good last look at the girl as she and Tony Stark and their guards were led into a nearby elevator.
Now that he looked closely enough he could see that the hero and the girl were both talking to one another, or at least Tony was smirking and the girl was rolling her eyes with exasperation.
He wondered who she could possibly be. Tony Stark was one of the most powerful people on the planet, so how could a seemingly normal (if very pretty) teenager their age talk to him with such familiarity?
Maybe she's the daughter of some rich friend?
He frowned as the glass elevator doors began to slide shut.
Maybe she's a relative? HIS daughter? He is a womanizer. But no that can't be right. Everyone knows Mister Stark has no living family left. And if anyone knew he had a daughter the press would have a field day-
Peter felt his cheeks flush scarlet as the girl met his once more through the glass door of the elevator.
She blushed a slight pink as she turned back to the smart pad in her hands. On her lips was the tiniest of shy smiles as she tucked a stray curl behind her ear, the sunlight from the glass ceiling above making her golden locks glisten and her warm skin glow-
Then suddenly the view was blocked by a hand waving in front of his face.
"Peter! PETER!"
"Ned-cut it out!" Peter groaned, swatting away his best friend's hands, but it was too late. The golden-haired girl and Tony Stark had both vanished as their elevator finally zoomed up into the heavens and out of sight.
"Thanks a lot" he muttered darkly as he began trudging along after the rest of their cohort.
"Dude seriously what is with you today?" Ned shook his head in exasperation "Tony Stark just walked right by us and you were totally spaced out-hey why's your face so red?"
"I'm just tired alright. I didn't get much sleep last night." Peter grumbled, ducking his head down to avoid the sniggering of Flash and his cronies a few feet away.
"Come on, let's keep moving"
"Well done kid, you're past stage one" Tony smirked as Via followed him out of the lift.
They were now on the top floor of the building, which stood only a few storeys lower than the Avengers Tower which they could see several blocks away through a window to their right.
"What is it with you big execs and heights?" She grumbled, doing her best to keep her nerves down as she looked down to the faraway street below.
She was thankful she had the Web of Asibikaashi on her right now. God forbid she somehow ended up on the other side of that glass…
Her terrifying thoughts were put to a stop as they paused to wait outside a large set of dark wooden doors.
"Wait right here," the secretary that brought them up clipped tersely, before quickly slipping inside the room.
There were murmurings on the other side and then the bark of a man's voice.
"Last thing I need is some snot-nosed brat poking their nose where it doesn't belong-"
"Amazing, he hasn't even met me yet and he's already turfing me out. That's almost a new record." Via snorted softly, as the secretary started mumbling something hurriedly.
"Don't take it personally," Tony assured her quietly "Osborn's pretty much an ass to everyone who hasn't got billions in their pocket."
"Surprise, surprise." Via rolled her eyes as the secretary quickly scurried out of the room.
"So sorry," she muttered doing her best (and failing) to mask her slight terror with a professional smile. "But Mister Osborn is wondering if your security and intern could remain outside. He wants this meeting to remain as confidential as possible."
"Of course. Happy, why don't you and the boys wait out here. Kid, you go downstairs to the café, grab some lunch and meet us in the lobby in…two hours?"
"Right, two hours. Got it. Happy, do you want me to grab you and the guys some coffee?" Via asked much to Happy's surprise.
"No, no we're all good. But thanks, kid." He turned and gave Tony a very pointed look as the girl smiled and strode back towards the lift.
As soon as she'd reached the doors Happy turned to Tony with a very pointed look.
"I still don't like this idea." the bodyguard murmured quietly.
"She'll be fine." Tony waved him off, though he couldn't help but give the girl's back a small worried frown as he opened the door to Osborn's office.
I hope. Good luck kid.
The trip down to the café in the lobby was uneventful. Not many people paid Via much attention now that she was free of Tony and his entourage. And with the visitor's badge around her neck, everyone thought she was just another intern or student.
She was most surprised by how people smiled at her when she had to excuse herself to walk past them.
She might have been flattered by the positive attention, had she not remembered the ugly nasty stares people used to give her when she was back on the streets. It wasn't as if her face had changed much but given her some pretty dress and some makeup and suddenly people thought she was worth taking notice of.
It's amazing…the shallowness of this world…
She shook her head to herself as she reached into her bag to pay for her hot chocolate and headed over to the gift shop in the corner.
She could see a few teenagers her age standing in there, all of them looking extremely bored as they waited for some visitor's badges to be passed around to each of them.
Tony did say they'd be the easiest group to follow.
She quickly slid her own visitors' pass into her handbag pocket as she quietly sidled into the gift shop.
It was easy for her to quickly hide behind a small stand of purple plushie octopi, each wearing a black or white T-shirt with the Oscorp logo emblazoned in green upon it. Then, when she was sure no one else was looking, she slipped in at the back of the long queue right behind a round boy with dark skin and dark hair, dressed in red who was talking animatedly non-stop to the Caucasian brown-haired boy who in front of him in jeans and a blue sweater.
"-Seriously though, a gift store? I mean why not just give them out in the lobby?"
"Dunno, maybe they don't want to overcrowd the front desk-" the boy in blue hissed, glancing back irritably at his friend as he quickly accepted a visitor's badge.
Via felt her heart sink as she caught sight of his face.
It was him. The boy from the lobby, the one that had been staring at her as she walked with Tony.
He was…well…a nerd. Via really couldn't describe him any other way. True he wasn't a stereotypically ugly nerd. Actually, he was quite cute and had an innocent boyish air about him that was charming in its own awkward way.
Jailbait
She mentally snorted.
Via knew she didn't look too threatening, but even she knew how to put on the don't-mess-with-me look when the time called for it, and usually, she could pull it off quite well. This boy on the other hand… looked about as threatening as a wee lamb prancing in a paddock. And that was when he was scowling!
Thankfully he was too preoccupied with his friend to notice her behind them. Or was that just because his friend was just big enough to obscure her from view?
Via decided it was the latter as she quickly received a lanyard from the tour guide, who barely even spared her a glance as he made to put the box away.
She ducked her head down as she made to follow the two boys towards the back of the school group, checking the clock on her phone.
"Aura, switch to silent" she mumbled quietly and soundlessly, Aura switched her functions to silent. "Good, now set the timer for two hours"
On the screen below the clock, a countdown timer suddenly flickered to life.
"Whoa! Cool phone!" a voice hissed over her shoulder.
At once without thinking, Via's elbow flew out and smacked whoever it was in the stomach.
"Ooph!" a tubby boy in red with dark hair doubled over wheezing.
"Oh shit! I am so sorry" Via whispered frantically patting the guy on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…yeah…all good" the boy puffed, rubbing his stomach.
"I'm so sorry. I-I just got surprised. I-I didn't mean to hit you." Via felt her cheeks go red as several people turned to look at the two of them with mild interest. Meanwhile, in front of the group, the tour guide was still leading them, completely oblivious to the situation.
However, someone else wasn't.
"Ned!"
"Great" Via muttered as the boy in blue detached himself from the group and sidled towards them.
When he saw Via he paused, cheeks flushing pink.
"Y-you?" he blinked. "Y-you were with Mister Stark-"
"Yeah…" Via avoided his eye. So much for being inconspicuous.
"Sorry man" she turned to the chubby boy, Ned, who was finally straightening up and grinning to her amazement.
"It's okay. I-I've had worse" he tried smirking with bravado, but only ended up looking like he had bad toothache even as he tried to smoothly sweep back his hair. "S-so you work with Mister Stark?"
"I'm his intern slash gofer." Via shrugged "Got turfed out of a business meeting. Thought I'd kill time tagging along with…whatever this is." she gestured to the group at large just as the the tour guide droned from somewhere ahead:
"And if you all would follow me to the elevators-"
"I guess that's our queue," Via muttered as they began walking after the back of the large tour group. "I'm Via by the way. Via Summers"
"I'm Ned, Ned Leeds and this here is my boy, Peter Parker" Ned blurted out before his friend, Peter could stop him.
"I-I-It's nice to meet you Via" Peter stammered cursing himself internally. Trust him to stammer like an idiot in front of a cute girl. "S-so why'd you get turfed out of the meeting?"
"Something about confidentiality" Via rolled her eyes "Apparently it's a really important thing to bigwig execs."
Despite his red cheeks, Peter found himself grinning along with Ned who smirked as he blurted out:
"So what's it like working for mister Stark? Is it cool? Have you met the Avengers? Oh! What's Thor like? Is he really super godly and powerful? Have you met the Hulk? Is Black Widow even hotter in person?"
"Ned, come on-" Peter hissed only to have an elbow jab into his side as his best friend whispered.
"Dude what the hell I'm just asking-"
"Yes," Via smirked at the boy's antics.
"Huh?" they both blinked up oh so elegantly at her.
"I said yes. As in I've met them…the Avengers…and they're pretty darn cool. But I only met them once." she added quickly, after all, the less said about her involvement with the world's greatest heroes, the better. After all, no one would be interested in a measly little intern, who only got the coffee right?
"Well, he~llo" someone whistled softly at her back.
You've got to be kidding me?
Via raised her eyebrows at the perpetrator of the noise.
It was another boy around their age with expensive clothes and a fancy watch and slick backed dark hair. His dark eyes were looking her up and down like a piece of meat.
"I'm sorry can I help you?" she clipped, uncomfortable with the stare.
"I don't think I've seen you around before" the stranger smirked and Via noticed, her stomach sinking, that behind him were several guys slightly bigger and older looking.
"She's in Miss Carpenter's class Flash" Peter supplied helpfully only for the rich looking kid to spit at him.
"No one asked you Parker" he turned back to Via, flashing what he must've thought was a charming smirk "Listen, you don't have to uh…hang around with-heh! These stupid losers-"
"Ri~ght! And who exactly are you to tell me who I should and should not hang around with?" Via folded her arms blue eyes now icy cold.
The boy, Flash, looked rather taken aback, coughing as he tried to recover his footing.
"I-I just meant. You seem like a really hot chick-"
"And what because I'm hot means I can't talk to normal people like a normal person is that it? Wow, you are so profound! Thank you for letting me know. I will keep that life lesson in mind from now on." Via rolled her eyes as without further ado she turned her back on Flash, but not before adding "Oh by the way. Your fly's down."
There were sniggers from the other students around them as they all paused to watch a now very flustered Flash look down at the open crotch of his pants.
"Later Flasher!" Via smirked, winking cheekily at Peter and Ned, both of whom were gaping in awe at her as she passed them by.
"Well, aren't you coming for this tour or what?"
"Dude…" Ned was nearly drooling now in awe at the girl and Peter couldn't blame him.
The girl was gorgeous, she worked for Tony Stark AND she'd just roasted Flash in front of their entire class.
Maybe today would be a great day after all.
I know I know. I told Tony I wouldn't cause a scene. But seriously jerks like Flash Thompson really irritate the living crap out of me.
All those idiots think that just because I'm blonde and wear a skirt means that I have to be the preppy girl that snobs everybody but the "cool" crowd …argh god!
Sorry but sometimes the superficiality of other people just gets my webs in a twist.
And speaking of webs…
An hour to go.
Via checked Aura's timer on the phone.
She'd been on the school tour for about an hour but hadn't been able to case the joint properly thanks to Ned and Peter.
It was a good thing she set Aura to record everything on camera quietly in the background, otherwise, this whole expedition for her would've counted for naught.
They'd been walking and talking for a good ten minutes about Midtown high, Peter and Ned's school when Via felt it.
A surge of mystical energy.
It was nothing like anything she'd ever felt before.
It was dark…heavy, and almost felt like it was sucking her in with its pull.
"Hey, you okay?" Peter asked frowning as she quickly turned back and smiled.
"Nothing I-I just …bathroom" she mumbled pointing back down the corridor "I'll just be a sec"
"Hey Peter didn't you say you had to go to the bathroom too?" he nudged at Peter who blinked in surprise from where he'd been trying to hide.
"What-no I-" but Peter was cut off by his best friend tugging him close to whisper fiercely.
"Just go with it dude"
"Go with what? Ned, what the hell are you doing?" Peter hissed back, ears flushing as he saw Via quickly wave a small goodbye at them before quickly trying to back away as inconspicuously as she could.
"What does it look like I'm doing. I'm getting you some alone time with her"
"You what-why?"
"Because I'm your wingman dude. That's what a wingman does." Ned grinned as his friend's face turned beet red. "Oh come on Pete, she's pretty, she's smart, she's cool, AND she shut down Flash like that! She's perfect for you-"
"Which is why this idea of yours is crazy" Peter groaned into his hands "There's no way it would ever work. She's probably just being nice to us because she feels sorry-"
"No, she's not" Ned grinned "Trust me, Pete, I've seen girls look at us and she's not like them. She's a nice person. Just…give it a go before it's too late."
"But-" Peter peered around, catching sight of the blonde head of curls now quietly sneaking away from the back of the group and towards the sharp turn in the corridor.
He only knew her name, he didn't even know if she had any social media account to talk to her. If she walked away now, he might never get another chance.
Peter looked back at Ned, and then back at her only to see the hem of her blue dress whip out of sight.
"Damn it."
"Damn it." Via hissed as she felt Aura buzz.
Quickly she picked up her phone and answered the call, only to have Tony whispering in her ear.
"Hey, kid how's it going? Hope you're having a productive lunch."
"Not really." Via rolled her eyes "I just escaped a school tour group."
"Oh, and did you make any new friends?" Tony smirked on the other end.
Oh, how Via wished she could wipe the smug look off the billionaire's face.
But her irritation was once again impeded by the pulsing of intense mystic energy.
"Via? Olivia?" Tony was sounding slightly worried now.
"I'm here," Via mumbled, doing her best to hide from sight as two men in white lab coats strode past her talking animatedly, both walking from the direction she'd felt the magical energy come from.
"Tony," she breathed, not daring to raise her voice even the slightest decibel "There's a relic at Oscorp."
"Yeah, and his name's Norman Osborn"
Via could almost hear the billionaire's smirk widen.
"Better hope your buddy doesn't hear you say that." she scowled, and Tony chuckled.
"Don't worry he won't. He's in the bathroom. And speaking of location, what floor are you on now?"
"On the twentieth close to the bio-chem labs," Via muttered as she turned a corner and found herself in a deserted hallway. "But that's not important. Tony, there's a relic in the building. A real nasty one."
"Are you sure?" Tony's voice suddenly turned serious and quiet.
"Oh yeah." Via nodded "The damn thing's leaking more mystic energy than a man with a bullet to his skull."
"Wow…thank you for that graphic imagery. But seriously kid. Don't go investigating. Just case the joint, find out the relic's rough location and get back to the Lobby. I'm almost done up here." Tony muttered sardonically, but Via wasn't listening.
She was now at a door at the very end of the hallway. It was a very heavy metal door, completely airtight with no gaps at its borders. Whatever was behind it, must've been pretty darn powerful if it was managing to leak that much energy through a closed space.
Nothing a sling ring portal can't get through…now how to get around the security cameras…
She looked up at the ceiling where, sure enough, there were two security cameras looking down at her spot.
"Uh …let me put you on hold."
"Via-"
"Sorry," Via whispered into her phone, promptly cutting Tony off mid-sentence as she hung up the call.
Sorry, Old Man. But you're going to have to trust me on this one.
She scowled as quickly she walked back down the corridor and entered an open room, which just so happened to be a janitor's closet.
Perfect
She quickly dashed in, shutting the door tight behind her, which plunged her into total darkness.
Right, this should do the trick.
She quickly slipped on her sling ring and started the incantation.
She squinted as the sparking amber ring burst into life in front of her eyes.
Carefully as she dared, she poked her head through the hole it made, only to shrink her head back as a voice suddenly spoke.
"I'm sorry Mister Osborn but it's impossible to see the results now-" it was a weedy raspy voice, and it pierced through the eerie green-lit room she could faintly see through the small portal.
It was a strange room. Hexagonal with a large computer system set in the middle at which someone in a hazmat suit was hurriedly working with his back towards Via.
Around the man was a strange series of columns between which were large thin white nets, carefully woven by small black eight-legged-
"The spiders need more time" the scientist spoke into the phone beside him, pausing as a rough voice on the other end barked something indiscernible.
"Yes…yes, I do understand that we've got to compete with Stark but- No sir. No sir I understand. Of course, the machine is working perfectly. It's just-It's just the spiders need more exposure to the artefact before we subject them to more radiation treatments-"
Radiation treatment? Artefact? The relic!
Via inhaled sharply, only to panic as the scientist stiffened at his spot in front of the console.
"Octavius? Octavius!" the voice of Norman Osborn barked over the phone as the man, Octavius slowly turned around to look behind him.
"Sorry, Mister Osborn." He drawled as he eyed the bare wall behind him "Now where were we?"
Holy crap. Holy crap-holy crap-holy crap!
Via sighed heavily as she sank down the length of the storage closet.
That had been close.
WAY too close for comfort.
At least now you know what's going on brat.
She heard Asmund hiss in her ear.
Nonetheless, you should leave as soon as possible
Brynja gently urged and Via quickly checked Aura's timer.
She only had fifteen minutes to get downstairs in time to meet Tony and Happy.
"Shit." she hissed as quickly she darted out of the janitor's closet, doing her best to stay at a brisk walking pace even though her mind was telling her to run.
She was so preoccupied with her rush that she almost crashed into someone just outside the bathrooms that were close to the elevators.
"Ow what the-oh Peter, hey!" Via blinked as Peter stumbled back from her.
"H-hey" Peter mumbled, cursing his dumb luck as he quickly tried to right himself. "Are you okay? You kinda rushed off"
"I-I had to use the bathroom real bad. Then Mister Stark called me. Said I had to meet him downstairs right now." Via blushed, thanking her lucky stars as she caught sight of the tour group headed right their way.
"Oh…oh…" Peter deflated. He'd only just managed to find her and already she was dashing off again. He should've known he'd never have such luck.
Via seemed to see his disappointment because she gave him a small sad smile.
"Yeah…I know it sucks. I was really looking forward to seeing those lizard labs upstairs"
"Same here" Peter mumbled but quickly blurted out as he caught sight of Ned's anxious face trying to jump out from the back of the approaching crowd of teenagers.
"Wait. Do you have Facebook?"
"Facebook?" Via gulped quickly looking down at her phone. She was relieved when she saw Aura bring up what appeared to be a social media profile, which was using her Stark Industries ID photograph as a profile picture.
"Uh…yeah sure. I got it."
Whatever it is? Via faked a wide smile as Peter's face lit up hopefully.
"Gr-great" he stuttered "I'll add you then-I mean that is…if you want to add me. It's totally cool if you don't want to."
"What? Oh no, sure you can add me. Wait a sec." she looked down at her phone and down to a small text blurb Aura had written out for her (as she was still operating in silent mode).
"Send Friend Request to Peter Parker? Yes/No?"
Via quickly hit the yes button, smirking as something buzzed in Peter's pocket, making him jump.
He quickly looked at his phone, a wide grin creeping up his face despite himself as he saw the notice for a friend request pop up on his lock screen.
"Woah cool" he looked up at her, just in time to see her gasp in horror.
"Shit I'm so late" She smiled apologetically up at him as she quickly backed away to catch an open elevator. "Sorry. Gotta go. It was nice meeting you Peter"
"It was nice meeting you too!" Peter called as the doors began to close. Just before they sealed shut he caught sight of her smiling warmly at him and waving.
Wow…
He sighed as he looked down at his phone.
Olivia…her name's Olivi-OW!
He jumped as something suddenly pinched him sharply in the arm, under his jacket sleeve.
Something that was small, black and had eight hairy legs.
And so that's how I met Peter Parker.
He's a good guy. A little shy at first, but he's good.
In many ways, he kinda reminds me of Bruce, but unlike him, Peter's not got any temper problems (well at least as far as I know).
That being said, had I known what was going to happen that day, I would've hesitated to take the path I did, because little did I know of what I had unleashed.
At least not until it was too late.
Anyways back to my story.
So I had just finished my own infiltration of Oscorp, and let's just say that Tony wasn't very happy with me.
In hindsight, I can't really blame him.
I had after all just opened up a portal into a highly radioactive area, of what could possibly be a very dangerous room with an equally dangerous scientist.
Who knows what could've gone wrong.
And so it was with a lot of irritation that he started giving me a long lecture on the effects of radiation poisoning as we sat in the back seat of his sports car, with Happy at the wheel…
Kirill Kravenoff smirked as he and his brother Sergei sat in the two front seats of the large black truck.
They'd only just received orders and they were feeling the excitement building already.
"I can't believe we're going to actually do this," Sergei grunted, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards as he eyed the GPS on the dashboard. "I mean, if this had been Alphard, we'd be still sitting on our asses waiting for his permission."
"Yes." Kirill drawled "I gotta say, it feels good to be on the hunt again after so long."
"You're telling me," Sergei muttered, his Russian accent thicker as he sucked on an E-cigarette. "Shit…How long was it since we first started this search? Twelve years?"
"Fourteen" Kirill muttered chomping on a protein bar. "Fourteen bloody years of searching for a single little brat….but it seems our patience is finally paying off" he added slowly, pointing to the GPS on which a blue dot was moving swiftly towards their alleyway.
"Right, that's our queue. Step on it, Sergei."
"Finally!" Sergei grinned as he revved up the truck's engine.
Kirill smirked too.
This was going to be fun.
"Listen I get it; I did something reckless and stupid." Via groaned sagging in her seat as Tony quickly pulled out his glass phone.
"Damn right you did. Hey Jarvis, can you get Hill to set up the radiation decontamination chamber at the tower. Miss Summers desperately needs a bath"
"Says the man whose car stinks of shawarma and meat." Via snorted at Happy who smirked sympathetically.
"There see Tony, I'm not the only one who thinks so," he complained to Tony who rolled his eyes.
"That's not the point. You could've gotten caught-"
"But I didn't." Via growled, "and because I didn't, I know what Osborn's using all those radioactive materials for."
"Oh yeah?" Tony folded his arms. "What?"
"Spiders."
"What?" Tony blinked.
"Project Weaver. It's all about spiders. There was a whole room of them on the twentieth floor. Osborn was grilling one of his scientists about them. Apparently, they're trying to use whatever relic they've got on the spiders before subjecting them to some kind of radioactive treatment."
"What kind of treatment? Gamma radiation, Alpha radiation?" Tony frowned concernedly but Via shrugged.
"Dunno, I had to duck out before the guy could see me"
"And who was this guy Norman was talking with?" Tony scratched his chin as he pulled out a hologram and flung it onto the car window beside him.
"I don't know…something beginning with O…uh…Ollie? Otto-"
"Otto Octavius?" Tony finished as his holograms quickly pulled up a file.
"I think so. I didn't see his face" Via frowned as she tried to squint at the file from her spot "He was wearing a big suit over all his clothes"
"A hazmat suit," Tony muttered giving her a pointed look.
"Okay I admit it, it was dumb to poke my head into a radioactively charged lab." Via groaned "But how else was I supposed to-"
CRASH!
There was a flash of lights, the sound of horns, the smashing of metal.
Via, Tony and Happy all cried out in alarm as the car suddenly tilted, tumbling over and over like the insides of a washing machine as the large monstrous black metal thing rammed them from the side.
What the-ah!
Via felt something heavy thud against the side of her head.
"Oww…" she winced as the car ground to a halt upside down.
She could feel her head pounding, as both the obvious concussion and throbbing in her whiplashed neck combined painfully.
Beside her she could hear Tony moaning in pain as he tried to stir, while Happy remained silent, breathing but unmistakably unconscious.
"Tony? HAPPY!" Via groaned trying to reach out towards Tony who just managed to crack open an eye.
"Y-you okay kid?" he rasped.
There was the crunching of glass, and Via turned her head drowsily towards the source of the noise.
It was a pair of boots, dark thick and heavy. Both of whom belonged to a tall man with slicked-back white, blonde hair and black beady eyes.
"Why hello kid. Miss me?"
"Y-you-" Via mumbled as the man crouched by the decimated car, reaching in to undo her seatbelt.
"J-Jarvis" Tony tried whispering hoarsely as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "J-Jarvis activate emergency protocol-code-ugh!" Tony grunted as a steel-capped boot flicked out and kicked him in the face.
"Sorry Stark, but we can't have you calling your little Avenger friends now, can we?" the white-haired man smirked as he made to drag the now semi-conscious Via out of the car, her leg scratching itself against a shard of broken glass still stuck to the window frame.
"Tony-TONY!" Via whimpered as she felt warm blood ooze from the large fresh gash on her leg. But it was no use, her vision was swimming, and slowly turning to darkness.
"Jarvis-M-mark IV acti-NNG!"
"TONY!"
"Shut up brat!"
The last thing she heard before she completely fell into it was Tony's voice fading into the distance.
Stephen stared at the clock in his study.
It was nearly three. And still, Olivia had not come back from Oscorp.
Perhaps the meeting is running overtime.
He tried to assure himself as he poured over another Spellbook before him. It was one of those that Via's mother Freyja had left behind in her inheritance.
It was an interesting tome and an archaic one at that. Most of it was written in ancient Norse runes, all of which when collected to old nature magic, as well as the various interdimensional beings that could wield it.
He looked down at the illustration of the large Jotun Frost Giant, wondering vaguely how anyone could ever hope to survive an encounter with such a creature.
Or at least, how could a human survive an encounter with one when even Asgardians would have trouble taking them down.
He wondered vaguely who wrote the book and quickly turned to the front page, where a name was scrawled below the title.
"A-Alrik…of the house of Soren" he translated slowly eyeing the runes.
So…this was a book written by one of Via's ancestors?
Perhaps she should have this after all.
He thought guiltily as he flicked through the pages.
All of this was her family history. What right did he have to keep it locked away from her?
He felt something warm and wet tickle his fingers and jumped.
But it was only Buddy.
"Hey boy" Stephen sighed reaching out to rub the dog's shaggy head as it turned to look at the study door and then to the two chairs on the other side of the desk.
Stephen followed its gaze, watching amusedly as the animal quickly trotted over to one of the chairs, whining softly as he sniffed at it. It was, as Stephen had guessed, Via's favourite chair, and seeing as Buddy was most fond of her out of everyone in the sanctum, it stood to reason he'd like it the most.
"She'll be back soon" Stephen muttered as the animal turned its eyes worriedly on him.
He wasn't sure why, but the way that Buddy sometimes looked at him…it almost felt… human.
But maybe that was also him projecting his own worry onto the animal.
He turned back to the book, noticing as he did so that Buddy had settled himself by Via's chair, eyes round and morose.
Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, Stephen felt the same way too.
After all, he'd been nothing but worried since Via had left in the morning.
Something flashed in his mind's eye.
"Ah!"
Buddy looked up worriedly as Stephen rubbed his temples.
But nothing he could do could shake off the small stabbing pains.
Aneurism? Scarring of the brain tissue? Migraine?
His mind was racing for possible solutions, no matter how bizarre they seemed.
Yet even as he tried to make sense of everything, one thing stood out above all the rest.
Something had gone horribly wrong.
"Wong! Wong!"
There was a flurry of footsteps as Wong suddenly came thundering into the room.
"What is it Strange?" he growled, only to pause as he caught sight of Stephen's face.
It was as white as a sheet.
"Wong! It's Olivia. She's in trouble"
And here is chapter 7 updated. Not many changes save a few edits to the wording but soon things shall be a little clearer.
Thanks for reading and keep reviewing if you enjoyed :)