The Amazing Spider-Girl

Chapter 2

BECA POV

"I'm making spaghetti and meatballs tonight." Aunt May told me when I walked into the kitchen.

"Really? Spaghetti and meatballs?" I sighed opening the fridge. I grabbed a chocolate milk and hopped up on the counter as I unscrewed the lid and took a drink.

"Since when don't you like spaghetti and meatballs?" She asked me quizzically. I shrugged as she turned to look at me. Her eyes widened as she hurried over to me and cupped my face gently.

"What happened to your face?" I slouched out of her hands and hopped down off the counter.

"Nothing, I just fell. You know me, two left feet!" I laughed nervously trying my best to change the subject. I heard Uncle Ben coming up from the basement and with him he carried a cardboard box. Bowling trophies, various hardware tools and other random things were piled in it.

"Ben Mitchell, don't you even think of bringing that filthy box into my kitchen!"

"But these are my bowling trophies." He deadpanned as I grinned at the two of them. Even after 30 years of being married, they still kept the spark in their relationship, still kept everything alive.

"Oh well then by all means…" Aunt May trailed off sarcastically as I laughed, she turned back around to the stove to stir the spaghetti sauce. Uncle Ben winked at me as he too chuckled and began to go through the box.

"Alright DJ, I'm gonna need your expertise to help me fix the stereo over here." He walked through the dining room, and into the living room to the sound system. He began to scoot it away from the wall as I stepped to the other side and helped.

"For some reason, the music plays out of the left speaker, but not the right. Take a listen." He turned it on and I knew what the problem was right away. The bass line ran through the wires of the left speaker so that was missing from the overall sound. I leaned around to check out the wires and saw how frayed and worn they were, they definitely needed to be replaced.

"The wires are shot. Look at how bad they are, they're almost bare."

"Can you fix it?" Uncle Ben looked to me hopeful. He understood that I knew all about speakers and anything related to music basically, it's like my life…music that is. Not speakers.

"Not tonight but I can run by the hardware store tomorrow."

"Alright, help me look in the basement will ya? I might have some old wiring that might do the trick. Save some money." I followed Uncle Ben through the hallway and down the steps to the old basement. Various boxes and bins were scattered about and around the washer and dryer. How Uncle Ben could find anything in here is beyond me.

"Here put this on your face." I turned and just had enough time to catch the steak that he had tossed to me from the freezer. I gave him a questioning look as he scoffed. "Come on, I know a right cross when I see one." I stayed silent as I placed it against my cheek, the coolness instantly brought a relief to the pain.

"Wanna tell me what happened? Do I need to call someone's father?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. His glasses were on the bridge of his nose, allowing his stern gaze to land on me.

"No, no it's nothing." I didn't like to talk about these things to Uncle Ben, I knew how he felt about fighting in general. Fight with your words, not your fists.

"Well whenever you wanna talk about it, you know me and your Aunt are here." I nodded as he grabbed a box from behind him and carried it upstairs. I followed close behind, still keeping the steak pressed to my left cheek.

"There should be some wires in here somewhere…" He trailed off as he dug through the box and pulled out a pair of plyers, a stud finder and duct tape. He froze slightly, his demeanor changing completely. He shot a sideways glance at Aunt May, still not getting whatever was left in the box. I furrowed my eyes as I leaned over and reached for whatever was left. My fingers ran over the worn, brown leather of a briefcase. I lifted it out of the cardboard box and leaned it against the table. There, at the top engraved in a traditional name tag were the letters, F.J.M.

"Francis James Mitchell." I whispered as I ran my hands over the case.

"We forgot all about that old thing. Your dad asked us to keep it safe for him before he-"

"Before he left me?" I finished bitterly, my jaw clenching shut. Uncle Ben didn't say anything as Aunt May exchanged looks between myself and Uncle Ben. I couldn't help but feel angry at my 'dad'. He fucking left me. Four years old and no parents, no birthday cards, no note, nothing. They literally dropped off the face of the earth and were never heard from again. I opened the briefcase and pulled out the first thing my fingers touched, which happened to be a photograph taken from a newspaper article. I held it up for both of them to see.

"Do you know who this is?" They both looked at the picture for a couple seconds before Uncle Ben answered.

"Some scientist who worked with your dad I guess." His face didn't give away anything, it almost seemed like he had the answer prepared.

"Go and get these dirty boxes off the table! We're getting ready to eat for heaven's sake, the noodles are going to get cold!" Aunt May changed the subject quickly, picking up on my attitude. Wordlessly, we all got our plates and sat down to enjoy dinner and forget about the briefcase and my father.

xxx

Mr. Osborn, with various lab technicians, and scientists following him, bounded down the metal steps of the 'Special Projects' section of Oscorp. Ten stories underground, with a four foot thick, steel reinforced protection shell surrounding it. Special Ops had restricted access and only certain people with high security clearance were permitted to enter it.

As he walked into the enormous room, this one dedicated solely to human performance enhancers, he noticed that his assistant Dr. Mendell Stromm, was in the middle of a demonstration of the new Glider. It was here that the Oscorp team was trying to develop a serum and weaponry for General Slocum. He was looking for a new breed of soldiers, genetically enhanced super soldiers. Oscorp was in charge of discovering the performance enhancer that would change the face of war fare all together as well as furthering the technology of the weapons.

The demonstrator who was wearing the Glider suit and demonstrating how the glider works, slowly hovered back to the ground. Mr. Osborn made his way across the walkway to the General and among the group he noticed his other co-worker Dr. Ratha.

"We solved the horizon glide!" Dr. Stromm shouted over the noise of the glider. "And the multi-balance issues!" He turned to face the General as the exhaust from the glider caused their hair to momentarily stand up from the wind as well as the numerous accolades on his uniform.

"I've already seen the glider!" General Slocum shouted again, over the engines powerful roar. "That's not what I'm here for!" The demonstrator landed the glider down on the platform and the engine cut off. Various workers began to swarm around him, helping to remove the green battle armor suit.

"General Slocum, good to see you again!" Mr. Osborn waved from the walkway as he made his way down to the demonstration platform. "Mr. Balkan, Mr. Fargas always a pleasure. Dr. Ratha I see you've shown our friends here the armour suits. " He addressed the two older men in suits who were standing beside of the General. Mr. Balkan and Mr. Fargas were the head members of the Board of Directors at Oscorp, one step below Norman himself. Norman shook all their hands once he stood in front them.

"Norman." Mr. Balkan removed his glasses as he greeted the CEO.

"Mr. Osborn."

"Always a pleasure to have our Board of Directors pay us a little visit." Mr. Osborn displayed his charismatic smile as he looked between the men.

"I want to see the progress report on human performance enhancers." General Slocum skipped the formalities as he looked sternly at Mr. Osborn. He turned and began to walk further around the laboratory, carefully observing the various experiments and testing that was going on.

"We've tried vapor inhalation with rodent subjects." Dr. Stromm started to explain as he caught up to the General's stride. "They showed an 800% increase in strength!"

"800%! That's excellent!" Mr. Fargas exclaimed.

"Any side effects?" General Slocum questioned as he looked towards Dr. Stromm and Mr. Osborn, who had caught up to the pair.

"In one trial yes-" Dr. Stromm held up a finger as he began.

"It- it was an aspiration. All the tests since then have been successful." Mr. Osborn interrupted as Dr. Stromm looked at him questioningly. You could see the uncertainty on his face as he furrowed his eyebrows at Mr. Osborn.

"In the trial that went wrong, what happened? What were the side effects?" The General demanded as he stopped and faced Mr. Osborn and his team. Dr. Stromm looked hesitant as he fumbled with his hands nervously.

"Uh, violence, aggression and...insanity." He finished as he bit his lip anxiously waiting for the General.

"And what do you recommend?" The General seemed to be losing his patience as his jaw locked tightly at the new information.

"That was only one test." Mr. Osborn objected as he moved to stand in front of Dr. Stromm. "With the exception of Dr. Stromm, our entire staff certifies the product ready for human testing." He smiled as confident as he could manage. General Slocum looked at him skeptically. He held his hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels.

"Dr. Stromm?" He peered over Norman's shoulder as he looked at the scientist in question. He raised his eyebrows and his hardened gaze left no room for bullshit. Norman swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed as he looked to assistant, praying that he would agree with him.

"We need to take the whole line back to formula." Dr. Stromm admitted as he closed his eyes disappointingly. Mr. Osborn and Dr. Ratha's jaw slackened and his eyes grew in size at the confession. The General sighed loudly as he put his hand to his jaw in thought before turning away.

"Back to formula?!" Mr. Osborn quietly seethed as he rounded on the Dr. Stromm, who backed away from Norman instantly.

"Dr. Osborn!" Mr. Osborn's attention was back on the General who stood with his large, bulky arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm going to be frank with you…I never supported your program." The General admitted, shaking his head. "We have my predecessor to thank for that." Mr. Osborn's face showed a hint of annoyance at the confession, he continued to glare at the General who seemed adamant about halting their research.

"Norman, the General here gave the go ahead to Quest Aerospace to build a prototype of their exoskeleton design. They test in two weeks." Mr. Balkan explained as he removed his glasses, a habit he did when he was serious.

"And if your so called 'performance enhancers' have not a successful human trial by that date…I'm going to pull your funding. I'm going to give it to them." Mr. Osborn and Dr. Stromm exchanged worried glances as they both nodded silently to the General. You could see the apprehension on their faces as they were faced with ultimatum.

"Gentlemen, ladies…" The General excused himself as he exited the laboratory.

xxx

Beca POV

I sat Indian style on the rug in my bedroom as I looked closely at the items that were in my father's briefcase. I lined everything up in a row and brought my leg up to rest my chin on as I looked everything over carefully. A pair of glasses that were tucked away in a case, pens and pencils, a scientific calculator, a spell checker, and his Oscorp badge. 'A whole lot of junk.'

I picked up the case that had the glasses inside and opened them um. Black, square framed glasses were inside as I clumsily opened them up. I stood up and walked into my bathroom which was to my left and connected to my room. I reached for my contact lens case and carefully removed the lens from my eyes. Not many people knew that I had glasses for the simple fact that I thought they looked nerdy. I hated having to wear them and often opted to stick to contacts. I slid my dad's glasses on and pushed them up to rest on the bridge of my nose. I looked at my reflection briefly before I chuckled and removed them. Setting them on the sink, I walked back to examine the other items.

I picked up the Oscorp I.D. badge and stared into my father's picture. Dr. Francis Mitchell was in black, bold letters beneath the photograph. Genetics Laboratory was written below his name. He wasn't smiling, I guess that's one thing I got from him. His brown eyes stared back into mine as I fumbled with the card.

"He cared more about his career than he did about you. He left you for this.'"I tightened my grip on the badge before I threw it across the room angrily. It hit my Ramones poster before falling onto my pile of dirty clothes. I bit my lip trying to fight the tears that had started to form in my eyes. I quickly swiped them away with the back of my hand as I shook my head.

"Get your shit locked down Mitchell." I told myself as I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. "Fuck."

I reached for his briefcase to finish looking through it before I called it a night. I held it in my hands as I looked the outside over carefully. I felt the weight of the case shift when I tilted it to one side.

"What the…" I tilted it back the other way and felt the same shift of weight again. I lifted the flap of the bag as I dug through the various folds and rivets in it, only to find absolutely nothing that could have caused the shift. I flipped it back over and looked at the folder space on the back of it. I unzipped the pocket and carefully, I traced my fingers along the edge of the crease as I stuck my tongue out in concentration.

"There!"Right at the end of the fold, my fingers had gotten stuck in a small hole. I pulled the secret compartment open more and to reveal a false inside with a folder tucked in it. I pulled out the brown envelope and tossed the briefcase to the side as I focused on the folder in my hand. It was stuffed with various papers held together by paper clips. I sat up on my knees and leaned forward to push my door shut.

I opened the folder and was greeted with the sight of a cut out newspaper article. It was the same picture that I'd showed Aunt May and Uncle Ben downstairs.

"Must be important if he's got two copies...but where's the article?" I brought the paper to my face as I examined it. My father and another scientist were standing side by side as the caption on the photo read: 'A World Without Weakness'. There was no article to go with picture as I huffed in annoyance at the lack of information or names.

I set the picture to the side and picked up the page that was titled, 'Decay Rate Algorithm'. There, at the top of the page in bright red was the same symbol I remember seeing the night my dad left. ØØ .Before I could read more of it, there was a knock at my door.

"Yeah one sec, one sec." I tossed the papers and picture back into the folder and slid it under my bed. I jumped up to sit at my desk and put my headphones around my neck to make it look as though I was mixing. "Come in."

Uncle Ben peaked his head through the door at first and then walked inside. He stood with his right arm resting on the door frame and his left on the door knob.

"You okay?" He asked me as I nodded.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Can I come in?" He asked me as I nodded again to him. He shut the door behind him as he walked over and sat on the edge of my bed. I spun around in my chair so that I faced him.

"Listen, uh- I don't have much education, you know that Beca." He looked around my room as he continued. "Hell I stopped being able to help with your homework when you were ten." I looked at him curiously as he continued. "The point I'm trying to make here is that I know it's been rough for you without your dad and I know we don't talk much about that."

I nodded in agreement with him and shrugged. I felt guilty, Aunt May and Uncle Ben had always tried so hard to be everything that my parents weren't. They always provided for me whatever I needed and to them I would always be grateful.

"No it's alright-"

"No. It's not alright." He looked at me sympathetically as he continued. "I wish I could change it, but I can't. Rajit Ratha. That's the guy in the picture with your dad. They worked together for years, they were close. But after that night we never saw him again. He never even called." Uncle Ben finished as I nodded slowly, trying to wrap my head around the new information. That's the same dude that Chloe and Aubrey are on the internship for.

Uncle Ben smiled sadly at me as he stood up to leave. He had made it to the door before I cleared my throat.

"Hey Uncle Ben," I called to him as he stopped in the doorway and turned to me. "You make a pretty great dad." I told him honestly. He nodded and gave me a small smile as he left me alone.

Once the door was shut, I grabbed my phone off my desk to see that I had a few new texts.

'Dad has had a stick up his butt ALL day. We need another movication soon. Plz and thx :)' –Lesbro Osborn 8:08 p.m.

Jesse put that in my phone as his name, not me.

'Becky, need you to cover Eric's shift later tonight. He just called out sick.' –Luke Morgan 8:46 p.m.

'Hey Bec, got any new mix CDs for me? My old one has about had it, guess that's what happens when your best friend is such an awesome DJ ;) x' – Chloe 9:14 p.m.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was a quarter til 10. I sent Luke a quick text letting him know that I'd be over to the station as soon as I could. I grabbed my skateboard from my closet and my shoes. I sat at the foot of my bed as I texted Chloe back.

'Looks like you're in luck Beale. Finished one last night. I'll give it to you tomorrow?'Almost instantly she had replied.

' :( Me and Aubrey are leading a new group of interns tomorrow at Oscorp to meet Dr. Ratha, so I won't be at school. Can I swing by in the evening? I'm in need of a cuddle-sesh'

I couldn't believe my luck at her words. Internship tomorrow at Oscorp? Looks like Beca Mitchell is going to be attending.

'I'll definitely see you tomorrow, no promises on the cuddles though Red, I'd lose my street cred. ;)'

'You lost your 'cred' the day you came to mine and Aubrey's choir concert Mitchell ;) can't lose what you don't have lol'

'We'll see Red. ;)'

I tossed my phone into my back jeans pocket as I grabbed my mixing bag and started to pack it. Before I left my room, I reached under my bed to grab the folder I hid there earlier. I tossed it into the bag as well with only one thought on my mind:

Oscorp.