Publisher's Notes: WARNING: Future chapters will become more violent and gruesome, there will be blood and some deaths, just like in the following comics of Spider-Man, for that reason this story will be rated-M, if you are uncomfortable or unable to handle these future chapters then please leave now, read at your own risk, I will not be held responsible for how this might affect you negatively. You have been warned. Now enjoy your chapter!

[CARNAGE] ARC

CHAPTER 16

Back To School

Last time, you agreed to Felicia Hardy's help to develop tools to defeat the hobgoblin. You headed off to the library with her, it seeming like a wonderful day.

The two of you arrive at the library, enjoying the walk in the sun. Felicia's arm stays wrapped around yours as she leans into you. The two of you are making small talk and having fun, but eventually, you arrive at the library.

Felicia lets go and seems to be interested in looking into something, so she waves you off and heads off deeper into the library.

There's research to be done.

You spend your time hitting the books, looking for anything that could help you. Some sort of noise canceling device could be helpful… maybe, but it'd still leave you at risk of his sonic shockwave. And that thing hurts like the dickens. And, even if you somehow did manage to create a device to neutralize it, then you'd have to carry it on yourself- and it could be damaged or targeted by him, putting you back to step one of the problem, with an angry Hobgoblin in your face.

No, no it'd be best to stop as much of it as possible. You look into insulation and noise dampening materials, but there's nothing existing right now that can do what you need it to. Well, not unless you want to be almost immobile, at least.

But…

Eureka. If you could take the properties of this soundproofing and put it into that compatible insulation material there, it /should/ theoretically do the job. Now, to make sure that it can work as a substance.

You spend hours working on the theory, balancing equations and formulas until you get something stable- though, with all of the effort you've put into it, it's more of its own unique substance now than simply a marriage of its components. Putting away your notes, making sure to not leave anything behind, you look around now that you've broken out of your trance to see Felicia in the chair next to you, her head resting atop a closed book- fast asleep. The way she's laying obscures the book's contents to you.

Seems like she's been waiting on you.

You carefully lean over Felicia's shoulder look. Your face is inches from hers, but you're able to get a look at the book. It seems like the title of the book is-Tips for Dating for Beginners. However, you see something under the edge of the book, scooting it out without disturbing her, you glance at it.

You recognize the titles- they're a bunch of books for beginners on different sciences. You look at it before sliding the paper back under without disturbing her before leaning back and gently shaking her awake. The transition between asleep and alert is instantaneous, as her eyes dart over to your arm before she relaxes.

Sitting up and stretching, Felicia lets out a yawn before giving you a grin. "How'd it go?"

Her arm is covering the book as she subtly slides it away. You don't comment on it, smiling at her. "Oh, pretty well. I think I have something that might work, but it still has to be made. That'll be the real test."

Felicia nods and gets up, groaning quietly as she stretches. "So, we're done here?"

You glance outside, it's becoming evening. The library might be open for a while more, but Felicia seems ready to go.

You make sure all of your notes are cleaned up and gathered before nodding. "Yeah, let's go."

Felicia lets out a subtle sigh of relief as she almost drags you out of the library. As the two of you step out, you clear your throat as she glances at you. "Yeah?"

"Want to get some Ice Cream or something?"

Felicia looks around at the evening sky as you feel the wind blow past you, it's getting cold out. She raises an eyebrow as she shivers slightly. "Nah, I don't think it'd be a good idea.

"Do you want to head back to my place or do you want to call it a night here?"

You glance at your watch and let out a sigh. "I should probably head back, Aunt May's probably only going to be so lenient with the lifting of her restrictions. I shouldn't cause her any undue stress. But, how about I walk you home?"

Felicia smiles as she wraps her arm around yours and leans in, a small smile on her face. "I'd like that, Peter."

The two of you enjoy a nice quiet walk to her house. When you arrive there, you wave as you wait for her to get into her house and close the door. When it shut you start making your way back, you realize that it has become night.

The night is silent as you make your way home. There's nobody out, and your spider sense is silent. The air is cold and the sky lets looks the occasional rumble. However, you make it home before the downpour starts.

As you walk in Aunt May looks up at you, relief on her face. "Peter, if you're going to be out this late with your friend, at least stay the night. It's dangerous out. I was worried."

You rub at the back of your head and let out a sigh. "Sorry, Aunt May."

She shakes her head. "You're a good boy, Peter. I know you're not up to anything wrong, but if you're out this late, who knows what could happen?"

She's sitting there, the television off, Knitting.

You turn on the news, interested to see if anything's happened. The Hobgoblin's been quiet, so hopefully he's laying low. Hell, maybe Reed Richards and friends are better?

The news begins, but the person on it isn't the normal anchor- Its Jameson, looking very solemn and very angry. "My dear New Yorkers, there has been a terrible tragedy today. What follows tonight shouldn't be seen by the young or faint of heart."

You feel Aunt May grip your leg, she's watching the news nervously.

"Today, sometime in the early afternoon, there was a mass murder. The victims… the victims were local families, UNSUSPECTING DAMN FAMILIES! Their bodies were desecrated, used to make some sort of twisted message. With police approval we now show you this gruesome message."

You stare at the images on the TV as your aunt grasps your leg, letting out a horrified gasp. Made out of human entrails and blood nailed to a wall is a message. You manage to swallow your disgust and bile at this.

-"CAN YOU CATCH ME

SPIDER-MAN?"-

The scene then cuts back to Jameson, who looks sickened. "At this time, the police are suspecting the individual in this image to be the culprit."

The scene cuts back to that of the Hobgoblin, looking up, for a moment before going back. "This grisly scene is a terrible tragedy, one undoubtedly made happen do to the individual known currently as the 'Hobgoblin.' As his plot's thwarting of bombing the school, it seems obvious he wishes to send a message of terror to anyone who tries to stand in his way."

Jameson pauses and stares at the screen. "I say as a citizen of New York- I will not bow to this madman's terrorism! Spider-man, if you're really a 'hero'- do the world a favor and… KILL THIS BASTARD!"

You see someone drag Jameson off screen as there's an intermission sign go up. The TV clicks off, Aunt May looking horrified, angry and disgusted.

"What kind of monster…"

You stare at the screen silently, the image burned into your mind.

You stagger to your feet and give a look towards your Aunt. "Aunt May, I-I'm going to be downstairs for a while."

She nods. "I'm going to wake up Ben and tell him, so be sure to answer the door if we knock, alright?"

You give her a nod and go downstairs, locking the door behind you. You give the basement a look around. You have some materials down here, but you don't have what you need entirely. You're able to make a checklist, though, and pocket it in your wallet. Thankfully, your father installed the machines you'd need to produce the mixtures you'll need, though it might require some finesse work from you near the end. You also have a working respirator and checked to see that the fume hoods were still working.

That takes you about an hour. There's no sounds from upstairs, so you sit and think about what to do.

You glance at the secret compartment and groan. You didn't get your costume back from Felicia!

You pull out your phone and dial the number, calling Felicia's number. After half a second, the phones answered.

"Felicia?"

Your tone must have worried her, as Felicia immediately sounds worried. "Peter? Is something wrong?"

"Did you see the news?"

There's silence for a few moments as you hear keys being typed until you hear a gasp of horror. "Oh, oh god!"

When next she speaks, Felecia's tone is worried and cautious.

"Peter, what are you planning to do?"

"I need my costume, Felicia. I'm going to catch that bastard. I don't know if it's the Hobgoblin or not, but whoever did this killed people to send Spider-man a message. I'm going to make sure that sort of tragedy doesn't happen again."

There's silence on the side of the line for a minute. "…Alright, but let me help. I can look into things a lot more subtly than you can. Maybe I can find out what the police know. For all you know, this could be a trap to lure you out."

You rest your hand on your head. "That's what I don't get! Why is someone obsessing over me like this? I've only appeared like twice publicly!"

"Well, if it was the Hobgoblin, then maybe it's because whoever it was is unhinged and has begun to focus on you? Regardless, come over to my house tomorrow and I'll give you your costume and whatever information I can get by then, alright? Don't do anything rash."

You think about it and she's right. It isn't a good idea to rush out and get yourself in trouble, not with all the trouble that's building up. You can wait for tonight.

"Yeah, alright. I'll see you tomorrow, Felicia."

She gives you a farewell and hangs up. You pocket your phone and let out a sigh and glance in the secret compartment. The original prototype Gwen helped you with you is there. You pick up the mask and look at it before setting it back into its bag and closing it back into the secret compartment next to the hard drive and folders.

When did things get so complicated? So dangerous?

You pull out your books and do a little more studying before closing the book with a loud THUMP. You glance at the calendar before letting out a sigh. You should really take a blood sample just to be safe. Even though Gwen isn't talking, you did agree to take a sample every two weeks for a comparison to make sure there aren't any problems popping up.

A few minutes and a syringe of blood later, you put the sample in the cold storage in the laboratory to preserve it- in a sealed vial with your initials and a date.

You put everything away and head to bed. There's a lot to do tomorrow, so you might as well get some sleep. When you head upstairs, it seems like Aunt May has gone to bed and, as you head up the stairs, you can hear Uncle Ben's loud snoring. Seems like they're both asleep.

You head into your room and lock the door and make sure your window is still locked. After you confirm that it is, you re-close the blinds and head to bed, turning off your light on the way.

As you lay there, trying to sleep, you think about different things you could do with Spider tracers if you could amp up their powers- like a spider sense telegram- but how would that work? Hmm…

You drift off to sleep, your sleep fitful and uneasy. When you awake in the morning, all you can think of is terrifying nursery rhymes written into webs. Damn Charlotte's Web.

Still, it's about eight in the morning, plenty of time to do things, but it might be a little early to get the supplies for your insulation.

You get ready for the day, making sure you have everything you need, before you head downstairs. Aunt May isn't downstairs, but there's a note saying she's next door. You sit down and turn on the news after pouring yourself a bowl of cereal with milk.

You get the expected safety precautions due to yesterday's news, but there's apparently going to be a bit of good news in the afternoon, so the news station tells people to be sure to stay tuned.

You turn off the TV after you finish your cereal. That's something to pay attention to- maybe Reed Richards will be back soon with some new discovery?

You shrug before calling Felicia's number. There's a few moments delay before she picks up, her voice tired. "H'lo?"

"Hey, Felicia, you alright? I was calling to see if it was fine for me to come over."

"Yeah, sure. Bye."

She hangs up and you shrug. Guess its okay, so you grab an empty backpack and head out. It takes you about twenty minutes to get there and you think about things on the way, such as what to do if you have to face Hobgoblin- the first thing would be to avoid those blades, there isn't much you can do about them other than get them away from him.

Other things involved things you could work on, such as decrypting the hard drive and working on your inventions, but those are more passive thoughts.

When you arrive there, you ring the doorbell, waiting several minutes before ringing it again. The door opens a moment later to an exhausted Felicia in a darkened room. She pulls you in, closing the door behind you. She's clutching a lidded cup of coffee in one hand.

"Hey, Peter. It's a bit early, don't you think?"

She sounds more awake then she did before, but she still seems incredible tired. She walks over to her chair, and flops, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"So, this is what I've learned. The method was to use a large knife or similar bladed object to eviscerate the corpses- whoever did it was skilled enough to not get caught. But…"

She shakes her head, looking disgusted. "They were good enough to get caught while torturing their victims to death. This person? Made them suffer slowly, and made the others watch. The autopsy reports weren't finished, so I couldn't get them, but whoever did this is one sick bastard."

She grimaces, taking a swig of her coffee.

"They're currently investigating possible suspects, but they consider the Hobgoblin a large one. Someone who dresses up in a Halloween costume with knives on it sending a message to Spider-man after he's been thwarted? Seems like a prime candidate."

She runs her other hand through her short hair. "The cops have also gotten orders to bring in Spider-man under vigilantism. They partially blame you for this incident, it seems."

Your eyes widen in surprise. "What? That doesn't...okay, I guess I can see how it could be blamed on me. Shit. Though seeing how the alternative to making a scene was 'let Hobgoblin blow up a school', you'd think they'd cut me a little slack for that. Also, was there any more details on how the killer did it? Anything like the swords being on fire?"

She snorts. "Not that I could find, but they've been firming up security some. Besides, Stacy was against the whole thing but apparently those above him have made their orders clear. Seems like you bruised their egos not once, but twice. Seems like they want to send a message to all people in costumes, be they of good or ill intent."

You collapse into the chair next to her. ""Hey, are you okay? It looks like you were up all night on this. Go get some sleep, Felicia. I'll take over for now on worrying about psychopaths. Thank you, though. It's nice knowing you have my back."

She smiles. "Nah, I should be getting used to being up at this time of day anyway. Besides, you have stuff to get and while I'm not chemist, I can at least help you buy things without leaving a trail of breadcrumbs back to you. Besides, you helped me so I want to help you, Peter."

She gets up and stretches before giving you a sly grin. "Besides, I want to spend the day with you. Is that such a big deal?"

You can't really think of a reason to deny her, so you shrug.

"Sure, go ahead. Though, if you'll be over at my house, you might want to go as Felix to avoid any awkward situations, but I don't mind if you want to go as yourself either."

Felicia smiles brightly and walks out of the room. A few minutes later, she's back in a long sleeved shirt and tight pants, a bag on her shoulder. "I figured I'd grab a few disguises to go. Also, here's your outfit."

She hands you your costume in a shopping back which you quickly pocket. "So, do you know what you'll need?"

You nod, handing her a list of materials you can get decently priced. Even if you do have the money right now, you should be frugal with it! She reads it over and nods. "Alright, I'll use two or three identities when we get these, it'll keep people unaware."

The two of you head out after she locks down her house and go shopping, it takes a couple hours to travel around to get everything, especially with Felicia switching between disguises, but by about one in the afternoon you're on the steps to your house as Felicia looks around curiously.

"So, this is where you live, huh?"

You nod. "Yeah, with my Aunt and Uncle."

You unlock the door and see if there's any changes to the memos left here- you note to Aunt May is still there and so is hers to you. Seems like everything's good. You glance at Felicia and see she's a bit exhausted.

You glance at Felicia, she looks pretty tired. Hell, you're pretty tired, so that's really saying something. It'd be best for you two to take a break, maybe have some lunch. If you recall, there should still be one of the frozen pizzas in the freezer left. You pop into the kitchen and find that it is still there. Glancing at your companion you give her a smile.

"I was thinking about making some lunch. You want some Pizza?"

Felicia smiles, shrugging. "It's a bit fattier than I normally eat, but it should be fine Peter."

You nod and start the oven and pizza before looking around, noticing how Felicia seems to be looking around. "Want me to show you around?"

At her assent, you show her around the living room, the kitchen, where the bathroom is and take her up the stairs. "That's my Aunt and Uncle's room there and this one is mine."

You open the door and show her around. The rooms rather clean, as insisted upon by your Aunt, but there's some science posters and such here and there. Felicia looks around and grins, sitting on the edge of your bed.

"Oh, Mister Parker, what are we going to do up here?"

She innocently bites at her finger looking at you curiously. When you sputter, she grins and gets up leaning in to whisper in your ear. "While the idea of possibly getting caught is thrilling, I'd rather it be in a place where a can be as loud as I want to be."

She nips at your earlobe softly before grabbing your hand and pulling you downstairs. The food's almost done so you wait a few minutes before serving it, the news on in the background. Felicia seems intent on eating, so she's not really talkative right now.

You look at the news, seems like there's some sort of live press conference on, it's already a little bit in. As you swallow the bite in your mouth, you turn up the volume. On the screen is Tony Stark, looking rough and sitting in front of a podium.

"Goodbye to my father. There's questions that I would have asked him. I would have asked him how he felt about what this company did-If he was conflicted, if he ever had doubts. Or maybe he was every inch the man we all remember from the newsreels."

Stark pauses in his speech. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to defend them and protect them. And I saw that I had become part of a system that is comfortable with zero accountability."

You set down your pizza and pay full attention to the broadcast as Tony Stark takes a question from the reporters.

"What happened over there?"

"I had my eyes opened. I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just making things that blow up."

Stark stands up from his sitting position, the camera tracking him as he stares determinedly at the cameras.

"And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be. What direction it should take, one that I'm comfortable with and is consistent with the highest good for this country, as well."

Stark's cut off by Obadiah Stane, who turns to the camera clasping his hands with a look of good cheer before putting a hand on Stark's shoulder.

What we should take away from this is that Tony's back! And he's healthier than ever. We're going to have a little internal discussion and we'll get back to you with the follow-up."

Stane leads stark away as things cut to different anchors or analysts as you blink, the spell broken. Felicia takes a drink of her water, looking bemused.

"Well, that's a surprise."

You nod, quickly finishing your pizza slice and wiping your hands on a napkin.

"Yeah."

You look around and think about it, it'd be a bit weird for Felicia to be up here alone if your Aunt or Uncle were to come in here.

The two of you get up and rinse off your plates before cleaning up. When you're done, you lead her to the basement door and open it, turning on the light.

"Come on, Felicia. I think it's time I introduce you, formally, to my first love."

She raises an eyebrow as you lead her down into the basement, closing the door behind you. You walk into the middle of your lab and turn to her, spreading your arms. "Welcome to my lair - basement! I mean basement! Keep it together Pete, oh god I'm still talking."

Felicia laughs, smiling warmly at you. "You know, that dorkiness combined with your humor is one of your best points, Peter."

You grin at her before getting out your materials and setting them out. "Now, it should be safe over there by the computer, but just in case, you might want to wear a respirator and goggles. I'm not sure how long this will take, but shop safety and all that."

She nods as you both put on goggles and respirators, with you putting on protective gear as well.

You spend several hours working on the chemicals combining them, mixing them, heating them and cooling them before they take shape. The material reminds you of a quilt with its thickness, the color a solid yellow. However, it seems to be stable and there's no problems with it. All that's left is making it into costumes. And you've managed to make enough for possibly two costumes. Though, admittedly, it will probably be sweltering in it.

But, you guess that's the price you have to pay sometimes. You make sure that there's no more fumes or anything before disposing of excess materials and keeping the ventilation going to be safe. Taking off your goggles and protective gear, you smile at Felicia who does the same, well before she frown, her nose wrinkling.

"No offense, Peter, you kinda stink now."

You grimace, discreetly taking a whiff. Yeah, even the deodorant didn't help much.

You nod. "Yeah, I should get a shower and changed, C'mon." You set the materials to the side, isolated from everything else, just to be safe, and head upstairs. It's about five in the afternoon now. Uncle Ben is now working until about five, but with transit, he's not back until later than that... Aunt May still seems to be out.

You lead her up to your room, opening the door and grabbing some spare clothes. "I'll be back in a few, wait here, alight?"

Felicia nods, looking around your room curiously. "Alright."

Nervous at the idea of a girl being alone in your room, you hurry to the shower and take a quick cold shower, making sure the smell of chemicals and sweat is off of you. You then change into your new clothes and grab your olds ones and put them in the hamper as you enter your room to see Felicia looking around.

"What are you looking for?"

She pauses and smiles. "I was curious what kind of porn you look at."

You flush and stammer as she smirks at you. "So, what do you want to do? I'd like to hang out some more if you don't mind."

You ponder this. It's probably be best to get on the costume to defeat the Hobgoblin, but at the same time, you know that working yourself too much is to subject yourself to failure.

"Hmm, alright. Let's go see a movie."

Felicia smiles at you and takes your hand, hurrying you to the door. You pause for a second to make sure everything's secured in the basement and double-checking that off in the kitchen before locking up your house and heading out.

There's a small theater nearby and the two of you discuss what type of film before deciding on a comedy. It was apparently done by the same people who did those zombie and Cop movies. Overall, the both of you enjoyed it, but it's about eight in the evening by the time you're out of the film.

Felicia wraps her arm around your and leans in. "So, what are your plans for tonight? If that material's stable, I could work on making something out of it, I do have a bit of an experienced hand at costuming, after all…"

She pauses and shakes her head. "Actually, I'm going to have to call it a night soon, I have a busy day tomorrow. Walk me home?"

You extend your arm to her, a smile on your face.

"What kind of man would I be if I didn't escort a lovely lady home?"

Felicia takes your arm with a grin as you walk her home. The walk only takes a little while, but with you and Felicia making small talk along the way, it seems a lot shorter. When you walk her up to the door, she unlocks it and opens it before pausing and turning back to you.

"I know I'm not the greatest at sciences and the like, but it was really nice seeing you do something that you love. There's a passion I saw there that shouldn't be allowed to go to waste, Peter. But, more than that-"

She leans in and gives you a soft peck on the check. Even though you've kissed her before, this one seems different. Felicia pulls back and smiles as you softly. Even though she's a trained master thief and you're a super powered vigilante, in this moment, that doesn't matter.

"I had a great time today, Peter. Let's do this again sometime."

"Yeah, anytime."

You give her a small smile and nod, giving her a wave as her door closes. You walk back, a bit of a spring in your step, as you walk through the streets at night. When you arrive home, you open the door to see Aunt May and Uncle Ben watching television together, they glance over at you before Uncle Ben grins widely, gesturing at his cheek.

"Had a nice evening, Peter?"

You raise your hand to your cheek and pull away to see a light pink lipstick mark there. You give Uncle Ben a grin. "Yeah, I think I did."

You sit down and spend the evening with them, enjoying a family moment. When you get up in the morning, you get ready for school and head out the door.

You head out the door and nod to Mary Jane who walks out of the door. She glances at you and nods, she looks much more sullen now, as her eyes dart around worriedly. As usual, the normal spider sense alarm is going of around her, but it seems stronger than normal.

As you jog to school slowly, she follows behind, but you notice that she's always careful to keep distance between you and her. If you slow sown, she slows down more. It's strange, but considering what happened last time at school, maybe it isn't too surprising?

Regardless, when you reach about halfway there, you notice Flash jog up to you. He gives you a glance over. "Parker, you feeling alright now?"

You nod and he relaxes some, though he still looks troubled. "Did you know that the cops are after Spider-man, Parker? The guy saves our rears and they're trying to take him in! The only reason I found out was that some cops came by to question me the other day about having talked to him. They warned me to call them if I see him again."

Flash trails off, aggravated, before shaking his head. "Regardless, I've knocked some sense into my players over the week. Found out they've been paid money to call a number and harass the person every couple of days. They make the call and the money's there in return next time they do it. I kicked the asses of two of them, they're off the team. None of them knew who was behind ti though, all they got were anonymous notes with money or so they claimed."

He looks disgusted. "I'd say that I can't believe they did stuff like that, but I'd be a damn hypocrite. I'd also like to apologize for the way I've been treating you. What I did… that wasn't right of me, it was downright messed up. But, I've gotten my head screwed on right so I'm trying to make amends to the people I've… tormented."

Mary Jane's behind the two of you, keeping to herself.

You nod you head. "Don't worry about it, just don't slip back into the way you used to be. You helped me out a lot here. You mentioned something about money slipped to them?"

Flash nods, a frown on his face. "Yeah, it was apparently put in the space between the phone and the wall- a crevice that's useless for almost anything else. Also, who's the girl, Parker?"

You nod back towards Mary Jane. "Flash, this is Mary Jane Watson, my neighbor. She just moved in and started at school before the Hobgoblin."

Flash frowns. "No kidding, that's got to be the worst luck. Well, nice to meet you, Miss Watson."

Mary Jane's visible eye looks at him before she draws back a little more, silently mumbling something. "She's not the greatest with people, she's kinda Socially Awkward."

Flash lets out a noise of understanding before clearing his throat. "Well, I need to get back to my normal schedule. I'm trying to do some regimens every morning you see. Later, Parker, Miss Watson!"

He runs off as you hear Mary Jane let out a sigh of relief. Looking back at her, it seems she has a bandage wrapped around her hand. "Is your hand alright?"

Mary Jane's hand retracts into her sleeve like she was bitten as she looks anywhere but you. "..eah, fne…"

Seems like she's not wanting to talk about it, but if it was a problem Aunt May would have mentioned it, considering she was at Anna Watson's yesterday. When you arrive at school, you see a familiar figure standing out front looking around. When she sees you, she waves calling out.

"There you are, Peter!"

Standing there in a short skirt with a coat over it is Felicia Hardy grinning and waving at you

END
TO BE CONTINUED

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