Publisher's Note: 6/9/2014 Mon.

I've been looking over the past chapters posted lately and notice a lot of mis-spelling and bad grammar I haven't fixed. I'm going to be fixing and updating these previous chapters which takes most of my time from publishing new chapters. So please I ask you when you read through these chapters to review, not to just tell me if you liked or disliked, or ask question about the chapters but to point out for me if there is any misspelling or bad grammar, and when you do this to also please point where the error is appearing such as re-quoting the sentence that has this so I can find it easily and fix it. I have no beta, so far is just me alone fixing these so I'm just asking your help because this story is obviously for your enjoyment as well as my own, so I want you as well as new readers to be able to enjoy these chapters with no errors.

Chapter 31:

Illusions of Normalcy

Dr. Henry Pym is a scientist in molecular physics- in specific subatomic particles. He's young but talented, though it can be said from those that know him that he can get somewhat eccentric.

His assistant is Miss Janet Van Dyne, who while not in possession of her own doctorate, is considered Pym's equal and the two share a friendly professional relationship.

While Dr. Pym is focused in molecular physics, he is also educated in a good number of other subjects, though he has professed a personal interest in Myrmecology.

Doctor Pym will be celebrated his Twenty-Fifth birthday this year.

OO

Currently

You don't know how long you slept, but you're shaken awake sometime in the afternoon, according to the clock. Rushed to the living room, you stare in shock at the TV. Or rather the News on it.

"CARNAGE KILLER TURNS SELF IN"

There's an image of a man on the screen in handcuffs- red hair, gaunt face- you've seen this man before. Cletus Cassidy- but where there had once been an unnerving emptiness on his emotionless face, now there was a proud grin.

-"I confess to all of the crimes I committed and I regress no remorse or regret over what I did. As to why I did it, it was because I could."-

"Investigators have confirmed the testimony with several pieces of evidence not revealed to the public from the crime scene and have taken Cassidy into custody."

Felicia mutes the TV and looks over at you. "Peter, what's going on? DOOM's confirmed that the girl and her father are safe- they're being shadowed by his most trusted agents."

You can only stare at the TV with your muddled thoughts. This- this doesn't make sense! Could it be a fake, or a copycat? It has to be- the killer acts to show itself to prove the copycat is a fake. That has to be it, but then why would he know details that the police didn't reveal?

Was it because you were web slinging around last night?

Was THAT enough to change things?

Is it really over?

You should-

You shake your head and rub at your eyes. "Well, even if it might be, we still need to be vigilant. It could be a copycat or it could be a ruse. Regardless, it's best not to go half-cocked into these things."

You rub at your shoulder before coughing into your sleeve.

"…and I'm in no shape to be doing anything."

You move to sit down as Stella walks in, looking tired and worried. When she sees you, she pauses and looks at you- carefully walking over before and gently hugging you tightly. "I'm glad you're okay."

You lightly hug her back. "Yeah. I'm sorry, both of you. I wasn't thinking straight last night- I went off without thinking about either of you or my own health. Had I sat down and thought things through…"

You grimace. "I screwed up."

Felicia sits down next you, her hand lightly patting yours. "It's alright. We all make mistakes, Peter. But we should probably call you Aunt and Uncle to pick you up. There's school tomorrow after all."

You nod as Stella looks excited. "I get to meet your Aunt and Uncle?!"

You glance over at Stella. You had thought about revealing to them you being Spider-man, but they're pretty financially strapped. You might be able to do a few things about that, but should you introduce Stella to them?

You give her a sad smile. "Not yet. I still need to come up with a good back-story and reason for you to stay with us. While the three of us know what happened, Aunt May and Uncle Ben are old, they might not respond great to the situation immediately being sprang on them."

You take a moment to cover up another fit of coughs before you glance over at Felicia. "Hey, I know this is asking a LOT of you, and I probably don't have the right to ask this of you, but could Stella stay here- long enough to get the cover story and background in place?"

Felicia looks at you and rubs at her brow before nodding. "Alright. Normally I'd say no, but there's going to be a few ground rules. I'm only doing this because I'm afraid what'll happen if we try to rush a cover-up and it blows up in our faces."

You and Stella nod cautiously. "First, you'll need to not leave the house or do any damage- those weapons you put away are being locked up. Secondly, you do your part around here- you make a mess, you clean it up. Thirdly, you follow any other rules I might remember. Got it?"

Both of you nod as Stella looks a bit downcast, so you ruffle her hair before pulling her into a hug. "Hey, don't give me that face, Stella. It'll only be for a few days so that the details can be worked out."

Felicia looks at you, bemused. "So what's with the hair ruffling?"

"That? It's something Uncle Ben always did to me all the time when I was younger."

It doesn't take long for Felicia to call your Aunt and Uncle in her father's voice- they'll be there to pick you up shortly. You look over at your backpack from the future and pull out the sports Almanac. "Here, I don't know how long it'll be good for but…"

"It's not cursed, right?"

You frantically shake your head as Felicia lets out a sigh of relief before she looks at it again and shrugs, looking amused. "Well, it'll be fun while it lasts. I don't need the money necessarily, but I appreciate the thought. I might have a use or two for it."

You pause as you look at one of the outer pockets- seems like it was torn up when CARNAGE attacked you. Taking a moment to change into your normal attire and backpack, you put the spider-man outfit in there along with several miscellaneous objects.

As it's about time to go, Felicia hugs you tightly. "Now, Peter, I don't want to be rude but until we work on the story- don't mention Stella at ALL to your aunt and uncle, alright?"

You give a resigned nod before kissing her on the cheek. "I love you, you know."

Felicia flushes. "Yeah, I know. I love you too."

She closes in and lightly kisses your cheek in return before she flicks your nose. "But you're not allowed to buy me gifts anymore unless they're name brand, got it?"

There's a honk outside- opening the door and looking out, you see Uncle Ben in the driver's seat. You wave goodbye to them. "See you soon!"

Stella sadly waves you off along with Felicia as you get into the car. Your uncle looks over at you. "You look a bit under the weather, sport. Did you have a good time?"

You pause as you recall everything that's happened 'this weekend.'

"Yeah, I guess I did."

The drive home isn't too long, but you're quickly ushered to bed by your Aunt after being made to eat a bowl of soup.

It takes you several days to get over being sick. Each day you're stuck in bed, feeling miserable, so you spend your time doing what you always do- learning. Costuming is something you've had some experience in so you brush up on that one day. Your physics needs a little work for your homework. Biology is smart to pick up on considering the symbiotes.

Other than watching the news and getting updates from the limited time on the internet you're allowed, it seems like everything's back to normal. There was the ancient weapons display at Oscorp getting robbed, sure, but that's at least reasonable.

The Corazon family's been left alone, too.

Cletus Cassidy has stayed behind bars and will have a trial soon if all goes well.

Everything's… average.

On the upside, Felicia's some up with two identity options for Stella. The first is that she's a pen-pal that is eligible for being a foreign exchange student with a stipend and the second is that she she's a relative of Felicia's who their family cannot take in, as Mr. Hardy's busy with work, Mrs. Hardy is with 'Felix' at a hospital, and Felicia's too young to take care of her- they'd be willing to pay for expenses, but it is a rather urgent relocation.

Using what little time you have, you've managed to ask Stella and gotten her approval of the second plan. Felicia's already has begun to get the forged identity and medical records. Now to bring it up with your Aunt and Uncle…

You'll bring it up once everything's finalized. As Felicia said, it's best to make sure the story's organized and coherent. And you really don't want her mad at you.

Still, your recovery time passes quick enough with how busy you keep and before you know it, it's Thursday. Time for school. Heading downstairs, you get the 'all clear' from Aunt May. Dressed and ready you head out the door.

You shiver at the chilly wind and wrap your scarf tighter around your neck.

Not willing to risk getting sick again, you decide to take the bus. As you pause near your neighbor's house, you see Mary Jane come out of her house bundled up from head to toe, her eyes being the only visible part of her under her winter gear.

She pauses as she sees you. Waving, she seems to take a deep breath before nodding back. You both seem to be heading towards the bus stop. You take a deep breath before rubbing your hands together.

The bus wait is rather awkward as she glances at you once in a while. You pause before furrowing your brows. Something's off here…

As you bask in the silence you realize the problem. You Spider-sense isn't flaring anymore. Glancing at Mary Jane, you see her face first in a videogame console.

…Weird.

As you reflect on this, the bus pulls up. You can see Harry sitting on the bus.

You sit down next to Harry and lower your scarf. "Hey, sorry about being MIA, I was kinda deathly ill."

You give him a weak smile as Harry nearly jumps in his seat. Pulling headphones out of his ears he looks worried. "Jesus, Peter. You alright?"

You give him a thumbs up as you adjust your glasses. "Yeah. I think I got the unholy child of the bird and pig flus. Was not pleasant. I'll tell you that much."

You feel yourself relax as you talk to Harry, what his father did is nothing compared to how good it is to see a friend. "So, how have you been?"

Harry's smile slips some. "I've been alright, Pete. Nothing to worry about."

You rest a hand on his shoulder and shake your head. "Nah, I was really self-absorbed in personal problems, but we should have hung out more. You're my best friend after all. If you've got any problems, I'll listen to them."

Harry gives you a grateful smile as he pockets his headphones. "Well, my dad's pretty pissed about the theft. There wasn't anything really valuable there, but it's an insult to him is how he sees it. The worst part is that there was nobody on Cameras. Literally. The things were apparently there one moment and gone the next."

Harry pauses. "My dad's also really on me about trying to get your to apply to Oscorp, too. It feels like he wants you more as a son than he does me."

You scowl at that. "Then he doesn't know what he's missing out on, Harry. You're a great guy."

Harry gives you a bitter smile as the two of you get off the bus. "Well, try telling that to him."

He waves you off as he heads towards his lockers. You head towards yours and get your books ready. There's still a few minutes until the bell rings. You decide to go find Flash, maybe get that tutoring thing set up. It's... It's the least you can do.

Heading down the hallway you take a deep breath as you see him again. He hasn't died. Not here- not like that.

Flashback

You had baited yourself for CARNAGE along with the support of Alice, Stella and the Doktor in order to distract the monster like spawn long enough for the military style costume-look alike of Spider-Man known as Agent Venom to have a shot at taking out the mass murder. In which the form of a bullet was shot straight through its head. An instant kill.

Agent Venom turns towards you as his mask dissolves revealing a nearly forty year old man, with short blonde hair. But the face is still familiar enough to you that you're able to recognize it as Flash Thompson. He smirks and points at your shocked expression.

"Peter Parker, you never did make good on those tutoring lessons. But, guess you couldn't help it, you've been gone for twenty years from us, after all. Still, good to have you back. Couldn't have done it without-"

He extends a hand towards you, before you can do anything his eyes widen as you're covered in gore. Flash's gore. Red tentacles extend from behind him and pierce through his head as he's dragged-

End Flashback

NO!

You swallow and take a deep breath. FOCUS PARKER. FUCKING FOCUS! IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!

Suppressing it with your iron will, you head over to Flash, intent on letting none of that through. "Hey, Flash."

He turns around, eyes wide in surprise. "Parker! You okay man, you've been gone for most of the week."

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry for being so late, but do you still need help with tutoring? I've resolved a lot of problems that had been keeping me busy."

Flash nearly drops his book. "Are you serious man? You'd do that? You are the man! I'll get back to you by Friday- say you going to the school's costume party tonight? They thought about canceling it what with the serial killer, but it's on for sure. I'm going as Spider-man."

He turns around and fishes out a red mask. "See, I saw his normal costume at school- not the yellow one he made to take down that Hobgoblin creep. It'll be great to show Spider-man that we've got his back you know?"

You look at his proud smile, remembering the man he turns into. "Yeah. I'm sure he'll be impressed Flash. I've got to head to class, so give me word by Friday, alright?

Flash waves you off. "Later Parker, hope you show at the costume party!"

You head into chemistry and sit in your normal spot. Gwen's there, but she seems busy- you try to avoid looking at her to avoid another almost meltdown like with Flash.

You were shocked to see at first that the person known as CARNAGE, the one responsible for the massive destruction and ruin known as the future was caused by Gwen Stacy. To say you were shocked was the biggest understatement of the year, you couldn't believe it. It was a little comfort to know when you bonded with the Venom symbiote later on that you're Spider-Senses were still working, it helped you realized than that Gwen herself didn't cause all that destruction-at least not by her own choice. If it was then there was no reason for CARNAGE to want your Spider-Senses. After all Gwen still had hers. So either her body was being controlled by CARNAGE and she tried to fight back by not letting it control over the ability or she was an incomplete clone without the senses like the rest of the Peter clones.

When classes for the break end, you dart to lunch.

Stopping by Harry on the way to sit next to Mary Jane, you tap him on the shoulder. "Hey, Harry, something seemed like it was bothering my neighbor this morning, so I want to see if she's okay, alright?"

He looks over in the direction you're facing and sees Mary Jane alone before nodding. "Sure. Your neighbor doesn't have a lot of friends. But remember to stop by my locker. I nearly forgot today is Halloween. Remember?"

You pause. Right, you agreed to wear a costume since Harry was so insistent on it to the point he got it for you. It was something from one of his giant robot shows.

"Yeah. I'll catch up with you after class."

You wave at him and head over to sit across from Mary Jane. "So… How's it going? You looked a bit down this morning."

She pauses eating to glance at you. She looks down at her food and plays with her fork. "…It was cold."

He glances over at you again. "I'm… fine."

Lunch seems kind of awkward so you converse with the first subject you have on mind. "So, you going to the costume party tonight?"

She seems to freeze before she speaks, louder and firmer than you've ever heard her. "No."

"Don't have a costume prepared?"

She doesn't glance at you but you see her arm start to shake as her raspy voice trembles. "Big events… with lots of people… I don't do well…"

She hisses as she accidentally stabs herself with her fork, instantly closing her eyes and pulling out a bandage before wiping the area rather persistently until it was clean. After a few more moments she gets up with her food, visible trembling. "I… I have to go. Medicine."

She gets up and leaves as quickly as she can without looking like she's running.

You let out a sigh before sitting next to Harry. "What happened there?"

You watch the exit she left. "Seems like she stabbed herself with a fork."

Harry looks in the direction she left before shrugging. You hurriedly try to finish your lunch before going to the rest of your classes. When the bell lets you out for the day you think of what you should go do.

You stop by Harry to see him. Tapping him on the shoulder he turns and grins at you. "Yes. I don't have the costume on me, but I have a picture of it-"

Taking out his phone he shows off a red costume with a mask. "See, it turned out perfectly. I'll drop it off at your house after I grab both of ours from the tailor. Speaking of which, that means I have to get home! Later, Pete!"

He rushes off enthusiastically. Yeah, that's Harry alright.

Well, you should try to invite Felicia, anyway. You head over to her locker. When she finishes what she's doing she turns to you and smiles. "Hey Peter."

You smile back. "Hey, Felicia. You want to go to the costume party tonight? Harry's roped me into wearing a costume."

Felicia looks tempted for a moment. "Maybe. I don't really feel safe leaving Stella around unattended for too long, though. You should also think about stopping by."

She pauses before going into her bag and pulling out something and handing it to you, her voice low. "Also, here is a phone. Don't lose it. It is worth more than you know. Don't make stupid calls with it, but it's basically untraceable."

You look at the phone before smiling at your girlfriend. "Wow, you make my gifts look terrible."

She shrugs. "Well, to be fair I made use of that gift you gave me, so it won't be a problem. But to be fair, I consider half of what I made yours, so if you ever need anything give me the word."

She picks up her bag and smiles, pecking you on the cheek. "I'm heading home Peter, see you afternoon."

Watching her head off, you turn to see a teenager with a camera around his neck watching her walk off, a flower in his hand. He looks at you and scowls, flower's stem snapping in his hand, before he drops it and walks off.

Well, tonight's going to be interesting, at least.

END
To be Continued…

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