Been a while)
Hope you all are doing great, guys!
As the Senior Vice President of Hero Management, Madelyn Stillwell was a woman who knew worth and how to best prove it to the few people that still stood above her in the conglomerate's hierarchy. It was neither entitlement nor arrogance talking when she proudly called herself the woman behind every superhero's success.
It was the right that she earned with blood, sweat and tears. Some of which were even hers.
As the Senior Vice President of Hero Management, Madelyn Stillwell was a woman who knew worth and how to best prove it to the few people that still stood above her in the conglomerate's hierarchy. It was neither entitlement nor arrogance talking when she proudly called herself the woman behind every superhero's success.
It was the right that she earned with blood, sweat and tears. Some of it hers, even.
Every day was another chance to prove that she belonged here. That she stood where she had because of her skills and experiences. And not because the company's greatest product had a thing for her.
But today was not her usual day of dealing with the rowdy heroes and their numerous messes. No, the challenge presented to her today was something much more complicated.
Madelyn had no delusions about what kind of company she worked at. She knew almost any and every little thing they did wrong and got away with. And while the list was quite long and would certainly make more than a few people cry out for boycotting them, few things could ever really damage their brand. Vought International was, after all, as as american as corporations came.
And if there was one thing that was immortal in America, it was the corporations.
But even Vought had things they wanted the public unaware of. And among that list, the number one secret was the true nature of the superpowers, the Compound V. It was better for the public to believe that superpowers came from God. And it was much easier for Vought to go along with the idea because it not only cleared their heroes of any wrongdoing in the eyes of every god-fearing Christian but also kept the public's eyes away from how such serum came to be.
Now that secret was in danger of being exposed.
It was one of Osborn's pet projects - an attempt refining Compound V into the product that could be sold to the military. Madelyn had little love for the man even before learning that he was trying to steal the multibillion military contract from under her with his work. And she would be happy to just sit back and let the man explain to the board why one of his experiments ended up escaping into the wild.
Except that she knew how.
'No, no, you guys are the real heroes.'
She watched the world's mightiest and mosr dangerous man smile from ear to ear as he was showered with praise he needed like it was air. All too unaware of just how royally he fucked her over. How his reckless handling of the stolen truck resulted in the entire thing toppling over. Killing every single damn specimen on it and letting a few of them escape, too!
If it was any other superhuman, she could have placed the blame on them entirely and let Norman handle the rest. But Homelander? Her name was all too connected to his. And she had no doubt that Norman would use this as further proof of how flawed her idea to put the superheroes in the military was.
'Now, if you don't mind, I have to go. Crime doesn't rest, people. And so neither shall I!'
With a wave and a million-dollar smile, he took off to the sky. No doubt on his way to her office. She had to go before he came. Right now, Madelyn had absolutely no patience for dealing with him.
She left her office in a hurry and instructed Ashley to keep the man occupied while she did the damage control. Though a task below her station, she refused to have even the slightest chance of someone messing it up.
While this crisis put her career aspirations at risk, it also provided an opportunity to show up Norman and prove her worth to Mr. Edgar. They just needed to find a couple of spiders that escaped from their cage. And if, in the process of locating them, her superheroes stomped them down and set Norman back a few years and a couple of millions dollar back?
Well, nobody could fault her for a few accidents of her own.
She entered the meeting room of the Seven with the air of confidence and purpose. It was important to remind the people in this room that, with the sole exception of one of them, she never feared anyone here. They needed her more than she needed them. They would be and were nothing without her hang guiding them.
"Good morning, Ms. Stillwell," Mr. Marathon said in his usual easygoing tone, though his strained smile betrayed his anxiety. On the left side of him, Noir sat quiet as he always did. "Ashley called us and said that there was some important mission you wanted us to do."
"Which I am especially honoured to be a part of," a third man, known as Great Wide Wonder, interjected with a smile all too wide and eager. Though, this time, it seemed to come from his hopes for joining the Seven rather than his addiction to cocaine. He then turned to the other two men with the same smile, "You have no idea how much I am looking forward to working with the Seven and-"
She raised her hand bringing the entire room to silence. She had no time for an ass-kissing session right now. She wanted that to be made clear.
"All of you are going to track down some of Vought's stolen property. You will do this as fast and as quiet as possible. I do not want anyone to catch you doing this, do you understand?"
All three nodded. Noir raised his pad with three simple words written on it.
"The property in question is Vought's project on breeding the new specimen of spiders. One that can produce up to fifty times the regular amount of webbing normal spiders do."
A lie that was prepared and pre-approved by their PR department in the even that someone did see their superheroes retrieving those. Though she hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Pardon me, ma'am, but how are we supposed to track down spiders in Manhattan? Are they chipped or something?"
She held back from pointing out the stupidity of the statement given how little the spiders in question were.
"Yes, they were chipped," But the version of Compound V used in their creation did emit traces of radiation unique enough to tracked down by the devices she handed them. "I cannot stress enough how important this mission is. For both myself and the company. If you succeed, I will see that you are all properly compensated for this."
And if they failed, she would see them dragged across the coals for it.
That much went unsaid.
777
Mr. Marathon knew that his time to leave was coming soon. Like many fellow speedsters, his body just couldn't handle all the running. But he refused to give up just yet. And so he ran through every dirty alley or Queens and Manhattan like a man possessed. He was carefuly enough to not be seen whether it was squashing the spiders he found or leaving people with dislocated or mangled limbs when he brushed past them.
He would let the guys in the lawyers and PR earn their keep.
Fow now, he had to prove to Stillwell that he was still useful. He had seen what happened to guys like him once they were kicked off the Seven. And he refused to end as another one of them.
"Help!"
His eyes were drawn to the nearby apartment complex, all windows shattered and the black smoke rising to the sky. For a brief moment, Mr. Marathon considered to run in there to help. He did this stuff before even if not perfectly. In and out and he would be back on the mission. He could do it. He could-
'Mr. Marathon,' one of the analysts said when they noticed him standing still. 'There is a spider three blocks away from you. Will you be able to get it?'
"Help! Somebody, please, help!"
He turned around one last time and was relieved to see Stormfront approaching the building. She loved hanging around these neighbourhoods, he recalled. With his conscience cleared, the man grinned into the mic, "I am on my way."
The speedster would never learn how many people died in that fire.
Neither would he care to learn how many of them seemed to have been fried by lightning rather than fire.
777
Great Wide Wonder soared through the sky to the cheers of the people below. Normally, he would stop by and have some fun with the audience. Maybe pick up a few girls while he was at it. What was the point of this stupid get-up if he couldn't get some ass for wearing it, right?
But today was different. He was on a mission. One that could, if his agent was to be believed, land him a spot in the Seven. Mr. Marathon was on his way out and he was sure that he could fill his spot as the team's speedster well enough.
And once he was in, he would be set. Money, chicks, fame, drugs. All of the luxuries he enjoyed maybe once or twice a year would now be his daily comfort. He could even get his own movie!
"Coming through!" he yelled as he let his excitement course through his system and boost his fly. A few rows of windows shattered showering the people below with glass before he reminded himself to be discreet. Better leave before anyone noticed him.
One dead spider after another felt like a step towards the better tomorrow. And he could not wait until he finally got what he deserved.
"I am all done with my area," the man bragged into the mic. "You sure you don't need help on your end, Mr. Marathon? I could get to your place faster than you could say-"
The soon-to-be-former fastest man on the planet closed the connection his end. Whatever.
He knew he was on his way. Knew it and was rightfully worried.
With his area cleared of any spiders, the man decided to take to the skies.
777
Black Noir moved below notice and between the shadows. He had neither worry of Mr. Marathon nor ambition of Great Wide Wonder. All he had was orders given to him by Stan to protect the company. And so that was what he intended to do. Unlike the other two, his mission was not to destroy the spiders but to preserve them if he could.
He didn't know why. He didn't question the man, however. Stan took care of him. So Noir would do as Stan said. He still had yet to find a live specimen, however. If it were not done by either of the two heroes he was on the mission with, countless birds or strays or just busy people took care of the spiders for him.
So far, the best he had were several spider corpses. Noir watched the dots disappear on his tracker with frustration even as he rushed to get at least one of them while he was still alive. The last chance at the live one appeared to be located in some school.
The door was unlocked and the man slipped into the dark of the halls. He followed the tracker and only stopped when he heard giggling from the spot he was heading towards.
"Damn, where did you even get that thing?" one voice said. It was a young man with dark hair and thin build. "It is so gross."
"Found it crawling up my leg while I was taking a smoke," the larger boy answered with a chuckle. "Can you imagine Parker's expression when he sees the thing in his locker?"
"Holy shit, I am so taking the video!" the boy laughed. "Does Geek's Spider Freakout sound like a web hit or what?"
The two boys laughed and Noir left them alone to do so. Stan wanted this job done cleanly. And the boys would leave soon enough. No need to kill them for no-\
"Shit!"
The sound of glass jar shattering echoed through the halls.
"Did you just drop it? Seriously, the hell is wro-" the large boy cried out in panic. "Shit, shit, it is on me! Get it off!"
"Stand still, Carl, I-" the other boy tried to calm his friend down but this 'Carl' refused to listen. "Shit, man, just fall and roll!"
Before Noir could move and stop the two idiots from crushing the spider to death, Kong dropped down and rolled on the ground like man on fire. Just as his tracker signalled the death of the last spider in the city.
"Did I get him?"
He did, Noir thought with frustration as his hand reached for one of the knives. No. This wouldn't do anything but provide momentary relief. The last spider was dead. Reduced to mush under the moronic teen. There was hope that Mr. Osborn would be able to retrieve enough from the dead ones he managed to collect.
As the superhero and two bullies left the premises, none of them noticed the spider's still but very much whole body twitch ever so slightly right beneath the locker it was supposed to go in.
777
The morning came with the world unaware of how close it came to discovering the truth about its own heroes.
Madelyn smiled as she sipped on her morning coffee while preparing the report on how she handled the crisis. Mr. Marathon enjoyed the private party with a couple of sponsors. Great Wide Wonder got high on the highest quality drugs he could get his hands on. And Noir sat quietly in his room as he watched his old audition tapes.
Unlike them, one Peter Parker was not enjoying his day at all. Now that one could blame him given how his very existence seemed to attract the school's biggest assholes.
"Out of the way, Parker!"
He let out a soft groan as Carl King shoved him against the locker while his little hyena Jason followed along. People passed by him. Some laughed. Most just ignored him. And as always, there was onyl one person who stopped by to help.
"King and his little jester, I take it?" Flash took a guess as he helped Peter off the ground. "Jeez, dude, you really should stop running into him like this."
"Yeah, what was I thinking? Standing in the hall like I go to school here."
"Jsut relax. It's just a couple of years before you are out of here, man," Flash tried to cheer him up. "Just remember us mere mortals when you are throwing big bucks from your internet business or whatever."
Peter chuckled as he dreamed of the day he was finally out of this school. But for now, he was still just a puny Parker. With a sigh, Peter knelt down to get one of the books he dropped when he noticed something under his locker. Huh, it looked like some kind of a spi-
"Aaaah!"
The boy fell on his knees as his body grew weak and numb. The world blurred right before his eyes as he fought to stay conscious. He could hear Flash say something to him before screaming. Who was he screaming for? At?
"...ngh..."
He felt the throbbing pang of pain as he clutched at his head, hoping to squeeze it out. But his arms fell limply to the side and stayed there, no matter how hard he tried to get them to move. His whole body felt cold and light as he was carried off somewhere. It was too bright for him to see the ouside.
He closed his eyes and found the relief wash over him as he was swallowed by the dark. He was so tired and weak. Too weak and too tired to hold onto his consciousness slipping through his fingers and fading into the dark. All he could think of was how good it felt to let go.
And go to sleep.
Shorter than I hoped for but it felt like the best place to stop. So here you go: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man in the Unfriendly World of the Boys.
I would say that the main idea here is to explore the way the supes are made into who they are through Peter's eyes. How long until he sees the heroes of this world for who they are? Will he fight them alone? Join with the Boys? Or let himself be corrupted?
Hope you stick around to find out.