Chapter 1: Selfishness.
The future is often seen as uncertain.
Nobody knows where we will go with the decisions we make every day, and every little choice can have a great impact on our lives.
And like many others, the life of Peter Parker is full of setbacks and mistakes, some more serious than others, but the young man always faced his destiny, in spite of everything.
Today we will see one of the many possible futures I planned for Miraculous Spider-Man and all its sister stories.
As usual, this will be another series, but unlike the other AUs, it has its own ramifications, as such I thought that it deserved its own story instead of just being a bunch of one-shots, and now, without further ado, let's begin with the most curious future that I created.
Just as a side warning, this story will include foul language, detailed descriptions of violence and several other controversial themes, so if any of those makes you uncomfortable, stop reading right now.
(FELICITY PARKER)
It was a normal morning in New York City in the year 2048.
The flying vehicles made by Stark Industries and OsCorp were taking their passengers to their respective destinations, whether to work or school, there were several pedestrians walking because they didn't trust much in the repulsor levitation technology invented by Tony Stark, or simply because they were used to do it.
And as usual, in the penthouse at the top of the Hardy Foundation tower, Felicity Parker couldn't help but grunt with annoyance and try to cover her ears with one of her pillows while she listened to her parents arguing as usual.
Seeing that her efforts to remain asleep were useless, she grabbed her phone and looked at the time, noticing that, to her annoyance, her parents were extremely punctual to wake her up with their arguments. Always at 6:30 a.m., not a minute more nor a minute less.
"In a house as dysfunctional as mine, you can't expect to have peace with your parents arguing for any stupidity you can imagine, practically every time they see each other..." Felicity let out. "And if you ask, yes, I'm talking to you, it's something that stuck with me because my dad's friends were present at several of my birthdays and parties that my dad organized. At least I can be grateful that in spite of everything, I'm not as crazy as Wade and nor am I as... special as Pinkie, I'm more like Loud, but without the incest and without siblings. Don't get me wrong, they're cool and all but they have issues that I'm grateful not to have."
At that time, the 14-year-old girl stretched and let out a loud yawn, then tried to straighten a bit her matted platinum-blonde hair and looked at the mess around her, then she searched through her blankets and found a bracelet-shaped device, which she put on her wrist, to immediately make a gesture and shoot a webline to a towel on a chair, pulling it and taking her towel to take a shower.
"Web-shooters make life so much easier, I dunno why dad didn't think about selling them." Felicity said to herself before she yawned again.
"It's because he did think about it, but if he had, many would have linked him to Spider-Man and could've even discovered his secret identity." Said a squeaky voice. "Although I see that you're just as lazy as your father, you use webbing even for the simplest things."
"Oh, hey, Leo..."
"Tough morning?"
"You know how much I love waking up to dad and mom's yelling..."
The kwami approached the girl and offered her half of the chocolate bar he was carrying.
"No, Leo, thank you." Felicity said politely.
"You need it, go ahead, it will make you feel better."
Felicity smiled and caressed the kwami's little head with a finger, then she took the piece of chocolate that the little creature offered her and bit a tiny piece of it.
"Thanks, little one." Felicity said.
"I seriously can't believe you're Peter's daughter, even if I was at the moment when..." Leopardon said.
"Too much information..."
"... I was going to say "the moment when you were born," and again thanks to comments like that, I can confirm that you're that clumsy kid's daughter."
"Dad and I love you too, little one."
The girl smiled and stood up, then went to the door of her room and slipped to the bathroom, while she heard her mother slamming the front door and her father growling in exasperation.
She wanted to go make sure her father was okay, but she thought he needed a few minutes to calm down. So, the girl took a shower, and as soon as she finished, she managed to sniff a delicious breakfast waiting for her in the kitchen, so she ran quickly to put on her usual gray sweatshirt, white button-down blouse and purple skirt, with black and white striped stockings, and black shoes.
After that, the girl went to the dining room, where her father, Peter Parker, was serving two plates with eggs and bacon, with a couple of pancakes and freshly squeezed orange juice.
As she watched the tender scene, which was funny for her because his father was wearing his usual flower apron, the girl rushed to hug her father and smiled broadly as he poured a glass of juice for himself.
"Good morning, sweetie." Peter said with a smile.
"Good morning, Dad." Felicity said.
"I hope you didn't forget about me, kid." Leopardon said.
"Of course not, lil' rat, here's a small bowl of fun-size chocolates for you."
The bearer of Responsibility put a small bowl full of chocolates for his kwami in the center of the table, then the arachnid kwami floated to the bowl and took one of the chocolates, swallowing it in a single bite.
"Chew a bit, will you?" Peter snapped. "I know you're immortal, but out of pure decency, you should chew."
"And what's on the agenda for today, dad?" Felicity asked.
"Well, Tony asked me to swing by in the Paris laboratories, apparently there's a problem with the solid-light generators of the StarkPhones X2, and also, I'll go to the HQ to update the defense systems for Adrien." Peter said.
"And mom?"
"She... left early." Peter lied. "She said she had a couple of unresolved issues at the office."
"Sure... whatever..." Felicity said, knowing that her father was lying.
"You know that your mother is a busy woman, it's not easy to be the owner of the Hardy Foundation."
"Nor is it being the Head of Research in Solid-Light Technology of Stark Industries, and yet you take the time to take care of me and pamper me from time to time."
"You know your mother loves you..."
"Will she at least be present at my birthday party this weekend?"
Peter was petrified for a second, which the girl took as a negative to her question and that made her sigh heavily.
"Don't answer me, I get it... It doesn't surprise me, even Tamara, Amanda and Loan come to my birthdays, and I mean, it's not so bad, is it? It isn't as if mom and I lived in the same house or as if were family. It's no biggie because even if both Tamy and Amy live in alternate dimensions, and Loan doesn't leave her house except to see me on my birthday, they do show up, while my own mother puts me aside for anything, whenever she has the chance..."
"Felicity..."
The girl stood up with tears in her eyes, whipping her hand hard against the table.
"No, dad! It's always the same with her! She always misses my birthdays, school events and I could even swear that she would've missed my birth, if it wasn't because I was inside her!"
"Honey, calm down, ok?" Peter asked kindly.
"Why are you so much of a hypocrite...?"
At the response of the girl, Leopardon and Peter couldn't help but stare at her, feeling shocked.
"Excuse me?" Said Peter, feeling a hint of offense from his daughter.
"Why are you so much of a hypocrite, dad? You always end up defending mom and every time you two are together, you reproach her and you two end up yelling at each other. You know better than anyone that my mother's a bitch and deserves all my scorn."
At that moment, Peter felt deeply angered.
If there was something he hated, it was listening to his daughter badmouthing Felicia, because even though he understood her, it wasn't right. Besides, Felicity had no right to recriminate him for defending his wife, no matter that he himself argued endlessly with her.
"Felicity Aurore Parker, I forbid you to call me that again, I am your father and you have absolutely nothing to recriminate me, besides whether I argue with your mother or not is none of your business." Peter said firmly. "And finally, despite everything, your mother deserves your respect, so stop it."
"That's bullshit..."
"Enough, Felicity!" Peter yelled, already annoyed by Felicity's attitude. "Just sit down and eat that you're late for school."
With a bad taste in their mouths, due to Peter's argument with his daughter, they both ate breakfast in silence, then the girl got up, left her plate in the sink and went to her room to grab her backpack and go to school, not without stopping in front of the door and running to give her father a hug while he was doing the dishes.
"I'm sorry, daddy... I didn't wanna yell at you..." Felicity said before she ran out of the apartment.
Before Peter could say anything, Felicity had already left the penthouse, which made Peter sigh as his kwami floated up to him.
"Until when will you tell her the truth?" Leopardon asked.
"Until it's necessary..." Peter replied.
"You know that the longer you wait, the worse her reaction will be, and that if she finds out from another source, it'll blow in your face."
"I'm willing to take the risk..."
"You're an idiot, you know? And don't tell me that this is for Felicity's sake, you know well that Felicia is a bitch and that she deserves everything the girl thinks about her."
"I know that well, but it's not good that she holds such a grudge against her, and if she finds out, she'll blame Felicia for this."
"It's literally her fault."
"I know..."
"Peter, you know that I always admired your ability to defend everyone, you even saved the Green Goblin and Doc Ock from their deaths several times, but this time it's not bravery nor disinterest what you're doing, but stupidity. Felicity loves you because you've always been there for her, when she needs to learn, when she needs protection, when she gets hurt, when she found out that her friend Loan decided not to go out again, when she feels insecure, happy, sad, scared or alone, you're there for her, Felicia did it at first, but then stopped doing it, and all because, in her own words: 'Motherhood is not exciting enough for her.'"
Peter sighed and looked at his soapy hands for a moment, then he rinsed the soap and dried his hands to look at his kwami.
"I'm used to being hated." Peter said.
The kwami sighed in exasperation at his chosen one's idiocy, while he shook his head, then gave Peter a hard look.
"Listen to me and pay close attention, you idiot." Leopardon said in a furious tone. "I have seen many of my chosen ones do similar things, ruin a perfect relationship with someone, be it friendship, love or parenthood, for someone else, I will only say that I saw them suffer like never before, one of them even blew his brains up just two minutes after hearing his loved one say 'I hate you.' And now you come and tell me that you will sacrifice the relationship with your daughter for trying to amend the one she has with her mother?"
"And what do you suggest me to do? Felicia is her mother, I can't let Felicity hate her."
"Peter, your heart is good, you always watch for others even when they don't deserve it, but Felicia is the worst, so she deserves the grudge Felicity has on her."
"Leo..."
"No, listen to me, Felicity loves you very dearly, trying to blame you for all this is gonna hurt her more than whatever any villain can do to her, because she blindly trusts you, she knows she can turn to you for any situation she faces. If you don't tell her things as they are, you will break her heart. So if you don't do it for yourself because you're stupidly generous, do it for her, don't hurt her, Felicia does that already."
Peter sighed heavily and looked at his kwami ?with annoyance.
"You really know how to manipulate my feelings to make me change my mind, you little blackmailer rat..." Peter sighed.
"It's because I love you and your kid very much, even if you're a couple of idiots, you're both my idiots and I want you two to be happy."
Peter smiled at his kwami and caressed his head with a finger, then he finished doing the dishes while he thought about what the French technicians had done wrong to make the solid-light generators malfunction.
(Somewhere else)
Felicia Hardy-Parker was upset.
Every day was the same with her husband, he always complained that she didn't spend enough time at home and that somehow, despite providing absolutely everything they wanted, nothing she ever did for them was enough.
Yes, it was true that Peter's salary as an employee of Stark Industries was excellent, but she still covered most of the expenses, since her ridiculous husband had started a university fund for Felicity since he knew she was going to be born.
And even with those, Peter blamed her for not giving Felicity enough attention.
"Ugh, enough paperwork for today, I need to take a breath..." Felicia said as she dropped her pen and pulled her Miraculous from under her blouse.
"As you wish, after all, soon you won't be able to do it anymore." Ivoire sighed while she ate a marshmallow.
"What do you mean with I won't be able to do it anymore? Ain't I not your chosen one? The true owner of the Cat Pendant?"
"Yes, you are... For now."
"What do you mean with that? And be direct, little rat, stop bullshitting me."
"Do you want me to be direct? Fine." Said the kwami before finishing her marshmallow. "The time of your generation is coming to an end, the Miraculouses will soon be bequeathed to the next holders."
"WHAT?!"
"That soon, all those who possess a Miraculous will bequeath them to the next generation of carriers."
"No!"
"Yes, but cheer up, I'm not going that far, Felicity is my new chosen."
"What?! No! You can't go away!"
"Felicia, you know that nothing lasts forever, even Peter will stop being Spider-Man. For example, Marinette's son already has her Miraculous."
Felicia put her hands on her head and denied for several moments, then looked at the photo on her desk and grabbed it.
It was an old family photo, one of the few they had from a time where Peter was much less of an asshole and where her daughter was much less of a delinquent.
As she eyed it, Felicia set her sight on the image of her five-year-old daughter.
Felicia did love her daughter, she was blood from her blood, after all, but there was something she loved more than anything.
The emotion, the adrenaline, the fact of being one of the most extraordinary people in the universe.
And no one nor anything was going to take it away.
Especially her own daughter.
"No." Felicia said as she stared at the picture.
"What?" Asked the kwami.
"I won't allow it..."
"What do you mean?"
"I will not let anything nor anyone get you away from me, nobody will take this away from me."
"Felicia..."
"No, you won't leave me for Felicity."
"Felicia, listen, you're talking like a lunatic..."
"I will not stop being Black Cat because of my daughter, you are the only good thing in my life, literally."
"Felicia, please, you have a family..."
"Yes, a family in which my daughter doesn't respect me and my husband spends his time criticizing everything I do and pushing me aside for every little problem he thinks he has to solve."
"You also haven't been a role mother or wife and you know it."
"I give them everything they ask me!"
"Except attention or love, when was the last time you told either of them that you loved them?"
"I show them in a monetary way, just like my mother did with me."
"Relationships aren't always like this, you know that Parkers are more affectionate and united, and the reason Felicity doesn't respect you is because Peter shows her affection and love, and doesn't give a damn about anything, even you, if she needs him in any way."
"That's not true."
"Felicia, Peter jumped out a window on the 99th floor of the Stark Tower, getting deep cuts on his face and both arms, transformed in the middle of the fall, received a lightning bolt, got up as if nothing and made it home in record time, just because Felicity sent him a message saying that thunders scared her, and all that because he didn't have his dimensional scissors at hand..."
"Anyway, I already said it, you won't leave me for Felicity."
"And what will you do? Abandon your family and kick them out of your house, just to keep your powers?"
"That's just what I was thinking."
"Felicia!" Ivoire snapped, feeling shocked. "How can you say that?!"
"I was going to divorce Peter anyway, and honestly, I think Felicity will be better off with him. So I have nothing to worry about and the girl will have someone to take care of her."
"I take back what I said years ago, Norman Osborn is not the worst human being who has ever carried a Miraculous... it's you."
"Well, sucks being you, while I have the Miraculous, I am your owner and you must obey me." Felicia snapped. "And as such, I forbid you to talk or interact in any way with any being other than me, especially Felicity, Peter or the other kwamis."
"But..."
"Silence, or you won't have permission to speak at all."
Ivoire just looked down and nodded, making Felicia smirk maliciously.
(Meanwhile)
Felicity was walking down the street while she looked for the left web-shooter in her backpack, since she hadn't found it in her bedroom while she was getting dressed. And since she didn't like to go out without both on her wrists, since they made her feel a special bond with her father, (aside from being incredibly useful), so the girl was was getting worried, because there was a possibility that she may have lost it, which wasn't just bad for her, but problematic for her father, since, as Leopardon had said, the web-shooters could link her and her father to Spider-Man, so it'd put his father's identity in danger.
"Ah, here it is." Felicity said with a sigh of relief. "I thought I had lost you. This is the last time I take them off while I do my electronics homework... or maybe not, I could get shocked."
The girl hung her backpack over right shoulder so she could put on the left web-shooter on her wrist, but as she got distracted, a criminal smirked at the thought of having an easy robbery.
The crook sneaked behind the young Parker, and once the girl saw that she had a chance to take Felicity's backpack and run away, she lashed out at the blonde, knocking her down and snatching her backpack. Felicity let out a gasp and growled in pain as she fell on her butt, then turned to see a red-haired girl with tufts in blue and violet colors, running among the people with her backpack in hand.
Some bystanders tried to stop the girl, but she was too agile for them and managed to escape.
Seeing this, Felicity grunted for a moment but then she smirked defiantly before she ran after the thief.
Once the thief and Felicity entered an alley, Felicity took off her sweatshirt and turned it inside out, revealing that the sweatshirt was reversible and that the other side was blue with a black spider painted on the chest. Then the girl reached into the pocket of the garment and pulled out a scarlet red mask and some kind of small control. Felicity put on the sweatshirt and the mask, then pressed a couple of buttons on the control, causing her skirt to blink for a moment and then spread and turn into a pair of tights that had the same color as the mask, while the sweatshirt sleeves disappeared, revealing that Felicity's blouse had been replaced by a long-sleeved blouse that matched her tights and mask. Finally, the girl grabbed a pair of black gloves from her other pocket and put them on, then fired a webbing strand with the right web-shooter and pulled it to get off the ground.
Meanwhile, the thief got into a lonely storage house and hid inside it, believing that everything had come out fine and dandy.
Once she caught her breath, the girl opened the backpack and her eyes shone when she saw that inside it was a StarkTablet, a StarkPhone and a StarkBook, each of a model that hadn't even begun to be marketed.
"Cool! That girl was a spoiled brat fo sho, pro'bly the daughter of sum rich guy with friends at Stark Industries." Said the thief with a malicious smirk. "Ain't I on some good streak or what?..."
"I'd go for the 'or what' option, y'know?" Said a voice behind the thief.
At that moment, the thief turned around and tried to attack whoever was behind her, but only managed to utter a gasp when she failed and saw a head girl, wearing a scarlet red suit, a blue sweatshirt with a black spider on the chest and a scarlet mask that covered her entire head, whose eyes reminded her of those of Spider-Man's mask, hanging on some sort of rope, using it as a swing.
"Who the fuck is you?" Asked the confused thief.
"Call me Scarlet Spider." Said the head girl before pushing forward.
The thief crouched down, dodging the swing against her. However, Scarlet Spider simply released the webline from which she hung and landed gracefully.
The young woman who was secretly Felicity Parker chuckled and turned to face the thief, who pulled a pocket knife from her pocket.
"Oh no!" Scarlet Spider said in a melodramatic tone. "Is that a real pocket knife?"
"Yes, it's a real knife! - Said the emboldened thief.
"No, they're my weakness! Please don't hurt me!"
Scarlet Spider fell to her knees on the floor, while internally she was trying to hold back her laughter when she saw how an evil smirk formed on the thief's lips at her bad performance.
"Fine, now stay away from me, cheap copy of Spider-Man, or I'm gonna..." The thief tried to threaten.
In mid-sentence, Scarlet Spider quickly aimed her left web-shooter at the criminal, shutting her mouth with webbing, then hit the weird hairstyled girl's hand with a web ball and got rid of her weapon.
"Ah, God, these criminals come out every day with less preparation from the university for retards..." Scarlet Spider let out as she stood up.
The thief felt a chill run down her spine when she was disarmed, so she tried to run, only to end up falling facedown to the ground thanks to Scarlet Spider, who spun a webline at her foot, and being quickly wrapped in some kind of cocoon.
After this, the young masked vigilante chuckled, spun a webline at a beam and used it to hang the criminal, then she hit her on the back of the neck and rendered her unconscious. Then, Scarlet Spider fired a webbing strand at her backpack and pulled it to grab it and pull out her cellphone and her holotablet to take a selfie where she was holding a small sign with the criminal in the background, which she sent to her friend Loan.
"Well, my stupid and annoying friend, I think I'm going." Scarlet Spider said as she hung her backpack over her shoulder. "Anyway, the police shouldn't take long, see ya, it was a pleasure to be the one who took you off the streets."
With that said, Scarlet Spider fired a webline and pulled it to propel herself out of the warehouse, while her costume turned back into her usual street clothes.
Once she was back in her civilian clothes, Felicity glanced at the time and gasped, after which she ran out in a hurry, because thanks to the thief, she was being late for school.
Fifteen minutes later, Felicity arrived at school, a little late for her first class. Luckily for her, her chemistry teacher hadn't made it to the classroom yet, so she could make it look like she had arrived within the time limit.
But showing off the already infamous Parker Luck inherited from her father, a hand settled on her shoulder as she sighed in relief, causing the girl to stiffen and sweat cold.
"Miss Parker, you're late." Said the teacher. "It's very disappointing, you're a brilliant but very lazy girl, you waste your talent."
"I'm sorry, Doctor Stevens..." Felicity said as she scratched her ear nervously. "My alarm didn't go off this morning..."
"You know the rules, this is your third delay. Go to the detention room."
Felicity let out an exasperated sigh and headed for the detention room, as Dr. Stevens entered the classroom and apologized to her students for being late.