Disclaimers
All characters appearing in Marvel Comics are copyright Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Company. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are not authorized by the copyright holders.
All original characters are the property of Celgress.
Another Strand In The Great Web – Episode Seventeen Shadow Play Part I
A seemingly abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn, night
Spinneret stood in stunned silence in front of the translucent pod. Inside a sleeping child, a young girl, bobbed up and down peacefully. Her angelic face covered by a life-sustaining oxygen mask. Her long dark hair floated above her head like a clothesline sheet caught in a gentle spring breeze.
Spinneret had thought nothing could shock her any longer. Since first dating her husband about a decade before she had experienced so many seemingly unbelievable occurrences. The latest of which happened just about a week ago. Mary Jane and Peter were abducted and replaced with duplicates by a group of Skrull bent of world conquest. For some reason, the Skrull thought they could introduce a mind-altering agent into the upcoming DLC pack of the Spider-Man video that would brainwash people to follow them. As Peter commented upon learning his and his wife's place in their diabolical; Skrull were far from the smartest species out there in the wider universe. Luckily the Skrull were equally inept when it came to uncovering Mary Jane's and Peter's dual identities as Spinneret & Spider-Man. By the time the duo gained control of the scout ship they were on and returned home what the media dubbed the Skrull "Secret Invasion" had already failed in spectacular fashion thwarted by other superheroes. Part of her was jaded to the inexplicable, or so she thought. Spinneret now realized she was wrong. Nothing could have prepared her for this. A million unanswered questions swirled through her mind.
Spinneret knew not how long she stood there. The insistent beeping of her earpiece communicator stirred her from her trance. Both she and Spider-Man carried the devices along with a builtin mask microphone when out on patrol alone so they could reach each other at all times. With all their added responsibilities since becoming new parents (thank you, Norman Osborn you creep) and company managers/owners they often went out on patrols alone while the other partner attended to more mundane tasks. Tonight it was Spinneret's turn at solo crime prevention.
"Come in Spinneret. Come in Spinneret. What is your status? Do you require assistance?" Spider-Man said over her earpiece his voice increasingly shrill. "Spinneret please answer. What is your status?"
"Spinneret reporting in." Spinneret finally acknowledged.
"What is your status Spinneret? Do you require assistance?" Spider-Man said a note of relief evident in his strained voice.
"I'm physically fine. I'm not in any immediate danger." Spinneret said she then added. "Spider-Man you better get down here."
"Where are you Spinneret?" Spider-Man asked so he could confirm the GPS coordinates he was receiving via his feed.
"I'm at the warehouse in Brooklyn. The one about which we received that anonymous e-mail tip." Spinneret said struggling to keep her voice calm, level.
"Spinneret what is wrong?" Spider-Man said detaching her disguised shaky tone of voice immediately.
"I found something." Spinneret said simply.
"Nothing dangerous I hope?" Spider-Man questioned.
"I'm not sure." Spinneret said. "Just get here ASAP."
"Say no more. I'm on my way, Spider-Man out." Spider-Man said breaking the connection.
Sometime Later
"Is she alive?" Spinneret asked hesitantly.
"As far as I can tell it is alive," Peter said after inspecting the five-foot-square tube thoroughly.
"I don't understand." Spinneret said frowning behind her mask. "How can she be here? I tucked Little May in myself before I left to go on patrol." She gestured at the girl in the pod who was a dead ringer for Mayday down to her smallest detail.
"Logically speaking it's a replica of some sort; an android, or perhaps a clone. Of course, there are a few other possibilities although more remote." Spider-Man mused his mind locked in scientific analysis mode.
"And those would be?" Spinneret said.
"An alternate universe version of Little May or a magical illusion even a living one isn't entirely out of the question." Spider-Man. "It could be any number of things."
"Stop calling her an 'it'." Spinneret snapped at her husband. "She's a she. No matter where she came from she's a little girl, our little girl."
"We don't know that," Spider-Man said. "The similarities between it and Little May might only be superficial." He fished a communicator out of a hidden compartment of his suit.
"What are you doing?" Spinneret inquired.
"I'm contacting the Fantastic Four," Spider-Man said activating the unit which bore the insignia of the Future Foundation. "Reed Richards has more experience with this sort of thing that I do. Together we can get to the heart of the matter far quickier than I could working alone."
After Spider-Man exchanged words with Sue Richards who promised the Fantastic Four would be along shortly he put away the communicator. Spider-Man again addressed Spinneret. "I think you should head on home. No doubt this will be a long night."
"Okay," Spinneret said. "Let me know the moment you learn something."
"Sure," Spider-Man said. He then added the following words though quickly regretted having done so. "You shouldn't get emotionally involved with it until we discovered exactly what it is."
"I can't believe how heartless you're being. I thought you had more compassion." Spinneret said flabbergasted by Spider-Man's continued intransigence.
"And I can't believe how naive you're being." Spider-Man fired back memories of his fake parents the Chameleon foisted upon him several months before Mary Jane became pregnant searing his mind. "I'm sorry." He said a tense moment later. "I don't want you getting hurt in case this is some sort of ploy by one or more of my enemies. It wouldn't be the first time any of them went after those I hold dear."
"I know," Spinneret said. "I'll see you at home."
"See you there," Spider-Man said.
The Baxter Building the next day, afternoon
"I thought you had a company to run Spidey. Why ya still here playing sciencey stuff with stretch-o?" Ben Grimm the Thing asked entering Reed's extensive laboratory complex.
"Sorting a few things out," Peter said in his Spider-Man uniform minus mask. He rubbed his tired eyes with his hands while he stifled a yawn. Peter had not slept since discovering the pod last night. Reed Richards entered the main room from a smaller connected room where he had been double-checking their test results an unreadable expression on his wise face. "So, what's the verdict?"
"There's no doubt about it. The girl in the pod is genetically identical to your daughter May Parker the second. She's also nearly seven years old same as May." Mr. Fantastic.
"So, she's a clone?" Peter said. "I mean what other possibilities could there be?"
"I'm afraid the answer is indeterminate." Mr. Fantastic said. "According to the data sets if a cloning technique was involved in her creation it left no telltale signs." He paused briefly here. "However, I will add one caveat to my statement. Because we do not have a verified control sample it is impossible to determine if the girl is a clone or for that matter if young May is a clone."
Peter felt like he had been sucker punched by Rhino in his gut. The enormity of Reed's words took some time to fully sink in. "You mean either could be the clone?" He asked awhile later his mouth suddenly dry.
"Unless your wife unknowingly carried twins to term." Mr. Fantastic said. "Either girl or even both could be a clone. The tests we ran simply cannot answer this most important of questions in absence of a verified control sample. Whatever cloning technique was used is simply to refined." He placed his hand on Peter's shoulder for a moment. "I think we should wake the girl."
"I need to contact MJ first. She'll want to be here." Peter said.
"Do think that is wise?" Mr. Fabtastic said. "We have no way of knowing if the girl will survive the procedure or what state she might be in if she does."
"MJ's her parent every bit as much as I am. She deserves to be here, no matter what happens." Peter said.
"Very well," Mr. Fantastic said. "I'll make the needed preparations. You contact your wife."
"Thanks, Reed," Peter said. Mr. Fantastic nodded.
"Sorry Spidey, tough break." The Thing said sympathetically. He patted Peter on the back on his way by.
"Yeah," Peter said barely hearing the Thing.
Peter was lost in a world of his own. How was he ever going to tell MJ or Aunt May or any member of his tight knit family unit the truth about Little May (assuming it was the truth)?
If they found out they had been loving a clone would their hearts break? No, it was wrong to think such a thing! Ben Reilly the Scarlet Spider had been a clone and Peter came to love Ben as a brother. In the end Ben had died so Peter could live. Few naturally born brothers would have done the same. Just because Little May might be a clone did not invalidate her as a person nor the love she shared with her family. The same applied to his second daughter. If she was revived without incident he and his family would come to love her every bit as much as they did Little May of this Peter had no doubt.
An Hour Later
Slowly the pale blue liquid drained from the tube. Mr. Fantastic who was operating the controls next released the seals of the pod. He then disengaged the oxygen supply. Peter and Mary Jane stepped in at this point. Peter gingerly removed the oxygen mask while Mary Jane wrapped the girl in a warm blanket. The girl coughed violently several times which greatly worried everyone present save Mr. Fantastic who said it was perfectly normal given the circumstances. The girl's eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Where am I?" The girl groaned.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Mr. Fantastic gently prodded her.
The girl squinted her eyes thinking hard. "The girls home where I live. Some of the girls were teasing me at recess. I got so mad I ran away then everything went black."
"Do you recognize anyone in this room?" Mr. Fantastic said.
"You guys are the Fantastic Four, I think." The girl said glancing at Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Invisible Woman & Thing.
Mr. Fantastic nodded, "anyone else?"
"No," The girl said looking at Peter and Mary Jane blankly, "should I?"
"What is your name?" Mr. Fantastic said.
"May but everyone calls me Mayday because I can kinda see the future." The girl said sheepishly. "Can I go to sleep now? I'm really tired, mister."
"Please do, thank you Mayday." Mr. Fantastic said. The girl soon fell asleep in Mary Jane's arms. Meanwhile Peter, Mary Jane and the Fantastic Four exchanged worried looks.
"What does this all mean?" Mary Jane said carefully placing the girl on the floor.
"I wish I knew." Mr. Fantastic said scratching his chin thoughtfully.
Parker Residence in Western Long Island one week later, afternoon
"I'm a clone?" Mayday said. She sat on the living room sofa with her sister who their parents had since renamed April.
"Or we both are," April said unperturbed by the possibility.
April's state of ease stood in stark contrast to Mayday's nervous energy. Since arriving April had insisted upon a haircut at the first opportunity. Unlike her sister April found she detested long hair, it was always getting in the way. April instead opted for a pixie cut in place of Mayday's more conventional shoulder length style. Mary Jane and Peter noticed that April's personality was developing along the lines of a tomboy rather than in line with Mayday's own which was more of a girly girl type. April also hated dresses which Mayday was rather fond of. They found it interesting how the two could differ so much mentally. Granted they knew they should not be that surprised because twins often developed distinct tastes as well.
"But I don't want to be a clone. I want to be me." Mayday said on the verge of tearing up.
"Me either," April said.
"You'll always be you May," Peter said. "Even if you are a clone that doesn't make you any less special. Same goes for you April."
"And we'll love you both if you are clones or not." Mary Jane said. "No more crying, okay May?"
"Okay momma," Mayday said wiping away a few stray tears with the back of her hand. She got off the sofa and gave Mary Jane a hug.
"Run along on you two. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. You have school tomorrow." Peter said.
With some creative legal thinking and forged documents, thanks to Jennifer Walters and Matt Murdock, April was able to be enrolled in school alongside Mayday. It was being claimed that April and May were twins separated at birth by Norman Osborn as part of his elaborate revenge plot. A claim that only generated more public support for the Parkers.
"Bye papa," Mayday said gaving Peter a hug.
"Bye dad, bye mom," April said giving each of her parents a quick hug on her way out of the room.
Once he was sure they were alone Peter said. "Now we find out who did this and why." He was all business.
"Thanks to Matt's underworld contacts we know the building where I found the pod was rented to a shell corporation with ties to Miles Warren." Mary Jane said. "Do you think the Jackal could be alive?"
"Either way I'm going to find out," Peter said. "We need to know the truth and so do our daughters."
The Raft Prison
Norman Osborn was laying on his bunk the back on his head rested on his hands. He knew from his operatives that Spider-Man had recovered Norman's distraction without incident. No doubt the webhead would be preoccupied unraveling the knotted ball of deception Norman had created around Parker's daughter or rather daughters. Which was the original May Parker, which wasn't, or were both copies grown in a laboratory on Norman's orders? Was the original May Parker even alive? Norman smirked thinking of the mayhem this situation would unleash in Parker's personal life and how that would cripple his effectiveness as a hero. Too bad Norman had to give up whichever May was in the tube. The girl would have no doubt proven a valuable soldier if properly condition in a number of years. Oh well, sacrifices often must be made in service of a greater purpose.
"Everything is coming up roses." Norman chuckled softly.
In a few short months he would implement phase two of his Goblin Nation master plan. No one would stop him this time. New York would become his plaything and Spider-Man would be helpless. He simply must be patient.
To Be Continued
Author's Note -
So, the start of a wholly original storyline in this chapter (one of the few I'll pen). I saw no other way to introduce "April" into the series. I want to eventually include all four "spider kids" (MC2 & RYV) in this story (in the case of the latter two not for a considerable time though) as I feel I can do something interesting with each.