Three days and three nights of agonizing stress on one thesis paper. Putting the final touches on their thesis for the grant committee next week, Noah and Peter celebrate a hard night of work at Mick's.
"Seriously, when did Micks become an Italian place?" Noah wondered.
"I don't know, just glad this place still has good fries." Peter complimented.
"Have you heard from Harry?" Noah asked.
"Not a word. I'm worried about him." Peter answered but not with the answer Noah hoped for, "What about Emma, how's she and the kids doing?"
"She's tired as Hell, but she's strong. Speaking of which, I'll need to do a milk run after this." Noah added.
"So… have you heard from MJ in a while?" Noah asked curiously.
"No, it's been quiet between us." Peter sulked for a moment.
"It's been almost six months man, seriously what happened to you guys?" Noah asked.
"I told you man, she needed to focus on her career and I needed to focus on mine."
"I can understand that but I'm making time for both my family and my career. I don't understand why either of you can't. I mean, what else is there besides working with Otto?" Noah asked.
"I…" Peter was speechless.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a dick, but I mean if you're still into her don't you think she's worth making the time for?" Noah caught himself.
"She is, Noah… I just have too much going on in my life." Peter excused with a small piece of the truth. A whole lot is going on when protecting New York.
Noah groaned at hearing that excuse again. "Figures you always have too much going on in your life. You know if you need money I can give you a couple of thousand dollars."
"I'm sorry, what? We've been working together for just a few months. Where'd you get that kind of money?"
"Dude, it's called saving. I've been spending money wisely since I was a teenager. You'd be surprised how much you'd save from just leaving a few bucks in a jar every week." Noah saved himself with a small piece of the truth on his end. Of course that job money isn't clean money.
Noah's phone started rumbling in his pocket, "Hold on." Noah pulled out his phone and answered the call.
"Hello… Yes, this is Noah." Noah greeted.
Peter couldn't hear who was on the other line, but the reading on Noah's face suddenly turned grim.
"What?" Noah's face struggled to breathe out his word.
Peter was starting to worry instantly.
"Alright I'll… I'll head there now." Noah switched off his phone, "Anna, Josh they're in the hospital. Emma's there. I need to go."
"I'll go with you. I mean I am their uncle." Pete told Noah.
"Oh my God." Noah breathed out the tension to little effect.
Peter called them a cab to the hospital.
At the hospital, Noah and Peter found Dr. Leeds at the main lobby waiting for them.
"Josh, Anna, what's happened?" Noah frantically asked.
"We aren't sure, your wife told us she found them coughing blood in their cribs. We ran through tests on your twin's blood samples, and we may have found the cause." The doctor showed Noah and Peter the results and x-rays of their bodies.
"Emma, where is she?" Noah begged.
"A nurse will take you both to the waiting room." Dr. Leeds escorted them to the nurse.
Following the nurse, Noah found Emma pacing the floor, biting her nails.
"Noah!" Emma cried, dashing over for his embrace, "What's happening? They're dying!" Emma's whole body shook in Noah's arms. All he could do was tighten his arms around her, "This can't be happening. They're so young." Emma broke out crying. Shaking in her husband's embrace, Noah just held her close.
Peter noticed Noah's face was firm, but he could tell his friend was just as broken as his wife. He can't break down when Emma needs him.
"You still have those papers, nurse?" Peter asked the nurse to look over the papers Dr. Leeds gave them. The twins have an unknown substance in their bloodstream. Whatever it is, the doctors are baffled and without a clue what to do.
"Noah…" Peter was hesitant at first to show Noah, but his face said otherwise. He held out his hand, and Peter complied.
Going through the notes, his face wasn't as baffled as his friends. Noah understood the results a bit more than Peter. Though when he finished reading through the notes, he was more shocked than distraught.
"Noah?" Peter asked, rather concerned for his friend.
"Let Dr. Octavius know about what's happened. I may need some time away from the lab." Noah told Peter.
"You got it, bud. I'll do it now, give you two some time." Peter left the room while Noah resumed holding Emma.
"This isn't fair, how could this happen?" Emma cried.
"It's okay, we're gonna figure this out and we're gonna bring our kids home." Noah assured with false confidence.
Dr. Leeds showed up to give the two of them the current situation, "Noah, Emma we've stabilized your children, but… This substance in your children, I don't know what it is. We can keep them alive long enough, but…" Dr. Leeds couldn't even finish the sentence.
Noah held Emma closer to him after both of them heard that, "Will they be safe tonight?" Noah asked.
"They'll be safe, we'll call you when there's an update." Dr. Leeds answered.
"Thank you." Noah said.
Emma was stiff in Noah's hands. Her eyes were still as her face, she must be in a catatonic state from all the shock and tension.
"Keep us updated, I'm gonna take my wife home." Noah said.
The entire trek back outside felt like Noah was dragging his own wife out of the hospital. Hailing another cab, Noah held Emma close to his chest all the way home.
"That substance in my kids… How is it possible?" Noah thought to himself.
Finally arriving at their apartment, Noah practically had to carry her in his arms to their room. Laying her in their bed gently he was about to leave the room, but she caught his wrist rather quickly.
"Are we going to lose them?" Emma whispered.
"No… we're not." Noah rubbed her grip.
"I'm scared. I don't want to lose them, Noah." Emma began to tear up again.
Noah knelt down next to their bed and dried her tears, "I promise I'm going to find out what is wrong with our kids."
"How?" Emma quietly whispered.
"I'm gonna start… By opening an old wound, I promised I'd never go back there, but our kids need all the help they can get." Noah could see Emma knew what he was talking about, "But not now. Tonight you need me just as I need you." Noah kissed Emma on her forehead.
"Can you get us the whiskey?" Emma spoke a little louder.
"You got it." Noah smiled. Leaving her for a moment to get the bottle and two glasses.
The next day, making sure Emma was comfortable before leaving, Noah set out on the next transport for the Raft.
At the meet-up center, Noah waited patiently with all the files in hand. For so many years, Noah has not said a single word to his parents for years, until now. Taking a deep breath, Noah kept repeating to himself.
"Science before emotions." Noah repeated constantly.
Shortly after, lost in his own mind. Mark and Nora Monroe were on the other side of the glass.
"Hey there, son." Mark smirked.
"Sweetheart, its good to see you." Nora smiled.
"I need you to take a look at something." Noah slipped his parents the file.
Looking over the information, Nora and Mark's faces gave the same reaction as Noah when he saw the notes.
"Those results, are they the same as… What I have inside me?" Noah asked rather weakly.
"Anna and Josh Monroe? You and Emma had kids?" Nora asked.
"Focus, I need answers." Noah brought the subject back to the file.
Mark went through the file again to give Noah what he's needing, "Yes, son. This is a match to the same venom inside you."
"So the serum you injected into me has been passed onto my kids?" Noah hid his dread on what his parents were telling him.
"It would appear so, son." Nora sighed with regret.
"I'm gonna need everything you have on this serum. I need to save my kids." Noah demanded.
"Son, the only sample of the serum is in you, and that was just an imperfect concoction. If you were to recreate the serum you'd need the venom inside you." Mark explained.
"We're sorry for what we did to you son, but right now your kids need you." Nora praised.
"Son, do you have a pen?" Mark asked. Luckily for them he did.
"Son… We knew one day something like this would happen, but we always knew if anyone can perfect the serum in you, it'd be you. We left all our research in the old station at this address. You'll need to write this down." Noah wrote down the location on one of the pages in the file provided by his father.
"Thanks da… Thanks Mark." Noah almost broke out his emotions.
"Keep us updated, son. Let us know if our grandkids are safe." Nora said with concern.
"I… I'll call… Maybe." Noah said as he made his way to the exit.
Pulling out his phone he gave his wife a call, "Hey, big bear, how'd your visit go? Did you get any news?"
"Hey sweetheart, my visit was… Actually not so good, my parents found something familiar but not enough to be helpful." Noah covered the truth a tad.
"So… So does that mean we're out of options?" Emma was about to break again, Noah can tell.
"No, I'll finance the treatment myself. I told you we're gonna save our kids and that's what I'm gonna do." Noah promised to Emma.
"How? What can we do?" Emma was losing hope.
"Sweetheart, we're going to save our kids, I promise." Noah returned to Emma with firm determination in his words.
"I love you, Noah." Emma sounded more calm in her words.
"I love you too, Emma." Noah's shoulders lowered in tension to her name in his voice.
Hanging up the phone, Noah made his way to the nearby Ramen shop for a quick bite to eat. Taking the nearest stool, Noah asked for an Asahi beer and a big bowl of pork ramen.
"Ika taki mas." Noah learned that meaning from Emma, and devoured his bowl.
Just after finishing his bowl Noah's phone rumbled with the caller I.D. " " trying to reach Noah.
"Don Fortunado." Noah thought to himself as he left the shop to take the call.
"Don, I told you and the rest of your family I'm retired!" Noah was about to roar out his voice.
"Now hold on, young man, hear me out. Easy job, easy money. You're the only one I trust with this job." Don Fortunato tried to woo the Arachnid but he wasn't listening.
"Find someone else." Noah hung up the call before he could hear anyone else.
Making his way back home, he heard some commotion in the nearby alley.
"Protection money is due little missy!" A group of hagglers are messing with some teenage girl.
"Seriously? Eh fuck it I need to let off some stress." Noah dropped his jacket on the nearby dumpster and charged straight for the thugs.
"Who the hell're you?" One of the crooks asked.
"Just a guy going though alot." Noah said.
Coming from behind a guy with a metal baseball bat was about to swing until Noah sensed it and caught him by the wrist and flipped him over. Using the butt of his bat, Noah smacked him in the face, out cold. Maybe with a few broken teeth, most likely. The rest of the thugs pulled out their knives.
"Child's play!" Noah smirked as he popped his neck.
The first two guys that attacked Noah shortly flipped them on the ground with their knives stabbed in their calves and shoulders.
"Sloppy robbing, guess its just you and me shaky!" Noah's persona changed in the violence. The thrill of combat woke an old sleeping dragon inside him.
"I got iron!" Unfortunately, the last guy pulled out a gun.
Shortly after he pulled out his 9mm a couple of webs were shot at the guys chest and gun. Shortly after in a flash, Spider-Man planted a hard kick in the guys face.
"Spider-Man?" Noah was shocked. To meet the guy without his suit.
"Hey what're you doing here? Uggh…" Spider-Man looked around the rest of the thugs to see them knocked out, "Did, did… You do all this?"
"Ugh… Yeah, I had a lot of stress this week." Noah was speaking the truth.
"Dude that was awesome!" The girl ran over, not to Spider-Man but Noah, "You just kicked their butt's like it was nothing. You're so cool, Noah."
"I wasn't being a hero. Wait, Angie Williams, is that you? You've gotten taller." Noah almost patted her head but he saw the blood on his hands.
"Right well, glad I could help." Spider-Man backed off, but the girl chased him before he could take off.
"Wait, Spider-Man, what happened to the Arachnid?" The girl asked so suddenly.
"Arachnid? What about him?" Spider-Man asked.
"I haven't seen him in months, what happened to him?" Angie asked again.
"Why do you wanna know about that guy?" Spider-Man was absolutely puzzled.
"I remember when I was five, I was homeless. These punks were bullying me, but then Arachnid jumped in on them, and he didn't even have to beat'em up. All he had to do was make a stern threat and they went running." Angie spoke the truth, Noah can see it in her eyes. That was a fond memory of Noah's.
"That was the Arachnid?" Spider-Man walked closer to the kid.
"Yeah! The black suit and green eyes, dead giveaways!" Angie has gotten smart over the years.
"Okay, why don't you go on home now."
As she left the alley, it was just Noah and Spider-Man, "I didn't know Arachnid had it in him."
"This city's always full of surprises." Noah answered.
"Right, well cya, why don't you go on home too, man. I'm sure there's someone that needs you now." Spider-Man webbed out to the skies in front of Noah.
"Yeah, yeah they do need me." Noah whispered to himself.
After seeing Spider-Man zip out, the thrill of combat in the fight, and hearing that old story in his high school years lit an old fire inside of Noah. Noah hailed the nearest cab to Central Park.
A part of Noah knew he was going to return here, but not like this. It's as Hammerhead said, "You can pretend to be anything else, but you can never escape who you really are. Every time a body drops by your hands, that rush of adrenaline feels good, and you like it. There's no better high in this city, kid. You need it." Hammerhead wasn't wrong, but this isn't about him.
Switching on the lights, Noah found his old friend, the Arachnid suit.
"I guess I couldn't stay away from you forever," Noah spoke to his suit.
He was about to touch the suit, but he hesitated and stepped away. Looking away for a moment, Noah pulled out his phone and gave Peter a call, "Hey Pete, it's Noah."
"Noah, buddy, how're the kids?" Peter asked.
"Umm, not sure we don't have an update. I was actually calling for your advice again." Noah was in need of his friend's wisdom again.
"Sure what is it?" Peter asked.
"Remember when I told you about that part of me I had to tear away from? What if returning to that part of me could help save my kids?" Noah was serious.
"Noah, remember what I told you at the restaurant? With great power-"
"Comes great responsibility, and saving my kids is my responsibility." Noah finished for Peter.
"Whatever you need to do, Noah, I'll always have your back." Peter consoled his friend.
"Thanks, brother." Noah hung up and returned to the suit, with his recorder ready for another session.
"Emma, Josh, Anna… I hung up this life and this suit to raise you both and be the father and husband I needed to be. Right now, the only way to save you kids is to go back. Your mother is struggling to understand what's happening, and I can't let her lose the two of you. What I'm doing isn't right, but as your father, I cannot sit back and let this happen. I will do anything, I will carry every dead body I leave, and every life that will be ruined because of me, but to see you both alive and your mother safe and happy. Everything I have done will be worth it." Noah recorded his thoughts as he donned his old suit.
The Arachnid has returned!
The Arachnid zipped across the city to find the research station's address. Located at his father's address, Noah pried open the door with all his strength. The small station was shrouded in dust, and yet the lights still worked when the door opened. The computer was disabled, and the only thing still there that caught Noah's attention was a framed photo of himself and his parents. Looking around the frame, a message was written on the back, "Our work will never leave what's inside this computer."
"It's a clue." the message gave Noah a moment to realize whatever research his parents left here. Ducking under to remove the computer's cover, Noah found a mobile hard drive hidden underneath all the wiring.
"Alright, looks like it's intact. Let's see what I've got here." Data processed over Noah's HUD, files loaded before his very eyes, "All of this and they couldn't perfect the serum?"
The download was completed after a few minutes of processing. The time frame for his kids may not be long, but at least Noah doesn't have to start from scratch. "Whelp, better than nothing."
There was a problem a lot of the stuff he needs aren't things that were easy to acquire even for him. He's gonna need state-of-the-art OsCorp tech, which will be heavily protected.
Suddenly the Arachnid's sense tingled, and he quickly jumped, avoiding a weird energy blast by an inch. He looked to see a man in a black suit and an old Chinese demonic opera mask.
"Zhànshì! (Warrior!)" the man with the blade said. Shortly afterward, several more creeps in demonic masks walked out in the open. Armed with swords and sickles, they're all out for blood.
"I don't know who the hell you masked motherfuckers are, but you just picked the wrong person to mess with!" Arachnid whipped out his spider-arms and switched to venom shots.
The masked gang launched their attacks on Arachnid in formation. The sickle welders laid below his spider-arm strikes to get in close, but Arachnid evaded their attacks in perfect elegance. Exposing their position, Arachnid fully webbed them both with his Venom. After years of tinkering, being webbed in green is instant death.
"A for effort, guys." Arachnid quipped their poor action.
From behind, Arachnid caught the sense of three more swordsmen. Armed with his spider-arms Arachnid was able to fend off the three remaining creeps, but they were gaining the advantage. The first swordsman backed away and prepared for another energy blast straight down the middle. Quickly thinking, Arachnid planted the tip of an arm firmly in the ground, and as soon as the swordsman threw over his sword's energy wave, he held firm to the last second. Arachnid flipped high over the blast, and thanks to his planted arm, he was able to land directly behind the swordsman. Switching to his regular web fluid, he webbed them all from the waist down. Jumping high to gain momentum, he stabbed the three masked creeps.
"Rest in pieces." Arachnid growled. Furling his arms, the sound of a chuckle and an eerie white glow crept from beside Arachnid.
His full form carried an ominous white glow in his suit, but his hands were pitch-black. His face was covered by the same type of mask as the others, but the black and white color design was switched.
"Well done, Arachnid. I apologize for that. I had to see it for myself, what you could do. After what you did to my Demons, you're gonna be of extreme use. I have a job offer for you."
"Twenty million dollars." The glowing man showed the cash he was offering.
For once in Arachnid's career, he smacked the case out of the man's hands. "You may find this hard to believe but I don't need your money. You want my attention, you're gonna need to do better."
"Very well… If money doesn't speak your language anymore, then what will? Name your price." The mysterious masked man asked.
"You were going to offer twenty million dollars for one job, you want my help I'm gonna need something money can't buy, but I'll give you an out. Show me what you need and maybe I'll consider helping." Arachnid sweetened the deal.
The man hesitated for a moment, but this might still work. Going on a gamble, the glowing man hands Arachnid the file containing a picture of a statue.
"This is Fisk's Nio statue." Arachnid read in silence.
"This is a bold move, going after Fisk, and his property." Arachnid had to give the man a bit of respect. Going through a few photos in the file, the picture shows a document labeled classified. The name "Devil's Breath" is constantly shown on the pages and photos, "So you want me to steal what's in this statue?"
The man shook his head. "No, not yet. We will wait until the Spider-Man has apprehended the Kingpin first then it will only be a matter of time. I have not yet located it but my men are close but I need some extra assurance that I can acquire it. That is where you come in, you have a reputation for completing tasks for the Maggia, Hammerhead, Kingpin, and many others. Even when Spider-man interferes, you always succeed. You are one of New York's most infamous mercenaries."
"If you've done your homework, then you should know that I've never been caught. So one of many infamous mercenaries? Might not be specific to me." Arachnid gave a boost of pride in his words, "Alright Glow Stick, let's say I take the job, but my price would be… Oscorp Tech, preferably for chemical compounds and bioengineering." Under the Arachnid's mask, Noah would never ask for any product from Oscorp. Though the serum that made him was from Oscorp. If this saves his kids, he'll swallow his pride.
"Very well, after Fisk is put away, help me secure the contents in the Nio statue, and I'll find the tech you need." The masked demon accepted Arachnid's offer.
Arachnid wanted to hold out his hand, but the aura around this guy said otherwise. Instead, the head Demon bowed his head and left.
With what was left of this night, Arachnid made his way back home.
On his way home, Emma was calling, "Noah, honey it's late, are you okay? You're not drunk are you?" Emma was vastly worried. Knowing everything that's happened.
"No pumpkin, I'm on my way home now. After everything, I needed to do some self-reflecting that didn't involve the bottle. I'm sober and on my way home." Noah was speaking the truth.
"That's so good to hear, we can't lose you now, love you." Emma said. From the sounds of it she's feeling a tad better.
Hearing Emma, sounding a little happier made him warm on the inside, "Love you too, Emma."
I hope everyone enjoyed Chapter five of the Arachnid.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think.
Please leave a review and tell me what you think?