Volume IV: Bombshell
This will be the thirteenth chapter of Volume IV, this will be focused on Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl filling in for Peter and Gwen going off to London for the week as the couple are engaged and wanted to visit Gwen's relatives to give the good news on their wedding they're about to have very soon, meanwhile in New York City, an enhanced individual named Lana Baumgartner along with mother Lori were subjected to unethical experiments by the Roxxon Corporation, the project is lead by their head scientist Simon Krieger as the experiment he conducted on them gave them powers of combustion, both mother and daughter used their new gifts to escape but it came at a terrible price, Lana was lucky enough to escape as Krieger is troubled by this unfortunate event, he plans to use whatever is necessary to keep this from coming into light and to retrieve his experiment, Lana is deeply hurt by her loss as she plans to get back at Krieger and Roxxon for what she lost, this will put her at odds against Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl as they try to reason with her and talk her out of pursing revenge, but they soon learn of a major conspiracy by Roxxon as they plan to uncover it and try to redeem Lana. Meanwhile Mary Jane is struggling to make enough money to pursue her goals, that is until she met someone who shows her another path to earning more money in a way she never imagined. Anya is still accepting that Miles is with Tiana as she's the only one among her group who doesn't have a romantic partner, but soon she's about to meet someone new to her school as they bond with one another upon meeting each other.
It's January 9th, the year is 2025, time is 9:45 PM just outside of the headquarters of the Roxxon Corporation, a protest rally is happening right now as a number of protestors are against Roxxon's unorthodox ethics in their process of oil production which is causing pollutions in the surrounding environments in America, members of the NYPD are here to make sure the protest doesn't get out of hand. Meanwhile deep within the building walking down the R & D complex is it's head scientist Dr. Simon Krieger as he approached a secured door to the restricted section of the complex, he pressed his hand on the palm scanner and lean in closer for his eyes to be scanned, both his iris and palm prints are recognized and allowed his access, the door to the restricted section opens up as he enters in to find the scientist working under him observing two test subject, one is a female adult about 40 years of age and another is a female 15 year old, both have dark brown and brown eyes, both are clad in white suits, both are unconscious and being experimented on as the scientist are reading their vital signs along with an unknown energy signature within both of them.
"Dr. Krieger, what an unexpected surprise to see you this late."
"I decided to stay around a bit longer, I want to personally kept tabs on the experiment, besides it'll be pretty difficult leaving the building with all those foolish protestors causing all sorts of trouble, yelling, throwing eggs, and stuff. So how goes the experiment?" Simon Krieger asking.
"Both test subjects have survived, so far these are the only two who managed to survive the process, the others not so much, but these two yielded some unusual results, our scans are showing their bodies are producing a yet unknown source of energy."
"That's exactly what Roxxon wants, to produce power, I was intrigued when I first learned about a supervillain who can generate bio electricity out of his own cells, if we can replicate this power, this is will bring the company to the top once more, especially since Stark Industries has already gained an edge in alternative clean energy, once we unlock the secret, this will shut those protest fools up. But we need to keep this project under wraps... for now keep monitoring their progress." Simon Krieger said.
"Yes Dr. Krieger."
Simon Krieger stay behind to observe the project he himself is in charge of which in involves replicating the process which created Electro, but this process is illegal as it involves human experimentation, but Dr. Kreiger doesn't seem concern on how his experiments could affect those poor lives, knowing that it could kill them, but as long as it provides great results and the promise of power and profit for Roxxon, nothing else matter. Inside the chamber the young girl is still unconscious as her body already underwent a change as a result of this experiment, not knowing that her whole life has changed forever.
Next day it's January 10th around 2:43 PM at Empire State University as Dr. Connors is teaching his class about the importance of symbiosis as Peter and Gwen are already familiar with that subject from their time is as student in Midtown High and through the symbiote lifeforms they've encountered recently, but that's not what they're thinking of right now, Peter and Gwen are looking at one another as each of them got rings on their fingers as a sign of their engagement, a few of their friends are already aware, particularly Harry and Randy here.
"As we know about symbiosis, two different beings or individuals can benefit from one another for something greater in life, now this is something very important for us human beings... especially, if they're getting married." Dr. Connors referencing Peter and Gwen's engagement.
Peter and Gwen suddenly smiled upon hearing those words as Dr. Connors along with the entire class are happy for the couple's engagement to one another, especially Harry and Randy who were the first ones to find out, eventually the bell rang as class has ended for the day, everyone has gotten up and congratulate the couple before leaving class, Harry for one hugged his best friend Peter before walking away with Randy, Peter and Gwen went up to speak with Dr. Connors about their planned trip for the week.
"That's quite a show you put on." Peter said.
"I couldn't help it, anyway, congratulations to you both." Dr. Connors said.
"Thank you, we trust you're coming to our wedding?" Gwen said.
"Are you sure you want me there? I mean you two are the one only who know about my... condition." Dr. Connors worried about the Lizard.
"Of course we want you there, you're not just a mentor to us, you're also a friend and we like you there on the best day of our lives." Peter said.
Dr. Connors smiled. "Then I'll be there."
"Don't forget to bring your family, they're invited too." Gwen said.
"Of course, we'll all be there." Dr. Connors said.
"And also, you do remember what we talked about yesterday." Peter said.
"Your planned trip for the week." Dr. Connors said.
"We're gonna be in London for the week to visit Uncle Arthur and give him the good new, our flight is scheduled for tonight." Gwen said.
"Okay, I've already made the arraignment for you two to take online classes while you're over there." Dr. Connors said.
"Appreciate it Doc." Peter said.
"Alright, have a safe trip." Dr. Connors said.
"Thanks, we'll see you next week." Peter said.
Peter and Gwen shake hands with Dr. Connors and saying goodbye as they're about to prepare for their trip to London for the week to give her relatives the big surprise. They're walking out of the building til they've reached their friends Harry and Randy waiting by the bulletin board where the flyer saying "Richard Rider: MISSING".
"Still waiting for us?" Peter said.
"Yeah, we just wanted to see you two before you both fly off to Jolly Old London." Harry said.
"That's very thoughtful of you." Peter then look at the flyer on the bulletin board of the missing Richard Rider. "He's still missing?"
"Yeah, many months have pasted and nobody has ever heard from him again, it's like he just disappeared from the face of the Earth. The crazy thing is some guys claims he was abduct by a UFO." Randy said.
"UFO?" Gwen said.
"Yeah, but of course campus police didn't take any of them seriously since they were so high at the time, like I said it's crazy" Randy said.
"Okay... anyway, any of you heard from Flash?" Peter asking.
"Yeah, he's back stationed in Georgia awaiting to be deployed for his patriotic duties, but I'm sure he'll still be stateside in time for the wedding, speaking of which congrats to you both, never imagine that you two would end up getting married before anyone, but I guess I shouldn't be surprise, you two are most certainly endgame." Harry said.
"Well, we still have six months to plan our wedding, we still got so much time to figure things out." Peter said.
"Now that you mentioned it, we should probably talk about planning your bachelor party." Harry smiled.
"Yeah, I don't think so Harry." Peter doesn't like the idea.
"Oh come on Pete, as your best man, it's my responsibility to make sure you enjoy your freedom before you tied the knot, you won't get another chance like this. Come on, don't make me beg." Harry trying to persuade.
Peter sighs with smile. "Fine... I'll think about, Mr. Best Man."
"Great, have a safe trip and see ya next week." Harry said.
"Thanks." Peter walking away with Gwen.
"And watch out for Jack the Ripper!" Harry teasing the couple.
"Thanks for making us worry some more!" Peter still walking away as Harry smiles.
Time is 3:55 PM in Brooklyn at the Foam Party, the place is very packed with so many people waiting in line, but Miles, Anya, Ganke, Tiana, and Danika have just ordered some drinks and are dressed in their uniforms as they've just got out of class for the day and hanging out for a drink, they're sitting down at one of the table waiting as the baristas are brewing their coffee drinks while the TV nearby is showing off the continuous protest rally happening outside of the Roxxon Building, but they're more concerning talking about things as Anya is the only one among her friends who doesn't have anyone, Miles and Tiana are sitting together on one side with Ganke and Danika at the other.
"Here in the Financial District just outside of the Roxxon Plaza, the protest rally still continues on to this day as the NYPD are calling in additional reinforcements to keep the peace, the protestors are still speaking out against Roxxon's ethics in oil production at the cost of causing pollutions to the surrounding areas, and now we're about to talk with the head of this rally for a report."
"We're here to give the voice to all the lives Roxxon has ruined, those corporate pigs don't realize that by doubling their oil production they're causing harm to every living being, animals, plants, and even people, this cannot go on, we must not stay silent until everyone realize this, we will continue fighting the good fight."
"And there we have it..."
"Can't believe you two are finally a couple." Danika Hart said.
"I know, at first we started out as friends and now we're together." Miles said.
"I'm lucky to have Miles as my boyfriend, he's wonderful." Tiana said.
"Not as wonderful as you." Miles said.
Miles and Tiana leaned in and kiss each other, Anya is a bit disturbed by this, but she realize she'll have to get use to it, Ganke and Danika on the other hand are proud for the couple.
"This is great, now we get to double date. Oh, by the way, did any of you hear the big news?" Danika Hart is gossiping.
"Ah no, what?" Anya is curious.
"Apparently we're about to have a new classmate, a transfer student." Danika Hart said.
"Really? Any idea who?" Miles said.
"No idea, I don't have his name, all I heard is his family just moved out here from Arizona, chances are we'll probably meet him very soon." Danika Hart said.
"Didn't know the academy accepts transfer students, he must've won the lottery like me." Miles said.
"Tiana! Miles! Ganke! Danika! Anya! Your drinks are ready!"
"That's us." Miles is about to get up but Tiana stop him.
"Wait here, I'll go get it." Tiana offered as she's getting up.
"That's very kind of you." Miles said.
"I'll come with you!" Danika is getting up.
Tiana and Danika are walking over to get the drinks and getting through a packed crowd, meanwhile Miles, Anya, and Ganke has some time to speak before they get back concerning their engaged friends.
"Okay, did any of you guys get the message yesterday?" Miles said.
"Yeah, today is the day our happy couple are off to London, they want us to stop by their place. If I had to guess they want to speak with us about protecting the city before they leave." Anya said.
"Yeah... still can't believe they're getting married and at that young age no less." Miles is amazed.
"I know, what those two have is very amazing, even after that Ock incident, their love for each other has only gotten stronger, we should be happy for them." Anya smiles.
"I am, those two deserve each other." Miles said.
"So we agree? We meet up at their place later, saying our goodbye." Ganke said.
"Agreed." Miles and Anya said together.
Tiana and Danika just came back with the drinks, Tiana just gave Miles his drink and leaned in closer for a kiss, Ganke got one too from Danika, Anya just drank her cup as she can't help but being envious of her friends, Miles is with Tiana, Ganke is with Danika, Peter and Gwen are engaged, she has no one, due to her life as a hero she never thought about being a relationship with anyone, but she started having conflicted feelings about Miles lately, but then he got together with Tiana on Christmas Eve, she realized that she's too late, she can't do anything but support her friends, but it does hurt a bit she's alone without anyone she likes.
Later around 6:30 PM at the apartment in Lower East Side, Peter and Gwen are in their bedroom packing up their clothes for the trip including their toothbrushes, their tickets and passports are aside on the drawer booked for tonight, Mary Jane has just opened the door and returned home from work looking exhausted and disappointed as something is on her mind, Ms. Lion barks as Mary Jane bent down to pet the dog, she then finds her two friends in the bedroom packing up their luggage together.
"You two are still packing?" Mary Jane asking.
"Yeah, I was still deciding whether to bring my suit or not, but Gwen convinced me to leave it behind as she wants this to about the two of us and not about Spider-Man." Peter said.
"And I say she's right, you two really need a decent vacation together, beside it would be suspicious if two spider heroes show up in England, we don't any of her relatives putting two and two together." Mary Jane said.
"Come on, there's no way anyone is going to figure us out." Peter isn't worried.
"My dad did." Gwen said.
"Good point... fine, no hero business." Peter said.
"So how was your day?" Gwen said.
Mary Jane sighs. "Not so great, I tried applying for financial aid again from Juilliard, but still didn't get it, and my salary as a barista won't cover tuition."
"I'm sorry to hear that, it's not fair." Gwen said.
"Don't beat yourself up over it MJ." Peter said.
"So what are you gonna do?" Gwen said.
"I don't know, I might have to think about finding another job. Don't worry about me, just enjoy your week in England." Mary Jane said.
The couple are finishing packing up as all of a sudden Ms. Lion is barking at the door happily as Peter walks out of bedroom towards the door, he opens up to find Miles, Anya, and Ganke here, Peter allowed them inside their apartment as Gwen and Mary Jane came out in the living room to meet their friends.
"Glad you all came." Peter said.
"So you two are all set?" Miles said.
"We're all packed, just need to wait for Aunt May to come pick us up and drive us to the airport." Peter said.
"You're both sure you can watch over the city while we're gone?" Gwen asking Miles and Anya.
"Of course we can, we've kept this city safe while you two went off to Jurassic Land." Anya said.
"Savage Land." Peter corrected.
"Whatever, at least you won't have to worry about dinosaurs this time, well except for Jack the Ripper." Anya made a joke.
"Yeah, yeah, I already got that Ripper joke from Harry. But lucky Gwen convinced me not to take my suit on the trip, hopefully I won't have to worry about trouble for a while." Peter said.
"And you won't, this vacation is exactly what you both need, this week is all about the two of you, so don't worry about a thing and just focus on your future together." Mary Jane said.
"She's right, me and Anya, we got this, trust us." Miles said.
"We do, we always have, don't we Pete?" Gwen said.
"Yeah... okay, we'll leave the city in your hands now, if anything big comes up, anything at all, contact us and we'll be back as fast we can, understand?" Peter said.
"Sure thing, just focus on yourselves for now." Miles said.
"Can't believe you two are getting married." Anya felt happy.
Peter and Gwen smiled upon hearing these words, it was just last month on Christmas Eve Peter finally worked up the courage to propose to the love of his life before everyone including their friends, Gwen was tearing in happiness as she finally said yes, she agreed to marry him, to become his wife, meanwhile knocking on the door as Mary Jane walks up to open up, Aunt May has came by to pick up the engaged couple in the company of their friends.
A few minutes later outside the apartment down on the streets, Peter is dressed in his black leather jacket zipped up with navy blue beanie, blue jeans and black sneakers and Gwen is dressed in a white winter coat and blue jeans along with a beige beanie on her head, they're both loading their suitcases into the trunk, they closed the trunk afterwards as they look upon Mary Jane, Miles, Anya, and Ganke all together about to say their goodbye to the happy couple and wish them a safe trip.
"Have a safe trip you two." Mary Jane said.
"Will do MJ, you got the whole apartment to yourself for the week, take care til we get back." Peter said.
"Promise." Mary Jane said.
"Okay, remember what we said..." Gwen reminding her friends.
"Take care of the city while you're away, if there's an emergency we'll call you and you'll head back home, got it!" Anya said.
"Like we said, we got this." Miles said.
"I know you do." Peter said.
"We should get going, your flight leaves in a couple of hours." May said.
Everyone started hugging one another, saying their goodbye before Peter and Gwen hoped into May's car, it drove away from the apartment heading for the airport as they all waved goodbye to the couple, Miles and Anya agreed to look after the city while they were gone for the week, the city is in their hands now.
Later around 8:05 PM at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, May's car is at the drop off zone as Peter and Gwen are picking up their suitcases from the trunk as they see May standing on the sidewalk taking one last look at the couple before they're off to London for the week.
May sighs smiling. "This is it, this is where we part ways."
"Don't be so down Aunt May, it's only a week across the pond. You'll see us next Friday." Peter said.
"I know, I never imagine you work up the courage to propose to Gwen. Does your folks know?" May asking Gwen.
"Not yet, I want it to be a surprise, I'm sure they'll be very excited with the great news." Gwen said.
"Your father would've been excited too, seeing his little girl grown into a wonderful woman marrying the love of her life." May smiled.
"Yeah... he would've been." Gwen being silent for a moment.
"I know he would, I miss him too Gwen... he's been like a father to me after Ben died." Peter said.
"He always thought of you as his son and now you're soon to be his son-in-law." Gwen smiled.
"Okay..." May hugged both Peter and Gwen together and giving them one last look. "Promise me you'll take care of each other."
"We will Aunt May." Peter said.
"He'll be alright with me as always." Gwen smiled.
"Flight to London will be boarding in 15 minutes!"
"That's us, we better get going. Bye Aunt May." Peter kiss his aunt on the cheek.
"Goodbye May." Gwen did the same.
Peter and Gwen each picked up their suitcases and walks together into the airport as May waved to them goodbye. Eventually about 15 minutes later, they're both on board the airplane setting their carry on suit cases in the compartment above the seats, afterwards they're sitting together in their assigned seats waiting for their flight to take off, sometime later the plane finally took off from LaGuardia Airport, flying over the ocean on it's way to London, England. Peter is looking out the window at New York City, Gwen is resting her head against his shoulder sleeping as Peter doesn't mind, he then closes his eyes and rest for the rest of the trip.
Time is 8:45 PM back at Lower East Side at the apartment as Miles, Anya, and Ganke are still around watching a movie on the 4K TV and having pizza in the living room while Mary Jane is at the phone with May Parker giving her the news on the couple's departure from LaGuardia, Ms. Lion is on the ground taking a slice of pizza.
"Okay, thanks May." Mary Jane hangs up.
"Did they leave?" Miles asking.
"Yeah, their flight just left the airport, they're on their way to England as we speak." Mary Jane said.
"So I guess this just leaves the two of us to protect the city." Anya said.
"Well there hasn't been any activity lately these past few days, but I still got my phone connected to the supercomputer that'll alert me if anything nasty comes along, why don't we call it a night? I'll call and let you know if there's trouble." Ganke Lee said.
"I should get going, Tiana is waiting for me, we're going to go see a movie, any of you interested?" Miles asking his friends.
"No, I'm good, I'll head back to the academy, maybe drop in and check on Danika, she's usually podcast this late, you coming Anya?" Ganke Lee said.
"I'm going to stay at my dad's place for the night, I'll see you both tomorrow." Anya said.
Miles and Ganke are the first ones to get up and are heading on back to Brooklyn as Anya is looking at Miles feeling happy going on a date with Tiana, Anya felt uneasy as Mary Jane noticed it and it has something to do with Miles, she got a sense of what's happening here, Anya is getting up and heading on to her home in Washington Heights.
"Anya... you okay?" Mary Jane asking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine... good night Mary Jane." Anya said as she's leaving the apartment.
"Goodnight Anya." Mary Jane said.
Anya walked out of the apartment, Mary Jane closed the door after Anya and everyone else had left, with Peter and Gwen already left for London, she and Ms. Lion have the whole apartment to themselves as Mary Jane picked up the pizza box with only a few slice left, she walked over the table and opens up her laptop as she plans to stay up looking up some job openings available as she needs to make more money for acting school, so far she hasn't progress nearly enough to reach her dreams of being an actress.
The day is January 11th in London England, time is 7:34 AM in a different timezone as the plane from New York finally arrived and touch down on the runway, a few minutes later a black taxi is driving the American couple around the city as they're crossing over the Tower Bridge, Peter is looking out the window at London for the first time, the whole city has snow everywhere just like back in New York, Gwen is already aware of London since she lived here for a few months with her uncle. The cab drives around town until they've reached the neighborhood where Gwen lived for months, the cab pulled up on the sidewalk, Peter and Gwen got out and picked up their luggage, Peter paid the cabbie and gazed upon the house of Gwen's uncle, it's quite fancy compared to the house her father had back in America.
"Whoa, this is where you lived?" Peter gazed upon the home.
"For a few months, can't believe it's been this long since I've been here." Gwen said.
"I'm sure your uncle will be excited to see you again, shall we?" Peter said.
Peter and Gwen are walking up to the door as she press on the doorbell, inside the house are Arthur and Jill Stacy having an English breakfast in the dining room till they heard the doorbell ringing as they've stopped eating, Arthur was about to get up.
"I wonder who that could be?" Arthur Stacy getting up.
Jill Stacy got up. "Don't, I'll get it."
Jill left the dining room and made her way towards the front door, she opens up and became stunned upon finding her cousin Gwen Stacy standing outside with her boyfriend Peter Parker.
"Oh my god... Gwen!" Jill got excited.
"Jill!" Gwen suddenly hugs her cousin.
"It's been so long, cuz!" Jill still hugging Gwen.
"Jill dear, who is it?" Arthur coming towards the front door.
Jill stopped hugging to show his niece Gwen Stacy has come back to London and she's all grown up, Jill invited her and Peter into the house.
"Gwen!" Arthur smiled in surprise.
"Uncle Arthur!" Gwen smiled as she hugs her uncle.
"Oh my god, I can't believe it's you! Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Arthur hugging.
"I wanted to surprise you." Gwen said.
Arthur broke off the hug to look at his niece. "You sure did. Wow, last time I saw you were just a young girl and now look at you, all divine. It's great to see you again."
"Good to see you too Uncle, especially you Jill. You both remember Peter, don't you?" Gwen said.
"Of course, it's been a long time Peter Parker." Arthur greeted.
"Likewise Mr. Stacy." Peter said.
"Still with your high school sweetheart I see, but then again I can see why you don't want to let go such a hottie." Jill looking upon how handsome Peter is.
"Okay, okay, don't make this any weird cousin." Gwen smiled.
Arthur and Jill lead Peter and Gwen into the living room where they set aside their luggage as they all sit down, they got so much to talk about.
"So tell us about yourselves, are you two in collage?" Arthur asking.
"Empire State University, we're taking bio-chemistry, we're even living together in the city. How about you Jill?" Gwen asking.
"Going to Oxford, taking up art and music." Jill said.
"That's sound great." Gwen said.
"So what's the real reason you came all this way to England? Not just you miss us." Jill said.
"That, and I got some good news to share with you, that's exactly why I'm here in person." Gwen said.
"Okay, what's the good news?" Arthur Stacy is curious.
Gwen sighs calmly with smile. "Okay... Peter and I..." She and Peter raised their hands and show off their rings. "... we're engaged!"
Arthur Stacy smiled. "What..."
Jill smiled and gasped. "Oh my..."
Jill got up and was the first to hug Gwen, congratulating her on her engagement as she's happy for her cousin, then she hugged Peter as he's very lucky to be with someone as wonderful as Gwen, she then steps back to look up the couple.
"This is wonderful, congratulations!" Jill is very happy.
"Wow, I never imagine that you would ever take a big step in marriage, but... I'm so happy for you Gwendolyne." Arthur smiles.
"Really Uncle Arthur?" Gwen said.
"Of course I am, I've always known that you loved Peter Parker for a long time, you even took a chance at accepting May's proposition in order to return back to New York to be with him again, if you're happy spending the rest of your life by his side, then you have my blessing." Arthur is happy.
"Thank you..." Gwen smiled.
"So when's the wedding?" Arthur said.
"In six months, we're planning it for June, we still got a lot to plan til that day comes." Peter said.
"And... there's something I gotta ask you, Uncle Arthur." Gwen said.
"Anything." Arthur said.
"You've took me in after my dad died, you've been the closest father figure I had in the few months I've stayed here... I was wondering on that day on our wedding, that you'd walk me down the aisle, to hand me off to the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with." Gwen said.
"Of course, I'd be very honored to walk you down in your father's place. I know that George would've loved to been the one to walk you down on the day you get married... Your father would've been very proud of his little girl." Arthur smiled.
Gwen smiled. "Thank you Uncle Arthur."
"So how long are you two staying around?" Jill asking.
"For a week, this is actually my first time in England, so much to see." Peter said.
"I'd be happy to show you around." Gwen said.
"That can wait, you both just got off a flight, why not have some breakfast first, we've got plenty to spare." Arthur suggested.
"That sounds great... Pete?" Gwen said.
"Why not? I could use a bite." Peter said.
"Wonderful, make yourselves at home." Arthur said.
Everyone then made their way to the dining room as Peter and Gwen sat down, Jill is in the kitchen fetching up whatever is left cooked, she carries two plates and sets them in front of the couple sitting together, one each plate are English sausage, eggs, bacon, black pudding, beans, mushrooms, fried tomatoes, and toasted bread, this is new to Peter as he look upon the plate of the English breakfast all mixed together in the same plate.
"Something wrong?" Arthur said.
"No... so this is what an English breakfast looks like." Peter looking at the plate.
"I know the feeling, come on Pete, try it out, it's really good." Gwen took a bite from a fork.
Peter sees Gwen eating her breakfast without hesitation, Peter got curious as he grabs a fork and took a piece out of the plate, he puts it in his mouths as his eyes widen, he likes it as he chows down on the breakfast, the couple are settling in Gwen's uncle house for their vacation.
Time is 8:49 AM back in New York City at the Coffee Bean in Tribeca, the whole place is packed with so many people very eager to get a decent caffeine drink in the morning, Mary Jane is still working as a barista as she's brewing in so much coffee not to notice that Anya is here in line as someone already order their drink, a few customers here are noticing how attractive the redhead barista is including her coworkers. Mary Jane just finished pouring in a venti cup with the name "Millie" on it, she walks up to the pick up counter.
"Millie!" Mary Jane calling out the name.
A blonde hair woman around 30 years of age wearing sunglasses is coming to the counter and picked up her venti cup from a redhead barista that caught her attention along with everyone else on how beautiful she is working here.
"Thanks, Ms..." Millie said.
"It's Mary Jane." Mary Jane said.
"Of course, thanks for the coffee Mary Jane." Millie holds up her cup.
Millie then walks away as Mary Jane has no idea what that was about, there's something about that woman that seemed familiar somehow, she's quite a mystery as she's doing her best to stay low key among the crowd, she got back to brewing another drink into a cup as she saw the name on it "Anya.", Mary Jane became surprised to see Anya here waiting by the counter.
"Anya?" Mary Jane said.
"Hey MJ, so this is where you work." Anya being friendly.
"Yeah, it's quite a busy morning for me." Mary Jane said.
"And here I thought the Foam Party would be this packed... anyway I should just leave you to work, see ya." Anya as she's walking away.
Mary Jane could tell that something is still on her mind since yesterday night, she told a fellow barista that she's going to take a small break as she walks out of the counter and moves through the crowd managing to catch up to Anya before she could leave the Coffee Bean.
"Anya wait!" Mary Jane catching up to her friend.
"What is it?" Anya said.
"I just wanted to talk with you, you seemed... troubled." Mary Jane said.
"Don't worry about me, I'm alright. Besides, don't you have work to do?" Anya said.
"I'm on break, I got some time to spare if you need to get something off your chest." Mary Jane said.
Anya is a bit reluctant to share her worries with Mary Jane as they find an empty table nearby for them to sit down for a chat.
"Did you hear from Peter and Gwen?" Anya is curious.
"Yeah, they just texted me, they're already in London staying at her uncle's house. But don't change the subject, talk to me Anya. What's eating you up?" Mary Jane is curious and worried.
"Nothing..." Anya tries to deny it.
"Come on, I call tell there's something on your mind. Maybe this something has to do with Miles." Mary Jane said.
"Miles? I don't know what you're talking about?" Anya blushed in embarrassement.
"If that's the case, you wouldn't be shaking this way. Come on Anya, I'm a girl and I can tell when someone has feelings for a guy. Don't keep it in, let it out." Mary Jane trying to help Anya.
Anya sighs as she gives up. "Fine... yes, it is Miles... at the beginning since the day we've met, I always had a sense that Miles had a thing for me, but he never made a move and I never seen him as anything else, from then on we just remained friends, but now..."
"But now he's in a relationship with another girl, right?" Mary Jane said.
"Yeah, ever since Tiana came into the picture, I've been having this strange feeling seeing them get together in a way Miles and I never got to be." Anya said.
"Anya, it's perfectly natural to feel this way, it's never easy watching the guy you like being with someone else." Mary Jane said.
"I'm guessing you know what that's like, you and... Peter." Anya smiled.
Mary Jane's eyes are surprised by these words. "How?"
"I've seen the way you look at him, you can be honest with me, you have feelings for Peter don't you?" Anya has her suspicions.
Mary Jane sighs calmly. "Yes, I do have feelings for Peter, I still do."
"I knew it, when did you figure out you were in love with Peter?" Anya said.
"I guess it all started a couple years ago, my relationship with Harry just ended due to the mistrust between us, I was going through a painful heartbreak at the time and Peter came over to comfort me, he told me that I was the most wonderful girl he ever knew, we grew closer in the moment, we kissed, it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, that's when I realized how much I loved him, I always loved him." Mary Jane explained her true feelings for Peter.
"Wow, I had no idea." Anya is astonished by this.
"I always did have my hopes that Peter and I could've been together at some point, but he chose to be with my best friend, Gwen was always the one for him from the beginning, especially now that they're engaged." Mary Jane said.
"How do you do it? How do you deal with being around someone you love knowing that you'll never be with that person." Anya is curious.
Mary Jane sighs. "I keep asking myself that same question for years, but we gotta move on Anya, life goes on for girls like us. Listen to me, you're an amazing girl Anya, you're very smart and pretty attractive, eventually someone special will take notice of you one day. Trust me, I know that you can get through this."
Anya smiled. "Thank you, and I hope that you find someone one day."
"Hopefully, but for now I'm more focused on trying to reach my goals in acting." Mary Jane said.
"Keep it up, I'm sure you'll get there. Thanks for the talk." Anya smiled.
"Anytime Anya." Mary Jane said.
Anya got up and took her coffee cup about to leave as she felt better talking with Mary Jane about relationships, even though it's not easy for Anya to see Miles and Tiana together, she'll have to find the strength to move on and hopefully pursue a relationship with someone in the future. Mary Jane got up and got back to work as a barista, though lately she's felt like she's falling behind doing this job as it's not getting her any closer to her goals in acting, she can only hope she'll find a solution one day.
Later its 10:34 AM in the Financial District at Roxxon Plaza as the protest continues outside, a car being driven by Dr. Simon Krieger is about to enter the underground parking bay but not before one of the protestors tossed eggs at his window but the NYPD was able to keep them from going overboard, Krieger kept driving his fancy sedan underground til he made it to his reserved parking space, he parked his sedan and got out to see the egg stained on his windshield which made him very displeased.
"Arrogant fools!" Simon Krieger is pissed.
Krieger didn't like what happened to his very expensive car being egged as he took out his briefcase and closed the door, he made his way around the parking bay til he reached the elevator, he then used his access card on the panel to gain access to the R & D floor as it's going up. Meanwhile up in the restricted section of the R & D complex, a group of scientists are observing the test subjects for the past two days and reading their vitals as they've survived the experiment, but all of a sudden the older woman started to wake up to find herself strapped to a table next to her daughter strapped down to the other table.
"Hey... HEY! What the hell is this?!"
The Roxxon scientists are ignoring her words as she's still trapped to the table unable to escape, but that's not going to stop him as she's struggling to get free from her confinement along with her daughter Lana, the scientists are getting worried that she's going to be troubled as they're unleashing gas in the chamber which made Lori panic in fear for her and her daughter, Lori is getting more desperate to escape as she unknowingly triggered an unexpected power forming a ring around her wrist, it unleashed a small combustion blast on the restraints tying her foot, cutting them loose as Lori is confused as to what happened and how she's doing it, but right now she's got bigger worries as she focused her hands on her restraints, she created a small combustion to blast them off her, she got loose as she rushed over to her daughter unlocking the restraints and attempted to wake her up fast.
"Lana? Lana, wake up!" Lori calling out.
Lana is waking up. "Huh? Mom?"
"Lana, we have to go right now! Get up!" Lori said.
Lana sees she's inside some kind of chamber filling up with gas as she quickly gets up as she and her mother Lori are still trapped inside as the scientist have no idea what's going on with them, Lori is desperate to save her daughter as she tries to focus her new gifts, a ring of energy formed around her hands as she unleashed a combustion blast upon the glass, but it's bulletproof as it only cracked the glass a bit, she can't destroy it alone, Lori wouldn't give up as she kept unleashing combustion blast upon the glass to shatter it, Lana has no idea how her mother is doing it as she got curious if she herself can do it, strangely enough an energy ring formed around her hands the same as her mother, Lori looks upon Lana doing the same thing.
"Oh my god." Lori is shocked.
"Let's do it together Mom." Lana said.
Lana and Lori decided to work together to focus their new powers as they're charging up, the scientists are freaking out by what's about to happen as they take cover, both mother and daughter finally unleashed their combined combustion blast upon the bulletproof glass as it's powerful enough to shatter it into millions of pieces, the gas is about to form up around them as they held their breath and quickly rushed away in time, Lori spotted a seal door in their path as she fired off a combustion blast at it and blowing it away, she and Lana are escaping as one of the scientist quickly triggered the alarm. The elevator finally arrived on the floor as Simon Krieger came out to hear the alarm are triggered as security is rushing around the R & D as he's curious what's happening here.
"Hey! What the hell is going on?!" Simon Krieger demanded.
"The test subjects have escaped!"
"What? How?" Simon Krieger is troubled.
"We don't know yet, we're just heard from surveillance they're heading down the stairs."
"No! Stop them! Use lethal force if necessary! I need a sidearm!" Simon Krieger gave the order.
One of the security personal gave the doctor a pistol as Simon Krieger is joining the party, they're all entering the stairway to chase down the test subjects. Heading downstairs are Lori and Lana working together to escape the building as fast as they can, security lead by Krieger are running down the stairs doing their best to try to catch them before they get away. Lana and Lori are still running down till they've stopped at the 10th floor as they got a peak down below to see more security running up towards them, they took a detour on the 10th floor as they're running down the hallway still trying to escape until they've stopped at the end of the hallway as they're cornered with no way out.
"We're trapped!" Lana said.
Lori looks around till she found something. "Maybe not."
Lori shows her daughter the garbage chute nearby that could be their only way out.
"Let's go mom!" Lana said.
"You go first, climb in." Lori insisted.
Lori is opening up the garbage chute as she help her daughter Lana climb on in, but she got shot suddenly from behind as she fell down to the ground, Simon Krieger is the one who shot Lori as Lana witnessed the whole thing right before her eyes, Lori has been shot through the chest and bleeding out.
"MOM!" Lana yells.
"Sorry, I can't let you two go, you know too much." Simon Krieger aiming a pistol.
Simon and his security crew make a move to take Lana in alive but something unexpected is happening to Lori as her whole body is charging up with the same combustable energy as everyone is panicking including her daughter as her mother is still dying.
"Everyone back away now!" Simon Krieger got scared.
Simon and his crew are running away as Lori is about to blow up very soon, Lana is getting worried for her mom as she's attempts to climb out of the garbage chute but Lori wouldn't let her.
"Lana, you have to go now!" Lori still dying.
"Mom, no! I won't leave you!" Lana protest.
"LANA! GO! Please... go... live..." Lori pleading with her daughter.
Lana is tearing up as her mother told her to go and leave her behind, Lori is about to combust very soon as Lana climbed back into the garbage chute, Lana jumped down heading down towards the garbage bay, Lori does her best to keep the power to herself, buying her daughter time to escape, but she suddenly expired and passed away, Lori's entire body blows up and sent a blast wave all across the 10th floor.
Meanwhile outside of Roxxon Plaza, the protest continues until the windows are all blasted off by a huge explosion, everyone around the plaza panicked as there was an explosion at Roxxon Plaza, the entire news crew recorded the whole event happening right now as people are running away as the NYPD there are mobilizing trying to get the situation under control as a bombing occurred here. At another part of Roxxon Plaza at the garbage bay, Lana has made it to the ground as she climbs out of the dumpster as she look up at the smoke around the 10th floor, that where her mom was as she feared the worst, but those fears faded as Roxxon security are coming out and spotted Lana.
"There she is, get her!"
Lana is running away escaping from Roxxon as she's heading towards the panicking crowd and disappeared, the security personal made it to the crowd as they've lost sight of the girl, they kept looking around trying to find her but only see a lot of people panicking in fear over the explosion, Lana isn't here anymore, she's escaped. Lana managed to get as far away from Roxxon Plaza as possible as she stopped to look back the building where she last seen her mother alive.
Lana crying out in sadness. "Mom..."
She's saddened over her mother's death, she witnessed her murder at the hands of that man, she felt nothing but pain and anger as she won't let this slide, she's going to get back at the people who done this to her mother, for now she runs away to avoid being detected by Roxxon. She kept on running away around the neighborhood as she's getting too much attention being dressed in some kind of clothing that makes her sticks out, she eventually came across a Laundromat as she went inside looking around the dryers til she finds some clothes being dried up, she opens up and grabbed what she can.
Meanwhile back in Roxxon Plaza, Simon Krieger was fortunate to escaped the blast in time, but this whole explosion presents a bigger problem for him and the entire company as it got a lot of people's attention which will spell out trouble if anyone finds out what really occurred here, he pulls out his phone and started taking drastic measures to cover everything up, he needs to act fast.
Around the same time back in Brooklyn at the Foam Party, Miles is picking up drinks for him and his girlfriend Tiana as he smiled and walking back to their table not noticing the breaking news showing on live TV, Tiana is still sitting down as Miles hand her the drink and he sits opposite of her to chat.
"How'd you like the movie?" Miles said.
"It was great watching action star Shang-Chi working alongside Simon Williams, it's a great sequel watching those two working together again. Though to be honest, I wasn't sure you'd make the time, you always seem to have something unexpected happening at the last minute." Tiana said.
"Lucky for you I was available for my best girl." Miles flirts.
"Lucky me." Tiana flirts back.
Miles and Tiana leaned in and kiss each other before sitting back down in their seats.
"It's funny, that same night on Christmas Eve we become couple was also the same night another couple became engaged." Tiana said
"I know, I didn't expect Pete to propose to Gwen in front of everyone, but he did it, he got the girl." Miles said.
Miles is very happy for his two friends about to share their life together in marriage, all of a sudden his phone is ringing as he pulls it out of his pocket to see his best friend Ganke is calling him.
"I gotta take this." Miles said as he answered the call. "Hey Ganke, what's up?"
"Miles, glad I've reached you, did you see what happened?" Ganke Lee said.
"No, what happening?" Miles is curious.
"It's all over the news, are you nearby a TV?" Ganke Lee said.
Miles looks around to find a few people looking at the TV here as he walks over to watching breaking news on the explosion at Roxxon Plaza that's caught everyone's attention.
"Something unexpected happening here at Roxxon Plaza as an explosion just occurred a few minutes ago, there's panic all around as the NYPD are doing their best to contain the situation and calm the protestors panicking in fear by this unexpected event, we still don't have details on what caused this explosion..."
"Oh my god." Miles holding up the phone.
"Anya is already on her way to Roxxon Plaza, I thought I'd give you a heads up." Ganke Lee said.
"I'm on my way." Miles hangs up.
Miles looks back at Tiana looking all shocked watching the TV along with everyone else, he never expected his date to be interrupted by something like this, but he can't ignore it as he and Anya are the only one here looking after the city.
Time is 11:45 AM back at Roxxon Plaza as NYPD along with the FBI and Homeland Security are here as well investigating this incident, the FDNY are quelling out the fire on the 10th floor with water by ladder from fire truck and paramedics tending to the injured caused in the shockwave and inhaled smoke, Yuri Watanabe is personally overseeing the NYPD operation providing support for the Feds by keeping away the press eager for some news on the incident, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl finally arrived at the scene to see the damage done to Roxxon Plaza, specially the 10th floor has taken a serious blast, Yuri is finished talking with one of the agents as she meets up with the heroes except for Spider-Man and Ghost-Spider.
"Glad you made it, where're the others?" Yuri is curious.
"Away, we're looking after the city in their place. So what's the situation, Captain?" Kid Arachnid said.
"We're still not sure yet, we haven't even began investigating, FBI is taking jurisdiction over this matter, NYPD is only here to offer support." Yuri explained their situation.
"In other words they're not sharing anything yet." Spider-Girl said.
"Look, I don't like this as much as you, we just follow the law and provide support. This is normal procedure for them in the event of a bomb, this is way above our pay grade." Yuri said.
"Okay, what about the protestors? Any of them violent?" Spider-Girl said.
"Just tossing a lot of vegetables and a lot of cursing, but nothing like this. The head of this group denies any involvement, they were just as shocked as everyone else, this whole explosion was unexpected, they told us the same story, they were still out here protesting until they heard a big boom and everyone panicked." Yuri explained.
"So basically we got nothing to go on." Kid Arachnid said.
Coming in through past the crime scene tape is the agent-in-charge of this investigate, a 35 year old woman with auburn hair and blue eyes in a suit is followed by several agents in FBI jackets walking towards the protest group.
"Excuse me, are you in charge of this group?" Dakota North said.
"Ah yes, can I help you?"
"I'm special agent Dakota North of the FBI, you're under arrest for the destruction of private property, arrest him." Dakota North said.
Agents are arresting the man. "What? I had nothing to do with this!"
"We found explosive component and a manual at your apartment, take him away." Dakota North said.
"No, wait! I had nothing to do with this! I don't know anything about the stuff! I'm innocent! You gotta believe me!"
Yuri along with Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl watched as the feds are taking away the leader of the protest for this incident, but the man professed that he's innocent which made the heroes curious as to whether there's truth or not, the new crew are recording the feds taking the man away, they more worried that this might reach across the pond and their engaged friends might decide to come home soon.
At the same time inside Roxxon Plaza at the office of Simon Krieger, he's watching live news of the leader of the protestors being escorted in handcuffs by federal agents for the bombing of Roxxon as Simon himself is on the phone speaking with the head of Roxxon about the situation.
"What's the status, Dr. Krieger?"
"Not to worry sir, our men was able to plant the evidence in the man's apartment and tip off the feds, he's being taken into custody as we speak, everything is under control." Simon Krieger said.
"Not yet, there's still one loose end out there, the girl, care to explain what just happened?"
"Sir, our experiment was to originally generate bio-electric energy out of a human being, this combustion was an unexpected aberration." Simon Krieger said.
"No matter, she cannot be allow to roam freely with everything she has seen, if anyone catches on to what were doing, this company will be facing serious trouble. Find the girl by any mean necessary."
"Understood sir, it shall be done." Simon Krieger said.
"You shall have the full access to all of Roxxon resource, get it done soon."
The boss hangs up the phone as Simon Krieger is desperate more than ever to find the test subject that escaped, she's the only witness to the illegal experiment the company is conducting, Krieger was able to dodge the feds from poking around by framing the head of the protestors for the bombing, but this isn't over until they get their hands on Lana before she talks, the fate of Roxxon is in Krieger's hands.
Later around 12:45 PM at the FBI building in New York City, inside the interrogation room Agent Dakota North is personally interrogating the suspect accused of the bombing, in the other room are Captain Watanabe along with some federal officials watching the interrogation trying to get a confession out the man who protest that he's innocent and he's being set up.
"How did you do it?" Dakota North interrogate the man.
"I didn't do anything cause I had nothing to do with the bombing, like I keep saying a thousand times!"
"Then care to explain why there were explosive material found at your place?" Dakota North said.
"THEY'RE NOT MINE, I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT STUFF GOT INTO MY APARTMENT!"
"You were ex-military weren't you? Specially EOD, so you would have the necessary skill." Dakota North said.
"To defuse bombs, not build them, I had nothing to do with the explosion that happened at Roxxon!"
"What about those materials we found? Care to explain?" Dakota North said.
"Like I said, I don't know how it got there, someone is clearly setting me up!"
"Who?" Dakota North said.
"I don't know, but I'm innocent, you gotta believe me."
"You know what I think? I think that you got tired off speaking out, that your protest wasn't enough and you decided to act, by sending a loud clear message to get everyone's attention. Look, just confess and we can work out a deal, give me details as well as names of accomplices who helped you and I'll give you a lighter sentence, you have my word." Dakota North said.
"Listen agent, cause I'm only gonna say this once, I am not going to take the fall for something I didn't do cause I'm innocent, and I'm done talking, I want a lawyer."
Yuri is watching and listening in the other room, the man kept on insisting that he's innocent as she can't help wonder if he's telling the truth, this whole situation seemed very strange as she wants to do more digging into the Roxxon bombing to get to the truth.
At the same time it's 4:45 PM at another timezone in London, England, Peter and Gwen are roaming around the city, Gwen is giving the tour as they're stopping by the Secondary School Gwen attended while she was here, it's been so long for Gwen as it brings back some memories.
"Wow, you went here?" Peter gaze upon the school
"This is the school I went to for a few weeks, till I moved back home to New York, it was quite different from Midtown High, but I managed to fit in just fine for an American, I even had to wear a uniform." Gwen said.
"Bet a lot of English boys were eyeballing you." Peter said.
"They were, but... none of them were you, you were the only one I still loved, even when I was out there, I missed you so much." Gwen said.
"To tell you the truth Gwen, while you were gone, I never imagined thought I'd see you again, but then you came back and I still love you, and now I'm here with you, finally engaged to the love of my life, soon to spend the rest of my life by your side." Peter said.
"I love you too Pete." Gwen said.
Peter and Gwen leaned in and kiss each other.
"So where to next?" Peter wants to see more.
Gwen smiled as she has so much to see, later they took a ride around the double decker bus with an exposed roof as they're passing by Big Ben and Parliament taking some picture with Peter's own camera. Sometime later, they are just outside of Buckingham Palace along with the other tourist, the gate and walls are surrounded by the king's guards in red armed with rifles, the couple are having so much fun sightseeing together.
Time is 1:45 PM back in New York City at the rooftop of the 13th precinct, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are waiting for the Captain to come with some info about the bombing earlier at Roxxon Plaza, but their main concern is their friends across the pond finding out about the bombing on the news, but so far they haven't heard back from them yet.
"Still no word from Pete and Gwen?" Kid Arachnid said.
"No, it's been a couple of hours since it happened and still no calls." Spider-Girl said.
"Which means they still don't know what transpired here, they might be out taking a tour of London with no idea about this incident." Kid Arachnid said.
"But how long you do think we can keep this up? This is bound to be global, broadcasting all over the world, sooner or later they're going to know about it, we should've just called them." Spider-Girl said.
"And then what? Interrupt their vacation and have them fly over back home to deal with mess? No, we can't do that to them, it's been a while since they've had some time to themselves without having to worry about trouble. We can't take that away from them, we have to do this ourselves. It's you and me, together." Kid Arachnid said.
Spider-Girl nodded her head in agreement. "Together."
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl agreed to handle this situation on their own without notifying their friends overseas, coming up to the rooftop is Captain Watanabe just returned back from the Bureau with the report on the bombing at Roxxon.
"Kid Arachnid, Spider-Girl, thank you both for coming." Yuri Watanabe said.
"Got something for us, Captain?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Just got back from the Bureau, the man in their custody denies any involvement to the bombing, claims he's innocent." Yuri Watanabe said.
"What do you think?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Explosive material was found at his place, but... this all seems very strange." Yuri Watanabe said.
"How so?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Here..." Yuri hands them a folder with the report. "Got a friend who works in the Bureau, he slip me this."
Spider-Girl opens the folder and reads the report. "Huh? Says here that there was bomb casing, the site doesn't have any traces of any chemical residue."
"So?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Normally a bomb would leave something behind, but there isn't anything left behind, no bomb casings, no chemical residue, there's absolutely nothing that would suggest a bomb caused the explosion." Yuri Watanabe said.
"So if a bomb didn't cause the explosion, then what did?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Don't know, but there's something shady going on here, Roxxon seemed to claim the explosion was caused by protestors, but the NYPD who were there kept every protestors from going in, and the explosion came from inside the 10th floor, so how did someone get inside the most secured building and cause the big boom?" Yuri Watanabe said.
"So you're thinking this has signs of an enhanced individual who can make things go boom?" Spider-Girl said.
"Who knows? But if it, then this is certainly in your area of expertises, but either way, I need you heroes to look into this before anymore explosions occur." Yuri Watanabe said.
"Don't worry Captain, you can count on us." Kid Arachnid said.
"That be more comforting if your two friends were here leading this investigation." Yuri Watanabe said.
"Look, we may not be Spidey, but we still get through it just fine. Have faith in us." Kid Arachnid said.
Yuri sighs calmly. "Okay, I'll leave this investigation to you both."
"We won't let you down, thank you Captain." Kid Arachnid said.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are jumping away from the rooftop along with the report to investigate the Roxxon bombing before another explosion occurs.
Later around 2:34 PM a number of agents working for Roxxon are roaming all over the city trying to find Lana Baumgartner as soon as possible, meanwhile in Chinatown at the homeless shelter F.E.A.S.T., a lot of homeless are waiting in line for a warm meal, Rio is handing out food to the hungry, among them is a teenage girl dressed in a white coat closed up, wearing sunglasses trying to hide her identity from anyone, she got her tray of food and walks over the tables where the other homeless are dining in, she began eating her food as she hasn't had a decent bite since she was held against her will, May is coordinating the staff as she spotted a young woman who seem familiar, she told the staff "Excuse me." and walks over to confirm her suspicions not knowing that her shelter has a shady guest here looking around, May got a close look at the girl.
"Lana?" May calling her name.
Lana stopped eating as she look at the woman in charge of the shelter.
"Lana Baumgartner? Is that you?" May said.
Lana took off her sunglasses to look at May who then immediately recognized her, but she isn't the only one, the shady man spotted the girl here as he walks away from the shelter, he pulls out his phone and makes a call to someone important to notify about Lana's sighting.
"Status?" Simon Krieger said.
"I found the girl, she's in Chinatown at the homeless shelter F.E.A.S.T."
"Is it confirmed?" Simon Krieger said.
"Positive, it's her."
"Good, keep your eyes on her, we'll send a recovery team immediately." Simon Krieger said.
"Are you sure it's wise, sir? There are too many eyes here."
"Unfortunate, but necessary, no witnesses, is that clear?" Simon Krieger said.
"Understood."
The man is revealed to be working for Roxxon, he's sticking around keeping an eye on the girl till the recovery team, meanwhile back inside the shelter, May is speaking with Lana about what happened to her since it's been a long time she saw her.
"Lana, it's been a while since I've seen you around. Where have you been all this time?" May asking.
"It's... complicated." Lana said.
"And where's your mother?" May said.
"Like I said, it's complicated. Please don't be asking me too many questions... can I please get back to eating and I'll soon be on my way, alright?" Lana said.
May decided not to press the issue as she could tell that Lana has gotten into something shady she doesn't want to talk about, from the anger in her voice it sounds like it also has something to do with her mother, she walks away and left Lana alone to eat, she still feeling the rage of witnessing her mother being murdered by those corporate thugs who experimented on them. May closed the door as she's inside her office taking a peek from the window, she's making a call to some friends to notify them about something concerning Lana.
"Hello?" Ganke Lee said.
"Is Anya and Miles with you?" May asking.
"No, they're still out investigating the bombing, why?" Ganke Lee said.
"There's someone here who I haven't seen in a month, a teenage girl, homeless, but her mother isn't with her, I know that you all have your hands full on this incident, but could you by any chance spare sometime to look into it?" May asking for help.
"I might, what's this about?" Ganke Lee said.
"I don't know, I just have that feeling." May said.
All of a sudden without warning, a crew in mask came into the shelter with guns and got everyone's attention, telling everyone to get down on the ground, May heard the commotion as she took a peak at the office window to see there's trouble here.
"Ganke, tell them to come over here right away!" May said.
"What's going on?" Ganke Lee said.
"Men with guns are here, tell them to hurry." May hangs up the phone.
May stays hidden in her office and watched as she tries to figure out what's going on here, these masked men aiming their guns at everyone, they're looking around for someone til they've finally found her, Lana became shocked upon them seeing her, she knows who sent them, it's the same people who killed her mother.
"Lana Baumgartner, we finally found you again."
"Should've figure you clowns would come. Krieger sent you, didn't he? It wasn't enough he killed my mom, now he want to kill me, a homeless kid, and you had to threaten everyone with guns." Lana said.
"It's nothing personal, we have our orders kid, no witnesses. But then again if you really cared about these people, you should've never set foot in here in the first place. Ready weapons!"
All of the gunmen are aiming their guns at everyone, including Lana as she decides whether to use her gifts against them or not, but there are too many people here that can get caught in the explosion and she doesn't want to harm any innocent, but these Roxxon men won't care who they kill like they've killed her mother, but coming crashing down from the window ceiling are Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl as they've fired some webbing at the weapons to disarm, both heroes landed down on the floor as May hiding in the office is happy and relieved they've arrived in time.
"The heroes? What the hell are they doing here? We weren't prepared for this!"
"Who are you guys? Why are you here?" Kid Arachnid said.
The gunmen are nervous as they refuse to answer the question, they switched to their sidearms and began shooting the heroes as everyone here is panicking and making a run for it, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl split up and each take on the gunmen, Spider-Girl jumped and wrapped her legs around one of them for a hurricarana, Kid Arachnid disappeared right before everyone's eyes at multiple gunmen can't get a read on the hero, til one of them got zapped and went down, they started shooting in that direction hoping the bullets would hit him but nothing, Kid Arachnid came behind them and place both his hands on them, zapping them together and de-cloaks himself afterwards, but one of the gunmen picked up an assault rifle on the ground and aims it at the two heroes fight not to notice except for Lana.
The heroes spider senses tingles together as they spotted the gunmen with the assault rifle about to pull the trigger but all a sudden the rifle exploded right before everyone's eyes, the gunman fell back down with his hands all injured as the heroes looked upon the young girl with rings of unknown energy around her hands, Lana spotted another gunman about to shoot but she fired off a small blast of combustion to destroy the pistol, the heroes realized that she's an enhanced individual with the powers of combustion, next thing she spotted some in her left as she was about to unleashed her powers but she spotted a few innocent people behind the gunmen as she hesitated, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl fired their webbing to neutralize the remaining gunmen as the ones left standing are troubled by this unfortunate event.
"Fall back!"
The head gunman tossed a flashbang at the floor and let out a loud boom, disrupting the heroes sense briefly as the gunmen started to make their escape as the mission has been compromised, Kid Arachnid is still having disruption in his senses as he spotted Lana making the run through the back while the gunman are running towards the entrance, Kid Arachnid recovered his senses in time as did Spider-Girl to see both parties are escaping in separate directions.
"Spider-Girl, you go catch those goons! I'll go after the girl!" Kid Arachnid said.
"I got this, go!" Spider-Girl said.
Spider-Girl and Kid Arachnid each split up as Kid Arachnid is heading towards the back to intercept Lana, meanwhile the gunmen are running out of F.E.A.S.T. heading towards the van as Spider-Girl finally caught up and webbed one of them on the jacket, the gunman is having a hard time escaping as Spider-Girl is pulling him in, the guy unzipped his jacket and quickly takes it off as he hopes into the van, everyone is in and it drives away, Spider-Girl was about to swing after them but they pulled out their automatic weapons and began shooting at the heroes taking evasive action, she avoided all the bullets easily but another flash bang was tossed in her direction as it went off, her senses got disrupted again as she dropped down onto a car, she can't get a good read on the van as it finally escaped her sight, they got away.
Meanwhile back at F.E.A.S.T., Lana is coming out of the back and running down the alleyway to escape, she spotted a street up ahead in her path, but Kid Arachnid came in swinging and dropped down in front of her, stopping her escape as he's got so many questions to ask her concerning her powers of combustion, she formed up a ring of energy around her wrists as she's feeling aggressive.
"Get out of my way." Lana isn't too happy.
"Hang on, I don't want to hurt you." Kid Arachnid said.
"Then why are you after me?" Lana said.
"I just want some answers about your powers." Kid Arachnid said.
"You think I had something to do with the Roxxon bombing." Lana being accused.
"I never said anything about the bombing, but now that you mentioned it, care to explain?" Kid Arachnid said.
"I was there, but I didn't cause it, you're going after the wrong person." Lana said.
"If you didn't do it, who did?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Look, I don't have time for this, I got some much to do, I'm gonna get back at those bastards for taking everything from me." Lana full of rage.
"What are you talking about? Who took everything from you?" Kid Arachnid asking.
"This has nothing to do with you, it's personal, now I'm gonna ask you nicely, back away!" Lana demanded.
"Hey..." Kid Arachnid trying to reason.
Lana got tired of talking as she unleashed a combustion blast at Kid Arachnid as the hero is jumping around and dodging her attacks, one of them got close enough to where he jumped off but the blast shockwave knocked him back hard against the dumpster, he's all injured as Lana walks up closer to the hero with her hands ready to strike again.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you stop... don't come after me again." Lana gave a warning.
Lana then runs away as Kid Arachnid is injured by the blast to get back up, he just watched as she's running away, he could tell that she never meant to hurt him, she's blinded by rage, anger has consumed her, Kid Arachnid can't do anything for now.
A few minutes later back at F.E.A.S.T., a lot of people are shaken up by all the shooting that occurred here, Spider-Girl just returned back to the shelter as she spotted the jacket one of the gunmen was wearing, she picks through the pockets to find a clue as to who these people are, she eventually came across a wallet inside with a security pass issued to Roxxon Security, coming back to the shelter is Kid Arachnid looking like he took some hits from the way his suit is all dirty that caught Spider-Girl's attention.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Spider-Girl asking.
"Finally caught up to her, tried to talk her down peacefully." Kid Arachnid said.
"Guessing it didn't go so well." Spider-Girl said.
"Not so much, how about you? Did you catch those guys?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Nah, they got away, but I found something interesting, check it out." Spider-Girl shows Kid Arachnid a clue.
Kid Arachnid took the wallet and checks out a security pass. "Roxxon Security? Roxxon... what do they have to do with this?"
May is coming out of the shelter. "Glad you're both okay."
"Likewise, any idea what occurred here?" Kid Arachnid said.
"That girl I told Ganke about, I think those men came only for her." May said.
"You know this girl?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Her name is Lana Baumgartner, she's 15 years old, homeless, just like her mother Lori, but I haven't seen either of them in a while till today." May said.
"And what about her powers? Did she ever exhibit those before?" Spider-Girl said.
"No, she's never done that before, I don't think she's a mutant or an inhuman." May said.
"So she's an enhanced individual, and you said they came only for her?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Not only that, they were willing to kill everyone who was there." May said.
"Dios mío." Spider-Girl said 'my god' in Spanish.
"Sound like these guys are trying to cover something up, the way her powers were able to combust upon contact, the explosion at Roxxon Plaza and a Roxxon Security pass, this all ties back to Roxxon somehow." Kid Arachnid said.
"So what we do?" May said.
"We should head back to the Spider-Cave and figure out our move, starting with investigating everything on Roxxon." Spider-Girl said.
"Good idea." Kid Arachnid agrees.
All of a sudden the NYPD along with the FDNY came to F.E.A.S.T., new vans came up and started recording everything trying to get a story, the Web-Warriors will have to wait on going to the Spider-Cave as coming out of a squad car is Sergeant Jefferson Davis as he rushed over to see Rio Morales alive and well, he hugged her feeling relieved, Kid Arachnid is relieved that his mom is alright too.
Time is 8:45 PM over at London, England, at the residence of Arthur Stacy, he and his daughter Jill are watching the international news about the explosion at Roxxon Plaza in New York City as well as the recent attack on F.E.A.S.T. where Peter's Aunt May is on TV along with her staff, this whole thing got them very worried, all of a sudden opening up the front door are Gwen and Peter just returning back from their tour of the city.
"Hey everyone, we're back!" Gwen smiled.
"Glad you're both back, did you hear what happened?" Arthur Stacy said.
"No, what happened?" Gwen is confused.
"You both better come see this." Jill said.
Peter and Gwen came over to the living room as Arthur and Jill shows them news on the report in New York City, Jill is turning up the volume for them to hear.
"Earlier today approximately 10:41 AM in New York City in the Financial District, Roxxon Plaza was recently bombed, causing serious damage to the entire 10th floor, F.B.I and Homeland Security arrested the leader of the protest as the primary suspect, but that's not the only interesting news, more recently a homeless shelter in Chinatown called F.E.A.S.T. was stormed by a number of armed assailants, fortunately thanks to the local heroes Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl, no one was hurt, though some witnesses came there was an enhanced individual capable of creating energized explosions, could these two incidents have any connections? The investigation is still underway..."
"Glad no one was seriously hurt, especially your Aunt, I'm glad she's okay." Arthur Stacy said.
"Thanks... I gotta make a call, excuse me." Peter is very worried.
Peter excused himself from the living and headed up the stairs towards the guest room as Gwen followed after him, Jill and Arthur stay behind as they could tell this whole thing got Peter seriously worried for his Aunt, which is very understandable. Peter and Gwen are both in the guest room as they need the privacy, Peter pulls out his phone to make a call to Aunt May.
(New York City)
Meanwhile around 3:48 PM back in New York City at the Spider-Cave, Miles and Anya are here along with Ganke and May discussing recent events and how to handle this investigation into Roxxon and how they're connected to that girl who has powers, but their biggest worry is how long can they keep this from reaching Peter and Gwen who are across the pond, Mary Jane has just came into the Spider-Cave and went up to hug May in relief.
"Thank god you're alright." Mary Jane felt relieved.
"I'm alright dear, thank you for being very concerned about me." May said.
"When I saw on the news, I knew I had to come. Does Peter know?" Mary Jane asking.
"No, I haven't had the chance to call him yet with everything that's been going on." May said.
"But how long do you think we can keep this from him, he's going to find out at some point." Anya said.
All of a sudden, May's phone is ringing as she pulls it out and checks the caller ID.
"It's Peter." May telling the group.
Miles sighs. "He knows."
Anya sighs. "We better come clean."
May answered the call and puts it on speaker. "Peter?"
"Aunt May, oh thank god you're alright, I was so worried." Peter sounded relieved.
"Glad you called, but seriously I'm fine." May said.
"Don't worry, we were there saving the day like always." Miles said.
"Miles, glad to hear from you, I assume Anya is with you too." Peter said.
"Hey Pete." Anya said.
"Hey Anya, glad you're both together, care to explain about the incident at Roxxon?" Peter doesn't sound happy.
"So you found out?" Miles being nervous.
"We just did, on TV, and you didn't think to call us earlier?" Gwen isn't happy either.
"Look, we're both sorry, we didn't want you to worry while you're both away." Anya said.
Peter sighs. "Doesn't matter, we're gonna have to book a flight as soon as possible, we're heading back home."
"Peter, please listen, I know that these two should've called you in the moment it happened, but there's nothing you and Gwendolyne can do from England, try to understand that they were thinking about you two in those moments, they didn't want to interrupt your week together. Can you blame them putting your happiness first?" May said.
Peter sighs. "No... I would've done the same."
"Peter, do you trust them?" May said.
"With my life." Peter said.
"I feel the same." Gwen said.
"Then trust them right now, they're the one only here who can solves this whole mystery." May said.
"Peter... we're gonna protect this city, we gave you our word, we got this." Miles said.
"He's right, believe in us." Anya said.
"We do believe in you." Gwen said.
Peter sighs. "Okay... we'll stay..."
"We have a lead, we'll have this solve by the end of the night. Have faith in us." Miles said.
"You know I do... good luck both of you." Peter said.
"You too, enjoy your trip." Miles said as the call hanged up as he turns to May. "Thanks for having our back, Mrs. P."
"Anytime, the entire city in still in your hands." May said.
"Okay, now can anyone tell me what happened at F.E.A.S.T.?" Mary Jane said.
"Of course, I was just on the phone with Ganke telling him about the girl who came over the shelter for a meal, that's when these gunmen came over and threatened everyone, from what I've heard, they came only for her and they were willing to kill anyone who was there." May explained.
"My god, who are these people?" Mary Jane said.
Anya shows the security pass. "We got this from one of the gunman who got away, it's from Roxxon."
"Roxxon? The oil corporation?" Mary Jane said.
"That's how it started out as, they own a number of gas stations all across America along with a lot of oil derricks here and abroad, now they've grown into a multibillion dollar corporation, they're into almost everything, rumor has it their main focus is looking into alternative energy, thus it became Roxxon Energy." Ganke telling everything about Roxxon.
"Still doesn't explain why one their employees is involved a shootout." Mary Jane said.
"Now that you mentioned it, Lana did mentioned a name of someone, from what she described, it sounded like this person was in charge of the operation." May said.
"Do you know what the name is?" Anya said.
May nodded her head. "Krieger."
"Ganke, do you think you can access Roxxon's website? Look up the employee directory, see our man is among them." Miles said.
"On it." Ganke Lee started typing the keyboard.
Everyone watched the supercomputer as Ganke accessed the website of Roxxon and scrolls down the employee directory finding the name of someone who bears the name "Krieger", the page kept scrolling down until they got a match.
"There!" Miles points out.
Ganke reads the info. "Dr. Simon Krieger, head of the Research and Development department of Roxxon Energy."
"This has to be the guy who sent those gunmen after the girl, but why?" Anya said.
"When I confronted Lana, the way her eyes look, it was filled with so much anger and rage, she didn't tell me why, but I could tell this is very personal." Miles said.
"Personal how?" Anya said.
"She said those people took everything from her and she plans to get back at them, she's on a revenge mission now." Miles said.
"Wow, that girl is a really bombshell, and I mean literally." Ganke Lee said.
"Okay, so how do we find this Bombshell?" Anya said.
"The explosion, those armed men, Simon Krieger, this all ties back to Roxxon, that's where we start." Miles said.
"Whoa, easier said than done, security around Roxxon is pretty tight especially after that fiasco from earlier, these guys got their own private army, this place is built like a fortress, you can't just waltz up in there without causing any trouble." Ganke Lee said.
"Then we'll do it like the Oscorp job." Miles smiles.
"Like the sound of that, I'm in." Anya agree with a smile.
Ganke sighs with his eyes rolled up. "Fine, I'll be here in case you need assistance, just... be careful out there."
"Of course, it's us after all." Miles being enthusiastic.
"Yeah, what could go wrong?" Anya also being enthusiastic.
Miles and Anya are putting on their masks as they're about to head out on a mission to Roxxon to look into this situation deeper till they get to the truth no matter what. Ganke, Mary Jane, and May stayed behind as the fate of the entire city is in their hands now.
Time is 4:15 PM somewhere in Manhattan at an abandoned building, Lana Baumgartner is keeping a low profile away from anyone as Roxxon is still looking for her and they'll kill anyone seen with her, she doesn't want to risk anymore lives not like those people who took away her mother, she felt nothing but sadness and rage from her loss as the only family she has is been ripped away from her, Lana holds up the only photo of her and mother together on their happy day.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you mom, it's not fair, you didn't deserve this... I swear to you, I won't let your death go unpunished, I will get justice for you... I love you mom." Lana tearing up and made a vow.
Lana puts away her photo as she's now on a mission for vengeance, getting back at the very people who destroyed their lives, who took away her mother, starting with the man who murdered her right before her eyes, Simon Krieger.
Time is 9:55 PM in London, England, at the house of Arthur and Jill Stacy, the couple are staying there in the guest room as Gwen Stacy is in the bathroom taking a shower, Peter is laying on the bed all shirtless wearing a grey sweatpants watching the small TV in the room waiting for some news from back in the states, still a bit worried for Aunt May along with his young teammates watching in their place, he's still has faith in them but a part of him is kinda worries something could go wrong without him and Gwen by their side, the shower is turned off and Gwen reached out for a towel. Coming out of the bathroom is Gwen with a towel wrapped around her body and another one she's using to dry off her hair as she see Peter watching the news on the TV as got a sense of something.
"Still worried about home?" Gwen still drying her hair.
"Can't sleep, I know it's night time, but it still feels like day time to me." Peter said.
"I know the feeling, we're five hours ahead of New York, you'll get used to it. But I sense that's not why you're still awaken." Gwen could tell there's more as she finished drying her hair off.
"Did we do the right thing, Gwen? Staying here on our vacation while our friends are risking their lives back home?" Peter being doubtful.
Gwen sitting on the bed. "You told them that you have faith in them, did you mean it?"
"Every word, I trust them with my life, but... when it comes to this life, anything can happen and we're not there to do anything about it." Peter said.
"Peter... we've both trained Miles and Anya to be heroes, they're well prepared for any scenario that comes their way, we can't always protect them forever, all we can do is have faith in them. Miles and Anya are gonna be fine, they've proven they can handle anything, at the end they have each other." Gwen said.
"I know you're right." Peter said.
"It's cute that you're worried, but... I think you need to get your worries out of your mind, I might know just the thing to help you." Gwen flirted.
"Really? What do you have in mind?" Peter is curious.
Gwen smiled as she gets up from the bed and stands on her two feet unwrapping a towel right before her fiancé's eyes, revealing her whole well developed body, Peter is all speechless seeing all of Gwen in her natural beauty.
Gwen smiles. "So... what do you think?"
Peter is still distracted by this visual. "Honestly Gwendy, I don't know what to think."
Gwen smiled as she climbs onto the bed and leans herself against Peter for a passionate kiss, they kept on kissing together on the bed as Peter can't think of anything other than his fiancé giving him a passionate kiss to get him off his worries which is working.
Gwen stopped kiss and looked upon Peter. "Still worried?"
"A little." Peter flirted.
Gwen smiles as she and Peter got back to kissing as they got covered under the sheets about to go through intercourse, Peter reached his hand out of the sheets and shuts off the lamp, the whole room has gone dark as they got back to consummating together.
Time is 7:47 PM in New York City as the sun has finally set and it's nighttime at Roxxon Plaza as the whole area is quarantined due to the ongoing investigation of the bombing incident here and there is no more protest here at this time, a lot of NYPD and feds are keeping people outside the yellow tapes, among the crowd is Lana Baumgartner hiding in plain sight as she tries to analyze a way past security to exact her revenge for her mother. Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are on a rooftop overlooking Roxxon Plaza as they've waited for things to go dark, they've spotted some air vents on the 25 floor where the R & D department is located.
"There, that's the way to the R & D department." Kid Arachnid pointed out.
"So what's the plan?" Spider-Girl said.
"Let's start by finding Dr. Krieger's office, if he is in charge on this whole operation, chances are we might some answers there." Kid Arachnid said.
"Okay, it's dark, we've waited long enough, time to make our move." Spider-Girl said.
"Right, let's go." Kid Arachnid said.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl shot a web line across the rooftop and swings across towards Roxxon under the cover of darkness, they've arrived on the 25th floor where the vents are located, they carefully open up and crawl inside into Roxxon Plaza, meanwhile deep within the R & D department at the office of Simon Krieger, the lead scientist with having a chat with the security team he sent after Lana but came back empty handed as Krieger isn't too happy hearing about it.
"Anymore leads to go on?" Simon Krieger demanded answers.
"No sir, she's gone underground, we had her in our sights, but the intervention of the heroes was unexpected."
Simon Krieger sighs. "Just what I need, more problems, especially from those so called heroes always in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least you all managed to escape clean."
The men are nervous about something as Krieger picked up on their expression.
"You all did get away clean, right?" Simon Krieger said.
"We did... except... one of our operatives lost his jacket during the escape, it contained a security pass tied to this company, which means they might know about our involvement."
Simon Krieger gets up from his seat slowly. "What?"
At the same time down below Roxxon Plaza, Lana managed to sneak past security as she found her way through the company's loading bay where security is minimum, all the employees are roaming around working as Lana is sneaking around but it isn't easy as the place is packed with camera watching everything including the elevators and stairs, she eventually came across a dumbwaiter used to transport small item all over the building, she then opens up and climbs aboard.
Meanwhile back at the 25th floor, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are sneaking around through the air duct undetected till they've reached a vent lighting up ahead, they crawl up to the vent to get a peek as they've spotted Dr. Krieger escorted by men with guns, from his voice he didn't seemed too happy, nobody noticed the hero hiding in the air duct listening to everything.
"Some professionals you all are, the best Roxxon has ever hired, it was suppose to be a clean job and you left a single piece of evidence behind tying back to us." Simon Krieger all upset.
"Sir, our orders were to kill the girl and any witnesses, we didn't anticipate the hero's intervention."
"We've done everything we can to cover up this mess, even framed that protest fool to throw everyone off. You better hope they don't come sniffing around and find out what we're doing, or we're all going to prison. Kept scouring the city, find and eliminate her before it's too late, understood?" Simon Krieger is very desperate.
The security team all complied with Kreiger's orders and walked back to the elevator continuing their mission, Krieger is heading down towards the restricted section of the R & D department and uses his biometrics to access it easily, the men entered the elevator as it's closing shut while Krieger enters the restricted section, the vent above the hallway opens up as Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl dropped down in a three point stance together, they heard everything Krieger said about a cover up.
"Looks like you were right, this does all tie back to Roxxon." Spider-Girl said.
"That protestor the feds arrested was telling the truth, he is innocent, Krieger set him up." Kid Arachnid said.
"But why? Why are they still after that girl?" Spider-Girl said.
"I don't know, we still needs some more answers, let's start with the office." Kid Arachnid said.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl jump back up onto the ceiling and crawled in the opposite direction Kreiger came from as they figured he came out of his office located somewhere around this floor, they're crawling above avoiding the security camera in the hallways til they've found the office reserved to Simon Krieger, both heroes dropped down on their feet and enters the office, as they closed the door behind them the dumbwaiter finally arrived on the 25th floor, it opens up as Lana Baumgartner climbs out as she's back inside the very place she escaped from, only this time she's on a mission to make Krieger pay, she's quietly sneaking around avoiding the cameras as she's passing by Krieger's office and making her way towards the restricted section, unknown to her the heroes are inside the office looking around for some clue till they spotted the company computer.
"Let's check out the computer." Kid Arachnid said.
Kid Arachnid sat on the chair with Spider-Girl standing beside him, he turns on the computer, it's connected to Roxxon's mainframe only its password protected.
"You know how to hack?" Spider-Girl asking.
"No, but we know someone who does." Kid Arachnid as he taps the earpiece. "Ganke, you there?"
"Loud and clear." Ganke speaking through the earpiece.
"I'm about to plug the Spider-Drive into Krieger's computer, it's password protected and we need your help to crack it." Kid Arachnid as he plugs the drive into the slot.
"Give me a moment." Ganke is about to work his magic.
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl waited as Ganke is doing his work from the Spider-Cave to hack into Krieger's computer, the password has been cracked and the computer has been unlocked and available for access.
"Dang,you are just that good." Kid Arachnid is impressed.
"Still your guy in the chair." Ganke being proud of his work.
"Thanks Guy in the Chair, let's see what we got." Spider-Girl said.
Kid Arachnid moves the mouse around searching Krieger's computer for anything top secret or classified, just normal research projects going on that doesn't raise any suspicion, he delve deeper until he came across the ghost drives, he found something that caught his attention concerning a top secret project as he clicks and reads the contents.
"Huh, this is interesting." Kid Arachnid said.
"What's interesting?" Spider-Girl said.
"There's this secret project Krieger himself is leading, looks like Roxxon is conducting human experiment, attempting to replicate the process that created Electro in order to creating living beings capable of generating power, but instead they got something else entirely, the experiment only result in the subjects obtaining combustable powers, and according to this, many test subjects have died out as a result, only two have survived, their names are Lori and Lana Baumgartner." Kid Arachnid said.
"So both mother and daughter underwent the same experiment, that means that they share the same powers." Spider-Girl said.
"Hang on, looks like there's some video links, give me a second to play them." Kid Arachnid said.
Kid Arachnid clicked the video player on the computer and accessed the video links, they're surveillance footages of this morning showing Lori displaying powers for the first time as she's desperate to escape the chamber being gassed, she helped free her daughter Lana as they work together using their new gifts to escape their confinement together, the heroes can't believe the Roxxon is holding people against their will which is a human's right violation, they continue watching footages as it shows mother and Lana making it to the 10th floor.
"They're arriving at the 10th floor, this must be around the time the explosion occurred, let's keep watching and see what happens next." Spider-Girl said.
They continue watching the footage of the 10th floor as Lori and Lana ran down the hallway till they've reach the end and are cornered, Lori spotted a garbage chute nearby as she insisted her daughter go in first, Lana is climbing into the garbage chute but Simon Krieger and his team finally arrived as the doctor shot Lori from behind without any hesitation which shocked both Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl to see.
"Dios mío." Spider-Girl said in Spanish.
They kept on watching the footage as Lori is still injured from the gunshot caused by Simon Krieger, Lori is displaying dangerous levels of energy which made Krieger and his men panic for their lives as they've all run away to safety, Lana is attempting to get out of the chute but Lori wouldn't allow it as she pleaded with Lana to escape, Lana reluctantly went down the garbage chute as Lori is dying out till she reached the point of exploding right there on the 10th floor, the footage turned into static as the camera was destroyed in the explosion that destroyed the entire 10th floor.
"So the explosion was caused by her mother who was killed in cold blood." Spider-Girl said.
"No wonder Krieger is so desperate to find Lana, Roxxon is conducting illegal experiments and he's trying to cover everything up including the murder, Lana is the only living proof of what Roxxon has done." Kid Arachnid said.
"The whole world needs to know about this." Spider-Girl said.
"Agreed, Ganke, can you download everything remotely?" Kid Arachnid said.
"Sure I can, as long as the Spider-Drive is still pugged in, hold on." Ganke Lee said.
The computer is being hacked against as a lot of data is being remotely downloaded into the Spider-Drive as the project files and security footages are evidence against Krieger and Roxxon, the heroes are still watiing for the download to be completed until they heard a loud bang coming from nearby as the whole building's alarms went off loudly.
"What was that?" Spider-Girl said
Kid Arachnid suspects who it is. "She's here."
"Guess Bombshell got tired of hiding, what do we do about the evidence?" Spider-Girl said.
Kid Arachnid tap the earpiece. "Ganke, I need you to leak this info to the media."
"I got this, go take care of business." Ganke Lee said.
Kid Arachnid turns to Spider-Girl. "Let's go."
Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl quickly leaves the office as trouble is brewing here, at the restricted section the door was blasted off again as Lana has returned and dealt with some security here left unconscious but alive, Simon Krieger and his scientist are left standing as Lana still has her powers out as she's being very serious in exacting her revenge on the man who killed her mother.
"Lana Baumgartner, you've returned home." Simon Krieger said.
"No, I'm in hell, your hell, I haven't forgotten everything you've done to me, to my mom." Lana said.
"Is what this is all about? It wasn't personal." Simon Krieger said.
"It is to me!" Lana said.
"Unfortunate, but you just made my job a lot easier." Simon Krieger smiled sinisterly.
Lana then turns around to find more security personal coming with automatic weapons all aimed at Lana ready for the kill.
"You've been evasive hiding from us for so long, now here you are before me." Simon Krieger said.
Lana sees she's cornered. "Go ahead, shoot me, you know what'll happen to me if I die."
"How could I forget? I was actually astonished by what she accomplished, too bad there's nothing left of her to study on the count of your mother blowing herself up." Simon Krieger said.
"You son of a bitch, how dare you!" Lana got very angry.
"As much as I want to keep you alive for study, we can't have anymore loose ends. Men, ready weapons!" Simon Krieger said.
All of the security personal have their assault rifles ready to kill Lana Baumgartner without hesitation as she's ready to die and explode, taking these criminals down with her, but all of a sudden some webbing got the crew from behind and pulled away as Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl saved Lana from being shot, Krieger and the other personal are surprised by the heroes here in Roxxon.
"Kid Arachnid, what are you doing here?" Lana is surprised.
"We'd figured you'd come here seeking vengeance." Kid Arachnid said.
"Oh thank god, glad you're both here, this crazy girl trespassed in Roxxon, she's trying to kill us." Simon Krieger pretending to be relieved.
"Drop the act Krieger, we know everything you're doing here, what you've done." Kid Arachnid said.
"How unfortunate, for you." Simon Krieger said.
Coming down the hallway into the restricted section is more Roxxon security armed with assault rifles and have Lana and the heroes surrounded.
"Since you're all trespassing into private property, that gives us reasonable cause to kill you all without being arrested by the law. Kill them!" Simon Krieger said.
All of Roxxon security are about to shoot as the heroes are thinking of a solution, Lana is the first one to strike with her powers, she instantly blew up some assault rifles of the security's hands, the blast caught everyone by surprise as the heroes took advantage and splits up, Spider-Girl jumps and does the hurricanrana and flips down one of the men, next she does the low sweep kick on the other, Kid Arachnid dropped kick one and fired off a couple webbing between two men, he pulls them in as they collide together and got knocked out, Lana spotted Krieger making a run in the midst of the chaos, he's heading towards the elevator as Lana is chasing after him as he got to one, he closed the door and went up, Lana took the other elevator as she won't let this man get away. Kid Arachnid noticed Lana missing along with Krieger as he knows what she's planning to do.
"Lana's going after Krieger!" Kid Arachnid still in the fight.
"Go! I got this!" Spider-Girl said.
Kid Arachnid is making a run out of the restricted section as Spider-Girl stayed behind to fight off Roxxon security, Kid Arachnid reach the elevator to see both of them going up, one of them reached the rooftop, that's where Krieger is, Kid Arachnid spotted a window down the hallway as he runs towards it as fast as he can, he jumps out and starts crawling up to the rooftop as fast as he can to stop Lana from doing the unthinkable. Lana's elevator eventually made it to the rooftop as she got out and quickly runs out, Krieger is running towards the helicopter parked on the helipad, he's about to reach it until an energy blast was unleashed and blew up the helicopter into pieces, Krieger stopped as he turns around to see Lana with her hand out all charged up, he's trapped and got no where else to go, Lana finally has him in her sighs with so much anger.
"Congratulations, you got me." Simon Krieger said.
"Finally got you, you son of a bitch." Lana still angry.
"What are you waiting for? Kill me. I'm already a dead man, I screwed up this whole operation. Go ahead, kill me." Simon Krieger said.
Kid Arachnid finally made it to the rooftop helipad to see Lana with her powers out aiming at Simon Krieger cornered.
"Lana, don't do it!" Kid Arachnid said.
"Stay out of this, this is personal!" Lana won't back down.
"Lana, I know what happened to your mother, what this man did!" Kid Arachnid said.
"She didn't deserve this, she was trying to save me and this bastard shot her in cold blood! He has to pay for it!" Lana still want revenge.
"And he will pay for it, but not like this! This isn't you, Lana!" Kid Arachnid said.
"Shut up, you don't know me! This man took everything from me! How could you possibly understand what I'm feeling?!" Lana said.
"I know exactly what you're feeling, cause I lost someone too, he was my family, he gave his life to save mine, I know how it makes you feel, you feel angry when someone you love gets ripped away from you." Kid Arachnid shares his loss.
"So you do understand?" Lana said.
"I do understand, but nothing you do will make that feeling go away, taking Krieger's life won't make you feel better, trust me." Kid Arachnid reaching out.
"He can't get away with this, my mother deserves justice." Lana said.
"I know, but what you're doing isn't justice, it's revenge, if you want justice for her, then let this man live and he'll pay for everything he's done, that's real justice. Your mother gave her life so that you could live your life, don't let her die for nothing, don't let this man destroy her sacrifice." Kid Arachnid said.
Lana listened to Kid Arachnid's words reaching through to her heart, even though she's got rage in her, nothing she'll ever do will bring back her mother, but she thought about that moment her mother sacrificed herself to give Lana her freedom back, she still has her powers aimed at Simon Krieger and has the opportunity to take her revenge, but she powers down and spared Krieger's life for her mother.
Kid Arachnid felt relieved. "You did the right thing Lana."
Simon Krieger took the opportunity to make a run for it while the two are still distracted but he got webbed up by Spider-Girl who just finished taking down his men, Krieger has been captured as all three are standing before the mad scientist responsible for committing a number of crimes.
"Not so fast Krieger, you got a lot to answer for." Kid Arachnid said.
Simon Krieger is trapped in webbing. "You should've killed me cause none of you got nothing on me."
"Wrong, we got plenty off from your computer, documents of your project, experimenting on people and holding them against their will, and footages of you murdering Lori Baumgartner in cold blood, I have a feeling the FBI is going to have a word with you." Spider-Girl said.
"It's over Krieger, you're going to face justice." Kid Arachnid said.
Simon Kreiger is stunned that they have hard evidence against him for his crimes, Lana is grateful to the heroes for delivering justice for her mother.
(Later)
A number of reporters are just outside of Roxxon Plaza after word got out that the company is involved in some shady experiments, NYPD, FBI, and Homeland Security are here waiting as Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl are coming out with Dr. Simon Krieger all wrapped up in webbing, the lead agent Dakota North is waiting to take custody of the scientist, the heroes came up and handed him into her custody.
"Agent, allow us to give you Dr. Simon Krieger, mastermind of the bombing incident and suspect in a murder that occurred here." Kid Arachnid said.
"Normally I'm not in favor of heroes getting involved in a federal investigation, but thanks, we'll take it from here." Dakota North said.
"One other thing, Dr. Krieger here has wrongful planted falsified evidence against the man you already have in custody, he was set up." Spider-Girl said.
"We'll get that sorted out, thanks for the tip." Dakota North said.
Agent North and her team took Dr. Krieger into FBI custody as the news crews are recording everything here, NYPD and Homeland Security are sticking around as the investigation is still ongoing, Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl walks away towards the other side of Roxxon where Lana Baumgartner is coming out of the loading bay without any press or feds watching, the employees aren't here either, the heroes don't want her getting arrested for being in a situation Roxxon forced her into.
"Okay Lana, coast is clear." Kid Arachnid said.
Lana is coming out. "Why did you do it? Why didn't you give me over to the authorities?"
"Cause we meant it when we wanted to honor your mother's sacrifice, didn't seem right turning you over, not after everything you've been through, you deserve to have your freedom back." Lana said.
"You're both risking a lot for me. What'll happen if they found out you let me go?" Lana is worried.
"Then we'll cross that bridge when it come to it, but for now... you're free." Kid Arachnid said.
"Thank you both so much, but... I don't know what to do with my life, how do I go on, without her?" Lana said.
"Listen Lana, I know the feeling, it's never an easy thing getting over a loss." Kid Arachnid said.
"How'd you do it?" Lana said.
"I had help, my friends stood by me during my toughest time, to let me know that I'm never alone, thanks to them I was able to keep on going. You can too Lana, just know that you got friends whenever you need them." Kid Arachnid said.
"So you're saying we're friends?" Lana smiled.
"Of course." Spider-Girl said.
"Thanks." Lana holds up her hand display a bit of her powers. "I don't know where to go from here, what's been done to me, my life will never be the same."
"You have a gift now, no matter how you got it, you can use it however you choose." Kid Arachnid said.
"From the way you've helped us back there, you definitely got what it takes to be a hero." Spider-Girl said.
"I don't know even know what to call myself, got any suggestions?" Lana asking.
"How about... Bombshell?" Spider-Girl suggested.
"Bombshell, like the sound of that. Though I'm not sure if I'm ready for the hero life just yet, but I'll think about it." Lana said.
"If you ever need help, always remember that you have friends to count on." Kid Arachnid said.
Lana smiled warmly. "Thank you both for everything, my mother can rest in peace now that we got her justice... farewell, till we meet again."
"Likewise Bombshell." Spider-Girl said.
Lana shakes hands with Kid Arachnid and Spider-Girl as she formed a friendship with the two before she walks away from Roxxon Plaza, parting ways as she now forges her new life trying to discover where to go from here, the heroes hoped to see her again someday, but for now they did good work getting to the bottom of this mystery and bringing the true culprit to justice.
It's January 12th around 7:45 AM in London, England, at the Residence of Arthur and Jill Stacy as they're finishing up breakfast while watching the news on the investigation of Roxxon and the arrest of Dr. Simon Krieger for his crimes, coming downstairs are Peter and Gwen feeling happy after having a great night of sleeping together, the couple eventually made it to the dining room where their English breakfast is already set on the plates, they sat together chowing down as they're watching the news of back home.
"Back in New York City around 8:12 PM outside of Roxxon Plaza, local and federal officials have just arrested Dr. Simon Krieger for his crimes in conducting unethical experiments on the homeless and for the murder of a woman caught on Roxxon security footage, both footage and classified documents were leaked out anonymously, these experiment apparently resulted in the destruction of the 10th floor earlier that day, due to all the evidence against Dr. Krieger, FBI are releasing the leader of the protest and clear of all charges..."
Peter and Gwen smiled as they knew that their friends had a hand in solving this mystery, they were right to put their faith in them, they got back to eating their breakfast in peace as Arthur and Jill could tell that they're feeling happy for something.
"You both look like you slept well last night." Jill said.
"Yeah, you could say that." Gwen smiled.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that everything worked well back in New York, your aunt is safe and sound." Arthur said.
"Thanks Mr. Stacy, appreciate it." Peter said.
"Well enjoy your breakfast, we'll give you some time alone." Jill said.
Arthur and Jill picked up their plates as they're both finished breakfast and walking towards the kitchen leaving Peter and Gwen to dine in peace, Jill and Arthur are washing dishes as Arthur noticed a glow between them as he got a sense they did something together last night.
"Those two seemed very happy, you don't think they've..." Arthur suspected something.
Jill smirked. "Of course they're shagging, they're engaged after all."
Arthur is stunned. "Wow..."
Time is 9:34 AM back in New York City at the Coffee Bean in Tribeca, Mary Jane is back doing her same routine working as a barista and her great looks are attracting a lot of attention, the place is packed like the day before as life went back to normal after the mystery of the Roxxon explosion was solved, Mary Jane is still brewing another drink and pouring it into a venti cup with the name "Millie" as MJ callout that name, that same woman from yesterday came up to the pick up counter for her drink.
"Here you go, Millie." Mary Jane hands the drink.
"Thanks, Mary Jane." Millie said.
"Ah, do I know you?" Mary Jane said.
"Don't you recognize me?" Millie said.
"Should I?" Mary Jane said.
"Actually, I didn't just come for a drink, I wanted to speak with you." Millie said.
"You wanted to speak with me? Why?" Mary Jane is very confused.
"Can you take a break? There's something I wanted to run by you." Millie said.
"Actually, I still got a lot of work to do." Mary Jane said.
"I promise that what I have to say to you will be well worth your time... please." Millie said.
Mary Jane sighs. "Okay, I'll ask for a short break, wait for me outside."
Millie walks away from the counter and through the crowd heading outside of the Coffee Bean, she waited outside as she's still being low key wearing a hat and sunglasses for some reason looking around to see if anyone is watching for her, Mary Jane is coming out of the Coffee Bean and meet up with the mystery woman who wants to speak with her for some reason.
"Okay, I'm here, now can you tell me who you really are, Millie?" Mary Jane wants to know her true identity.
"You really don't know?" Millie smiled.
This woman slowly lower her sunglasses and shows off most of her face to Mary Jane to give her a hint at who she really is, Mary Jane's eyes widen as she's stunned upon finding out who she is.
"Oh my god, you're... you're Millicent Collins, also known as..." Mary Jane is stunned.
"Millie the Model." Mille revealed her identity.
"Wow, it's such an honor to meet you." Mary Jane said.
"Flattered, but can we keep this between us please, don't want paparazzi hearing my name and getting my picture, trying to keep a low profile." Millie said.
"Of course." Mary Jane said.
Millie put her sunglasses back on and tries to hide herself from the public to avoid any unnecessary attention in her free time, she and Mary Jane sat down on the outdoor chairs and table for a chat, Mary Jane is curious as to why a famous supermodel is interested in speaking with her.
"Okay, so why do you need to speak with me?" Mary Jane said.
"First thing first, I like to know you a bit, what your story here? Why does a woman of your beauty work as a barista?" Millie is interested in MJ's life story.
"Oh, well... I have this dream of pursuing acting right, I've been plays since elementary towards high school, even after I graduate I'm still pursuing my passion to become an actress." Mary Jane said.
"That sounds amazing, being an actress. So why are you working here for minimum wage?" Millie is curious.
"I tried to enroll in Juilliard twice, applied for financial aid both times too, but got turned down, so I had to work to save up for acting classes." Mary Jane said.
"How close are you?" Millie said.
"Not close enough, at this rate I never will be." Mary Jane said.
"I might suggest another path for you to follow, one that might help you get close to your dreams." Millie said.
"How?" Mary Jane said.
"Have you ever thought about modeling?" Millie suggested.
"Me? Modelling?" Mary Jane is surprised.
"Of course, you've got the right disposition to become one, maybe one of the best with your beauty and looks, you'll be able to earn some real money by your looks alone, you'd be perfect." Millie said.
"To be honest, it never crossed my mind... huh? Mary Jane the model?" Mary Jane said.
"Like I said, it's only a suggestion, that's if you want it, you can keep on working here for minimum wage or you could give modeling a try and earn enough money to be able afford acting school, it's your choice Mary Jane." Millie said.
"Why are you so interested in helping me?" Mary Jane said.
"Cause I've been in the modeling gig for a long time and I can spot someone who's got all the right dispositions to become models, and with your potential you could become a great one... anyway, I should get going, got a photoshoot in an hour at Van Dyne Fashion." Millie hands Mary Jane a card from Van Dyne Fashion. "Think about it... I truly hope that you reach your dreams one day, it was nice meeting you Mary Jane, thanks for the coffee.
Millie walk away from the Coffee Bean as Mary Jane is still sitting looking at the card Millie handed her, it's from Van Dyne Fashion run by none other than Janet Van Dyne, the Winsome Wasp, anyway Mary Jane is still thinking about whether to pursue modeling as a means to reach her goals, she looks upon the shop's window to see her reflection of her natural beauty, Millies was right that Mary Jane possesses the qualities needed for modeling, this could be an opportunity of a lifetime.
Time is 10:34 AM at Brooklyn Visions Academy as many students staying at the school are hanging around on the weekend, sitting down at one of the tables are Miles, Anya, and Ganke as they're watching the laptop of a live press conference outside of Roxxon Plaza as the company's president Hugh Jones is explaining everything that had occurred right under his nose concerning Krieger's experiment.
Hugh Jones speaking to the press. "I want to assure the public that Roxxon had no knowledge on these experiments happening within our own company, Simon Krieger acted on his own accord, Dr. Krieger has abused our company's trust and resources for his own personal agenda, we don't condone the actions he took in Roxxon's name, but we shall cooperate with government officials to cleanse the corruption Krieger had cause to the company..."
"Do you believe this BS? That he had no idea his company was conducting illegal experiments, that this was all Krieger." Anya said.
"Nah, Roxxon just trying to dodge all the bad publicly, using Krieger as a scapegoat to take the blame." Ganke Lee said.
"Do you think the government will really expose the corruption within Roxxon?" Anya said.
"I wouldn't count on it, Roxxon is the largest oil resource to all of America, these guys got major pull in DC, they're pretty much protected." Ganke Lee said.
"But at least Krieger will be facing justice for all the lives he's destroyed, that counts as a win in my book." Miles said.
Ganke Lee checks out his watch for the time. "I should get going, Danika is expecting me at that favorite pastry shop she loves."
"Go, have fun." Miles smiled.
Ganke got up and walks away from his friends to meet up with his girlfriend in Brooklyn as Miles and Anya are alone to chat till the phone is ringing as Miles pull it out of his pocket to see Peter FaceTime from London, he answered it as Peter and Gwen showed themselves walking around snowy neighbor.
"Hey Gwen, Pete, how's England?" Miles smiled.
"We're still touring around taking in the sites and having fun." Gwen said.
"Anyway, we just wanted to congratulate you both for your success." Peter said.
"We told you we got this and we did." Miles said.
"Looks like our faith in you two is genuine." Gwen said.
"Have fun over there, and don't worry this city will still be waiting for you two." Anya said.
"Thanks, see you guys in a week." Peter closed off FaceTime.
Miles puts away his phone. "I should go and check on Tiana, see if she wants to go out."
"Sure, have a good time." Anya said.
"By the way, you did great too yesterday, couldn't have done it without you." Miles said.
"We make quite a team, don't we?" Anya smiled.
"We sure do... well I should get going, see ya later?" Miles said.
Anya nodded her head with a smile. "Have a good time."
Miles gets up and walks away heading towards the girls dormitory to ask out his girlfriend Tiana on a date, Anya gets up from the chair and walks towards the entrance about to head on out, she opens up till she bumped into someone carrying a box as he dropped it by accident, Anya stopped to see this guy dropped his box full of stuff.
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Anya apologize.
"It's okay, don't worry about it, nothing is broken at least."
This boy is picking up his stuff as Anya helped out, they put everything back in the box as Anya got to see this new guy here, he's a teenage boy around 15 years old with tan skin, black hair and blue eyes, about 5' 6" in height, she doesn't recognize him as he must be new around here.
"Thanks."
"Sure thing, don't think I've seen you here." Anya said.
"Oh, where are my manners, I just moved here from Arizona, came to settle here, my name's Samuel Alexander, but please call me Sam." Sam introduced himself.
"Hi Sam, I'm Anya... Anya Corazon." Anya smiled.
Anya and Sam shakes hands, meeting each other for the first time as she's became intrigued meeting this new boy to her school, a friendship is formed between the two as the future is bound to be full of surprise for them.
Note: Please write comments or reviews for this chapter and tell what you like about it, thank you and enjoy reading the story.
