Spider-Bat: New Way Home

Chapter Six: The Long and Winding Road

Sadly, Richard Parker had to bury his wife, Mary, in the middle of the New Mexico desert. He prayed the alien compound she had absorbed would've miraculously healed her bullet wound, the same way it healed her mangled fallopian tubes, but unfortunately… It. Did. Not.

It was a terrible loss for him, and even more for Peter. This meant Peter would never get to know his own mother. Richard wasn't even sure if Peter should ever get to know his own father either, particularly due to the "bat" condition Richard had; fearful of the damage he could cause if he transformed while Peter was somewhere near him at the time. Not to mention- what Norman would do if he ever found out they were still alive.

He decided it would be best to stay away for a while, hoping Thomas and Martha would take good care of him, at least until Richard could figure out a way to cure himself, or at the minimum, be able to suppress it. The only way he could do that was to find Dr. Kirk Langstrom. And thanks to Bruce Banner's suggestion, Richard knew his next step was to travel to Wuhan, China.

"How he would get there," was still a question he had on his mind. He didn't think it would be very wise to take any more planes for a while, especially since Norman seemed to be ahead of the game when it came to knowing the flight charts. He thought about different boats that might make it all the way to China, but then he thought- "would he want to take a chance of being around other passengers if he was to suddenly transform into a giant bat, causing whatever ship he was on to become the next "Demeter?" Then, a funny thought entered his mind, causing him to chuckle a little bit. "Heh-heh. I wonder if I could just transform into a bat and fly there myself?... Nah! I'll figure out something."

At the same time, Bruce Banner was still curious about Oscorp's development of a new synthetic form of the Super-Soldier-Serum. Bruce's study of Gamma Radiation was in lockstep competition with Oscorp's theories of creating a stronger human being, those strengths being the same as Captain America's… OR STRONGER. Though, many scientists believed that creating a serum any stronger than the dose Captain America took would cause a man to lose his mind. This was why the discovery of the alien compound was so important, because now they could alter someone's DNA with the symbiote, which in-turn would allow the test subject to receive a larger dose.

After hearing Richard's story about how Norman's samples of the alien compound were destroyed during the break-in at Oscorp, he knew Norman would soon come around asking for another sample, and at that time Bruce could leverage a deal with Norman in order to trade another sample of the symbiote for a sample of the Super-Soldier formula. This would propel Bruce's Gamma Radiation studies. He figured he could superimpose the small Gamma-bursts with Super-Serum, making the bursts bigger, and allowing him to study the radiation that much quicker. Though, after seeing Richard's transformation into a giant bat, he was worried about how careless Norman might be with his own experiments; especially his experiments with the alien compound. The most important thing about new scientific discoveries was taking things one small step at a time, perfecting them slowly and safely.

Bruce's mind had already thought of several things that most people's minds could never fathom. Not only did he believe that Gamma Rays would lead to giving people more strength and curing several ailments in the future, but being a scientist- he also knew that space was our final destination; and he knew that a big enough Gamma-blast could create a black hole, capable of creating worm-holes, which in-turn would allow us to travel through space and time much faster and even further beyond our own universe. Plus, he was also interested in harnessing the power of a Gamma-blast explosion, because it would give spaceships ample energy to stay powered forever. The only problem with trying to harness the energy of the blast was the fact that Otto Octavius was the best scientist in his field for that particular task… and he was currently working for Oscorp.

While Richard was on his way to China, and Bruce was making deals with Norman, Thomas and Martha were also making plans as to how they could adopt Peter without Norman finding out Peter was Mary and Richard Parker's son. They came up with the idea to payoff someone at an adoption agency who would claim Peter was left on the doorsteps of an orphanage, and that the Waynes decided to adopt him when he was only a few weeks old; this would make things more kosher and safer for everyone, avoiding any future conflicts with Norman and/or his goon-squad in gray suits.

Over the first few years of Peter's life, Thomas and Martha could tell he was quite a bright boy. By the time he was three years old he already knew the entire alphabet; could count to one-hundred; sound out words and spell his own name; and even add small numbers together. Despite Peter being a year younger than Bruce, he was excelling much quicker. Plus, Peter seemed to be much stronger than children his own age. However, Bruce was certainly determined to try and keep up the best he could, it just meant he had to try that much harder, and Bruce was not one to give up easily.

A couple years later, Bruce was happy to start first grade. He had spent most of the summer with Peter and he was ready to finally get away from him for a while. Within the first couple weeks of school he became good friends with Rachel Dawes and Thomas Elliot, and it was nice not having Peter around, butting into their conversations and all. However… that would soon change. While Bruce was sitting in class, the principal of the school came strolling in alongside Peter. He then announced-

"Attention students! There is a new student who will be joining your class today. His name is Peter Wayne. He has been able to skip over kindergarten because the teacher believes he doesn't need it. I would like you all to make him feel welcome."

Peter waved after spotting Bruce sitting at his desk. Bruce turned his head and sighed, feeling embarrassed that his younger brother was now going to be in the same grade as him. This meant he would have to try and keep up on the same grades as him and figure out how to compete with him in sports. Plus, it didn't make Bruce feel any easier after seeing Rachel wave back at Peter.

During that school day, Peter tried hanging out with Bruce at lunch-time and at recess, but Bruce didn't want any of it. Bruce was even rude to him a couple different times, asking him to go sit somewhere else, or to go find other kids to play with. Though, Rachel was more empathetic about the situation, sitting with Peter at lunch and hanging out with him at recess; this only frustrated Bruce that much more.

Later, as the two of them were getting home from school, they noticed a police car sitting in the driveway. Bruce was still so ticked off from the earlier events at school that he barely paid any attention, barging through the front door of the manor, and huffing straight up to his room.

Peter, on-the-other-hand, had a terrible feeling that something was wrong, so he rushed in behind Bruce, making his way to wherever the police officer might be at. When he entered the dining room, he found his mother sitting next to his father at the table. He also noticed that his mother was crying, and his father's arms were draped over her in order to comfort her.

Peter quickly made it over to her side as well. "Mom. What's wrong?" he asked, trying to hold her hand.

Thomas spoke up. "Your mother was mugged by a couple creeps in red masks today as she went shopping downtown."

"Were you hurt, mom?" Peter sighed.

"No, son. I wasn't hurt," she replied softly, her voice still trembling a bit.

"Where is your brother?" Thomas asked Peter.

Peter turned to look. "I don't know. I think he went straight to his room. He's been acting funny all day." He then turned his attention back to his mother. "Are you going to be okay, mom? Did they catch the guys who did this to you," he gazed up toward the police officer.

The officer looked at Thomas and Martha. He didn't want to tell Peter the whole story. He felt that would be better for his parents to explain to him when they were ready. "Your mom is going to be okay," he replied. "And the bad guys are already off the street," he assured him, though Peter noticed the silent exchange between the officer and his parents and knew there was more to the story.

"How did it all happen, mom?" Peter wanted details.

"Ahem," Thomas got Peter's attention. "Your mother was saved by a vigilante. They had just grabbed her pearls, when suddenly an individual came from out of nowhere and beat the guys up, allowing the police to get there in time. "Officer Gordon here was the first one on the scene."

Peter looked amazed. "A vigilante?" he repeated. "What did he look like?"

"Your mother said she barely got a glimpse of him, but she remembers seeing him cloaked in a dark, burgundy red cape, concealing most of his body; and when parts of his cape would open up, it was total darkness; and he didn't seem to have a face either, as that was completely dark as well."

"Heh." Officer Gordon let out a small chuckle. "Ahem… Sorry about that," he apologized. "What your father is talking about is a new myth in Gotham City, that a vigilante by the name of The Scarlet Shadow, has been spotted breaking up robberies taking place downtown, though I still find it hard to believe myself."

"Are you calling my mother a liar?" Peter piped up, giving the officer a mean glare.

"No. I believe her. It's just hard to believe, that's all." Officer Gordon replied. But, if she says she saw him, I have to believe she really saw him. Usually the only people that claimed to have seen him are bad people. Well… the ones that-"

"AHEM!" Thomas blatantly interrupted, causing the officer to stop talking, not wanting the officer to complete his sentence.

Thomas knew the sentence was going to end with, "the ones that were still alive, that is." Thomas didn't want Peter finding out that, not only did The Scarlet Shadow save Martha, but that he also killed the two burglars as well.

Officer Gordon took this as a good time to make his exit. "If there is anything else you guys need, please give us a call. Have a good day," he said, tipping his hat at the trio and walking out.

As officer Gordon was walking out of the dining room, Alfred and Bruce were walking in.

"Mom was saved by a vigilante today!" Peter exuberantly tried informing Bruce.

"I know. Alfred told me already." Bruce retorted. "I'm glad mom is okay. And I'm also glad those thugs are dead."

Thomas and Martha scowled at Alfred because they couldn't believe he decided to tell Bruce the whole truth. Alfred gestured back with a remorseful smirk.

"The robbers are dead?" Peter repeated. "How?"

"The guy who saved mom beat them to death in an alleyway." Bruce replied, causing Thomas and Martha to drop their jaws, scowling that much more towards Alfred.

"Excuse me. I believe I have supper to prepare," Alfred made mention as he quickly shuffled out of sight.

"The police aren't sure if the robbers are dead or not." Thomas inserted. "Though, I do believe they were rushed to the hospital. In fact, I might have been treating them if it wasn't for me having to get a call from your mother, letting me know what had happened."

"I hope they are dead!" Bruce blurted.

"Bruce! What has gotten into you today?" Martha spoke loudly. "Don't say those types of things. They were just young punks. They still had their whole lives ahead of them. They had time to change. Nobody should be allowed to say who lives or dies. Do you understand me?"

Bruce lowered his head. "Yes, ma'am."

During those same five years, Richard had been making great progress with suppressing his transformations, now able to fully control whether or not he changes. Plus, Richard knew Peter was doing great at the Waynes' house; this made it that much easier for him and Doctor Langstrom to do studies on what the main cause of the transformations were. Though Kirk had his own reasons for wanting to study Richard's condition, that being the fact that Kirk was losing his hearing in his left ear. And he thought he could somehow repair it by replacing it with bat sonar capabilities. Therefore, he would take small samples of Richard's blood and lace it with his own formula, then inject himself with it. Over time, Kirk was actually able to hear out of his left ear once again; maybe even better than before.

Meanwhile, Bruce Banner and Norman Osborn were not having as much luck with their studies as Kirk and Richard were having with theirs. In fact, their studies with the original symbiote had completely been derailed due to the fact that the alien compound was no longer responding to any of their tests. It was almost as if too much of the symbiote had been picked apart and it could no longer function properly, causing it to go dormant, or worse, completely die off. This meant Bruce and Norman would have to go back to the drawing board.

If Norman would have been a better father, he would have seen how quickly his own son, Harry, had been progressing. But he was too busy, staying over at the lab, to even notice.

The only way Bruce could do more studies of Gamma Rays was to set off small explosions in the desert, allowing him to study the patterns of the radiation after the blast. However, by performing his Gamma-explosions in the New Mexico desert, unbeknownst to him, he had woken up a certain symbiote who was previously buried there.

Mary Parker's hand came up from out of the ground...

Two years later…

It was a late April evening as the Waynes left the Monarch Theatre. The sky was pitch black because of the new moon. They had just watched a play called Phantom of the Opera. As they walked along, Peter, now seven years old, and Bruce, now eight, were bugging their parents, asking them if they could get some ice cream. They knew of a place just around the block. Bruce suggested they could get there more quickly if they cut down an alleyway near Pearl and Phillips. But- just as they entered the alley, Peter had a strange buzzing feeling going off in his head, almost as if something was trying to warn him.

"I don't think we should cut through there," he warned. "It's not safe."

"What!?" Bruce blurted. "It's completely safe, you chicken! Besides, crime doesn't happen that much any more thanks to The Scarlet Shadow cleaning up the streets. The thugs are scared to death of him."

"I don't know, Bruce. It's awfully dark." Martha interjected.

Bruce started tugging on Thomas's arm. "C'mon dad. Tell them it's safe."

Thomas peered into the dark alleyway, looking for any sign of trouble. "It does look safe, honey," he said to his wife.

Again, before they could start walking through the alleyway, Peter's head began to spin. "No! It's not safe!" he declared once again. "There is someone down there. They are waiting for us!"

"Oh my god!" Bruce exclaimed. "What a-"

"That's enough!" Martha interrupted his sentence. "If Peter doesn't want to walk through the alleyway, we don't have to. It will only take an extra couple minutes to just walk the entire block."

Bruce did as he always did when his mother got loud with him, he put his head down and said. "Yes ma'am."

As they continued walking, Peter looked back towards the alleyway just before turning the corner. When he did, he noticed a figure emerge from out of the shadows. The figure just stood there, watching the Wayne family continue strolling on their merry way.

Then, a minute later, just as they were turning the last corner which would lead them to the ice cream parlor, a street bum began barking in their ears. "The owls are watching! The owls are watching!" he kept repeating.

Then, the homeless man ran off into the streets, continuing to bark out the same phrase. Unfortunately for him, he didn't see the delivery truck heading directly towards him. And then-

SWOOSH! An individual came swooping down from out of the night sky, grabbing hold of the homeless man, and pulling him out of the way of the oncoming truck just in time, and back to safety.

Bruce and Peter were in awe as they watched the crimson-clad vigilante vanish out of sight.