Spider-Bat: New Way Home
Chapter 14: In Tall Buildings
The following Friday…
Bruce and Alfred were about to leave for the Zorro play, in which Bruce would be performing at the Monarch Theatre, when Thomas walked up to Bruce. "Well, son, I would say, good luck, but I believe the proper thing to say is, Break-A-Leg!"
"Thanks," Bruce replied nonchalantly.
"Your mother and I really do wish we could be there to see the performance, and we hope that, one day, we will be able to make you understand why we are going with Peter instead of you. But… Alfred will be recording your entire performance, and I promise I will watch it as soon as we are all back home together," he assured him.
"Sounds good," Bruce muttered as he opened the front door.
The rain was coming down hard as Bruce and Alfred walked out of the manor. Alfred kept the two of them dry under an umbrella until they could get seated in the limousine. Thomas and Martha watched from the front door, waving goodbye as they drove away. Bruce just gave a sulking glare through the window, but didn't wave back to his smiling parents.
Alfred knew why Bruce was acting so glum. "Your mother and father truly do want to be there for you, Master Bruce. The only reason they're not going is because they've never trusted Norman Osborn, and they want to make sure Peter stays safe."
"Pffft!" Bruce scoffed. "If they think it's dangerous for him, then why would they be allowing Peter to go in the first place?" he retorted.
"You know how much Peter loves the field of science," Alfred responded. "Now, he will finally get a chance to see the most advanced science equipment and experiments on the east coast… Possibly the most advanced in the country. He would have been terribly disappointed had he missed out. And your parents didn't have the heart to tell Peter about what they know about Norman."
"What exactly do they know?" Bruce pressed for an answer.
"I'm sure your parents will have a chance to talk to you more about it as you get older. But I promise you… They have a very good reason for why they are going. And I also promise you that your parents love you very much," Alfred reassured him.
After Alfred made it seem like his parents actually did have a good reason for missing his play, Bruce decided to take out his cell phone and text Flash, so that he could tell Flash to forget about breaking into the manor, trashing Peter's room, and making off with his first place science fair prize. However, Flash didn't seem to answer back. That was because Flash was already on his way to the manor, and he had left his cell phone back at his place. At that point, Bruce almost told Alfred to turn around and go back because he had left the hallway window unlocked for Flash to crawl through, and if he went back to lock it, Flash wouldn't be able to complete his task anyway, but Bruce decided not to say anything at all, allowing Alfred to continue heading towards the Monarch Theatre. Bruce figured, if Peter was too broken up about it, he would come clean later on and accept whatever the punishment might be for having Flash do it.
Thomas, Martha, and Peter left the manor not too long after Alfred and Bruce did. Thomas chose to drive his classic 1931 Bugatti Royale Coupe to the Oscorp building. Despite being a Coupe, the bench seats and wide frame allowed for three people to sit comfortably. He loved his rare cars, and this particular model was one of only three ever sold in the world. Its 12.7 liter straight-eight engine not only made it one of the rarest engines in the world, but it also made it faster than most cars built during the same era. Though, Thomas didn't really want to drive them for the speed, especially when the rain was coming down so hard, driving them for notoriety more than anything else.
Everyone's eyes turned and stared when the Waynes pulled up in front of Oscorp. The crowd was in awe of the luxurious vehicle they were driving.
The valet driver quickly made his way over to the passenger side so that he could open up the door for Martha and Peter, while Thomas exited on the driver's side and made his way around to join his family. Thomas gave the man his keys and a fifty dollar bill, asking him to take good care of it. The valet driver gave a huge grin when he saw the bill Thomas placed in his hand. "Yes, sir," he responded euphorically.
Peter's face was also smiling euphorically as he gazed upward at the tallest building in the world. And at the top of it was the telescope he couldn't wait to look through.
The three of them walked up the steps and entered into the front lobby, which was huge. It was almost like walking into a stadium. There were steps, escalators, and elevators that visitors could use to get from floor to floor.
An usher approached the three of them. "Welcome to Oscorp! You must be the Wayne family," he greeted, checking off their names on a clipboard he held in his hand. "You can find your name tags on the counter just to the left of you. You will then go up the steps, or escalator, to the second floor, where you will find the other guests who were invited to the exhibit. Once all the guests show up, you will be guided through the facility by one of our best scientists, named Doctor Curtis Conners.
Peter immediately recognized that name, knowing the doctor was doing research to discover ways of regenerating lost limbs for amputees, including Doctor Conners himself, who had lost his right arm in a wartime blast during his time in the military.
Thomas and Martha walked over to the counter to get their name tags, but Peter was so excited to meet Doctor Conners that he dashed up the steps, completely forgetting about the name tag.
"Ahem!" Thomas got Peter's attention, causing Peter to turn and look. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Oh… Right," Peter smiled, hopping onto the step rail, and using it as a slide to get back down.
After they met up with the others, and were finally introduced to Doctor Conners, the one-armed doctor escorted them to the front doors of the main lab. Peter was excited to see what was on the other side. And when the doctor opened the doors, revealing the lab, it was like something out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory… except, this was for scientists.
The lab stood four stories tall, with catwalks and steps leading to the different levels, almost the way a prison cell block might look. The ground floor had several things going on in the center, and on every floor were small labs, which were completely visible with see-through glass. Each lab had a handful of scientists, wearing long white lab coats, working on experiments.
"As you can see from the see-through glass, Mr. Osborn likes to know everything that is going on," Doctor Conners stated. "He walks around this place like he is the warden," he quipped. "He has eyes and ears on everything. He probably even heard me tell that joke. But… I've told that joke before, and I still haven't been fired yet, so, I guess he's okay with it… for now."
Peter raised his hand. "When will we get to meet Mr. Osborn?" he asked, "And when will we be able to take a look through the MegaScope?" he added.
"Well. I think Mr. Osborn is still in an important meeting right now. He will probably join us as soon as he is done. And we will get to the telescope after we tour the laboratory," Doctor Conners answered.
After touring each floor, looking through the glass as if the scientist were on display like zoo animals, the group finally came to the last project on the fourth floor. It was one of the coolest looking experiments of them all; a hovering glider.
There was only one person standing inside the lab; a thirteen year old boy, named Harry Osborn. His back was turned away from his audience, and he looked as if he was typing some notes down on a laptop.
Peter gazed through the window, trying to figure out how the glider was levitating in mid-air like it was. At first he thought it must have a hover fan, the same way a drone flies, but he didn't see any wind moving things around. He then thought it must be controlled magnetically, but he didn't see anything below the glider that would allow it to repel from the same polar effect, nor were there any strings holding it up.
At that moment, Harry felt a weird sensation, some sort of cognitive self-awareness, causing him to turn around and look out the window. When he turned, he saw the group staring in, but he mostly noticed Peter. He had a feeling that they had met before even though this was the first time seeing his face. Peter felt the same way.
Harry pushed a button on his laptop which allowed the door to open. He then stepped out to meet the group, trying to play off the weird sensation he had just felt. "Hi. My name is Harry Osborn. You must be the group of young talented scientists, like myself, and their parents."
Peter was the first one to shake his hand, also trying to play off the weird feeling going on in his head. But when he did, the two of them began seeing images in their head of Klyntar, and its hive-mind, the artificial planet where the symbiotes are from.
They both quickly let go of each other's hands, stunned from whatever just happened to them. At that point, they both weren't sure if the other had the same vision or not, but something made them believe they both did.
Finally, Doctor Conner spoke up. "Would you like to tell them a little bit about the glider?"
Harry quickly shook off the sensation, and then began informing the group about some of the glider's specifications.
"This is only a prototype. One day it will be used as a way of transportation. My father is working on a bigger model… probably going to be used for military purposes."
"How does it hover like that?" Peter asked. "It doesn't have any fans like a drone, nor does it have a magnet to repel it."
Harry shook his head up and down in agreement. "That's correct," he replied. "This specific model is energized by something most of the world has never heard of before… It's called Vibranium. I would tell you more about it, but I could get in trouble from the 'eye in the sky' if I do," Harry suggested, pointing to a camera in the top corner of the room.
Meanwhile… Norman was sitting in his office having a discussion with Karl Fiers and Otto Octavius when suddenly he noticed a familiar face he hadn't seen for almost forteen years-
"Otto… Do you see that boy talking with my son Harry?"
Otto took a quick look at the security monitor. "Yeah… What about him?" he responded.
"Doesn't he look familiar?" Norman continued.
Karl pulled up the guest list. "His name is Peter Wayne. He is here with his parents… The infamous Waynes of Gotham."
"Peter… Wayne?" Norman repeated. "More like… Peter Parker," he declared. "He is the spitting image of his father, Richard. I would recognize that face from anywhere."
Otto took a closer look. "He does have a resounding familiarity to Richard Parker. Could it actually be his son?"
"If so, that means the symbiote could potentially be alive, which also means they were born before the plane crash occurred." Norman continued.
"Maybe you should introduce yourself." Otto insisted. "You could find out a little bit more about him."
"Yes. I believe I will." Norman replied. "If they are here, that means their home might be empty," he proclaimed. He then turned towards Karl. "I want you to head over to Wayne Manor immediately. Bring a couple guys with you. Tell them they can keep whatever they find. While they are busy ransacking the place, you could be looking for the symbiote."
"Yes, sir." Karl replied, heading straight out of Norman's office.
Norman also left his office and met up with the group just as they were finishing up talking to his son.
Thomas spotted him as he approached.
"Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. It's nice to see that you could join us this evening. I hope you're not here to scope out the competition," Norman quipped.
"No. We have enough going on at Wayne Tech that we don't need to worry too much about the things you are working on here," Thomas replied. "We are here with our son, Peter. He was invited to this little shindig you are hosting."
Norman looked down at Peter. "My son Harry has mentioned your name a couple times before. He says you have beat out a few of his projects for the state-wide science fair. That's tough to do," he stated. "You must be smart like your mother and father."
"Thanks," Peter replied. "I can't wait to visit the MegaScope. I've been waiting a long time to see it," he added.
"Well, why didn't you say so," Norman retorted. "Why don't you and Harry go on ahead of the group, that way you have a little more time to enjoy it. I have a few things I would like to show everyone else first, and then we will catch up to you two later on."
"Wow! Thanks, Mr. Osborn," Peter happily replied.
Meanwhile… Flash was just now getting to Wayne Manor. Bruce had written down instructions on a piece of paper, letting Flash know about where to park his car near the woods, and which trail he should take in order to keep him from getting spotted by the security cameras. However, due to the pouring rain, the instructions turned to a soggy mess, and Flash had to figure out the trail on his own. This caused him to be a little bit behind schedule.
"Bruce is going to owe me one, BIG TIME!" he declared, trying to keep the hard rain out of his eyes.
After finding the unlocked window, Flash slowly climbed through, listening for any security alarms. He then crawled his way down the hallway, sticking closely to the wall, just like Bruce told him to do, until he finally came to Peter's bedroom. He then opened the door and went inside.
"What a nerd," he muttered, looking around at all the science magazines and small gadgets lying around the room.
He then spotted Peter's first place science fair project. It was sitting on a shelf alongside several other projects, displayed like a shrine for all his awards.
He began walking toward the items, when suddenly-
KLONK! He tripped over one of Peter's inventions. It was the mechanical spider Peter created which could move without batteries or electricity. It was known to roam around due to its perpetual magnetic motion, and it must have crawled right out in front of Flash's feet.
Flash got mad and kicked the mechanical spider like he was trying to make a field goal in football practice. The spider crashed into Peter's shrine, causing several items to fall off the shelves.
"Oh, shit!" Flash grimaced, not realizing it would make that much noise. He stopped and listened for an alarm… Still nothing. He then looked back at the mess he caused. "Oh well! Bruce said I could trash his room first, anyway."
Minutes later, also in Gotham City… Karl Fiers had showed up to a place called "The Laugh House," a place where a few of Jimmy Atlas's boys hung out, and he was looking to borrow a couple of Jimmy's goons to go with him to break into Wayne Manor.
"Yo! Marko!" Karl announced from across the room.
Flint Marko was sitting at the bar with his buddy, Joe Chill, when he heard his name get called out. He turned around in his stool to see who it was.
"Oh, boy," Flint muttered under his breath. "This guy is crazy."
Karl continued making his way over to the bar area. "Get your duffle bags," he instructed. "I've gotta job for ya."
"What kind of job?"
"A big one. Wayne Manor, big."
"Wayne Manor? Isn't that dangerous?" Flint retorted.
"Nope! Nobody is home. It's a million miles from the main city. Plus, it's Friday night; ain't no cops gonna have time to get out to that place for at least an hour."
Flint looked over at Joe. "Can we bring my buddy. He knows all about the Wayne's place. He's been scoping them out for a few years now. He almost had a big score once when they were about to walk through the alleyway at Pearl and Phillips, but for some reason they decided to turn and walk in a different direction."
"Sure. You guys can keep anything you get your hands on. I want you to tear it from top to bottom." Karl replied.
"What are you going to be looking for?" Joe asked.
"I honestly don't know. I just know I'll know it when I find it."
Meanwhile… Harry and Peter were looking through the MegaScope. Harry was trying to show Peter where he thought the Space Shuttle Discovery 13 was at. It was a little tiny dot out in the middle of space, close to Planet Neptune. He wasn't quite sure if it actually was the shuttle or not, he was mostly using star coordinates to offset the differential in the objects placement.
"I can't believe how far I can see through this thing." Peter said in amazement. "Every constellation seems like it's right by my face."
"Yeah. It is pretty cool," Harry agreed. "I have something else really cool I could show you before the rest of the group gets up here."
"Like what?"
"Follow me," Harry insisted, waving his hand towards a door that read, "Authorized Personnel Only."
Harry then pushed a number sequence into the keypad. When the door opened, it revealed a room full of test subjects; some mice, a few small turtles, but mostly arachnids. Peter walked around. He was amazed at the different webbing each spider could design.
Harry then opened up another panel. "You haven't seen anything yet," he bragged.
When the panel turned towards Peter, he couldn't believe what he was looking at. The entire wall was covered with webbing. But it wasn't any type of webbing he had ever seen before. These webs were black, and there were WORDS spelled out in the strands. In the center of all the webbing was a giant wolf spider.
"Is that fake?" Peter asked.
"Nope!" Harry replied. "This spider actually knows how to communicate with me by spelling out words. It's the only spider of its kind."
"Communicate with you?" Peter repeated back. "Like, with only you?" he continued.
"Yes. For some reason it likes me."
"What kind of spider is it?" Peter wanted to know, his face still in awe.
"My father calls it "Subject P." It's been alive longer than you and I. What's funny is, when I was littler, I nicknamed this thing "Petey." And here you are." Harry laughed.
Harry then stuck his hand out, allowing Subject P to hop onto his own hand. Peter continued to be amazed.
"You know what?" Harry continued. "I haven't had any visions of that weird planet since I was two years old, that is… until we shook hands earlier."
Peter gave Harry an awkward stare. "You saw that too?" he asked. "What was it?"
"I don't know. I just remember seeing it when I was younger… Right after this little guy bit me."
"Did you have to go to the hospital?"
"I've never had to go to the hospital in my entire life… And I'm willing to bet you never have either."
Peter thought back for a second. "You know what? I think you're right," he acknowledged. "What happened after you saw the visions?"
"I don't remember much besides that. All I know is, my father had Petey's fangs removed after that, so it couldn't bite me again."
Harry then held the spider out to Peter. "Go ahead and pet him. He is friendly."
Peter held out his hand. At first he was hesitant to get too close.
Suddenly the spider leapt out of Harry's hand and onto Peter's arm.
Peter was a bit shaken at first, but he soon calmed down when he realized the spider wasn't harmful.
Harry and Peter were chuckling as they watched the spider investigate Peter's arm. "That tickles," Peter said.
However, the spider's behavior started to become more erratic. And it began trying to bite down at his skin. But the spider didn't have any fangs to penetrate his arm.
"Why is it doing that?" Peter became worried.
"I don't know. It has never acted this way before." Harry answered.
Peter then tried to pick up the spider with his free hand, but the spider dug his legs into Peter's skin like a cat's claws, not allowing Peter to easily pull him away.
"Ow! This thing doesn't wanna let go."
Just then, unbeknownst to the two boys, the spider began to grow fangs, which should've been impossible. It was then about to bite down on Peter's arm, when suddenly-
Harry swiped his hand across Peter's arm, snatching the spider away and putting him in a glass cage, before the spider could bite down.
"Wow! I don't know what got into him," Harry said. "We better get out of here before the group makes it up this way."
The two of them made it back to the MegaScope just as the rest of the visitors were coming up in the elevator.
When Thomas and Martha exited the elevator, they immediately rushed over to Peter. "We have to go, son," Thomas informed Peter.
"Why? What is it?" Peter retorted.
Thomas held out his phone. "The silent alarm is going off at home. It looks like it's the alarm closest to your bedroom. Martha thinks it's just from your toys you have crawling around in your room, but there was also an alarm set off near the hallway. Didn't you remember to shut your door before we left?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did." Peter answered.
"We better get going. I will probably have to meet the police there, and it's going to take us close to an hour to get back if it's still raining like it was when we got here."
Meanwhile… Karl, Flint, and Joe had made their way to the manor. Joe had cased it out several times before, and he knew exactly which trail led to the backside of the manor.
They were about to climb over the concrete security wall, when suddenly Joe told them to pause.
"What is it?" Karl asked.
"Look. Somebody is crawling out of that window." Joe informed them. "It looks like somebody beat us to the punch."
Karl quickly realized it was just a teen. "That ain't no thief. That's just a punk kid trying to play a prank on them. He's probably friends with one of the boys that live there… And wouldn't you know it… He left the window wide open for us… Must be our lucky night."