Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! I've been hearing that Black Panther 3 is in development, but we shall always remember Chadwick Boseman. This man was a real life superhero. He was able to accomplish 9 films within the 4 years of fighting colon cancer along with helping children suffering the same fate. We will never forget him. (Wakanda Forever)
Futhermore, I have to say the video game Marvel Rivals is so awesome! The art design of both heroes and villains as well as their abilities are terrific!
I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 34: Along Came A Spider
At Empire State University, Gwen couldn't help but give a little sigh as she finished spraying the glass displays in Professor Farley Stillwell's lab.
Her parents and older brother were thrilled with the news of her being selected as a junior lab assistant in one of the most popular universities in New York City.
She herself was thrilled as well, but didn't expect the job to be filled with so much cleaning.
Gwen then went to check the final temperatures of the super spider cases and took out her small notebook to count the insects.
The fourteen year old girl went over each one of the 7 cases top to bottom, but it wasn't until she reached the final one that she panicked.
The case was empty.
Her soft blue eyes widen as she carefully checked underneath the table and saw there was no sign of the missing crawler.
Gwen went over to Professor Stillwell, who was using a microscope to look at a shield backed scorpion.
The teenage girl cleared her throat to earn the professor's attention.
"Professor Stillwell."Gwen spoke up.
"What's wrong, Gwen?"Professor Stillwell questioned.
"We've got a stowaway."Gwen responded while pointing into the empty case."And I know it was in there when I looked coming in today."
To her surprise, Professor Stillwell remained calm.
"You have nothing to worry about."Professor Stillwell assured."It's actually no surprise."
"Wait…no surprise?"Gwen asked in confusion.
"It's most likely hiding right now, literally in plain sight."Professor Stillwell exclaimed."You see, this spider was bred with enhanced camouflaging capability able to hide itself in any environment with a chameleon-like chemical reaction along with additional super spider traits shared with it."
This caused Gwen to become impressed.
"Wow. A chameleon super spider that can blend in anywhere?"Gwen asked, her voice mixed with a hint of admiration."I knew some spiders could change colours to blend with their environments. But I never heard of one that can actually disappear completely? It sounds almost like a…Ghost Spider."
Professor Stillwell nodded in agreement as he carefully moved the shield backed scorpion away.
"Now don't you worry about the missing spider."Professor Stillwell instructed."Despite its traits, I doubt it would last long if room temperature goes down."
"Okay, sir."Gwen agreed.
Unknown to Professor Stillwell and Gwen, the missing spider was making its way inside a backpack before disabling its camouflaging momentarily, revealing its pink and white colour scheme.
It then crawled inside one of the backpack's smaller pocket before reactivating its camouflage.
After finishing her work at Empire State University, Gwen said goodbye to Professor Stillwelll and went up to pick up her backpack which was the one that the missing crawler went inside to hide.
The fourteen year old girl then took off on her bike to return home.
Once Gwen arrived to her destination, she went to the garage of her house and found Paul in the middle of practicing his guitar skills.
Paul Warren was a 19 year old boy with short blonde hair and sea blue eyes. He wore a light greyish green stylish t-shirt, brown trousers and black shoes.
"Hey, Paul."Gwen greeted with a wave.
"Hey, baby sister."Paul responded as he lowered his guitar."How was ESU?"
"Terrific."Gwen remarked."You know despite all the little crawlers that are held in glass cages with their innocent jaws that are not all dangerous."
Paul simply shook his head.
"You like spiders, Gwen."Paul reminded."When you were five, you used a glass cup to bring a little spider out of the house while mum was ready to crush it."
"Hey. Mum doesn't understand that not all spiders are dangerous."Gwen commented with her arms folded."Though the bite of a female black widow is thought to be 15 times more potent than that of a rattlesnake."
A smug smile appeared on Paul's face as he and Gwen made their way inside the house.
"Did Riley teach you that?"Paul assumed.
"No."Gwen answered casually and began heading upstairs to go to her bedroom."I did my own research."
The moment Gwen closed the door and placed her backpack on the floor, she went over to her bed and collapsed on it.
Just as the blonde haired girl was about to take a nap, her soft blue eyes snapped open upon realising that she hadn't got a call from Riley.
Gwen went over to her backpack to take out her iPhone and went to sit on the seat next to her laptop.
While she was busy checking her messages on her iPhone, the arachnid stowaway crawled its way out of her backpack and disabled its camouflage again.
It sensed the room's other occupant and through some unknown force that was coercing it towards Gwen.
The pink white ghost spider silently made its way toward Gwen's desk.
Gwen raised her eyebrow upon seeing she got no messages or missed calls from Riley.
The last time she heard from her best friend was that the Avengers were throwing a farewell party to Thor, but since then nothing.
Gwen placed her iPhone on her laptop desk and leaned back in her chair to take a breath.
"How weird."Gwen murmured in confusion."It's not like Riles to stop chatting or not leave her phone off for too long."
Gwen then began checking her laptop to read the top news, only for a report on the Hulk attacking Johannesburg to catch her attention.
When she went on researching furthermore about the recent news, numerous reports on the Avengers battling an army of robots in Sokovia showed up.
"The Avengers are in Sokovia?"Gwen read in surprise."Is that where you are right now, Riley?"
Gwen then used her right hand to pick up her iPhone to try and call Riley while leaving her left hand on her desk.
At the same time, the super spider had reached the top of her desk and after crawling up to Gwen's left hand, it took notice of the flesh before opening its mouth and bit on it.
"Ow!"Gwen cried out in pain and became shocked to see the missing spider on her left hand."What the hell?!"
Gwen shook her left hand, making the spider flew away and hit the floor before landing belly up on the carpet in a daze.
The blonde haired girl rubbed her left hand before she immediately emptied the pencil holder on her desk before using it to reach down and scoop up the dead spider inside.
Putting her hand over the cup, Gwen carefully made her way down to the kitchen.
Putting the cup on the counter with her hand still over it she rummaged through the trash looking for something to contain it.
Gwen quickly found an empty Barista Coffee can previously disposed of by her mother.
She immediately dumped the dead spider into it.
With the missing spider now contained, Gwen headed back to her bedroom up the stairs, still in disbelief that one of the ESU super spiders had hitchhiked home with her.
"How in the world did you get out?"Gwen questioned."Much less follow me home?"
The spider gave no response.
However, as Gwen reached the top of the stairs, she was starting to feel ill.
Her hands were shaking as she reached for her bedroom door knob.
Gwen opened it and closed the door behind her before setting the spider can on her desk as the after effects of the spider bite were fully kicking in.
The blonde haired girl could only feel her whole body trembling as she stumbled toward her dressing mirror.
Her vision was beginning to go blurry and felt herself sweating as her body continued shaking.
"What…is…happening…to…me?"Gwen mumbled tiredly.
Gwen turned around and braced herself against her bed until she couldn't take the heat flare anymore.
She continued to shake and sweat as she crawled onto her bed before passing out.
A spectacular reaction was taking place within Gwen's DNA.
The venom from the bite carried a super genome which broke off part of her normal strand and replaced it.
Gwen's genes underwent an amazing transformation, enhancing everything from her senses, metabolism and physique.
When that happened, Gwendolyne Maxine 'Gwen' Warren was no longer an ordinary girl.
(Few Months Later)
As it expected, Riley wasn't much fond of her first days attending Midtown High after the summer holiday ended.
The classes were tolerable and almost every time she stepped into a class, most of the students surrounded her with questions about the Avengers or wanting autographs from her.
Plus, she had received lots of homework and the teachers paraded around like they were Einstein.
Sure she was a prodigy and a A+ plus student, but sometimes Riley would rather been studying with actual geniuses like Dr Bruce Banner.
Riley couldn't help but let out a sad sigh as she went over to her locker to place away her books.
Since both Bruce and Thor left, things have become a bit boring.
Even if she still had new people to talk to like Pietro, Wanda or Vision, she still missed talking to the original members of the Avengers.
However, what made Riley feel joyous deep down that she was soon going to be an older sister and no longer going to be an only child.
Even if her future sibling was from a different mother, she was still happy.
Her father and Pepper were made for each other.
The moment she opened her locker, Riley found it already full of love letters much to her dismay.
Riley scowled as she simply stomped on the love letters.
The young brunette didn't have to think twice that the boys only wanted to go out with her because she was Tony Stark's daughter, a heroine-in-training or one of the hot rich chicks in school that was some sort of prize to be won.
However, she was warned from Jane and Darcy that most boys in High School that are flirts were usually after one thing from a girl which made her be ready to kick their ass if it happened.
After tossing the love letters in a nearby bin, Riley went to get her rose gold coloured pocket mirror to check her appearance.
The Stark heiress wore a velvet purple floral jumper, ivory coloured cargo pants and white red sneakers. Around her neck was a black choker. Her chestnut brown was styled in two braided ponytails.
She only saw herself as a simple school girl.
Riley Stark.
When she had on her superhero suit, she was Jewel Star.
An Avenger.
Riley loved being an Avenger.
It wasn't being respected after years of being frowned upon by her coworkers at S.H.I.E.L.D. or wearing a cool power suit.
She loved helping people.
She loved the idea of being the world's protector, fighting the battles that others couldn't.
She loved being part of something that was bigger than herself.
Though after the incident with the Sokovia Accords, she had taken a little break from her Avengers life to relax.
There was no need for the Avengers unless the government called for it, so she used that to her advantage.
Riley then placed away her pocket mirror and closed her locker, only to notice Peter approaching her.
"H-Hi, Riley."Peter greeted with a shy smile.
"Hey, Petey."Riley answered as she placed her dark pink backpack over her shoulder."What can I do for you?"
"Can I see your schedule?"Peter requested."Maybe we have more classes together."
Riley shrugged and pulled out her neatly folded paper schedule, passing it to him without another word.
Peter skimmed the schedule with his bright eyes.
"Whoa!"Peter remarked."We have first, third, fourth and seventh period together!"
Riley simply nodded before giving an apologetic look to Peter.
"Peter, I heard what happened to your Uncle Ben."Riley stated."I'm very sorry."
The smile on Peter's face shrunk a bit at the mention of his uncle.
Not long after returning from Sokovia, Riley was told from Gwen that Peter's uncle, Ben Parker, was killed by a burglar that attempted to rob his car.
However, Captain George and the members of the Police Department caught up with the burglar in an abandoned warehouse and arrested him.
"I just can't believe his gone now."Peter declared, his voice sounding deeply hurt."I'll never forgive myself."
Riley held Peter's free hand to give it a comforting squeeze.
"Hey. It's not your fault what happened to your uncle."Riley admitted."The guy was armed, he could've ended up killing you too."
"I know but sometimes I wish I've done something."Peter declared.
Riley nodded as she let go of Peter's hand and decided to change the subject.
"So what is it you wanted to talk about?"Riley asked.
"Huh? Oh, right. It's this Spanish test I have next Monday."Peter explained and brought out his notebook from his backpack."Hola. Mi nombre es Peter. Tengo que llevar a mi perro al veterinario."
Upon hearing Peter speak in Spanish, Riley covered her mouth to giggle upon understanding what he just said.
"You...have to take your dog to the vet?"Riley chuckled."Do you even know what you just said?"
Peter became surprised.
"You understood all that?"Peter asked.
Riley gave a nod.
"Besides English and Spanish, I also speak with Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Italian and French. Yeah, I definitely understood that."Riley assured as she leaned against the lockers."Listen, if you need help with your Spanish stuff, I'm free pretty much all week."
Peter's eyes seemed to light up upon hearing what the Stark heiress had been suggesting.
"I like you."Peter declared.
Riley's eyes immediately widened at Peter's declaration.
"What?"Riley questioned.
A wave of nervousness went over Peter, making him give Riley an anxious smile.
"I-I mean, not like that, of course!"Peter remarked, his voice mixed with panic and embarrassment."We are just friends! I mean, you and I are gonna be great friends! That's all!"
Peter then walked away in a fast pace while covering his blushing yet embarrassed face, making Riley simply smile and shake her head.
She had to admit that Peter was charming in his own boyish way.
Riley grinned as Gwen went over to her and the two of them shared a hug.
Gwen wore a black shirt underneath a magenta pink jumper, blue jeans and brown boots. Her blonde hair was a bit curly with hot pink highlights at the end.
"Hey, Riles."Gwen greeted.
"Hi, Gwen."Riley chuckled."Let's talk science. So how was your visit to ESU?"
"Let me putting into the simplest sentence as possible."Gwen insisted with a smirk."You get to study chemistry and electrical engineering along with a number of courses in business administration."
"Awesome."Riley praised proudly."I can't believe you, my bestest friend, will be a junior lab assistant in one of the popular universities in NYC."
Gwen gave Riley an anxious smile.
"Alright, Riles."Gwen complemented."No need to be over the moon. My parents and big brother have already done that."
Riley and Gwen began heading out Midtown High together like the other students did.
"You know this great. I can clearly see our destinies."Riley informed with a hint of joy."Finishing high school, home work, the awkward moments with family and studying at a nice university. A typically normal life for a teenager. One studying the arts of music which is me and the other aiming for the sciences which is you."
Gwen simply smirked at Riley's declaration.
"Then can you see our future dates for our Homecoming Dance?"Gwen assumed.
Riley stopped at the block of stairs and turned around to give Gwen an embarrassed grin.
"Actually, no."Riley replied."I'm not psychic."
"I knew that already."Gwen sneered and put her arm over Riley's shoulder."But you're right about the whole normal teenager experience. It wouldn't be so boring."
Gwen noticed Riley smiling at her.
"What?"Gwen questioned.
"Did something happen to you, Gwen?"Riley asked curiously."You seem different."
"Riles, I'm still the same."Gwen sneered."Just feeling more spectacular than I ever was before because of attending ESU."
Riley smirked. "No boyfriend then?"
"Not yet."Gwen answered simply.
At Avengers Tower, Tony was in his lab and looking at a bunch of digital video screens that showed recordings of a masked superhero in New York City named Spider-Man, who was strong enough to catch a speeding vehicle with his bare hands.
The builders had to get the place fixed after the whole Ultron and Vision destroying it thing.
Riley pushed open the glass door, letting herself inside.
"Hi, dad."Riley greeted.
"Hey, Rye-Rye."Tony replied and placed his cup of coffee."Come. Check this out."
The young brunette placed her backpack on the table and went over to her father to look at the videos of the masked vigilante.
Riley raised an eyebrow.
"You're studying Spider-Man?"Riley asked.
"I'm pretty sure his name is Spider-Boy, kiddo."Tony commented as he paused the video of the masked hero using his web shooters."He looks like he's around your age."
Riley smirked at Tony.
"So I can date him?"Riley assumed.
A frown appeared on Tony's face.
"I never said that."Tony retortrd and looked back at the videos."This kid seems very impressive. He seems to have superhuman spider-powers including superhuman speed, strength, agility, durability, stamina, reflexes, coordination and balance as well as the ability to cling to solid surfaces."
"Like an actual spider?"Riley guessed with a casual tone.
"Exactly."Tony agreed.
Tony took another sip of his coffee as Riley touched the digital screens to look at various reports on Spider-Man.
"I guess his kind of cool. He can even shoot artificial webbing at the baddies and swing through the city."Riley declared."But some people like J. Jonah Jameson thinks he is a menace while Captain George thinks he's a hero."
"Alright. Sure the kid has a bunch of likes and dislikes."Tony commented with a small shrug."Yet, I wonder what it will be like if he had access to the resources the Avengers had."
Riley glanced at Tony.
"Dad, you really consider him a candidate for a potential future Avenger?"Riley questioned with an unimpressed expression."You haven't even met the guy."
Tony smirked and puts his hand over Riley's shoulder.
"Well, I am sure with your brilliant mind and secret agent skills, it wouldn't be so hard for you."Tony declared.
Riley nodded in agreement, only to become shocked at what her father meant.
"Huh?!"Riley gasped in disbelief."You want me to find out his secret identity?!"
"Exactly."Tony agreed.
"Are you serious, dad?"Riley asked."Whatever happened to studying hard at school?"
Tony simply planted a kiss on Riley's forehead.
"I wouldn't worry about your exams, you're an A+ student anyway."Tony remarked smugly."Think of this as your first ever solo mission."
"Yay."Riley praised with a hint of sarcasm.
"Help!"A woman cried out."Somebody help me!"
Somewhere in Crosby Street, two burglars attempted to rob a woman's purse.
It was the middle of the night, but didn't seem no one was going to come to her rescue.
Suddenly, one of the burglar got light blue web fluid wrapped around which shocked his comrade and the helpless woman
"What the hell?!"the second burglar scowled.
Then the second burglar got the element of surprise, when a masked figure came down and punched him in the face, making him drop his gun.
He tried to fight back, but the masked figure was stronger than him and easily pinned him against the wall with her web fluid.
The masked figure noticed the other burglar attempted to stab her with his knife, but she saw it coming and did a big jump flip to go behind him before tossing him hard on the ground.
A painful groan escaped from the first burglar's mouth before the masked figure gagged his mouth shut and then used her web fluid to leave him dangling upside in a street lamp post like a fly that got trapped in a web.
After seeing the bad guys defeated and unable to break free, the woman went over to the masked figure to thank her.
The figure's suit was white and black with some pink and blue web patterns in the underarm area. It also has a hood with pink and blue web patterns on the inside. The suit was one piece and extended to her wrist, ankles and bottom of her head. The mask was white with pink eye lenses. She also wore fingerless gloves that were pink with blue web patterns and go up to the elbows. On her feet were blue pointe shoes.
"Thank you."the woman thanked gratefully."But who are you? You're not Spider-Man."
"You're right. I'm definitely not."the masked figure agreed simply."I'm the Ghost Spider. Good night."
Ghost Spider brought forward her right arm and fired her web fluid on a high building's roof and headed off to parts unknown as a group of people came over to the woman to check if she was alright.