Ed POV
A couple of days later…
Still no changes with the Fantastic Four.
No stretching. No flames. No rocky skin. No invisibility. Just four very normal humans walking around like they didn't get blasted by cosmic radiation.
At this point, I'm starting to feel like I imagined the whole thing.
I'm still keeping keeping a eye on them, though. Just in case.
On another note, I heard the Web Warriors are tracking down a new Spider. I always wondered what happened to that last spider.
I hope whoever it bit is a good person, but if they are not, I know that the web warriors can handle it.
Right now, I'm heading to the meeting room. Peggy and Sage are already waiting for me.
When I walked in, they were seated across from each other. I took the chair beside them.
"So," I said, leaning back slightly. "What's up?"
Peggy folded her hands on the table. "Melina contacted us. She's created the cure for the Black Widows."
I blinked. "That was quick. I expected her to need a few more months."
"She accelerated the process," Peggy replied.
"Well," I said, nodding once, "if it's done, we move in two days. I'll go pick up the cure myself, bring it back here, and we'll manufacture additional vials. Once that's done, we're ready to take down the Red Room."
Sage tilted her head slightly. "Don't you think you're moving too fast? We could use more time to plan the attack."
"I've been planning this for months," I replied calmly. "I have a solid strategy. And the sooner we save those Widows, the better. The world doesn't need more brainwashed assassins running around. The League of Shadows is already annoying enough."
Sage blinked. "The what?"
"Deadly assassin ninjas," Peggy answered casually.
Sage looked between us, clearly filing that away for later. "What's your plan for the Red Room?"
I leaned forward slightly.
"I hacked into the Red Room systems months ago. I know their primary location. Doesn't matter if the base is constantly moving, I track them in real time."
Peggy's eyes narrowed slightly. Impressed.
"I also know where every active Widow on the planet is."
Sage stiffened. "Everyone?"
"Everyone," I confirmed.
"When we attack the Red Room, I'll send out a priority recall signal, something that forces every Widow to return to base. It'll look legitimate. Routine protocol. It'll create confusion, especially for Dreykov."
"And him?" Peggy asked.
"Plo Koon and I will already be inside the base," I said calmly. "He'll be under mind control before he realizes we're there. No alarms. No suspicion."
Sage stared at me. "You're planning to mind-control the head of the Red Room."
"Yes."
Silence.
"Once every Widow returns," I continued, "we release the cure through the ventilation system. Airborne dispersal. Fast, efficient, simultaneous. No one gets left behind."
"And after that?" Peggy asked.
I leaned back in my chair.
"Then we clean house."
"I keep forgetting how smart you are under that childish act," Peggy said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The Jaegers," she replied flatly.
I blinked. "What? I already told you, those are just in case we need something to take down a giant monster when our heavy hitters are busy."
Peggy didn't even hesitate. "Church already told me the second reason you built them. And I quote, 'giant robots are cool.'"
"…Well, they are," I muttered in my defense.
She rolled her eyes.
"Who else besides Plo Koon do we need for this mission?"
"We don't need the whole team," I said. "Just a small strike unit. I'm thinking Battle Beast, A-Train, Siegfried, and Bang."
Peggy considered that. "That's a pretty small team."
"Exactly," I replied. "We don't need to bring an overwhelming force. This should be simple. Controlled. Efficient."
I leaned forward slightly.
"And make it clear to everyone, if the Widows engage us, no lethal force. No serious injuries. Disarms, joint locks, knockouts. Sprains at worst."
Peggy nodded once. "Understood. I'll notify them and get preparations started."
Later That Day
After meeting with Peggy, I headed over to Melina's location to pick up the cure. Once I had it, I'd deliver it to the Mauler Twins, who are now apparently calling themselves Mitch and Michael.
I have no idea where that came from.
But hey, they've stopped arguing about who the original is, so I'm calling that progress.
After that, I returned to the company to handle paperwork.
Glorious, soul-draining paperwork.
Moments like this are when I really wish I still had my cloning ability. Running a corporation, planning a global assault on the Red Room, managing heroes, villains, and morally questionable allies… doing all that in one body?
Yeah. That's how people go insane.
I was halfway through reviewing budget projections when I heard a knock at my door.
"Come in," I said absently, not looking up.
The door opened.
To my surprise, it was Lena.
"Lena?" I looked up immediately.
"Hopefully I'm not interrupting anything," she said, glancing at the mountain of paperwork on my desk.
I blinked. She usually waits for me to visit her when we grab lunch. I don't think she's ever come to my office before.
"Oh, this?" I waved at the paperwork. "Nothing important. Just some files I let pile up. I can finish them later."
Ashley is absolutely going to murder me for that decision.
"So," I added, standing up, "ready for lunch? Where are we going this time?"
I started walking toward her.
"Actually," she said, "I was hoping for something different today."
"Oh?"
"I'd love a tour of your company. When I was coming up here, I saw some… interesting things."
I studied her for a second, then smiled. "Sure. I don't mind. As long as you don't steal any ideas."
She gave me a look. "I would never do that. Especially not to a 'friend.'"
The way she said friend felt… different.
Off.
But I let it slide.
"Follow me," I said, leading her out of the office. "By the way, I'm pretty sure my lawyers could eat yours alive."
She stepped beside me, smirking. "Are you sure? My family's lawyers got my brother out of a death sentence."
I paused mid-step.
"…Touché."
I showed Lena around the company, starting with the entertainment division, where we design our games and gaming systems. She was genuinely impressed, asking sharp questions about the hardware and the engines we were developing.
After that, I took her to the research labs, where my scientists work on their latest inventions. She was even more interested there. I could tell her mind was running numbers the entire time.
Then I brought her to someone I knew she'd want to meet.
We walked into a lab that looked fairly standard at first glance, with sterile equipment, blood samples stored carefully along the walls, but one thing stood out.
A massive reinforced container filled with bats.
"Dr. Morbius, are you in here or not?" I called out.
There was a metallic clank from a side door. It slid open, and Dr. Morbius stepped out, walking with his crutches as usual. Dr. Martine followed close behind him. In the back, one of the freezer units was open, where they stored blood samples and synthetic blood.
I raised an eyebrow.
"I knew one day I'd walk into this lab and catch you two going at it," I said casually. "Didn't know when, but I knew it would happen."
They both stared at me in confusion for a second.
Then realization hit.
Before either of them could respond, Jaime stepped out of the freezer area.
I blinked.
"…Okay, never mind. Apparently, nobody was doing anything."
Lena covered her mouth slightly to hide a smile as we approached them.
"How are you guys doing?" I asked. "And hey, Jaime, I've heard good things about you."
"Don't try to change the subject," Martine said firmly. "What do you mean you'd walk in on us? We're professionals. We would never do that here."
"Well," Morbius started thoughtfully, "there was that one time in our old lab in college—"
"Morbius!" Martine snapped.
He chuckled. "Relax. I'm joking. We never."
"Sure," I said dryly. "Anyway, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. Lena Luthor."
I made the introduction, watching closely.
No tension. No hostility.
Just curiosity.
Good.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Luthor. We've heard great things about you," Morbius said.
"Please, call me Lena," she replied warmly. "And I've heard wonderful things about both of you as well. Especially your work on synthetic blood. You've helped so many people already. It's impressive."
Morbius gave a modest smile. "Thank you. But we're nowhere near finished. The formula isn't perfect yet. It's still not compatible with a large percentage of patients."
"We still have a lot of work to do," Martine added.
Morbius nodded. "And we wouldn't have made it this far without Ed's funding. Without him… I don't know where we'd be right now."
"The grants we had before barely kept us afloat," Martine said. "With Ed, we don't have to worry about money. That freedom changed everything. We're truly grateful."
"You two always say that," I waved it off. "I just saw the value in your work. I know when it's complete, it's going to save lives. I don't care how long it takes, I'll always back you."
I shrugged lightly. "Besides, if you want to be grateful for anything, be grateful that I love science… and that I'm crazy loaded. So, thanks, Mom."
Lena blinked. "Your mother gave you all that money?"
"Yep," I said casually. "She gave me enough to live comfortably for the rest of my life without doing anything. I just decided to start a company to help people."
I smirked. "Problem was, I had no idea how to actually run one. So I went looking for someone who did. That's when I found Ashley. I met with her, talked it out, and offered her the job as my second-in-command."
I shook my head slightly. "Best decision I've ever made. I bring the ideas and the money. She makes it real. Honestly… I should probably give her a raise."
"Or vacation time," Morbius said. "Since we've been here, I don't think she's taken a single day off."
"That's a good point," I said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll send her to Hawaii. Or… maybe I'll just buy her a place there."
I paused.
"Actually, can I buy her an island? I'll think about it later."
"You have enough money to buy an island?" Jaime finally asked.
We all turned to look at him. He immediately stiffened.
I smiled. "Hey, Jaime. Settling in okay?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you again for this opportunity."
"No need for 'sir,'" I said. "And honestly, even if you'd just sent in an application, I would've paid for you and your family to relocate. Special friend or not."
He blinked. "Really?"
"You're smart. Hardworking. Tons of potential. I like that in people," I continued smoothly. "And to answer your question, yes. I can buy islands."
"Special friend?" Martine repeated, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Just a mutual acquaintance we both know," I said lightly. "Interesting guy."
None of them realized I was basically talking about myself.
"Anyway, enough small talk," I said. "I'm pretty sure Lena wants to talk to you both about your research. I'll just hang out with Jaime while he shows me around."
Morbius raised an eyebrow. "You've never looked around this lab before?"
"Oh, I have. Multiple times," I replied casually. "This is just an excuse to give you three some privacy."
Martine smirked. Lena tried, and failed, to hide a small smile.
"Come on, kid," I said, lightly guiding Jaime toward the other side of the lab. "Show me what you've been working on."
As we walked off, I could hear the three of them laugh quietly behind us.
Mission accomplished.
Peter Parker POV
It was 10:00 p.m., and Julia and I were on patrol, swinging across the city while scanning rooftops and alleyways for the so-called "new Spider."
We'd been at this for days.
The team rotates every night, partly for fresh perspectives, partly because Gwen and I got outvoted and everyone insisted we "switch it up."
Right now, it was Julia's turn.
"This is insanely boring," she groaned as we landed on a rooftop. "We haven't found anything."
"Well," I said, adjusting my mask slightly, "from the reports we've been getting, this person's careful. Which probably means they trained before going public. And they likely have planned routes back home, sticking to their own neighborhood so their identity doesn't get exposed."
I shrugged. "That's what I used to do."
Julia tilted her head. "Oh. I didn't think about that."
She paused.
"So… are we still going on that date tonight?"
I nearly missed my next web shot.
I've been rotating dates with each of the girls for a while now.
Tonight was Julia's turn.
And apparently, patrol wasn't the only thing on her mind.
Both of us landed on top of a tall building, the city lights glowing beneath us.
"Julia," I said, stepping closer, "of course we're still going on that date. It'll just be after patrol. You know I'm not breaking my promise."
She looked down at her feet, hands tucked behind her back.
"I know," she said softly. "I just… Laura wouldn't stop talking about how fun your date was. She got really excited about it. And I guess I did too."
I walked up to her and gently placed my fingers under her chin, lifting her head so she'd look at me.
"We're going on our date," I said. "And we're going to have fun. I promise."
I pulled the lower part of my mask up just enough to reveal my mouth and leaned in to kiss her.
It felt nice.
Not like the first time, when it had been awkward, and I almost head-butted her, but comfortable. Familiar.
I've noticed something over time. Every kiss feels different.
Cindy's kisses are competitive, intense, like she's trying to win something even I don't know we're competing for.
Anya's are warm. Almost like standing near a fireplace. They make everything feel calm.
Laura's are wild and a little rough; she always nips at my lip just enough to keep me on edge.
Julia's…
Julia's are soft. Slow. Gentle.
And she always smells faintly like peach perfume.
We were just starting to sink into it when—
CRASH.
Glass shattered below us.
I dropped my mask back down instantly, and we both rushed to the edge of the building. Down below, a group of guys was robbing a jewelry store.
Julia groaned. "Seriously? You couldn't do that literally anywhere else?"
We were about to swing down when I heard it.
Another webline.
I looked up.
For a split second, I thought it was one of the team.
It wasn't.
A single figure swung into view.
The new Spider.
From her build, it was obvious she was a girl.
She dropped into the middle of the robbers and immediately went to work.
Julia and I stayed on standby, watching.
She was impressive.
Raw. Instinctive.
No formal training, I could tell. She moved the way I used to. Fast reactions. Trusting her gut. Letting her spider-sense guide everything.
And she had good control of her strength. She hit the criminals hard enough to send them flying, but not hard enough to seriously injure them.
That's not easy to figure out on your own.
Within a minute, the thugs were down.
She grabbed one of them by the collar, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone, probably calling the cops.
But she missed something.
One of the guys she knocked out earlier was starting to move.
And he had a gun.
Before he could fire.
I jumped.
I landed beside him and drove a clean kick into his jaw, knocking him out cold.
This time for real.
The new Spider spun around instantly, eyes wide beneath her mask. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was surprised.
Julia landed beside me.
I raised my hands slightly, not threatening.
"Nice to meet you," I said calmly. "We'd like to talk."