Spider-Man: Irregular Reflection

ISSUE 7: The Heart of a Hunter!

Earth-636

RAVENCROFT INSTITUTE

Doctor Marla Madison-Jameson was seen walking the long hallways of the institute with head psychiatrist, Dr. Barton Hamilton, who allowed her to visit the son of a good family friend. Although she wasn't comfortable enough setting foot inside this archaic institution, Dr. Jameson was willing to put her personal feelings aside to help Randy in any way that she possibly could. Which is why she was carrying a brief case in her hand as the inside had the solution to their friends' problems.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Dr. Jameson. I'm quite thrilled that you took the time out of your morning expressing intrest in rehabilitating one of our patients but are you sure that what you're proposing might work?" Dr. Hamilton inquired to the scientist.

"I know that mental health is well below my pay grade, but my invention will surely help Randy get better control over his abilities," Dr. Jameson was confident that her expertise in electro-biology would be a great asset to assist the electrical-powered mutant.

As the two doctors were walking and talking, they stopped when someone called out Marla's name.

"Dr. Madison?"

Dr. Jameson narrowed her eyes at the person behind the cell to get a good look at him. "Mark?! My god! what happened, young man?"

"I-Uh!" Mark scratched the back of his neck. "I fell on some hard times."

"Mr. Raxton has been our model patient here at Ravencroft. I'd take it that you both are well acquainted with each other?" Dr. Hamilton curiously asked.

"I knew him back when he was an intern at Oscorp. When I was only a research assistant under the late Dr. Spencer Smythe," Dr. Jameson adjusted her glasses.

Mark balled his fist in angry at the mere mention at that accursed company, but he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I didn't expect to see you here, Dr. Madison."

"It's actually Dr. Jameson now, Mark. I'm married to the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle," Dr. Jameson corrected the former intern.

"I didn't get my invite in the mail," Mark sighed.

"Just think. Within a few months, Mr. Raxton will be released with a clean bill of health and ready to rejoin society soon," Dr. Hamilton said as they were making their way over to Randy's room.

After Dr. Jameson and Mark both waved goodbye to each other, Raxton turned away and sneered at the thought of him being in here for far too long. Mark couldn't afford to wait another few months even though being here kept his mind and body sharp. He thought back to the person who put him in there in the first place. He longed for the day to see Harry's ivory tower crumble into dust as Mark was formulating methods on how to destroy Osborn and everything that he holds dear. He wasn't doing this for himself. He had to avenge his departed sister, Liz Allan.

Both Dr. Jameson and Dr. Hamilton stopped at a door with a sign that read: Robertson, R.

"Now are you sure that you don't want to reconsider?" Dr. Hamilton asked with his hand on the door handle.

Dr. Jameson sighed to herself and answered his question. "I'm sure, Dr. Hamilton."

Hamilton opened the door and Dr. Jameson walked inside to see Randy behind an electrical proof glass cell who was overseen by a guard reading a Daily Bugle newspaper.

She sat in a chair and placed the briefcase on the floor. Randy was the one who broke the silent tension between them.

"Why are you even here, Ms. Jameson?"

"I'm here to help you have better control over your powers, Randy," Dr. Jameson softly said with a warm smile.

"It's Electro. What could you possibly do to "help" me?" Electro glared at the woman.

Dr. Jameson opened the case up to reveal a strange piece of headgear which intrigued the guard in the room.

Electro wasn't all too impress as he raised an eyebrow at her invention. "That's it? Some fancy hat?"

"It's not a hat," Dr. Jameson giggled as she begins to explain. "It's called the Psycho-Cybernetic Helmet and I took the time to rebuild it from scratch."

"What does it do exactly?" Electro asked as he looked closer at the headgear.

"It was originally suppose to be used as a means to control robots with only your mind, but now I readjusted it to assist you with your powers," Dr. Jameson thoroughly explained.

Electro hummed as he scratched his chin. "Can you give me some time to think?"

Dr. Jameson nodded her head. "Take all the time you need."

The electric biologist got up from her seat and left the room momentarily with the headgear. The guard put down his newspaper and walked in front of Randy's cell.

"Well?"

"That's it alright. It's the same helmet that Smythe described," Electro said to the particular guard who also acts as a mole working for Doctor Octopus.

The real reason why Electro easily surrendered as Alistair knew that the Jameson Family wouldn't turn their back on the son of their old friend.

"Tell the Doc that Dr. Jameson has the item that he's been looking for," Electro told him.

"You got it and I'll tell you when the Doc gives the signal," The guard said as he leaves to inform Smythe while leaving Randy alone with his thoughts.

Electro hates playing the waiting game, but all he has to do is to bide his time until he awaits for Smythe's further instructions...

INSIDE THE BATTLE RV

Ben Parker was absolutely exhausted after spending all night looking for the person responsible for Mac Gargan's death while still donning his Punisher costume.

He wasn't having any luck considering with little to no clues that he could find so he brought in Micro and Cassandra as support.

They soon heard a knock on the door and that it was Callisto bringing them breakfast early in the morning.

"Thought you geezers need to fuel up," Cally smirked while holding a bag carrying boxes of cooked omelettes and pancakes.

"Thank you, Cally," The blind fortune teller smiled as Ben and Micro were still busy coming up with theories and analyzing what occurred last night on the screen.

"You would think that these two would go crazy for the early bird special," Callisto quipped as she took a bite out of her pancake.

"Ben called us about a murder he witnessed. Some poor soul named MacDonald Gargan," Cassandra said while consuming her meal.

"Wait...you talking about that Mac?...I think I ran into the guy numerous times while out on the field. We were both in the private eye business," Callisto lowered her head and paid her respects to a fallen colleague.

Cassandra could see that Callisto was surprised at the sudden news. "You know how laser focused Ben could get."

"I get what you mean. Once the old man is in "Punisher Mode" there's no way of getting through to him," Callisto smiled as she noticed that Ben was drinking coffee from the same mug that she got for him last Father's Day.

Ben soon heard his phone ringed and it was Dr. Octavius calling him. He answered and the costumed vigilante was bombarded with a lot of loud and fast questions on the other end.

"Alright. Slow down, Otto," Ben sighed. "I'm gonna need you to slowly repeat what happened."

THE ATOMIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE

"We've been compromised!!" Otto shouted directly in Ben's face much to the older security guard's irritation.

Octavius was in a state of constant distress after discovering that his laboratory was ransacked as a vault door was torn off its hinges.

"Do you even have an inside voice?" Ben rubbed his temples to soothe his nerves.

"What was taken from you, Otto?" Cassandra asked straight to the point.

"Someone has stolen a Rand-Meechum System right from under me!" Otto loudly answered.

Phineas Mason aka Micro whistled at the brand name. "A Rand-Meechum?"

"You know what it is, Micro?" Ben asked as he wanted to know what was so special about this specific stolen good.

"It's probably one of the most sophisticated supercomputers on the Eastern Seaboard," Phineas answered as he was quite knowledgeable about this sort of technology.

"Who could've done this?!" Otto shouted while putting both hands on his head.

Ben motioned his head over to Callisto. "Cally, if you will?"

Callisto nodded as she sniffed through the air with her superior senses and managed to get something which made her feel disgusted. "Saltwater and rust. Whoever these guys were must've come from the deepest depths of the ocean."

"The Rand Corporation entrusted this valuable piece of equipment to me. Only a few people knew that I have acquired it and someone had to have access into this building," Otto paced back and forth and suddenly stopped right in front of the group. "That's how I know that there is a traitor among us."

As soon as Otto said that, Adrian Toomes came into work with a big grin spread across his face.

"Morning, Doc! How did your date went-" Adrian's eyes widened when he saw the current state of the laboratory. "What in the world happened here?! Did a twister hit this place?"

Otto walked quickly up to Adrian's face. "I should've known that it was only a matter of time before you resorted back to your old tricks, thief!"

"You think I did this?!" Adrian asked as he was offended by the doctor's accusation.

"I'm more inclined to believe so," Otto glared at his newest employee.

"That's preposterous! It couldn't have been me besides I was busy moving in to my new place last night," Adrian tried to defend himself.

"A likely story," Otto said with skepticism.

"The security cameras were also disabled on the night of the break-in, and they were turned back on a few moments later," Micro told the group while trying to go over the footage.

Otto focused his attention over to Ben. "Why aren't you stepping up and doing your job properly, Benjamin?!"

"I watched a man get vaporized in his own car last night so forgive me if I'm not at my best this morning," Ben growled as he got up in the scared scientist's face.

Cassandra sighed in annoyance and used her power of telepathy to roll her chair over to the men. "If you men are done with your shouting matches then perhaps I could shed some light on this situation."

She focused her attention over to Adrian and used her abilities to look into his mind. "He's telling the truth, Otto. It appears that your hunch was wrong."

Octavius scratched the back of his head after feeling guilty of accusing one of his employees. "My apologies for jumping to conclusions, Adrian. It won't happen again."

"It's fine, Dr. Octavius," Adrian reluctantly accepted the scientist's apology but was still grateful nonetheless.

"And as for you, I hope that you can forgive me for speaking out of turn," Otto apologized to Ben who didn't seem that bent out of shape.

Ben nodded his head. "Don't sweat it, Otto. I have a lot going on my plate as it is. I help you find the the culprit."

"Thank you, old friend," Otto said as he went to retrieve his experimental harness and used his arms to clean up the mess in the laboratory.

"There's also been a series of robberies at several major electronic stores that happened on the exact same night and time," Micro informed the group.

"The question remains is who would want to steal all that equipment and why?..." Ben voicing each and everyone of their thoughts.

THE N.E.M.O

Deep within the undersea laboratory, Doctor Octopus was going through multiple monitors gaining new information on what's been going on around the world every minute while his associates were sitting around the round table. Silver Vulture and Mysteria were both finishing up their glass of champagne while Sandman had his head on the table not paying attention to anything going on right now.

Silvio walked up to see what the mad scientist has been working on. There was one monitor that caught his interest as it was a news article by the Daily Globe with a headline that states: Mysterious Aquatic Green Creatures Spotted in the Great Barrier Reef!!

Silvio thought it was some elaborate hoax but then he remembered the world he lived in where anything is possible. "What's that about?"

"Pay attention to what's important, Silvermane," Doctor Octopus said without taking his eyes off one of the screens.

Manfredi noticed that Alistair was going over the Osborn family tree on the big screen.

"I can understand that you hate the Osborns as much as the next working stiff but why are you studying their family tree, Smythe?" Silver Vulture asked as he couldn't help but feel a little freaked out of the situation. It's almost seems a bit obsessive...

"Know your enemy, Silvio. That accursed lineage has an abundance of secrets. Secrets that I can use to my own advantage," Doctor Octopus answered while narrowing his eyes.

"A billionaire with a dark family secret!!" Mysteria mocked gasped and snorted. "How cliche can you get?"

It pained him that Smythe had to admit it but he agreed with Watson. "As cliche as it is, one doesn't acquire that much wealth without stepping on a few toes."

"Hey!"

Everyone turned their attention over Charlie Weiderman AKA The Sandman who was rubbing his head after his battle with the two Spider-Men.

"Could you guys keep it down?!" Charlie asked as he rubbed his temples. Apparently taking too many hits and bullets to the head can give a man like Sandman a severe migraine. "I'm trying to nurse this massive headache over here."

"Tell it to someone who cares," Silver Vulture shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back towards Doctor Octopus. "Well we got our hands on that fancy tech you specified. So now what?"

"Now...it's time to retrieve one last piece of the puzzle and everything is set," Doctor Octopus said as he got up from his chair to view the deep blue sea out the big window.

"Finally," Silver Vulture cracked his knuckles as he was tired of waiting for Smythe to unveil his grand plan. "About time for me to spread my wings. You gonna tell us your 'masterpiece' of a plan?"

Smythe could sense the sarcasm dripping off the elderly crime lord. "All will be revealed when we get the last piece."

Mysteria looked around and noticed that they were missing their two newest members. "Say where did Kraven and that thief went?"

"I sent the pair to retrieve our last important item that we were just talking about," Doctor Octopus used one of his mechanical arms to turn off the screens and made his way towards the exit. "If you all will excuse me, I have some business elsewhere to take care of."

"Where are you heading off to?" Sandman tilted his head in confusion.

"One of my spies have informed me that my father's old assistant has an invention that is quite crucial to our objective so I'm talking the liberty of picking it up personally," Smythe put on his trenchcoat and fedora with the use of his arms. "Besides who am I to pass up a reunion."

"Before you go, I got one question. Are you sure that we can trust Cat knowing how close she is with the Spider?" Silver Vulture questioned as he was still on the fence of forcibly inviting her into the fold so easily.

"I'm already aware of their intimate relationship which is why I have a trick up my sleeve in case things go South," Doctor Octopus responded hoping to put the avian-themed villain's mind at ease.

"You thought of everything," Mysteria blinked at how Smythe was well prepared for any eventuality.

"I've grown tired of it all. This conflict between Spider-Man and I won't end until either one of us is dead," Alistair growled to the group as he grabbed his scarf and walk out the door.

"I will return in a few hours..."

ANA KRAVINOFF'S SAFEHOUSE

Anastasia Kravinoff aka Kraven the Huntress was glad to be finally out of Smythe's underwater hideout and get some fresh air. She is currently staying at her uncle's penthouse as Kraven prepares for her greatest challenge yet.

She was using the indoor gym practicing her marksmanship with a bow and arrow while shooting at photos of Spider-Man, Steel Spider and Spider-Woman as target practice.

Over there in the corner, a well dressed man was throwing a juicy steak at Kraven's pet Smilodon, Gulyadkin the Second, that she got from the Savage Land for him to consume. He was also there to watch her progress as the man was known as Dmitri Smerdyakov who was also the half-brother of Sergei Kravinoff and Uncle of Anastasia.

He has gone by many names over the years with him being a former spy and master of disguise as he went by the code name: The Chameleon.

"I usually don't ever get any visitors especially from my own blood," Chameleon said as he got down on one knee to pet Gulyadkin.

"I'm just happy to be away from Smythe and his psychotic band of filth. Why did my father joined that team of circus freaks I'll never know?" Kraven shakes her head as she shot her arrow without missing her intended target.

"He and the others found solidarity in crushing the one man who has been a thorn in their side. That's the only thing that your father could ever respect from that lot," Chameleon responded as he was still keeping an eye on his niece's training.

Kraven scoffed at what her Uncle was saying as she was satisfied with her progress and put away her equipment.

"Can you explain to me one more time on what kind of mission did Smythe will have you do?" Chamelon inquired as they were walking over to another room of the penthouse.

"A retrieval mission," Kraven grunted as she had to clarify to her Uncle. "He wants an important piece of technology from Oscorp for his hair brained scheme."

Chameleon hummed to himself and went into deep thought. "Let me see if I can get in touch with any of my colleagues to assist you on this endeavor."

"There's no reason for you to do that," Kraven frowned at this as they kept on walking and talking towards the room.

"You're going to need all the manpower you can get especially raiding a high profile company like Oscorp. What else will you need?" Chameleon asked.

"I'm probably going to need a truck and a helicopter as my preferred methods of transportation," Kraven stated.

"That can be arranged," The Chameleon nodded.

The two relatives stopped in front of a door and it was requiring a pass code to open. Once the former spy was able to access it, they opened the door revealing it to be an armory room that stored weapons and masks for espionage purposes.

"Doesn't it seem to be a bit overkill?" Chameleon asked even though he's been out of the game he knows that this was going to be too much for her.

"Wars have been waged for less, Uncle," Kraven retorted while checking out something that could be useful.

"That maybe true but aren't you taking this a little too far?" Chameleon was starting to get concerned.

"What's this about, Uncle? You think I can't do this?! Is that it?!" Kraven angrily shouted.

"Because I don't want this obsession of yours to be your downfall! Do you want to end up exactly like your father?!" Chameleon argued as he recalled the day when he and his brother were offered the job to hunt Spider-Man.

FLASHBACK

13 Years Ago...

OSCORP TOWER

Sergei Kravinoff and his half-brother, Dmitri were summoned over to Oscorp Tower as they were sitting in Norman Osborn's office.

"I would like to thank you for actually showing up for our meeting," Norman said.

"This better be worth our time, Osborn," Sergei sneered at the mogul.

"But of course, after all time is money," Norman joked. "The person that you'll be going after is quite interesting."

"Tell us who is our quarry?" Kraven impatiently asked while crossing his arms.

Norman got up from his desk and took out a remote from his pocket to turn on the television. There was footage of Spider-Man being played on the screen and it was him dodging bullets, lifting up several tons of steel girders and swinging into the air. "The mainstream media calls him the Spider-Man."

Kraven gazed at the screen in awe as he finally found someone worthy of his talents.

"Incredible! Look at the strength, agility and dexterity."

Chameleon wasn't easily impressed like his brother as he was skeptical about this whole thing. "So what? Is he a mutant? I'm not quite sure how's he doing any of this."

"That's where you come in," Norman turned off the television much to Sergei's disappointment. "I need the specimen to be brought in alive to be studied."

"Why are you interested in capturing this Spider-Man so much?" Chameleon questioned.

"I'm not paying you to ask questions. All I ask is that can you get the job done or not?" Norman glared at the two individuals in front of him.

"On one condition, can I at least keep his mask as a trophy once all this is over?" Kraven inquired.

"You can do whatever you want. Make sure that you bring Spider-Man back in one piece. I'm willing to pay you four million dollars up front. Eight million when you finally capture him," Norman said.

Chameleon could've sworn that he heard someone closing the door in a split second.

Sergei noticed that his brother was staring at the doors. "What is it, Dmitri?"

"I'm not sure..." Chameleon narrowed his eyes at the double doors and then shrugged. "Must've been the wind."

"Anyways. Are we in business?" Norman asked the pair.

"No challenge is too big or small for Kraven the Hunter," Sergei smiled as he referred himself to his namesake.

Norman sat back down at his desk with a smug grin on his face. "Well then happy hunting, gentlemen."

Unknown to everyone in the room was Harry Osborn who was hiding behind the door as he was shocked that his own father had hired mercenaries to capture him. Spider-Man! This was probably the last time that Harry would visit Oscorp again until he got older.

FLASHBACK ENDED

"Uncle, I assure you that I won't go down the same path as my father," Ana said as she was gearing up for her mission.

"Good, because the last thing you want is for vengeance to cloud your judgement," Chameleon advised.

"You don't have to tell me that considering the amount of pond scum that I encounter here that's fueled by revenge. I hate being in this city any longer than it needed to be," Anastasia remarked.

"If you hate being in this city so much, then why have you bothered coming back here at all?" Chameleon asked curiously while sipping tea and Anastasia turned to face her uncle.

"Only for two reasons. To complete the contract that my father failed to accomplish."

"And the other reason?" Chameleon raised an eyebrow.

"...Matters of the heart," Anastasia took out a heart-shaped locket from her pocket that had an old photo of her and Quentin Quire together posing for the camera.

ROXXON GAS STATION

At a convenient store across town, an armed robbery was taking place. A man wearing a ski-mask demanded the cashier to give him all the cash in a plastic bag.

"Put the money in the bag and nobody gets hurt!" The masked thief threatened with his weapon.

A figure was perching on top of the ceiling behind the thief without the robber noticing. He had on an orange and black costume with a white fur-trimmed collar on his black vest and his mask was completely orange with white lenses. The gloves that the man also sported appear to have sharp claws on each of his fingers and purple Omega symbols on each hand. The symbol was also stitched to the back of his vest. He was infamously known as the Huntsman Spider.

"Um...There's a Spider-Guy behind you," The cashier nervously pointed at Huntsman.

"You think I was born yesterday?! DO I LOOK STUPID TO YOU?!!" The thief shouted.

"...Is that a trick question?" Huntsman Spider asked.

A few moments later the same thief was tossed out of the window of the store and landed on the concrete in excruciating pain with multiple cuts on his arms and face.

Hunstman Spider stepped out of the window and wiped away the shattered glass off his shoulders.

"Don't mind me, folks. I'm only throwing out the garbage," Huntsman said to the gathering crowd as he walked up to the robber.

The thief tried to make a break for it only to be stopped as he was wrapped up in a neon pink psi-web and fell down on the ground.

Huntsman casually walked towards the thief and picked up the loaded weapon that he dropped after getting thrown out of the window.

"...Your mind is racing," Huntsman Spider uttered after that long pause.

"You're probably coming up with some lame excuse like you were robbing the place to provide for your starving family when we both know that's a lie."

The thief was stunned as he was curious about how the vigilante knew what he was thinking at the moment.

"All I see is a scumbag who doesn't care if he harmed innocent people that gets in his way," Huntsman narrowed his eyes at the pitiful burglar.

"H-How do you know this?!" The thief nervously stammered as he was struggling to escape this kind of webbing.

"You can say I'm a mind reader," Huntsman Spider held the weapon up to the thief's face.

"Please!! Have Mercy! I told you I give up!" The thief begged and pleaded for his life.

"No can do. If I handed you over then you'll still be back on the streets in no time. I'm just doing the world a favor," Huntsman sneered as he was prepared to pull the trigger.

All of a sudden Huntsman felt two web lines on each of his shoulders. "What the-!"

He didn't get to finish as he was being hoisted up on the roof of a nearby store.

"So you're the reason I had to get out of bed in the morning?"

He knew that annoying voice anywhere...

"I know you're there, moron. Come on out because I don't have all day!" Huntsman impatiently waited for the man to appear.

Scarlet Spider was crawling up the wall and landed gracefully on the roof. "Y'know you're cheapening the brand with that tough guy act you pulled a few seconds ago."

"Tsk! And I'm suppose to care what you think? You're most certainly not the boss of me," Huntsman narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

"He's not..."

Huntsman groaned as he knew he was there but he absolutely hated when Harry pulls this type of stunt. He turned around to Spider-Man narrowing his eyes at him with his arms crossed.

"But I sure am," Spider-Man said.

"~You're in trouble," Scarlet Spider said in a sing song tone.

"Didn't know it was bring your clown to work day," Huntsman joked but the two Spider-Men did not find it funny.

Spider-Man sighed to himself. "Take off the mask, Quentin. We need to talk."

Huntsman Spider complied and took off his mask revealing the face of Quentin Quire much to the mild surprise of Scarlet Spider.

"What were you doing down there to that man?" Spider-Man questioned.

"Relax. I wasn't gonna do anything to him. I was only messing around," Quentin defended himself.

"Then you have a warped sense of humor," Scarlet Spider added.

"Every time you put on that mask. You represent the Spider-Clan and everything we stand for," Spider-Man admonished.

"I never asked to be apart of this and first of all, Clan?! What are we? Ninjas?" Quentin rhetorically asked.

"Now that's a good question," Scarlet Spider cupped his chin in thought. "I wonder if those Hand guys are still around."

As Quentin was about to put his mask back on and leave, Spider-Man suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"We're not done with this conversation, Quentin," Spider-Man pressed only to get pushed away by the young man.

"Uh yeah...we are! In case you haven't notice, I'm also not your replacement Spider-Boy anymore and those days are definitely over. I've changed now so you better get use to it," Huntsman Spider leaped off the roof and swing away while the two Spider-Men watched him leave.

FLASHBACK

4 Years Ago...

Downtown Manhattan

In an alleyway not far from Oscorp, a young man named Quentin Quire who still had his brown hair was being chased by a group of people called the Knights. They were loyal foot soldiers of the Hellfire Club as they were currently after powerful psychics to be used for a special project known as the "Think Tank."

"There's no where else to run, Quire. Make this easier on yourself and give up!"

Quentin could see that he was surrounded by the heavily armed guards and he was mentally exhausted from all that running and fighting.

"I don't know what's more pathetic..."

Everyone looked up to see Spider-Man crawling down the brick wall and the hero narrowing his eyes at the group.

"You chasing down some random punk down the street or that you guys are more than willing to play pretend dungeons and dragons in public without any shame," Spider-Man quipped which made Quire snort at that insult.

"This is none of your business, interloper!" One of the Knights shouted while pointing at the wallcrawler.

"It was my business the moment you morons were scaring civilians by waving your guns around," Spider-Man retorted as he leaped down and kicked the armored thug in the chest.

Quentin was in awe when he saw Spider-Man in action for the first time as the young mutant thought he was only an urban myth.

The wallcrawler was making short work of the masked mercenaries as he was punching them left and right in order to protect the valuable mutant that they were after. The knights were having no luck getting a clear hit on him as he was dodging most of their attacks.

"Knights!! Fall back!!" The Knight who was in charge of the whole operation yelled out. "Retreat!!"

The Knights ran away after suffering from a humiliating defeat. As he saw them make a hasty retreat, Harry couldn't help but notice that all of the masked knights sound much alike...

"I had it under control," Quentin huffed as he glared at the hero.

"Thought you might needed some help," Spider-Man made his observation.

"Like I needed saving from a weirdo dressed in spandex," Quentin sneered at the hero.

"You're welcome," Spider-Man deadpanned as Quire rolled his eyes.
"Who were those guys and why were they after you?"

"They're merely peons from a country club for mutant elites known as the Hellfire Club. They've been rounding up telepaths with the same skill sets as me by the orders of their Black King," Quentin tiredly explained as he pushed up his glasses.

Spider-Man knew what he was talking about as this wasn't exactly the first time in dealing with mutant matters such as this. He has been meaning to learn more about the supposed Homo Excelsior. Harry may have to take a visit to that X-Corporation building some day...

"What's your name?" Spider-Man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Quentin Quire, Bugman," Quentin mocked while dusting himself off.

"Well, Mr. Bugman," Spider-Man smirked at the annoyed mutant. "Do you have any means of contacting any of your relatives or guardians?"

Quentin stared at the ground and shrugged. "I...don't have any."

"There's a homeless shelter a few blocks from here," Spider-Man informed. "I can walk you over there if you want."

"Tsk! Get outta here. I'm not a bum and I can take care of myself," Quentin almost objected when his stomach started growling much to his embarrassment.

Spider-Man blankly looked at him. "...Right. You're in luck. I see a pizza place right across the street. My treat."

"Oh good because I'm kinda tapped out at the moment," Quentin breathed a sigh of relief at finally having something to eat.

"Hope you like Hawaiian," Spider-Man smirked.

"Ew...who puts pineapple on their pizza?" Quentin cringed at the notion.

"That was a test and you past with flying colors," Spider-Man lightly joked as the two shared a laugh.

As they were leaving the alley, Harry got a good look on the mutant walking next to him. Quentin almost was a dead ringer of his best friend with the same brown hair, sweater vest and glasses when they went to Midtown High together.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Quentin asked.

"Nothing. You remind me so much of an old friend," Spider-Man said as they both were walking over to the restaurant.

FLASHBACK ENDED

"He was an orphan when you found him?" Scarlet Spider inquired as he was listening to his friend's story.

"Yeah," Spider-Man sighed. "I couldn't find anything pertaining to his real birth parents but his foster parents were absolutely afraid of him."

"Wait. You serious? What was their whole reason to be afraid of their own son?" Scarlet Spider inquired.

"He's an Omega level telepath, Peter. They were scared that he would one day take over their minds and misuse his powers without proper guidance," Spider-Man explained.

Scarlet Spider hoped that he didn't hit a sore spot by asking this next question. "How did it get so bad between the two of you?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Spider-Man asked his partner as he wanted to quickly change the subject.

It was at that moment when Peter remembered that he was suppose to have brunch with the other Felicia at some fancy restaurant around noon.

"Holy Crap! I'm gonna be late! Sorry, Harry, but I gotta run. Catch ya later!" Scarlet Spider swings away from Harry and took off for his date.

Spider-Man shakes his head in amusement at his friend's antics. "What a goofball."

Spider-Man continued patrolling around Manhattan when he got a call from Mortimer.

"What is it, Mr. Toad?"

"Harry...I have some troubling news," Mortimer didn't know how to break it him.

"Why can it be good news for once?" Spider-Man sighed to himself as he was swinging from building to building.

"I regret to inform you that your friend, Mac Gargan, has died last night," Mortimer morosely informed his boss.

The news made Spider-Man stopped swinging and landed on the rooftop of an apartment building. "...What?"

OSCORP TOWER

Neena Thurman Hardy, also known as the Black Cat of this Earth, was able to sneak inside Harry's office at Oscorp through the window.

The plan was to get in and get out with the object that Alistair Smythe requested her to steal. Neena was currently on a time limit as if she fails to retrieve the item in question then she should say goodbye to her head.

Black Cat was looking around the room with a special set of glasses that would allow for her to see what's inside vaults. She saw a portrait of the late Norman and Emily Osborn hanging on the wall, and she knew that something was back there. Once she moved it out of the way, Black Cat took off her glasses and went to work with her skills on cracking safes as there was a vault behind the portrait.

As the vault door opened, she noticed a rectangular box containing a green and yellow antique telescope that was being propped up on a red pillow.

Black Cat was about to make a break for it with the telescope when suddenly she heard a familiar noise right beside her.

"...Neena?"

She was startled when she saw Harry without his mask on with a surprised expression written on his face.

"Why are you here and what is that you're holding in your hand?" Harry pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Uh...I can explain," Black Cat nervously joked.

ROMITA'S

The place that Felicia Hardy has chosen for her and Peter's brunch date was a fancy upscale restaurant known as Romita's. As she was in her seat waiting for him to show up, Felicia was wondering if he was ever going to arrive at all.

"Felicia!"

Felicia turned her head to see her date in his suit and tie rushing over to their table.

"I was beginning to think that you were never going to show," Felicia smirked but she was thrilled that he could make an appearance.

"Sorry that I was late. There was this huge accident and had a lot a trouble getting here," Peter huffed in exhaustion as he sat down in his chair.

"Yeah this city has a bad habit of making the people get swept up in all its craziness," Felicia said as she was glad that he was able to make it although that he was ten minutes late.

After they ordered their food, the two began to talk about a wide variety of things such as their hopes and aspirations.

It brought back so many memories where he would always be late for dates due to certain situations always coming up with him as the wallcrawler. It made him missed Mary Jane even more, but this Felicia didn't seem to mind Peter Parker as it was usually Spider-Man that she was after.

Peter made the sudden realization that deep down in his heart of hearts that this wasn't the answer to his current relationship problems...

OSCORP TOWER

Harry took Neena down to the Spider-Bunker where Hobie was currently busy at work.

"Explain," Harry who had his mask off said with his arms crossed.

Neena sighed and pointed at the object on the table. "I was hired to steal this old telescope from your vault."

"By who?" Harry questioned.

"Who do you think? Your old sparring partner, Alistair Smythe," Neena casually explained which made both Harry and Hobie's eyes widened.

"That day when the three of us teamed up, you knew Smythe was involved with Silver Vulture and the Scavengers," Harry glared at the thief.
"You also had something to do with that stolen ship in a bottle."

"Don't take it personal, Richie Rich. You should know how I conduct my business," Black Cat rudely waved him off much to his frustration and she glanced at Hobie. "You of all people should understand what it means."

"And you should understand that I've been out the game for years," Hobie retorted while narrowing his eyes at the thief.

"If you wanted money that badly then you could've told me!" Harry growled.

"I didn't come here for you to judge me," Neena pointed to the contraption that was around her collar. "I got bigger problems. If I don't deliver that thing, well...my head is as good as gone."

Hobie went up to Neena to examine her mechanical collar. "What's the story behind this telescope and why does Smythe want it so bad?"

Harry cleared his throat as begin to tell his two associates the history of the telescope. "That telescope has been in my family for many years. My grandfather gave it to my father and it was passed down to me. It was said to have been handcrafted by Galileo himself."

Hobie whistled as he was listening to the story. "That's some telescope."

"That still doesn't explain why Doctor Octopus is so interested with these antiques?" Harry said as he was staring straight at Neena hoping to get an answer out of her.

Black Cat sighed when she saw that look on his face. "...Break it."

Harry and Hobie both stared at the mutant thief incredulously. "What?"

Black Cat rolled her eyes at the two friends. "You heard me. Break it."

"...You want me to break a priceless heirloom that's been in my family for who knows how long?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Just do it," Black Cat groaned as she did not have time for this.

Harry snapped the telescope in half and out pops something that fell onto the floor. A green microchip with black "X" symbol on it.

Hobie picked it up and gave it a good look. "Didn't know that it comes with a prize inside."

"That explains a few things," Harry groaned and turns his head over to Black Cat. "How many of these does he have?"

"He currently has two," Neena hold up two fingers and then pointed over to Hobie. "The one that you're friend is holding is the last one he needs."

Their talk was cut short when Harry's phone was ringing, and his secretary was calling to inform him that it was almost time for his scheduled appointment with Bugle reporters who are coming to the building to interview the young mogul.

"Just what I need," Harry said dripping with sarcasm while rolling his eyes. "A camera crew and a cat burglar for an Ex making my life all the more annoying. Feels like I'm on some bad reality television show."

"Seems like it don't it? The thief for an ex-girlfriend stealing a family heirloom really is the cherry on top," Hobie casually bantered.

"...You guys do know that I'm right here and that I can hear you," Neena snorted to her amusement.

"We know," Harry and Hobie said in unison.

"I'll see if I could run an analysis on the microchip," Hobie told his best friend.

"And while you're at it see can you also diffuse Neena's collar?" Harry asked as he was changing back into his business attire.

Hobie nodded in response. "I'll do what I can. In the meantime, you go do your thing."

After Harry left the lab to attend to his business, Hobie and Neena were alone to handle their problems before them.

"So now that we're alone...How are things between you and Yuri?" Neena playfully asked while making conversation.

Hobie sighed to himself as he could tell that this going to be a long day...

CENTRAL PARK

It was such as nice day out in the park as a lot of families were taking a stroll while other people were doing various activities such as riding their bikes and skating on roller blades. Quentin Quire was sitting on a park bench dressed in his casual clothes while trying to flirt with two female rollerbladers. "Trying" being the key word...

"Hey ladies! Would you two care to spend the afternoon with yours truly?" Quentin asked with a smug attitude.

"Ew!" The blonde one voiced each other's feelings.

"In your dreams, freak!" The mutant brunette woman with three eyes scoffed as she and her friend rolled away from him.

Quentin sighed to himself as he stared at the scar on his left hand where the spider that gave him his secondary mutation bit him.

"I've been gifted with good looks and powers most guys would dream of and I still can't score no matter what."

FLASHBACK

4 Years Ago...

Inside the Parlour, Harry, who had his mask off, and next to him was Mortimer gazing at the spider that was on top of Osborn's hand while wearing protective gloves.

"What's all this then? It's weird looking spider," Toad commented as he stared at the strange arachnid.

"It's genetically altered spider, Morty," Harry corrected as he put it back in the enclosure for further study. "Don't get any ideas about eating it though. It's not an edible snack."

"Very funny...well it's nice to see you taking up a hobby that isn't just beating up random hoodlums at night," Mortimer expressed while wiping down the counter tops.

"I wouldn't call this a hobby necessarily," Harry retorted while not taking his eyes off the spider. "This bad boy over here contains the remnants of Norman's super soldier serum."

Mortimer couldn't help but to be confused at this as to why would Harry experiment with this sort of thing in the first place after all the horror stories.

"You mean the same one that created the Green Goblin?" Toad blankly asked.

"I know how that sounds...but just hear me out. I figured out a way to perfect it by combining it with Spider DNA. I'm in the middle of finding a test subject and Oliver seems like the most logical choice for a candidate," Harry explained in a matter of fact tone of voice.

Mortimer was able to caught on to what his employer was actually doing. "Now hold on! Are you trying to recreate what happened to you and do it to Oliver?!"

"I say he earned it. Wouldn't you agree?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"With all due respect, Oliver would never agree with this method of procedure," Mortimer vehemently stated as they spent years of training and research to help Ollie keep up in the field. They wouldn't want it be all for nothing. "Especially since you told us all the horror stories that came from that formula. It's more trouble than its worth!"

"You maybe onto something. I don't know what I was thinking," Harry groaned while he face palmed.

"Speaking of which it appears to be that Oliver's been busy," The mutant butler added all while taking note of all the new gadgets lying around the lair.

"Actually those are Quentin's inventions. He has a knack for tinkering and dare I say even more than Ollie," Harry stated before widening his eyes. "Don't tell him I said that."

"My lips are sealed sir," Toad chuckled.

Over at the monitor, the alarm was going off which got their attention as there seems to be trouble happening in Manhattan.

"It looks like you're presence is needed," Mr. Toad said.

"Damn," Harry cursed as he put his mask back on. "And I was hoping for some much needed me time tonight."

As the two were leaving the lair, Quentin was able to sneak past them and entered the lair to take one quick look around. Quire then decides to work on his incomplete inventions but he spotted the experimental spider's glass cage as if he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. He picked the arachnid up without any sort of protection whatsoever and then next thing he knew the spider promptly bit the mutant on the hand.

He started to feel disoriented and the last voice Quire heard before falling to the floor was Mortimer shouting at him out of sheer concern for his well being...

FLASHBACK ENDED

As Quentin was about to be through reminiscing the old days, he noticed that a certain someone sat right beside him on the bench.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show your pretty face around here, Thundercat," Quentin said while not looking at the young woman next to him. 

"Nothing gets past you, Pinky," Anastasia playfully retorted in her thick accent much to his irk at that pet name as she too was paying attention to the people in the park while eating a hot dog.

"Why are you here in New York, Ana?" Quentin questioned while digging in his ear.

"You are a psychic are you not? Why not probe my mind to get the info?" Ana teased the pink-haired mutant.

"Nice try. Knowing how your mind already works. You probably set a trap inside your head what with you're all about being this superior hunter," Quentin countered as he was a little on edge being near the huntress.

"I don't know if I should be flattered considering that you know me oh so well," Ana glanced at Quire. "There's something about that name of yours that always perplexes me."

"Don't know how it's confusing," Quentin sighed while looking down.

"You christened yourself as this "Huntsman Spider, but every time you corner your prey you never seem to land the fatal blow," Ana frowned at him. "So don't call yourself a hunter if you don't have it in you to finish what you started. That to me screams that you're trying too hard."

"You came all this way to the park to critique my choice in naming?" Quentin blankly asked.

"You're making a mockery out of my family's teachings," Ana went straight to the point.

"I'm sorry," Quentin snorted. "Family? I've never met your old man, but didn't your mom hated you for being born a-" 

"Don't you dare finish that statement, Quire!" Ana shouted and calmed herself down. "She may have not been my real mother but at least she took me in and raised me when no one would've wanted to. I'm grateful for that but you continue to spit in our faces."

Quentin had to rub salt in the wound. "How's the search for that long lost brother of yours going by the way?"

"That's none of your business," Ana sneered as she did not want to give him the satisfaction knowing that her adoptive mother cared way more about her real son that was lost in the Savage Land. "What you should be concern about is the Spider and his little helpers that you seem quite fond of, beloved."

"You leave them out of this!" Quentin barked at the huntress.

"I will dedicate the rest of my life to hunt down the Spider all the way to the ends of the Earth. Even if I have to tear down your miserable excuse for a family unit to do so," Ana vowed to her former friend as she was that determined to avenge her father and family name.

"Why are you even here?!" Quentin reiterated once more as he was tired of these mind games they play.

"To reclaim my family's lost honor," Ana finally answered while pulling out a detonator from her jacket pocket much to Quentin's surprise.
"Consider this your REAL intervention."

"Damn it, Ana! What are you-" Quentin didn't finish what he was about to say when a nearby hot dog stand exploded. He quickly got up from the bench to examine the damage only to see that not a single person was harm thankfully.

"My cart!!" The vendor dropped down to his knees after losing the one thing that gave him business.

Quentin turned around to see that Anastasia was gone from her seat as she was able to away during the chaos.

"I'm beginning to think I have rotten luck with women," Quentin groaned as he gazed his head up to the clear blue sky.

OSCORP TOWER-LOUNGE ROOM

Kat Ferrell and her cameraman, Aaron English aka Dollar Bill, were waiting for the CEO to arrive for the interview, and Harry Osborn and his secretary, Gloria Grant, came through the double doors to greet their guests.

"There's the man of the hour," Kat said as she and Harry shook hands as the crew was getting ready to set up the chairs.

"It's great to see you again, Ms. Ferrell," Harry greeted the professional journalist like an old friend. "Shall we get started?"

"Give us one sec," Kat responded as she told the businessman to wait for a moment as she has something to say to her cameraman. "Where's the newbie?"

Dollar Bill was wondering that as well while he's preparing his equipment and looking around for their intern, Mattie. "I think she said something about going to the ladies room."

OSCORP TOWER-ARCHIVES

When Harry called Oliver to head down to the archives after his classes ended, the young genius was ecstatic about learning more about the company's beginnings. He was going through the cabinets when all of a sudden his girlfriend hugged him from the back.

"Whatcha Doin'?" Mattie asked while looking over his shoulder.

"Well since I'm going to be a future Oscorp employee, I figured this would be good for me to get the lay of the land y'know?" Oliver answered as he was looking in a folder filled with old documents dating back to the eighties.

"Experimental performance enhancers. Radioactive material? Explosives for demolition purposes," Mattie quirked an eyebrow as she was reading the papers out loud. "Yeah...So much for a "humble" pharmaceutical company."

Ollie only shrugged in response. "Oscorp had their hands in pretty much everything back in their heyday. Shouldn't you be back with your crew? They're gonna want to know where you took off to for so long."

Mattie brushed it off. "I wouldn't worry about that. I told them that I had to run to the ladies room."

"Still...You really don't want to jeopardize your internship over this. Let's keep-huh? What's this?" Oliver lost his train of thought when he came across a peculiar photograph.

The couple found an old photo that appears to have been taken in the late sixties. There were three men each in color-coded business suits and one of them looks to be related to Harry himself.

"Who were those guys?" Mattie inquired as she was glancing at the photograph along with Oliver.

"The guy in red is Howard Stark. The late father to Tony Stark. Blue suit is Doctor Franklin Storm, and he was the country's most leading medical expert of his generation. Lastly, that's Amberson Osborn. Harry's grandpa," Oliver winced at that last part considering how personal this might get.

"Harry never mention this guy before. Come to think of it he barely even discuss about his family at all," Mattie commented as she came to that realization.

"He doesn't like to talk about his family," Oliver muttered. "I mean can really you blame the guy? His own dad was a full blown supervillain."

"So...the Green Goblin?" Mattie began to ask out of simple curiosity.

"What about him?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Did you ever meet him?" Mattie questioned.

"No and I thank god that I didn't. One Goblin is already bad enough to deal with.

"Wait a minute. Stark. Osborn. And Storm. Those are the names of the people that were the previous owners of those antiques!"

"There's something written on the back of the photo," Mattie pointed out as her boyfriend turned it around.

"You're right. It says that each of these men belong to something called the Scientists Guild?" Oliver inquisitively stated.

"Maybe it's like some fraternity," Mattie guessed only for both of them to hear a loud noise and the whole building shook as well.

"What in the world was that?!" Oliver wondered as he put the important piece of information in his backpack.

"I'm not sure," Mattie gulped and turned over to Oliver. "But whatever is going on it can't be good."

SPIDER-BUNKER

Hobie was trying to remove the explosive collar from Black Cat's neck only for them to shoot the breeze which was a way to ease most of the tension.

"Do I have to wear a blonde wig to get his attention or what," Neena joked which made both of them laugh.

"I've been meaning to ask you this. How does your powers work anyway?" Hobie asked while he was still tinkering with the collar.

"In a nutshell, I can make good luck come my way," Neena tried to condense the explanation of her abilities.

"Can you give me tonight's lottery numbers?" Hobie joked which made Neena snort in amusement. She can't tell him how many times that people made that one joke.

"What I mean is that I can manipulate my opponents with subliminal telekinesis and that way I can alter the probabilities within my line of sight which is sorta like good luck for me," Neena said.

"And bad luck for your enemies," Hobie concluded for the luck manipulation mutant.

"~See now you get it," Neena chuckled.

Hobie was able to remove the collar off her neck. "You're now a free woman."

"Thank God!" Neena sighed in relief but Black Cat still had an uneasy feeling as she was rubbing the back of her neck. "But why does my neck feel funny?"

Hobie brushed it off. "I'm sure that's going to wear off eventually. You had that thing on your neck for too long."

They both noticed that the super computer was finished analyzing the green microchip.

"Now let's see what we got," Hobie made his way over to the monitor to read the results and what he saw shocked him to the core as his eye's widened. "I have to tell Harry!"

Hobie felt something hit him on the back of the head and fell down to the floor. He saw Neena staring back at him with cold dead eyes while holding a wrench in her hand that she probably got from the workbench.

"I'm afraid you won't be telling anyone for the time being, Mr. Brown," Neena spoke with a monotone voice as Hobie faded out of consciousness.

Neena heard a loud noise that shook the entire company building and saw that Kraven the Huntress has arrived at Oscorp along with her band of armed mercenaries.

"Hmm...it seems that everything is going according to schedule. A little rowdy but just as effective. I must plan my next move carefully," Neena said it as if she was a robot and it was clear as day that she was possessed by something far worse, and she took off with the microchip. Neena also had a tear drop running down her face...

OSBORN PENTHOUSE

Peter was happily swinging through the air as he was glad that his date with Felicia was a rousing success while flying past a billboard that was advertising her campaign.

He was on the balcony of Harry's place and entered through the door. Peter noticed that nobody was home at the moment and deduced that Osborn and the others must had something going on as they all have personal lives of their own.

Peter decided to go into Harry's study to see if the businessman was in there, but as soon as the webslinger thought he was all alone, he saw Quentin taking a nap in a chair right in front of Osborn's desk. That's when Peter had the idea of playing a little prank on him as he casually tip toed to the psychic.

"WAKE UP! The Sinister Six Are Here!!" Peter shouted in Quentin's ear which caused the mutant to get up from out of his seat.

Quentin seethed as he got up in Peter's face and jabbed his finger on his chest. "Don't. Ever. Do that again or else I'll go blabbing to everyone about your most embarrassing moment of your pathetic career."

"Sheesh! Doesn't anyone on this world take a joke anymore. I'll just have to web your trap shut when that happens," Peter put his hands on his hips.

"You do know I can mentally project that image into their brains," Quentin smugly retorted with his hands in his pockets.

"You make it a lot harder for regular people to be around telepaths, dude," Peter shakes his head in disappointment.

"Why are you in here anyways?" Quentin sat back down in his chair.

"Thought I needed some downtime. I prevented a mugging, stopped two carjackings and I even put an end to three robberies at a few mom and pop stores downtown. Luckily, I haven't ran into any trouble of the costume variety," Peter boasted while crossing his arms.

"Hooray for you. Keep that up and you might get a key to the city. Who knows they might make a parade in your honor," Quentin sarcastically said with little to no enthusiasm.

"I'm sensing a lot of sarcasm coming off of you," Peter pointed out.

"Oh no really!" Quentin groaned as he couldn't comprehend why Harry insists on keeping him around much longer. The same moron who let his Earth's version of Mattie die or pretended like Oliver never even existed.

"Now that we're alone what's your deal? Are you like the bad boy of this group dynamic you guys got going on?" Peter inquired while sitting down in Harry's chair.

Quentin raised an eyebrow at these questions. "I figured that Richie Rich would tell you, but let me give you the rundown. He took me in, a freaky Goblin spider bit my hand and I won a new mutation. Next thing I know is that I became the second Spider-Boy and that's when things took a different turn."

"A turn for the worst," Peter already deduced what the young mutant was implying.

"I was always being compared to Oliver, and I wanted to prove myself so badly. Once it came to light that I was taking Mutant Growth Hormones, the team voted me off the island..." Quentin lowered his head in shame and Peter didn't say anything as he was listening attentively at the story.

"When Harry told me that I couldn't put on the uniform anymore, I left without saying a single word to them because I was so mad. After that I've became somewhat of a nomad and traveled for a while. That's when I ran into the Kravinoffs," Quentin continued his story while looking away as that got Peter's attention.

"The matriarch, Sasha Kravinoff, taught me everything I know. From hunting, to fighting, and survival training. It helped me out considering that all this was meant to detox the poison from my system. I even grew close to her heir, Anastasia. Who became the new Kraven."

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you two pretty much became an item," Peter theorized to the annoyance of Quire.

"Good guess," Quentin deadpanned at the man. "As I was saying, they told me that I was ready once my training has reached the end of its course.

"Ready for what?" Peter questioned as he was on the edge of the seat.

"For payback. I wanted to make them pay, but I couldn't go through with the Grim Hunt," Quentin's lips quivered as this was a bad memory that he didn't want to revisit as he was used as a pawn in the Kravinoff's demented game. He was almost manipulated into murdering his former mentor and friends. "I actually told them who they really were..."

"Are you saying that they know?" Peter inquired.

Quentin shook his head. "Not anymore. I erased their memories. You want to know what the saddest part in all this is. It's the fact that Ana was the only girl to ever truly notice me."

The room got intensely quiet as Quentin finally got that off his chest and he's been carrying that guilt ever since.

"It's kinda eerie though..." Peter managed to break the silence.

Quentin glanced up at the man in confusion. "Huh?"

Peter walked over to a picture frame of Harry and a young Quentin that was taken during a time before he got his secondary powers from the serum-infused spider. "You remind me of me when I was your age. I was anti-social, always mad at the world, and having a big chip on my shoulder. Matter of fact, I kind of use to dress like a total geek too."

"I know...I saw all your memories. I honestly can't believe the Quentin from your world paints himself as some revolutionary but he was doing it to impress some weird blonde chick," Quentin face palmed as he didn't want to think that he was that much of a loser on any parallel Earth. An outcast even among his own kind. "I cause nothing but trouble no matter which world I inhabit in."

Peter placed his hand on Quire's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, there's a guy on my Earth. His name's Logan. Very short and Canadian. You would like him. Anyways it takes a lot to make him angry. I think I still got the scars to prove it, but when alternate you had a part to play in the schism of the X-Men, Logan refused to give up on you. He had plenty of chances to throw the other you out to the wolves, but he couldn't knowing what kind of message it sends. The Captain America of my world had a lot of doubts about the other Quentin, but Logan put his reputation on the line to prove him wrong. Fast forward and the other Quentin is now an Avenger. Technically he's a West Coast Avenger, but it still counts in my book."

"Is there a moral to this story here?" Quentin crossed his arms while raising an eyebrow.

"The point that I'm making is that Wolverine saw that the other you had a lot of potential much like Harry. He gave you another chance because you're still a work in progress," Peter said in a sage-like manner. He's been at this for a long time and has the experience to back it up. "He cares about you."

"You would know this how?" Quentin skeptically asked.

"Take it from me," Peter went over to a bookshelf and saw a pair of seeing eye glasses. He picked them up and presented them to the spiky pink-haired mutant.

"He kept on to those...These were the glasses that I wore before my transformation," Quentin held onto them tightly.

"Like I said before. Harry still cares about you, man," Peter patted him on the back while making his way over to the desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some pieces of paper sticking out in a drawer. When he opened it, he recovered the missing pages from MJ's journal. He didn't understand why Harry would have this in his desk of all places.

Peter started to read them quietly as his eye's widened when he found out that she witnessed the murder of own mother at the hands of her father at a young age. He read the pages in depth and noticed a couple of occult symbolism that he couldn't hardly recognize. What he was more upset about was Harry continued to keep secrets from him. First, he didn't tell him about Mysteria. Second, he didn't mention anything about harboring a symbiote under their roof, and Third, he wanted to keep those missing pages hidden from prying eyes. Why all the secrecy?! Don't they trust each other? What else was Harry hiding from him??

"Are you good, man?" Quentin noticed that Peter was getting angrier reading what's on those papers.

"That son of a-" Peter's rant was soon cut short as the entrance to the lair opened up and out comes Mortimer leaving with cleaning utensils.

"I hope that I wasn't interrupting anything important," Mr. Toad saw the two in the study together as they were probably having a conversation.

"Nah it's cool," Quentin shrugged his shoulders while closing his eyes.

"Yeah...we were just letting off some steam. What's the matter, Toad?" Peter asked the amphibious butler while putting those missing pages in his pockets.

"Master Harry requires both of your assistance at Oscorp right away," Mr. Toad told them.

OSCORP TOWER

Pandemonium was the one word that Harry could describe as the situation was escalating from bad to worse. When everyone heard that loud noise, the billionaire told his secretary and the news crew to head on down to the panic room which was on the same floor. He managed to slip away from the group and made his way back down to the Bunker only discover Hobie passed out on the floor and Black Cat was nowhere to be found. The green microchip was also missing, and Harry put two and two together as he didn't want to come to that conclusion.

"You can take the cat out of the alley but you can't take the alley out of the cat. Don't you think all these emotional attachments is making you so weak and slow? Gargan is gone! Face the facts! It's only a matter of time before they all betray you. Hell that mutant junkie you took pity on already did that!" The Goblin madly cackled but Harry didn't respond hoping that it would go away. "All you ever are to people is a meal ticket."

Once Hobie awoken from his concussion, he told the businessman what transpired and how Cat played both of them. Harry was quick to deny it but the gadget maker was right to be skeptical as he said the knot on his head told a different story.

The two old friends soon realized that they have bigger problems ahead as they watched someone drove a truck through the lobby of Oscorp on the security camera. A bunch of armed thugs came out of the vehicle with guns blazing and the person that was leading the charge was none other than Kraven the Huntress. The entire building was on immediate alert as a countermeasure was put in place until all of this blows over. Harry changed into his Spider-Man gear and hoped that Oliver and Mattie would deal with these intruders accordingly. The young mogul has more important problems on his hands as he had a Black Cat to chase after.

Meanwhile in the lobby, Kraven the Huntress was sniffing through the air as she recognized that scent anywhere. They have been here multiple times to be exact.

"Fan out and find them. If you see anyone giving you trouble then use lethal force if necessary!" Kraven ordered her goons as she was dead set on hunting the Spider. That's when those two heroes appeared right before her much to the hostages' overall relief.

"Hey! It's been awhile Annie!" Steel Spider cheerfully greeted as he was taking down one of her henchman by landing on top of him.

Spider-Woman used her psychic spider-legs to take the weapons out of their grasps. "Shouldn't you be out there catching Moose or Squirrel?"

"As much as I'd love to put you pretenders in your place, I have how you say bigger fish to fry. Men, you know what to do!" Kraven commanded the band of mercenaries as they all their rifles trained on them.

Everyone in the vicinity heard a loud noise that almost resembled a motor engine as a neon pink psychic construct in the shape of a motorcycle burst through the glass window with Scarlet Spider slinging right behind the rider. The motorcycle construct disappeared and the rider was actually revealed to be the Huntsman Spider.

"Why hello there!" Scarlet Spider waved at the hunter. "Did we picked a bad time?" 

"The rumors were true weren't they? Oscorp really is supplying you Spiders with the latest in technology," Kraven stated to the four Spider people. "There's no point in denying it as his scent is all over this whole building!"

"Y'know the thing about rumors is that there's often a sliver of truth to them, Thundercat," Huntsman Spider said as he begin shooting at the mercenaries with psi-arrow like constructs.

It was an all out brawl as Scarlet Spider delivered several punches and kicks at the armed thugs. Steel Spider shot taser webs at a few of them while Spider-Woman gracefully took down a group of her own.

Scarlet Spider and Huntsman Spider were back to back with one another as they were being surrounded by a few of the henchmen.

"You gotta admit that we make quite a good team," Peter replied with punching a goon in the face.

"Yeah...we do. It's kinda scary," Huntsman Spider pointed out as he thought the scarlet-claded was an idiot who can never realize the severity of the situation but as it turns out Peter can be an effective crime fighter when it calls for it.

"You sure can pick em!" Steel Spider referred to Quentin's questionable dating choices.

"Oh you be quiet!" Huntsman Spider wasn't in any mood to argue as they were fighting off the henchmen.

After making quick work of the goons, Kraven who was mildly impressed clapped her hands. "Well done. Now it's my turn to hunt!"

Huntsman Spider constructed a psychic pistol and shot a bullet in the ceiling. When Kraven was about to comment, it hit the support chain that was holding up a chandelier and it descended down towards the Huntress falling on her.

"Wasn't that a bit extreme?! I'm gonna go check up on her," Scarlet Spider was about to do just that when Quentin held his hand out.

"Give it a moment," Huntsman Spider sighed to himself as he urged him to stay put as the lenses of Peter's mask widened when he saw Kraven began to pull herself up and removed the heavy object off her back.

"Oh don't tell me...She's a-"

"Mutant. Yup!" Huntsman Spider managed to cut Peter off as he told him what she really was. It reminded Peter of Sabertooth and Wolverine what with the whole healing factor. In fact, she even resembled Victor what with the white eyes, sharp claws protruding from her fingertips, and feral behavior. At this point in time, it would not surprise him if she was somehow kin to either of them in this dimension...

Anastasia did some controlled breathing exercises in order to calm her more feral side and her eyes turned back to normal. "I've wasted enough time with you already when I should've focusing on hunting the Spider. I'll let more of my men take care of you after all they should be arriving soon."

"You don't have to do this!!" Huntsman Spider tried to get through to his former friend.

"Not when my family's pride is at stake!" Anastasia argued while throwing a smoke pellet on the floor and fired a grappling hook to pull her closer to the ceiling.

"Guys! She wasn't bluffing. My radar indicates that more mercenaries are coming here," Steel Spider confirmed while reading the information from inside his helmet.

Scarlet Spider glanced around the area as he could see the frightened expressions on the employees' faces. Several security guards were down for the count and most of them look like they were in desperate need for some medical attention. Peter knew what needed to be done as their safety comes first and foremost.

"Which leaves us with the right amount of breathing room," Scarlet Spider went over to the nearest elevator and opened the door with his own bare hands.

"I'll go tail after Kraven! I don't suppose you can handle all these trigger happy mercs among yourselves?" Scarlet Spider asked the group and was about to start crawling up the elevator shaft.

"Are you serious? This is like a normal weekend for us!" Spider-Woman responded while they were preparing for Ana's second wave of goons. "We'll hold the line and be with you shortly."

Peter nodded to them as he made his way towards to the top floor of the building. He'll leave it in their hands as their new mission was to protect the civilians at all costs.

"I bet I can take down more goons than you like last time," Huntsman Spider decided to make this into a friendly competition.

"You're so on!" Steel Spider accepted the challenge.

Spider-Woman snorted. "Keep on dreaming, guys! because I'm about to get that high score!" 

The three were more than ready to take on more of Kraven's mercenaries running towards them.

OSCORP TOWER-ROOFTOP

One Peter was able to reunite with Harry at Oscorp, the billionaire brought his latest friend from another dimension up to speed and right now they were chasing Black Cat who has the stolen microchip all the way up to the roof.

The attack helicopter arrived just in time and Kraven tells her partner to get inside in order to help make the delivery. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider came out through the entrance of the top floor and the two of them saw Black Cat carrying a briefcase containing the green microchip.

Harry couldn't believe his eyes as he swore that he saw her turning around to mouth the words "I'm sorry" to him while entering the aircraft.

The Huntress tapped on the door signaling the pilot to take off as she and her pet Smilodon prepare to fight off their opponents.

"I hope you both can make this more challenging for me," Kraven smiled but she frowns when she hears that familiar condescending voice on her communicator.

"What do you think you're doing, Anastasia?"

She knows that Smythe was observing her confrontation but she could not care less.

"What does it look like? I'm doing what needs to be done!" Ana sneered.

"This is not what we agreed upon, Kravinoff! Your main objective was to keep the Spider-Men at bay while you and Black Cat deliver the microchip together," Doctor Octopus lectured through her communicator.

"And you will get what you want as soon as I deal with these vermin!" Kraven argued back.

"...You and I are going to have a long talk when you return to headquarters," Doctor Octopus told her as he ended their conversation.

Anastasia scoffs at this while she took out her earpiece and crushed it beneath her heal.

"What does Smythe need with those microchips?" Spider-Man questioned the Huntress.

"Smythe can choke on those chips for all I care! All that matters to me now is finishing up my father's loose ends and when you're dead, your head will finally be up on our mantle," Kraven said while taking out her hunting knife and charged at the creepy crawler while her sabertooth tiger went after Peter.

"Uh nice, Kitty!" Scarlet Spider jumped out of harm's way as soon as the big fanged cat pounced at him. "Okay note to self. Don't talk to big cats like they're ordinary house cats!"

Spider-Man was ducking and dodging a lot of Kraven's knife strike was her mutant agility was almost on par with his fighting prowess. She managed to land a few hit around his stomach region and she was able to kick the hero to the ground. Peter wanted to back up his partner but he was still preoccupied with the prehistoric big cat.

Ana got on top of him as she raised the hunting tool in the air. "Any last words, Vermin!"

"First rule of being a hunter. Always survey your surroundings!" Spider-Man narrowed his eyes at the daughter of his deceased enemy, which was something he learned from the first encounter with her father.

Ana didn't know what he meant by that until a pink psi-arrow hit the knife out of her hand and she saw Huntsman Spider holding a neon pink psi-bow and arrow with Spider-Woman and Steel Spider right behind him by the entrance.

While the Huntress was distracted, Spider-Man mustered up what's left of his strength to punch her in the stomach which left her gasping for air. As he was standing upward, the wallcrawler sprayed his webbing over his wounds to stop the bleeding and waited for his regenerative ability to set in.

"You're clearly outnumbered, Anastasia. Give up," Spider-Man glared at the villain but she wasn't giving up without a fight.

"Gulyadkin! Protect your master!" Ana shouted at the sabertooth who stopped trying to claw and chase after the Scarlet Spider who was dodging his every move, but as soon as he was about to come to her aid, Steel Spider fired off two sleeping gas canisters from both of his gauntlets at the tiger rendering it sound asleep much to Kraven's chagrin.

"No!!" Kraven yelled out in distress that these insects were able to knock out her loyal pet.

"Nice one!" Huntsman Spider complimented the tech savvy hero.

"You know I'll always got your back," Steel Spider smiled as he gave Huntsman a thumbs up.

"You could've had it all, Quire! You could've had a family!!" Kraven shrieked in anger at the Huntsman Spider.

"I already got a family and they're sure as hell not the Kravinoffs!" Huntsman Spider retorted while basically keeping her at bay with his psychic construct of the bow and arrow.

Some of the heroes' spider-senses tingle when the same attack helicopter came back around after witnessing the Huntress impending defeat so the pilot fires off a bunch of missiles at the rooftop.

"Everyone, Duck and Cover!" Spider-Man urged his team as they didn't need to be told twice!

The roof was literally on fire and Huntsman Spider tried to grab Anastasia only for her to pull up his mask halfway and kissed him on the lips much to his astonishment.

"...Ana," Huntsman Spider muttered as he was lost for words.

"Come with me! Let's runaway to Genosha together. Just the two of us," Anastasia tearfully pleaded with her former friend.

"You know I can't do that, Thundercat," Huntsman Spider had no choice but to reject that proposal.

Kraven the Huntress sniffed and composed herself. "So I guess this it, Pinky!" She turned around to leap off the building. "You've made your choice and so will I!"

"What are you doing?!!" Huntsman Spider was about to dive right after the young woman, but he saw that she had a grappling hook that latched onto the chopper. They both shared one last look with each other as the helicopter flew away from the scene.

Harry was able to take control of the situation despite his injuries. "Let's do a headcount. Is everyone alright?"

"I've been better," Peter responded as he was dusting the ashes and debris from his hoodie. "Full disclosure I'm definitely sending you the bill for my dry cleaning."

Steel Spider went up to his old mentor as he had something to say. "Harry, me and Mattie found something in archives that you might be interested in."

Spider-Man only nodded. "We will discuss this matter later."

"In the meantime, what do we do about Diego over here?" Scarlet Spider asked while putting a web-like net construct over the sleeping beast.

"There's a nice little animal sanctuary upstate that is going to take good care of Gulyadkin," Spider-Man answered as he was staring at a depressed Huntsman Spider who was sitting on the edge of the battle damaged roof.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE

There was a full moon out tonight as Quentin Quire was in a secluded area near the bridge sitting on his motorcycle while reflecting on events that occurred a couple of hours ago.

He turned his back to see Spider-Man and his friend pulling up in the Spider-Mobile. The wallcrawler got out of the car and walked up to Quire.

"Did you get her?" Quentin yawned as he asked his former mentor.

"Anastasia Kravinoff has fallen off the radar for now," Spider-Man answered.

"That had to hurt her pride," Quentin chuckled to himself. "She's still in the city in case you were wondering."

After a long awkward silence, Spider-Man took off his mask and stared at the pink-haired mutant face to face. "I get that you two had a close relationship."

Quentin sighed. "Let's say I know how you feel when it comes to having cat problems."

"I want you to tell me the truth, Quentin. What has been eating you up for the past several days?" Harry inquired with a worried tone in his voice.

"I thought about what that other Quentin did on your new buddy's Earth. The one where he started that riot at that academy. At first I thought he wanted to be some sorta revolutionary for mutants, but then I realized he did all that to impress some chick who still wouldn't give him the time of day," Quentin explained while Harry listened.

"I betrayed you and the guys because I was so angry that you fired me as your partner and kicked me off the team. I don't even know why you took me in?" Quentin continued as he stared down on the ground in shame.

"...You look like you needed something to eat," Harry smiled which made Quentin stare blankly at him.

Harry cleared his throat and got straight to the point. "Look, you're not like that other Quentin and you're you. That's what really matters, but I know what you and your alternate have in common."

"And what that might be?" Quentin asked only for Harry to put his hand on his shoulder.

"You both are crying out for attention. What you really wanted was finding some semblance of a family," Harry answered as Quentin was lost for words.

"I want to apologize for how I handled the situation when I found out that you were taking Mutant Growth Hormones. You were under a lot of pressure and that I didn't realize how much I contributed to your mental state," Harry said as he felt guilty with the way he handled Quire.

"So you're cool with me not being like you?" Quentin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I never wanted you to be like me," Harry shook his head. "Besides there's already a Spider-Man. And a Spider-Woman. And yeah a Steel Spider."

"And don't forget a Scarlet Spider," Peter funnily interjected into their conversation.

Harry snorted. "That too. We're good. There's also room for one more as a Huntsman Spider if you don't mind?"

"I have a lot to make up for," Quentin looks down in shame.

"You're bound to make some mistakes. I have no doubt in my mind that you're going to fail spectacularly. Not too often hopefully," Harry said to his former protege.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Quentin deadpanned.

"I need to know if I could count on you to make the right choices? Not just for me but for Oliver, Mattie and Mortimer as well," Harry said.

"You can count on it," Quentin nodded.

"Last question and I need you to be completely honest with us," Harry gave Quentin a determined look.

"What's that?" Quentin curiously asked.

Scarlet Spider was carrying a box of pepperoni pizza that he pulled out from the backseat of the Spider-Mobile. "Anyone hungry?"

Harry and Quentin were both eating their slice of pizza on the hood of the vehicle while Peter was enjoying his on the roof.

Peter was actually having a good time for once after spending a month isolating himself from his friends and family when he got his body back. Still the rest of the night would've been nice if Harry didn't have to keep secrets from the wallcrawler. It's best not to spoil this occasion seeing how Harry and Quentin are in the middle of having a bonding moment.

As Harry was finishing up the rest of his pizza, he turned his head over to Quire who was still eating his slice.

"I really appreciate for your help tonight, Quentin. We all need to be ready. Who knows what Smythe and the rest of his cohorts have in store for us," Harry said while staring at the moon.

ESU PARKING LOT

After Dr. Marla Jameson had finished up grading term papers, she left her office at the science lab on campus and head over to her car. She was still carrying the same briefcase from earlier as Jameson brought it with her to make a last few adjustments on the machine.

When she was about to enter the vehicle, Marla heard the distinct noise of metal hitting the street.

"Excuse me, Dr. Jameson?"

She froze when Marla recognized that voice and she slowly turned around to see a tall man sporting an all black attire consisting of a trenchcoat, leather gloves, a fedora and a scarf covering parts of his face. What astonished her the most was that his feet was entirely made of solid cold steel.

"...Alistair Smythe?" Dr. Jameson muttered as she was shocked to see the son of the deceased man that she worked with before standing right in front of the scientist.

Alistair madly grinned behind his rebreather that resembled an oxygen mask underneath his scarf.

"I'm quite pleased that you still remember me. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?"

To Be Continued...