17 Bioelectric Shock

"Fuck...this is a headache," he said, rubbing his chin.

While he couldn't currently completely confirm it, he had enough evidence to hypothesise why he thought Gwen's powers were so diminished.

Well, the answer was quite ironic. The reason her powers were diminished was because of the very reason she didn't undergo irreversible and constant mutation when she got bitten. Her DNA was so adamant at preventing mutations that if it could, it would've rejected the foreign spider DNA forcibly injected into her.

Unfortunately, the regulatory sequences in her DNA couldn't prevent the foreign DNA from integrating into itself via the spider venom, thus it did its best to accept the least amount of the DNA before locking away the rest.

'Would this affect the Genome serum?' he pondered before shaking his head. 'I only adapted it based on her genome. I engineered it to be perfectly capable of adapting to the Lizard serum.'

He then looked at his PC and marked all the pieces of Gwen's genome that were suppressed by regulatory sequences.

'Oh, her strength isn't the only thing that was suppressed,' he thought, slightly surprised. 'Why are the regulatory sequences suppressing genes for Bioelectrocity? Wait, camouflage? Spiderweb too?'

Confusion racked his brain, as he double-checked and triple-checked the results.

'Is this...Did she get bitten by a version of Miles' spider?' he thought, his eyebrows in his hair. 'I'll need to ask her exactly where and when she got bit. It's probably Oscorp, but anything could change in an alternate universe.'

Whatever it was, Gwen wasn't as strong as her counterpart spider-people yet. It was something that he could change eventually, but at the moment, he was more vulnerable than he'd thought. Being a normal human in a world full of cosmic entities is not comfortable in the least.

'Perhaps I should get the Lizard serum sooner than later.'

He sighed and sat down next to Gwen, whose eyes finally began flickering open.

"Gwen?" he tentatively asked as her eyelids finally opened, revealing beautiful but groggy blue irises.

"Peter...?" she whispered, poking his cheek with a finger.

"Yeah, it's me," Peter smiled, removing the finger that dug into his cheek and holding her hand.

"Oh, it's this dream again..." she grumbled to herself before looking back at him. "Be gentle, please."

"..."

***

Aldrich Killian looked at the sequencer with a vein pulsing in his forehead while Maya stood at the back, knowing what was about to happen.

He slapped away the large blood vial he'd received, making it smash into the floor while gritting his teeth before taking a long shaky breath, barely suppressing the incredible rage flowing through him. He picked up his phone and dialed the very same number as before.

"Hello?"

[ Yes Sir. How may we help? ]

"You did not complete the contract," Killian said, smiling calmly, hiding his rage behind his dead eyes.

[ Excuse me, sir? Although the Ghost Spider evaded our capture, we gave you the samples you wanted. We have already compensated you for our mismanagement. We apologize for not completing the service you wanted. ]

"Samples I wanted?" Aldrich spat, gripping his phone harder. "Not only is it mixed with that braindead bull's DNA and forensically inert, it's also mixed with the blood of THIRTY THREE OTHER PEOPLE! IT'S USELESS!"

[ Sir, anger is not going to get us anywhere. Let us solve this like civilized people. ]

"Solve this?" Killian practically growled. "How the FUCK do you have the audacity to send me such a thing? Isn't your organization supposed to complete a damn contract properly?!"

[ Sir... ]

"Let me speak to the Director"

[ Sir, he's busy- ]

"LET.ME.SPEAK.TO.THAT.LYING.SACK.OF.SHIT!"

[ Will do, sir ]

CLICK!

RING! RING!

Aldrich reined in his anger once more, but this time it was ready to explode any moment.

[ Hello? ], A voice responded.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY DID YOU FUCK UP MY CONTRACT!" Killian spat, spraying his spittle everywhere. "I PAID YOU!"

[ You gave me an unstable product. I give you mixed DNA. That sounds fair enough to me. ]

"That is NOT how it works! You knew it was unstable and yet we made a deal on this. You can't rescind the contract! You'll be put out of business!"

[ I can and I will. ]

BEEP!

The Director cut the call.

"AAAARGH!" Aldrich burst into a fit of rage before throwing the phone at the wall.

First Stark and now the fucking Director. When will it stop?! When will he ever be taken seriously?

"Maya!" he suddenly snapped to his colleague in the back, while the remnants of his phone lay scattered on the floor.

"What?" she asked, her heart jumping into her throat. Aldrich was becoming more and more unstable by the day.

He looked at the shelf with samples of Extremis.

"I need your help," he said, madness consuming his vision. "I need you to help me do something a little extreme."

***

BAM!

A large fist of an even more gigantic figure smashed down on the wooden table, making beautiful patterns on its surface. His figure was concealed by the dark shadows that seemed to cloak him - perks of sitting in unusually dark rooms, their dark limbs seemingly swirling about.

Regardless, people who knew him would recognize him immediately. Even if he wore the world's best disguise, his hulking, almost frighteningly unnatural body would give him away.

"Did you just do what I think you did?" he growled in a gravelly voice - one that would make one's chest rumble.

"How would I know?" a short man also covered in shadows, responded. He sat opposite the giant man and was barely noticeable. Of course, in the presence of that giant, anyone's presence would become negligible. "No matter how dumb you are, it's hard to deduce the human brain. Psychological methods do exi-"

"STOP..." the man yelled, making the table before him rumble. "...with that arrogant front of yours. I know you, and you know I know. There's no point in playing this game. Tell me, WHY did you scam a customer of ours?"

"Because I found it worth the betrayal," the man shrugged nonchalantly.

"How?" the giant asked in an eerily quiet voice. It seemed like the angrier he got, the calmer his mind got.

The short man sighed. "I know Aldrich Killian. We study our clients in detail for a reason. He's a highly unstable and emotionally immature person - A desperate person."

"Haven't convinced me yet"

"Haven't started yet," the man spat, and the giant chuckled. "As I was saying, Aldrich Killian will most definitely take the Serum."

"Explain"

"His decisions are fundamentally rooted in the realms of psychology and observation. You see, his decisions, while seemingly spontaneous owing to the madness nestled deep in his heart, are often influenced by an interplay of conscious and subconscious factors."

"And you've studied these factors?"

"Indeed. If Killian survives, he shall be used as a test subject to extract Extremis - if he doesn't, good for us. The serum is highly unstable and seems to affect the brain in a negative way - greatly. It's better for its legend to either begin with Killian or die with him."

"That's it?" the giant's voice took a darker undertone. "Did the chemicals in the accident fuck up your brain to that extent? Did you sacrifice the integrity of our company over a small CHANCE of getting the serum? Why don't you break in and experiment on it?"

"You damn well know who funded that project. You don't mess with those people. Scamming Killian is one thing, and directly stealing the formula is another. We'd be dismantled in seconds."

"So what?" the giant practically shouted, standing up, six feet and seven inches of muscle looming over the small man. "You might've done the same thing by ruining our integrity!"

"I have not! Extremis would be the greatest step in human evolution. It is essential for us to get our hands on it!"

A short moment of silence passed between the two contrasting men before the giant spoke.

"This is the second time you've taken a drastic decision without consulting me. This cannot go on. The consequences are not what a short fuck like you can handle."

"Oh really?" the man stood up, looking pathetic before the giant.

"Yes," the behemoth grumbled. "You're treading on thin ice here. Better make sure you don't slip."

"Good thing I don't use my legs," the man growled.

CREAK! SHINK!

Four giant metallic tentacles stretched out from behind his back and slammed into the ground before extending, raising him up.

"Who's looking down on who now?"

"It's who's looking down on whom..."

***