The Riverbed

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***

A week later.

25 April 2013. 9:00

Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's (more recently, Felicia Hardy's) flat.

Peter Parker.

- 'Kitten, have you seen my mask,' I question Felicia doing gymnastics in the hall.

And no, that sight does not detract from the search. Not at all.

- Did you look on the kitchen table? - Says the girl, wriggling out in a bridge.

I make my way into the kitchen and indeed find the item I'm looking for.

- How did it end up here?

- 'You have a habit of throwing things around,' Fey replies, sitting down on the twine.

And how did we get everything so...harmonious?

I think back to the morning a week ago, the three of us had spent that day exchanging stories about all sorts of moments in our lives, telling stories, sharing, strengthening our bond even more.

We ordered pizza and watched a film. Funny, but we couldn't decide on a film for a long time: I like detectives and sci-fi, MJ likes action and adventure films, and Fey likes horror and thrillers. And yet both my girls, as it turns out, love snotty melodramas.

Even got me hooked.

As long as it had Gosling in it.

At the end of the evening, the girls passed out on the sofa to the muttering of the TV, and I went up to the roof.

I wondered what emotional background Raj was picking up on.

Surprisingly, Symbiote recounted in such colours as if my relationship was a soap opera for him.

In a nutshell, both Mary and Felicia were completely genuine. That made me very happy. However, in the process of telling Fey, my partner said that the girls at the same time became very sad, as if they remembered something bad, but this feeling quickly evaporated.

I decided not to get too excited. If it's bad, they'll tell me, but so far we're doing fine.

I grab my mask and walk over to my desk.

I pack my rucksack, throwing in my notebooks and research papers.

- I still can't believe you and Mary are students," Fey said as she watched me pack.

- You like young girls, don't you, Miss Hardy? - I teased the girl lightly.

Cat only throws a sofa cushion at me in response.

- For your information, I'm only two years older than you, but I've been educated for a long time, due to my obligation to get involved in the affairs of the foundation and Hardy Consolidated.

M.J. is coming out of the shower.

- I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late," the redhead said quietly.

- Is there a fire somewhere? - I joked, watching my girlfriend rush around the flat.

- Not funny, Tiger," the green-eyed girl said, sitting down at the table and fixing her earrings.

Felicia got up from the mat and walked over to Mary and hugged her from behind, looking in the mirror.

- Meow, you're so pretty," Fey said, rubbing her cheek against the redhead's top.

The hellcat also remembered to rub MJ's breasts through the towel.

- Piiiit," the girl moaned, turning to me for help.

- Sorry, Carrot, can't blame Kitten, you really are so, cutely sexy right now.

- Come to us, Spidey," Fey beckoned urgently.

Mary, on the other hand, had given up and was just enjoying a breast massage from Cat.

- I'd love to, but MJ has to go, she's been preparing for this audition all week.

After I finished speaking, the green-eyed girl seemed to wake up from her trance and dropped the blonde's hands and continued packing, running all over the flat.

- You're boring," Felicia snorted and returned to the couch.

- Don't you have a job to go to? Multi-million dollar company, all that stuff? - I asked.

- I'll work from home," the blue-eyed girl said calmly, opening her laptop. - Plus I'll look after the flat. It's about time to clean up.

With God's help, I keep my mouth shut from commenting on "how a street cat is quickly domesticated." I feel like I'd die after that one.

- Okay, I'm ready," MJ came running out of the bedroom, fully dressed, adjusting her silk scarf as she went.

- You look beautiful, Carrot-top," Cat said before I could compliment her.

- Thank you, Kitten," Mary walks over to our girl and kisses her, "okay, I'm going to run," the redhead comes closer and hugs me, "I'll be late, if you need anything order something.

- It's okay, I'll be late too, Shields has an exam," I kiss my girlfriend, "don't worry, you'll make everyone, love you.

- I love you too, thank you," kissing me again, the green-eyed girl takes her bag and goes to the door, "I'll see you tonight.

- See you tonight," we reply in unison with Fey.

The door closes and Cat and I are alone.

- Isn't your exam today?

- Yeah, I just don't really care about it, so I didn't remember until afterwards.

- So what's going to happen there? - Felicia asked with interest.

- They will race on physical training, skills of tactics and strategy, will test shooting and ability to handle cold weapons, typical skills necessary for a soldier. They'll test my command of the squad and my ability to take orders from a superior officer. I think I'll get zero points in the last one, - I smile cheerfully.

I guess I'm still a little nervous.

- That's why I love you," Hardy said, getting up from the couch and coming over to me, "you're not obeying, but commanding," she nuzzled my neck, "that's why my cat sense is purring.

I shorten the distance and sink my lips into Fey's.

- I've still got another hour before I go out.

- Room or couch? - Cat comes to the point.

- Shower," I scoop the blonde into my arms.

***

Green Goblin's secret lab.

10:00

Dr Miles Warren.

Dear Professor, the cloning genius has been working on his new employer's secret project for twelve days.

Almost a fortnight. He hasn't left the lab for four days without leaving.

Had to take an emergency leave of absence. If it weren't for his long-standing reputation, which had long saved him, he'd have to say goodbye to his place at the university.

If, of course, his new employer cared at all.

Sending his proposal to Norman Osborn, Miles had no idea that a seemingly unremarkable letter would be intercepted by a deranged criminal who had recently made a daring raid on an event to open children's medical centres.

Although the fact that the Goblin kept his promise is pointless to deny. Arriving at the meeting point, Warren was picked up by the snickering psychopath and taken to the secret facility.

The scope of the laboratory was astounding.

All sorts of equipment, machinery, reagents, resources. The supercriminal really didn't skimp on this project. And, driven by his own ego, Miles ignored the moral side of the created issue.

In the hands of the scientist got almost the rarest sample of DNA capable of raising Warren to the top and he is not going to miss the chance. Besides, working for a criminal should not be stressful, because his experiment is far from the most ethical, so the presence of such an employer...a necessary evil.

Taking off his glasses and wiping his lenses, Miles got up from his chair and, stretching, went to the three capsule-columns in which his project was beginning to take shape. Almost at the end of the room, against the far wall, stood a row of three capsules in which, for the moment, three bases were being nurtured in the solution that would become his triumph in the future.

But already in the nucleation stage, Warren had encountered problems.

The most obvious? Lack of material.

Not only was there enough for only three prototypes, two of them were at risk of degradation decay. Miles is now calculating every possible option to avoid that. The best way out is either to strengthen the mutational components in the genes, or to completely change the genetic structure. Reducing mass is about preserving the core sample needed for the clone. It's not so bad if it changes the chromosome component a little bit.

On the bright side, one clone will definitely turn out to be a perfect copy of the original. Especially after Warren destroys the faulty genes in the sample. But we have to wait for the clones to mature. The employer doesn't demand accelerated results from Miles just yet, but the man needs to be prepared that the Goblin's stamina isn't monolithic.

***

12:00

Peter Parker.

Near Times Square.

- Whoo-hoo! - I shout excitedly as I fly over the building.

"May I ask what you're so excited about, Bearer?".

"Why wouldn't I be, Raj? Things are pretty good in my life right now and that's putting it mildly, I'm on the verge of working for one of the most impressive security agencies in the world, so..."

My rant was interrupted by Spidey Sense going off.

Clinging to a lamppost, I watch as a crosswalk in the middle of one of the busiest places in the Big Apple breaks open and something emerges from the ground.

- Looks like I'm going to be late for my exam," I said to myself and jumped down, catching myself on a lamppost.

After flying a few metres, I landed on the roof of a newspaper stand and thought about what I could do.

The beast is huge, yellow eyes glittering with unnatural colour, the monster grabs the stopped Cadillac from which the driver has managed to run out and chews the front bodywork off it.

"Disgusting," Symbiote remarked slightly contemptuously.

"Don't be a squirrel, Raj, we'd better deal with the critter."

I jumped down from the lamppost and, catching hold of the monster's carcass, kicked it with my foot in a corkscrew move, putting all the power of the black slime into the attack.

The monster didn't just sway, the underground beast, like Godzilla, let out a growl and, as if in slow motion, fell to the asphalt, raising a significant level of road dust.

- That's it, mate, have a rest," I said, landing on the ground.

However, my joy was not destined to last forever, as the underground monster began to rise with a loud growl.

As it turned out, the creature is not so huge, six metres, humanoid enough, and it looks familiar.

- Listen, haven't we crossed paths before?

The answer was another wild roar and throwing in my direction a torn out piece of asphalt pavement.

Calmly I dodge and shoot a web at the monster, the threads reach the target and, without trying to move the mountain, I pull myself to the monster, reaching the target, strike a foot on the jaw. The ringing of Spider Sense signalled that if my attack had reached its target, it had caused a far from expected reaction. The monster only grew furious.

Growling menacingly, the creature tried to reach me, while I tried my best to minimise the damage to the city, after all, with my agility, its powerful but still slow strikes could only cause irreparable damage to everything around it.

What followed, however, was something I had not expected.

During the fight, a fireball flew into the monster's back. A natural fireball.

- I don't know what you are, but I was just at brunch with a gorgeous model, and your appearance distracted me from this wonderful pastime, thank you very much! - was the speech of a guy hovering in the air, engulfed in flames.

And I know exactly who it is.

***

Jonathan Spencer Storm/Torch Man.

The morning didn't start off well for Johnny. Switching off his alarm clock once again he was going to snuggle up in bed before starting the day of a typical successful man - starting at twelve o'clock. However, fate (or rather a blonde with the same eyes as Johnny himself) had other plans.

Yes, his lovely big sister Sue had decided to mess with his head first thing in the morning.

And things were just getting better.

It was just over a year since the disaster that had changed their lives forever. Could Johnny Storm, who loved cars, adrenaline, girls and just plain carefree fun, have imagined that his desire to be co-pilot of a rocket that would send them straight into space would have such consequences?

On the other hand, it wasn't so bad, now he could fly, naturally fly! Yes, he was burning up in the process, but no harm done!

Storm thought he got the coolest ability ever. Seriously! His sister had learned to be invisible, though Johnny would have found a more useful use for this power, her boyfriend and, one could say, Johnny's mentor, the organiser of the expedition, had learned to...just stretch, apparently a big brain was enough, and Ben...well, yes, bad luck for the poor guy, but he wouldn't swap powers with Ben. Storm felt sorry for the big man, they might not be friends like Grimm and Richards, but it was a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone.

And as if what had happened wasn't enough. They got home safely, unless you counted the crash somewhere in the Jersey countryside, but they got to the Baxter Building, a foundation established by the best minds in the country back in the fifties, and also the place where his and Sue's father, Dr Franklin Storm, worked.

They got there and stayed there.

Of course, after what had happened and the shock that had passed, the real scientific hell began. Father, Reed, Sue, even Ben, who was eager to get back to his old self, since he'd had no interest in nerd stuff before. Everyone started scheduling tests, studying blood samples and figuring out how to live with their newfound powers. Only Johnny remained a monolith of calm and equanimity, though his father and sister, of course, called it irresponsibility and carelessness.

And what of him? It really wasn't that bad. Ben had it much worse. If they'd been a three-metre-tall, stone-crumbling, crushing everything in his hands. Brrr. Johnny tried his best to cheer the big man up, but he seemed to have left his sense of humour where his optimism had been.

Anyway, as time went on, the problems kept getting bigger and bigger. There were only more tests, but in the process of training to control his strength, Storm had invented a cool phrase: "Flame!", and now his heat was accompanied only by it.

Reed was studying all the data and seemed to have stopped sleeping, at least he had heard something like that in the conversation between Sue and his father. His sister was trying to get back to normal, dealing with the company's affairs, financial matters and other things that Johnny had never looked into, and she seemed to be doing a good job of it. But his father surprised him. Yes, he had worked with Reed, as a scientist should, scrupulously noting details, finding out which areas of their bodies had been affected by the cosmic alpha rays, even if he hadn't found the answer to getting everything back (though Johnny didn't want to give up his abilities), but then he'd helped Ben, developed essentials for him. As he tried to explain to his son in order to rekindle his interest in science, it was a mixture of his old projects and Reed's development of unstable molecules. By the way, this was the material their suits were made of, as it turned out, only they didn't collapse when using forces.

Everything seemed to be going as it should, but this scientific recluse dragged on for a week, then lasted for another, to Johnny's shock, temperamental Johnny Storm, began to feel bored! Which meant it had been almost three weeks! And just as the blond was about to get some air, his father broke the news to him that he couldn't! Of course, the initial reaction to his father's stern, albeit rather sympathetic remark, was anger. Unfortunately, such moments in communication with his parent were not uncommon for Johnny, but the standard altercation quickly escalated into a real quarrel, which was attended by everyone from his sister, who was usually a buffer between father and brother, to Richards, who had become a recluse in the laboratory.

The heated argument continued until Reed revealed something that immediately cooled things down. A transcript sent over from the War Department.

Of course, the soldiers couldn't allow unstable elements with extraordinary superpowers to run rampant in a peaceful populated area. Almost from the first day after their return to the Baxter building, Reed, Sue and their father had had to demonstrate research and prove their right to a normal walk. On the other hand, thanks for not storming the lab, they could do that. But they don't need such a precedent, because Franklin Storm and Reed Richards are not the last names in modern science, and the foundation is not a state enterprise.

And yet this discovery had to be accepted.

Days began to add up again into weeks, and weeks into months. On the plus side? The ability training was starting to pay off. On the downside, it was boring beyond belief. Johnny was getting involved in everything: Sue's work, having to run from an angry woman; trips to Reed's lab, a blank wall of ignoring, even when Storm dropped those weird things; teasing Ben, having to escape by flight. Even ventured into his father's business once, but here the temperamental blond man himself had backed off after an hour of tedious lecturing. All the games on the ployka were passed, the card house was assembled for the hundredth time in a row, even the books in the home library were read, and only he was going to switch to serials.

But everything comes to an end one day. The conclusion ended, too.

Honestly, it had been the most difficult five months in a while. Well, at least you could go to the upper floors of the foundation, get some fresh air.

And now here it was - the long-awaited freedom! Flicking through the channels, Johnny knew that their story had been discussed for quite some time, they had even been invited to a talk show, so Storm planned to taste the fruits of unexpected fame. And he did: parties, late night programmes, cars, their team was even called the Fantastic Four, even though Johnny represented them alone most of the time.

Over three months of fun, relationships with hot hotties, and tonight he was supposed to have brunch with Claire or Clarice or Karen...whatever. But Sue had to ruin it. For some reason, today was the day his sister decided to start filling him in on the Baxter Foundation.

- Look, Johnny, you need this," the pretty blonde looked up at him doomedly, "or do you think the money for your fleet of cars comes out of thin air?

- Come on, sis, you know I'm not very good at finances and stuff," the blond waved his hand uncertainly, hastily throwing on a leather jacket.

- Jonathan Spencer Storm I'm not forcing you to take over the marketing department," Susan began menacingly, "just work in the office, sort out the paperwork....

- Sorry, sister, I'm late," Johnny shouted as he hurried into the lift.

- You're going to have to take responsibility for your life someday, brother," Storm said quietly.

*

Johnny made it in time, they were sitting in a café and Crystal was talking about her career, rubbing his shin under the table with her ankle, with obvious innuendo. It seemed that nothing could stop him from enjoying this beautiful day, but the echoes of the sudden earthquake (in New York), forced a correction. Of course, all the passersby started to panic and Storm had to be a gentleman while escorting Kitty, but then he saw it.

Right out of the pavement came a huge creature of a dirty green colour, with crystals sticking out of its back and its eyes burning an unnatural yellow colour. The moment the monster lifted the Cadillac, Johnny was even dazed and froze without moving. The blond came to his senses only at the moment when the huge and obviously not weak carcass with a rumble collapsed to the ground.

The guy raised his head and saw the one who was in the news more often than the Fantastic Four, the most controversial hero of New York - Spider-Man, in his new costume.

Maybe it was the notorious adrenaline that had been bugging Storm since he was seven years old, or maybe it was something else, but the words were out of his mouth before he could think.

- Flame! - A torrent of fire engulfed his entire body, bursting its way free.

"Too bad about the jacket," a thought flashed through the blond's mind.

Overcoming the distance, as he had done hundreds of times in training, Johnny began to form a fireball in his hand. As soon as the charge was ready, he threw it at the back of the monster that was distracted by the Spider.

- I don't know what you are, but I was just at brunch with a gorgeous model, and your appearance distracted me from this wonderful pastime, thank you very much! - The flame-haired guy hovered in the air and spoke.

It seemed to have an effect on the monster, because in the next moment it started digging the ground with a roar, hiding in the depths.

Storm didn't even know how to react to this.

- Nice job, fire," the voice that sounded brought Johnny back from heaven to earth again, not literally.

- Ah, yes, thank you - on automatic the blond began to descend and approach the Spider.

The hero didn't seem to appreciate the sudden approach and jumped away from Johnny too sharply.

- Whoa, careful, candle, how many degrees are in you? - Raising his palm, Spider asked.

- Oh, that's right! - Softly landing, the flaming hero took his natural appearance, - let's do it again, I'm Johnny Storm, nice to meet you, - the blond extended his hand to his interlocutor.

***

Same here.

Peter Parker

- We've heard," the black-suited hero responded to the handshake.

"Raj, you okay?"

"As long as that flaming one keeps his distance, I'm fine.

- We gave that thing a hard time, you tell me," Torchlight said, grinning through all thirty-two teeth, "we'll have to do it again sometime.

- I don't know about you, but I haven't finished yet, - Spider turned towards the funnel dug by the monster.

- What are you talking about? - The blond asked perplexed.

- Really? You think it's enough to chase the monster away and wait for the paparazzi to sign autographs and give interviews?

- Well...not really," the guy said uncertainly.

- I see. So, flash, it's not enough to just treat the symptom, you need to go deeper into the problematic of the disease - pointed a finger arachnid in the direction of the pit.

- Are you suggesting we go after him? - Sparks of excitement flashed in Storm's eyes.

- Or rather, I'll go after him.

- Excuse me?

- Look, you seem like a normal guy, but you're clearly a rookie, and also, I work alone, well most of the time, and I'm certainly not going to look after someone who clearly hasn't had any superhero experience.

- What makes you think that?! - Johnny began to boil.

- Firstly, you're obviously overexcited, I know, I was that way myself on my first outing. Then there's your costume.

- What's wrong with it? - Storm started looking at himself. - By the way, you can't get one of these at the nearest shopping centre, it's a superhero uniform.

- Yeah, I agree, but it's missing a few key factors.

- Like what?

- The emblem, that's about the costume, and the nickname, that's about you.

- No problem with that," Johnny waved his palm lightly, "Spidey, you're looking at Torch Man, Flame! - Immediately the blond man's body burst into flames.

- Spectacular, but you're still a rookie.

- Why are we even arguing? - the newfound hero took off and flew into the hole the monster had dug.

- Well super...

"Bearer, we're not going to follow that blob of fire into a tight space with only one exit, are we?"

The answer to the symbiote's question was Peter jumping into the pit.

It didn't take long to descend.

In a couple of minutes Spider managed to catch up with his unexpected partner.

- Anything? - decided to cut to the chase instead of arguing, the hero in black.

- Earth, dirt, more earth, some clay, and actually more large accumulations of earth, - answered Torch, lightly brushing his fingers on the upper part of the tunnel.

- The monster couldn't have vanished, and the passage doesn't end, so I think we should go ahead.

- Lead the way, partner.