Peter and Harry had decided to take a break from their extremely tiring routine of standing around talking and had ended up sitting around talking in the cafeteria of the Oscorp tower as they had when showing the royals and Twilight around.

"So, it seems like Mr Toomes isn't too happy with your dad" Peter said, sipping his drink through a straw.

"Yes it does, but hey, its dog-eat-dog in the business world" Harry shrugged, biting into a sandwich after finishing his sentence "And besides, I don't think Toomes is gonna do anything about it besides cry and maybe go a little senile"

"You say that as if going senile is something people choose to do" Peter commented.

"How do we know it isn't?" Harry asked with a very serious expression on his face "Maybe dementia is something old people get when they become so old that they just want to forget the fun of being young and they create it as a method to cope with not being young and spry any more" Peter looked at his friend with an amazed expression, seconds ticking by before Peter spoke in a slow tone.

"That has to be... the single most retarded thing I have ever heard you, fuck that, anyone say in my entire life" he said, half shocked and half amazed.

"Yes, but you have to give me props for it" Harry said with his hand up in front of him "You don't know how much effort goes into being as retarded as I am" Peter took another sip of his drink before setting it down and getting up out of his seat.

"No, no, nope, fuck that, I'm done" he said, waving his hands in front of him "I am done, I will call you after you've mentally tortured your girlfriend tonight and see if you're functioning properly"

"What?" Harry asked with a cocked eyebrow "It wasn't that bad was it?"

"Harry, get your head checked brah" Peter said, exiting the room and walking over to the elevator. He walked into the mechanical lifting device and thumbed a button. The doors began to close before he heard a nasally voice call out.

"Hold that lift please!" they yelled. He quickly darted forward and hit the open button and the doors slid back open, allowing the slightly taller scientist wearing thin, circular glasses and carrying several large boxes rush inside.

"Thank you" the man said with a wimpy smile.

"No problem..." Peter said, looking at his name tag "Doctor Octavius" The man smiled at him once more before turning to Peter again with a request.

"Floor three please" he said.

"Sure" Peter nodded, thumbing the green button with a large 3 printed on it, the doors sliding closed once again before a tall, confident man stopped the door, activating the sensor that caused it to open again. He was a large man who walked with importance, carrying an expensive looking black briefcase and a slicked back black haircut, contrasting greatly to the nerdy looking, rough-haired Otto.

"Floor three" the man said, ordering instead of requesting.

"What's the magic word?" Peter asked mockingly.

"Floor three" the man repeated.

"Just ask nicely" Otto said with a playful grin. This look was not appreciated by the man in the suit as he pushed his face close to Otto's, giving him a furious glare.

"Did I ask you to intervene Octavius?" the man demanded.

"N-No Doctor Smythe" Otto muttered "I was only joking-"

"Don't joke with your superiors Octavius, we don't pay you to make friends" Smythe said, pushing a finger into Octavius's chest and pushing him back against the elevator wall "Actually, I don't know what we pay you for to be honest, when my research is complete you and your AI constructs will be obsolete"

"And what do you research Smythe?" Peter said, grabbing hold of Smythe's arm with a firm grip, getting the taller man to glare at him threateningly "'Cause from my knowledge, Oscorp doesn't do research into the 'secret inner workings of the egotistical jackass'" Smythe exhaled through his nose before looking Peter up and down.

"I'm sorry kid, who do you think you're supposed to be?" he asked, baring his teeth.

"Peter, Peter Parker" he answered "I would say its a pleasure but I think the only pleasure I'd get from this encounter would be you getting out of this elevator" Smythe seemed taken aback by his response, moving away from Peter and as such the teen released his grasp.

"Parker huh?" he asked "I heard a lot about your father"

"Really?" Peter asked with a cocked eyebrow "What exactly did you here about my father?"

"I heard that your father was a great man" Smythe said "I can see that the apple does indeed fall far from the tree" The elevator doors slid shut behind them and the elevator began to descend, leaving an awkward silence as Smythe and Peter stood staring furiously at each other until the door opened at the third floor. The doors opened and Smythe looked behind him.

"My stop" he announced.

"Please" Peter said "Don't delay" Smythe exhaled sharply before departing the elevator, Octavius seemingly waiting for a larger gap to grow between the two of them before turning to Peter.

"Thanks for that, what you did just now" he said.

"Don't mention it" Peter said in a friendly tone "I hate assholes like him"

"Yeah, but I could never say that to his face" Otto sighed, sorting out his lab coat before looking out of the elevator "I'm surprised you stood up to him like that, I'd be scared of crossing him"

"How come?" Peter asked.

"He's got a lot of powerful friends" Otto answered.

"So do I" Peter shrugged "See you round Doctor Octavius"

"Yeah, see you around Mister Parker" Otto nodded before departing the elevator. The doors slid closed again before the elevator descended down to the first floor, allowing Peter to exit the elevator and then the building, his temper still flaring slightly after the encounter with Smythe.

"Right" Spider-Man said, landing on the side of a truck and sticking to it, scratching his chin as he rode the vehicle down the street "I've run into two stolen Iron Man suits in the space of two weeks and I've only been doing this superhero schtick for two months now... that's a rogue-slash-stolen suit once a month and my normal person sense is telling me that isn't normal" He threw himself forward and hopped across two cars before throwing himself high into the air and landing on a flagpole.

"I need to go see Monsieur Stark and ask him what the low-down is on the suits goin' all crizzle" he said to himself, shooting a web onto a nearby building and swinging off it "Snoop-Man away!" He swung around a corner, firing another web-line higher than before and yanking up on it in an effort to gain more height before his phone began to ring in his backpack.

"Ugh, I need to get a hands-free" he growled, landing on a nearby rooftop after a quick angle change, taking his phone out of his bag "Yello?"

"Parker!" Jameson barked, Peter once again having the phone too close to his ear "Where are you?"

"Midtown" Spider-Man answered, pulling the mask up over his mouth to not muffle his voice whilst dropping his Manhattan accent.

"Why?" Jameson asked quietly.

"Why not?" Peter responded.

"Because I'm damn sure I'm paying to take pictures of the FF's return to New York, am I not?" Jameson barked.

"Two things boss, firstly, I don't know who the 'FF' are, and secondly, you're not paying me to do anything except take pictures of Spider-Man, why the sudden change of career path for me?" Spider-Man asked.

"You and that Witcher girl-" Jameson began.

"Watson" Peter corrected.

"That's what I said, that Widdicombe girl-"

Peter sighed loudly.

"Did a pretty good spread on the attack those military guys and Spider-Man did on the tourist day thing the army held" Jameson explained.

"Great use of the correct terminology there JJ, really shows off that first-class journalist training" Spider-Man said before realizing what Jameson had said "And why are you blaming Spider-Man for that?! He saved people!"

"No, Ms. Marvel saved people, that masked menace just distracted her and ended up getting two people killed!" Jameson barked "I'm not paying you to argue with me boy!"

"Once again, you're not paying me to do anything besides take pictures of Spider-Man... and who the hell are the FF?" Spider-Man asked, remembering his original question.

"The Fantastic Four boy, god damn, have you been living under a rock for the past five years!?" Jameson demanded.

"No, a locker mostly" Spider-Man shrugged.

"I... what?" Jameson asked in a confused tone "Never mind that, just get to the Baxter Building and get pictures, I'm sending that Watcher girl over there too, since you two seem to work well together"

"Are you even trying at this point?" Spider-Man asked.

"Whatever Parker, just get to the Baxter Building in less than ten minutes or I'll have you strung up by that poncy little haircut faster than you can say 'Ow my hair'!" Jameson hissed.

"Wow Boss, that was nowhere near as creative as usual, rough work day?" Spider-Man asked.

"Wife's been at me, preparing for my boy coming home from his space-flight" Jameson said, strangely revealing a warmer side of himself before stamping down on it again "Enough questions, what do you think I'm paying you to do right now!?"

"That's a multiple choice question right?" Spider-Man asked.

This ended the phone call.

Spider-man stared at his phone in amazement for a brief second before pulling his mask back down and shaking his head.

"That guy has a son?" he asked himself "That guy has a wife?"

Peter tapped Mary-Jane on the shoulder just as he stuffed the rest of his mask into his pocket, causing the red-head to jump again.

"Why, how, do you keep doing that?" she demanded angrily, placing a hand over her heart and exhaling angrily.

"That's my mutant power" Peter shrugged, looking down the corridor they were in and setting his eyes on the elevator that lead up to the penthouse that the Fantastic Four were staying in while in New York "The X-Men wanted me to join them under the moniker 'Red-Headius Sneakio'upon'"

"Very funny" Mary-Jane sighed "Have you got your camera?"

"Does the Pope shit in the woods?" Peter asked in response.

"No" Mary-Jane said sternly.

"Jesus, you're going to be fun to talk to" Peter said with a fake grimace "You feeling alright?"

"No, I'm stressed all to hell" she sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"Three breaths, inhale for three seconds, hold and release" Peter instructed. Mary-Jane followed the instructions before scowling angrily at him.

"That didn't help" she sighed.

"Didn't think it would, I just wanted to try out my experiment to see whether or not people will follow any advice that sounds relatively medical-esque" Peter shrugged "I think you and I have just broken new medical ground Ms. Watson"

"I'm gonna punch you in the face in a minute" she growled.

"Awesome, then you can try your bullshit witchdoctor method to help stop me bleeding" Peter grinned.

"I don't have one" Mary-Jane snarled.

"Well, you came to this experiment prepared didn't you?" Peter asked in a mock snooty tone. Mary-Jane stared at him in angered amazement before there came an announcement from the end of the corridor where a big man in a black suit stood.

"You two?" he asked "The team's ready for you"

"Awesome, I can't wait to meet these guys" Peter said, rubbing his hands together "I'm gonna get an autograph from Sue Storm and sell it on Ebay for about a thousand dollars"

"You're joking right?" Mary-Jane asked in a worried tone.

"Of course I'm joking" Peter chuckled before growing serious "I'll get one from Reed, he's worth more geek street cred"

"I swear right now, if you do anything besides take pictures when I tell you to I'm throwing you out of the penthouse window" Mary-Jane threatened.

"Awesome, then maybe I can try out the new panoramic photo setting on my camera, I heard roof shots of the Baxter Building make lovely canvas spreads" Peter grinned. Mary-Jane didn't respond, she instead turned her head and practised her best fake smile, attacked her hair with a comb from her pocket for a few seconds and took a deep breath.

"I'm ready" she said to herself.

"Is my stunt double done in make-up yet?" Peter asked the air behind him "I heard they had to put a lot of prosthetics on him to get him to look as gorgeous as me"

Mary-Jane walked away from him quickly.

"Alright, I'll stop it" Peter grinned, following behind her. The two of them showed their Daily Bugle ID cards and the doorman let them into the elevator. Mary-Jane thumbed the button for the penthouse and took another deep breath.

"You seem nervous" Peter said, not looking at her as he spoke.

"Really?" she snapped "What gave it away?"

"You don't look as gorgeous as usual" Peter commented. The angry retort Mary-Jane had brewed died away after Peter's response, a surprised look appearing on her face.

"You... you think I'm gorgeous?" she asked.

"Of course I do, my brain knows three things, video games, food and pretty girls" Peter grinned. Mary-Jane seemed to calm down after the compliment, her nerves seemingly dying down and her usual attitude coming back to life.

"Well... I'm flattered Tiger" she said "You're not too shabby yourself"

"My Aunt tells me I'd be beautiful if I was older" Peter said "And if I was good-looking"

"She undersells you Petey" Mary-Jane said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Don't mention selling, she tried to do that once and it did not go well" Peter said, shuddering.

"You... you're joking, right?" Mary-Jane asked.

"Of course I'm joking" Peter nodded "She really wanted to just give me away" The doors opened and the two of them looked at each other with nervous grins.

"Wish me luck" Mary-Jane said "You can take a few establishing shots if they'll let you"

"Good luck" Peter nodded, walking out of the elevator only to have his Spider-Sense flare up. He lifted up his hand just as a baseball came flying towards his head. He caught it in the flat of his palm and closed his hands around it, transferring it to his other hand and hissing in pain from the catch.

"Whoa buddy, good reflexes" a cocky voice said from across the room "I expected to have to dig that thing out of your skull"

"Johnny!" a female voice snapped furiously "Get over here and behave"

"Come on Sue, I didn't mean to" Johnny said with a grin. The teen stood up, being about two inches taller than Peter, putting him at five-nine with spiked, nearly white hair, and bright blue eyes. He wore a simple black T-Shirt and blue jeans with black converses on his feet.

"You're not mad are you bro?" Johnny asked Peter "I didn't mean to throw it at you, I was throwing it up and catching it with a swipe but I kinda fucked it up"

"I know how you feel, palming a baseball stings like a mother fucker" Peter nodded, throwing the baseball back over to him "Especially when it hits the joints and not the flesh, makes it really sensitive for the rest of the day"

"Tell me about it man... you a big sports guy?" Johnny asked. Peter walked over to him and sat down on the desk next to him.

"About as much as you can be when you're getting shoved into lockers by the team" Peter chuckled "I still think if water boy and bench warmer are unofficial members of the team I should at least get credited for their shoving skills, I've trained that team as best I could" Johnny chuckled before holding out his hand with a grin.

"Johnny Storm" he said.

"Peter Parker" Peter nodded, shaking his hand.

"Right, over there is my ever-ageing sister with a permanent chip on her shoulder" Johnny said, waving a hand at Sue Storm who was hunched over a desk with a blow-torch and welder's mask in use "The living rockslide is somewhere on the deck, probably trying to communicate with the pebbles Sue set up to make a shitty little garden outside and the main man, Mr Reed Richards, is around the other side of the elevator doin' some sciencey mumbo-jumbo"

"Watch your language Johnny, and I'd like to remind you that my husband's work is very important and not some 'sciencey mumbo-jumbo'" Sue said sternly.

"Of course it is sis, like the time he tried to figure out how to make your wedding ring stay visible when you change so that people can still see you're married" Johnny chuckled.

"That's because Reed is a very protective man, he likes others to know that I'm his wife and we're in love" Sue said.

"Is it really?" Johnny asked mockingly "I think you need to learn the difference between protective and insecure" Sue swirled around in here chair and pulled up the welder's mask, ready to snap back at Johnny before noticing Peter sitting next to him.

"... I know you" she said, standing up, revealing that she was wearing her Fantastic Four uniform. The white-lined, blue suit was as iconic itself as the orange and blue 4 on her chest, her long blonde hair flowing down to her mid-back with her bright blue eyes being a feature she shared with her little brother.

"Why do I know you?" she asked, walking over to Peter and staring intently at him.

"I... I have no idea, I don't know you personally" Peter said, holding up his hands "You're supposed to be talking to my red-headed friend over there" Sue turned her head to look at Mary-Jane who was standing with an extremely nervous expression on her face.

"Oh!" Sue said, putting a hand to her mouth in shock "You must be Mary-Jane Watson, your boss called ahead and told us you'd be coming... but he never mentioned your friend" Sue walked over to Mary-Jane and shook her hand with a smile.

"Sorry to make you wait like that and have to listen to the boys talk for so long" she said.

"Its alright, I usually have to put up with Pete's babbling a lot of the time" Mary-Jane chuckled "He's a fun guy to be around when he wants to be, but he has his days"

"I am standing right here you know?" Peter asked, waving his hands wildly.

"I know, that's why I said it" Mary-Jane said, sticking out her tongue playfully. Sue chuckled quietly before holding up a hand to Mary-Jane.

"Now, wait right here while I go fetch my darling husband" she said with a nod. Sue ducked off, leaving the three teenagers alone in the room together.

"Johnny my friend, I am sure you do remember how to blink don't you?" Peter asked, clapping a hand on his own leg, noticing the way Johnny was eyeing up Mary-Jane.

"Indeed I am, but why would I want to?" Johnny asked in response, grinning widely "She's not your girlfriend is she?"

"Nope" Peter said, getting up onto his feet and looking around the room.

"Go ahead, investigate" Johnny said with a sweeping gesture "Just don't touch"

"Is that a rule you usually follow yourself Johnny?" Peter asked with a smirk.

"Is it fuck" he laughed.

"You know what, I think you and I are going to get along brilliantly" Peter chuckled.

"I hope so, you seem like a cool guy" Johnny said, cracking his knuckles before looking at Mary-Jane "So... Mary-Jane wasn't it"

"Don't bother" Mary-Jane chuckled "I'm not the dating kind"

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked "I can't change your mind?" Mary-Jane leaned against a wall, her usual confident and playful attitude now back in full force.

"Maybe, maybe not" she shrugged "It depends how you play your cards"

"I'm good with cards" Johnny smiled.

"We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" Mary-Jane sighed. Peter chuckled to himself before wandering off into the room, trying to get a look at what Sue had been welding. He leaned over the desk and took a look at it, seeing that the weld was complete and that it was some kind of thick, mechanical armband.

"Huh" he said sitting down and looking at it "I've seen one of these before..." He picked up the object an noticed that the wiring was incomplete and that there was a chip missing from the motherboard inside the armband.

"I think... I think this is retro-refitted, or at least, redesigned Stark Technology that he uses in the Iron Man armour" Peter said, lowering his gaze to the table "But its a kind that's not officially endorsed and... can be sold on the street" Peter's eyes shot up as he heard Sue talking to someone as she walked back into the room.

"Here you go Ms. Watson, I'm sure we can begin our interview now that Mr Fantastic is here" Sue said with a grin. Reed looked at Mary-Jane and smiled before his eyes travelled over to Peter who was still tinkering with the armband, now realizing it was a gauntlet that was designed to hold the circuitry for the flight stabilizer-slash-repulsor module Tony had invented for the Iron Man armour.

"Good god... I didn't think I'd ever see you again" Reed said, moving quickly over to Peter who set the gauntlet down as reed reached the table. He held up his hands in surrender and stood up from the table.

"I wasn't trying to pocket it or anything Mr Richards I swear!" Peter exclaimed "I was only having a-"

"Peter... is that you?" he asked with a nostalgic tone in his voice.

"Y-Yeah... how do you know my name?" Peter asked.

"I knew I recognized him from somewhere!" Sue exclaimed, snapping her fingers "Sure his hair's different and he's grown a few feet but I had a feeling that this was the same little tyke who smashed my mother's old vase!"

"What?" Peter exclaimed "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"What she means is that we, meaning Sue and myself, knew you when you were a child, more accurately, we knew your father when he used to bring you in for days when your babysitter was busy, thus explaining you smashing the vase when your dad brought you along to Sue's parents old house for a family dinner, your mother, father and you" Reed explained "Your father was my teacher, he was the first man who gave me a chance in the fields of science, more specifically mechanical engineering, and brought me on board his study team when I was... eighteen I think"

"You... you both knew my father?" Peter asked "You worked with my father?"

"Not with Peter, for, your father, god rest his soul, was one of the best minds this world had ever seen and from what I've read in his research notes he was close to a breakthrough that would revolutionize the way medical, hell, biological science would operate" Reed said "His work with Osborn into biological engineering, a better example being his work on genetic manipulations, was a field that was previously untapped before and up until his death he and Osborn were on the path to success"

Peter stared at the older scientist with a bewildered look, running his hands through his hair before throwing them out in front of him.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he demanded.

"Your father was days away from being able to, with the assistance of already-existing codes, rewrite the genetic structure of human beings!" Reed said with a wide smile. Peter looked at the scientist with a blank expression before looking at his wife who merely placed a hand on Reed's shoulder and took a deep breath.

"Reed's a little over excited at seeing you're still here, as you can tell, and what he wants to ask you is if your father left anything behind that would help finalize his research into genetic recoding?" Sue said.

"Yes, basically that" Reed said with a sheepish nod, scratching the back of his greying brown hair.

"No, sorry, but my father never left any of his research at home, it was all still at Oscorp, according to my Aunt May that is" Peter said with a shake of his head.

"Damn" Reed said with a sigh.

"Oh well" Sue said "I know you don't remember either of us but I just want to say, its great to see you again Peter"

"Uhhh, thanks... I guess" Peter said, smiling at the two of them before his phone went off in his pocket. Peter looked at the caller ID to see that it was Twilight.

"Can I just take this quickly?" he asked.

"No, go ahead" Reed said "We'll get started with the interview with Mary-Jane if you don't mind?" Peter gave a thumbs up sign before standing up and walking over to a quiet corner of the room, seeing the Thing bench-pressing a large wardrobe outside on the balcony, and answering the call.

"Hello?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, hi Peter... can I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Go ahead" Peter nodded.

"Um... how are you with birds?" she asked in a nervous tone.

"What?" Peter said in a puzzled manner.

"Specifically Vultures?" she asked.

"What's this about?" Peter sighed.

"Help" was all she mumbled. Next Chapter: Bailouts 2: Electric Boogaloo. Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 17 Minutes