16A collaboration story between Steelcode and Redbat132.
Enjoy and no flames please!
On a factory that's practically a few hours away from New York around midnight, someone was sneaking inside while avoiding all the security in there. The mysterious figure was very stealthy on what he was about to pull off. Once on higher ground that had where the batter for animal crackers were made, the figure got out a glowing vial full of chemicals from his jacket before pouring it all in there.
"And with the dawn, the age of animals will begin. From two legs to four. Animals shall arise and claim the world...no longer shall man rule with gun and knife... Fang and claw shall be the salvation," the man whispered, as the vile emptied.
Once doing that, the mystery man made his escape before anyone suspected what he did.
"Rose...you sure you feel ready for this?" Hayden asked calmly, looking at his sister.
Rose took a small deep breath before letting it out slowly. "I'm sure, Hayden. I didn't finish recovering from what Kraven did for nothing. I need to know the truth."
Rose Hunter Oaks aka Star Spider has returned from her recovery at Staybrook, California, and is now part of the Royal Wakandan Family. She's happy to have King T'Challa and his sister, Queen Shuri, take her in with Hayden Abara aka White Wolf as her older brother. However, now that she's back in New York, there were still some unanswered questions about her past that needs solving.
And it's not just Rose and Hayden going over this case. Ben Reilly aka Scarlet Spider wanted to help Rose out. So, the female spider immediately asked if the brooding spider would like to be part of this investigation. Which he accepted without hesitation. Considering Scarlet sill had the memory stick a boy named Sage Jocklin gave him that has everything on Rose's past. He had to give it to her when she felt ready. And that day is today.
Now, the three heroes are at the Wakandan Embassy to check on the database in what they have so far. And Spidey plus the Web-Warriors are out doing their own fun while the students are on break from classes. Which leaves Scarlet, Star, and White Wolf on their own without any distractions.
Hayden sighed. "Okay," Calmly, he hit a few commands on the computer before the picture booted up on the screen.
Over the video, you could hear the heavy breathing of two people, as they walked up a heavy snow-covered trail. Soon, though, the picture turned to a brilliant snow-covered mountain range.
"That's in Siberia...Altai Mountains, if I'm not mistaken." Hayden said calmly.
"This was my parents' last video documentary. They were trying to study and research how both Global Warming and hunters were affecting the Lynx," Rose responded softly, sadness showing in her eyes. "I couldn't come because I was too young and inexperienced to handle heavy mountain climbing like this. Not to mention the altitude can be dangerously low up there."
The video panned out to the hillside again, where a grove of trees was in sight.
"Look there! Fourth tree to the right," a woman's voice announce.
"She's beautiful," A male voice said, as a lynx stalked out of the small grove of trees and bushes.
"Perfect age for the tracking collar," the woman said.
Rose gave a small smile at this part. Her parents were very passionate in doing the impossible and finding the most majestic creatures.
From a distance, Ben could see how happy Rose looked when seeing and hearing her parents again. Along with discovering animals like this Lynx. Despite not having actual parents, the brooding spider felt like he can somewhat relate to the pain Rose is feeling when losing someone close.
"That is quite the cat," Hayden said, as a growing roar began to go louder and louder.
"AVALANCHE!" a new voice yelled.
Rose lowered her head and looked away at this part. She knew exactly what happened from here while tightening her fists slowly.
Hayden paused the video. "Rose, the voice that yells 'avalanche'...does it sound familiar?"
"It's hard to make out, but...it kind of does," Rose managed to say, rubbing her own arms.
Hayden moved to the computer and pulled up the information for the expedition.
"Rose...did your parents work with other researchers on expeditions like this? Was that normal?" Hayden asked, as he looked over the files.
"Occasionally, yes. My parents could never do things alone unless they knew the specific places they were going to," Rose answered. "For something like this, they'd need some guidance or super vision in case one of them got hurt and had to fall back," she looked down in remorse. "...Guess my parents got too deep in what they were researching."
"More like they were stalked. Look who was on the group list," Hayden said, looking at the computer.
Ben stepped a bit closer on what Hayden found. Only to become mad at the discovery…on the inside.
Rose checked and read the list, only to have her eyes wide in shock.
"No..." she muttered.
"Sergei Kravinoff," Ben said with a growl and glare. "Guess that nutcase was hovering you longer than we thought.
Hayden sighed. "Rose, did you ever have a man that went with your parents more than once?"
"I...I think so. But I was so small. I barely knew who my family was with. I didn't even know Kraven was involved," Rose admitted, placing a hand on her slightly terrified face. "And yet...it all makes sense now."
"He's had ties to Africa and most of Europe...My guess is that the day you first manifested your abilities is when he first met your family." Hayden said.
"Yeah...And they're dead because of me," Rose replied in dread. "My special talent in connecting with animals is what lured Kraven to my family. He pretended to be a trusted friend until he could figure out a plan in getting rid of my parents and have me all to himself for ten years. Just like how he was pretending to be a good father to me all these years."
"Hey!" Hayden moved and grabbed Rose by the shoulders. "Don't do that. Don't let Kraven taint your gift. Don't let him taint you again. He is the enemy...not you...never you. You're my sister, and no one can change that."
Rose was uncertain about that until she got her thoughts together and looked up neutral. "...Fine...I won't."
Hayden held her gaze. "No one will taint it again. I won't let them."
From the corner of his eye, Ben can see the stingers from Rose's elbows, calves, and wrists nearly showing and retracting constantly. But not her shoulders, due to Hayden placing them.
'She's conflicted about knowing the truth of Kraven being involved of her parents' death...Almost like how I was when knowing the truth about Doc Ock creating me and those Synthezoid Slayers,' Ben thought, looking down with remorse. 'I remember how angry I was. How scared I was. Like my animal side was about to take over...Almost as bad as what Rose is going through.'
"So, what now? It still doesn't explain how Kraven managed to mutate me. Or where he got that Carnage Symbiote and why he used it on someone like that shapeshifting murderer called Chameleon," Rose replied, already in a serious face.
"I think the answers lie in your past. I think we can find out what is going on," Hayden said with a smile.
Eventually, Rose controlled her emotions by retracting all her stingers back inside her own body before getting out of Hayden's hold on her shoulders.
"Then let's get this over with. I want to know every hard piece of my past that's connected to what's happening right now," she answered, already moving closer to the computer.
"Okay. We're searching for the past expeditions your parents took. Cross reference them with ones involving Kraven. How many do we have?" Hayden said, as the files slowly disappeared.
"I honestly don't know...And I don't care how long it will take," Rose replied, a bit sad and mad on the inside.
Just then, she felt a warm hand gently squeeze her right hand. Rose turned to see it was Ben responsible. She didn't know why, but this made Rose feel slightly better.
"Okay...also cross referencing when you were with them...and with the times that you were out of state and zoologists with veterinarian degrees..." Hayden soon found a few matches. "Got it. We have three names. Rose, try to think about these names. Doctor Martin Cohan, Doctor Elisa Zahar, and Doctor Valmar Moreau."
Rose closed her eyes, trying to remember if any of these names sounded familiar to her. "Cohan, Zahar, and Moreau...I'm sorry, they all sound the same to me. They don't ring any bells. I just can't place it!"
She growled under her breath in frustration, placing her left hand on her face.
"Okay, okay, breathe... take a deep breath," Hayden instructed, helping his sister relax. "This doctor probably tried talking to you. Maybe tried to get a blood sample. He or she probably never stopped staring at you to the point that your parents kept you isolated. He or she more than likely scared you at one point so you avoided them."
Rose didn't realize she was shaking until Ben comforted her with a hug. She even felt his hand brush her scalp softly to help her calm down.
"Listen, Rose. I know you want to find answers, but there's no reason to force yourself in remembering them to a point you can't handle it," Ben lowly said to her. "I don't want to see or hear you get hurt...Not again."
The female spider opened her eyes in realization. As if whatever Ben said sparked something. "Hear..."
"Rose?" Hayden asked
"What is it?" Ben questioned.
"After Kraven knocked me out after knowing my secret identity, I remember vaguely waking up to some doctor's operating room or something like that," Rose replied, getting out of Bens' hold carefully. "Kraven was talking to a male figure on four specific DNA specimens to mutate me. He didn't say who he was talking to, but I do slightly remember his voice. Can you somehow play a recording on the two male doctors speaking when doing some operation or something like that?"
Hayden nodded his head before doing just that. "Both doctors have talked at conferences and have also given lectures. Let's see here..."
Rose didn't let go of Ben's hand, almost squeezing her hand hard in his. She thought for sure he would tell her to let go by now.
"All right, here we go. This first one is Doctor Cohan," Hayden said calmly, hitting play on a video.
The man's voice was light and snarky favoring a Hispanic accent.
Rose closed her eyes, focusing on the voice before shaking her head. "...No. It's not him."
"Okay. This next one is Dr. Moreau,"
A deep gravel English voice broke over the speaker, after hitting the next speech video.
Rose immediately opened her eyes, her voice nearly gasping. "That's him. That's the guy."
"Dr. Moreau studied at Harvard and became a well-known veterinarian and animal activist. Hmmm…Looks like he ran into a few problems with the law. But nothing outrageous," Hayden stated, already bringing up Moreau's file. "However, that guy is quite the creep."
"Are there any other connections you have from this nutcase?" Ben questioned.
"Looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. has kept an eye on him for a little while. Mostly for cult reasons... But nothing has ever been concreated. Though he has done many jobs in the same area as Rose's parents and Kraven."
Checking over the list, Ben and Rose noticed something there.
"Hang on. Ben, does this seem right? Is it saying what I think it's saying?" Rose questioned, pointing at one of the jobs Dr. Moreau used to work at.
"According to this, Dr. Moreau used to work at Oscorp," Ben nodded his head in agreement.
"Apparently, he was in the Amazon and discovered a new rare type of arachnid," Hayden said, as he brought up a picture.
Rose stared in shock with Ben doing the same. For this spider looked very familiar.
"Is that...?" Rose muttered.
"I think it is," Ben responded.
"What?" Hayden asked in confusement.
The two spider heroes looked at each other before back at their friend.
"Hayden...We think that this is the same radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker in becoming Spider-Man," Rose answered.
"The same one Doc Ock and Norman Osborn had to create their own bad purposes," Ben added.
"And if that's true...then it's possible that Dr. Moreau might have also been responsible for giving me my spider powers," Rose concluded numbly.
Hayden growled. "So, he's more than a threat now."
"Yeah. Looks like it," Ben responded. "So, what now?"
"Well, we need to find Dr. Moreau," Rose responded. "The problem is, the only person who might know his location is too stubborn to say anything."
"Oh, ye of little faith. Sis, have you forgotten that you are now part of the family of a nation that has technology that would make Tony Stark drool over?" Hayden stated with a smirk, moving to the computer and began typing at the keys.
"I just hope whatever you have will make Kraven tell us where Dr. Moreau might be," Rose responded.
Ben glanced wide eyed on that before turning away.
"Forget Kraven. I'm going to find Moreau. Let's see…looks like he's been doing a lot of traveling. But if I reverse the directions of the flights and back track the info... Aha! Here we go," Hayden smiled, typing away on the computer. "Looks like he just got back from a trip. Mostly water ventures. Let's see...he's got a live animal in his luggage plan."
"What kind of live animal?" Rose questioned curiously. "A cub? A reptile?"
"Checking now. There are also specifications of a tank and a filtering system. It looks like..." Hayden then stared in bewildered on the results. "HOLY WOLF FUR! IT'S A DUMBO OCTOPUS!"
Ben and Rose nearly jumped from Hayden's shout.
"Uh...should I even know what that is or wonder if we should be worried?" Ben questioned.
"Dumbo Octopi are rare. Some thought they were extinct. One has never been put in an aquarium before...Wait, aquarium before? Rose, wasn't Squirrel Girl jabbering something about an aquarium today?" Hayden asked worriedly.
"Yeah, why…?" Rose suddenly had a sneaky feeling before looking at her brooding friend. "Ben, where did you say Peter and others were going today that you didn't want to join?"
"At some aquarium in Coney Island to see some new...," Ben started, only to realize where Rose was going with this. "Oh, no."
"Rose, try to get a hold of the Main Web-Head. Tell him there's trouble and to evacuate everyone. I'll prep the Spider Jet," Hayden said, racing ahead and activating his White Wolf suit.
"We need to go," Ben responded, taking Rose's hand and hurrying behind White Wolf.
"Whoa! Ben?!" Rose questioned, trying not to get dragged. "What's wrong? I'm sure Peter and the others can handle themselves."
"It's not just them I'm concerned about," Ben said.
"Rose, Moreau injected you with something, remember? Meaning he may try something similar," Hayden yelled.
Rose soon realized why Ben and Hayden were worried. If Dr. Moreau mutated her before, then it's possible he might try it again on everyone at the aquarium.
"Get ahold of someone, Rose! I'm almost to the hangar," White Wolf shouted.
"More like someone's already got a hold of me!" Rose remarked, using her mouth to switch her bracelet in going as Star Spider. "But we're on top of it! And right now, I'm not getting anything yet,"
"Ugh! What are those punks doing that's not making them answer their communicators?!" Ben questioned in frustration.
