Spider-Man: Marvel Knight

Chapter 4-The New Routine

Harry and Pete sped to Oscorp in the Jaguar. Thankfully there were no cops on the road, so they could get there as fast as they could. Harry swerved into the staff parking and he and Peter bolted to the front door. They ran past Shannon, their front desk lady.
"Morning, sirs," she said to her running bosses.
"Morning, Shannon!" They greeted at the same time. They got to the elevator and rushed inside. Peter pressed the top floor button and looked at his watch. "8:00, just in time," he said. He let out a sigh of relief.
Harry turned his head to his friend. "So," he started, "I saw you dancing with MJ last night."
Peter turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "So?" he replied. "I was just dancing with an old friend."
Harry shook his head. "No, first of all you hate dancing and... Yeah right. 'Old friend.'"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Peter asked defensively.
"Peter, it's obvious you like each other. The looks you gave each other are the same ones you and Gwen gave to each other when you two started dating."
Peter shook his head. "You were drunk last night. You don't know what you saw."
"I know exactly what I saw. Peter, you don't go from calling her a 'crazy Madonna', to saying that you were dancing as old friends," Harry said back quickly.
"Okay, let me stop you right there," Peter retaliated. "I said that I hoped she didn't become a crazy Madonna, I never said that she was one. That means..."
"...that you do like her," Harry said, completing his sentence. He sighed. "Look, Peter why don't you just ask her out?"
"What?" Peter said, appalled.
"Come on, dude. It could be fun. Like I said, it's obvious she likes you, and you clearly like her back," his friend replied quickly.
"Harry," Peter started, "the last relationship I was in kind of went haywire. Look where me and Gwen are."
"Yeah, but you're still friends. That's all that matters."
"True, but I still don't know what I did," Peter replied. "Gwen says that I didn't do anything, but my spider sense tells me that she's lying."
Gwen didn't tell him, Harry thought to himself.
"Whatever, Pete, that's in the past. Just think about asking her out, okay?"
"Harry..."
Harry cut him off. "Do it for me, Pete. Just humor me and think about it, okay?"
Peter sighed. "Fine, I'll think about it."
"Thank you."
The elevator dinged and they turned to each other.
"How do I look?" Harry asked while straightening his tie.
"Like a CEO. How do I look?" Peter asked while putting on his lab coat.
"Like a scientist pretending to be a CEO."
"Good," Pete said with a smile. "That's what I was going for." The doors opened and they walked in separate directions to their workplaces. "Well, I'll see you this afternoon, Mr. Osborn," he said with a smirk.
"Likewise, Mr. Parker," Harry said with a wink.
Peter walked into the pharmaceutical lab, which was where he worked. Otto and Kurt were already hard at work. Otto, without looking up from his work, said, "Mr. Parker, a little late to work today." He finished drilling in something to the prosthetic arm he was working on.
"Apologies, doc," Peter said while putting his briefcase down. "Me and Harry partied a little too hard last night. Celebrating walking into adulthood and whatnot."
Otto adjusted his glasses and smiled. "Ah, teenage years. Just wait until you get to be mine and Kurt's age. Right, Kurt?" He asked his partner from across the lab.
Kurt, without moving his eyes from his clipboard, walked over to them. "On the contrary, doctor, I feel very youthful in my age." He set the clipboard down and patted Peter on the back. "Congratulations on valedictorian, Pete."
Peter felt good about himself. Never in his life would he think that he'd be getting complements from geniuses like Kurt and Otto. "Thanks, doc. If it wasn't for Ben's geniusness with science, I don't think that I'd ever be where I am now."
"He'd be proud of you, Peter. I know that," Otto said.
Pete nodded, smiled, and looked at the floor. "I think so, too." He picked up Kurt's clipboard. "Okay, fellas, how is progress going today?"
"Good so far," Otto said.
"How's prosthetics going?" Peter asked while looking at Otto's work table.
"I was able to apply the hyper-flexibility ratio into the arm. No more hinges or axles. I still haven't figured out the wireless neuro-tech yet. A few more tests should get it right, though," Otto said while adjusting his glasses.
"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. And what about medicinal products?" Pete asked, turning to Kurt.
"The spider anti-venom is ready for human trials now," Kurt said moving to the mixer.
"Good, good," Pete said. "It'd probably be best to keep it from the radioactive green energy emitter."
Otto laughed. "It worked out great for you, Pete."
"Yeah, but being a superhero in New York isn't for everybody," Pete replied with a chuckle. "That's why the Avengers moved to the west coast. It gets crowded here pretty quickly." He moved over to the large computer screen on the wall that showed project x. "And, so, what about...project x?"
Kurt and Otto looked at each other. Kurt turned to Peter and smiled. "We figure out the formula," he said.
Peter turned to Kurt with his hand over his mouth. "You figured out the right amount of the reptilian DNA?"
Kurt nodded. "It's ready for animal testing."
Peter turned to Otto, who was nodding and smiling. He turned back to Kurt and went and hugged him. "Kurt, you did it!" He exclaimed with excitement. "Your life's work has all come to this. Your arm...you can get it back."
Kurt looked at his right side and saw his nonexistent arm. He smiled and looked at Peter. "I couldn't have done this without you, Pete."
Pete looked at his watch and saw what time it was: Daily Bugle time. "Hey, listen, fellas, this is really good progress, but I gotta run...or rather swing. Jameson is gonna want pictures of Spider-Man."
Otto adjusted his glasses. "Of course he will," he said. "There's something seriously wrong with that man."
"True," Peter said, "but he pays, so..."
"Have fun taking selfies, Pete," Kurt said while going back to his work.
"I will. Catch you guys later."
"Bye, Pete."
Peter ran up to the roof, and made sure no one saw him. He changed into his Spiderman suit and grabbed his camera from his case. He threw his camera off of the side of the building and then he dive bombed off. Spidey passed his camera and made sure it was pointed towards him. Then, he shot a web at the capture button and took several pictures of him falling. "Booyah!" he said out loud. "Time to make money."
He swung to the Daily Bugle, which was where he had his side job. He worked for one of the grumpiest men in New York: James Jonah Jameson. Jameson was the kind of guy that had a theory for everything, and nothing was gonna change his mind that Spider-Man was a criminal.
Spidey landed on the top of the tower and changed back into his civilian clothes. Pete snuck into the main office and made sure no one saw him come from the roof. His partner, Eddie Brock, was at his desk. "Morning, Pete," Eddie said in his thick, gravelly New York accent. Eddie Brock was a scruffy looking character, but boy was he a good reporter. Actually, he was one if Jameson's first employees when he took over the Bugle, when it was still called the Daily Globe. Him and his fiance moved to San Francisco, but he moved back to New York about a year ago after a while, because he got fired from his job there for some reason. His web series, The Eddie Brock Show, was a hit on the Daily Bugle's network.
"Morning, Eddie," Pete greeted. "How's Jameson this morning?"
"Off his nut as usual," he said casually.
"Oh wonderful," he said walking into his office.
Jameson's secretary, Betty Brant, sat at her desk. She has short blond hair and a kind face. She reminded him of Gwen sometimes. "Morning, Betty," he greeted.
"Morning, Pete," she said back looking up at him from her desk. "That time of the week?"
"Yep," Peter replied. "Spider-Man pictures."
"Oh fun," she said sarcastically. "He's extra cranky this morning. Robbie is in there to calm him down for you."
"Well that's swell. Say hi to Ned for me, okay?"
"I will. Have fun in there."
Peter walked in to his office where Jameson sat puffing on his cigar. He looked up at Peter walking in. "Parker, where the hell have you been?" he asked in his loud gravelly voice.
"Sorry, Mr. Jameson," Peter said. "It's a little tricky trying to find him, swinging around the city." He handed him pictures. "Morning, Robbie."
"Morning, Pete," Robbie greeted. Robbie Brown was a nice black man who worked for Jameson. He had grown up with him, so he knew exactly how to handle him.
Jameson nodded as he looked at the pictures. "Very nice, Parker. I'll give you $700 for all three. Robbie, get him his paycheck. Front page: 'Spider-Man Caught Divebombing Citizens.'"
Peter shook his head. "Could I ever convince you that he's not a bad guy?"
"Not in a month of Mondays, now get out." Robbie handed Pete his paycheck and Peter walked out. Pete went up to Eddie, who was mumbling to himself.
"...no, that's not gonna happen..."
"Eddie?"
Eddie turned to Peter with and eyebrow raised. "Hm, what's up?"
"You alright?"
He choked on some words, like he usually did. "Uh...yeah, I uh...just talking to myself."
"You talk to yourself a lot," Peter said chuckling.
"Yeah, just a habit."
"Alright," Peter said. "I gotta get back to my real job. I'll see you later, yeah?" He patted Eddie's back and headed for the exit.
"Bye, Pete."
Peter walked out of the office. Eddie shook his head. "You can't talk to me during work."
Why not?
"It's just, people think I'm a little crazy when I'm seen talking to myself."
I can hear your thoughts, Eddie. Just communicate with me like that.
"Where's the fun in that?"
You're a strange creature, Eddie.
"Takes one to know one, parasite."