บท 42: A New Beginning
Picture of Form II
( I had to pay for this. Hopefully it was worth it. : (. )
***
"The question is, which two forms of Energy Absorption should I include in my serum?" he questioned. "Hmmm... Psionic and something else, but how would adding something such as that affect my current powers?"
He'd already locked in Psionic as every second mutant and their mother was a telepath, but he'd already mulled over the side effects of adding it. After all, Psionic Energy Absorption in Shaw's X-Gene was something he'd already theorised to exist, but seeing it as a genetic sequence came as a complete shock. Perhaps the fact that the Celestials themselves created the X-Gene hadn't yet sunk in.
There were numerous possibilities.
Perhaps his Psionic Absorption wouldn't interfere with his own psionic powers, allowing them to work in harmony.
Another possibility was that a mutation might occur, which could either spell disaster for him or be a boon, but his Hyper-Regeneration would prevent any harmful mutations, leaving only a beneficial mutation.
The last possibility would be that his Psionic Absorption would prevent him from accessing his Psionic powers by passively absorbing its energy. The con would be that he wouldn't be able to sense human minds or control reptiles anymore. Still, the advantage would be that his Psionic Energy would constantly be refilled due to it perpetually absorbing a passive ability.
"That would mean that I would have a perpetually refilling, possibly infinite source of Psionic Energy. Hopefully, it doesn't blow up in my face, but I guess my Hyper-Regeneration would prevent such an outcome. It literally erased my aversion to death, so it somehow understands what's bad for me," he pondered. "But can I use BIHT to help turn it on and off at will? Hmm..."
BIHT was perhaps his most treasured genetic system, with BOE being a close second, but it was designed in such a way that he required a complete and qualitative understanding of which genes he was turning on and off. Both the GeneLock Serum and the Lizard Serum were something he knew like the back of his hand - he'd designed them himself, after all.
But the X-gene?
He doubted nobody, but the Celestials and certain incredibly gifted individuals could completely understand it. Sure, one could argue that he was one of those individuals who could crack the code, but his equipment was abysmal. Hell, the fact that he could manipulate it at all spoke to his sheer genius.
"Psionic it is. Much too important to let go of," he decided, his eyes narrowing. "But what about the other?"
He'd realized by now that he was stuck with only two options. Unlike Wolverine, whose mutation gave him a variety of powers, Shaw's gave him a subset of Energy Absorption. There was a very good possibility of him unlocking more of the X-gene, but that was something that he had to research later.
He'd also realized that Shaw's X-Gene was an incredible opportunity to cover up for his weaknesses. Don't have a strong enough defence for something? Just absorb the attack! Simple, but effective.
Telepathy was one such thing from which defence was basically impossible unless you yourself were a telepath, but Shaw's X-Gene had that covered. Thus, the question now was, what other glaring weakness or susceptibility did he have that needed fixing?
"Reality Warping?" he posited. It was true - after all, no matter how strong you are, if someone could literally deny your reality, it was useless.
"Magic as a whole, then," he concluded. "But how on earth am I going to find the sequence for magic in genes?"
To do that, he first needed to figure out what exactly was Magic. How did one even define it?
"What is the fundamental cornerstone of magic?"
The answer was easy.
It was thought.
Even if you wished to create a simple flame or an all-encompassing inferno that could swallow a planet, it would both begin with a thought. Incantations could very well be ways to express said thought or to harness extradimensional or dimensional energies to help express the thought.
But what does it mean to express that thought? What's the process?
Peter sighed and got up from his chair, stretching his limbs. He was no magician, and using the scientific method to unravel magic would seem idiotic to many, but contrary to popular belief, the scientific method wasn't science. Far from it, actually.
Science was merely a byproduct, while the Scientific method was a way of thought. A way of using logic. And given the fact that Magic could be systematically taught to others, there was a chance that some semblance of logic coated its mystique. Logic that he could deduce.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his mind racing through every single mention of Marvel magic he'd ever heard in both his lives. Within a few seconds, his supercomputer of a brain had compiled and filtered hundreds of dialogues and pieces of lore. He then went through the line that was the most concise and the one that was the most understandable.
One spoken by none other than Loki Laufeyson, the infamous God of Mischief and sorcerer extraordinaire.
"At the core, Magic is taking a thought and making it real. Taking a lie and making it the truth. Telling a story to the universe so utterly, cosmically perfect that for a single, shining moment... the world believes a man can fly."
Peter smiled. It really was thought. Using the same analogy, the variety of energies was merely a variety of languages for constructing said Story.
Thus, if magicians really were storytellers, the sequence for Magical Energy Absorption must be quite similar to the one for Psionic.
BZZZ!
Just then, Peter's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he whipped it out. His heart almost leapt out of his chest when he saw that the message was from Gwen.
[Sorry for barging out like that today... I really wasn't thinking straight. Meet at the park at 9 pm? Pwease?]
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. Was she apologising? And here he was, thinking she would consider him her first Nemesis. What convinced her?
'A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one,' he mused, his eyes flicking to his machines, and his internal clock immediately warning him of the time: 4 p.m.
[Sure. If you change the rendezvous to the abandoned building, that is.]
[Oho~~ getting bold, are we?]
Peter grinned at the return of Gwen's humour. Seeing her so serious earlier in the day was quite unnerving.
[You bet I am. I just have something to give you. Somethings, actually.]
[Oh Wow. You got me. I'll be there.]
[See you.]
Gwen's GeneLock and her version of Extremis were done, but his one wasn't.
The one thing that was missing in his own version of Extremis and the one that was delaying him from just injecting himself was the X-Gene. He wanted to integrate the gene into himself via Extremis, but it was something that he could finish sequencing quite quickly now that he knew the parameters.
Could he synthesise his serum in four hours?
"I'm Peter fucking Parker," he chuckled, his eyes flashing a bright green. "Of course I can."
Peter's soundless steps had a little skip in them while a few strands of his slightly moist hair stuck to his forehead. He had to take the fastest shower in history to make it in time, and he was, somehow, indeed, on time.
His backpack was hung over one arm as he stood before the now-familiar abandoned building. The floor collapsing had been a fairly big deal in the neighbourhood, but it was chalked up to the building age. Of course, there was no stopping the urban legends that sprung up from his roars - ones that made the building a hotspot for adrenaline junkies for a few days.
"You know I can sense you, right?" he called out once he entered a relatively intact floor of the building. He grinned at an inconspicuous window, knowing Gwen was hiding right outside it, the darkness adequately masking her presence.
"Tsk, cheater," her voice floated down, before she elegantly stepped out of the window, her endearing blue eyes staring into his own. She was merely dressed in her usual hoodie and jeans, but looking at her made his body tingle all the same. Given her reaction, he would hazard a guess that she felt the same about him.
"Abou-", his preplanned sentence was immediately cut off by Gwen dashing forward and wrapping her arms around him, something he was getting used to.
"I'm sorry for walking out like that... and for, you know, judging you so soon."
"It's fine," Peter rubbed her blonde locks, growing more surprised by the second. He didn't expect to be forgiven so soon. "And I'm sorry for being so aggressive and uncaring. I wasn't perfect either. Perhaps I shouldn't have said a few things that I did."
"No, I think I needed that," she replied, stepping back, still holding his hands and looking up at him, clearly a bit anxious. Did she think that he'd still be miffed?
"I realised that I was a bit naive about certain things. My dad helped me see that."
"He did, did he?" Peter raised an eyebrow. George was really gunning for the Father of the Year award, eh?
"Yeah, gave me a speech about responsibility and consequences...", she shrugged, slightly squeezing his hands, betraying her nervousness. "I don't think I understood it completely, but I think I get the gist. Those with power have an equivalent responsibility to carry. That responsibility could be giving answers that you may not have agreed with before or bearing consequences that I wouldn't have borne before....k-killing being one of them."
'Now that's one way to interpret the famous quote,' he thought to himself.
"Well, that's only if you choose to carry that responsibility," he said gently, knowing that what Gwen decided to do completely went against her previous morals. "It isn't forced upon you. You can always walk away."
"I can. But I won't," she refused, her uncertain eyes growing bolder as she reaffirmed her decision. "I understand why you killed those two assholes. The families of those they murdered wouldn't want them to be locked up."
Peter's heart skipped a beat. While he wanted Gwen to get over her aversion to killing for her safety, actually seeing it happen was an odd feeling. It wasn't uneasiness but something more akin to surreality. He knew that Spider-Men, who consciously chose to kill, had better endings. An example is Peter Parker of Earth-8351, Assassin Spider-Man, and one who trained with Wolverine himself.
That Spider-man's spidey Sense had evolved into real-time precognition while he simultaneously excelled in combat.
Whether Gwen would evolve into something like that was something only time could tell.
"Still, not sacrificing your physical and mental health for that responsibility is paramount. People care about you too. Me included."
"I know. You did tell me this before," she nodded. "I don't want to see you get hurt either."
They both stared into each other's eyes for a while before he broke the silence.
"Gwen, I'll be honest. I didn't expect this."
"What did you expect?" she gave him a grin, stepping closer. "A punch to the face?"
"Something like that," he smiled. "I didn't blame you for walking out, really. Social conditioning is a hard thing to shrug off."
"You grew up with me, you doofus," she chuckled, moving even closer to him.
"I'm a genius, remember. Being rational is easier for me."
"Did you just call me stupid?"
"Hmm? When'd you hear that from?" Peter acted dumbfounded. "I said you're beautiful. Enhanced hearing seems to have its flaws."
"Does it now...", she grinned and stood on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Maybe. Cause if not, I just may be in trouble," he smirked, locking eyes with her.
"You're such an idiot," she sighed and leaned forward, kissing him and practically sending him to heaven.
He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. His relationship issues were resolved, a few supervillains were defeated, Cancer Papers were published, the Martial Equation was derived, Extremis serum was synthesized, and the X-gene acquired.
He'd met the X-men, had probably acquired the wrath of the Hellfire Club, had gotten involved with a supervillain organization with the Kingpin as its head, and was about to willingly walk into the Kingdom of a supergenius supervillain.
But hey, for his first time, he was doing pretty well in the Marvel Multiverse.
End Of Arc
***
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