Marvel - The Void

3rd POV:

Sarah nearly jumped out of her skin and Laura was about to lunge at the intruder with her claws, but she stopped herself just in time when she saw it was Nexus.

He interrupted them while Sarah was teaching her that the mitochondria was the power house of the cell. Though she failed to see how she would ever need such information. Killing was what she did best. That was what she was designed for after all.

''Couldn't you have written a message on the phone?,'' Sarah calmed herself down as Laura sheathed her claws. The older Kinney cleaned some of the papers, while Nexus closed the portal behind him, the blade being dismissed.

''Why are you two in your underwear?,'' Nexus asked turning his back to them.

''It was the only piece of clothing we had, the one we came here with. It meant we would have to buy clothes in them and we couldn't risk it stinking,'' Sarah replied quickly putting on her clothes. She helped put on Laura's clothes as well.

Fair enough, that blunder was completely on him.

''We are done,'' Sarah said and he turned around. he saw her take a pencil and some paper and put it in her pocket.

''By the way, here,'' Nexus said, handing her a folder with documents that he was holding onto since he stepped through the portal.

''What is it?,'' Sarah asked, still deciding to take a peek into the folder.

''Remember that guy monologuing, going on about doing something to Laura to trigger her killing instincts? That document talks about a trigger scent. One of rotten onions, mold and apples,'' Nexus summarized the document for her.

Oh. Among all the recent development she had almost forgotten about that. Them forcing Laura to kill her, would have done irreparable damage to her psyche.

''Thank you, I will use it to undo what they did to her,'' Sarah thanked him, her voice thick.

''Will you change? Suit attracts attention,'' Laura asked.

''Give me a moment,'' Nexus went to the bathroom.

When he came out he was dressed in normal clothes, except his face was not that of Bells. He had brown eyes and brown here and looked not noteworthy. He had an wrist band with a small sword chain.

''This appearance shall suffice. Let us go I am pressed for time,'' Bell told them.

He left the apartment and the two women quickly followed after him. They began walking down a street. With his technomancy the cameras won't pick up on them, so there was no risk of HYDRA finding the two women the digital way.

''Am I to understand this is not your real appearance? How did you accomplish it? Do you have the X-Gene as well?,'' Sarah asked curious, her desire for knowledge as a scientist being awakened.

''Something like that,'' Bell replied mysteriously. If she did not connect the fact that his 'swords granted him effects' and he had a wrist band with a small sword chain, then that was on her.

''You said you had plans for HYDRA? What plans? Their destruction?,'' Laura asked him wanting to focus on more important matters.

''Yes,'' Bell replied truthfully, having no need to hide that knowledge.

''I want in,'' Laura said. Sarah tried to make it clear that they shouldn't bother Nexus as he was already doing so much for them. But she was already getting restless sitting around and doing nothing. At least in the facility they were putting her to use. And she did want to harm those that harmed her and her caretaker.

Sarah looked ready to protest.

''You said after all I suffered I have the right to make my own choices. Let me do what I do best,'' Laura told him, not letting Sarah speak.

''I work better alone. You should focus on living a normal life,'' Bell denied her. There was frankly nothing he couldn't do that she could do better or help with. 

Laura looked pissed off for a second, but then schooled her expression back into practiced blankness. There was no normal life for her.

Sarah relaxed at seeing Nexus deny Lauras request.

Soon enough they entered a modest clothing store. Nexus told them to buy clothes they want and need. He was minding his own business letting the woman do their thing. In the end Sarah ended up with some clothes, but Laura had more clothes then her. Sarah insisted.

She really was trying to make up for everything she has done and what happened to Laura by being a good mother, huh, Bell thought to himself after reading her mind to understand her thought process. Sarah was no innocent, even if she did receive a second chance. He had no problem reading her mind or that of her like.

''There are a lot of clothes,'' the cashier remarked in swiss, when they went to buy the clothes.

''Then it is a good thing we have the money. If you do it quickly, I will give you a tip,'' Bell replied back in perfect swiss. Sarah starred surprised he could speak swiss. The cashier shrugged his shoulder and quickly got to work. Whatever tip he would receive, it probably will not be a lot, but a tip was a tip.

''857 franks, please,'' the cashier punched in the money after putting the clothes in the bags. His eyes widened when he was handed 957 and told to keep the change. Sarah quickly wrote something in her paper.

Bell made sure to learn all the languages where he had a safe house to better blend in. Thought he still had to learn the rest of earths languages. Besides while he had a lot of money, it was virtually useless to him, more or less.

''Can you speak many languages?,'' Sarah asked, each carrying two bags, making their way back.

''It depends on what you consider 'many languages'. There are people who can speak 17 languages. But I am not that blessed. I only speak 6 languages,'' Bell told them. For now. Once he learns more languages, this information will be useless to them.

''I noticed you wrote something in you paper. Am I to assume you intend to pay me back?,'' Bell asked them.

''We are already indebted to you enough as it is. Yes, I do intend to do that,'' Sarah affirmed. Though she only wrote the number 857.

''If that is what you desire. Do as you wish. It is a free country,'' Bell shrugged not caring either way.

Soon enough they arrived back at the safe house and deposited the bags. Bell ripped off the wrist band and with a small shower of flames his appearance as Nexus was back.

''Remember what I said, write if you need something and call if it is an emergency,'' Nexus told them quickly not even giving them time to say anything as he quickly cut the space in front of him and went through the portal.

He wasn't lying when he said he was pressed for time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ironically enough, while Bell did train his control and came up with many ways to fight, aided only by his old worlds movies/ cartoons/ animes as well as this ones world. He did neglect espionage a little.

With the exception being technomancy, invisibility, mind reading and then Sensory Perception in an AoE.

Bell did not really feel a pressing need up till now, especially as he was already familiar with how espionage worked.

By now he rectified that, choosing to work on that the past two days. It helped that he already had the control for most of these new abilities.

He did pick up, how the american president made a request for a weapons developer and asked for discretion. Now it only remained to be seen if it was connected to HYDRA in some way. Though he doubted it.

He did not bother to make himself invisible and sneak into the oval office. Nor increase his senses to hear better.

No, instead he chose to go to the tallest building in Washington D.C and sit on it.

It was time to test how effective his new abilities were.

Honestly, one day Bell will sit down and examine how exactly his energy accomplishes various effects. He was sure he could learn a lot from it and make further use of it.

He let go of his magic, silently draping the city in it.

---

''Let him in,'' the president, Ellis, said to his secretary when she notified him of Boliver Trasks arrival.

''Mr. President, it is an honor to be here,'' Trask greeted him when he came inside the oval office. The two men shook hands and the president gestured Trask to take a seat.

''I am pleased to have you here. But we both know that I did not call you here just for a pleasant talk,'' Ellis told him. Trask nodded, visibly giving him his attention.

''After Stark has found his conscience and after Hammer failed to live up to his boast that he will match Starks technology, you have stepped up. And I have to say you have delivered. Our military friends are more then pleased with some of the weapons you came up with. Today I called you here to see if you can develop a weapon on my request. I know that is not how you usually do things, but...,'' Ellis buttered him a bit in the beginning and then leadingly let the silence hang.

''A weapon on your personal request? I could do that, but the feasibility of me accomplishing it lies on what exactly you want me to make,'' Trask diplomatically replied, promising as of yet nothing.

Ellis simply handed him a folder and Trask began looking through it, after a while he put it back on the desk. Trask already knew most of the information inside it, but he supposed it was not public knowledge so he made sure to raise an eyebrow and look a little surprised.

''There are people with powers. And I'm not talking about mutates or different species, which the Avengers are. Be it the next step of evolution or pure happenstance, or a freak of nature. The X-Gene came to be.

We have an understanding with someone that houses a lot of young children, as well an understanding with another that has given him a plot of land to leave out peacefully,'' Ellis spoke, standing up and poured himself a glass of wine.

Yes, Xavier's School and Magneto and his ilk, Trask knew already. He declined the offer for a glass of wine as well.

''But I have concerns that this understanding will not remain in place for all time. Eventually one situation or another will arise and this understanding we have, will do little to contain the response of the mutants. Or to stop them, as a matter of fact.

So I have turned to you. I hope, with the American government providing the materials you will be able to come up with something that will allow us to fight back and contain the mutants. Not with bombs. We have enough nukes. But precision tools. I... guess like robots, though I will leave that to you discretion, that will allow us to arrest mutants that break the law. Mutants that are far above the polices capacity to deal with. Do you think you can accomplish that?,'' asked Ellis taking a sip every now and then.

While Trask face looked contemplative, inside he was a little panicking. This ... was too good a fortune to be mere happenstance. He feared a set up. As it happens, he was already developing his Sentinel program, as he called it.

The problem was that while he had more then enough money and resources, thanks to Trask Industries and Starks blunder to leave the competitive market of weapon development. Moving it to his HYDRA base was another matter. He could only move so much material at a time without it raising eyebrows. Not everyone in his company was working for HYDRA.

This...

This would allow him to advance his project so much better and so much quicker. And it would not even cost HYDRA anything. The idiot was ready to finance his own enslavement. As if the Sentinels could not be used for more then just 'containing' mutants.

Not that there will ever be any 'containing' in the first place.

Mutants were a disease and humanity had to be cleansed from their taint. They added too much of a variable to make controlling peoples freedom plausible.

Naturally such a task fell to him.

''In that case, I believe I am capable of delivering you such a weapon,'' Trask replied diplomatically, but still a little cautious that Carpenter was onto him.

''Good! In that case let us talk about specifics,'' Ellis determined.

---

That... was an interesting turn of events. At worst Bell hoped to bear witness to another shady and obvious (to him) deal between the leeches. In that case it would have been a waste of time. At best he hoped to prove satisfied with his new abilities, which he was.

How could he have known that another HYDRA head would practically fall into his lap after the other one is indisposed of new information for now?

And as for his ability, it performed admirable well. He even found some other HYDRA spies walking around in Washington D.C. Though none of them were high enough for him to bother with.

This was mostly supposed to have been a test run.

All the same, he would prefer not relying on luck the next time. Bell supposed the only natural conclusion to that was to apply that ability on the entire earth. This would also completely remove the need to hunt someone manually down.

Though Bell was a little skittish doing it. Life carried risks, but spying on the entirety of earth was sure to be picked on by someone. Bell reasoned that he could try and hide his energy, that was something he never bothered to try. Or he could evenly spread his energy across earth and no one could really pinpoint him that way.

One does not give someone reality warping to step on ants. Where was the entertainment in that? No, Bell was sure there were other people that could give him a run for his money. Like Stan.

But how does one hide energy? He doubted even his reality magic could do that. If he was more advanced with his void aspect, he could try and do the same with energy as his void mind. Alas, he still made no progress in that regard.

Not that this is the most important thing for now.

Ellis' fears were not completely unfounded. His request did not come from a perceived slight nor was it meant as an insult. Surprisingly. He had genuine concerns that people with power will use their powers to do as they please.

Though Bell wondered how much this fear would ever come to be realized. Most mutants could not use their abilities to fight, even if they could use it to harm. 

It was only past Gamma classification that the military was completely and utterly useless, though they would struggle a lot with Gamma and the fight would cause a lot of destruction.

But it only took one nuke to destroy a city.

It only took one Beta class to destroy a city.

And it took only one Omega to destroy earth.

He could destroy earth if he really wanted. With ease at that.

People like them could cause a lot of damage even if they were few and mundane people would come to fear them for feeling powerless. Of course there were also the bigots.

So no, Ellis' fears were not unfounded.

The principle, in fact, was sound. Using robots as a police force to maintain order and arrest mutants that break the law.

The problem was that it was leeches that were heading this project. They will not incarcerate the mutants and stop at that. They will seek to exploit them in some form. Laura was a prime example.

And they will not stop in their greed. False crimes and accusations do exist. They will seek to get their hands on more and more mutants and eventually they will encounter a mutant their robots won't work on and he will take exception to their cruelty. And it will only escalate from there.

Which meant he had to make this police force.

Bell contemplated letting Trask build his Sentinel and then absorbing it under his agency.

But frankly when it came to technology he was king. He could and would develop his own robots. So long as he understood the science his technology tried to apply.

He marked the HYDRA base as 'to be hit' when Project Insight will be implemented, it was far enough from civilization and Trasks mind revealed that there were no victims there. For a moment Bell contemplated killing Trask too as he had otherwise no other use to him. For a 'head' he knew even less then Pierce. More focused on building his Sentinel to cleanse the mutants.

But...

He did want the leeches to waste their resources and time. Both things they could have invested in better projects, instead they are focusing on a failed endeavor. 

All the better.

It will remove competition when he makes his company.

He teleported away, being done here.

Trask can live... for now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bell rubbed his face. While the Oscorp visit would be soon, Midtown High did pride themselves in providing as many opportunities for their students as they could. And with most of them being around 16ish years old, the teachers argued that the students were old enough to be mostly responsible and undertake such a trip.

Responsible enough for a three day trip where they fly to Washington D.C and back to visit a history museum. It was the biggest out of all of America apparently. Bell did not really care. It wasn't too pricey and affordable for most of them, including their stay at the hotel at a small discount.

It was about HYDRA, WW2, Hitler and the Nazis and much more besides. But the focus was on these subjects for now.

''You tired too?,'' Gwen asked groaning and rubbing her stiff neck.

''I mean it was only a 2 hour flight,'' Peter replied not feeling that tired.

''That is because you went to bed early and your Aunt did your coffer, probably at her own insistence if I know her well. The rest of us did it in the last moment the day before and then had to sleep less because of that,'' Bell explained. It was the truth in a way, having just snapped his fingers and his coffer was done at the last moment.

He did not rub his face because he was tired, with his magic he would only be susceptible to mental fatigue. He rubbed it because he was frustrated. Kids can sometimes be very annoying. Especially teenagers.

''What he said,'' Gwen said picking up her coffer from the terminal and the students making their way to the bus that would take them to the hotel.

''Well, then you two are in for a rough time. The teacher was particular about making use of all the time we have here to learn as much as possible. We will probably depart immediately after arriving at the hotel,'' Peter warned them. Taking a seat behind the two as Gwen wanted to sit near Bell.

Bell scoffed softly.

''Oh please, it doesn't matter if we don't pay attention, the guide will just harp on stuff that we already learned. This is just repetition. It doesn't matter if we are wide awake, it is just propaganda,'' Bell told them looking outside the window.

''How is that propaganda?,'' Gwen asked curious, not really agreeing with him.

''All history is propaganda. Peter tell me what we will learn there once we arrive,'' Bell demanded.

''How terrible the enemies were and how great we and our allies were to defeat them,'' Peter replied, the student sitting alongside Peter minding his own business but still listening attentively since he had nothing better to do.

''Correct. Once we are there we will have our brains fed slop of how great our nation is and how we must feel proud and patriotic to be citizens of such a great country. Make no mistake, it is good that we won for surely the Nazis and HYDRA would not have ushered in an utopia. But one merely needs to look at our system today and all it did to realize that corruption and suffering still exists. Between the two systems capitalism was the lesser of two evil,'' Bell shrugged. For now at least. The leeches can't help themselves but settle for late stage capitalism, where short term profits will be valued over anything else.

And once that happens, the suffering will be the same as in the other systems.

''So if capitalism is not good and communism is not good, then what is good?,'' Gwen asked, not really able to disagree with his point.

''None are good. All systems have strength and weaknesses, more or less. All people have a different answer to what systems should be put in place. Every one thinks that they could do a better job of ruling then all the others before them, few actually deliver if they actually get to rule. Most choose the easy way and let themselves be bribed or abuse their power.

It is a neat trick the adults have played on us. That they know what they are doing. The truth is, the whole of humanity stumbles from one day to the next and we are somehow making it work,'' Bell shrugged, his tone a tad melancholic.

The silence hanged over them for a bit.

''But if you absolutely had to choose?,'' Peter asked, pressing him for an answer. They needed some system to maintain order after all.

''...I suppose what the EU is doing is satisfactory in a way. Their system at least tries to protect the little people, even if they don't always do a good job at it,'' Bell shrugged. But even that system was slowly eroding away from lobbying *cough* bribery *cough*.

He actually never bothered to codify what political and ruling system he used. He used what made sense. Far too often these political systems split the people and weakened them. Also, bottom line, he learned there was really not that much of a difference between the systems.

All systems could be summarized by people with money (and resources) ruling those without.

''I mean... I can't find myself fully agreeing with you. But Socrates did criticize democracy,'' Gwen slowly admitted.

''He didn't necessarily criticize democracy. He just said that democracy needed an educated population to work. If the people are not educated then democracy will turn into demagoguery,'' Peter clarified, but also not being able to completely agree with Bell.

''And are we? Educated? The american government just cut the Department of Educations funding by a not inconsiderable amount of money. Just look at how many americans mistake Europes Social Welfare System for Communism,'' Bell mocked.

The two bounced their heads a little in agreement and even the person beside Peter could not disagree with that.

''We are here. All students please leave the bus in an orderly fashion,'' The teacher called out after that.

---

With the guide, finally, shutting up and stopping to regurgitate useless stuff, the students were allowed to walk around for a while around the museum. To inform themselves more about history.

They stopped in front of a display of historical war figures from WW2 made out of Wax. Minus one. It made sense as the one in the blue and red star spangled spandex was still living. Surprisingly here were not that many people around as the hall was mostly empty.

''Do you think, if they were here today, that they would have liked how much those in power spat on their sacrifice?,'' Bell suddenly asked.

''I mean, one is still alive. Captain America, Steve Rogers,'' Peter clarified.

''It is not like we can ask him directly if he likes what happened to the world. He is a man out of time. He is hardly qualified to understand the intricacies of todays world. Still transitioning from the old world to the new one and finding his place. Or at least I think so,'' Gwen replied.

''Why do you ask?,'' Peter asked a little eager. Bell felt surprisingly passionate about this matter. Which was unusual for him.

''Those people, those soldiers sacrificed themselves for a better tomorrow. But those they protect always have a way of tarnishing their sacrifice. I can well imagine it. They sacrificed themselves for freedom, so that people could eat, have joy and little to worry about. All that would not have been possible under Hitlers regime. They did not sacrifice themselves for an Utopia, I doubt they were that naive, but for something that would allow them to work towards it. Pave the path so to speak.

Instead we have DuPont and his C8. We have the tobacco industry swearing under oath that smoking is safe, when they knew already that it caused cancer. Both received a fine as punishment, which was basically pocket change for them. We have the government bailing banks and companies out at the cost of taxpayers. Health insurance companies operate on the strategy of 'Denying, Delaying, Defending'. Insulin costs 286$ but in Europe it costs 15$ and even then Healtcare pays for it. People get cancer and then they die trying to get the approval to receive treatment, instead of dying during the treatment.

People used to afford cars and homes from a single income.

Do you really think that so many rich people live here, because America is 'the greatest country in the world'? You are a fool. It is brimming with corruption.

The reason so many rich people live here is, because it is easier to commit tax evasion and because rich people receive more benefits then anywhere else. They can buy out the government and put things in law and make up systems that work against the peoples interests. They wow us with celebrity drama while they quietly take our rights away and then convince us it was our fault somehow,'' Bell scoffed, talking freely as he used his technomancy to make the camera not pick the three of them up.

Hm? Bell turned his head a sideways to better see the two of them. They just attentively listened to him, a small smile on their face. They had nothing to add and nor did they disagree with him. All this knowledge was out in the open for people to see. Even if unlike him, they still choose to maintain a level of trust in the government.

Bell turned his head back forwards. They... were really starting to hammer on his defenses even without trying. Or was it his own lack of conviction? Bell felt shameful.

''I see you care about the little people,'' Peter told him.

''You don't?,'' Bell asked a little defensive.

''Of course we care too. You know what we want to become in our future. It is just nice to hear YOU say that,'' Gwen tried to pacify him.

''While I agree with you, I think you are too much of a pessimist,'' Peter told him. Bell was a little surprised. Peter normally shared his distrust for corporations, but it seemed, even if not to the same extent as Gwen, he still had some trust in the government.

Not that Bell was gonna read his mind. He now had a system that would warn him of ill intent. Peter and Gwen did not trigger that warning.

''Are you familiar with Cyberpunk lore?,'' Bell asked suddenly.

''I didn't know you play Cyberpunk: 2077,'' Gwen remarked. She watched as some of the visitors came and then went through the hall where they were.

''I don't. Which is why I asked if you are familiar with its lore. Sometimes what I like to do is open up YouTube and watch a summary of the history inside of Cyberpunk. There are more then enough enthusiasts who go through the lore inside of Cyberpunk and present it for others. It is a critique on late stage capitalism. Many things are similar to our world. I wonder if you will still call me a pessimist when the rest of the history unfolds in front of your eyes. All of the predictions made inside that game. For people it is a critique on capitalism, for those on top it is a guideline on how to enrich themselves further,'' Bell dismissed Peters remark completely. His remark stems from his inexperience, whereas he has lived through it.

He was not a pessimist, he was a realist.

''But that is only assuming that the government fails completely,'' Gwen denied the notion. Peter nodded beside her.

They haven't heard a single thing he said, Bell lamented. Pity.

''Let us go, our free roam is almost at an end and the teacher is probably expecting us,'' Bell instructed them and walked away the two following after him.

In the hall, a man who frequents the museum for a sort of peace of mind, was writing several words in his notebook. Words he will have to look up quickly to ascertain if they were really true. Words he heard the kids speak with his good hearing. He pulled his cap a little lower to hide his face so no one would recognize him and made to leave.

A gift from one war veteran to another.

Bell did not plan on this development, but he was always someone to make use of an opportunity where he saw one.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was one possible solution to his dilemma.

Bell was lifting multiple things around, things he conjured, and made them spin around and perform various other moves to train his telekinesis. He was in the sewers.

Going to a different dimension. There he could let got of his magic, test if draping the earth in his energy would alert anyone, by them picking up on it despite his efforts to hide it. He could also go one step further and spread his energy across the dimension and see if it was a dead world. Then he could practice forming a black hole.

He could always return by having an anchor here, either in the form of his clone puppets or something else.

Hm. Decisions. Decisions.

Bell tapped his finger on the his forearm, crossed over his chest. Considering the validity of that solution.

Suddenly his phone rang and he looked at it. It was Sarah.

---

''What happened?,'' asked Nexus, immediately teleporting to the apartment in Swiss.

''Laura and I had an argument. She stormed out and hasn't returned for since yesterday,'' Sarah answered immediately,'' I fear something happened to her.''

She looked horrible, but was clearly trying to remain calm.

Impossible. There was no way HYDRA could have found them. Or else Sarah would have been dead. Nexus spread his magic over Bern to try and find Laura.

''Alright, stay put,'' Nexus said before teleporting away again. He threw off Sarah from her worries with that stunt, as it was so sudden.

...

Laura was close to the forest near Bern. She was sitting on the ground near the river Aar. Watching the river flow by. She needed to clear her head after her argument with her caretaker.

She heard the leaves crunch suddenly in an unnatural way. Where it a normal human she would have heard them come from far away. She whipped around with her claws out only to see it was Nexus.

''It's just you. What do you want?,'' Laura asked, sheathing her claws and turning back to the river.

''Your mother is worried and called me,'' Nexus told her.

''My caretaker,'' Laura corrected. One she was angry at.

''You don't like her?,'' Nexus asked taking a seat near her and watching the river as well.

''I do,'' Laura affirmed, offering no more words.

Ah, a complicated relationship then. Nexus understood. Sarah may have brought her to the world and read her stories and fed her as much as she could, but on the other hand Sarah brought her to the world, meant to be an experiment. That is not easily washed away.

''What was the argument about?,'' Nexus asked her. Laura stubbornly said nothing. Nexus never had children, but he remembered how he was with his own parents when he was a teenager. Hotheaded, temperamental, thinking he knew better. He has come to learn that most teenagers were more or less the same.

''Wanna skip rocks?,'' Nexus said suddenly, standing up and looking for a few flat rocks.

''What?,'' Laura asked perplexed.

''Here,'' Nexus handed her a flat rock he found on the ground,'' Let us skip rocks. Watch my movement and my hand. I am going to show it to you slowly and then do it fast.''

Laura reluctantly repeated the motion that he showed her. The rock only made one skip before sinking.

''I forgot to add, you need to hit the rock at a certain angle. Here, try skipping the rock in a few different ways to hit that angle,'' Nexus handed her a few more rocks. She tried doing so again as instructed, though with not much enthusiasm.

''Are you trying to soften me up?,'' Laura asked, eventually skipping another rock. She recognized this technique from her interrogation training.

''Is it working?,'' Nexus asked cheekily.

''I won't talk about our argument,'' Laura replied blandly.

''Then let us not talk about that. Let us talk about you. What angers you so?,'' Nexus asked her with a nod.

Laura remained silent and just skipped another rock, failing to hit the angle again.

''Laura, I have better things to do then be part of this drama. HYDRA is still up and about and I need to take care of them,'' here her impassive face twitched a little.

''Take me with you. Let me help,'' Laura demanded, clenching her jaw a little.

''This again? What for?,'' Nexus asked her.

''They are dangerous. I wish that no one else has to suffer like I did,'' Laura replied.

''No. What you should be focusing on, is having a normal life,'' Nexus denied her again.

''I have no normal life! I can never have a normal life,'' she suddenly snapped, losing control of her emotions. While she was beaten to forget her emotions by Kimura, she still had lapses in judgement.

Nexus gave a pleased hum and gave her another set of flat rocks. She starred at them and then at him.

''You already knew, what the argument between us was, so why ask?,'' Laura grumbled.

''I suspected. And you confirmed it. I had more then enough context clues to arrive to that conclusion. Why do you think you can not have a normal life?,'' Nexus asked her patiently. She was actually not wasting his time by that much actually.

Laura merely unsheathed her claws and showed them to him, after a while.

''I ... was designed to be a weapon. I was trained in a facility to be a weapon. I was raised as such. I... don't know how to be anything else,'' Laura let her walls down a bit and decided to trust him. He did after all save them and he clearly hated HYDRA as well. Maybe he even had a past with them as she did.

Ah, Nexus understood the actual issue. This was about her self worth. All her life she has been a weapon and treated as such. Now that there were people around her that wanted to treat her differently she felt worthless.

Trauma had a funny way of manifesting itself.

Nexus slightly recoiled, not being picked up on by Laura, after the thought entered his mind. Laura felt worthless and he felt unworthy of life's pleasure, because he harmed innocents. Though he did slip at times.

Laura sheathed her claws again, after a while of Nexus not saying anything.

''Nexus?,'' Laura asked cautiously.

''Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. It is the rest of your story that matters. Who you choose to be. No one is going to think less of you, if you never pick up the sword again. So? Who are you, what do you want to do?,'' Nexus asked her eventually. The words tasted like bile in his mouth. He was thankful for his helmet. He had enough control to maintain his body language, but he doubted his face was his usual blank.

Hypocrite.

He wanted someone to say this words to him as well.

Hypocrite!

Laura looked at him for a while and then at the stones and then back to him again. Then she turned around and tried skipping another rock.

''I'm Laura Kinney. Not X-23. Not HYDRAs weapon. I'm ... the daughter of Sarah Kinney. But I still want to help take HYDRA down,'' Laura told him eventually.

Nexus shoulder slumped a little.

''You told me that after all I have suffered I have the right to make my own choices. And now you asked me that again. I want to take down HYDRA,'' Laura reminded him quickly, clenching the rock in her hand. 

In a way she was thankful for Sarah, ... her mother. Were it not for her, reading her stories and teaching her about morals, giving her the love she could, HYDRA would have probably managed to break her spirit long ago. Alas, they only damaged her and nothing more. She would carry those memories till the day of her death, but Nexus was right, she could now choose for herself.

''Are you absolutely certain?,'' Nexus asked one final time.

''Yes.''

Nexus looked into her eyes, seeing the determination. Joke's on him for thinking he could have resolved her trauma in one day. 

Oh, he knew she was still deriding worth from being a weapon, but if nothing else it was a step in the right direction. One among many yet to be walked.

He would find some use for her in taking HYDRA down, he was sure, even if he didn't really need her help to be honest.

''Very well,'' Nexus affirmed and Laura gave him a small smile. She finally skipped another rock, this time it bounced 11 times. Her smile widened just a little.

''Well done. Come, Sarah is worrying about you and I guess you must be hungry as well,'' Nexus offered her his hand. She took it and the two teleported away.

---

''Laura!,'' Sarah came to her wanting to hug her, but then remembered that Laura did not like getting touched and just stood awkwardly around the living room.

''The next time I'm moving against HYDRA I'm taking her with me,'' Nexus said, breaking the awkward silence.

''What? No, you can't,'' Sarah snapped hotly.

''I can't? Why not?,'' Nexus asked her.

''Laura deserves better then to be treated as a weapon,'' Sarah argued.

''But I'm not treating her as a weapon. Would I do such a thing, I would put her to work and punish her if she disobeys. It is her that wants me to help take HYDRA down and she could, at any point, walk away, if she so chooses. She chose this for herself. Not you and not I,'' Nexus shrugged his shoulders.

''I...,'' Sarah looked from Nexus to Laura, she nodded, affirming that is what she really wanted. Sarahs shoulder slumped.

''With that out of the way. Next time try not to call an emergency for family drama and try to talk it out like civilized people,'' Nexus said, taking his leave and teleporting away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wonderful, the Oscorp field trip has arrived. From what little he gathered in passing in his previous life, this is the moment where Peter was bitten by the spider. 

''I can see why you two wish to be scientists when you grow up,'' Bell told them conversationally.

''You can be a scientist too. You are clearly have the smarts,'' Peter replied back, letting the sentence hang. But also wanting to know what Bell wanted to do in the future.

''I'm considering,'' Bell shrugged his shoulders. No he won't, he has another calling.

''Oscorp prides itself on pioneering genetical advancements, as well as bio engineering. Can you imagine how many people could be helped by this?,'' Gwen wondered, looking eagerly around.

Military contracts, and stuff so expensive that it will be affordable only by rich people. Bell suppressed an amused snort. Which meant the black market and criminals will profit from it, offering them to people at SLIGHTLY reduced prices. With strings attached of course.

Peter and Gwen were thankfully not complacent. They actively wanted to make the world a better place. Bell just sometimes wondered why they refused to understand the scope of corruption and evil that actually exists in the world.

''And here we have spiders of various species. They have been exposed to small doses of radiation in the hopes that we can find a way to make them produce more silk. Silk has various uses...,'' the guide at the head of the group rambled on, picking up their attention again after leading them from the previous spot.

A lie, Bell quickly determined. There were better way to mass produce silk in such huge quantities to apply it on the industrial scale. bell was disappointed when so many among the students seemed to have actually bought it.

Why bother presenting the spiders in the first place, when you can't even be bothered to come up with a convincing lie? Hide them from the get go, if what you actually want to achieve with them is so reprehensible it must be hidden, Bell thought to himself. Though Bell also doubted that these were all the spiders that Oscorp had. There were sure to be more, somewhere in the building.

Perhaps, they even were duds. Bell gave them a quick scan over the spiders DNA and it turned out that the were in fact radiated. Also a quick check in their records with his technomancy did mention more spiders in the building. It seemed Bells suspicion was spot on.

There was also one spider missing.

Bell watched Peter to see when he would be bitten.

Except, he was never bitten.

It was Gwen that gave a small hiss and slapped her neck. She gave herself a rub on the spot she slapped and looked downwards to see if she managed to hit the bug.

Bell activated his magic. She did manage to hit the spider. It lied dead on the floor, even if she did not manage to find it. He quickly took the carcass and teleported it into a small pocket dimension to preserve the spider. Then he used his technomancy to delete her movement from the records and make it appear as if she never slapped her neck in the first place.

With that done, Bell could turn to other matters.

Bell moved his eyes from Peter and Gwen. One looked captivated by what the scientist at the head was saying. The other looked annoyed, at having been bitten by a bug.

That... was unfamiliar to him.

He expected Peter to be bitten.

Then again.

Stan did say 'multiverse cluster', which meant different universes were real. The blame lay on him that he expected everything to go the same as in the movies.

Unless...

Bell did have the carcass to examine and while he, of course, was now watching over his friends and family to ensure their safety, he would feel better if they had power of their own.

''Are you fine?,'' Bell asked Gwen. She released a sigh, her chest warming a little as Bell took notice of her discomfort. It was moments like this that reminded her, that Bell cared.

''Mostly. A mosquito probably bit me. It is fine,''Gwen assured him, while Peter still listened attentively to the guide. Bell was surprised she didn't put two and two together. While he could feel her DNA already beginning to change, so far it seemed to be heading in a good direction.

Bell gave her a nod.

Well, while today did not go exactly as planned, it seems that NYC will finally have its Friendly Neighborhood ... Spider-Woman?

Bell wondered what name she would choose for herself.

Tomorrow would be interesting if nothing else.