Falling Into a Spider's Web and Gaining a Double Agent

POV Change - Peter Parker

Looking at the cogs turning in Ava's head, as her expression switched between fearful and thoughtful, was quite amusing.

Her training was kicking in quite a lot...but it seems this type of situation is especially scary for her.

She doesn't have her powers in this room, after all. What is this room? Well, a chamber I made for especially hard to contain people. Teleporters and people who can Phase through objects, mainly. Basically, this room, the Stabilization Room, forcibly keeps people here. Like a sort of field that keeps atoms and particles from changing in unnatural ways.

A person who phases will lose the ability to phase while in this room because the field it generates forcibly stops their atoms from becoming intangible. For Teleporters, it simply locks them in place and cuts off their access to, say, a Shadow Dimension or whatever Nightcrawler uses to teleport or it simply stops them from displacing themselves and moving to where they want to go.

It's a machine that holds things together, I guess.

I made this with Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde in mind. I didn't know if they'd appear in this world - the Oz-Serum had and that wasn't exactly in the MCU, was it?

But I'd also kept it in mind for this girl in front of me. Ava Starr. Caught in an explosion that killed her parents and forced Quantum Energy through her body, tearing it apart...but also putting it back together again.

I was interested in seeing what that looked like, honestly. Just a quick look at her suits circuitry had allowed me to think up dozens of ideas on how to beef up the Stabilization Room or even delay the degradation of her cells due to the Quantum Energy sustaining them, leaving and leaving her cells to die.

But for now, I needed to get her on my side.

"You don't have to answer just yet, Ms. Starr," she flinched ever so slightly at my mention of her name. Anyone else would've missed it. But my new enhanced sense of sight picked it up instantly. She was unsettled by me knowing who she was. Understandable, I guess. "You only have to listen to what I have to offer."

She just stared back at me, her dull green eyes looking on the brink of giving up, so I felt like I needed to instill some hope into her, "I can give you what SHIELD can't, Ms. Starr. I can cure you," I said, dropping a bombshell on her that instantly had her eyes go wide.

But she seemed to think it was a trick and her emotions got the better of her as she gnashed her teeth and spoke out to me, "Your good cop routine won't work on me," she glared at me, her annoyance at what I'd said and implied breaking down her training. I'd definitely jabbed a nerve there, hadn't I? "You think you can offer me what SHIELD can't? They're--"

"--Lying to you, Ms. Starr. They don't want to cure you. They want to use you until you die," I interrupted her, leaning back into my chair and talking a gulp of water from a water bottle I'd brought in here. She went silent and I swallowed the water, letting out a refreshed sigh as I did, "That was nice...Do you want any water, Ms. Starr? You've been unconscious for a while so you must be quite thirsty," I kept up the casual conversation, knowing that if she asked me about what I meant first, I'd have successfully planted the first seed of betrayal in her mind.

"...What do you mean they're lying to me?" she asked and I inwardly cheered with glee while outwardly keeping a cool and calm smile on my face.

"No to the water then?" I asked with a chuckle, getting a glare in return, so I shrugged and put the water bottle down next to me, "Your loss. Anyway, what do I mean? Well, that suit they'd put together for you wasn't the best they could do? And at most, it only delayed the inevitable. I bet they don't have a room like this, do they?" I asked 'curiously' and seeing her blank face and the way she averted her eyes, I gave a wry smile, "As I assumed, they don't...That's because they don't plan to cure you, Ava," I stood up and stopped with the pleasantries as I walked toward her. Squatting down in front of her until I was at eye-level with her, I continued speaking, "But I can heal you, Ava. I can cure you--No, even better, I can help you gain perfect control over your abilities and not suffer from the bad effects. All I want in return...is for you to spy on SHIELD for me. How's that sound?"

The more I spoke, the wider Ava's eyes became. The more they were filled with betrayal. The more anger and hatred that filled them.

...Bingo~ Looks like it's going well so far.

Standing up and walking back to my chair, I bent down and picked up the water bottle, and then I turned around and walked back to her, unscrewing the cap as I walked. When I was finally in front of her, I offered the water bottle, "At least drink, Ava. I don't want you going thirsty on me, you know? Quite hard to get answers out of someone when they've got a dry throat," I sincerely joked with her but got nothing but an unsure glance from her. Seeing her worries, I chuckled, "You saw me drink from it earlier, Ava. It's not poisoned or spiked with anything. It's just water."

I said this but in small amounts, my heightened metabolism could render even the most lethal of poisons and drugs pretty inert. For example, I could inject enough tranquilizer to put down an elephant into my arm and barely even feel affected other than a very minute amount of dizziness.

Even that would soon get wiped away by my body's robust recovery ability.

But true to my word, it really was just normal water in the bottle. Yet it meant more than just that, and Ava knew it. The water was a symbol. If she took my offer and drank the water, she was showing she was thinking about my proposal positively.

And I'd taken all the necessary steps to make sure she thought positively of it.

I'd been nice to her. I'd spoken politely when she woke up. I hadn't done anything horrible or unbecoming to her. I hadn't gotten violent or forceful when she didn't answer my questions.

Even if only subconsciously, Ava was probably thinking of me as differently to the SHIELD agents that she deals with. They probably treat her like an object or item to be used. While I, in the limited time I'd spoken to her, had treated her like a normal person.

Then there's the fact that I'd revealed SHIELD's lies to her. That they wouldn't cure her. That they were using her.

This would push her even further away from SHIELD and toward me.

I was manipulating her just like SHIELD, yes, but I never said I was a good person, did I? And secondly, I'm manipulating her away from an organization that uses her, lies to her and doesn't give her anything in return.

Even if I gain something from her joining my side, I'm still offering her a lot. A cure to the power to the powers that plague her. Even better, I've offered a way to get them completely under he control. Ever so slowly, I'm pushing her further toward the idea of accepting my proposal and betraying SHIELD. Something that's already betrayed her, so the guilt wouldn't be there if she did.

Of course, any third party would be able to see what I'm doing. But as soon as Ava let her emotions get involved, she lost that third party objectivity that was needed to spot my ruse.

In other words, she'd already fallen deep into my web and gotten trapped.

Ava tentatively put her head forward and wrapped her lips around the opening of the bottle. Smiling widely, I tipped the bottle upwards slightly, letting her drink the water at her own pace.

My oh my...I really do love it when a plan comes together~

Very quickly, she moved her head to point upward, telling me she'd had enough water. I complied and pulled the bottle back before screwing the top back on. Walking back over to my chair, I sat down and looked across at Ava.

"So, how about telling me why SHIELD sent you here?" I smilingly asked as I leaned forward.

. . .

Gripping the bridge of my nose with enough force to crush and rend steel, I opened my eyes a little and squinted at Ava, "So...you're telling me that they found out who I was...based off of a single piece of hair they found along with some skin...?" I asked, my voice thoroughly annoyed. I'd planned for such occasions but I never thought that'd happen...

It just proves I'd let myself get carried away by the moment when I was excited that I was so close to getting what I needed for my powers...I'll need to avoid such things in the future.

Ava looked somewhat fearful because of my tone but she still nodded anyway, "Yes...they figured out it was you based off of that."

Hearing her, I sighed and waved my hand, "Don't worry, I'm not angry at you. I'm just disappointed in myself and my carelessness," I said before sighing again and rubbing my face with my hands, hoping to rub the feelings off of my face. Yet it didn't work and I was still left annoyed.

Seeing my annoyance didn't deter Ava too much because she spoke up again.

"I need to contact SHIELD soon or they will suspect something is up and will send back-up," she actually sounded worried which was...cute, I guess. But it was unnecessary.

Waving off her concern again, I smiled feeling a bit of joy from being able to show off a little, "Don't worry, Ava, I've already got something that could sort that out," I said and from her confused look, I knew I needed to elaborate...so I did, "Your voice," I chuckled out which only confused Ava even more, so I continued, "Karen, run program 'Chameleon.exe' and mimic Ava's voice, please," I gave out my order and a second later, Karen spoke up.

[I need to contact SHIELD soon or they will suspect something is and will send back-up,] Karen repeated...except it didn't sound like Karen but rather an exact copy of Ava. Instead of a near emotionless American voice, a worried English-accented voice came from Karen's speakers.

Ava's face paled somewhat as she heard a complete replica of her voice played back to her.

I, on the other hand, just smiled like a Cheshire cat. Seeing her look somewhat confused still, I stood up and began to walk around the room, "From the moment our conversation started, Ava, my A.I, Karen, has been monitoring your voice and replicating all of your unique speech patterns and saving them into a project I call Project Chameleon. Though it's program form is called 'Chameleon.exe'. It will allow me to have Karen contact your superiors and tell them you need more time to find out if I'm the one who stole the Oz Serum and the spiders. Clever, right?"

I didn't get an answer, just Ava still being stunned from the realization that I had everything in the palm of my hand.

"...W-why don't you just let me talk to them?" she asked, somewhat shakily.

Hearing her, I chuckled and walked up behind her. Putting my hands on her shoulders, I replied, "Because I don't trust you, Ava. Not yet, anyway."

Hearing my honest and blunt answer, Ava seemed a bit stumped but she got an answer out in the end, "Bu-But you said we'd be working to-together...?" she asked with a confused stutter, obviously having lost sight of my objective because of my candor. But I quickly gave my answer.

"Yes, that is what I said," I nodded before walking around until I was standing in front of her. Squatting, I continued, "The thing I trust about you, Ava...is your desire for a cure or a way to fully control your powers. Something that isn't a special suit or a special room," I motioned to the Stabilization Room we were in before pointing my finger at her, "I trust your desire to finally be in control again."

Hearing me seemed to put her a little at ease. Not to the point where she was calm and relaxed but to the point where she wasn't stuttering in confusion anymore.

"Then why..." she trailed off but I understood her meaning.

"Then why don't I trust you to make a call to SHIELD? Because I'm convinced that you're not convinced that I can cure you. Or that I want to cure you. So, I'll take the next week to delay the degradation of your cells and hopefully that shows how serious I am about helping you and that I can help you," I answered before reaching around to where I'd used my webbing to bind her arms.

Using my now prodigious strength, I ripped the webbing. Feeling the tensile strength of the webbing, I was glad I only used small, thin webs to bind her. Anything thicker would actually require some strain. Even for my new strength.

Dropping the webbing to the floor, I brought my hand back and stood up before putting my hand out toward Ava.

"So, what do you say? Do you want to work with me and help me, so that I can help you?" I asked.

She took the hand so quickly, it was like she thought I was about to vanish like some sort of dream.