Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

"Alright, patience patience. Here you go~" The small spider grabbed the little pill treat from Jasmine's finger, quickly shoving it under her fangs and biting in. Jasmine giggled and gently used her finger to rub its back, "Good girl." The little spider continued biting into the treat, something Jasmine designed herself with a heavy amount of her empathic senses and a bit of testing with her pet spiders. 

"I do not understand how you can stand touching them." "Me neither." 

Jasmine rolled her eyes, "Oh shush. They're cute!" 

Riri and Leona blinked at her, then panned to the wall of enclosures, each with a different colorful spider inside. Fifty-two in total. Both girls shuddered. "J-... just make sure they don't escape, please?" Riri strained, with Leona nodding repeatedly. 

"Don't worry, they're all good girls." Jasmine said happily, causing the two to look at her like some kind of aberrant creature. 

Riri shook her head and hefted the tablet on her lap, drawing Leona and Jasmine's attention to it. "How's the statistics?" Jasmine asked somewhat nervously. 

"Low, but there." Leona responded, "I don't think we'll be seeing much for a while. At least until people become more familiar with the technology. I mean, the tablets just had the first wave release yesterday and Babel came online at the same time."

"I know I know. But still..." Jasmine shifted a bit before plopping down on the floor and sighing, "I hope it goes well." 

"It'll be fine. You just have to wait for people to get used to its existence and start to experiment with what they can do. The numbers are already high considering most people who ordered a tablet likely haven't even received it yet. By tomorrow you'll likely have a few experimental videos uploaded, and maybe a few colabs on the wiki." Riri said, waving her hand dismissively. "I think what you should be most worried about is your software security. This is alot that can go wrong..."

(A/n: The word Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word 'wikiwiki', which means quick. It's just been warped ans  adopted by the internet. In universe Leona and Riri once went to hawaii with their mother and Leona remembered the word from a bus they saw (as a parallel to the real world origin))

"Me and Dad made a modified version of JARVIS to monitor it. If something goes wrong it'll notify me or him." Jasmine said, "Or if something that's outside parameters is occuring." She sighed, "Hopefully, hopefully nothing too bad happens." 

"I feel like you're jinxing yourself." Leona commented, causing Jasmine to groan in response as Riri snickered. "Anyway," Leona continued, glancing at the spider wall with a shudder, "Shall we go see if your mom finished lunch?" 

"Sure." Jasmine shrugged, missing Riri mouthing 'good thinking' to Leona. "Let me just make sure all the girls have eaten their treats." 

"Right, well we'll go first. cya down there!" Riri rapidly spoke, jumping off Jasmine's bed with the tablet and rushing out of the room with Leona on her heels. Jasmine rolled her eyes at the two and turned to her spider tanks with sparkling eyes, "Hopefully Mrs. Maeve gives me the book on familiar binding next week." She smiled, sensing the happiness of all her spiders and quickly got up to follow her two friends.

 

>>> USSW, Head Office 

Maeve continued humming to herself lightly as she and Zawati finished up the last few documents of the day, her new tablet sitting to her side with a backup of a few important papers scanned in. 

Zawati flicked her finger across the screen of her own tablet, an amused smile on her face. "This is more useful than I thought it would be." She chuckled, swirling her finger a bit before turning the tablet to Maeve, who glanced at it, stopped humming and rolled her eyes before tossing a crumpled ball of paper at Zawati's head to the woman's laughter. 

"No playing at work dearie." Maeve dryly responded. Zawati stuck her tongue out, turning her tablet filled with doodles all over official documents back to her own view. "I need something to do while reading through these rather droll reports." Zawati giggled, "It's like an infinite sketchbook! and it doesn't leave traces unless I want it to!"

Maeve just shook her head at her lover, "Be careful what you put on it. While the security is high..." 

Zawati waved her hand, "Yeah yeah, there's always another genius that could crack it." She snickered, "Whatever would I do if they acquired my doodles! Oooh nooo~♪"

"Haa..." Maeve wryly smiled. 'We really shouldn't have let Zawati and Octavia meet...' With Maeve tutoring Jasmine Stark each week, it was only a matter of time before she herself met Octavia, and it was on a day when she decided to introduce Zawati to the Stark's as well. Luckily for Pepper, Octavia did not have the effect she thought she'd have on Maeve. Unluckily for her, Octavia did hit it off with Zawati. Thus leading to the horrible realization that Maeve was already influenced by someone like Octavia, and now there were two of them!

"Oh, Octavia's asking if we want to go to a bar after work!" Zawati poked around a bit on her tablet, grinning the entire time, "Shall we join our junior in her romantic pursuits?" 

"Sure." Maeve shrugged, failing to wipe the wry grin from her face, "It will be entertaining at least. Let me prepare the books and materials for Jasmine's lesson tomorrow at our house first." 

Zawati grinned, "You're adorable apprentice is a monster." 

"Shush you." Maeve lightly rubbed her forehead with a tired smile. "She's at least fun to teach, if exhausting." She shook her head, "Though you are right in reference to her potential. The girl doesn't even need or use a casting aid. That's not to mention how quickly she adapts and learns spells for her own use."

"Ha!" Zawati snickered, "She got the promise out of you to bring a few books on familiar taming this time right? For all her little girls?" The grin on Zawati's face caused Maeve to scowl.

"I do not know why neither of you find spider's creepy. I may have gotten over my arachnophobia over the past century but they're still unsettling." 

A wise look appeared on Zawati's face, "Because we, the chosen few, can see the truth and glory of the world." A dramatic sigh escaped her lips, "And thus, we must endure dealing with the fear of those who can neither see nor understand." 

Maeve dryly stared at her lover for a minute before both broke down giggling. "That cult leader's saying? Really?" Maeve got out between giggles.

"Hey!" Zawati laughed, "Better than if I used the quote from that one two decades back obsessed with snakes! Do you remember the rambling he did on his trial?" 

Maeve groaned, "Don't remind me. How can someone say so much and so little at once?" 

"The wonders of looping!" Zawati snickered, "If someone didn't cast a mute spell on him I bet you he would have gone on for at least an hour rather than twenty minutes. Politicians take notes!" 

Maeve sighed and shook her head, "Anyway, let's quickly finish up." 

"Hai!" Zawati mock saluted.

 

>>> New York City, Underground Sewer Complex 

Natasha glanced around, careful not to disturb the ruined bricks of the sewer wall as she stared through the gap. 'Well. I didn't expect to find this in the sewers...' A large cavern stretched down and away from the gap, water dripped down from the ceiling, hitting puddles somewhere far below, a symphony of dropping echoes filling the air. 'Thankfully Jasmine was rather adamant about adding several vision modes to this suit...' 

'Why are the sewers so huge anyway?' Natasha thought in exasperation. 'And how many bloody hidden laboratories can people make!?' She went through twenty abandoned bunkers, twelve abandoned laboratories, sixteen forgotten weapon caches- some with really old and neat guns- and at least two different cultist gathering spots. And that's ignoring the ones that may be active... She left little pingers (small devices made by Tony that only react to a certain frequency) to have those places marked out later. 

Of course, the sewers themselves were unnecessarily complex as well. Like as if twenty different sewers were built at once and everyone just worked over each other with no rhyme or reason... Luckily it seemed only some of the piping was actually in use, considering how worn and broken some of the areas were. 

Walking forward, Natasha bent and started crawling down the wall in perfect silence. 'Being able to stick to surfaces is sooo~ convenient.' She smirked lightly under her mask, carefully keeping an eye on the surroundings. 'The Killer Croc's tracks lead to this area. Let's hope I can find him...' 

A few minutes later and Natasha's eyebrow was twitching, 'Another laboratory? How the hell are people getting the materials and workers to build this shit?' She peeked through the doorway- the metal door long ripped off its hinges and in a puddle a dozen yards back, rotting with the years. 'At least it seems the Croc is merely repurposing this one, rather than having built it himself.' Glass beakers were strewn everywhere, bits of broken glass shoved into the corners. Rusting metal tables and cabinets filled much of the floor space, a pile of torn up, discarded ones sat to the side. A few bits and bobs of newer lab equipment lay around on surfaces, illuminated by a sparking fluorescent light in the ceiling. 'No Croc?' 

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Natasha frowned, stepping into the room. The man beast had obviously been here- but the tracks were a few days old. Several spots showed signs of objects being removed- such as torn hinges used to nail down heavier equipment. 'How hard can tracking down a super criminal be?' She rubbed her head in frustration. This was the earliest she'd been able to catch the man's trail- and three days late at that. 'I really wish 911 and store alarms magically told you what the problem was...' Unfortunately for her, the Croc had yet to attack any place where someone was able to accurately report the situation, or even immediately report it. 

'The locations he is attacking are generally suspicious too...' Improperly registered... suspicious activities... unrecorded equipment... Just a few properties all locations shared. That and someone- OsCorp from Natasha and Tony's digging- was shutting down any queries into what the buildings actually were. 'And we still don't know who exactly the Croc even was. Though, Osborn definitely has something to do with his creation...' As if the building being connected to the OsCorp tower by underground tunnels wasn't bad enough, finding a hidden deal between Osborn and the Government to try and recreate the super soldier serum is bad enough. The results of every previous attempt spoke for themselves- and that's just the ones Tony could find.

For this one? Frankly, Natasha was all for letting the oversized man crocodile rip OsCorp open- if it wasn't for the fact innocents were not only getting hit by the crossfire, but being killed by the Croc indiscriminately on sight. The man was at least super-aggressive, but cunning and quick enough to not get caught out in the open long enough for any force to muster- or for Natasha to catch wind of it. 

'Haa... and there's another water pool in the back. Pretty deep, as expected.' She dropped a pinger down. 'I hope Tony finishes that underwater cave explorer soon. The chances of the Croc's actual base being only accessible through going underwater is getting higher with every trail that dies at a pool.' Not like a quick swim would help, the amount of flooded tunnels is nearly as high as the dry ones in the New York sewers, much to Natasha's annoyance. 

She shook her head. 'How do maintenance crews even do work here?' 

 

>>> Britain, Potter's house 

Lily pulled herself out of bed, fighting off her ever present exhaustion and the desire to just... lay down. With a shuddering breath she stood up, the world around her just lacking as she numbly started going through her drawer for clothes. James had already gotten up a few hours ago, letting her sleep in like he has for the past couple months.

She tiredly glanced at the clock on the wall as she pulled out a shirt and pants. The hands read 11:13, making it a bit over twelve hours the woman had been in bed. She blinked slowly, trying to slip into her clothes with more effort than it should've taken. 

'James already fed the kids most likely. He should be leaving soon for the Order meeting. I have to make lunch.' She ambled towards the door, pushing it open with her weight as she absently walked towards the stairs, smiling lightly as she heard Nathan and Rose playing, the little girl shouting as she tried to direct Nathan where to place something, likely legos. 'Jasmine always liked legos.' Her smile died as pressure built behind her eyes, and she took a shuddering breath. 'I am a horrible mother.' 

She sighed, making her way down the stairs one at a time. She noticed dust collecting in the little hinges between the railing and the wall. 'I need to clean that.' Later... when she felt more awake.

Stepping into the living room, Lily glanced at her children. Nathan had an exasperated look on his scarred face- 'I wasn't there. I'm a failure.'- while Rose's face was scrunched up as she stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a brick into the right location of the.... castle? maybe? she and her brother were building. Lily tiredly smiled at her daughter's cuteness. 'I wonder if Jasmine would make the same cute face?' Her face went blank again. 

"Morning honey." James said from behind her, causing Lily to startle. "Ah. Morning James." She saw the slightly pained look on his face, but let it slide past her. 'Just another wrong I've done.' 

"Ah! Mommy!" Rose dropped her brick and ran up to her, causing a smattering of warmth to sprinkle in Lily's heavy chest. "Good Morning!" The little redhead declared, wrapping her hands around Lily's thighs. The woman patted her head with both hands, "Good morning Rosie." She greeted with a tired smile.

"Is Mommy still sleepy?" The little girl giggled with an adorable, innocent smile. 'Yes.' Lily tried to make her smile livelier, and failed. "Just a bit sweetie."

"You should play with us!" Rosie invited, "We're building castle!" 

Lily continued stroking the girl's head, "In a bit. I need to cook lunch sweetie. Then I'll play a bit with both of you." She let the girl go, patting her slightly, "Go continue playing with your brother. Okay?" "Okay!" Lily smiled, seeing the girl run back to her brother, who nodded at her in greeting before handing Rosie some new bricks. 'He's gotten more responsible. Because of my failures.' She took another shuddering breath.

James watched his wife with concern, "How're you doing?" 

Lily gave him her best, tired smile. "Fine." She inhaled slightly, "Going to the Order meeting soon?" She asked, trying to bring forth a sense of normalcy as she reached up and slightly adjusted his robes. James gave her a grin, a grin that should've made Lily smile in return, and nodded. "Yeah. Snapey has a report on the movements of You-Know-Who's remaining followers. Hopefully there's finally some news on that fucking rat." James' words ended in vitrol, and for a brief moment Lily's eyes flashed with hate.

"If there is, let me know." She said simply, the anger pushing her tiredness back just a bit. What she'd give to tear Peter apart limb from limb for what he did. Imagining his screams and begs of mercy as she tore apart his limbs with spells caused Lily's spine to straighten slightly, appearing awake again, for at least as long as her rage lasted in the forefront of her mind. She held to it with all she had, for feeling the anger was at least better than nothing.

"I will." James promised, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. "I have to go." He said, turning to the kids and grinning, "See you both later! Be good for your mother!" "Bye Dad!" "Bye Daddy!" He turned back to her and gave her a hug, "Be well."

Lily nodded, sending off her husband as the anger burnt out, and the numbness of her current existence set in. 'So what if I kill him? It won't give me Jasmine back. It won't fix my failures.' James gave her a smile and walked into the floom, a flash of green fire signaling Rose and Nathan to return to their building blocks. She let out a shuddering breath and moved to the kitchen, her eyes slowly sweeping around the cupboards, briefly stopping on the knives. She closed her eyes, fighting off the craving to rightfully punish herself, to feel something other than empty. She remembered James' fear when he caught her once, and it only made the cravings worse. She reached for them briefly, then took her hand back as she listened to her two kids play in the other room. 

 

>>> Jasmine's Room, Stark Mansion 

Jasmine laid on her bed, absently petting the back of one of her spiders that she let loose from their cages. This one was a brilliant blue color with red and orange highlights, and a small smile graced the girl's lips as she focused on the contentment oozing off her little spider. The others curiously climbed around and over her, more than comfortable with Jasmine's presence. A few had already returned to their tanks, being particularly lazy or uninterested in the wider world. They knew not to exit the room; while not yet bound as familiars, they were incredibly intelligent and repeated practice made them easily receptive to Jasmine's passive empathic aura and the meaning she imbued in her voice. 

Though, if Pepper or her friends walked into her room right now....

Jasmine spotted one of the girls poking a small case on her bedside table, causing her to roll her eyes. "Amy~ No more treats today. You know better." The small, brilliant crimson spider crouched, pouting in Jasmine's senses, causing her to laugh. A few spiders turned and looked at her in curiosity, trying to find what she was laughing about. 

Jasmine grinned and stretched out her prosthetic arm, putting her palm next to the crimson spider, who specifically turned away from the hand and continued crouch/pouting. Jasmine cooed, "Come on, come on. You'll get a treat tomorrow girl." Reluctantly the spider scurried onto the girl's palm, and Jasmine's grin returned as she brought Amy closer and kissed the little spider on the back, causing her to stick her little front legs in the air and waved them indignantly. Jasmine laughed again, feeling another couple spiders scurry over her twisting hair and jump down onto her palm waving their legs as well.

"Aw, do you two want kisses as well~ *Smooch, Smooch*" The two other spiders crouched in contentment, a small black spider with golden markings on her legs and a slightly larger white spider with a purple-orange swirl on its back. Amy meanwhile turned away from both her sisters and pouted again. Jasmine snickered at their antics, placing her palm down to let them next to the blue spider. The two newcomers got off, while 'Amy' continued to hold on to Jasmine's palm and pout.

"Come on, play nice with your sisters." Jasmine encouraged, making Amy reluctantly get off and step next to the other three spiders, who all gave her amused looks, the blue one waving a leg at her and making Amy crouch pout again, causing the other three to sway in silent laughter. Jasmine grinned and proceeded to pet all four of them with different fingers, even Amy relaxing in contentment. 

"Tomorrow I should have the books on familiars, and I can start contracting you all." Jasmine whispered with a smile, feeling the confusion of a couple spiders as they tried to glean the meaning of her words. "Maeve says that due to my magic aura you all are improving further than whatever Osborn did to you, though she has no idea how Osborn made you all magical nor what will happen during our binding- though it may take up to a week before we can start doing those..." Jasmine pouted slightly. She wanted to be further connected to her cute girls already! 

Ever since they started living with Jasmine, each of the spiders has been growing stronger and more intelligent, with Jasmine able to feel their emotional capacity and tiny auras growing every day. While at first only a few gave the same feeling as the one that bit Natasha, now every single one had a similar, if different feeling. And they're abilities also seemed to be growing. A few occasionally sparkled with some sort of electricity, a couple could go invisible, one could teleport, many had strange webs, a few let off odd scents, a couple seemed to be able to cause small embers to appear, and three seemed to have small bursts of telepathy. Some had multiple abilities at once, and that's ignoring the general strengthening they all had to varying degrees; Amy even once got caught pulling around an iron ingot Jasmine had in her room for transmutation practice, which Jasmine took a few pictures of to show her friends. Seeing a small spider barely larger than a dollar coin pulling around a six-inch two-wide rounded block of metal was bizarre. Octavia's exasperated reaction was by far Jasmine's favorite. 

Still, the spiders' capabilities left the question of what would happen during a familiar contract up in the air. The contract Jasmine wanted to do, from what little she managed to pull out of Maeve, was a magic-sharing master-familiar contact normally used for powerful magic beasts with inborn capabilities, allowing the master to use some of the familiars abilities and the familiar to feed on the magic of the master to grow stronger. As an aside, a variant of this contract was often used for demons. 

While the spiders' may be somewhat magical, Maeve was hesitant to call them 'Magical beasts', especially with their artificial creation. While artificial familiars do exist, they generally don't have shareable abilities- though whether someone has made a contract to try is unlikely. Normally such familiars are made for the sake of convenience so the wizard doesn't have to cast a spell themselves, like walking suitcases with larger-on-the-inside inventories and the ability to snatch items into said inventory, or regurgitate an item on command. 

As such, Maeve made sure to make Jasmine promise not to contract any of the spiders without her and Tony there to observe and make sure nothing bad happens. 

Jasmine sighed, "Alright. Nighty time girls." The command caused several spiders to pout, but all started making their way back to their enclosures. Or 'rooms' as Jasmine liked to think of them. Not like she ever locked the doors on them- though she made sure not to tell Riri and Leona that. All her girls were more than strong enough to lift the flaps on their own and leave whenever they pleased. 

A few spiders crawled out of Jasmine's moving hair, across her forehead and arms, and made their ways to their rooms. A smile quirked on Jasmine's lips. "You too, Nox." Jasmine felt a shiver in her hair as a pouting emotion appeared in her senses. The invisible spider crawling out across her forehead as Jasmine giggled, "Don't worry, you're getting better at hiding your aura and mental signature." She patted Nox on the spider's way past, the girl briefly appearing for a moment in her black, fuzzy, sparkly glory, "However I've told you I can feel you when you try to make a nest in my hair before." Jasmine continued, patting Nox with amusement before letting the pouting girl escape. 

All the girls made it to their rooms, and a flicker of Jasmine's will flipped the night switch at the base of her bed. 

"Good night girl's, sleep well." 

Quiet ruffling and a wave of 'good night' emotions reached Jasmine, and the girl smiled as she closed her eyes and snuggled into her blankets.