'This is sooo borinnnnng!'
'Public transportation is not boring.'
Felix sat by the window of the bus, his head resting against the glass as the landscape rolled by.new York City had long since faded into stretches of quiet roads, scattered trees, and the occasional farmhouse. It was slower out here.
Spider-Sense never buzzed too.
Rash groaned in his head.
'There are no explosions or crime or burglars…oooh, is this what vacation is like?'
'Honestly? A little bit. But we'll have a nice jet for our backpacking.'
'Aweeesooome. Can we have chocolate? Or watch a movie?'
Felix helped himself to a bite of chocolate in his pocket, then replied calmly. 'I don't want to bring too many things with me, like a laptop, so no TV. And also, you barely pay attention to anything but the explosions.'
'Num, mum…!' Rash sounded like he was eating. 'Fine. I will listen to the whole of the show.'
'You better.'
'Hm. So…thiiis is what it is like to be boring.'
Since they had been together, it was either rebuilding the city, fighting, sex, or trouble. Never just going out on a bus and relaxing.
It wasn't really a good time for it but…like Herbie said. It was a risk to use his powers. His brain needed recovery. His powers needed recovery.
Felix allowed himself a faint smile. "Yep. Enjoying it?"
'...we will learn.'
He looked out. He stared.
His goal was 577 Hancocks Bridge Harmersville Road.
The township Lower Alloways Creek was a vast rural land. Connected, sure, and regarded as a "township" but it wasn't precisely the same as a town. A third of its land was water, marsh, and wetlands. Hancocks Bridge was the center, the main "town", if a community of three hundred could be considered a town. Which it didn't, scientifically speaking.
The bus finally came to a stop. The driver barely looked back as Felix stood, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and stepped off.
His shoes hit the pavement and he had arrived at Hancocks Bridge. The ambience was different here. No duh, every city and country was different. London had this old man aura to it and New Delhi was rather murky, chaotic, yet vibrant. This, to contrast, seemed like the kind of town where nothing urgent ever happened. There were no old buildings or monarchs or street food. It was kinda…bland.
In the distance, towering above the flat land, were the nuclear facilities. Massive, silent structures that dominated the horizon. The Salem Nuclear Power Plant and the Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station stood side by side like watchful giants.
Herbie was doing some online investigation. He suspected, however, that there was nothing to them. 'Harold was just taking advantage of what was already there. If he put his paws on the company, someone would notice. I would notice.'
Felix adjusted the strap of his backpack and lifted the cheap camera hanging around his neck. Tourist mode was activated. He took a picture of himself first and foremost.
Click!
'A picture…this is…being a tourist?'
Yep.
The community was, again, not a town and hardly a village. A handful of roads, modest houses, and local businesses that looked like they had not changed in decades. There were no crowds and obviously not much noise. Just the occasional car. To get anywhere in the 79 miles of Lower Alloways Creek, a car was necessary.
Felix purposely didn't bring one. 'If this is Harold's base of operations, he has people around. Only way I'm not getting those people to radio him back is if I pretend to be a tourist.'
So yeah, be a tourist and find 577 Hancocks Bridge Harmersville Road.
There were no bars either. According to the summary Herbie sent him, this town was a dry town. Meaning, no alcohol allowed.
'Makes my job slightly harder if I can't go into bars and ask drunk people.'
Not that it mattered to him, but it said something about the place. It was just so perfect a hiding space.
See, the obvious method was just using Google Maps. Except…there were zero detailed digital maps available of the town. They were incomplete layouts and those were from the 1990s. His satellites couldn't jot down the nitty-gritty either. It couldn't tell him so-and-so street was here or there, just spell out the nameless, bland layout of everything. .
Felix walked casually down the main road, occasionally lifting his camera to take another picture. He made sure to look slightly lost. Slightly curious, like any old tourist.
Eventually, he spotted a small burger place.
'Perfect.'
That was his first destination.
The bell above the door chimed softly. The interior was simple. A few booths, a counter, and the smell of grilled meat lingering in the air. A half dozen of locals sat scattered around, eating quietly.
Felix approached the counter. A server, a woman in her thirties with tired but friendly eyes, looked up.
"New face. Bet ya'r passing through?" the server asked.
"Yeah! Wow, huh, guess this town is the really local type!"
"Really local—and you got the city boy smell all over ya."
Damn, did he stink or something? Felix smiled anyway. "Thought I would check the town and the culture!"
She chuckled. "Yes, yes, you want to experience all of America."
Yep, totally. Felix leaned lightly on the counter. "Any recommendations? Food, places to see, that kind of thing."
"Well, you are kind of seeing it," the server said. "We don't exactly have tourist attractions. Mostly just the nuclear plants."
Felix nodded, glancing out the window briefly. "Yeah, I saw those. They're huuuuge."
"Been here forever," she said. "A lot of folks work there. Long hours."
"That explains the town being so calm," Felix replied.
"Pretty much. All the boys are out and the ladies take care of the kids. It's a simple life."
Felix ordered a burger and a drink, then added, "You know any good motels around? I might stay the night."
She pointed down the road. "There's one about ten minutes out. Nothing fancy though, city boy."
"Haha, I'm getting used to town life. It's not my first rodeo you know!" Felix exclaimed.
"Glad to hear it. Now, ya hear to eat or what?"
"Oh, yes! Of course!"
Felix took a seat at a booth, setting his backpack beside him. As he waited, his eyes moved casually around the room. Counting, observing, and noticing.
'Herbie?'
'FACIAL RECOGNITION IN PROGRESS.'
Felix kept his expression neutral. With Rash back, he didn't need the Advanced Glasses. Simply looking at them was fine.
'CONFIRMED. TWO INDIVIDUALS MATCH MISSING PERSONS REPORTS FROM NEW YORK.'
Felix's fingers tapped lightly against the table. He did not want to look directly at them in case he aroused suspicion. That would be a mistake.
Instead, he lifted his camera again and snapped a picture of the wall décor, catching their reflections in the glass behind him.
Click!
'Ohhh, I see. This is THEM!'
'Yes, these are missing people. Meaning…they're Harold's people. They live here.'
His food arrived shortly. "Thank you," Felix said with a lopsided grin. He ate slowly, casually, like someone with nowhere to be.
No heavy digital footprint? Check. Limited surveillance? Check. Isolated location? Check. Nuclear interference? Check, check, and check. A perfect ground for the people on Harold's payroll to lay low.
After a few minutes, Felix got up and asked, "Where's the restroom?"
"Back there," the server said, pointing.
"Thank you!"
He walked to the bathroom, pushed the door open, and stepped inside. The moment the door closed, his expression shifted. He was alone. 'Good,' he murmured. He entered one of the stalls, locked it, and exhaled.
Using his powers was unwise. Small bursts was okay, but he wanted to keep his body relaxed and in recovery mode for as long as possible. Yes, the time for powers was not now.
'Ready?' he asked.
'Yesss...'
'I was talking to Herbie, Rash.'
'Oh.'
'YES. I AM HERE.'
From his back pocket, he pulled out a Spider-Bot and set to the floor. The bot's view became Felix's view. It obeyed his very will and got out of the stall, silent and unseen, and slipled under the door. Felix was back into the burger place and no one knew it.
First thing's first—crawl. The Spider-Bot crawled to the ceiling and approached the man and woman Herbie had flagged in a booth near the corner. The camera quality made their faces perfectly clear to Felix for the first time. Audio and visual feedback was flawless.
'This woman…'
'IT IS WHO YOU BELIEVE IT IS. THIS IS SALLY BOLIVIA. THIS WAS THE ATTENDANT IN THE EMPORIUM AUCTION HOUSE.'
The one who had those mercenaries try to kill Luke. The one that worked closely with Harold. An ordinary woman that was once a college student, bought out by Harold.
The bot positioned himself above Sally and her friend.
"…I'm telling you, he looked off," Sally muttered.
"Tourists look off," the man replied. "That's kind of their thing."
"Still. Should we tell the Boss?"
In the stall, Felix's attention sharpened. 'The Boss.'
"No," the second man said after a pause. "We didn't report the last one. Nothing happened then."
"That was different."
"How?"
"…I don't know. Just feels different."
The bot stayed perfectly still, listening and sending audio to its owner.
"If we report every tourist, we'll look paranoid," the man continued. "Boss doesn't like that."
"…Yeah." Sally sighed. "Yeah, that's true. And after the mercenary thing…"
"Exactly. Just relax. He's probably just some guy passing through."
Felix waited a few seconds longer. The duo snuck glances at the bathroom, waiting for Felix to come out. That was his cue.
The Spider-Bot disengaged from the ceiling and fell down Sally's back. The woman shivered and clawed at her back, only to relax slightly when there was nothing. Still, there were some lingering chills.
Meanwhile, Felix flushed the toilet and got out of the bathroom like nothing had happened.
When he returned to his booth, he picked up his bag and walked to the counter.
"Thank you so much!" Felix said to the server, placing cash down. He re-slung the backpack over his shoulder and adjusted the camera.
"Enjoy your stay," the server said.
"I will," he replied.
All the while Sally eyed him. Sally, who had met him but didn't recognize him. Her instincts were correct.
Felix felt slightly lucky as he entered the quiet town once again.
He ran some steps back and like some idiot tourist, lifted his camera and took a picture of the burger place.
'Spider-Bot has been placed on Sally. Now…'
All that was left was to wait.
***
After pretending to be a tourist for five hours, Felix hit the motel and got a room for himself. He made sure to lock every lock as he closed the door behind him.
Felix wasn't going to stay for long.
After five hours of Spider-Bot tracking, he believed he found the location of 577 Hancocks Bridge Harmersville Road. Sally and her friend had gone and stayed at four locations the whole day. One was the burger store, the other was the Lower Alloways Creek Leisure (a government building), and what were two homes according to satellite imagery.
'Sally is currently staying at one of those homes as we speak. Meaning, it's the house she's been given here. But the other one, the fact that it was a short visit means it's what I'm looking for.'
The home, that house, that was where Gwen was experimented on. That was where the teleportation device was. That was the gamble anyway.
Felix stood still for a moment inside the motel room, listening to the world. No footsteps outside. No voices. No creaking floorboards. Just the old air conditioner.
"Alright, let's get going."
He jumped on the bed and then flipped over to the window, with the Symbiote curbing him the noise, making it so that he dropped on the bed and passed out. When in reality, he was opening the window and slipping out of the motel. He dropped down onto the grass below without making a sound.
Since it was dark, no need for invisibility. No need for any powers really. Imagine that - a whole mission without using any of his powers.
'Ugh. It's damp.'
'These are wetlands,' Felix reminded Rash.
'We hate them.'
He kept to the edges of the road at first, then cut across open patches of land where the grass was thick enough to muffle his steps. He deliberately avoided the wetlands. Even in the dark, he could tell where the water pooled just beneath the surface.
'Thank youuu…!'
'You're welcome.'
But at some point, he did have to cross them—or rather, long jump over them. He got a running start and phooom! Leapt through what was a normal person's worth of distance.
'Ugh. So risky.'
'Remember, no powers unless I really need it.'
Felix felt like a kid leaping over puddles. It wasn't so bad.
The house came into view after three more of the long hops.
The house sat alone.
577 Hancocks Bridge Harmersville Road…!
Felix slowed to a stop at the edge of the property. 'This is it,' he told himself. Right off the bat, something felt off. Not in a way that triggered his Spider-Sense, but in a way that made his instincts itch. Both floors were lit up and yet, as Rash pulled up his lenses to his eyes, there were no heat signatures inside.
Black rooftop and light-brown outer texture. A rectangle capped by a triangular top. A quintessential house. A creepy house. The windows and doors gave it an expression. You know the one.
His foot dipped into the lawn. "Hrm." The grass was slightly uneven beneath his feet. Softer in some places, firmer in others.
Felix crouched slowly and placed his hand against the ground.
There it was; a strong vibration.
He lowered himself further and pressed his ear to the earth. His ear was met with a low, constant tremor pulsed through the soil.
'Not activating my Spider-Sense so it's not dangerous. This…this must be who the house gets energy from.'
Underground generators, perhaps? Hard to say. He turned on his X-ray vision and confirmed that they were probably generators. Probably. But…generators were limited, so why bother putting them? Particularly underground?
'Harold is probably a genius so did he figure something out?'
Huh. Maybe he'd have to check out these generators in closer detail. Later anyway.
Felix stood back up and approached the house.
He circled it once, scanning every angle. Windows, doors, sightlines. No cameras that he could immediately see, but that did not mean much.
'Why are the lights on?' That was the burning question. The house was intended to give off the vibe that it was lived in. 'Was it because of Sally? She did visit this place. Hm…'
Felix picked a side window and after double-making sure his Spider-Sense wasn't secretly warning him, he slid it open slowly. Again, there was no alarm and no sound. He slipped inside safely.
"Huh…"
Well, he understood why to some extent the lights were on. Because this place did not bother to hide what it was.
Cables ran along the walls like veins. Thick bundles of wires connected to equipment that clearly did not belong in any residential setting. It was so obviously a laboratory. The only part that was left from the home side of things was the kitchen. Okay, sure, technically, the outline of a house remained. The cables and wires were shaped into furniture, which was why his X-ray from the lawn didn't immediately make sense.
He looked around but it was his feet that seemed to gravitate where he was going. The vibration from the lawn had only grown.
He ended up in the living room. There was the TV screen which was diagnostics and the couch, which were just cables. A couch made of cables. Damn weird.
"What do we have here…"
There was a red carpet in front of the couch, so obviously out of place that Felix laughed. He dropped down and lifted it up. This was where vibration was strongest. Everything connected to this.
"Magnets?"
Large fist-sized magnets were arranged in a circle. They weren't…connected to anything. They were just on a pad of wood. That was it. Not even metal, it was just wood.
Felix didn't get it. 'Four magnets?' This was it? This was the teleportation device? Magnets?
'Wait, no…that's exactly how! These magnets…!' Felix switched modes on his lenses. 'Jesus! Herbie, are you getting this?'
'500 MEGAWATTS DETECTED—AND LIKELY HELD BACK.'
'I don't know how Harold figured it out but he was able to put teleportation tech into these magnets. Place these four magnets in any given space and everything inside automatically becomes within his decree of teleportation.'
Wait, no, it couldn't just be these four. He probably had multiple pairs of these four magnets. Maybe…
"Ah, this must be a charging port." He looked up at the ceiling and the couch of black cables behind him. "He can carry, their connective range spans maybe a kilometer, and he can select who to teleport."
He stroked his chin. The technology was sublime. More than sublime, Felix couldn't fathom how he did it. He gleaned the diagnostic screen which was just a bunch of ones and zeroes. Then he looked down at the magnets.
"So much…in something so small. How did you do it, Harold?"
He could still reverse-engineer it and find his location. But the matter of shutting down the technology forever seemed…impossible.
'I PROPOSE A THEORY.'
'Yeah?
'HAROLD WAS ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS VIA THE DISCOVERY AND DECONSTRUCTION OF PYM PARTICLES.'
Pym Particles; particles discovered by a Reed Richards of another world. A rare group of subatomic particles capable of size and mass. Felix had dabbled in it here and there, but he was by no means an expert.
Harold, however, was.
"That makes sense…Pym Particles...yeah, if he's mastered Pym Particles...!"
Huh?
But...how?
In a single year to boot? Understanding teleportation technology on top of Pym Particles—which this world hadn't even discovered yet. Felix only knew about them because of Reed. Was Harold was that further ahead in intelligence?
"Something's off..."
It was a feeling he had felt since the start. Since the moment he learned about the Devil and his incredible climb in influence.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing something?"
His Spider-Sense suddenly went off. His ears twitched. 'Footsteps.'
Someone was coming from outside…!