A certain lab at Sublevel B4 of Oscorp Tower was a cathedral of sterile light. Forty-eight hours had gone by.
Project Rebirth II was to start.
Dozens of monitors blinked against the wall; reading vitals, cell data, biology stability, and other variables the average observer could not fathom. The Rebirthed Super Soldier Serum was already in the hands of Felix Faeth.
At the center of the chamber stood Luke Cage, stripped down to black compression boxers. He was calm but unmistakably tense. His massive arms hung by his sides as he rolled his neck once, cracking the stiffness away. He stood on a reinforced vitasteel platform, sensor grids beneath his feet syncing to his unique physiology.
Off to the side stood Claire Temple, Luke's girlfriend. Her arms were crossed tightly. She wasn't supposed to be here, but Felix was able to make an exception. She was Luke's anchor. She had a right to see this.
Behind the glass partition was Felix and his cohorts. In a clean, black-trimmed lab coat, one hand resting against the console with the other gripping the serum.
"You ready for this?" Felix asked through the comms.
Luke nodded once. "Let's make history."
At the console beside him, Dr. Kavita Rao tapped through vitals with a stylus, chewing gum.
"Heart rate steady," Kavita muttered. "Still time to back out and keep your average gym membership."
"Funny," Luke replied.
Dr. Maya Hansen was less amused and walking about. Her hands trembled slightly as she fine-tuned the Vita-Rey 2.0. "The moment we inject the serum, the cellular reconstruction begins and the Vita-Reys kick in. Understand."
"I get it," Luke said. "You said this is medicine, that's it's not painful so let's just fucking do it."
Felix glanced over his shoulder. Behind a second layer of glass, in another room, was Norman Osborn. Next to him, equally composed but far less visibly uptight, was Dr. Olivia Octavius.
Norman spoke into his comm speaker. "You allowed the girlfriend in the room. That's a liability."
Felix didn't even look up. "It's covered under emergency protocol 7A—subject psychological grounding."
The comms ended. Nobody could hear the following words except Felix with his super hearing.
"He's not wrong, Norman," Olivia Octavius remarked. "If you're nervous, just admit it."
"To be nervous means to be uncertain. I am not uncertain of this operation's success."
Olivia smiled without warmth. "Great."
Felix turned back toward the operating floor.
"Begin sequence," he ordered.
Juuust in case, Felix had Herbie secretly installed in the software. The robotic voice confirmed in his earpiece: "SEQUENCE INITIATED. SERUM CHAMBER UNLOCKING."
The cylindrical pod slowly lowered for Luke to walk into. No straps, nothing of the sort. The pod itself contained the injection tool and cerebral anchor. Automatically, the helmet mounted itself on Luke. Luke was used to it at this point.
"One injection to the sternum," Felix said through the comms. "We are beginning on five."
Luke nodded, then looked back once at Claire through the window. She gave him a trembling smile and mouthed, you've got this.
"One. Two. Three. Four. And…"
A breath.
"Five."
Click-hiss.
The serum surged into Luke's chest in a perfect distribution and the reaction was instant.
Luke's chest heaved, veins glowing faint blue across his arms, his shoulders, his neck. He let out a short grunt. Hopefully not pain. It was difficult to tell. The platform beneath him lit up.
"Vita-Reys pulse," Felix commanded.
The pod was one thing. The chamber was the room itself, erupting in pulses of light. Rhythmic, layered beams of photonic energy scanning Luke's body in overlapping waves. The serum was working at the cellular level and this helped ease it. The muscles along his shoulders bulged visibly, bones cracking, reshaping.
Kavita whistled.
"He's stable," Maya reported. "No cell degeneration. Neural load manageable. This is happening."
Felix never looked away. He adjusted the pulses subtly, rerouted the cooling systems as Luke's internal temperature spiked, and monitored the blood oxygen levels.
Claire gasped softly, one hand over her mouth as Luke's entire body grew. Not grotesquely, but powerfully. Taller. Fuller. Every muscle more defined. His breathing steadied. It must have been strange to see her boyfriend like this, especially as a nurse, a woman of science.
After two long, silent minutes, the light dimmed. The pod powered down.
The serum was complete.
Felix spoke through the comms. "You okay?"
Luke blinked. Then looked down at his hands. Then flexed both arms—and the mass on his biceps was insane. Luke grinned. "Never better! I didn't feel anything! That was painless, Doc!"
The relief and the happiness was instant. It worked. Project Rebirth II worked.
Claire choked on a laugh. "Oh my God."
Kavita tapped the vitals display. "Cell stability confirmed. Neural mapping intact. Congratulations. You're officially a super soldier.
"Hold on, blood sample first." Felix said. "Sit still for this."
Luke sighed. The needle pricked into his skin and…oh. It broke.
"Hrm. I thought we had calibrated the metal to a super soldier's speficiations," Felix murmured.
"Ha, a super soldier, not me. Does that mean I'm stronger than Samantha Wilson."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's likely your durability. Hrm."
He tried again. That wasn't the only needle in the pod. There were two dozen. Every single one of them broke. Felix blinked rapidly. Luke waited.
"So…?"
"...you can come out now. I guess we'll have to do blood analysis later."
At long last, Luke Cage stepped out of the pod. At long last, a new super soldier walked the Earth. Previously, he was six-foot-six. He gained an additional four inches of height and a ridiculous amount of weight too.
Claire exited the scientist's room and ran to her boyfriend as soon as the door unlocked and wrapped him in a tight hug. Her face pressed against his now-firm-as-concrete torso.
That was when she paused. Her cheeks turned red. Luke blinked. Looked down.
"…Oh."
His black boxers were now painfully snug. Every part of him had grown. Kavita noticed. She snorted.
Just then, Norman Osborn's voice crackled through the lab intercom.
"Was the experiment successful?"
Felix pressed the comm. "Yes."
"Then I will be taking my leave. I expect full diagnostics, projections, and a presentation ready in two days. The military will be watching."
Click.
Silence.
Luke peeked down his waistband. He whistled. "Big change."
Kavita walked in, a needle in hand. She didn't miss a beat. "Until we stick a needle into your testicles."
"Wait, what!?"
***
Oscorp's B4 had more than one or two rooms. There were ten in tota. Among them were the scientists and the new super soldier, Luke Cage, who was in motion. Full stride, full power, glistening with sweat as his feet thundered against the carbon-weave treadmill. An oxygen mask covered his face, tubes feeding into his chest harness, which monitored his breathing, core temperature, muscle tension, heart rate, and metabolic response.
He was also completely nude.
"Why do I gotta do this with my meat out?" Luke grumbled between gasps, voice slightly muffled through the oxygen mask.
From the control deck outside the chamber, Kavita didn't look up from her tablet. Her tone was clinical, flat, and laced with her usual sarcasm.
"This isn't a movie where they cut away and call it a day. Imagine your body gets a sudden adrenaline spike mid-run and your testicles explode because the blood flow triples in four seconds."
Luke almost stumbled. "What—?"
"Not saying it would," Kavita added, flicking through a page on her table, "but you're the first successful Super Soldier since Samantha Wislon. She had no testicles to speak of. Instead, she lost the ability to have children."
"Wait, what? So my balls are in serious danger!?"
"Potentially. If there is a surprise organ failure, we want to see where and how fast. Science is delicate. Deal with it."
Luke winced. "Okay. Damn. Got it."
He kept running.
Outside the chamber, behind a one-way observation glass, Claire Temple stood beside Felix Faeth, arms crossed but eyes absolutely locked on the test chamber.
"...Why is he running with his meat out?" Claire asked in the exact same tone as her boyfriend. That sort-of, come on, seriously? tone.
Felix snickered. "We're recreating the exact physical benchmarks and trial conditions used during the first Project Rebirth tests, right down to the biometric layout, environmental temperature, and yes, even the clothing… or lack thereof."
Claire's eyes stayed fixed forward. She was a pretty woman with long, smooth black hair, a dark-caramel like complexion, and heart-shaped lips. "I don't remember that part in the museum exhibit. Was Dr. Erskine a pervert?"
"No, no, of course not, you do know Samantha wasn't the only candidate?"
"What are you talking about? I've read the textbooks a thousand times, Dr. Erskine specifically chose her for her willpower. He looked past the racial boundaries of the era and believed in the will of women."
"Ehhh." Felix gave a shaky hand gesture. "American government stuff."
"Huh?"
"There were four subjects for the SSR's Project Rebirth. Privates Steve Rogers, Isaiah Bradley, and Bucky Barnes. You've heard their names before, haven't you?"
"Y-yes, they pushed for the project and for Dr. Erskine and especially Samantha. Some say they were all in love with Samantha…"
"She did save their life when the project was sabotaged by the Nazis, so maybe. As for whether Dr. Erskine was super progressive for his time? Probably. But did he specifically choose only one woman for the job? No. There were three men with her."
"So the nazi sabotage part of all things is true?" Claire did a double-take. "I thought that was made-up!"
"Nope." Felix laughed. This was kinda fun. Beep. "Oh, look. An update." He gestured toward the display holograms. Metrics were flying in real-time: heart rate, micro-tears, oxygen processing, muscle response lag, vision tracking, heat signatures.
Felix pointed at a key column on the left.
Luke Cage – Sprint Speed. First minute: 33.2 mph. Minute 3: 38.7 mph. Minute 7: 41.9 mph. Final burst (Minute 10): 54.3 mph.
"Captain Samantha Wilson," Felix explained, "peaked at 39.6 mph during her week-three baseline. That took her three full training cycles."
Claire nodded slowly, impressed despite herself. "So… he's already past her?"
"In every tracked metric," Felix confirmed. "Stamina, strength, speed, recovery. And unlike the original serum, his mental acuity and reaction times are increasing with his physicality. I estimates another 2.7% spike in overall performance within the next 48 hours as his body finishes adapting."
Claire glanced back at Luke—who was, in fact, still running at Mach track star speeds, still very naked, and still grumbling between breaths.
"By the way, um," Claire flushed, "is the change down below…permanent?"
"Probably."
"That's…nice."
***
The elevator doors opened with a sharp hiss and Felix stepped out onto the partially reconstructed Summit Floor of Oscorp Tower. The top twenty floors had been ravaged a year ago during the Creature Z attack. Today, only half of them had been restored. What was once a sweeping panorama of New York's skyline was now bordered with fresh steel scaffolding and reinforced glass panels.
And of course, the top floor conference suite was occupied by the CEO. Norman Osborn, seated behind a desk so massive it seemed like a throne. He smiled, hands folded. Surprisingly, his presence did nothing to Felix. He expected it. It was the other person here that jolted his nerves.
'What are you doing here, Director?'
Leaning on her cane near the window was Director Peggy Carter. An old, frail woman with an eyepatch and a scratchy voice.
"Director. Mr. Osborn."
"Mr. Faeth," Carter said curtly, "I heard you have succeeded in your…project."
Felix glanced at her, then to Norman. He gave the go-ahead. "I have."
Osborn motioned to the open chair across from him. "Speak. Sit. Explain."
Felix sat, hands folded loosely.
"The Super Soldier Serum is a biological goldmine. Luke Cage's blood alone could be used to accelerate immune response in thousands of degenerative conditions: ALS, Parkinson's, even certain late-stage cancers. We could cure more in five years than we've managed in the last fifty."
Director Carter did not look away from the window. "And what, exactly, is your vision? A free clinic? Distributing it to the public like flu shots?"
"No," Felix said evenly. "But we don't have to sell it into another arms race either."
"Actually," Osborn cut in, tone dry, "we do. At least at first. Military funding pays for everything you've used to make that serum possible, Faeth. I signed those contracts. The government expects a deliverable and the serum is the deliverable."
The cane of Director Carter tapped at the floor. "And that's where we disagree."
Osborn's brow creased. "Careful, Director. You're in my tower."
"And you're still under SHIELD observation," she shot back. "Let's not pretend you haven't danced dangerously close to violating four international weapons accords."
Felix held up a hand. "Look, let's not lose the point. The serum works. But there are consequences. Biologically, socially, politically. You want to sell it to the army, Norman—fine. But understand what you're really selling."
Director Carter sighed. "I'll be blunt," she said. "Cage is a good man. We accepted him for that reason. Even after this wife left him, he showed no signs of instability. He found another woman. But let's say he wasn't. Let's say someone else received that injection. His sperm alone could create natural-born super soldiers. That's a national security threat wrapped in skin."
Osborn waved a hand. "If that's your concern, I'll freeze his reproductive material and sterilize future test subjects. The same did happen to Samantha Wilson, did it not?"
"You're tampering with the human genome, creating generationally altered lineages, and all under your private control. You can say anything today, Osborn, and it doesn't mean shit."
Osborn sat back, fingers steepled.
"It's my serum, Director. Legally and contractually. You can yell until your throat gives out, but unless the President signs an override bill, SHIELD has no authority here."
"Who do you think knows about this, Osborn? Anybody I can speak to, and you know you can't stop me from speaking."
"Or stealing, I am sure. You have one or two agents who slipped into my company. Like some silly movie, you have them steal the serum and download the blueprints to everything. In one night, you think you can take it all, don't you?"
"If I must, I will."
"What exactly is the disagreement here? Do you wish to use it for your agents, Director? I have no issue with that, I will sell it to you for an affordable price."
'She wants to use it for herself, Norman,' Felix said in his head, 'and she doesn't want you to know because she knows what you'll do with that kind of information. Blackmailing SHIELD and the government, raising the price to a ludicrous degree. She knows you.'
"And you? Why not use the serum for yourself? Your son was once the Lizard, wasn't he?"
An ice-gold glare. Osborn put his hands in his pockets, not at all amused. "Silence."
"Harold Osborn's best friend Peter Parker was killed in action by Spider-Woman. Harry Osborn joined the military and later S.H.I.E.L.D—only in part of his father's influence. If it wasn't for him coming onto the Helicarrier and begging me to accept him, I would have turned him away. And I should have. Harold went rogue and stole equipment: your glider drones, an armored suit, a perfected Lizard Serum, and bombs, all in order to get revenge on Spider-Woman for Peter's death. What a fool."
"Do not speak of such things."
"Why? He is loyal, is he not? He deserves to know. He should know that it was Harold Osborn's Lizard that gave birth to Project Symbiote. Ah, or have you not told him about that either?"
Osborn was quick to explain himself. "We were intending to create a cure for the Lizard Formula created by Peter Parker and Curt Connors. Dr. Brock exposed the Lizard formula to the spider isotopes and created the first of Project Symbiote. An amorphous, black symbiotic entity."
Felix had to play smart here. "Black? Amorphous? Spider-Man…?"
"Yes and no. Somehow, when Creature Z attacked, he gained a version of the latest Project Symbiote that we created through a meteor. However, the original Symbiote known as Venom was taken by Gwen Stacy. To this day, it remains in her possession."
In his head, Rash responded. 'Venommm. Yes, my mother's name. That is herrr name.'
'Last time, you were deathly afraid of her.'
'I wasss. I…I apologize. I was young. I was afraid of meeting another of my kind. I was…I should have been angry! She abandoned me!'
"As you can, Dr. Faeth, Osborn is arrogance personified. He allowed the first Symbiote to be stolen right from under his nose—"
"Silence."
"And he allowed a second to be stolen as well. Tell me, is my paranoia unneeded? Do you think I am here because I have a bias against Osborn? His tower was attacked. The legendary spy known as the Chameleon lived amongst his midst. There is only one reason I have not made a case to the government." The Director of SHIELD pointed at Felix. "Because of you. I prefer not to let your genius be wasted for even a moment. You need funding. He provides funding. And that is the sole intention for my presence."
"You want to recruit my best employee?"
"You said it yourself. I could steal the serum. I could build a case against your incompetence and have your grants taken away. Or, I could take him. Norman, you have no power here. None at all."
'Shit, shit. If I start working for SHIELD, my movements will be tracked more intensely.
"And my opinion?" Felix said.
"You lost a friend in this very same building a long time ago," the Director said. "And from then on, you have been building on the legacy that could have been and on the deeds he should have done. All you care for is to spread good. Even today, all you spoke of was how the serum could be as medicine. Your very perspective is different from Norman and I. Am I wrong?"
'That is the psychological profile I hacked into their systems.'
"And let us be frank here, my perspectives align more with yours than his."
"Do not play with your words." Norman intervened. "I share the same views he does. I do. I believe in giving this serum to the people."
"At the right price."
"At the logical pace. The logistics to hand this to millions is not yet there."
"I could make it happen."
"After a decade of time wasting. Corporations are more effective than governments for this reason."
"Corporations are interested in profit, nothing else."
There was a tense back and forth. Argument after argument was put forth. Felix listened along like a child in the middle of a divorce. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the rebuilding skyline of New York glowed in the setting sun. Osborn finally stood.
"Mr. Faeth, I have trusted you with power because I understand what you seek. She does not."
That was when the Director of SHIELD walked past him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're in the middle of a company that is already falling. Long before Creature Z struck this place, this tower was already crumbling."
She was gone and her message hung deep. The question that Felix himself had asked for a while:
'Should I stay at Oscorp?'
***
The day was over. He went home. The limo pulled into the circular driveway of the Faeth Estate. Yuri drove it.
Felix sat in the back seat of the limousine, hands steepled, chin down. His usually sharp eyes were distant, clouded by thought. The gates slid closed behind them with a muted hum.
Seated in the front behind the wheel, Yuri glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "Home, sir."
"Thanks, Yuri," Felix murmured, opening the door and stepping out.
Waiting by the door in a tailored navy maid's uniform was Sue Storm. She had a towel over one arm and a datapad in her free hand. Felix recently went on the crusade to make his mansion 100% eco-powered. Half of it he did for the environment and the other half so that he could expand his mansion and invite construction without making it seem suspicious.
"Welcome back, Master Faeth," Sue greeted. "Busy day?"
"Very."
"Want me to make food?"
"A chicken burger, please."
Food as the goal, he arrived at the kitchen. It was lonely without Rio or Miles. He missed them. He ate his food, always thinking.
"Must be a big deal for you to be thinking so much," Sue remarked.
Felix managed a half-smile. "I got an offer. SHIELD wants me to join them."
"A shield? A company?"
"Yep. Government lab access and global tech infrastructure. It's a big deal."
Sue tilted her head. "And yet you sound like you're dreading it."
He exhaled through his nose and slipped off his coat. "Because I am. Working for the government is a clean way to get things done... and a clean way to have every corner of your life under surveillance."
"You think they aren't already watching you?" Yuri said, walking in behind him, her hands clasped behind her back.
Felix nodded. "They are. But this would make it official. And it would give them excuses."
He paused. "I need a drive."
Sue blinked. "Now? But...you just got back. The drive to the main city is long too."
"It's fine," Felix said, eating the last of his burger and already getting up. "I need to think. Only driving helps me."
The Faeth Estate garage was a personal auto museum. A polished underground bunker housing a dozen of the world's most advanced vehicles. From custom-built hover cruisers to hypercars so rare they didn't exist on the books, it was a lineup of impossible engineering.
Unlike Alastair, he had an interest in cars and vehicles and so had the garage expanded.
Felix passed by an obsidian-black prototype from Stark Motors and stopped in front of a deep silver Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, reengineered by his own hand to run on clean power. Felix slid into the car. The gullwing door closed with a hiss. The console lit up with blue light.
"Destination?" the car asked.
"Scenic route. City loop."
The car pulled out of the garage with the ease of a whisper, and within moments, it was sailing down the smart-paved roads toward New York.
The city was alive, even past midnight. The neon glow reflected off the wet pavement, and the occasional drone buzzed overhead as the Koenigsegg slipped through the traffic grid, obeying every rule, playing the part of a man simply enjoying the night.
The light ahead turned red. The car eased to a stop, positioning itself naturally at the intersection.
It was exactly where it needed to be.
Above a manhole.
'Rash?'
'Yessss!'
The symbiote slithered out from under his sleeve, wrapping around his body in smooth, perfect synchronicity. In seconds, he was fully suited in black and red—the Superior Spider-Man. The car's floor hissed.
A mechanical port opened and so did the manhole beneath.
Felix dropped straight down into the darkness. The panel and manhole were resealed. The car drove forward the second the light turned green. To the world's eye, he was still en route, still inside. The window panels were tinted dark and there were special devices to fool even thermal scanners.
Spider-Man landed with a light thud in the sewer tunnel beneath. It smelled like rot and metal, the way every New York sewer did, but his mask and lungs filtered the air. He moved quickly, climbing the ladder across the tunnel and pushing up through another manhole—this time surfacing in the alley across the street.
The noise hit him immediately.
A scream.
Spider-Man's lenses narrowed.
Across the street, a group of five thugs were closing in on an elderly woman, her shopping bags spilled across the sidewalk.
He didn't hesitate.
It was time to remind this city who still watched the night.