Chapter Text
Later that year, Peter and Felicia launched the Hardy-Parker Foundation: Another corporation in their conglomerate established to give back to society. They decided that it would be best for New York, and eventually the world, to have another ‘superhero’. One that could outlast their flesh and blood. The Fund was going to first have some investments to its name to earn enough money to be able to guarantee its continued existence. Mostly low-risk investments, but some high-risk as well, since they could comfortably afford to give away some of their fortune for it.
It was going to focus on three main aspects: Education, Community, and Business Development.
Education, because they understood its importance and the inverse relationship that has with poverty and crime. The Teaching Fund would help make the teachers in the city the most well-paid in the country, incentivizing more people to teach, while rewarding those who stuck with the calling. The facilities in schools would also be upgraded to cater and nurture multi- and inter-disciplinary talents. When the fund would be big enough, schooling would be made free for all inhabitants, and would hopefully include mid-career transition-ers.
Community, because ex-convicts were somewhat treated like lepers of society. The ‘Second Chance Project’ would give them the opportunity to find work without being discriminated against because of their criminal record. Then they planned to collaborate with unions to ensure that the lowest paid workers would be given opportunities. In the end, if you want to keep them from committing any crime, you have to make sure they have no reason to turn to crime at all. Hopefully, that would dry up the informal ‘goon economy,’ so that gangs and criminal organizations would struggle to employ anyone.
Business Development, because it’s the micro, small, and medium enterprises that would employ a majority of the population. The Development Fund would invest in these kinds of enterprises, to give a little extra capital for expansion and increases in wages and salaries. They would also plan to invest in innovative start-ups that would struggle to otherwise secure financing due to the high risk.
The couple hoped that the Foundation would help develop a high-quality workforce, and foster a welcoming culture for innovation. That combination would form a bleeding-edge corporate landscape. Hopefully, more amazing things (sans supervillains) would come out of New York.
Superhero crimefighting has its place. It’s what kept supervillains away, so no complaints there. However, developing the people of the city had its place as well, because that’s what would prevent crime in the first place.
Over time as well, Peter and Harley continuously improved the pollution-cleaning drones as well as the arc reactors. The latter to provide clean energy around the world, while the former was to help with any remnant greenhouse gases or wastages from other processes. They really did reverse climate change on their end.
The New Young Avengers also found a couple of new teammates within the next year: Riri Williams and Karolina Dean.
Riri was another genius herself, who built her own Iron Man-esque armor by her lonesome in a garage (it was big and clunky like Iron Man's Mark 1 armor, but still impressive). Now that seriously impressed the brothers, since Harley needed a little help from Tony and Peter to get his suit to work. She could probably be the smartest among the newbies. And Riri requested early on that her codename be Ironheart, in honor of the Armored Avenger (and somewhat in admiration of Iron Lad, but she would never admit that). Still, with the guidance of the two smartest men in the world, they were able to streamline the design of her suit and improve upon it.
Then there was Karolina Dean. Not only was she able to fly, but she could also manipulate solar energy. Basically, she could absorb solar radiation and convert it into energy that she could use for various purposes, such as light blasts and even limited degree force fields. It was pretty rad to actually see her in action.
“So, do you have a codename that you go by?” Miles asked Karolina.
“Hmmm… Maybe LSD?” Karolina said thoughtfully.
And the rest of her new team looked at her in complete bewilderment.
“That sounds awesome!” Kamala exclaimed.
Okay not everyone found it weird.
“Can I uh, just ask why you want that name?” Peter inquired.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!” Karolina replied excitedly. “I’m a huge Beatles fan!”
That garnered a bunch of thoughtful ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhhs’ from the rest.
“Okay we are so going to be best friends!” Kamala gave her a tight hug, which she reciprocated.
After the hug broke, Eli approached the new members to shake their hands. “Good meeting you both,” he said amicably to them.
“Ohmigosh this is so cool! The team’s getting bigger as well!” Kamala said excitedly.
“Yeah, it is,” Miles chuckled out as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. And yes, they actually began dating as well.
Prompting everyone to tease that Spider-People only find love in superhero teams. Even Peter joined in on that. Felicia had the best day teasing the both of them about that.
“Alright, this is going to work,” Peter said after administering the modified vaccine. It took him a year, but at least the Goblin Disease wasn’t going to snowball Harry’s body into the gutter. At least his childhood friend had the sensibility to try and cure it.
“Thanks for this again, Pete,” Harry gave a grateful smile. “So, how long ‘til the next dose?”
“We’ll monitor. It’s the first of its kind so we can’t really tell the exact side effects, or when the next dose should be. Hopefully, it’ll prevent any genetic disorders after a couple of doses,” Peter explained.
“Will the disease still spread to… A child, if ever?”
“Here’s to hoping that it won’t, at least after said two doses.”
One evening, Jessica Jones requested to see Spider-Man and Black Cat.
Apparently, she might have cracked that one mystery involving the improved super soldier serum.
“I did some digging,” she started off. Upon opening a manila folder, Jessica brought a few documents out. “The serum wasn’t going to work on just about anyone.”
“Wait… But the point of the program is to ensure that it’s safe for anyone to use,” Spider-Man pointed out, rather confused.
Black Cat then saw the contents of the documents. “Oh gosh… The serum was only going to work on a particular genetic sequence,” her voice gave away that her eyes widened. “One of…”
“Walter Hardy,” they all say together.
“But why?” Spidey asked.
“That I couldn’t figure out,” Jessica shrugged. “After OsCorp found out that the serum was a ‘failure’, that was when Hardesky and his files quote-unquote disappeared.”
“You think Hardy had something to do with it?” Black Cat inquired.
“Possibly,” Jessica nodded. “Apparently, those two were acquainted in the past. Hardesky was probably disillusioned with OsCorp’s goals too, and maybe that’s why he didn’t want the research to fall into their hands or be abused in general.”
“And why OsCorp never bothered trying to recreate his serum,” Spidey said thoughtfully.
“Still… Why Hardy? Why did he let it only work on him?” Black Cat put on a thinking pose. They probably worked together. She knew her father had enough contacts to help give Hardesky a new identity and hide away from OsCorp’s prying eyes. Still… What made Hardesky trust Walter enough for that? It might also have been why the serum was more potent on him and any of his children compared to other formulations.
“Not sure,” Jessica shrugged once more. “Especially since Walter Hardy never got the serum and recently passed away, I guess we may never know for a while.”
“Right… Yeah,” it was Spidey’s turn to shrug. Apparently, Walter was very good in keeping his super soldier enhancement a secret. Which was good, since that also kept Felicia out of the suspect lists as Black Cat. “Thanks for this again, Jessica.”
“Yeah, great work,” Black Cat commended.
“Anytime, Web-Head and Black Cat,” she gave them a playful smirk.
October 2026 (~8.5 years after the Decimation):
One evening, the young adults had just gotten their kids to fall asleep in their beds. Afterwards, they gathered in the great room of Peter and Felicia’s penthouse in the newly renamed Hardy-Parker Tower, waiting for the arrival of some guests. They didn’t really know why Natasha and Steve needed to see them all of a sudden that evening in their home, more so on a weeknight. Even more confusing was the fact that they ‘brought a special guest with them’ whatever that was supposed to mean.
Felicia opened a bottle of red wine from the fridge and Peter began pouring some of that for everyone. Sam and Ava said that it was probably another one of Natasha’s stranger requests, which Harley agreed with rather amusedly, but everyone just shrugged at that. Cassie on her end had to head on over to the bathroom first.
Then the elevator arrived, as Peter, Felicia, and Ava all heard the ding. When Natasha, Steve, and Sharon stepped into the great room from the atrium, Peter did greet, “Evening to you, old timers-” but was cut-off by the sight of the fourth person who was behind the three, as it shook him to his core. “Oh God…” he trailed as his eyes widened.
“Mother of-” Felicia was in such a shock that she almost dropped her wine glass as she stuttered that out.
“Holy…” Ava trailed, practically stunned.
“Oh Heavens to Betsy!” Harley exclaimed loudly through his shock with his hands on his head. He wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real. Or if it was a ghost or a zombie or… Whatever. The young man was in absolute disbelief of the sight.
Sam though, was rather confused of his teammates’ reactions, and looked at the man curiously. “Okay, uhm, who is this-” He tried to ask but was cut-off.
“Okay yeah, I know it’s a lot-” the man said.
“Hey what’s goin-” Cassie asked as she entered once again, but then stopped at the sight of the man. Tears fell from her eyes, wondering if what she was seeing was real. “D-Dad?!” Cassie choked on a sob.
“Peanut!” Scott looked at her with so much affection, but nearly an equal amount of regret. She looked so different now. Somehow, someway, his daughter was even more beautiful than when he last saw her.
Rushing over to him, Cassie cupped his cheeks and scrutinized his face. She found that it really was her father right in front of her. “Oh gosh you’re back,” she choked on a sob then embraced him.
“And you’re a young lady now,” Scott gave a watery smile as he reciprocated the hug. He really did miss a lot in the time he was gone.
“Sc-Scott? Is it… Really you?” Peter asked in stupefaction and amazement.
“Yeah Scott… Is it…” Harley followed as they all approached the man, and he didn’t even look like he aged a day since they last saw him. The young man then hugged the two Langs tightly. Yep, that was Scott in the flesh alright.
“Mmhmm, it is,” Scott sniffled.
“It is quite the shock, yeah,” Sharon drawled.
“Now you see why we needed to see everyone here all of a sudden?” Natasha asked.
“It’s pretty serious as you can all tell,” Steve added.
“Wow it… It is him…” Felicia trailed as she poked the man’s arm. He really was there with them in the room.
“Unbelievable…” Ava trailed.
“Wait… So Scott… Were you…” Sam tried to ask, but didn’t know if he should.
“I wasn’t dusted. I was… Somewhere else,” Scott answered, knowing what the question was.
“Then… Where were you?” Peter asked curiously.
With that, Scott took a deep breath. “Has anyone here ever heard of the Quantum Realm?” He asked, his tone laced with hope.
To be continued…
The New Avengers will return in Endgame.