Chapter 163: Darkforce

"Cough, cough."

He coughed as he took off his helmet and leaned back in the chair, placing a hand over his chest, which was beating like a drum. He could still feel the phantom pain of being stabbed.

"Gasp. Gasp. Gasp. Gasp."

He remained in the chair for a while, trying to steady his breathing. Once he finally calmed down, he headed to his personal laboratory to sketch the design of a machine he had planned for this new project.

Upon entering, he approached the holographic table to begin designing it, but the computer screen suddenly changed, displaying a recording instead.

He watched as Cortana took the suit he had designed for her and left through one of the tunnels he had built. The screen then switched to show Cortana’s face while the recording continued to play.

Walking over to the computer, he typed a command to display the current recordings. He watched Cortana beating up a group of criminals while making jokes and sarcastic remarks that only succeeded in irritating them.

Peter facepalmed.

"I think it was a bad idea to give her my DNA. Now I know jokes are part of genetics. I hope it is not contagious. The last thing I want is for this to rub off on anyone else."

He stopped the recording before he had to endure any more of Cortana’s terrible jokes.

Putting aside his girlfriend’s nonsense, he focused on creating the machine.

He planned to build something similar to the neural links from The Matrix films that allowed users to access the virtual world, but with modifications better suited to his physiology.

He briefly checked Logan’s progress on another monitor and was amused by the expressions Logan was making. Judging by what he saw, the man’s progress was rapid because he was currently reliving the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.

While working on the plans, he listened to classical music until it was interrupted by the computer notifying him that Cortana had returned to put the suit away.

He got up and walked over to her.

When he saw her removing the suit, she was covered in a thin layer of sweat and breathing heavily.

"How does..." she gasped, "he do this, Peter..." Another gasp. "Without getting tired?"

"You get used to it over time."

"AHHHHH!"

"We need to train your senses," he said, watching her clutch her chest after being startled. "I do not want another scare. I already had enough with mine."

He then adopted a serious expression.

"Now I want to know why you took the suit."

As he spoke, he walked over, gently cupped her face with one hand, and lightly squeezed her cheeks.

"It is because some criminals carrying unusual weapons showed up. They had a strange black energy surrounding them. I left some samples on the table."

She glanced toward a section of the workbench.

Peter’s expression immediately became more serious when he saw what was there.

Demons, he thought.

He quickly summoned a holographic display and reviewed the footage of Cortana’s fight with the attackers.

"Do you know what it is or who they are?"

"It is an ancient Chinese opera mask. You rarely see this type of mask anymore. This symbol," he said as he turned the mask over, "translates to ’Demon.’ These weapons are imbued with a form of negative energy, similar to a photographic negative. It resembles Darkforce ¹energy, the same dimensional energy used by Tyrone Johnson, also known as Cloak."

Cortana’s eyes widened as she watched him identify everything with only a brief glance.

"All your offenses against me are forgiven."

He stepped closer and rewarded her with a passionate kiss.

He carefully placed all of the weapons inside a secure containment box before carrying them to his laboratory.

On the way there, his mind was already considering the various applications of this new form of energy.

Inside the lab, he alternated between designing the machine and studying the samples.

To obtain a sample of the Lightforce, he would have to wait for Li to make a move or for Dagger or Cloak to use their powers.

Without realizing it, he had spent several hours inside the laboratory and would have remained completely absorbed in his work had it not been for the alarm he had programmed to notify him when Logan’s memory restoration was complete.

Before leaving, he checked Yuri’s progress in suppressing criminal activity throughout the district he had assigned her.

She was working alongside Susan, who was wearing the new suit he had built for her.

Together, Yuri and Susan were protecting Harlem.

They were not yet ready for anything significantly more dangerous.

Peter, meanwhile, continued monitoring all of Manhattan. Once the Spider-Mobile was complete, he intended to expand operations into Queens, Astoria, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the surrounding boroughs.

He left the laboratory and headed toward Logan, rubbing his face with both hands.

"Did you get what you wanted?"

"I got more than I wanted. Incomplete answers... and even more questions."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not yet."

"Okay. So what should I call you?"

"You can keep calling me Logan."

"Well. By the way, it is already night. I recommend heading back to the Institute. I do not want a certain female Saitama knocking on my door. Although, with all the security upgrades I keep making, it would probably be one of my Bots dragging a heavily injured Ancient One into my lab instead."

Logan nodded.

The two of them walked toward the front door together.

Before leaving, Logan turned around and extended his hand.

It was one of the few times Peter had seen the gruff, perpetually grumpy man wear a genuine smile.

"Thanks for everything."

"You are welcome."

Peter snapped his fingers.

"I almost forgot."

He hurried back inside and searched through a storage box until he found two items he had created some time ago purely out of boredom.

"Here."

He handed the box to Logan.

"Give Kurt the blue bracelet and Rogue the yellowish-green one. The instructions are inside."

He briefly showed Logan both bracelets and the folded instruction sheet before closing the box again.

Logan nodded, tucked it away, and rode off on his upgraded motorcycle.

Peter watched him disappear into the night.

"Okay."

He turned back toward the house.

"It is time to get back to work."