Havoc | Peter Parker ¹ ✓

prologue

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"VITAL SIGNS ARE NORMAL," Lilabeth Santos reported to her husband, brown eyes scanning the monitor beside the subject. She jotted down a few notes onto her clipboard before noting, "Much better than last time."

"That's good," Rasalan's voice replied over the loudspeaker. "It's getting stronger."

His wife rolled her eyes. "'It' is a 'she,' Ray. She is our daughter."

Ray dutifully ignored this correction and busied himself by organizing stacks of paper in the observation room. The bulletproof glass window took up much of the opposite wall, making it easier for them to see what went on in the experimentation room without being in danger. They couldn't risk exposing themselves to the perilous conditions that would soon fill these four walls.

Once Lili finished copying the subject's vitals, she glanced at the infant on the cot. She was barely over a year old and already more powerful than her tiny brain could ever comprehend. It amazed both parents how such a small human being could exhibit such strength. After all, she was already doing better than her predecessor, who hadn't been able to take the strain and had perished during the experiment. Lena was serving as a much better candidate than her deceased brother, Keanu, of whom the little girl would never know existed.

Even Lili and Ray tried their best to forget the offspring that had failed them.

"I hope you survive this," she said quietly to her daughter, who gurgled and stretched a chubby hand toward her mother. Lili ignored this plea of contact and continued, "I wouldn't want to have to have to start all over again a third time."

With that, she walked across the otherwise empty room until she got to the steel door beside the window. It hissed as she opened and closed it once she was in the observation room. Ray had already set up the first test of the day, forehead creased in concentration as he typed on one of their computers. He was a tall man with jet black hair that always stuck up due to the amount of gel he put in it daily. His white lab coat was stocked full of a ridiculous amount of pens. Lili was shorter, her dark hair slicked back into a long ponytail and pockets emptied of such unnecessary things.

They had met after Ray had come from the Philippines in search of something greater. Their dreams were far greater than people had seen before, and it led them to a seemingly abandoned warehouse in New York where they now conduct their work.

One day, Lili thought, our dreams will come true and we will have a successful subject.

"Experiment 0489: starting now," Ray reported as he lightly touched a knob on the control panel. "Beginning energy release at ten percent."

From the cot, the only piece of furniture in the experimentation room, Lena gurgled again. There seemed to be no effect.

Ray turned the dial more. "Twenty percent."

A squeal. Lili reported the reaction on her clipboard.

"Skipping to forty percent."

Their daughter gave another, high-pitched squeak that they were unable to deduce whether it was a direct reaction to the energy or a harmless baby noise. But when some sort of blue outline began to shape her body, they knew they were onto something.

Lili scribbled furiously while Ray continued. "We're halfway there— fifty percent."

"Vitals are still stable," she breathed, eyes on the screen that displayed them. Her heart lifted with the hope that spread through her veins. "This is incredible— it's farther than we've ever gotten."

Ray turned the dial further. "I told you she was getting stronger. The energy inside her is starting to level out, but we'll need to control it. Eighty percent."

Both of them switched their gazes to the subject. The blue outline had formed into what seemed to be an unstable circle around her. It almost looked like a shield, wobbling around their gurgling child who was too young to even begin to understand what she would be capable of doing. If their experiments worked, of course.

Their first attempt, Keanu, hadn't made it this far. He'd proven uncapable of possessing the powers they'd intended to give him within a few months. Sure enough, they had gone too far with one of their tests and the catastrophic outcome had resulted in the infant's demise. They'd had to start again.

Now, they were more determined than ever to make this work. Lili could feel the eagerness coursing through her veins lately, and she'd been able to detect it in Ray's face, too. For so long, they'd waited in annoyance for some results to present themselves. And now... this subject seemed much stronger than her predecessor.

"Keep going," Lili commanded through a breath.

"Ninety percent." Ray paused, excitement lacing his tone. "That's one hundred percent."

Lili gasped. The energy had solidified into a stable circle, tinted blue but still transparent enough to see through. Lena was giggling happily from inside, visibly unharmed.

"We did it," she said.

"Experiment 0489: success."

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lololol lena's parents are lowkey monsters!! but i wanted to include this so you know a little more about her past because it will be super important for her storyline

INFINITY WAR IN 3 DAYS

-kristyn