Shout-out to Matt and Sohaib Malik for patre on support~

---

New York Hall of Science.

The students entered the relatively modest building with a large fountain constructed in the center of the front yard. The marbled building is one of the greatest science museums of the state not only with active researches going on 24/7 but also the friendly environment and continuous sponsor visits from various corporations collectively funding every research conducted in this building actually bolstered the future and catered to future recruitments. During each visit, instead of a professional entertainer, a researcher would be tasked with showing the place and introducing the latest development in various researches, allowing the Hall of Science to gain a rather popular public image. It was a simple PR strategy.

"Hey, your dad owns this place, right?" Anna poked curiously while letting her eyes wander the large dome overhead acting as the ceiling of the hall. Of course, knowing that the words were intended for him, Harry straightened his collars as the entire class continued to move with their teacher and one of the lead researcher, a middle-aged asian woman in a white lab coat, showing the first portion of their chemical advances which would be followed by biological technologies and then their accomplishments in the department of physics, much to students' chagrin.

"Not own it per se..."Harry muttered, "He just is the major source of funding for various researches. You know, no company in this day and age can do without a research department of its own. Stark Industries is the best example of it."

"So, he does own it," Flash commented as he unconsciously looked at Nik, still a little bothered by earlier revelations. "What do you say, Nik'o?" He looked at Nik while pulling Mj closer, "Want to see who can survive the longest?" A pun intended to make fun of both of their low evaluation in the educational section of their lives only to be met by Nik's rather cold and distant outlook, "Sure. Actually, I am more than interested in how the Osborn's web technology is actually synthesized. You know, they are biodegradable after all and not to mention the things they would need to store it with and structures to make the best and efficient use of the solution." 

The group stiffened. Peter refrained from answering with his own theories, fearing that his under would get pulled out one again. Quite a barbaric way of bullying but a cultural one, indeed. Anna's hold on Nik tightened as Flash looked at Nik, slack-jawed. "I am joking, of course," Nik snickered, pecking Anna's cheek and attracting a reproaching cough from their teacher as Nik continued, "How the hell would I know all that? It's written there, see?" Nik pointed at the bold inquires flashing over the LED screen above the particular research section, making Flash sigh.

"Had me a little afraid there, man. Thought you really geeked out on me." Flash tried to copy Nik's act of intimacy and leaned down to peck Mj only for her to walk forward and whispering, "Let's just get this done with. I have my acting classes later on." 

In its right, the Hall was filled with students and other visitors. It was a daily affair for the researchers here so when Nik curiously touched and gazed at a few inquisitive stuff in focus, actively understanding the principles in which every project is taking place, he found himself quite entertained until their host of a researcher brought the class in front of a collection of a stack of see-through boxes containing various species of spiders artificially modified and created. The class gathered around the counter with a few bold ones touching the container as the researcher spoke up, "This is one of our slower projects, really. Genetic engineering of these spiders is a result stacked over years with the lead doctors already changed three times. The glasses are military-grade bulletproof versions provided to the lab." She continued, "Although this particular line of modification is now completely discarded, the concept as a whole remains. The spiders are poisonous, more than your average rainforest ones." Hearing this, most of the hands retracted as Nik observed the spiders carefully. He couldn't dive into various species of insects during his vacation in his homeworld but his ability [Psychic Aptitude: S-], if he observed these spiders for maybe a year or so, he could easily understand their biological structures right to their cellular composition.

Of course, this time can be wildly reduced to a few minutes if he is in physical contact with the spiders. One thing was for sure though, these spiders were dying. Not at the moment, but definitely so. It wasn't the [Psychic Aptitude: S-] that allowed Nik to conclude that but his progressing affinity with life energy coursing through his body. "Ah, damn," Harry suddenly let out a frustrated groan, "I wished that you brought your camera, Parker," nudging Peter's shoulder, he looked at one of the empty boxes at the top corner, "We could take a rather clear picture of my dad's... incompetence. Look, a spider's missing."

He pointed out, instantly attracting the attention of the asian researcher who spoke out, "We are experimenting on our nuclear waste disposal system. X67 has shown quite a bit of the tolerance to the radiations and Dr. Brand likes to use it for the development purposes." She stated to placate the crowd and sighed in apparent relief. "We'll take a ten. Meet me right here after ten minutes."

As the woman left, Nik heard a short yelp, turning his attention to a young girl with short dark hair holding her leg up with a small bite mark embedded into the flesh. Her features showed the inherited asian heritage but what surprised Nik was a small spider, the tiny blue and red color scheme all too visible to Nik due to his particularly enhanced vision crawling towards him at a pace greater than what an insect is known to have. This time, the fact that the spider was on the verge of its death was all too clear to Nik. "Something's up?" Anna nudged him from the side, making Nik look towards the brunette with a smile, "Oh, nothing. Just give me a minute, my shoes are... not adjusted well." 

Crouching down, Nik curiously used his pheromones to calm the excited insect. After all, Nik had never seen a red-blue spider before. Honestly, to his eyes, the tiny insect looked quite cute. As Nik picked the insect and just shoved it in the pocket of his hoody while making sure to catch a glimpse of the interior structure of the spider before making his mind if he should try to prolong its life or not, Nik's attention was once again caught by one of the security guards running to the inner rooms of the second floor. It was probably nothing but Nik just managed to catch the scene at the right moment.

"So, this trip turned out to be lovely..." Nik grinned, "Anyone up for ditching the trip?" he inquired. There were no classes today, and instead of getting roasted in the hall, he would rather take his chance to shake off the trip and explore the city for himself. Even his past version didn't do a lot of exploration due to his nightlife bound by selling drugs in nightclubs. "Me!" Anna snapped out a reply, "There's this peace march going on for yesterday's shooting. I wanna attend it, after all, Nik almost got hit!" She hugged him from the side, as Nik finally took his hands out of the pocket and instantly sending the spider into his Dream Core to keep it from dying.

[Lola, check up on that spider that I just sent to the Dream Core. That... doesn't look like a spider at all.] Nik mentally communicated with his personal A.I. as she replied instantly. [On it. Would like me to conduct the mutation you could gain from this being? After all, that's the point of your profession, remember?]

[Of course, I remember,] Nik replied and instantly earned a short but gloomy reply from the developed A.I. now. [Then... bring more data!]

[Sure, sure. We have plenty.]

Nik snickered and cut off the connection while raising his hands towards the group. "I am fine, really. Just a bomb in my face, nothing that I can't handle." He humored as he felt Anna squeezing him tighter. "Hey," she groaned, "That's enough joking out of the accident. Let's just go and see the procession. It won't be fun but I feel that if you had gotten hurt in the crossfire..." she pursed her lips and let out an audible sigh, her wide gaze staring into Nik. Well, Nik felt happy at the attachment and concern and smiling, he nodded, "I know, babe. Let's go." He looked at the remaining group, "What about you guys?"

"Ugh, sorry," Peter apologized. "I didn't know about yesterday and I can't ditch classes, too. I am happy that you weren't hurt." He offered while Harry shrugged, "I can't leave, you know. Dad's already disappointed, no need for me to give him further reasons."

"Grant's father, you know..." Flash whispered, "I'll go with you. Maybe Grant's there. He didn't talk to me earlier." Grant was one of Flash's teammates. Nik and Anna looked towards Mj, who clearly wasn't comfortable with the idea of hanging out further with her ex and his current girlfriend then they already do. "Em... I think I'll stay. Gotta go back early today." She whipped an excuse as for the brief moment, Peter's eyes behind his glasses lit up. "Well, the three of us then. Just tell teach that we... are outperforming social experiments." Nik smiled and walked away with Anna while Flash tried to kiss Mj but stopped in his actions before turning awkwardly. Bully he may be, but he already had multiple broken relationships to know that Mj just put some distance between them after Brandon declared her oast hook-up. 'Should I even go with him?' The blonde youth thought, a little conflicted but he did want to make sure that Grant was alright. They've been buds for quite a few months already meanwhile... Mj and he were only a thing for two weeks now.

Before sneaking away, Nik caught another glimpse towards the slightly pudgy asian girl who now seemed fine. But knowing that she was just bitten by a strange spider... Nik offered his prayers and decided to find out who she was. Out of the group of students Nik knew one of the boys. A pale one in a grey hoody. 'Well, I'll ask that sneaky cunt later tonight... if she does lives, I might just collect her data for Lola. Mutated human, hmm...' Nik thought and finally made his way alongside Anna.

---

"Yo, I thought you'd make me crush your nuts again. How are you even walking, by the way?" Brandon snickered as he opened the door, finding a fresh-faced Nik standing opposite to him. "Sss, don't make me remember that pal, I am not in the happiest mood right now," Nik stepped forward, a fist already smashing into Brandon's face, pushing his body in sheer force and knocking him back by quite a few meters. The ruckus instantly attracted a mature woman who hurriedly covered her body with a bedsheet and walked out. "What in the god's name— Nik?" She inquired, tilting her head in surprise as her eyes found a grunting Brandon, half-naked, and bloody from nose slowly standing up using the table as the support. Walking in, Nik winked towards the slightly grey-haired woman. "Ms. Honey. How's Brandon doing? Not better than me, I hope." He looked at the woman who did not only take the past version of Nik's virginity but quite a few young pups' too. A cougar who simply doesn't know when to stop.

"Oh, please. We all know how you did during your first." She rolled her eyes as Nik waved his hands, "We all know how the first one goes. You've had experience in that, right? Handling two pump chumps? Oh, you should just wait in the bed... we need to have a civilized conversation. Me and him." Nik pointed towards Brandon who grunted in pain.

"Bitch! I'll kill you!" He shouted, blood spurting from his nostrils as Nik snickered and spread his arms. "Try it," the apostle whispered as Ms. Honey snorted and went back inside. She wasn't taking any part in it. Meanwhile, as Nik waved away at the woman, Brandon ran towards Nik, a fist already prepared to smash into the annoyingly handsome face of his old pal. "For christ's sake," Nik chuckled as he sidestepped and poked his foot out, entangling with Brandon's footing and making him fall forward, rolling out of the open door and smacking against the wall face first.

"I am just here for my clothes," Nik continued, walking up to the groaning Brandon and finally turning the blonde towards him and picking his large body through his neck single-handedly. Of course, the action out a little constraint on Nik since he really wasn't that strong but his grip was the real deal as Brandon gagged and coughed, holding Nik's hand tightly with rage and fear flickering through his gaze as he looked at his absolutely changed friend. Ex... friend.

"And, to invite you. Mary's sad without you, dude. She can fuck whoever she wants and that's bitter for you as her kid. I understand. But I still cordially invite you to her apartment next sunday. Wear your best clothes. Comb your hair. Shave your stubble, and be sober. Hmm, do you understand?" Nik tilted his head with a smile.

"B-bastard! Let go of me!"

Brandon snarled, making Nik comply as he let go of Brandon. But before the angered boy could do anything, Nik pulled on Brandon's hair, finally making him squeal a little in pain. "You want to vent for today's... friendly exchange, call me, I'll come to you myself. You have a problem with how I am still with your family, call me, I'll help you come to an understanding, too. Think of me as your therapist." Nik smiled, "Oh, before I forget," Nik chuckled, his knee moving at a fast speed and lodging itself against Brandon's crotch, for a moment, taking the Blonde's breath away. And then came the pain as the boy fell on the floor on his own accord, his lips bit and his eyes widened as he felt an atrocious storm brewing within his body. Tears fell uncontrollably and at this point, he heard Nik snickering, "Don't worry. I'll inform Ms. Honey regarding your inability to... perform. After all, we are besties, remember?"

Nik waltzed into the apartment and collected his clothes and toiletries before leaving. Of course, he didn't check by the cougar, it would be more fun if she found Brandon lying on the floor after all. Taking a picture of the fallen youth, Nik gave one last warning.

"Of course, you recall how I hate inconveniences. If I find you screwing around with me or lashing at your family due to me, I'll spread this pic. Highschool traumas... can be tough, remember that."

---

"Ahhh!" Nik sighed happily, "That's one thing equaled. Hmm... now information about that girl..." Nik walked around the streets of Harlem. If he wasn't wrong, the current drugs scenario if this neighborhood was quite pitiful. There were major crimes occurring in these blocks lately while Hell's Kitchen and a few other neighborhoods had become the center of the drug flow of the city. That's where Matt was selling his stuff. 

"It's been days, boy. Already forgotten us?" Three lovely women of different ethnicities called the Nasty Trio winked at Nik. They were curvaceous with different skin tones and assets and quite popular in fact. Nik, of course, had been a patron of the trio collectively. Dressed in skimpy tops and skirts, they winked at Nik with their lips bitten seductively. The passerby gave a cursory glance towards the hookers and Nik as she shrugged, "Mona, you know I afford luxuries." With a short smirk forming at the trio's face, clearly pleased Nik's tongue, he continued, "And Michael kicked me out of service. Can you believe him? I get a girlfriend and I am disowned!" Nik sighed, moving towards the trio as they snickered.

"Yeah, we know all about the gal. Brandy's sis, eh? That's bold. I heard that you guys always claimed— Bros before hoes— what happened this time?" The redhead inquired as she looked down. Size did matter to her after all.

"She happened," Nik grinned, clearly referring to Anna. "Still, I am moving out of the hood." 

"For real?" Mona inquired while the last, Asian one out of the trio kept her quiet. She wasn't fond of her profession but she did enjoy Nik for what it mattered. "Yep, so it's a goodbye for now. Just... play safe, I guess. There's a lot of shooting nowadays."

"Kek," Mona shook her head, "Would you believe that it is all because of a new guy in town? Word is that the Bronx's already under him. And now, he shifted his attention to this place."

"Well, that's nice," Niks shrugged, "Large customer base for you..."

"Exactly!" The redhead snapped in excitement. "The police won't give us any shit now."

"Bye, Nik. You were going..." The last of the three muttered as Nik smiled and nodded. "Take care, you three."

"You, too. Find a good job this time. No need to step into the mud again. Micheal's a good kid... he did you a favor." Mona sighed and waved back, making Nik nod.