Chapter 221: Chapter 221: Hidden Civilization (1)
[Third Person’s PoV]
"Okay, is no one else bothered by this right now?" Felicia asked abruptly, spinning around to face the group.
Lizzy raised an eyebrow, giving her a puzzled look. "What do you an?"
"Thank you!" MJ exclaid, throwing her hands up. "I thought I was going crazy! Or that my Spidey-senses were acting up after their upgrade. They’re still overly sensitive."
"What the hell are you two even talking about?" Lizzy asked, glancing between them with growing confusion.
Gwen let out a tired sigh, crossing her arms. "Peter and I have been feeling like soone’s watching us for a few days now. We don’t know where it’s coming from, and Aria hasn’t been able to track them down."
"I am trying!" Aria’s voice piped up indignantly from Peter’s wristband.
"No one’s blaming you, sweetie," Peter reassured gently, shaking his head.
Lizzy squinted at them, leaning back slightly. "Wait... you’re getting this creepy feeling down here? In the base?"
"Yup," Peter confird, his tone edged with annoyance. "We even asked the Ancient One about it, but all she did was smile cryptically and not say a single word."
"Of course she didn’t," Gwen muttered, shaking her head.
"Well," she added, rubbing her temple in frustration, "at least it’s not so pervy voyeur. Whoever it is respects our privacy when we’re, you know, in the bathroom or doing personal stuff."
"Great," Felicia deadpanned, folding her arms. "So we’re being watched, but they’re polite about it. That’s... comforting."
Peter glanced at MJ and Felicia, his expression serious but calm. "Just ignore it for now. Whoever this voyeuristic creep is, they’ll reveal themselves eventually. The gaze isn’t hostile—at least, not as far as I can tell."
The group collectively nodded, though an air of unease lingered as they made their way toward the eting room.
---
Once inside, they took their seats at the polished table, naplates gleaming under the soft lights. They waited patiently for the final mber to arrive.
"Are Bruce and Betty joining us today?" Felicia asked curiously, leaning back in her chair.
"Nope," Gwen replied, reclining with a relaxed posture. "Tomorrow’s Betty’s big mission, so she and Bruce are spending the day on a date."
Felicia smirked, kicking her feet up onto the table. "Fair. I wouldn’t want to interrupt them either."
The door opened monts later, revealing Harry, who strode in confidently. He retracted his suit’s high-tech mask, revealing his usual cocky grin as he took a seat next to Lizzy. Before sitting, he leaned down to kiss her cheek, making her smile.
"So," Harry began, addressing the group. "Did you guys go through with the SSS enhancent yet?"
The group exchanged glances and nodded.
Lizzy shot him a teasing smirk. "You’d better watch your back, Harry. Pretty soon, I’m going to be stronger than you."
Harry scoffed, his smirk widening. "I’d love to see the day, Liz."
Turning to Peter, Harry’s expression grew curious. "Alright, Pete, what’s with the eting?"
Peter leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "I had Aria compile and analyze data from the satellite system, she’s been on the hunt for so fascinating discovery. And according to her There’ve been so... interesting discoveries. I thought we should review it together. Aria, take it away."
Aria’s holographic form materialized in the center of the table, a miniature solar system spinning around her like a carousel. She wore an excited expression as she began to speak.
"Alright, where do I even start? This is big. I’ll begin with sothing out of our imdiate jurisdiction before getting to Earth-related stuff." She paused dramatically, her glowing face lit with excitent. "Guys, I think there’s a secret civilization living on the moon."
"WHAT?!" they all shouted, jumping out of their seats in unison.
"I know, right? Isn’t it incredible?!" Aria exclaid, practically bouncing. She zood in on the moon’s hologram, and a faint dot appeared on its surface. As the view magnified, a transparent do beca visible, shimring faintly like a soap bubble under sunlight.
"High-tech sensors barely picked up the energy field surrounding this do," Aria explained. "It’s clearly so kind of advanced civilization, hidden right under our noses—or rather, above our heads."
"Unreal," Harry muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "We knew aliens existed thanks to Nick Fury, but this? A civilization on the freaking moon? That’s insane."
Lizzy’s expression darkened slightly as she leaned forward. "If they’re that close, what’s to say they’re not already here on Earth? Blending in, pretending to be one of us, observing everything we do?"
Felicia crossed her arms, frowning. "I wouldn’t doubt it for a second."
Harry grinned mischievously. "Let’s go knock on their front door and say hi!"
"Hold your horses," MJ interjected firmly. "We don’t even know if they’re friendly. What if making contact unleashes sothing catastrophic on Earth?"
"Fair point," Gwen agreed, nodding.
Peter tapped the table, bringing everyone’s focus back. "Aria, what else did you find?"
"Well, here’s the crazy part," Aria began, spinning the holographic Earth before tapping on it. "The moon isn’t the only place with a hidden civilization. I’ve located three others right here on Earth."
Three other dots appeared. One by the top of it, another one in the middle of a continent, and another one right in the middle of an ocean.
"Our tiny planet is hiding a lot of secrets," Gwen murmured, staring at the display with awe.
Peter’s excitent was palpable. "Tell us about the one in the ocean first!"
Aria smiled. "This one’s in the Puerto Rico Trench, near North Arica. Based on historical records and my data... this could very well be the legendary city of Atlantis."
"NO WAY!" they all shouted, their eyes wide with wonder.
"Atlantis is real?!" Lizzy nearly shouted, vibrating with excitent. "That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!"
Harry’s grin stretched ear to ear. "I just want to dive down there and explore it! Imagine what we could learn from their culture!"
Gwen looked equally fascinated, her scientific curiosity kicking in. "An underwater civilization... their biology must be incredible. How do they survive? Are they like us, or are they entirely alien in physiology? Oh, the possibilities!"
"Easy, Gwen," Felicia teased, smirking. "You’re drooling."
"What’s next? What’s next? To think there are two other civilizations like this!" MJ exclaid, her excitent practically radiating as she leaned forward in anticipation.
Aria spun the globe hologram with a flourish, her finger stopping on another location. "This one," she began, "is in Africa. More specifically, Wakanda. At first glance, it appears to be just another tribal community, blending seamlessly with the natural environnt. But..." She paused dramatically, "...it’s a fa??ade. A brilliantly executed one designed to deter outsiders from investigating further."
The group leaned closer, intrigued by the revelation.
Aria smirked, puffing out her chest and planting her fists on her holographic hips. "And thanks to my unparalleled hacking skills, I managed to infiltrate their systems!"
Peter’s eyebrows shot up. "You did what now?"
Aria shrugged innocently. "I sent a spider-bot down from space. It hitched a ride on one of their trucks—one that was transporting refugees or, more accurately, people being returned to their holand. Once the protective do opened to let the truck in, I slipped the bot inside. Piece of cake."
Peter pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. "Aria..."
Aria’s confident deanor faltered, shrinking slightly as she peeked around the globe hologram she was still holding. "Ugh... I don’t like that tone, Daddy. It sounds like I’m about to get scolded."
"Of course, you’re going to get scolded!" Peter snapped, adopting his stern, fatherly tone. "This could have gone very wrong in a lot of ways. For example, what if they discovered you? I wonder what they would have thought about finding a SPIDER bot on their land trying to steal highly secret information? You would have already made us an enemy of what appears to be a highly advanced kingdom. And guess who they would have suspected to be the culprit?"
Aria shrank back further down and held the globe in front of her to protect her. "But daddy..." Aria called out peeking from the globe with watery eyes.
"I didn’t get caught, no one found ..." Aria said hiding behind the globe, "Wanna know why?" She asked.
She didn’t give anyone a chance to answer as she pushed the globe off of her to reveal herself in her superhero outfit, "BECAUSE THE GREAT A.R.A.C.H.N.I.D WAS ON THE CASE! AND NO ONE IS STEALTHIER THAN SHE IS!" She boldly exclaid with her fist by her hips, one foot on top of the globe, while a small purple cape materialized flapping in the wind and her chin raised high.
The room fell into stunned silence. Then, one by one, everyone except Peter erupted into uncontrollable laughter, their faces turning bright red.
Peter, however, remained stone-faced, his lack of reaction making Aria falter. He slowly stood, turned, and began walking out of the eting room.
Aria’s bravado crumbled. "Uh... Daddy? Where are you going?" Aria asked nervously.
Aria’s eyes seem to have been following him as she then asked, "Why are you going to your lap?"
"Hehehe... Daddy there’s no reason as to why you should be going to your VR Capsule." Aria chuckled very nervously.
Aria’s face dropped as her eyes widened as she turned pale, "Daddy... why did you activate your capsule..."
Aria turned to look at everyone while shaking with fear, "DADDY, WHY DID YOU ACTIVATE YOUR CAPSULE?!"
Turning to the others, she held up her hands, shaking them frantically. "Uh, please wait here while we experience a brief intermission!"
With a swift kick, she sent the globe spinning away and bolted off-screen. The holographic display flickered, displaying a ssage: "Technical Difficulties."
From behind the screen, they heard the unmistakable chaos of a father-daughter chase.
"GET BACK HERE YOUNG LADY! DON’T YOU RUN AWAY FROM !"
"WAAAAAAAH DADDY I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY! I WON’T DO IT AGAIN!"
"I’LL HIT THAT TUSHY OF YOURS UNTIL YOU SERIOUSLY LEARNED YOUR LESSON!!"
"MOMMY! PLEASE STOP DADDY! IT WAS A MISTAKE TO ADD THE SENSATION OF PAIN! I SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE US ABLE TO INTERACT I’M REGRETTING ALL MY LIFE CHOICES!"
The sounds of frantic footsteps and exaggerated wails gradually died down. The room was silent for a mont before Peter reappeared, his suit dripping in neon-green liquid, his shoes squishing with every step. Without a word, he resud his seat, his expression unreadable.
The holographic display flickered back to life, revealing Aria sitting dejectedly on the globe, massaging her holographic backside. Tears stread down her cheeks as she sniffled pitifully.
"Today," she muttered, "I learned the true cruelty and evil of man."
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