It had been a few days since the 'truce' between the villains and heroes – and nobody had slipped up... yet. The teens had constantly been keeping a watchful eye on all of the villains and never let them alone in a room.

Amadeus kept to the security screens almost constantly, all while trying to find a cure.

The rest of the teens moved throughout the Tricarrier, moving in groups and watching the villains for one wrong move. The Avengers and agents did too, but the teens were taking it to a whole new level. They didn't care if they were noticeable, they wanted the cons to know that they were in hero territory now, and that they'd better watch their step. Or don't and get kicked out, honestly the teens weren't that picky about it.

The New Ultimate Warriors were making it perfectly clear to the villains that they weren't wanted, and couldn't care less if they left. Who cared if Doctor Octopus majored in genetics! Who cared if Kraven could keep the Infected under control! Who freaking fracking gave a freaking frack about any of that?!

These villains could not be trusted, and that was all the teens cared about. All of them had a bone to pick with Spider-Man, and would rather watch him rot than help him. It was too suspicious. The Avengers didn't realize, it was understandable that they were stressed, and sure Nick Fury needed all the help he could get. But this was different.

It wasn't right. Not this time.

Currently, Amadeus was chemically altering the molecules of the infectious chemicals, to figure out what other things it could do, to perhaps find something that could reverse the effects. But so far, he was getting nothing.

His math checked out perfectly, Amadeus knew everything there was to know about science and mutagens – but there was just. One. Freaking. Chemical! Just one that was ruining it all, and left his mind boggling. ARGH! He hated it.

He didn't have his suit on at the moment; Amadeus had felt oddly confined in the suit for a bit, and decided to take a break. Currently, all Cho was wearing was some sweatpants and a slightly dirty black t-shirt – he almost looked like a normal kid, if not for the science goggles anointed on his head and the expensive equipment scattered among one of the desks from the classrooms.

Sighing tiredly, Amadeus ran a hand through his messy black hair. What was he missing? What was he missing, dammit! His brain felt tired, after endlessly pouring over notes and formulas. Maybe if Amadeus just took a quick nap then he could... but immediately the child genius felt guilty. How could he think of resting while his team was suffering down in the Academy?

But you still need to sleep;, you are human after all, a voice chided in his head. Unfortunately, Amadeus thought afterward. Oh how much more he could do if he wasn't completely human. Amadeus knew for a fact that super powered people usually had more energy than regular people...

But then again it usually takes a lot to keep their energy up.

So it had its pros and cons... still though...

Oh well, what was Amadeus supposed to do? Inject himself with a half-cooked cocktail of chemicals and radiation in hopes of enhancing himself? Oh no, Amadeus was no Goblin, or Octavius – he's seen the effects, and wanted no part of that, thank you very much.

Maybe... one quick nap though... Amadeus HAD done his part for a while. Or maybe he'd just rest his head... for just... a few... minutes... Suddenly, Amadeus was snoring contently across the desk, his cheek pressed up and supported by his two arms as he sat hunched on top of his stool.

Papers were scattered randomly, a few poking at Amadeus's hand, but it was no bother. All the child genius could do was sleep off his weariness.

But, unbeknownst to him, after several minutes of peace, someone entered the classroom and slowly crept up on him. The figure peered around the desk, studying Amadeus to see if he was asleep, before probing around the papers. The figure was careful to move Amadeus's research, not hurting a thing, as eyes ghosted over the sloppily written notes.

The intruder rubbed their chin thoughtfully, nodding in understanding with Cho's work. Then, silently and carefully, took a few important papers and brought out a device to take a picture with. But at that moment, the intruder accidentally bumped a container of gas samples (the ones Amadeus were mostly successful on) and it splattered on the ground.

Amadeus awoke with a start, head jerking up as he blinked the remains of sleep from his eyes. "What the-" he started, before noticing the mess on the ground, and his scattered papers. Cho heard something behind him and whirled around, just in time to see the door close as someone ran from the room.

"HEY!" Amadeus shouted. He bolted from his seat, grabbing his armor backpack on the way, and followed in pursuit of the intruder. The armor protectively encased him, and Amadeus burst out of the room and into the hallway, only to find it empty. There were no signs of anyone being there other than himself.

Looking left and right, and scanning the room multiples times, Cho cursed when nothing came up. He hovered anxiously in the hall a moment more, before cursing again and hurrying back into the classroom. The genius crouched next to the splattered chemicals all swirling together on the floor.

It was ruined. All of it messed up, and in no way useable. Those had been the samples of the liquefied gas that he had the MOST progress on; and now they were gone, trashed, mixed into a useless mess of molecules and atoms. "No, NO!" Amadeus shouted, slamming his fist into the floor in fury.

Angrily, Cho pushed himself onto his feet and scoured his desk and immediately noticed his missing papers. The ones that held most of his important research, Amadeus ran both of his hands over his head in rage. He wanted to tear his hair out right now, but his armor frustratingly restricted him from doing so.

"I can't believe this!" Amadeus yelled, slamming his fist into the desk, causing it to jump. "AGH! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" someone actually stole his research, and then trashed his work! Of all the low-lying scum of the Earth!

Pacing furiously across the floor, Amadeus brought up his communicator, tapping into the ones connected to the rest of his teammates. "Guys, we have a major situation." Amadeus growled into the comm.

LINE BREAK

"Are you kidding me?" Powerman demanded. They were all in the classroom with Amadeus, encircled around his occupied desk.

Amadeus stood with his arms crossed angrily over his chest. "No," he replied. "Someone STOLE my research, and then – oh, and THEN they ruined the samples of gas that had the most likely chance of a cure."

"Who would commit such an act of treason?" Kazar demanded with clenched fists.

"I have eight suspects." Iron Fist says, his fists glowing with power, not looking as Zen as he normally would – which was a sign that someone really screwed up this time.

Up above, Nova's aura was glowing intensely, "Got that right. Ock, Kraven, Scorpion, Sandman, Beetle, Electro, Taskmaster, and Shocker!" he listed spitefully. "The little pimps! I knew we couldn't trust them!"

"Well, did you at least see what the person looked like?" Cloak asked. "Anything?" Amadeus shook his head sorrowfully. "I fell asleep," he admitted. "The intruder knocked over my samples and ran; he was already out the door by the time I was fully awake."

They all seethed in silence. Dagger looked up at the cameras in the room, "Did you check the security feed?" she asked.

Amadeus nodded, "Of course; that was one of the first things I did. But," Cho paused as he clenched his fist and breathed deeply through his nose. "But the video feed is in a loop. So it's already been tampered with."

"Agh, so just like with the Academy?" Agent Venom demanded. "We have nothing that can help us and no idea who did it?!" the symbiote thrummed in agitation. No one needed to answer, because they already knew the answer. Though there was one thing that was sticking with Amadeus, something Agent Venom said: so just like with the Academy?

Amadeus bit his lip in thought as he subconsciously started pacing. "Wait..." he muttered, before shaking a finger at Agent Venom. "Wait, wait, wait! It's just like with the Academy!"

"Uh, yeah, that's what I said." Agent Venom deadpanned, while the others were looking at Cho curiously. Amadeus turned to them with a wide smile, "But don't you see?" he excitedly. "It's EXACTLY like the Academy. The way the video feed was looped, then cut. It's exactly the same!"

Iron Fist's eyes widened in understanding, "You mean..." he trailed off thinking. Amadeus nodded eagerly, "Yeah, which means that whoever just stole my notes was also the one who cut the video feed from the Academy, and was probably the same person who gassed us too!" slowly the others started to understand.

"Well, I kind of see where you're going with this." Nova said uncertainly. "But what does it have to do with what's going on now?"

"It means that the person who gassed the Academy is HERE, in the Tricarrier." Amadeus revealed with a smile, his trashed research momentarily forgotten. "And who do we have here on the Tricarrier that are definite suspects?"

It was all coming together. "The villains." Kazar said. "But they were already our suspects before."

"I know," Amadeus said. "But now I'm certain. Besides, most of the villains were being held in S.H.I.E.L.D custody, all of them, but one."

Dagger gasped, "Taskmaster!" she exclaimed. Amadeus nodded in confirmation, they may have just found their culprit. "Whoa..." Powerman whispered, he put his head in his hands, looking incredible angry and ready to hunt down Taskmaster through the Tricarrier and punch him into nonexistence. But he stiffened up after a moment and addressed them all, "We've got to tell someone." He said. "Like Nick Fury."

They all started toward the exit, but Nova stopped them by blocking the door. "Wait," he said. "How do you know they'll even believe us?" the others shifted uncomfortably, shrugging their shoulders. "Come on, we already know they think of us as nothing but annoying kids. Do you really think they'll believe it if we claim we solved the mystery?"

Some muttered in hesitant agreement. "They haven't taken us serious on any other occasion." Kazar agreed, licking his lips anxiously.

"You do have a point Nova, you too Kazar." Amadeus admitted. "Besides, they're going to ask for proof, like solid evidence to our claim. So far we've got nothing but a hunch, and if we let Taskmaster know that we're on to him then he's going to start being extra careful with cleaning up his act."

"But we can't keep this to ourselves either." Cloak objected. "If we tell Fury, then he can keep an eye on Taskmaster too." Dagger and Powerman nodded in agreement.

Nodding as well, Amadeus started pacing again as he thought. Telling Fury could be helpful, especially with him being the 'eye in the sky' around the Tricarrier, but it was no secret that he'd been treating them all like children. Ever since Spider-Man turned feral, he's been regarding them like annoying puppies biting at his heels. He could always say that they were all acting childish with their hunch, blinded by over-bearing emotions and grudges.

But on the other hand, he might figure that they wouldn't just make up something that could jeopardize finding a cure. Maybe they were just be a bunch of teenagers, but there was a reason they were students at S.H.I.E.L.D Academy; they had what it takes to save lives. Certainly Fury would believe the same.

Amadeus just wasn't sure – a feeling he was getting increasingly acquainted with – but they needed to do SOMETHING. There was no way he was letting Taskmaster get away with this. "Okay, how about this," Amadeus started. "We'll tell Black Widow, so far she's the only adult that has been straight with us in this, I think we can trust her. Besides, she's a super spy, and can definitely keep a close watch on Taskmaster. The rest of us, we'll observe too, gather evidence and do our own investigation."

"We're going to still be watching the other villains, right?" Agent Venom piped up after raising his hand, as if he was interrupting a lecture.

"Definitely," Amadeus agreed. "Taskmaster might be our prime suspect, but I still don't trust the others; especially Ock. Something is going on here, and it involves our teammates, so let's be heroes – as Spider-Man would want us to be – and save our friends."

An excited chorus of "YEAH!" and fist bumps followed. "I'm gonna go to the labs to keep an eye on Ock," Danny said. "Would anyone care to join?"

"I will." Powerman volunteered. Danny smiled and the two left. "We should probably stay inconspicuous as well." Amadeus added after them. "Be casual."

"Bro, I'm nothing but casual." Powerman laughed. Rolling his eyes, Amadeus turned to the others, "We need someone watching Kraven, Scorpion, Beetle, and Electro – especially Electro, I'm not feeling too hot on the idea of having a guy who can short-circuit the entire Tricarrier into dropping out of the sky, just wandering around the halls."

"On it!" Agent Venom, Nova, Kazar and Dagger said.

It was only Cloak left. "You wanna go watch the monitors, someone needs to make sure the Infected are doing okay." Cho suggested. He shrugged and nodded, "Sure. But what are you going to work on?" Cloak asked. Amadeus sighed in return, and faced the mess of glass, papers, and chemicals at his feet. "I guess I'm on clean-up." He muttered.

Cloak left as Amadeus begrudgingly rummaged through the small storage closet in the room for a mop.

LINE BREAK

Settling down in the chair, Cloak faced the monitors, his eyes sweeping over all of his friends. Triton had taken a break from the showers and was currently snuggling in a pile of blankets he found in the dorms. He scratched and tore them gleefully, before cuddling deep within them, looking completely at ease.

Tiger and Zabu had gotten over their grudge against one another and were playing an intense game of tag (with teeth and claws). They ran through the Academy halls while yipping and shouting ecstatically, taking sharp turns and zipping around bends They almost ran into Squirrel Girl, who was busy looking for shiny things to hoard in the kitchen cabinets she claimed.

Squirrel Girl shrieked in surprise as the two cats zipped around her, nearly trampling her tail. She scurried up the wall, before chittering angrily at them from above, her tail bristled in annoyance. She huffed once more, before carefully crawling back down the wall, and picked up the shiny nuts and bolts she managed to cleverly disassemble from common kitchen appliances.

Rhino was in one of the training rooms watching the hostage Agent; he was lying on his stomach, lazily rubbing his horn against the wall. It wasn't enough to cause gouges, but enough to emanate a shrill whistle sound from the metal wall. With each shriek of horn on metal the Agent would flinch back, cradling his injured arm to his stomach.

Rhino thought of him as a fun game, and whenever the Agent would flinch, he'd grumble humorously and his tail would thump happily against the wall as he did it again.

Lastly, Spider had mutated some more, and FINALLY looked close to the peak of his growth. He was a little taller, looking to be about to Hulk's shoulder if they stood side by side. A pair of spider pinchers has grown from the corners of Spider's mouth, which he used to hold his food steady as he devoured it. Another odd quirk that Spider gained was a weird 'purring' sound he made.

It was a deep purr that would resonate from far within his chest and throat, but it was smooth and rich sounding. Spider was found to have this ability when Triton had freaked when all of the sea water drained out of the shipment pad. The fish-mutant had hissed and looked so sad and solemn; no one would have been surprised if he started crying.

At sensing the distress of one of his pack members, Spider has gently swept Triton into his strong arms (like a little baby) and held him soothingly as the deep purring started. It had startled Triton at first, but eventual it proved to ease the tension and sadness – like the comforting voice of a mother to her child.

When Triton was dubbed content again, Spider let him go with a happy cooing sound. Now, Spider would often be seen purring next to Zabu and White Tiger as they took their evening 'cat nap', or purring with Squirrel Girl as they searched for shiny things together through the halls. Spider even purred when he and Rhino played a game of 'Who's Stronger?' (Both we're pretty well matched), which consisted of pushing and knocking each other over playfully.

It was almost cute how much the Infected interacted and played together, like one big, mutated, freakish looking family that could (and would) tear your limb from limb and drink your blood because it tasted weird, then play tug-a-war with your body. But, cute nonetheless.

But no one was sure why Spider purred. Cloak certainly wasn't aware of any spiders that could purr like a cat. "The Wolf Spider." Someone suddenly spoke up from behind Cloak, as if reading his mind.

The teen whirled around to face Kraven. The hunter gave him a smirk, "The Wolf Spider," he repeated. "It is known to purr when with a mate or a potential mate."

Cloak didn't even try to suppress his glare. "Spidey isn't mating with anyone." He dully told the older man.

"I'm aware," Kraven deadpanned. "The purr certainly isn't sexual; the spider's body language contradicts any sexual matters as well. The purr is meant just as a way to comfort his pack when in distress."

"And how do you know this?" Cloak demanded.

Kraven smirked again, looking amused, as if Cloak was the most adorable little thing in the world. "I have studied many species of spider, even more so after fighting Spider-Man," he said the name partially with disgust. But also partially with a determined challenging tone; Kraven watched Spider with a keen eye, resembling that of a competitor sizing up a trophy greedily.

Yeah, like Cloak was going to let that happen. "Evolution." Kraven continued after a moment. "It's spider instincts haven't singled out any possible mates, due to all the other breeds it's associating with. But it still has the purring, used to call or calm mates. Since breeding isn't an option, it now uses it as a calming sound for its pack. Which should be impossible." Kraven mused to himself for a moment, not even looking at Cloak anymore.

Cloak couldn't think of anything to say, what was he supposed to say? But that didn't mean he approved the way Kraven was watching Spider, like a predator watching its prey. Cloak stood protectively in front of the monitors, cutting Kraven's view of the Infected off.

Snapping out of his predatory state, Kraven grinned wolfishly "Evolution," he repeated in amusement. "It's amazing what it can accomplish." The Hunter turned and left the monitors and Cloak. The teen watched him go, partially with disgust, and partially with ashamed wonder.

Kraven might've be a sadistic, hunting crazed lunatic, but Cloak had to admit that he knew his animals. Cloak wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Shaking his head, he sat back down in his seat. He watched as Spider stopped weaving his webs to investigate one of the cameras again, tapping at the lens till it looked ready to break.

But nothing interesting was really happening, nothing worth mentioning. Cloak was close to dozing off, when his communicator lit to life. "Cloak, head to the briefing rooms." Iron Fist said. "Fury called a meeting."

"On my way." Cloak said back. He looked once more at the monitors, before teleporting out of the room.