The October Surprise refers to the fact that in a U.S. election year, something unexpected and dramatic always seems to happen in October, greatly affecting the polls. For example, the illegal human experimentation project of the U.S. military being exposed, or the Avengers inviting a Russian to visit.
This led to a question Americans were very curious about: which party does Captain America, the symbol of the American dream, truly represent?
"I don't side with either."
On the top floor of the Avengers Tower, Captain America, already overwhelmed by the Hydra situation, threw his shield in the training room. In just 1.5 seconds, he sliced through all three automated turrets while performing a beautiful backflip to dodge a barrage of gunfire. This was his answer to Janet and Tony, who were interested in gossip like this.
"Really? I heard that the Republican Party was planning to invite you to be a presidential candidate, Captain."
Steve Rogers was stunned by Janet's question. If Tony had said it, he would've thought it was a joke. But coming from Janet, it meant that many people must have actually thought so.
The Captain sighed and expressed his true feelings.
"If I were to run for president and get elected, the first thing I would do is find all the financial backers of my party and beat them up." The Captain said bluntly. "If you ask me, both parties are a pile of, no, two piles of dog shit. The only difference is that you have to choose the one that smells less."
Janet and Tony both let out a small "whoa." This was the first time they had ever heard the Captain curse, and in such an offensive way. It seemed the Hydra incident had truly taken a toll on the Captain.
"Alright, Mr. Sergei should be arriving soon. We should go meet him."
Although the idea of Kraven visiting the Avengers Tower was Peter's, Peter didn't intend to get involved. On the contrary, he had other things to do.
This was also something that Kraven had triggered. The fact that Kraven wasn't a villain made Peter think of the Kraven from the 94' Spider-Man series, which gave him a bold idea: this 616 universe was a brand new one. In other words, anything was possible, and he had to consider all possible scenarios.
For example, in the movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, Liz's father was the Vulture, Adrian Toomes. Although the Liz in this world had a normal skin tone, he couldn't rule out the possibility of the plot being jumbled. So, Peter specifically talked to Harry about Liz's father, but all he found out was that the man was a scientist. Harry himself didn't even know what Liz's dad did for a living.
Peter decided to see if he could somehow confirm that Liz's father was indeed the Vulture in this universe, just by chance. If not, everything was fine. If he was, then he would need to see if he had already become the Vulture. If not, Peter would try his best to prevent it.
"I can't access the Avengers' systems yet, and I can't explain why I'm investigating a classmate's parents."
In the base provided by Oscorp, Peter saw information about Liz's father and sighed helplessly. It was indeed Adrian Toomes, the Vulture.
Hold on, hold on. There had been no record of a super-villain named the Vulture, which meant he hadn't become the Vulture yet. Peter started looking into Adrian Toomes's resume and breathed a sigh of relief when he found nothing wrong.
The one thing he hadn't anticipated was that the reason he couldn't find anything was because this was an Oscorp system, and an AI named Green Goblin had automatically filtered out the relevant information, preventing Peter from getting the correct details.
Meanwhile, Harry had arrived at Liz's house. He nervously knocked on the door and watched a balding middle-aged man open it.
"You must be Harry, right? I'm Liz's dad, Adrian."
"Hello, Uncle Adrian."
Harry took a deep breath, feeling a little nervous. He didn't see Liz, and he was a little worried about the middle-aged man's attitude. Adrian didn't seem to mind, but he couldn't help but frown as he looked at the young man in front of him. There was something about the young man's expression that reminded him of a very unpleasant person: Norman Osborn.
He remembered Norman Osborn giving a speech at his daughter's school, saying that his son attended Midtown High School.
It can't be, right?
Feeling suspicious, Adrian smiled and led Harry into the house. He then looked at the flowers in Harry's hand and chuckled. "I'm sorry, we don't have any vases. I don't think there's anywhere for you to put those flowers."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay. Liz went out to get us some drinks, and I haven't finished dinner yet. Can you give me a hand, young man?"
Eager to prove himself, Harry didn't care that he was wearing a suit. He rubbed his hands together and agreed. He immediately went to the kitchen and clumsily helped Adrian. Adrian casually asked, "What do your parents think about you dating?"
"My father never cares about me. He only cares about his business. My mother... if she were still alive... I don't know. She passed away when I was very young. I can only remember a few things about her."
Seeing Harry's sad expression, Adrian was a little moved and seemed to understand something. He shook his head.
"It looks like you don't like your father very much."
"He... I don't know. Sometimes I feel like he might love me, but I can't feel it. He just cares about his business and doesn't care about me or my mother's legacy."
Is this kid Osborn's son?
Maybe, but Adrian couldn't see that he was a bad kid. In fact, he was the complete opposite of that guy, Norman Osborn.
He had already given up on trying to fight Osborn to the death, so even if this kid was Norman Osborn's son, why would he carry that grudge to the next generation?
"Dad, I'm back."
Liz returned with the drinks, and she was surprised to see Harry helping in the kitchen. "How could you make a guest help out?"
"Trust me, honey. This kid got to work as soon as he heard he could help."
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I just realized that none of Peter's friends have both parents.