Disclaimer: Ch. 1

Author's Note(s): Title inspired by the episode from "Spider-Man: The Animated Series".

"Neogenic Nightmare"

"NO!" Arthur Avis cried angrily as he kicked at the charred remains of the burnt body at his feet. He had gotten sick of getting a busy signal when he tried to call Dr. Warren.

And so had gone down himself to her hidden lab to see what was taking so long, where he found her lab; which had been completely trashed, and what appeared to be her charred dead body lying on the ground that had been burned, along with most of the room before the sprinklers could put it out.

All her papers were now useless ashes in a pile, along with the smashed computer that joined them. The insane scientists remains shattered like brittle spun sugar under his feet. Or at least, he thought they were hers.

It was impossible to make out who the charcoal corpse belonged to; even if it did appear feminine. And after all these hang-ups and failures, and the way he was pretty sure the sneaky madwoman had been planning something devious of her own, he didn't have the time nor care to check.

In a way he was glad to be rid of her. She was such a stuck-up, man hating bitch. Sure she was useful in a way, but the woman was far from irreplaceable in his mind. If he needed to, he would check into such matters later. Right now he had his own agenda.

Avis gave a growl before turning abruptly to see if he could find anything helpful. Whoever had been here though, and murdered the woman or whoever it was, had obviously been quite intent on making sure her work didn't see the light of day. Or at least that there was no evidence left to find.

But if there was one thing he knew to be true, it was that Dr. Warren always kept backups hidden around the lab. And he knew of one place in particular to check. He moved her work desk aside and pulled away the rug underneath it.

Under it was a panel that blended in very well with the floor that he lifted up. It revealed a floor safe. Seeing as he had been the one to build the lab, it was only natural he knew where all the good hiding places were, as well as how to open them.

He unlocked the safe with the combination he made sure to memorize in case he had to get into it for some reason, and opened it up. Inside, it was refrigerated and where she kept a few of her serums, one of which he himself used to maintain his youthful appearance.

It also had a black box with an external hard drive in it; all of which he took. He wondered if it held the formula for her youth serum, and immediately emptied out the contents. But as he was walking towards the exit, he turned to look at the fridge that she normally kept her vials of serum in.

The front of the case was shattered and there was a little blood staining the bits of glass that remained. It didn't look harmed by the flames, and he couldn't help wondering if perhaps someone had been here before him…

Well, he could investigate further later. For now, he needed to handle his Osborn problem and he'd do it himself. Seeing as everyone else kept failing at what he thought was so simple a task. If Dr. Warren hadn't been so obsessed with whatever it was she'd been trying to accomplish, then perhaps she'd still be alive.

He supposed it wasn't much of a loss though. Even as his older self, he could figure out her youth formula all by himself if he wanted to. And he hurried back to his own workshop to concoct his new plans.

Back in his own private laboratory at Toomes Aeronautics, Arthur had just given himself another does of youth serum after having spent quite a bit of time combing through the data on the HDD.

It would seem the deceased doctor had discovered a way to make some sort of super soldier serum that could enhance you in various ways depending on what you needed, using animal DNA.

For example: it could give you the eyesight of a cat or bird, or the keen hearing or sense of smell of a dog, or replicate missing limbs like a lizard, and so on and so forth. It was quite a fascinating find he thought.

But what caught his interest the most was the curious decelerated aging via an avian serum she had developed, when it was combined with the youth serum. 'That could prove promising.' The youth greedy man thought.

He went to open up the box of serums Dr. Warren had made and found a few of the ones from her notes for various animals. There was one vial missing, but that didn't matter. He already knew which one he wanted to use.

Plucking up the one with the picture of a bird on it ever so carefully, and then mixing it accordingly with the youth serum as her notes directed, he eagerly fetched a device with which to inject himself with. After all, the doctor had mentioned what success she'd had with the serum in her notes, so what could possibly go wrong?

How unfortunate Avis would find himself to know that Dr. Warren hadn't had time to write down what had taken place not long after her "self treatment"… But he would discover that the hard way.

The overeager fool injected the avian serum into his veins; feeling the strangest sensation of hot and cold at the same time, as it flowed through his bloodstream. After a few seconds, he began to feel different.

As if he was becoming a whole new person. He flexed his hands and fingers; feeling as if his body was becoming lighter. Taking it slow, he went about running tests on himself for the next few days.

His eyesight had improved beyond his expectations. Some physical tests showed that not only could he see with startling clarity now, but that his agility, balance, reflexes and even lung capacity had been remarkably enhanced!

Everything seemed to be going so perfectly! At least until Avis, or rather, Adrian, had been enjoying his youthful form while getting in a little exercise, when he began turning back into his older self.

"What?!" He exclaimed sharply as he got up and hurried over to a full length mirror to see what was going on. "No… NO! This can't be happening! It's too soon!" Adrian cried out hysterically.

He glanced at his wrist watch and found that for some strange reason, the serums effects were wearing off despite the fact that he had only just taken his usual dose less than an hour ago.

A sharp pain shot through him and he had to reach out and lean against the mirror for support. It struck him again and again with quicker and more agonizing secession. It felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside out and his bones were being broken and hollowed out.

His fingers clenched against the cool, glassy surface when he felt it crack. The vain mans eyes widened when he saw his fingers had been replaced with razor-sharp looking talons!

He lifted his other hand to his face to examine the front and back of it, as he fell to his knees in increasing pain and panic, while his mind tried to figure out what on Earth was happening to him.

But all thought ceased as his body continued to change. Dark and light green feathers began sprouting up all over his skin, while his bones cracked and bent to give him a more birdlike appearance.

The businessman could barely manage the few screams he did he was in such torment. But it was nighttime, and he was all alone from having sent his butler home for the night. So no one heard him or came to help. Which what with the mans reputation, no one probably would anyway.

The torture became too much, and he eventually blacked out. But when he awoke, Adrian Toomes gathered himself, up feeling remarkably better and having thought the whole incident had been a bad dream.

But upon looking in the slightly cracked mirror again, was he proven very, VERY wrong. The thing that looked back at him was a monstrosity that even his own dark and twisted mind could've never conceived.

The creature was bald with pale, grayish pasty looking skin and had blood red eyes, and the long beak of a nose that had a red pointy tip. All in all, this beast looked like a humanoid vulture with emerald plumage mixed with a darker shade around the wings, wrists and ankles, and a black ruffle of feathers around its neck.

What horrified him the most, was that this so-called creature staring back at him with the same expression…. Was himself! Adrian angrily punched the mirror in his outrage and letting out a scream that sounded like a vultures cry.

The sound came out in a sonic burst; breaking what remained of the glass of the mirror, as well as decimating the windows in the gym room. He blinked; finding himself taken aback when he surveyed what he had just done, before looking at his claw-like hand and saw that it didn't have any cuts.

Apparently there was much more to this bird form than he thought. For one thing, it made him more durable. And as his curiosity began to grow, did Adrian begin to move around and get a feel for his new body. He felt remarkably lighter and stronger, despite being his elderly self.

He even flexed out his wings. They appeared to work as wings should. The wings were probably what fascinated him the most; as he had always loved to fly planes and wondered what it might be like to soar through the skies like the birds did.

And after taking out his new body for a test run, or flight rather, the sly old buzzard began smirking darkly to himself. Now he had the means to destroy Harry Osborn and anyone else who got in his way once and for all!

The best part being that no one would even be able to tell who he was in this form, or so he thought. So he could get away with it too! It didn't take him long to figure out what he wanted to do or what pseudonym he would take for himself in this form.

What was it that fiery flower had called him again…? Oh yes… Vulture. That was what he would call himself, and that would forever be the name he'd carve into the ravishing ravenettes mind, as he taught both her and that Osborn brat that he was not a man to be trifled with.

Vulture went about getting well used to his powers before making a few arrangements and figuring out where his first victims were. And when all was set, the genetically altered man dove out one of the busted windows to act out his plans. The vile villain cackled with maniacal mirth as he soared swiftly and stealthily off into the night in search of his prey.

To be continued...

I figured I'd add the fun aspects of the Vulture from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series. I thought it was pretty awesome how he could change forms. X3