Here's the new chapter!
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Chapter 13 :
Peter had visited Osborn Chemicals a few times, when Tony had considered the idea of buying the company and the land. He had given up on it when geologists had told him that the soil was irreparably contaminated and there was no way to reclaim it.
Later, he decided to write a thesis about the building, for the history course.
During his research he had checked every building in the complex and knew its layout by heart. But nevertheless, he entrusted himself to the plans provided by Karen. It never hurt to overlap more information.
The structures were crossed by underground tunnels that branched out over the whole area and which were accessed via steel grids. Almost 100 years ago, thousands of dollars in liquor and smuggled cigarettes were illegally transported through those tunnels or others like them.
Like many buildings built in New York in the mid-1930s, the factory had been designed with the smuggler mind-set of the time and had served its owners well.
Built due to prohibition, the underground network extended over the entire city area, reaching practically any corner, in most cases hidden from view.
That maze of dreary tunnel and always in the dark was the concrete reminder of the fact that the New York alcoholic's skin that everyone believed they knew as their pockets only served to hide diseased bones.
Spiderman thought of exploiting the tunnels to his advantage, to avoid Carnage's army.
Using the mask's heat systems, the Avenger identified a total of thirty forms of heat. Some simply stood on guard, while others were busy unloading large crates from trucks parked around the perimeter of the building.
Among the visible mercenaries, the teenager managed to identify some former marines, Hydra associates and other people who, for one reason or another, had ended up on the Avengers and SHIELD blacklist. Individuals willing to follow any bidder if the pay was good enough. The kind of people who would also work for someone like Carnage.
"What is he planning?" he muttered to himself.
He opened one of the grates, crept into the darkness and closed the grill again.
Entering a large warehouse, he went up until he found himself observing the heating pipes that vented the heat produced by the chemical processes.
Through a grate he saw a single mercenary walking back and forth. He was looking at a man of Asian nationality, apparently in his fifties, tied with large chains to the only column in the room above.
"Shiragami", Spiderman sensed, as he began to approach the couple.
Fortunately, the noise from the vents was loud enough to cover his movements.
He followed the man's path and took a position about ten meters from him, then, when the militiaman passed over him, he remained silent.
With a sudden and imperceptible move, in the pounding noise of the pumps, he moved the grate, grabbed the man by the ankle and pulled the leg down.
The soldier fell, and Peter closed his mouth to stop him from shouting, while with the other arm he blocked his throat and squeezed it, until the man passed out.
"Bucky would be proud of me", he thought with amusement.
Once out, he ran across the room to the chained hostage.
"You're safe", he said while releasing him.
Shiragami trembled with fear and, trying to get up, stammered something.
"The building has been in operation for hours. They brought trucks, weapons and soldiers. Oh my God, a lot of soldiers. And a lot of harmful substances. They are mixing them now, and because of me they know very well what they are doing. I ... I told him how to do it ... I had no choice, he would have killed me ..."
The voice cracked, so Peter tried to change the subject, to prevent the man from sinking into the memory of what he had gone through.
"Keep him talking, but not about imprisonment", Carol's voice whispered. "Treat him like a team member, not just a terrified victim."
"You did an excellent job, but I need more information", he said calmly. "What's your name?"
"My name? Gengiro. Gengiro Shiragami. I am a chemist."
"So far you've gone very well, Gengiro. Now I have to ask you a very important thing. Do you know where I can find their leader, Carnage?"
It seemed that the man was trying to think, but his mind was slowed down. Spiderman, however, remained silent.
"I only know that his plan is proceeding without any problems. He has a whole army behind him", he muttered, then put both hands on his temples. "They are out of their mind!"
"That's what I wanted to know, Gengiro. Now I can prepare myself, you have been very good. Indeed, even better. You are safe and sound. You don't have to worry. I will get you out of here, I promise you that I will stop them."
While the Japanese man was shaking his head, his eyes were wide with fear.
"You can't", he said, the words that got stuck in his throat. "Nobody can. You don't understand, Carnage is creating a kind of bomb that will cover the entire East Coast with a lethal toxin. Oh God, his men said they are making it right now, and because of me they know how to do it. We are doomed!"
Peter tried to calm him down, but the man's words were chilling.
Fear began to mount within him, but he quickly chased it away. He had a work to do ... and thanks to Shiragami, he knew exactly where the enemy was.
"I understand, Gengiro, but you have to listen to me. Despite Carnage's appearance, only a human being hides under that mask."
He let him metabolize.
"And this means that I can stop him. Do you understand what I say? We can defeat him. And we will. So come with me."
"You won't go anywhere, arachnid. Well…maybe in Heaven!"
Peter turned and heard a door close. From the window in the room he saw Carnage, flanked by a dozen militiamen.
The serial killer went to the window, put a finger on it and drew a smiley face in the dust.
"How nice to see you again, Spiderman. If this glass didn't separate us, I would shake your hand. And to you too, Shiragami!"
"Well, it won't happen", the vigilante replied, placing himself in front of the chemist. "Tell your men to put down their weapons and surrender. Now."
Carnage laughed. "As you said, it won't happen".
He turned to the mercenaries and nodded to them. "Well, here is the second reason why I hired you. Keep your weapons pointed at him, but don't target the symbol in his chest. That's just ... a little trick."
Then, he turned back to the climbing walls.
"Isn't it?" he said in his scratchy voice.
He burst into another laugh and turned to his men. "The part under the spider has been reinforced. And, since it is above the heart, it would be a good target ... if you didn't know the truth."
He pointed to the other parts of the armour and continued: "Aim for the weak points on the shoulders, there and there. Shoot the joints between the plates."
Shiragami's eyes widened in terror.
"How does he know all these things, Spiderman?" he stammered in a low voice.
At the same time, Peter's mind began to run a thousand.
"I don't know", he answered with a whisper. "But I'm going to find out."
"Excuse me", the serial killer interrupted them. "Did the good doctor say something? Maybe we should all hear it."
"He's an innocent. Leave him out of this", Peter growled.
Carnage merely shrugged.
"Come on, Spidey, haven't you heard my speech? Nobody is one hundred percent innocent. The real question is: how guilty is he? But you always defend the weak and the defenceless. And, to tell the truth, that's exactly what I like about you", he admitted with a slight touch of irony.
The vigilante clasped both hands in clenched fists.
"What do you want, Carnage?" he asked coldly.
The serial killer began tapping his chin, as if he was mulling over the matter.
"What do I want? Right, so then we're on the same wavelength. What I want ... is to kill you", he said with a de facto tone. "But not only you, I want to kill every fucking inhabitant of this city. I want to make it pay to all those who remained to watch, while I was imprisoned and forced to spend my last ten years in a shit hole."
And, after having said these words, he gestured to the mercenaries who flanked him.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill him!" he ordered with a grin.
Without wasting time, the criminals opened fire, breaking the windows.
Spiderman was quick to grab Shiragami and push him to the ground, preventing the barrage of bullets from hitting them.
"Run!" the teenager shouted.
The chemist got up from the ground and ran like a rocket towards the nearest emergency exit, just as the mercenaries entered the room.
Spiderman started the attack and aimed at the group of soldiers.
He landed on the first by nudging him on the neck. In sudden shock and pain, the man fell to his knees. The vigilante threw a punch at his throat and that ended up on the ground.
One of the other mercenaries raised his weapon to open fire once again. Spiderman bent down and turned to kick his belly.
The man doubled over in pain, then Peter spun again and kicked him on the nose.
While the criminal reached his companion in a state of blissful unconsciousness, the Avenger activated the mechanical legs of the suit and used them to block a volley of bullets by another mercenary.
When the others started shooting, the boy jumped on the ceiling and hung upside down.
With a cobweb he harpooned one of the soldiers by the collar and pulled him up. The man screamed as Peter grabbed his wrist and held it up to look him in the eye.
"Believe me, man, this will hurt you more than me", he said, and then dropped it on the floor.
He felt a broken leg and a groan of pain, but the trauma silenced the mercenary. He would have survived, but he certainly would never run a marathon.
Then, avoiding another volley of bullets, he jumped into the group of criminals and used the long mechanical legs to throw four of them against the walls of the room.
He kicked one's leg, smashing his kneecap, and the man fell screaming in pain.
The second turned, ready to attack, and started to shoot. Spiderman threw himself over his head, grabbed him and then pulled him down, slamming him against the floor. Maybe Bucky's methods were a bit brutal ... but they worked, and also quickly. However, the crash was not enough.
The mercenary got to his feet again, aimed and pulled the trigger. At that moment, however, Spiderman grabbed his wrist and the gun shot upward. The bullet exploded against the ceiling.
The criminal tried to free himself, but Peter tightened his grip and twisted his hand until the man ended up pointing the gun at himself. It was the drop that overflowed the jar, as the mercenary panicked and dropped the weapon.
In one movement, Spiderman kicked the gun away and finally hit the man with a knee in the stomach.
As the opponent doubled over in pain, the teenager intertwined his hands and dropped them on the man's head, knocking him out
The last mercenary caught sight of him across the room and tried a shot. The bullet struck the vigilante's chest and jerked him back. The armour protected him of course, but the blow at high speed still hurt a lot.
The man fired again, but Spiderman rolled sideways and the bullet darted past him, missing him by a hair.
The mercenary threw the rifle away and grabbed an automatic rifle, but Peter was the first to react and threw a spider web, which clung around the weapon and tore it from his hands.
Then he jumped, using his mechanical legs to give himself further impetus, and landed on the opponent. He hit him hard in the face with a punch and the man fell to the ground.
More would come soon, and sooner or later luck would abandon him. No matter how strong he was, he certainly couldn't have dodged hundreds of bullets all together.
He took a deep breath and headed for the corridor leading to the factory's storage tanks.
After about a couple of minutes, he arrived at his destination.
He entered what appeared to be a large laboratory and saw Carnage. He was pouring the contents of a test tube into a large underground cistern.
The automatic beaters that mixed the chemicals already inserted in the mixture withdrew, a lid on top opened and the tank began to shake to mix the substances like a huge paint mixer.
Carnage turned and motioned for him to come closer.
"It took you too long to get here, I'm a little disappointed. If you wanted to get out of it alive ... you had to run away when you had the chance."
"It's over, Carnage. I'll blow up your operation."
In response, the serial killer just spread his arms.
"Here I am ... try to stop me!" he exclaimed with his unmistakable grin.
Peter was more than happy to oblige.
He jumped towards the monster as its mechanical legs snapped forward. Carnage, however, managed to avoid the blow.
The wall- climber started to defend himself, but the monster attacked him suddenly, very fast. He punched him in the face.
Peter took only a second to recover and dodge the second blow, but as he bent over, Carnage nudged him behind the neck, where the armour was thinner. He knew exactly where he was vulnerable.
From posture it was clear that he was skilled at boxing: he kept one foot forward and his left arm stretched out. The right was near the body. Both arms raised near the smiling face.
But the way he bent his back and knees ... reminded him a lot of the position Bucky had taught him during their training. It was almost as if he was imitating his fighting style.
Carnage stepped underneath again, punching him from the bottom of his jaw.
The four mechanical legs snapped forward to protect him, but the monster's tendrils blocked them in mid-air.
"Come on, Spidey, show me what you got!" the serial killer mocked him, with an irreverent tone. "I always knew that I could have kick your ass, but I expected a little resistance from you. Don't let me down!"
Peter raised an arm to protect his face, and Carnage advanced: just as he expected.
He lowered his hand in front of him and was about to hit the enemy with a right in the face, but, at the last second, the creature flew and the fist touched his cheek only.
"I admit it, you almost got me there", he commented with his timeless grin.
The lenses on the vigilante's mask thinned into a pair of slits.
"How do you know all these things about me?" he asked coldly.
The other burst out laughing. "It is irritating, isn't it? I know your devices and combat moves. And not only this ... Peter."
Time seemed to stop. An inexorable silence seemed to sink into the depths of the factory, interrupted only occasionally by the bubbling of the tanks.
"No ... it's not possible," Peter thought, while an unpleasant sensation began to grip his stomach.
At the same time, the fanged smile on Carnage's face grew larger.
"It's the truth, Spiderman. I know all about you! My new best friend revealed so many interesting things to me", he said almost lovingly. At the same time, the serial killer's mask began to retract, revealing the face of Cletus Kasady.
The monster's lenses and jaws now looked like a large snake wrapped around the man's neck, an autonomous and completely independent organism from the individual to whom he was attached.
"Oh my God ... the suit is alive", Peter understood, while the creature 'all head and fangs' rubbed affectionately against the assassin's cheek, producing a chirping mixed with a chilling hiss.
Cletus smiled and began to caress the symbiote.
"Cute, isn't it? I felt a bit like the boy who peeks at the Christmas presents", he continued mockingly. "I must admit that it was a very sad discovery. Behind all those mysteries and those powers you are only a boy in a tight suit that cries because he wants his dear old uncle back. It would be fun if it weren't so pathetic!"
He stopped suddenly, his face adorned with a contemplative frown. "Oh, what the hell? I'll laugh anyway! AH AH AH AH AH AH!"
"Shut up!"
Spiderman bent down and pulled a knee to his belly. The opponent fell backwards, spitting a thick lump of saliva.
Peter didn't give him time to recover.
He threw a web, harpooned the legs of the monster and lifted him, then dumped him against a beam. The moment he fell to the ground, he jumped on him and punched him face to face and stomach.
He had to maintain an advantageous position.
Carnage thrust his knee into his sternum and forced him to retreat, then rotated, wrapped his legs around his neck and began to squeeze.
"You know, I just got an idea", the creature said. "What if I pay a visit to your aunt after we're done here?"
Peter felt that his anger was increasing, growing out of control without any warning.
With a quick movement, he stuck two fingers into the lenses the monster had for eyes.
Screaming in pain, Carnage took his face in his hands and fell backwards, losing his grip. Spiderman was on him again and hit him in the throat with his elbow, throwing him again against the beam.
The support collapsed because of the blow, causing a top railing to collapse. As soon as the structure touched the ground, it caused a deafening din that rang throughout the length of the complex.
And it was at that precise moment that something decidedly unexpected happened.
Carnage let out a scream and brought both hands to his head, while long strands began to protrude from his body, stirring as if mad.
Spiderman wasted no time mulling over that unexpected opportunity.
He jumped forward and nailed the serial killer against a wall, then repeatedly hit him.
"I'm going to kill you!" he hissed on Carnage's face, while he coughed a trickle of blood.
"Eh eh ... Spiderman, if you really had the guts to do such a thing…you would have already tried it. Me, on the other hand…"
A filamentous mass exploded from the monster's chest, investing the vigilante's body with the same intensity as a running train and tumbling it to the ground.
The serial killer cracked his neck a few times.
"Oh, Spiderman, if only you knew what is really going on in this city, behind you. Do you really think you got these powers for a simple coincidence ? You and I are more connected than you think", he said mockingly, while the Avenger rose slowly from the ground and stared at him incredulously.
Cletus just smiled, glancing quickly at the pools now full of lethal toxin.
"In a couple of minutes I'm going to be as far away from this place as possible. Oh, I forgot to tell you why. You know, I planned to blow up this building! So, either try to follow me, or try to stem the detonation that, by the way, will spread my toxin all over New York. You have two minutes and sixteen seconds. But please, hunt me down! I can't wait to watch this city sink into despair."
And, after saying these words, he leapt upwards and launched himself against the nearest window, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
Spiderman was tempted to run after him, but abandoned that idea almost immediately. He had to secure New York's safety first.
There was no time to search for explosives: they could be hidden anywhere in the room. The lid above the tub opened, uncovering the toxin from which lethal fumes rose.
Two more minutes.
"Come on, Parker, use your brain. This is elementary chemistry."
He turned to look at the room. The walls were covered with shelves and several closed containers were ordered on each. The labels that marked them listed the chemical symbols and their common names.
The containers on the first wall were classified as alcohol compounds to create fuels, solvents and more.
The remaining shelves were littered with jars with the labels METHANOL, while others contained chemicals used in additives and food flavours, or fluorine that was used in dental hygiene products, for cooling units and sprays for aerosol.
There were also substances used to produce drugs, disinfectants, perfumes, herbicides, fuels and even more.
Finally there was a last wall with jars whose labels indicated only the chemical compounds, but not the common names.
Peter's mind began to process it all.
When the substances were ordered, the regular employees who loaded and unloaded the trucks were not provided with complicated lists with strings of chemical symbols, which they could hardly interpret. The lists contained only the trade names. The fact that there was an entire shelving full of unnamed containers meant that they were intended for distribution.
"Karen, what are they for?"
The voice of artificial intelligence took little time to answer.
"They are neutralizing agents used to dilute acids and volatile substances. Do you need the complete list of their uses?"
"No", Peter said.
The explosion would have occurred exactly between one minute and thirty seconds.
Spiderman rushed to the containers, took two at a time and brought them to the cistern. He poured the contents into it, in desperate hope that they would dilute the toxin before it exploded and spread throughout the city.
One minute and twenty seconds and four cans were left.
He poured two more into the cistern, then went to get the other three. They were large and bulky, but he had no alternative.
He emptied the contents of the last one into the tub, then pushed the button he had seen activated by Carnage. The lid closed and the tub began to shake.
He had thirty-seven seconds to get away from the plant before it exploded. He would never have made it in time.
"Come on, Parker, think", he muttered to himself, while he looked around once more.
At that precise moment, something tapped on the helmet of the suit, producing a loud POP!
The vigilante raised a hand to his head and looked up at the ceiling.
There was a clear liquid dripping from a large pipe stuck between the roof gratings. It was probably water ...
"Wait a second!" Peter thought, as the map of the plant appeared before his eyes once again.
Those pipes were probably incorporated into the building's cooling system, whose job was to curb any potentially lethal chemical diffusion through aerial condensation.
Carnage knew this, that's why he had decided to blow up the whole factory, so he could get around that defence mechanism.
However ... the water that flowed into that tube was taken directly from the Hudson River, which bordered the chemical plant. A continuous and constant flow that passed directly over the cistern.
An idea began to make its way into the Avenger's mind.
"Ok, I can do it", he muttered to himself.
He took a deep breath and shot a pair of webs against the tube. Then ... he started pulling.
He sank his feet into the ground and pulled with all the strength he had in his body, appealing to the internal systems of the suit to give himself a greater push.
"I can do it, I can do it, I can do it ..." he continued to mutter, while splashes of water began to leak from the connection points of the pipes.
The explosion was now ten seconds away. Nine seconds. Eight seconds. Seven seconds. Six seconds ...
CRASH!
The tube gave way, detaching itself from the support axes of the ceiling.
"Yes!" Peter exclaimed, as he fell to the ground. At the same instant, tons of water poured into the cistern and the room.
One second ... zero.
"Oh shit", the boy swore, realizing that the time had run out.
The tank exploded and the toxin spurted in all directions, mixing with the water.
A minute before it hit him, the vigilante hoped he had diluted it enough to lessen the lethal effects.
He was overwhelmed by a wave of water that threw him across the room, making him crash into the wall.
The suit clashed, and the boy found himself twirling in a swirl of debris and mud.
He slammed violently from one side of the room to the other, while the internal systems of the suit began to flash red. The world had become a cacophony of alarms and colours.
After what seemed an interminable time, he managed to grab a beam and cling to it. And he waited, until the flow of water began to stabilize.
When this happened, he began to climb along the iron column and reached the surface.
With difficulty, he collapsed on the upper ramp of the room and deactivated the mask, taking quick breaths of oxygen-rich air.
He tried to get up, but found himself unable to make even the smallest movement. He was without strength. He couldn't even open his eyes.
A couple of minutes passed in which he lay on his back. And then…
"Holy shit", a familiar voice muttered above him.
The teenager didn't even have time to look up. Carnage grabbed him by the neck and stuck his long claws into the joints of the suit, hoisting him about a meter from the ground.
Vaguely, the vigilante realized he wasn't smiling.
"Do you know what you did?" the serial killer growled, with a tone of voice that bordered on the purest unbelief. "The building's cooling system is connected to the factory exhausts. With this stunt you've just contaminated the water of the whole city ... It will be paralyzed for weeks!"
"Better paralyzed than dead", Peter coughed, surprising Cletus.
He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, apparently unable to argue. "Wow, you ... you are truly a phenomenon. Do you know how long I planned this night? I mean, a lot of people died to bring me here..."
"I know", the vigilante replied, smiling under the mask.
Carnage's grip tightened. "And you've ruined everything!"
"You shouldn't have explained it to me in such detail, Carnage ... It was all too easy to get into your head", Peter said, with a background of irony.
The serial killer hissed in anger.
"Tsk! Okay ... then I'll be content to kill only you!" he exclaimed, opening his jaws wide and preparing to take off the young superhero's head. He had no chance.
A hissing sound was heard, followed by an explosion that shattered the wall closest to the pair of opponents.
Then, Carnage's body was thrown away from the vigilante.
Peter fell to the ground, coughing loudly. At the same time, a dazzling light illuminated the darkness of the room.
The boy looked up, while Carol Danvers stood between him and Kasady, her face adorned with a visibly angry grimace.
"No ... you won't."
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BOOM!
I hope you liked the fight, let me know in a review. Next chapter...Carnage vs Carol! It will be an INTENSE battle.