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I recently finished a playthrough of what is, sadly, the last entry in the old 'Brothers in Arms' franchise, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. Hell's Highway tells the tale of the 101st Airborne, the legendary 'Screaming Eagles,' during Operation Market Garden in late 1944 and the push through Holland. The 'Band of Brothers' influences are clear, but it was a good series with different gameplay, and it is a shame that Gearbox never got around to Bastogne.

Blaze1992: Spidey doing that is what he does in this game, and I have to keep him like that to maintain the contrast between him and the Marauder. As for the Marauder, that fight was designed to be on terms that he could not overcome, mainly for story reasons. This chapter is the payoff, so you tell me if it was worth it.

MarauderPrime: Good to know, I had a lot of fun with that one, though I think this one has a better set piece.

Tactical-Magician: Hopefully you've continued to enjoy if you've made it this far.

Here we go, it's been a long time coming, over 700,000 words to be exact, but this will be the final boss fight of the main game. This won't be the end of this story however, far from it, there is still some story DLC to do and a few other ideas I want to tackle. The once a week update schedule may get toned back a bit, but don't expect me to go anywhere, otherwise I will have compiled a bunch of songs for nothing.

And speaking of songs, this is the return of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, the Swedish power metal maestros themselves, Sabaton. An epic boss battle needs some epic music, and there aren't many who do that better, as for this song in particular? Well it comes from the 2016 album The Last Stand, which details various military last stands through history, including famous ones like the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae and Rorke's Drift. Most of the album however, is about lesser known ones, and 'Last Dying Breath' is no exception to that, since it tells the story of the defense of the Serbian Capital of Belgrade during the First World War. An entire regiment defending a strategic point in the city was ordered to attack the Austro-Hungarian forces in a head on charge and are remembered particularly for the words of their commanding officer, Major Dragutin Gavrilović:

"Soldiers, exactly at three o'clock, the enemy is to be crushed by your fierce charge, destroyed by your grenades and bayonets. The honor of Belgrade, our capital, must not be stained. Soldiers! Heroes! The supreme command has erased our regiment from its records. Our regiment has been sacrificed for the honor of Belgrade and the Fatherland. Therefore, you no longer need to worry about your lives: they no longer exist. So, forward to glory! For the King and the Fatherland! Long live the King, Long live Belgrade!"

I would recommend you look into the story further, but I will warn that there is not a happy ending.

It is because this song is centered around a desperate, last ditch charge that it got picked over the rest of the album, since that is what this part of the game felt like. Though I am curious if any of you have a track you would pick instead to fit this fight.


Power Without Question – Chapter 69: Last Dying Breath

Soldiers, heroes, die for your land

Your lives are gone, erased by your command

Until your last dying breath

In haste, our lives are erased

Forward to glory for king and country

Until your last dying breath

Defend the honor of Belgrade

Forward to glory, to face your fate at last


Grimacing, Dr. Morgan Michaels looked down at the two men laying on the stretchers as they were carried through the homeless shelter, their path cleared by the hard charging silver haired Symkarian who had stormed the building like she was assaulting it. It was hard for Michaels to believe that they had been beaten and, judging from the looks those inside the shelter had on their faces, he wasn't the only one. Even with exhaustion from long shifts at the lab to develop the antiserum wracking his body and mind, the Doctor forced himself to stay alert to help the two in any way he could after they had come to his rescue a second time. The sound of Sablinova throwing open another set of doors to reveal a back storeroom of some sort shook the man back to the present.

Turning to face them was a young man, younger than Michael's own daughters, eyes wide in shock before he turned back to hastily clear the table while Sablinova cleared a second as the stretchers were set down. While the Sable Agents lifted the two wounded heroes onto the tables, Michaels confronted the kid to try and sort out just what the hell was going on. "I need to speak to your head doctor," said Michaels bluntly.

The kid looked utterly bewildered, "uh…" he managed dumbly, "there's no doctors no doctors here."

Mouth hanging slightly open in shock, the Oscorp scientist asked, "who the hell's running this place?"

"Me, mostly…" admitted the kid as he tried to stay calm despite being surrounded by an Oscorp Scientist and five pissed off soldiers of fortune, all of whom were looking to him for answers.

Michaels looked to Sable, who seemed to be just as much in shock at the admission as the Doctor was before Michaels looked down at the two wounded men and unbuttoned his cuffs, "okay," he began as he rolled up his sleeves, "It's been awhile but I'll do my best." Moving between them, he looked at Spider-Man first as he recalled his anatomy courses he had taken many years ago, made even harder by the fact he never expected to have to use them. Looking up at Silver he said, "I need you to figure out how to get his armor off," as he pointed at the Marauder before turning to the kid, "I'll need gloves, masks, anything you have that's sterile…" When he got no response, he turned the see the kid staring blankly at Spider-Man, "You hear me, kid?"

"Yeah," he replied distantly, "alright, I'll be right back." With that, he turned and sprinted off as Michaels went back to his examination.

Behind him, Silver was struggling with the Marauder's equipment, but what really shocked him was to hear a filtered voice actually manage to speak, "thanks," managed the Marauder before hissing in pain as he actually tried to sit up.

Sablinova gently eased the Pilot back down and looked into the blue visor, you can thank me by not dying Major," she told him with a surprising amount of sincerity and emotion before she went back to trying to get his gear off him. Before he could dwell on that, the kid returned and plopped a box of supplies down next to the Doctor. Quickly fishing out some gloves and a mask, Michaels saw a smattering of bandages, antibiotics, and other medical supplies.

But his attention was soon drawn to the doorway and the woman coming through it, with an athletic build and designer jacket. But it was the way she carried herself, with confidence and poise to rival Sablinova, that instantly made Michaels take note of her, and that didn't' change when the silver haired woman made a beeline for his other patient. Turning, Michaels saw Sable look up and glare at the new arrival as she unslung a backpack and looked down forlornly at the Marauder, "what happened to you cowboy?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper before she shook her head. "You need to disconnect the exo before you can remove his vest," explained the woman as she set to work doing just that.

Sablinova frowned, "are you sure?" she asked.

"I've had a lot more practice undressing him than you," informed the woman, though with a lot more frustration than mirth. Sablinova's face flickered as she turned to see a redhead standing in the doorway before it returned to its default stoic calm and the Mercenary set to work copying the other silver haired woman's movements.

He had no clue about all the dynamics at play here, but looking back at the bleeding Spider-Man on the table as he pulled on a pair of surgical gloves, Michaels knew that the Webslinger had saved his life and that it was time to return the favor as he set to work to stop the bleeding.


"1…2…3…pull," ordered Felicia as she found herself opposite the Symkarian, both gently eased the battered and undone Dragon Scale vest out from under the Marauder before his body was laid gently back down. Instantly, Sablinova unzipped the fatigues and the black under suit beneath to expose his chest, meaning that Hardy got a clear look at the nasty wound in his stomach which was now clearly four smaller claw marks that would surely add to his collection of battle scars that already marred his torso. Still, she went through the backpack to find for the stuff she had thought she would need the least, having to lay out all the ammo and gadgets to reach the Militia Medical Supplies that were at the very bottom.

Pulling those out got another look from the Symkarian, but it was not possible for Felicia to give less of a shit about what she thought as she pulled the cap off the bio gel tube and turned to face the older silver haired woman. "Hold him down," she instructed before she looked up at the helmet, wishing she could look at his face to see that he was okay, but at least the skin around the wounds wasn't too pale, which was a good sign, "I'm going to seal your wounds, this might hurt."

With steady hands despite her rapidly beating heart, Felicia squeezed the contents of the tube into the first of the half inch deep stab wounds, resisting the urge to flinch as Matt's body subconsciously tensed and a hiss came out of his mouth before the gel's painkillers could take effect. Instead, the Black Cat carefully continued until all four stab wounds were filled with the blue gel and she rubbed the excess into his skin with a tender touch before covering it with a bandage. Taking a deep breath, Felicia grabbed an injector filled with a medical STIM and broke the seal. "Rise and shine stud," she whispered before sticking him in the arm with the device and depressing the plunger.

There was a tense silence that followed as Sablinova leaned forwards, grabbing his left arm and holding two fingers to his wrist, "Pulse is rising." she informed, "He is waking up."

That was all Felicia need to hear as she grabbed his other hand and held it tight, "Come on cowboy, wake up" she urged, "wake up damnit."

Suddenly, she felt his hand squeeze hers as the Texan made a sharp intake of breath, "…the hell?" he muttered, helmet turning to look at her and then Sable, then back to her. "Is this heaven?" he asked, visor going back to the Symkarian. "Did I die?"

Felicia was unable to stop from letting out a soft laugh, of course Matthew would consider waking up half undressed with two silver haired women leaning over him heaven. Sablinova even looked amused, by her standards at least, but managed a more serious response, "You are welcome." Matthew chuckled before hissing in pain, placing a glove over the bandage before he began to zip up his under suit and fatigues.

"What do you remember cowboy?" asked Felicia quietly as she began repacking the bag.

The helmet turned to see Spider sprawled out on the other table, "Enough," answered the Marauder with a hint of steel creeping back into his filtered tones. "Ock got the drop on me, barely even got a shot off." he recalled angrily before he turned to Sable, "You found us, brought us here."

"That about sums it up." confirmed Felicia, you've only been here about 15 minutes."

Cooper nodded as he turned his head back to the Thief, "Help me sit up, would ya' darlin'?" he drawled as she grabbed his hand with one of her own and placed her other on his shoulder, surprised when Sable on the other side and they both helped him up together. Reaching out to grab the Dragon Scale vest the two women had worked so hard to get off him, the Pilot began to put it back one once more, but it was a slow process even with Felicia helping him.

"Now what?" Hardy asked as she handed him his Jump Kit that had been removed so he could be transported and left on the stretcher he had come in on.

"Now…" replied Cooper as the Jump Kit came back to life, and the exo skeleton with it, enabling him to slide tentatively off the table and stand on his own two feet, "I need a weapon."

Felicia couldn't hide her smile, now that was her man, "All your good stuff is still at the safehouse," she told him.

"Then that's where we go," he replied.

"Wait," said Sablinova as the couple turned to the Mercenary, "You are in no condition to be fighting Octavius," she informed bluntly.

"Who will then?" returned Matt, "You?" he asked seriously before nodding towards Spider, "Him? Face it Sable, there isn't anyone else. And this is a fight we gotta take, those sick people out there are counting on us, it's a fight worth fighting." The Symkarian's features softened, but she couldn't muster a response, "Are you going to help or not?" he asked bluntly, getting a nod back almost instantly from the Mercenary, "Thank you." he said sincerely, "Let's roll." The trio turned and made for the door, even if Matt was moving slower than normal, but when they reached the door Matt stopped short and laid a hand on Felicia's shoulder, "Don't worry darling." he assured, "I'm not planning on fighting Octavius." he said with deadly calm, "I'm going to kill the son of a bitch."


MJ watched as Felicia and the Marauder came out of the ad hoc operating room, returning the Pilot's acknowledging nod before her eyes widened and mouth fell open at who emerged just behind them. Silver Sable's mouth opened, but to a much lesser degree as recognition washed over her stoic features at the sight of the redheaded reporter. Surprisingly, even as MJ began to take a subconscious step back, the Symkarian offered half a smile and a nod of what Mary Jane thought might have been approval. Returning it dumbly, Mary Jane watched Sable spin with a flourish of her duster and the three head for the exit, leaving just Spider-Man inside. Part of her wanted to return to work, be useful as she could be, but her heart was telling her that Peter would need someone to talk some sense into him, and that she was the one to do it.

Swallowing her fear at what awaited her, she pushed opened the doors to see Spider-Man, suit ripped open as Michaels sowed the wound on his side shut. With that done, he placed a few ice packs on the Web head's bruised ribs before taking a deep breath and turning away. "How is he?" asked Mary Jane, the words coming out of her mouth before she even thought of them.

When the doctor turned to her, she could see the weariness in his face, the deep bags under tired eyes and heavy shadow making him look far worse for wear. "He'll live." answered Michaels, "but he needs rest."

Not able to find it in her to trouble the man with any other questions, Mary Jane merely gave a nod as he walked past, likely to find a free bed and pass out after what must have been an exhausting day. Heading slowly into the room, she took up vigil to keep an eye on the Web head, but no sooner was Michaels out of earshot than she saw one of the gloved hands tense and grab hold of the edge of the table. As she rushed to him, Peter spun himself so his legs fell to the floor, pushing himself off the table and immediately falling to one knee. "Take it easy!" urged MJ as the superhero struggled just to hold himself up.

When she finally reached his side, he brought a hand up to brace himself on her knee as the bug eyed lenses stared, "where's May?" asked the masked man weakly. Mary Jane's expression softened, offering a sad shake of her head and found herself unable to look him in the eye.

"I'll show you," she murmured softly, still not able to look at him as she pulled his arm around her shoulders and helped him to his feet, letting him brace himself on her as she helped him take his first shaky steps. It was slow and mostly silent going through the shelter, barring the few hisses and grunts of pain from the Webslinger, there were no words shared between them. Not even bothering to use the stairs, MJ guided the Wallcrawler to the elevator that brought them up to the second floor before she led her friend towards his aunt's office.

Even if she knew what was waiting for them inside the office, it didn't make it any easier to stomach. Her desk had been shoved off to the side with the sofa and the other side of the room was a hospital bed with May laying on there, looking deathly pale as the IV drip was hooked up in her arm. "They say she could go at any moment…" informed Mary Jane softly as Peter gingerly unhooked his arm from her shoulders and staggered forwards, barely able to pass the doorway before he came to a stop, merely staring blankly at the woman. Suddenly, he shifted, turning around and staggering off, hand still clutching his stitches as MJ went after him. "Where are you going?"

"I need to find Otto…" he answered desperately, "he has the antiserum." He barely made it three steps before he staggered and stumbled against the wall, crying out in pain as he pulled his hand away from his side and looked down at the blood stained glove before looking up at MJ, shaking his head. "I don't know if I can beat him…" admitted the Webslinger sadly as the redhead stopped in her tracks, having never heard such a defeatist attitude from him before and not sure how to respond as he hung his head.

Mind racing, the redhead went with her gut, "maybe you can't." she began quietly, causing him to stiffen noticeably before the reporter continued, "maybe Spider-Man needs a little help from his friend Peter."

"What?" asked the Webslinger, clearly not putting things together as the lenses came up to look at her, wide and innocent.

"Peter helped build those arms, remember?" she asked softly as the eye lenses shifted into an expression of understanding, "if anyone can find a weakness, it's him." His head tilted for a moment before the lenses narrowed with renewed focus as he pushed himself off the wall and forced himself to stand to his full height. Squaring his shoulders, Spider-Man now looked like the hero Mary Jane knew he was as he walked back down the hallway. The sight put a smile on her face. "Go get 'em Tiger!" she called out, getting him to turn around, the redhead able to see the creases on his mask from his smile as he gave her a nod and entered the stairwell to the roof.

Mary Jane was so busy watching that she failed to notice the spider that crawled down her jacket sleeve.


It was safe to say that Miles Morales was distracted as he made his way into the corner of the main floor where boxes were haphazardly scattered about, with him partially to blame since he had gone through here to find some supplies to help Spider-Man and the Marauder earlier. That had been a shock, seeing the two heroes on deaths door as they were carried in on stretchers had shaken the teen, but with May sick, he had to do what he could to keep the shelter going until Peter and Matt came back, hopefully they could help.

Shaking those thoughts from his mind, he set to work going through the parcels to find the extra blankets for the influx of people that would probably show up as it got later. "Alright…" he mused as he picked up the nearest box, "no…not this one," muttered the teen as he stacked up a few loose boxes, satisfying the drilled into him desire for order as he picked up a third, "maybe it's this one…" he hoped as he turned it over to read the label. He was about to mutter a curse when all that was replaced with a sharp pinch on his right hand followed by a spike of pain before he reflexively slapped the top of his hand, feeling something get crushed under his palm.

There was a mark on his right hand, a hint of discoloration and a bump already starting to show as he looked at his left hand and saw the smushed remains of a hairy, quarter sized spider with an odd red marking that almost looked like a '12.' "Weird…" he thought as he shook his hand to get rid of the dead bug, clenching his right and thankful there wasn't much residual pain as he got back to work, the bite quickly being forgotten.


Exiting the VBL armored car with the Marauder and a costume less Black Cat, Silver Sable found herself in a back alley under an inconspicuous looking tarp stretched between the buildings on either side. She could imagine them parking one of their usually conspicuous vehicles here, invisible to aerial observation, and making like they were now, inside a door and up a flight of stairs to reach the safehouse. The Symkarian entered after the pair, watching as the Marauder pulled his helmet off, revealing a disheveled appearance of his brown hair and the beginnings of a shadow on his face as he set his helmet down and opened up a small fridge, pulling out a bottle of water and downing half of it in one draft. "Sit down." ordered Hardy, "Rest while you can cowboy. I'll check the crime system, see if I can get a fix on Octavius."

"I need to get my gun ready darling." drawled the Pilot tiredly as the Thief gave him an unamused look.

"I will help," interjected the mercenary as she turned to the massive wall rack that was covered in more guns than any person should ever need, "which one do you want?" she asked as she looked at the Pilot.

The Marauder did not look entirely convinced, but a warning glare from the Black Cat caused any argument to die then and there, "the Kraber." he answered as Silver simply stared blankly at him and he realized his mistake, "it's the really big one." he explained before sitting down. Sable raised an eyebrow, sensing that was the only elaboration she was going to get as she turned to the arrayed armaments.

Any thoughts that this would be difficult as the Symkarian's blue eyes fell on the massive rifle in the middle of the wall, that to her eye was over a meter long and fitted with an impressively sized optic. "This one?" she asked as she began to remove it, getting a nod before she removed the 20 kilo weapon from its mount and hefted it over to the small table the Pilot was sitting at, "are you sure it will do the job?"

The Marauder flashed a sideways grin, "It stopped you in a single shot," he informed as he took the rifle and he grimaced, "I'm uh, sorry about that, by the way." Sable nodded absently at the words, not having expected them, especially not with the amount of sincerity he had put into them. Still, she felt the bruise on her stomach from where the arc round had hit her flare up at the memory of the shot incapacitating her before the Major continued, "I'm sorry about the whole episode, really, I am. I wish it didn't have to come to that."

"The blame for the lives lost does not lay with you Major," assured Sablinova as she pulled the box magazines and ammo can from below the weapon rack as Cooper began inspecting the rifle. Sitting down opposite him, she cracked open the boxes of ammunition and continued speaking. "The blame lays with those who would spend their lives so wastefully, Osborn, Bliss, and…myself…" It was a hard pill she had to swallow, so soon after it felt like she had been on top of the world, to be reduced to what now felt like her lowest point because she had been forced to turn against former allies and her own principals when she could have made a stand, and maybe those men would still be here. The Marauder nodded, but offered no answer, and Silver did not begrudge him for this, there was little he could say that would make her feel better, and the shared silence seemed to be filled with a respect for those who had needlessly died because of their respective actions.

Finally, with slow and deliberate motions, Sablinova began to pull out a few rounds of each type and began to load the different types into their own magazines. "What are your plans for Osborn?" she asked seriously.

The Pilot paused, pondering the question seriously before taking a deep breath and giving his answer, "keep him alive if I can."

Sablinova's eyebrow went up in surprise, "why?" she asked bluntly.

"I guess that doesn't make much sense, does it?" he mused rhetorically, Sable maintaining her stoic expression as the Major collected himself and continued, "Honestly? What would Osborn's death accomplish? We've seen two madmen try and take revenge on him already, and look what that's gotten us." There was a pause as he seemed to struggle with his next words, "Besides, he took his best shot at me, he missed, I don't see him trying again. That, and I got other things to look forward to…" he finished, casting a not so subtle glance towards the woman at the terminal on the other side of the room.

Sable nodded in understanding and even envied him for a brief moment before those thoughts were pushed aside and she finished loading the ammunition. Neatly stacking up the three magazines, loaded with blue, red, and black tipped rounds respectively, but there was one more thing she felt the need to say. "I will not be going with you Major." informed Sable as the Marauder stopped and looked up at her, "this is your fight, not mine. I need to step away, decide which fight is the one that matters to me, not to whomever is paying."

"I understand." answered the Major simply as he set the rifle down.

"If you could relay that message to Spider-Man…" began the mercenary, only to be cut off.

"You can do it yourself," returned the Marauder as he picked up a pen and sticky note, quickly jotting down a number and handing her the small yellow paper square. "Just don't tell him who gave you that, okay?"

Taking the note, Silver nodded, "very well." Pocketing it, she looked at the Major and told him, "I have rarely met so worthy and adversary, or as capable an ally…and never have I met anyone who has been both."

"I'll take it." drawled the Pilot with a grin, "And it's been a pain in the ass to fight against you and a privilege to fight alongside you, Ms. Sablinova. I'm glad I got the chance," he said sincerely. Slowly, he pushed himself up from the seat and brought his straightened right hand to his brow, rendering her a sharp salute.

"Likewise, Major…Matthew." she returned as she saluted a fellow warrior. "And should we meet again, you may call me Silver."

The Pilot gave a small smile, "Yes ma'am."

"You know, if you want," injected the Thief as she pointed to a door, "There's a bed just in there." informed Black Cat with a smirk, "Just don't forget to invite me."

It took all of Sable's considerable discipline to not react to the remark, "that will not be necessary." she answered, but the growing grin on the younger woman's face was still annoying. "But there is one last thing." she said as she reached back and pulled out his Smart Pistol, deftly spinning it around so she was holding by the barrel, "this belongs to you, Major," she said as she offered him the grip of the handgun.

Slowly, his gloved hand grasped the weapon and took it back, looking over it with a keen eye before slipping it in the holster on his chest rig, "Thank you for taking care of it Silver."

Nodding, she extended her hand, only for the SRS Gunfighter to look down at it dumbly for a second before he realized what she meant and shook it, "take care Major Cooper." offered the mercenary before turning and extending her hand to the Black Cat, "and the same to you Ms. Hardy." Sable couldn't help but smirk slightly at the woman's peeved expression but the heiress swallowed her pride and shook the Symkarian's hand. On surprisingly amicable terms, the Symkarian made to leave, but after Silver opened the door, she turned to look at the two one last time. "Farewell." she said before she slipped out and closed it behind her.

But she didn't go down the stairs, curious as to what would be said between them. "I'm almost sad to see her go" admitted Hardy.

"I can't believe it." replied Cooper, "but so am I." There was a feminine giggle, "You just wanted to play with her guns, didn't you cowboy?" asked the Thief.

"Yeah," admitted the Marauder, what? Those were some sweet shooting pistols. You happen to know anybody who could steel me a pair?" Unable to prevent a small smile from slowly appearing on her face, Sablinova quietly made her way down the stairs and started to ponder what she would do next.


With his destination in sight, Spider-Man redoubled his efforts, ignoring the pain from his still healing wound as he hung a right and his mask phone rang with an unknown number. Answering it, he was surprised to hear the brash accented voice of Silver Sablinova sound over the earpiece. "Spider-Man," she began harshly before her tone shifted, "hello," she continued, almost politely.

"Man, I gotta change this number…" muttered Peter as he crossed the last street and landed outside the Lab.

If the Symkarian heard him, then his comment went ignored. "I must leave New York," revealed the Mercenary bluntly, "recent events…give me pause." Taking a deep breath, Sablinova continued, her voice lacking its usual commanding edge, "your rescue of Osborn, despite his hatred…it affected me. I must return home; reflect on this life I choose."

"Dang," replied the Webslinger, thoroughly shocked at the genuine admission from the normally stoic Symkarian. "I Think I'm going to miss you and your death troopers," quipped the Webhead with faux fondness.

"Unfortunately," replied the woman as Peter suppressed the urge to heave out a deep sigh and curse his own stupidity at saying something so optimistic, he really should have known better by now, "though I question our work, they do not, and Osborn continues to pay. I am sorry." finished the Soldier of Fortune honestly.

"So close to being good news," replied Spider-Man as he opened the door into the lab.

"Indeed," agreed Sablinova as he made his way through the passageway towards the lab door proper, "I will miss your bizarre witticisms, Spider-Man." revealed the Mercenary with a tone that was dangerously close to fondness. "Until we meet again." And with that, the line went dead, leaving the Wallcrawler to ponder the strange call before he got to work.

"What a strange, violent lady…" mused Peter before he refocused on the immediate task at hand and entered the lab, pulling his mask off as he meandered through the lab, noticing the items that Otto had smashed in a fit of violent rage with a heavy heart. Even still, Peter knew there was good in Otto, but he wasn't going to let the man destroy himself, the city, or his Aunt. Making his way deeper towards Otto's private office, he barged in and focused on the blueprints of the arms and rest of his costume on the walls. "We did the impossible, Doc. But now I have to destroy it…" he said sadly, "With a little creation of my own…"

Moving from Ock's space to his own, Peter pulled out the blueprints for his various Spider-Armor designs from his desk, thankful he had kept them under lock and key. For as good as the arms were, they were all Octavius had in a fight, they were both his offense and defense, if Peter could get past them, either by dodging or shrugging off a hit or two so he could close the distance and land some hits of his own, he predicted he could beat his mentor turned supervillain.

The wrinkle in this plan was that the only suit he had was a spare Advanced Suit, his armored suits had been trashed and he had lacked the time and resources to make proper replacements, meaning he would have to cobble something together with whatever he could scrounge up in the lab. "If only I could call up Cooper and convince him to give me a couple of those vests to take apart and use…" mused Peter as he looked around and out the open door back into the lab when his eyes fell on a box of unused polymer composite tiles used to construct the outer casings of the arms. "That could work…"

He wasn't sure how long it took him to cobble the ad hoc ablative armor package together, but he had soon overlaid the entire spare Advanced Suit with the 1/8 inch thick black and yellow panels, the Spider symbols on his chest and back glowing a soft yellow and standing out in contrast to the black of the rest of the suit. Stripping off the battle scarred suit before donning the armored one and strapping on his web shooters, hooking them into the deeper reserve belts of spare web cartridges tucked beneath the armored sleeves. As the HUD booted up and the first cartridge cycled into the web shooters, he bounced on the balls of his feet, rolling his shoulders to get a feel of the new suit's weight and bulk.

And it wasn't a moment too soon as his phone beeped angrily at him from the worktable and the Webslinger scooped it up and opened the emergency news bulletin, the headline announcing 'Mayor Taken Hostage at Oscorp Tower' at the bottom, the image showing searchlights poised on a tentacle equipped man ascending the exterior of the famous building with one of the claws holding a man in a filthy white dress shirt. Pocketing the phone, Spider-Man made for the exit, the pain fading as adrenaline began to enter his veins. "Now or never…"


Even as his feet dangled precariously, Norman Osborn remained undaunted as he wiggled in the limited confines of the arm wrapped around him, glaring up at the back of Otto Octavius' head as the man finished ascending his tower. Snarling as Otto turned to look down on him, like he was the better of the two and the CEO would not let that stand, "Do you want me to beg?" he yelled defiantly. "Not going to happen!" he promised as he was slowly drawn closer to the supervillain.

But Octavius chuckled, slowly, confidently as the arm squeezed the Mayor even tighter as he smiled viscously, The world will know the truth before they mop you off the pavement." taunted Otto as he squeezed Osborn tighter as Osborn grunted in pain as his arms were squeezed and his ribs burned in protest. While Otto watched with a cold expression, he produced a cell phone and opened the camera app before passing it along to one of his artificial arms and shoving it right in Osborn's face. "Tell them what you did!" demanded Doctor Octopus, his tone that one of finality.

"I…" began Norman before he got a handle on himself, "never…" he began before he was suddenly thrust out, more than 20 feet from safety as Osborn lurched in the arm's iron grip.

"Everything you have is built on lies!" shouted Octavius, "LIES!" he screamed before Osborn felt the arm loosen around him. But any relief he had was short lived as he soon slipped and began to fall, arms and legs flailing as he screamed only to stop just as suddenly, hung inverted as he felt a claw dig into his right ankle and watched his own phone slip from his pocket and fall through the rain that was beginning to fall as he was slowly hoisted back up. "You stole my company! My ideas!" berated Octavius as Osborn found himself looking at the mad scientist eye to eye, but just barely out of arms reach as he twisted and thrashed against his captor, to no avail. "Now…" said Otto lowly as the phone was brought closer to Norman's face once again, "The truth."

"The truth…" began Norman lowly, trying to pierce the goggles that concealed the eyes of what he knew to be a madman and decided that, if nothing else, he would not go quietly into the night. "Okay…the truth is, you were only ever worth a damn when you worked for me. Snarled the CEO. "The truth is, you could never accept that I'm better than you. You're a failure Otto!" he asserted, "and you always will be."

When Otto let him go, Norman was not surprised, the feeling of weightlessness and rushing air not as shocking or unsettling as it had been the first time, the scream that came out was more of a reflex, the primal part of his mind that still called out for help despite the intellectual part knowing that none would be coming. He wanted to form one final thought, a last memory, but the words, nor the mental images, took form, the last thing Norman thought ever expected would be a blank.

But all of that came to a stop as fast as he did, the wind being knocked from his lungs as he slowed rapidly, his head snapping forwards to give him a hellacious whiplash, but he was able to recognize that the ground wasn't coming up at him as he began to ascend and was promptly dumped on the overhand shielding the main entrance to the tower. Rolling onto his back, he almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the shape of a man begin to sprint up the side of his tower, a yellow spider glowing on his back.


"Cowboy, what's going on?" asked Felicia as Cooper tried to follow the action through the scope on his now set up Kraber. He may not have been as close as he would have liked, but he was on the only rooftop that was above Oscorp tower and offered a good vantage.

"I…I think Spidey finally decided to show up." he said as he tried to track the fast moving blur sprinting up the building, it couldn't possibly be anyone else, "he's heading for the roof, looks like he's going to have a go at Ock."

"Spider does have a flair for the dramatic…" mused the Black Cat, "what are you going to do?"

"Same as always sweetheart," he drawled as he inserted the magazine of Black Talon rounds into the side of the anti-material rifle, "whatever I have to."


Leaping from the edge of the building, Peter fired a web line to swing around one of the light poles that illuminated the roof of Oscorp tower, ignoring the steadily increasing rain as he sling shot himself up and onto the rooftop, landing behind the sole figure who had four massive arms coming out of his back, brightly illuminated by the lights as he neared the central tower. "Give me the antiserum!" shouted the Wallcrawler, voice raw with unbridled emotion, every hope against hope he had going towards Otto finally seeing reason and giving up his crusade. But Otto wheeled about, each arm stomping as it slammed into the rooftop, metal grinding against metal as the scientist turned to face him, "Otto," Peter begged, "you worked your whole life to help people. Please…"

But his pleas fell on deaf ears, the claws slamming down and solidifying Otto's position, squared up to the Webslinger as he sneered down at him through the welders goggles and the rain dripping down them as he lifted himself up higher. "You're fighting the wrong man!" declared Otto with a calm certainty, lifting two of the arms up and extending the razor-sharp claws, poising them to lash out while Peter's fingers held down the buttons for his web shooters, "but have it your way."

Time seemed to slow down as that first arm surged towards the Webslinger and he jumped up as the yellow tipped claws buried themselves in the roof as Spider-Man flipped around and loosed an impact web that kept the claw there. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Spidey's sixth sense was ringing and he leapt out of the way of a second arm, rolling forwards and surging towards Octavius as he threw a punch, feeling the swing connect just before he was batted away. Contorting his body to get his feet under him before he hit the roof, he looked up to see the beginnings of a bruise on Otto's face, "just hand over the antiserum! We don't have much time -please!" he pleaded desperately, already feeling the pang of regret from striking his mentor.

"You should have let Osborn fall!" retorted Otto as the webbed down arm burst free and the pair circled each other and a bolt of lightning illuminated Octavius's evil grin, "I'll hand over the antiserum once he's paid for his crimes!" he screamed as the two arms shot out once again, one sweeping low as Peter jumped clear of it as the second came in for the kill. Spider-Man fired a web line at the swiping arm, pulling him away from the claw as the second one tried to track him while he ran up the arm, leaping up to deliver a roundhouse kick just as the claw caught up, ripping into his back as he felt the ablative armor buckle as he twisted, firing a web at the arm that had just hit him to pull himself back out of range.

But Otto didn't give him a chance to breathe, the two arms ripping up electrical components and hurling them at Spider-Man, who deftly dodged the first before firing a pair of web lines at the second, reversing its momentum by pirouetting on the spot and hurling it back at Octavius. The Doctor grabbed the electronic filled box and crushed it with his claws before the wreckage was angrily tossed aside. "Give me the antiserum and I promise Osborn will face charges!" implored the Web head.

"Liar! Just like Osborn!" shouted back Otto, sounding even more unhinged and his speech slightly slurred, all four arms now down on the roof as they contracted, "nothing but LIES!" As he said that, the Doctor leapt up with the combined power of the four arms before they extended to pull himself to the tower at the center of the roof before plunging two of the claws deep into the core of the tower, slashing and ripping through the electronics that powered it before he ripped the innards out completely, showering the roof and Spider-Man with sparks as a buzz grew at the base of his skull as the pooling rain on the roof began to spark dangerously. Spider-Man fired a web line at one of the field lights and pulled himself up at the same time the tower erupted, cascading electrical failures resulting in flames belching from it in all directions, lighting up the night in a hellish red orange and emanating a heat that Peter could feel through the rain, armor, and suit.

The power surge reached the roof, sparking between the wires torn up by Octavius' errant attacks and along the water, made the roof a no go zone as Peter was forced to flip over and reverse when his Spider sense warbled in warning and he instantly cut the line to dodge the transformer that was hurled at him. Firing a web line at the light directly above him as he held down the button for his other shooter, firing an impact web that hit the Doctor square in the chest, staggering him and allowing the Web head to close the distance. Attaching a web line to the tower, Peter pulled with all his might and rammed his fist into Otto's face as he shot past, twisting in midair to fire a pair of web lines at the Doctor and wrench Octavius from his perch, hurling him back down to the rooftop. Safeties finally engaged to stop power from flowing to the roof, meaning the only illumination came from the fires that still burned, the spotlights from the pair of circling helicopters, and the lightning strikes. "People are dying! They need the antiserum now!" cried Peter as he watched Otto stir.

Octavius responded by lashing out with one of the arms as two more lifted him off the wet roof, catching Spider-Man off guard and clipping him, ripping some of the applique armor off his right leg. "I will cure the city after I kill Osborn!" roared Otto as the Web head was forced to dodge away, sidestepping the arm as it slammed down around him, relying on his sixth sense to avoid the sonar targeting that was updated at the speed of thought.

"Doctor," called out Peter as he stumbled and leapt away from the claws, "you're not thinking clearly." Ducking and rolling as it came at him again, he fired a burst of webbing that gummed up the appendage and giving him a split second of breathing space.

"On the contrary," countered Octavius as a second arm came streaking in as Peter backflipped out of range, "I finally have clarity!" declared the scientist as he leapt at the Web head with his other two arms. The aggressive move drew an instant reaction from the vigilante, not to retreat, but to attack. Firing a pair of web lines at Otto, Peter kicked his feet up and surged skywards, slamming his feet into the Doctor's chest and knocking him back just as he landed on the roof while Spidey soared higher still and brought his hands up to fire web lines at one of the claws at the end of the arm before gravity reclaimed its grip on him and pulled him back down, bringing the claw down with him before he impaled Otto with his own creation.

He screamed out in pain as the smaller interior claws pierced the welders outfit and flesh with equal ease, causing Octavius to cry out in pain as he reflexively pulled the arm out, the blood covered claw dripping as the overalls darkened. Rolling into a crouch, Peter felt a twinge of remorse as he watched Otto bring a hand down to the wound that was almost a mirror match to the one Peter had before he sneered and leapt up to reclaim his perch on the tower. Clenching his teeth, Peter raised his arms and fired a pair of web lines to get up after him, not wanting to be on the receiving end of any more thrown debris from the Villain.

When Otto turned around after reaching the top of the tower, he found the Webslinger was already upon him, planting both feet on his chest to pin him to the metal while the vigilante clambered around behind him and quickly found the neural interface at the base of his skull. Ducking out of the way of the claw as it shot by his face, the Web head grabbed hold of the aluminum cap that protected the vulnerable internals and ripped it off to expose the glowing yellow microprocessor beneath, blinking in the eerie red light. As his hand plunged in to rip it out and end this, one of the claws came in, grabbing him by the wrist just short of his goal and squeezing, cracking and then piercing the compound armor and straining against his superhuman strength as the second came up and pinned Peter's other hand to the metal of tower.

So close to his goal, Peter fought, refusing to be denied, coaxing every ounce of strength he could muster into overpowering the claws just this one time as he went for the interface. After mere moments, he realized, to his horror, that he was losing, his arms lifting up and away as his body was stretched and his shoulders burned as it felt like his appendages were going to be ripped from their sockets.

Instead of pulling, the claws squeezed, piercing the plating around his arms and piercing his skin as he felt the cold rain and warm blood begin to trickle along his arms and screamed as his feet finally stopped sticking to Otto's back and he was promptly slammed into the tower. Pain erupted along his whole body as the armor absorbed most of the blow but cracked in the process as he continued to try and wrench his arms against the claws to no avail. Spider-Man was thrown against the metal once more, causing the damaged parts of his armor to fall away, exposing the Advanced Suit beneath when he felt one of his arms go free. Immediately, he raised his web shooter to try and get a desperate shot in but the gadget merely sparked uselessly, crushed by the claw. The remaining arm whipped him around, slamming him into the tower as he heard the armor around his head falter, his HUD distorting as the eye lens cracked and he twisted around only to have the claw that had let go slam into his face. But the armor did its job, taking the hit despite the damage.

But now Peter had a free arm and went on the attack, slamming a full powered punch into the claw pinning his other hand, getting a satisfying crunch beneath his armored knuckles as he broke the alloys and polymers and his hand was free. Now damaged, the Doctor recoiled and retracted the claw that had Peter's head pinned. Only when Octavius' claw pulled away, it took the armor and the damaged lens along with it while leaving the mask beneath in tatters, exposing Peter's chin to the cool night air.

But as Spider-Man brought his hands up, the claw that had just pulled back slammed right back into his chest, pinning his hands to his torso as the wind was knocked out of him, the claws squeezing as Octavius shook his head. "Such a disappointment…" he chided with mock sadness as Peter struggled for air and Octavius shifted to square up to him, the badly battered tower creaking and groaning in protest, "Parker." That last word had more venom and hate in it than the Superhero had ever heard before, and all of it went straight to Peter's stomach as soon as the word reached his ears.

"You…knew?" asked a shocked Wallcrawler through heavy breaths as he looked up at a sneering Otto, the damaged claw poised to deal the final blow.

"I tried to warn you, Peter." reminded Otto through his battered and bruised face, "But you didn't listen."

All the while, the revelation was tearing him apart worse than the claws had, Peter was still helpless as Octavius prepared to deal the final blow.


Matthew, a few hundred yards away and not able to hear the words the pair were exchanging, watched the scene play out through the thermal scope on the Kraber as the scope finished its calculations. He finally had the few seconds he needed to line up Doc Ock, even better, his best friend wasn't in the line of fire and with him pinned there was no chance of that changing.

Only he would have a front row seat to watching his mentor's insides get turned to hamburger by a fragmenting anti material rifle bullet.

Gritting his teeth as he made up his mind, Cooper closed the bolt to chamber the Black Talon, let out a final breath, brought the crosshairs to rest on his mark, and squeezed the trigger.


Peter was struggling to breathe as he thrashed against the grip of the claw, the tips digging deeper into his exposed skin the more he thrashed, but he suddenly stilled as realization finally set in. Doctor Octavius, the man he had sought to emulate, had not only killed hundreds, if not thousands directly, not only had he gotten even more killed by releasing the inmates, not only had he helped the other supervillains in the past, and not only had he thrown him half dead off the roof of the RAFT, he had done all that knowing that it was be his protégé on the receiving end. "You knew!" snarled Peter.

Otto grimaced, "I won't let you win." he promised, "This means too much to me!" he shouted as the claw squeezed tighter and Peter felt lightheaded for a brief moment, his mouth desperately trying to take in more air, but there was nowhere for it to go.

Suddenly, air rushed back in, his alertness returning as he registered a loud echoing thunder, only there had been no lightning strike to sever the arm pining him, it had been a rifle shot. Seizing the advantage, Peter ripped his arms free of the now powerless claw, "No more than it means to me!" he roared as he charged forwards, slamming his whole body weight into the dazed scientist, who desperately dug his claws into the tower.

But the abuse had finally taken its toll, the bolts sheared and the tower began to topple with Otto still stubbornly hanging on until it slammed into the roof, breaking apart as the force of the impact caused the grip of the claws to falter and both men fell along with the flaming debris. Extending his arm, Peter felt his Spider powers hold him fast to the side of the building as his whole body slammed into the glass and he caught his breath, his feet finding purchase. Standing on shaky legs, the Web head turned to look down the building, seeing the top of the tower some thirty stories below, still smoldering despite being shattered across the road.

But much closer was a bloody and beaten Octavius, his two fully functional claws holing him to the side of the building as the third damaged one loomed over him. One of its four talons hung limp and useless, but the other three clicked together as Otto reoriented himself and looked up at Spider-Man. "Don't you see all the people you're hurting?" asked Peter as he ignored his body's demands to rest, raising his arms in response.

Indeed, Otto wasn't done yet, slowly clawing his way up the skyscraper to meet him, "You'll never understand!" he shouted as Peter's sixth sense ran and he sidestepped the arm as it came down at him. He tried to spring forwards, but his body refused, resulting in a staggered step as the claw retracted. "You haven't suffered like I have!" he roared as the arm shot forwards and grabbed his torso again, his arms still free as he was pulled close to the Doctor.

"Please," begged Peter as he struggled to loosen the grip of the claws, "think of the man you were…"

"That man is gone." sneered Otto evilly, "You can't save me, Peter."

"Then you'll just have to…" began the Web head as he gripped the damaged claw with his remaining strength and pulled on the claws, "Save…yourself!" he finished as he felt the claws buckle and he yanked them off. Instantly, he pushed himself off and stuck to the building, ducking the claw as it shot back at him. "You were my hero!" shouted Peter hoarsely as he waded in, "you meant so much to me!"

But Otto was silent as the arm came back in and the Wallcrawler ducked forwards, rolling under the incoming attack and threw an uppercut that hit the Doctor in the chin and knocked him backwards as he clutched his jaw and Peter followed up with a hook right into the still bleeding wound on his side. "We were supposed to change the world!" cried out the Queens Native, holding back tears as he jumped up and put a powerful cross into his face that tore the welders goggles away before the Wallcrawler fell back to the roof, breathing heavily as he struggled to push himself back up and raise his weary arms.

"You look tired, Parker." taunted Octavius through his busted lip and bruised face as the scientist slowly ascended the building. His own weapons were badly damaged, much of their exterior plating had ben chipped away, exposing the innards as they pulsed and the claws themselves sparked weakly from the punishment they had sustained.

Spider-Man shook his head definitely, "Not tired." he corrected as that top arm surged forwards, talons closed to try an impale him, but the Wallcrawler leapt forwards and latched onto the Doctor's lower left arm, "Just hurt." Spider sense ringing as the arm opposite the one Peter clung to came in to slash at the Web head just as he leapt off and flipped over Octavius' head and landed on the roof. Turning to face his foe, who was now thoroughly entangled by his own extra arms, Spider-Man leapt in with everything he had left, reaching around the back of Otto's head to yank out the neural interface.

But his fingers fumbled on the small chip, and in that split second, one of the claws came in and slammed into his stomach, ramming him up against the glass, cracking it as the sharp claws dug in and pinned Peter there. Frantically, Spider-Man tried to get free, wriggling and prying, but he didn't have enough strength left in him to manage it after the grueling fight. A warbling at the base of his skull caused his head and hands to snap up just as a second claw came in for the kill, Peter's shaking hands able to grab two of the claws and hold them open as the others snapped together mere inches from his face as he forced his head back and tried to push them away, but the arm stayed stubbornly put. "Otto, stop!" Peter begged as the man came into view and he still struggled with the claw, his own shaking arms faltering as the claw drew ever so slightly closer.

But Otto just gave a twisted smile as the bottom claw came forwards and began to apply pressure to Spider-Man's shoulder, slowly pressing through the damaged armor until it reached skin and went in just above his rib cage, slowly overpowering the Web head as it plunged in further and Peter howled in agony. "Ohh, Parker." chided Otto disappointedly as he moved in closer, "If you want to change the world…" he explained as his human hand produced a small blue vial, "you have to be the kind of man who can make the hardest decisions.

Peter's eyes fixated on that bottle, human eye and spider eye lens narrowing at the sight of the antiserum. Gritting his teeth, for what good it could do, Spider-Man replied, "I couldn't…agree…more!" before he let go of the claw an let it dig in further, ripping through flesh and tissue as Peter ignored the burning pain and reached out to Otto's head, slamming both hands down on it to hold it steady as one worked its way around and ripped the microchip from the interface.

"Noooo!" screamed Otto as the arms, now devoid of direction, automatically powered down and began to seize up while Peter's hands returned to the claw buried in his chest, slowly coaxing out the blood soaked tip as it ripped up more of his internals on the way out.

But once it was free, the disabled arms finally lost their battle with gravity and Octavius plummeted down the side of the tower, but that sight sent a cold realization down Peter's spine. "The antiserum…" he breathed as he ignored the fire raging in his chest from his open wound and dropped down after Otto, bringing his arms in close to his sides to fall faster. As the distance closed, Otto slammed into one of the pieces of the tower that had gotten lodged in the side of the building at the bottom of a thirty foot gash, one of Otto's arms breaking off as the man slid along the metal and into the building with the Webslinger not far behind.

But when Peter landed, his tired legs refused to work and he collapsed to the floor, slowly looking up to see his mentor sprawled out on a toppled cabinet, the two remaining arms laying limp and still on the floor, the yellow lights faded. Pulling his damaged mask off and taking in deep breaths despite the burn each intake caused, Spider-Man slowly pulled himself up and limped forwards, letting out a hiss of pain as he bent over and picked up the small Oscorp labeled bottle. Holding the cure in his trembling hand, Peter's grip on it tightened as another hand wrapped around his wrist, "Peter," said Otto, but in the voice the Webslinger recognized, no hate, no vitriol, "I saw you as a son." confessed the Doctor. "I should have known you'd turn on me, just like all the others."

"Turn?" asked Peter in shock, all the pent up emotion he had been holding back starting to roar back to the forefront as he stared down at the beaten and broken form of the man who had been his father figure for years. "Turn?" he repeated. "I worshipped you!" snapped Peter, "your mind…your conscience…how you wanted to help others…" he listed off as Otto recoiled slightly at each, "the way you never gave up!"

At that, Otto pulled himself up to look the bruised and battered Peter in the eye. "That's because men like us have a duty," asserted the scientist, "a responsibility, to use our talents in the service of others," argued Octavius, "Even if they don't appreciate it…we have to do what's right for those beneath us. Weather they understand it or not."

Peter couldn't believe it, there was no neural interface to influence his mind, this was not some twisted version of the man he had known, these were Otto's true beliefs. "No! You're wrong!" snapped Peter as he yanked his hand away and recoiled back from Octavius, "you were everything I wanted to be!" he shouted, unable to keep the emotion out of his voice as the first tear rolled down his face. Bending down, he continued as he scooped up one of the obliterated arms, "And you just…threw it away!" he screamed as he tossed the ruined machine down.

With nothing else to say, Peter turned around when Otto's voice called out to him, "yes, of course," conceded Octavius, "you're right, Peter. I see that now," he admitted desperately as the Queens Native came to a sudden halt, trying to keep a straight face. Those were the words he had wanted so desperately to hear, all he needed to have to forgive the man. "The neural interface…affected my mind," admitted Otto before slowly drawing his hand up to point at the Webslinger as he turned to look at him, and the scientist assured him, "but I can fix it. We can fix it…together. If you'll help me."

But Peter was hearing it now, when Octavius had driven a claw through his chest, when he had let thousands die, when he had put Aunt May on what might be her death bed. Part of him wanted so much to take the offer, but another part wanted to drive his fist through Otto's skull and kill him right there. Shaking his head, Peter did neither, "I'll do everything I can. I'll make sure you get the best help…" promised the Webslinger.

"No!" cried out Otto desperately. "If they put me away, they'll take my arms! I'll be trapped in this useless body!" bemoaned Octavius loudly as Spider-Man looked at him sadly. "Please, Peter," begged Otto, "that…wasn't me. You said…you'd never abandon me," reminded Otto. "You promised…remember?" Peter remembered, very clearly, squeezing his eyes shut as he took a deep breath when the doctor continued, "and, of course…" continued Otto, "You'll rest easy knowing your secret is…safe with me."

Exhaling deeply, and wincing only slightly, Peter opened his eyes, soundly sure of his decision. "You do what you think is best, Doc." he told his mentor, "it's all any of us can do." With that, the Webslinger straightened and turned around, "Even when it hurts like hell." Looking up at the hole in the wall, he saw that a third figure was in the room, watching silently as Peter fought his desire to turn and help Octavius and instead put one foot out in front of the other, taking one step, then two, and then three, each harder than the last.

"Peter?" asked Otto, "Peter, where are you going?" The Doctor flopped ineffectually on the cabinet, with no hope of getting up with the weight of the powerless arms hanging from his back, he was trapped by his own creation. "Peter? PETER!" he screamed.

But instead of looking back, the Web head's tired eyes were focused on the emotionless blue visor of the skull adorned helmet that was fixed on the Doctor before slowly shifting to look at Spider-Man. "You got it?" asked the Marauder simply, his filtered voice betraying no emotion.

"I got it," confirmed Peter as he showed the Texan the bottle and slowly pulled the tattered remains of his armored mask back on.

The Marauder looked back at Octavius, who was still crying out, pleading for help. "And you're sure you want to leave him like that? After everything he did?" asked the Pilot quietly, though there was a subtle growl that made it's way through the voice filter. Peter couldn't bear to look, but gave his friend a curt nod, not able to think that he could manage words. "Alright then, it's your call. So, are we done here?"

"We're done here."


Peter knew he was pacing nervously, but that didn't make it any easier to stop, especially as his eyes came to rest on May, who was still sleeping in the corner of her office, looking deathly frail and pale. But any internal conundrums the Wallcrawler had ended when he heard Dr. Michaels shift in his chair, the man had been validating that the antiserum was still viable and hadn't been tampered with in any way. While the process couldn't have taken more than three minutes, Peter desperately wanted to shout at the man to hurry up.

Turning to the scientist and looking at him through the replacement mask he had grabbed from his stash on the roof of the shelter, Peter didn't even realize he was holding a breath. "It's still viable," announced Michaels as the breath came out, "But we'll need the entire sample as a base to produce more doses."

That hit Peter like a punch in the gut, they were so close, they couldn't possibly fail now. "How…how long will that take?" asked the Webslinger shakily, trying to keep his eyes fixed on Michaels and not look nervously at May.

"Few hours," guessed Michaels optimistically, "maybe a day."

Peter couldn't stop himself from turning to look at his last living family, the woman who had raised him like a son, and could clearly tell she didn't have that long, even with Michaels' most optimistic number. "What if we used it to cure someone right now?" he asked, trying his best to stay calm, but slipping closer to failing with each passing moment.

The doctor shook his head, "then there won't be enough left to cure the others." His masked head drooping at that, Spider-Man turned to look out the window of May's office and onto the main floor of F.E.A.S.T., where there were a dozen more beds, just like May's, each filled with more sick. Around them were even more volunteers, including Felicia and the Marauder, who had come back and gone to help while Peter delivered the antiserum. He had a responsibility to them, all of them.

But he had a responsibility to May too, the woman had done more for him than he could ever repay, and if he just let her die…

Michaels could see Spider-Man struggling with the weight of the decision, "I'll give you a few minutes…" he said sympathetically, before standing and heading for the door, tapping a waiting Mary Jane on the arm, silently guiding her out. Looking down at the bottle sitting on the desk and then at Aunt May, Peter was overcome by a sudden urge as he scooped the bottle up and rushed to her bedside as he saw her head turn, eyes dim, but open.

Crouching down beside her, he put a gloved hand on her clammy arm, "you're going to be okay ma'am." he assured, "I've got the cure right here."

But Aunt May only smiled a sad smile, "take off your mask." she said weakly, but the words still had the weight of an order. "I want to see my nephew."

Hand shaking, Peter brought it up to his mask and slowly pulled it off, not even bothering to question her or offer any denial. Revealing his bruised face as a tear forced its way out of his eye, Peter finally found the ability to speak, "You knew?" he asked as he tried to hold back the oncoming flood of emotion.

The kind woman nodded weakly, "I've known for a while," she admitted.

"I…I never wanted you to worry," replied Peter, answering the unasked question of why he had never told her.

May didn't chastise him, but managed to muster and understanding smile, "I did." she revealed. "And I am so proud of you. And Ben would be too. All the people you saved…"

But before she continued, Peter shook his head as more tears worked their way out, "I don't know what to do…" he admitted as he looked down at the bottle in his hand.

A cold hand ran along his face caringly as he looked back up at Aunt May. "Yes you do…" she told him before she broke out into another coughing fit, a few drops of blood coming up as she turned away from him and he stood, heading to the IV and lining up the bottle with the needle to add the antiserum to the drip. But with it just a fraction of an inch away, he stopped, unable to move it that last little distance that would damn hundreds more to die.

"Arrrgh!" snarled Peter as he snapped his hand back, still sniffling to prop of the dam holding back his emotions, as he tried to get a hold of himself with only the steady beeping of the heartbeat monitor disturbing the silence. Finally, Peter set the bottle down and collapsed to his knees, grabbing May's hand as the floodgates began to open.

Sobbing almost uncontrollably, Peter didn't even hear the monitor shift to a single, flat tone.


Cooper's Logbook – Black Talon Ammunition

Black Talon was a line of frangible hollow point ammunition used on the frontier, notable for the black coloring of the casings and the sharp, pointed, and sometimes serrated edges of the 'talon' shaped petals that formed when they struck soft tissue. Manufactured in a wide range of calibers from pistols to assault rifles and all the way up to 14.5x114mm for use in the Kraber anti material rifle, Black Talon rounds quickly gained a formidable and gruesome reputation, just as much for their form as for their grisly results.

As such, they quickly became favorites of a lot of less that reputable groups, mercenaries, organized crime, and regular thugs all used them and showed off that they used them even more. There were many worlds where scarcely a night passed without a victim of a Black Talon gunshot wound ended up on an operating table or in a morgue, and there were more than a few doctors who refused to operate on those shot by a Black Talon. On more than one occasion, the petals of the bullet were so sharp that they would cut through the gloves and skin of the surgeon removing the bullet and give them an infection. This added layer of unintended lethality furthered the bullets less than savory reputation.

But the negative connotation that black colored hollow points does not outweigh the fact that few things are more lethal to soft squishy things than these rounds.


Closing Notes: Ultimately this was a ton of fun to write, a great challenge, and I was happy to be reminded just how great this boss fight is, not mechanically, but in presentation. This was one of those parts of the game I did not want to alter in any way, but rather just wanted to preserve and do justice. Insomniac definitely went above and beyond in the cinematic credentials of their climax and the results were top tier, it was ever bit as good as any silver screen appearance of Spider-Man. That is why the Marauder plays a small part in the fight overall, he doesn't bring anything that would elevate the scene and so I kept his part small, this was Spidey's fight, and I think it was one hell of a fight.

Of course, I know some people are going to have some thoughts about how the fight was handled, that's what the review button down there is for.

As for the future, the next two or three chapters are going to be wrapping up some immediate loose ends, covering the after credit scenes from the game, expanding on it, stuff like that. Then there will be some lighter content to change the pace from the super intense kinds of chapters I've been doing since chapter 25 or so. This will allow me to keep posting content while working behind the scenes to solidify plans for how I'm going to do the DLC stories and get those started. I'm expecting the entirety of 'The City That Never Sleeps' content to take 12-15 chapters max, but that is what some know as a 'SWAG' or 'Scientific Wild Ass Guess.'

With the end of the Sinister Six, next chapter is all about the characters under the Weight of Living.

Stay Frosty, Misfit Delta out.