The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 31: Terror at Midtown High
Mac walked into the warehouse, ready for his reckoning. Tombstone and Tinkerer were standing next to an object, covered with white tarp. Tombstone smiled as Mac entered.
"Ah Mac! There you are. You'll be pleased to know that Mason has finished perfecting the Scorpion exoskeleton!" Said Tombstone, as Mac stripped down to a vest and shorts. Mason unveiled the tarp, revealing a huge cylindrical chamber, and from the top of the chamber were green body armour plates suspended by tiny robotic arms.
"A gas will be released into the chamber. It will alter your physiology, and allow your body to be able to withstand the armour, and make you faster and more agile." Informed Mason, walking to his computer as Mac stepped in the chamber.
"I also added a robotic tail that you can use. You an also use it to inject a venom into a target." Said Mason, as Mac nodded. The chamber closed, and a green fog covered the chamber. Mac started to cough violently, as the armour plates were lowered onto his body.
"AAAAAGHHHH! AAAAAAHHHH!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
After a couple of agonizing minutes, the screaming stopped. "It's done." Said Mason, as the chamber opened.
Tombstone stared at who was before him. "Amazing." He said.
Mac was now encased in green, titanium body armour and was almost 8 feet tall, with a retractable tail.
"Jump towards the ceiling, we need to see if the armour works." Said Mason.
Mac grunted, and pounced up to the ceiling, sinking his mechanical claws in. He was upside down and hanging from the ceiling. His tail also had a spiked tip, from which the venom would've been released.
"Great job, Scorpion!" Said Tombstone.
"In other news, I managed to reverse-engineer the tracker, but the whole process will be complete by tomorrow morning." Said Mason."
"Wonderful. Then tomorrow, Scorpion, you hunt down whoever was trying to track us." Said Tombstone, as Scorpion nodded from the ceiling, his tail robotically swaying from left to right.
"So then, I chase Electro all around the city and we end up at a power plant. I gotta tell you, that was crazy." Narrated Peter to Gwen, as they sat on the school steps, waiting for class to begin.
"It's still so much to take in. I mean, you've been Spider-Man for nearly 3 years, and you managed to keep it a secret." Said Gwen.
"Well, yeah I had to. I mean, it's not that I didn't trust you guys. I just didn't want May worrying about me, and I was afraid that if word got out, you guys would be in danger." Said Peter.
"So you wear a mask to protect the ones you care about, not to protect yourself?" Asked Gwen.
"Yeah." Said Peter. There was a bit of an awkward silence, until Peter saw Harry and MJ walking towards them.
"Hey Pete, you're early for once." Joked Harry.
"Haha. Gwen and I just wanted to catch up a little." Explained Harry.
"Hey tiger. You're coming to Flash's today, right? We thought of cheering him up a bit." Informed MJ.
"Yeah, Harry told me. I'll definitely be there." Said Peter, as the four of them walked in.
"Oh, will Sha Shan Nguyen be there too? We were talking a lot at Flash's party, and I think we all could tell he's into her." Said Gwen.
"I'll call her and see if she can come." Said MJ. "Also Peter, how are things with Dr Octavius? I heard you both are working on a secret project." She continued.
"Yeah, we're on the cusp of something big. Otto said he'll be perfecting it by next week." Said Peter.
"Great! I hope we'll be invited to the demonstration." Said Harry.
"Wait, what demonstration?" Asked Peter.
"It was on Dr Octavius' Instagram. He said that he'll be unveiling his Project to a group of select people next week." Informed Gwen.
"First of all, I'm surprised that Doc is on Instagram. Second, he never told me about this." Said Peter, as he rushed to Dr Octavius' office.
Peter entered the office, where Otto was sitting at his cluttered desk.
"Oh, hi Peter!" Said Otto enthusiastically.
"Hey doc, I uh…wasn't aware that we would be publicly revealing OCK-8." Said Peter, a little concerned.
"Oh my god, I forgot to inform you! I am so sorry, it's just that I've been swarmed by work. Anyhow, I had an epiphany: For so many years, Oscorp has been taking people's work and parading it as theirs. I mean, they did the same thing to Adrian Toomes and look what happened then! So, I decided that I was going to show the world that this was my creation and my idea, not Oscorp's." Said Otto. "Also, I've decided to pre-pone the reveal. I was hoping we can get everything set up in a couple of days." Explained Otto.
"Oh wow, Doc. Uhhh…yeah sure. That would be great, in fact!" Said Peter, optimistically, although he was a little worried as he left the office.
"Ah great, I'm late for French! Well, allons-y!" Thought Peter, as he walked to French class. All of a sudden, his Spider-Sense started tingling rapidly.
"Okay…what the hell?! My sense is tingling, but…there's noth-"
Before Peter could even finish his thought, the ceiling came crashing down, and in front of him stood The Scorpion.
"AAAHHH!" Shouted the children, as they ran helter-skelter, trying to avoid Scorpion and his majestic tail.
"What in the goddamn heck is this?" Shouted Harry, as he took MJ's hand and made a beeline for the exit. However, Scorpion's huge tail slammed into Harry, who went flying towards the lockers.
"Harry!" Shouted Peter, as he dodged Scorpion's tail and helped Harry get up. Scorpion jumped into another classroom, looking for his target.
"Get out of here, and call the cops!" Said Peter, as Harry looked discombobulated.
"Wh-what about you?!" Asked Harry, his head ringing.
"Some people need help. Trust me, just call the cops!" Said Peter, pushing Harry towards the exit.
"I can't let this guy see me, but my locker is across the hall. I need my mask!" Thought Peter. While Scorpion was busy flipping tables in a different classroom, looking for his target, Peter sprinted to his locker and grabbed his mask.
"Boom! Now to deal with Robotic Lizard here." Said Peter, running towards the classroom.
"Hey, big green and ugly!" Shouted Spider-Man, as Scorpion turned around. Spidey shot two webs at Scorpion's face, as he slid under his legs and jumped on his back.
"Dammit, get offa me!" Shouted Scorpion, grabbing Spider-Man and throwing him to a wall, across the classroom.
"Whoa, calm down! We could talk this out, y'know?" Suggested Spider-Man, but Scorpion slammed his chest with his tail, sending him through a wall and back into the hallway.
"Okayy…so you don't wanna talk. Duly noted." Said the webslinger, dodging to the right and avoiding Scorpion's venom blast.
"Woahh, is that acid?!" Asked Peter, a little terrified as Scorpion lunged at him. However, Spider-Man jumped to the ceiling.
"You're not the only one who can do that now, bug!" Said Scorpion, as he pounced on the ceiling behind Peter.
Scorpion began to chase Peter on the ceiling, however Peter dodged his attacks and jumped back down to the floor.
"Technically, spiders and scorpions are both arachnids, genius." Mocked Spider-Man, as Scorpion slashed his tail at him, but Peter double back-flipped out of the way towards a window, which overlooked the fountain at the steps of Midtown High.
As Scorpion lunged at him, Peter jumped ahead, above him. He then shot two webs at either side of the window, turned himself into a makeshift catapult and kicked Scorpion out of the window. However, as he kicked Scorpion out, Mac grabbed his legs too and they both went tumbling out of the window.
Both of them landed on the fountain, soaking wet. Before Spider-Man could even get to his knees, Scorpion tied his tail around Peter's back, and slammed him back into the school through a wall. Peter found himself tumbling into the cafeteria, where many kids were hiding.
Scorpion jumped into the cafeteria, not caring about the people hiding there.
"Hey, wait! There are people here!" Shouted Peter, shooting two webs at Scorpion's feet and tripping him.
Spider-Man then slammed open the doors, letting everyone run out. However, Scorpion grabbed him and threw Spider-Man across the tables. He then aimed a huge venom blast at him. Luckily, Peter grabbed a table and used it as a shield. The acid hit the front of the table and dissolved a little of the wood.
As Scorpion lashed his tail around, Spider-Man kept dodging him, but he was getting tired. Spider-Man webbed up plates of food and aimed it at Scorpion.
"Order up! Mashed potatoes with a side of Scorpion!" He shouted, but Scorpion's tail sliced through most of the plates and he jumped towards Peter, but Peter side flipped towards a wall and kicked Scorpion straight in the jaw.
"Get over here!" Shouted Scorpion, as Peter dodged his tail and jumped on his back. He tried to punch through the armour, instead his fist started to hurt.
"That's a Titanium-Adamantium composite! There's no way you're breaking through!" Taunted Scorpion.
"You know, I'm surprised you even know the meaning of composite!" Said Peter, flipping over Scorpion.
"Scorpion's getting tired too…" Thought Peter. He shot two webs at Mac, but Scorpion grabbed the webs and pulled Peter towards him, before throwing him across the room and slamming into a wall.
Spider-Man jumped out of the cafeteria and sprinted down the hallways, towards the soccer field as Scorpion followed suit.
"I don't think you have a hall pass!" Shouted Peter, as he tried to trip Scorpion with his webs, but Scorpion jumped to the ceiling, and rebounded towards Peter. Peter scrambled out of the way and jumped out of the door to the soccer field.
"So it was you who sent the tracker, huh?" Asked Scorpion, snickering as Peter backed up towards the goalpost. "He found the tracker. Shit!" Cursed Peter, under his breath.
"Can't believe Tombstone sent you to his dirty work. You, him and that Mason guy! Perfect Three Stooges!" Taunted Peter.
"I'll show you who's the stooge!" Shouted Scorpion, pouncing towards Peter. However, Peter flipped out of the way, causing Scorpion to go headfirst into the goalpost. Spider-Man quickly webbed him up, as Scorpion entangled himself in the net and webbing.
"That webbing has amazing tensile strength. Don't expect yourself to get free anytime soon!" Said Peter.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Said Scorpion, extending his large tail, and slashing across the webbing, breaking free.
All of a sudden, both of them could hear police sirens.
"This isn't over, bug!" Spat out Scorpion, as he jumped away to a different building and disappearing.
"Ah, goddammit!" Said Peter, swinging away.
As soon as he reached the top of a building, Peter took off his mask. The Midtown High shirt he was wearing was a little torn.
"If they have that tracker, they'll be able to track me 24/7. And that's not good." Said Peter, opening his bag and taking out his suit. "Maybe it's time for a face to face chat with Tombstone…" Thought Peter, putting on his suit and heading to Tricorp.
Tombstone was sitting in his office, when Spider-Man came crashing through the window.
"Tombstone! We haven't been formally introduced yet. I'm Spider-Man, aka the guy that's gonna kick your ass." Said Spider-Man, extending a handshake.
Tombstone sighed. "I don't have time for adolescents like you, parading themselves as someone they're not." Said Tombstone, going back to his work. Spider-Man webbed the papers away.
"Now that's just rude. And so is stalking! Now tell me where is the Spider-Tracer?" Asked Spider-Man.
Tombstone scoffed. "A "Spider-Tracer?" That's what you're calling it?" He laughed.
He was getting on Peter's nerves. "Enough games, Lincoln. Tell me where it is!" Said Spider-Man, trying to deepen his voice to make him sound more intimidating.
Tombstone reached into his pocket, and pulled out the tracker, placing it on the desk.
"I know this isn't the first time you've dealt with crime bosses like me. I mean, after Wilson Fisk and Leland Owlsley, I'd imagine that you think you're very experienced. Here's the thing though, I'm not like them." Said Tombstone, his voice becoming slower and deeper by the end.
Peter webbed the Spider-Tracer towards him, but Tombstone grabbed the web, and pulled Peter towards the desk. Peter's head slammed into the edge of the desk.
"Because unlike them, and you, I make sure I know everything about my enemies." Said Tombstone, grabbing Peter's dazed head and lifting him up, taking off his mask.
Peter tried kicking Tombstone, but it seemed like his attacks had no effect on Lonnie, as he tore off his mask.
Tombstone threw the now unmasked Spider-Man across the room, before crushing the mask.
"The photographer. Peter. Parker." Snarled Tombstone, saying the last two words slowly.
Peter had had enough as he charged at Tombstone and went to kick him, but Tombstone grabbed his leg and slammed him into a wall, before kneeing him in the chest and slamming him on the desk, breaking it.
Before Peter could get up, Tombstone grabbed him and slammed him to the ceiling, before hurling him towards the door.
However, Spider-Man landed on his feet and he flipped ahead and kicked Tombstone, before webbing his right hand, spin kicking his jaw and elbowing his chest. Spider-Man then slid under his legs and kicked Tombstone's back. However, as Peter went to punch him, Tombstone grabbed Peter's right arm, and delivered a devastating blow to Peter's chest, sending him tumbling backwards.
"When you wear a mask, you don't need to worry about anything. No consequence, nothing. But now, Parker, there are consequences. I can guarantee that." Said Tombstone, through gritted teeth.
Spider-Man managed to get up, but his suit was torn, and every part of him hurt like hell. He limped towards Tombstone and punched him as hard as he could, but Tombstone held back his right arm and kneed him straight in the chest, before throwing him towards the window.
"Now, I don't like getting my hands dirty, believe me. Which is why I have people like Scorpion and Rhino helping me. At least, just Scorpion. So I'm going to give you a choice: Don't mess with me, because I will kill you, and everyone you care about." Threatened Tombstone, throwing the mask towards Peter. Tombstone then crushed the Spider-Tracer in his hand.
Spider-Man got to his feet and put on his torn up mask. "You're…not gonna get away…with this." He grunted.
"The beauty of it is, you don't have any evidence." Chuckled Tombstone, lifting his computer monitor and crushing it with his bare hands, before stepping on the CPU.
Spider-Man sighed as he shot a web out of the window, and in defeat he painfully swung away.
Tombstone chuckled and dialled a number.
"Scorpion. Spider-Man won't be a problem anymore." He said.
"Let me guess, you had a talk with him?" Asked Mac.
"Yes. With him out of the picture, we can focus on our main goal: Sabotaging Otto Octavius." Said Tombstone.
"He will be demonstrating his project somewhere near the docks. And rest assured, I'll be there." Said Scorpion.
Peter painfully swung towards a building, quickly taking out his phone from his bag, only to see 15 missed calls from Harry and Gwen, and a string of messages from Mary Jane and the others.
Mary Jane: Peter, WHERE TF ARE YOU?
Harry: Pick up my calls, dammit!
Gwen: Peter, are you alright?
Hobie: Pete, you okay? Where are you?!
Liz: I'm calling May if you don't pick up!
Harry: PETER WHERE IN THE GODDAMN HECK ARE YOU?!
Gwen: Peter answer me, where are you?!
Mary Jane: If you're okay then come to Flash's aunt's house, or I SWEAR I'M CALLING THE COPS ON YOU!
Liz: Pete, are you hurt?! Call us up if you are!
Hobie: Pete, come on pick up the damn phone!
"Ah shit! I gotta go!" Said Peter, ignoring the pain in his body and rushing towards Flash's aunt's house.
Peter quickly rushed towards the front door. That's when he realized something: He didn't put on any concealer on his face.
Harry opened the door, and he immediately let out a yelp.
"Peter, what the hell happened to you?!" He yelled, and everyone came to the doorway as Peter entered. His cheek was a little bruised and he had a bruise near his eye.
"What in the goddamn heck happened to you?" Asked Liz. MJ was too shocked to speak.
"Was it that Scorpion guy?" Asked Hobie, looking just as shocked.
"No…okay fine, it was. Look, I had gone in to help but I got hit with that tail of his, okay?" Said Peter.
"Why would you even go back? The cops had it covered! Hell, Spider-Man had it covered!" Protested Harry. Peter looked around, but Gwen was nowhere to be found.
"Look, I had to help okay! Now can we just forget about all of this? Where's Flash, anyways?" Asked Peter, a little flustered.
As Peter tried to walk ahead, Harry stopped him. "No, Peter. I want an explanation as to why you thought you had to interfere! They had it under control. Why didn't you just come with others?" He prodded.
"You know what? I didn't come for an interrogation! I came here to talk to my "friends" when all they want to do is yell at me for doing the right thing!" Yelled Peter.
"Peter, we're not yelling at you! We're trying to make you understand that what you did was stupid and dangerous!" Countered Mary Jane. "I mean, look at you right now! You're literally bleeding!"
"Okay. You guys can sit around and complain about how "Little Peter" can't take care of himself, but I have other stuff to do." Said Peter, turning around towards the door.
"Like what? Jumping into more super fights and getting injured?" Asked Harry. Boiling with anger, Peter turned around and socked Harry across the jaw. Harry fell on one knee, grabbing his chin.
"Harry…I'm so sorry…" Started Peter.
"No, Peter. It's okay, you've made your point." Replied Harry, in a calm tone. That was obviously the calm before the storm, as Harry punched Peter's chest as hard as he could. But Peter barely moved a couple steps back.
"Hey, stop! Both of you!" Said Liz, jumping in the middle of both of them, as Hobie held Harry back.
"Yeah whatever. Screw this, and screw all of you." Said Peter, as he turned around and walked out the door, slamming it shut with an ear-splitting thud.
As soon as he said those words, Peter wished he could take them back. Instead, he walked away from the house, and decided to go home.
The man walked to his hotel room on the 55th floor. He had checked in under the name: "Ricarado Hisaka." He chuckled when he told the receptionist he was Latverian.
He placed his suitcase on his bed and opened it, revealing his purple mask and gear. Chuckling to himself, he walked to the window to admire the view, with a notepad. On the notepad were several names: Sylvio Manfredi, Leland Owlsley…
But the man circled one name, and crossed it out.
"Lonnie Lincoln." Muttered the man.
And there you have it, folks! Peter's going through a tough time, while our mystery man seems to be going after Tombstone, all while Tombstone seems to have his sights set on Otto! Read on to find out what happens next!
P.S My birthday is coming up soon, so I'm pretty excited for that, haha. And I finally played Marvel's Avengers, and it blew me away, haha. It had an engaging story and decent gameplay, with interesting characters. 8/10.
Guest: Venom is gonna be a surprise. But he will most definitely be in this story. I can guarantee that!
redbird12: First of all, I am BEYOND HAPPY that ACASM will continuing, haha! And he may or may not be a modern version of Kraven, but who knows? Also, I do have an idea as to how the entire series will conclude, hopefully by the end of Season 8. I can't wait for The Extraordinary Spider-Man Vol 2 and Along Came A Spider-Man Vol 3, haha. A lot to look forward to! And yeah, TDK is a masterpiece.
Shawna1999: Peter is honestly one of the smartest heroes in the Marvel Universe, like up there with Tony Stark and I wanted to emphasize that in this series! And thank you so so much for the kind words, they really mean a lot! Yeah, 8 seasons will take some time haha, but I hope to develop Peter as a full blown superhero by the end of Season 5, like how Clark Kent became Superman by the end of Smallville. Kraven is a good guess, but we'll see! Hahaha, I wish I could write and/or direct a Spider-Man movie. I might start a new short story on Spider-Man 3 in the MCU called Spider-Man: Homefront, but it's just an idea as of now lol.
Rest in Peace, Chadwick Boseman. He was an inspiration for young children everywhere, and the face of Marvel in these last few years. It's amazing how he battled cancer for four years, and still delivered such phenomenal acting in such amazing movies. His work was invaluable, and he is irreplaceable as many characters, be it Thurgood Marshall or Black Panther. Hearing about his death was truly a gut punch, and I wish we knew what he was going through and supported him through those times.
Rest in Power, King. Wakanda Forever.
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.