The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 32: Sabotage
Peter walked through his door, eager to just go to his room and stay alone there. Unfortunately, Aunt May was right there at the kitchen table.
"Peter? Harry called me, he seemed worried. Are you okay?" She asked, getting up and walking towards Peter. Peter instinctively grabbed a napkin and hid it across his face.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Tell Harry I'm fine." Replied Peter, his voice breaking a little.
"Peter, move the napkin and look at me." Said May, but Peter lightly shook his head and walked up towards the stairs.
"Peter Parker, look at me." She said, in a much stricter voice. Peter sighed and looked at May. Aunt May gasped at his bruised cheek and eye, courtesy of Tombstone.
"Peter…what?" She whispered.
"Peter, WHAT?!" She yelled out in shock as she processed everything, rushing over to him, but Peter just turned away.
"Peter, who did this? Tell me now!" Ordered May.
"It's none of your business, May! Why do you want to know so badly-"
"Because I'm terrified!" Yelled May, louder than she ever had before, causing even Peter to freeze.
"After Ben, then those bombings 2 years back, then Harry's father attacking, now this? Peter, what's happening?" She asked, in a quieter tone.
"It was the attack at school. I tried to help but-"
"Peter why would you be so reckless? Just talk to me, we can figure this out together." Said May, taking his hand. But Peter pulled away, and walked to his room, locking the door.
He took out his laptop and opened up his school portal. "My science grades should have come by now…at least something good would come from this day." Thought Peter, as he checked his grades.
"C grade?! What in the actual goddamn f-"
Peter was about to finish, but then his phone started vibrating. It was a call from Gwen. Peter sighed and he picked up.
"Hey Gwen." He said, weakly.
"Harry and Liz told me everything that happened," Said Gwen. "You're okay, right? They said you were really angry." She continued, concerned.
"Doesn't matter. Tombstone knows who I am." Said Peter.
"Wait, what?! How?"
"I went to confront him and he took off my mask."
"This is bad…what if he goes after May, or anyone else?"
"He said as long as I stay out of his way, he won't hurt anyone I care about."
"You are going to stay out of his way, right?"
Peter hesitated, then looked at the torn up mask in his bag. He remembered how two years ago, he was in a similar situation with Kingpin, and how he swore to always be Spider-Man.
"Never." Said Peter, sternly.
"We'll talk later, okay?" Said Gwen, as she cut the call. Peter slammed his phone on his bed.
"Yeah, screw my grades. I don't need them to be Spider-Man." Said Peter, when he got a voicemail from Dr Octavius.
"Hey Peter, sorry to bother you right now, but I was hoping you'll be there for the demonstration tomorrow. Everything's ready at the lab. Here's hoping things go well! If this works, our names might just go down in history!" Said Otto, enthusiastically. Peter sighed as he lay down on his bed, drifting to sleep due to exhaustion.
The man had built a makeshift laboratory in his hotel room, as he stared at the blue liquid bubbling in the round bottom flask.
"Tombstone's skin is impenetrable, caused by an accident when he was a kid. He came into contact with Diox-3." Thought the man, as he continued observing the liquid, as the effervescence stopped. He heated the bottom of the flask with a lighter, causing some of the liquid to evaporate.
The liquid then evaporated and went through a Liebig condenser, condensing back into a pure liquid, which collected into a beaker.
"The counter agent for Diox-3." Said the man out loud, holding the beaker, as he took an spray can and poured the condensed liquid in it. He then pulled out his phone and called up a number.
"Marcus, this is Hisaka. Have the shipments arrived yet?" Asked the man.
Marcus was standing at the docks at Harlem, as he noticed a ship approaching: The S.S Rose.
"It's here sir." Said Marcus.
"Good. I'm sending you an address. Send them there." Said the man, as he cut the call.
Once the ship came to a stop, Marcus walked in. In the storage area there were over thirty of steel containers. Marcus broke the lock on one container, and there were about 15 men in there.
"Wake up men. The boss has called," Said Marcus, as the men got to their feet. "Open up the other crates and get everyone out. Rendezvous at this warehouse in Chinatown." Ordered Marcus.
All of a sudden, the Captain of the ship walked in. "What the hell is going on here? Who are all you people?!" He asked, perplexed. Marcus sighed, as he took out a handgun and shot the captain without hesitation.
"Alright everyone move! It's time to show whose boss in this city!" Shouted Marcus, waving his handgun in the air as the other mercenaries in the crates rushed to unlock other crates.
Meanwhile, Hisaka packed up his equipment, and took the spray can of the counter agent in a different briefcase, and put on his purple mask.
He then picked up a rose, and put in his shirt pocket, before walking out the door with his briefcase.
The next day, Peter woke up from his slumber, only to realize he was late to Otto's demonstration.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Said Peter, springing from bed and grabbing a bottle of mouthwash, deodorant and new clothes.
After getting ready he leaped down the stairs and out the door, shooting Aunt May a text as to where he was going. He swung over to the place where the demonstration was taking place, only to see there were quite a few people. He landed in a nearby alleyway, and walking to the door, where news reporters were there.
"Excuse me, excuse me, sorry!" Said Peter, rushing into the door, where he saw the mechanical arms, in all its glory, as Otto worked out some final kinks.
"Uhhh doc…why are there so many people outside?" Asked Peter. Doc looked at him and smiled. "Oh, it was supposed to be a few people, but then I had an epiphany: Shouldn't more people know about our work here?" Explained Doc, as Peter nodded, staring in awe at the mechanical arms, how robotic they looked.
"I can't believe it, doc. I think we've done the impossible!" Exclaimed Peter.
"Oh I haven't worked out everything yet! It still needs a power source, so I've managed to connect it to a power outlet via extension cords. It'll do for now." Reassured doc, as he opened the doors, as the crowd came flooding in.
Peter stood near the arms, as Otto addressed the crowd.
"Good morning, everyone! Today you will see something…revolutionary, me and one of my students, Peter Parker have made these mechanical arms, which can be used to handle a number of dangerous things, such as construction, or even handling dangerous chemicals and nuclear material. It's all controlled by a neural interface we designed, and an inhibitor chip regulates the amount of energy." Explained Doc, as he fit the harness around him, switching on the neural interface as the arms came to life.
The crowd oohed and ahhed, as Peter watched in awe, mesmerized by how the robotic arms moved in the air, all controlled by Otto.
Otto used the arms to pick up a table nearby, lifting it up with ease. "As you can see, they obey my every command, and signals travel through them faster than they travel inside the brain!" Said Otto, as everyone took pictures.
What none of them knew, was that Scorpion was watching them, as he called up Tinkerer.
"Mason, do it now!" He said, as Tinkerer started clacking his laptop's keyboard, hacking the arms remotely.
The arms started malfunctioning, as Otto was unable to control them. "Don't worry, its just a…technical glitch!" Reassured Otto, but Peter could tell he was worried. The arms started flailing left and right, attacking everyone. The crowd ran left and right, as Otto struggled to keep control.
"GODDAMNIT!" Shouted Otto, as the arms struck two people, causing them to fly across the room.
As no one could see anything due to the chaos, Peter shot a web at the harness, trying to pull it off, but it was too tight.
"Doc! You have to take off the harness!" Shouted Peter, as he let go of the web. As Otto kept struggling, Peter hurried away and took off his clothes, revealing his Spider-Man outfit.
"Octavius! Take the arms off!" Shouted Spider-Man.
"Spider-Ma-" Before Otto could finish, one of the arms hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious.
That's when Scorpion jumped in through the window. "Read for Round Two?" Asked Scorpion.
"Ah not you again!" Grumbled Spider-Man, as he dodged Scorpion's tail and went under his legs, tripping him with his webs.
"Today's not a good day to push me, Scorpion!" Said Peter, jumping down on Scorpion's head, but Scorpion shook him off. He headed to the power outlet and disconnected it, causing the arms to short circuit. Otto got severely electrocuted.
"Doc, no!" Shouted Spider-Man, as he rushed to Otto's aid, but Scorpion lunged at Spider-Man, and both flew out the window towards the street.
As Spider-Man got to his feet, Scorpion tore off a car door and threw it at Peter, but Peter flipped over the door, shot a web and slung it back towards Scorpion.
Scorpion staggered back, as Peter kicked him straight in the chest, before grabbing his helmet and slamming it to the ground. Scorpion's helmet partially shattered, but this seemed to piss him off more.
"You're dead, bug. DEAD!" Growled Scorpion, as he grabbed a car and swiftly threw it at Peter. Spider-Man got hit and went tumbling down the street. However, he got back up and sprinted towards Scorpion, but he jumped over him, webbed his back and pulled him down. He then jumped on his tail and started to pull it out.
"No, you can't!" Shouted Scorpion.
"Yes I can." Said Peter, through gritted teeth, as he ripped the tail off, before bringing his fist down on Scorpion's skull, slamming his head to the ground.
As soon as he was finished with Scorpion, he saw paramedics wheeling Otto into an ambulance.
"Will he be-"
"He'll be fine." Said the doctor, as he signaled the ambulance to leave.
"Tombstone lied. I need to ask Scorpion some questions," Thought Spider-Man. "But first, I need to make amends." He thought, as he whipped out his phone and messaged his friends.
Peter: "Hey guys. I need to talk."
Tombstone was having a drink in his office, when he sensed the presence of someone else. "Back for Round Two, Spider? Foolish of you." As soon as he turned around, he saw a man coming from the shadows. He was wearing a white collared shirt, and a purple mask.
"The hell are you supposed to be?" Scoffed Tombstone.
"Vengeance." Said the man, as he rushed Tombstone with a knife. However, he aimed for Tombstone's legs, slicing his tendons.
"UNGHH! What the hell," Groaned Tombstone, as he saw blood flow it. "How…did you?" He asked perplexed.
"You were exposed to Diox-3. I just whipped up a counter agent and sprayed it on this knife. Now your skin is penetrable, and the chemical is already in your bloodstream." Said the man.
He kicked Tombstone's right shin, creating a sickening cracking sound.
"NOO!" Shouted Tombstone, as he flailed his hand around to hit the assailant, but the man rolled down back in front of Tombstone, and kicked his chest, before ducking and hammerfisting his left elbow, breaking it.
He then kicked Tombstone's knee, before grabbing Tombstone's left arm and sticking the knife in it.
"UGHHHHHH!" Shouted Tombstone, as he fell to the ground, coughing out blood, as the man stuck the knife in his chest. A final blow as Tombstone fell on his back.
"Who…are…you…" He coughed out, as the man took off his mask. Tombstone's eyes went wide.
"You…" He winced. The man put his mask back on, and brought his boot down on the knife, pushing it deeper.
Tombstone's eyes went glassy, as he let out a final groan.
"Call me Rose." Said the man, taking out the rose and putting it on Tombstone's lifeless chest, before walking out of the room.
Hey guys! Sorry for the brief hiatus, my laptop had gone for repairs and it took a long time to come back, haha. Also, if you know who Rose is, do not spoil it for anyone lol, I want the reveal to be very impactful. And i hope you got the Batman easter egg i put in, lol.
In other news, it was my birthday on September 12th, and I turned 15. Yayyyy!
And now for the bad news. I have no clue why Insomniac would recast Peter Parker. John Bubniak's was just perfect. Hopefully I'll get used to it. And in other mixed news I guess, Jamie Foxx is apparently returning as Electro in Spider-Man 3! Here's hoping he's done right!
Guest: I took it from Spectacular Spider-Man, haha.
SuperSpider 18: Thank you so much for the kind words! I can assure you, things will just get better and better.
Spidey: Interesting choice of villains, although Agent Venom mayyyyyy show up later down the lines. But don't worry, keeping you guys satisfied and happy is one of my top priorities!
chiripa012: That didn't happen in this chapter, sorry! It will definitely be there in the next one, though!
redbird12: I did take inspiration from TASM 1. I feel like it's a very underrated film. Fun fact, I was 6 when the first trailer dropped, and I thought the main villain was Scorpion. Also, I do have a fair idea about the ending, but we'll see!
Guest: I do have Aleksei Sytsevich in mind, maybe sometime in the future.
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.