"U-under attack?" Peter stuttered, "by who?"

"They weren't able to get out a lot of details; it sounded like they were still trying to get away," the doctor clarified, "but they thought they saw the Rhino guy and the guy in the wingsuit too."

Peter's mind raced; he couldn't believe his luck. Of all things, why were his enemies going after experimental medical treatment when they'd been targeting advanced technology so much?

"Did they tell you where they were?" he asked, his tone's urgency nearly making the doctor jump.

"I think they said something about just getting off the bridge into Queens," the man clarified.

That was all Peter needed; he immediately bolted around the doctor, ignoring the man's insistence that there was nothing he could do. He ran out of the hospital, quickly finding a secluded back alley nearby. Rapidly discarding his clothes to reveal his Spider-Man suit underneath, Peter slipped on his mask before checking his web shooters, firing a couple lines and launching himself up a nearby building. Sprinting as fast as he could along the roof, he launched himself forward with webbing, propelling him over top of the streets of Queens.

Working as efficiently as he could, Peter made his way in the direction of Queensboro Bridge, all the while hoping he was not too late. He wasted no time on pointless acrobatics, with every web strand being fired at such an angle that would guarantee the most momentum possible. He never slowed down even once, his speed only continuing to increase as he pressed on.

He was going to make it. He had to.

Suddenly, Peter heard what sounded like a loud crash coming from up ahead. Yanking himself forward, he landed on a rooftop, sprinting to the edge of it to survey the scene. Sure enough, there were Rhino, Sandman and the Vulture, who were all approaching a truck that had crashed headfirst into a streetlight. Wasting no time, Peter immediately sprang into action, leaping off the rooftop and firing a web. Pulling his legs back as he descended, he delivered a powerful kick to an unsuspecting Rhino, sending him flying as he landed.

"Sorry guys, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut your play time short!" Peter yelled. He shot a web at one of Vulture's wings, yanking the old man forward and sending the blades on one side slicing through the Sandman, causing him to temporarily crumble and the Vulture to crash hard into the ground. Taking advantage of the brief window he'd created, Peter leapt over to the vehicle's front door, yanking it off with minimal effort. Thankfully, both men inside were still conscious, if a little shaken up.

"You guys okay?" Peter asked.

"I think so," one of them said.

Peter's spider sense went off, and he turned to see Rhino charging towards him. Shooting a web at his eyes, Peter then backflipped onto the Rhino's backside, webbing him by the shoulders and using them to steer him away as best he could.

"Easy man, this isn't a monster truck rally!" Peter yelled as he fought hard, just managing to turn the stumbling Rhino away from the truck. Once they had avoided it, he jumped off his adversary, who was still struggling with the webbing in his eyes. Peter shot several webs, sticking Rhino's feet to the ground just as he finally regained his line of sight.

"What is this!?" he shouted in disgust, as if this hadn't happened to him before. Peter knew it wouldn't hold him forever, but hopefully just long enough.

Vulture then came whooshing by him, slicing through the back door to the truck with his wings as if it were made of paper. Peter started to rush towards him as he was making his way inside, holding out his hand to fire a web. Unfortunately, his spider sense alerted him to an oncoming assault by Sandman, which he narrowly slid underneath. The man pursued him relentlessly, but Peter used his zealous nature against him, leading him to a nearby fire hydrant and causing him to destroy it, exposing the man to a sudden dousing of the water inside, which instantly began reducing part of him to mud.

Of course, in the midst of all the commotion, Rhino had managed to break free of his webbed restraints, but Peter's eyes were on the Vulture, who had emerged from the truck with the large vial containing the treatment. He tried to fly away, but, after leaping out of the way of a charging Rhino, Peter shot a web onto the man's foot, yanking himself up so that he was on his adversary's back.

"I don't think so!" Vulture asserted, turning as an angle where his back was right up against the building. Thinking quickly, Peter managed to slide around to the man's front side just in time, grabbing the vile containing the serum from his opponent's hands. He then released his grip on his enemy, firing a web to swing off.

Unfortunately, the Vulture didn't give up so easily, pursuing him with all the speed and precision of a true bird of prey. He was constantly on Peter's heels, coming very close to catching him numerous times. It was taking every trick in Peter's web-slinging book to just stay ahead of his opponent, but he knew he couldn't play keep away forever. If he was going to end this, he would have to either go on the offensive or find a way to use their environment against his enemy.

At one point during their chase, the Vulture's blades cut into a building, causing some debris to fall towards the unwitting civilians down below. Forgoing his escape attempt for the moment, Peter changed direction, barely managing to get to the people below, getting them out of danger just before the chunks of debris hit the ground where they'd been standing.

That was when Peter's spider sense alerted him to the Rhino, who had been pursuing him from the ground, charging at him and the civilians next to him. Knowing he could only protect himself or the civilians, Peter opted to shove them out of the way, just managing to get ahold of Rhino's horn before it could hit him. This didn't stop his opponent's momentum however, and Peter soon slammed through a concrete wall before being crushed against another one on the inside, the second impact causing him to drop the vial.

Realizing this, Peter scrambled to get ahold of it again, but Rhino picked him up by the head, his large hand covering Peter's face.

"Uh uh," Rhino said, "no escapes this time!"

He then proceeded to slam Peter to the floor hard, instantly knocking the wind out of him as he broke through it. He hadn't even begun to get up yet when he suddenly felt a hard blow to his backside, followed by another, and then a blow to the head.

"Enough!" he heard a voice say. "We have what we need!" Peter barely managed to look up to see that the voice was coming from the Vulture, who had the vial in his hand, before Rhino delivered one more blow to his head, then everything went dark.

The doctor's mechanical arms moved with extreme precision as he worked, the man trying to put some finishing touches on his specific part of the project. His lab was a wide space to accommodate his metallic appendages, allowing them the necessary breathing room to perform any task as efficiently as they could. They were the ultimate assistants, meeting any need he had, and just all around more competent than many people he had worked with.

Perhaps that was because they were connected to his very mind, reacting to his every thought without hesitation or questioning, just the way Ock liked it.

The man heard the door to his lab open, turning to find the Tinkerer had entered.

"Vulture, Rhino and Sandman have returned with the item," he announced.

Leaving behind his work for the time being, the doctor exited his lab, meeting his allies in the main area of their facility, where he could see the vial containing what he needed in the hands of the Vulture. He had one of his mechanical arms reach out and, very carefully, take the vial from the hand of Adrian Toomes. He held it up to himself, examining the blue serum before him.

Satisfied, he lowered himself down to ground level.

"Well done, all of you," he commended them. His eyes fell to the Sandman, who looked to be struggling a little to hold himself together.

"Do you require any assistance, Mr. Marko?" the doctor asked.

"I'll be fine," Sandman replied. "This isn't the first time this has happened to me. I just have to dry off fully."

"I presume this means that you encountered Spider-Man?" Ock inquired.

"We did," the Vulture replied.

"And I beat him bad!" Rhino added enthusiastically.

"Very impressive, Rhino," the doctor said, turning to the Tinkerer. "Still, we must be absolutely certain that the formula is still viable after a battle. Examine it, then examine it again. I will not take any chances, given the purpose for which I intend to use this."

"Right away," the Tinkerer said as Doc Ock carefully handed the vial to the man. Just as he was ready to return to his lab, Ock heard the entrance to the facility open again, where he witnessed none other than the Chameleon enter...alone.

"What happened?" Ock asked, approaching the man. "Where is Osborn?"

"He surprised me," the man replied, "before he stole my car and made his escape, but I'll find him."

One of Ock's arms shot out, seizing the Chameleon by his chest and bringing him up to face the doctor eye to eye.

"You'd better," the man said, his voice coming out in a low but composed growl. "I paid you quite handsomely after all. I'd hate to see my investment go to waste."

Slowly, Peter began to stir, a faint noise filling his ears.

"Spider-Man, are you alright?"

As the world slowly returned to him, Peter realized it was a police officer talking with him.

"I'm okay," he forced out, though it didn't sound convincing to him once the words left his mouth.

"What happened here?" the officer asked.

Peter couldn't even bring himself to get up yet, his head throbbing and his muscles aching.

"A truck was ambushed," he managed to get out, the memory of it all coming back to him as he spoke. "It was containing..."

"Containing what?"

Oh no.

"I have to go," Peter said, forcing his way up. His body was screaming at him to stay down even for a few more minutes, but he fought through the pain, managing to get to his hands and knees.

"I think you need to be looked at," the officer said.

"I'll be alright," Peter tried to assure the man, easing into a standing position. He nearly doubled over as soon as he did, the world still a little woozy to him as his vision blurred a little, but he held his balance.

"Seriously, you need to see an EMT at least," the officer insisted. "From what we've been able to gather from eyewitnesses so far, you took quite a beating."

"I've been through worse," Peter countered, slowly stumbling towards the whole in the wall by which he had entered the building. While maintaining his secret identity even in these situations was always a concern, he also refused to be slowed down when he needed to get that treatment back. He just needed to make it to his apartment, apply some first aid, and surely, he'd be right as rain before he knew it.

He finally made it outside, ignoring one more plea from the officer attending him to get some proper medical attention, firing a web. It took all his might and a high pain tolerance, but he managed to pull himself into the air and swing off. The ride back to his Manhattan apartment wasn't likely to be quick or even pleasant, but Peter knew what he had to do.

However, as he kept going, navigating the concrete jungle of the city started to prove more difficult than he'd hoped it would. His vision was constantly going in and out, and Peter was beginning to wonder if the officer had been right. He only narrowly avoided crashing into buildings a few times because of his spider sense and reflexes, but each time moved closer to a collision. It didn't help that the sun was nearly finished setting, and nighttime was beginning to descend on the city. Normally, this wouldn't bother Peter's enhanced vision, but when his ability to see at all wasn't fully there, problems were arising more and more.

By the time he made it back to his apartment building, Peter was all but ready to lose consciousness. He hit the wall harder than he'd intended upon impact, sending a shot of pain through his entire body, causing him to let out a hard grunt and grit his teeth beneath his mask. He turned his back to the building, focusing on taking deep breaths. He needed to stay conscious at least long enough to apply at least some first aid to his wounds.

Finally, he turned to the window of his apartment, surprised to find it closed. Even as he reached for it, he almost thought he felt his spider-sense going off, but the feeling was so faint that he dismissed it as his exhausted and hurt state messing with him. He slowly opened the window, barely managing to slide inside the room, forcing himself to stay on his feet as he did.

Removing his mask, Peter closed his eyes and took some breaths, exhaustion threatening to overtake him at any moment. He knew he had pushed himself too hard too soon after an injury, but he felt he'd had no choice. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked around to realize a disturbing fact: he didn't recognize the arrangement of the room, nor anything in it.

He wasn't in his apartment.

He caught sight of a picture on a nightstand, a photo that featured Liz and...Mary Jane.

He was in Mary Jane's apartment.

Peter immediately tried to turn to leave and move to next door, but all his pain and exhaustion finally were catching up to him. He collapsed to the ground after just a couple steps. The last thing he remembered was the sound of footsteps coming from another room before the world went dark on him once more.

Hope you all are still enjoying it!

Thanks once more to all who've left feedback and are following/favoriting this story. Your support means the world to me, truly.

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3