The Invincible Spider-Man

Chapter 86: The Deep End

"So yeah, I told her that her boyfriend was an ass for hooking up with Lisa, and the next thing I know I'm in her bed!" guffawed Harry, taking a large sip of his coffee. Peter continued swirling the rod of his cappuccino, as the two of them sat at a table in a café.

"Pete? Earth to Parker?" asked Harry, as Peter snapped out of his trance.

"What? Oh yeah, that's insane," replied Peter, still lost.

"You didn't hear me, did you? You doing okay?" asked Harry. Peter thought about his most recent adventure into the Multiverse, fighting an evil version of his uncle alongside different variations of Spider-Men.

"Honestly, I don't know man. Juggling the Horizon internship, Dr Connors' practice tests for "something" and…other stuff, I haven't really had a lot of time for myself I guess," hypothesized Peter, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I told you about the Deep End, didn't I?" asked Harry. Peter recalled when Harry told him about the nightclub.

"Yep, you and MJ were going to go, right?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, tonight. And well, you're coming too. What you need, Pete, is a chance to unwind…and possibly get laid," chuckled Harry. Peter laughed with him, finishing up his coffee.

"All right, I'll be there, man," replied Peter, checking his watch.

"And I need to go. Internship stuff," finished Peter, as Harry called for the bill.

"I'll handle the bill, don't get late!" reassured Harry, as Peter rushed out of the café. He ducked into an alleyway and took off his clothes, revealing his Spider-Man outfit. He webbed up his clothes to the wall, put on his mask and jumped up five stories, leaping over the adjacent building.

"Good to be home, that's for sure! And now it's back to dismantling Hammerhead's operation," he told himself, phoning Yuri.

"Yuri? It's Spider-Man," replied Peter. "I discovered something big about Hammerhead's whole plan earlier yesterday," he continued, still finding it hard to believe that his whole journey through the Spider-Verse seemed to have taken place over just a few hours on his Earth.

"What's it about? Macendale has been trying to get more leads on his operation, but we've come up with nothing," she replied. Peter could hear the stress in her voice.

"He's going after different F.E.A.S.T shelters, but I don't know why. There was a map in one of his warehouses, with F.E.A.S.T sites encircled in red," informed Peter, vaulting over a roof and continuing into a swing.

"All right, I'll send someone to bring Martin Li to the precinct, he could answer some questions," said Yuri.

"Uh, you don't need to do that. One of my best people is on it," replied Peter, an idea forming in his head as he cut the call, turning around and beginning to swing towards F.E.A.S.T in Chinatown.


Peter walked through the door, but he could tell something was off about the place. There seemed to be less people there, and the atmosphere itself felt much dourer.

"Aunt May?" called out Peter, as May came walking down the stairs.

"Hey Peter, good to see you!" replied May, hugging him.

"Did something happen?" asked Peter, noting how May didn't seem like her usual cheery self. She sighed before wiping her brow with the back of her wrist, holding a notepad.

"According to Martin, we've lost the grant funding from the city," said May, as she took a seat on a nearby chair. "It just seemed to happen so suddenly," she lamented

"Is Mr Li here right now?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, in his office," replied May. Peter placed a hand on her shoulder before walking up the second floor, towards Martin's office. The door was slightly ajar, but Peter still knocked.

"Who- oh, Peter. Come in please," said Martin. Peter walked in and closed the door, taking a close look at Martin. He looked disheveled, as if he hadn't slept the whole night. His eyes were red and barely open.

"Hey, Peter. I'm guessing May told you the news?" asked Li, putting his face in his hands and taking a deep breath.

"Yeah. Why'd the grant funding stop?" asked Peter, incorrigibly curious.

"Truth be told, I don't know myself. But I'm heading to the Mayor's office tomorrow, and sorting this whole issue out. Don't worry, all right? And especially tell May not to worry," replied Li, his speech slurring a bit as he grabbed his temples.

"Mr Li, are you okay?" asked Peter, as Li began to turn deathly pale, still clutching his forehead. Peter's Spider-Sense began to tingle.

"I'm…okay. I'm okay, I'm just down with a migraine," replied Martin. He stroked his forehead and looked back at Peter, trying to hide his stress, before chuckling.

"You don't need to worry, Peter. Trust me," said Martin. Peter hesitated for a second, but then nodded and stood up.

"Take care," he finished, before walking out of the office door.

Martin waited till Peter was out of earshot, before frantically dialing a number on his phone. The number that had left him the message the other night, puzzling him for hours now.

Miraculously, the number finally answered.

"H-Hello?" asked Li, anxiety running through his nerves.

"Didn't think you'd call so fast," replied Hammerhead. "It's good to see you so enthusiastic about our…partnership," he continued.

A chill of fear raced through Li's spine as he recognize the voice. "What partnership? I never agreed to any partnership!" exclaimed Li, still keeping his voice down.

"Say, how much do you remember of last night?" asked Hammerhead.

"Last night?! I get attacked by you and your gang and the next thing I know I find myself lying in the middle of Central Park in the middle of the night, wondering how in the Hell I got there!" replied Martin. Hammerhead chuckled a little.

"So you don't know, do you? You might want to check the back of the shelter," replied Hammerhead, before cutting the call.

Martin rushed out of his office and began to walk speedily towards the ground floor. He circled around the main hall and to the back of the building, which had been cordoned off due to construction.

Ignoring the danger signs, Martin snuck under the construction tape and walked inside the site, only to see men in demon masks loading wooden crates into trucks.

The second those men looked at Martin, they bowed down. A confused Martin stared at their masks, as drowned memories started to resurface. He closed his eyes tight and saw his dad wearing that mask, scaring him to bed. He remembered lying down, tied down somewhere in a dark room, before everything went white.

The pain in his forehead returned. Falling to his knees, he grit his teeth and let out a muffled scream. He kept his eyes open and saw his hands turning to a translucent black, his suit turning a dazzling white. All of a sudden, everything went dark.

The men in masks stood in anticipation, unsure of whether to aim their guns at him or not. Martin stopped gasping, as he stood up and stared at them. His business suit and hair were now glowing a bright white, while his skin itself had turned to a kind of opaque black.

"Well, where were we?" asked Li, as the goons put their guns down and returned to work. Li chuckled as he removed the phone from his pocket, dialing Hammerhead again.

"Did Martin see it?" asked Hammerhead.

"He saw enough. I think it's time we get back to our deal," said Martin. "Right now, I'm only seeing about ten men," he continued.

"I told you, you'll get your army when you give me full control of F.E.A.S.T. Not just a glorified garage," replied Hammerhead.

"As I said, it'll be difficult with Martin in the way. We need to find a way to get rid of him," replied Martin, in his black-and-white form.

"Tell you what, I can be…convincing. Come to the address I'm sending you," said Hammerhead, as he messaged Martin an address on the phone. Martin took a look at it, before giving an order to the men in Japanese.

The men opened the crates, where small packets of what looked like stickers were piled in. They took them out and began to pile them into the trucks.

"You know where they need to go," said Martin, as the men nodded, driving the trucks away.

"I'm on my way," replied Martin to Hammerhead, before giving orders to one driver and getting into one of the trucks, and speeding out of the garage.


Peter walked up to the long line in front of the Deep End nightclub, a massive neon sign advertising it on top of the glass building. It was in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a place too flashy for Peter.

"I've swung by like thousands of times, but never seen the Upper West Side from the ground like this," thought Peter, noticing Harry waving at him. MJ was standing behind him, wearing a stunning black dress. Harry himself was wearing a leather jacket, and had given a similar one for Peter to wear.

"There he is! All set?" asked Harry. Peter tried moving his arms in the tight jacket but nodded nonetheless. MJ lightly blushed, seeing Peter's outfit.

"You know, the line seems to be really long. Maybe we should come back some other time, and go for a movie instead?" suggested Peter. MJ stifled a chuckle, before breaking into a laugh.

Harry walked to the bouncer who was at the front of the line and flashed him an ID. The bouncer looked at the ID card, back at him, and then let the three of them in.

"The Osborn name still has its perks," smirked Harry, as they entered the club. Dizzying lights flashed around the place, blinding Peter as the three of them dissolved into the crowd.

The loud EDM and blinding lights assaulted all of Peter's senses, as he waded past the sea of dancing people, to the bar.

"Come on, Pete!" prodded MJ, pulling him back into the crowd.

"Just follow the music!" she yelled over the sound, as Peter began to slowly move his body to the rhythm. Before he knew it he was moving all his limbs at once and dancing with Mary Jane.

"How is this even happening?" asked Peter, to himself. But he chose not to think of any biological explanation for it, and instead focused on dancing with MJ. She seemed to be much more precise with her movement, while Peter was still all over the place.

"Where's Harry?" asked Peter.

"I don't know! I think he went to talk to some girl," replied MJ, whipping her hair back. Peter decided to go look for him, only to see him at the bar, guzzling down an entire bottle of Vodka.

He drank the entire bottle and put it back on the table, before yelling to everyone who cheered him on. He put more money on the bar table, as the bartender brought him two more bottles. He passed one to one of the people around him as both began drinking.

Peter was surprised, he knew Harry was always the life of the party, but not to such an extent. Against his better judgment, he quickly pushed through the crowd and to Harry.

"Harry, I think that's enough," he suggested, trying to get the bottle from his hands.

"We're just getting started, Parker! This one goes out to my shitty dad, who left me with a shit ton of money!" exclaimed Harry, guzzling it down further before ordering a round of shots.

"Harry. No," said Peter sternly, putting the bottle on the table.

"Man, what's your problem?" asked another guy. He was blond and taller than both of them.

"Peter, trust me. I'm not going to take too much," said Harry, lowering his voice. He didn't seem drunk yet, but he was definitely on the verge.

Peter hesitated, before backing off. "Okay," he replied, walking back to the dance floor, trying to find MJ.

"MJ? MJ?!" yelled Peter, but his voice was drowned out by the noise around him. He walked to the end of the room, where some people seemed to be smoking weed.

"MJ?" asked one of them, offering Peter a blunt.

"Uh, no thanks," replied Peter, as he looked around for her, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Not interested in the cheap stuff? Let me show you premium," said the man who tapped his shoulder. He seemed to have a tattoo of what looked like a demon on his arm.

"Yeah, I'll pass," replied Peter, but the man held his hand. Peter turned around and the man opened his left palm, revealing a small patch, that looked almost like a sticker, with the yin-yang symbol on it.

"You seem to be a man of taste, I bet you come from a wealthy family. Why don't you experience the best high for the best type of person, such as yourself?" asked the man.

Peter stared at the stickers, and then back at the man.

"Yeah, still a no," he replied, using some of his Spider-Strength to pull away and continue looking for Mary Jane.

That's when he saw her at the bar. Her hair seemed to be disheveled, and she was obviously drunk. She was talking to a guy who was dangerously close to her, and kept buying her drinks.

"Okay, nope," said Peter, as he rushed through the crowd and to MJ.

"AHAHAHAHA, please you did photography? That must've been a good time," laughed MJ. The man laughed back.

"You know…I bet I could show you a good time too," he replied, inching his hand closer to her thigh. Before he could touch her, though, Peter grabbed his hand.

"I think you've had one too many drinks, MJ," he told her.

The guy scoffed and looked back at him. "And who are you supposed to be?" he asked.

Mary Jane hiccupped. "This is Peterrrrr…my-"

"B-Boyfriend," finished Peter, praying to God that MJ wouldn't remember this. The man chuckled and put his arms up in defeat. "You got a good catch, I respect that," he replied, before averting his eyes to another woman.

Disgusted, Peter turned back to MJ, who seemed to be more focused on staring at her empty glass.

"MJ, come on. Let's get Harry and go," he said. MJ groaned as she got up.

When Peter walked to where Harry was standing, he saw him lying on a couch, an empty bottle of Vodka in his hand. What shocked Peter, even more, was what was on the table in front of him.

Peter squinted and saw lines of cocaine.

"Shit. Harry!" he exclaimed, running up to him. He seemed to be breathing but had passed out. Peter noticed that there wasn't any residue around his nose, which meant he hadn't snorted the drug.

Harry groggily opened his eyes, looking back at Peter.

"Parker! Did you get laid?" he asked. Peter shook his head in disapproval.

"Let's go," he replied, trying to lift up Harry.

"But we're not done! Hell no!" shouted Harry, as if he was throwing a tantrum.

"Dude, what are you, his dad?" asked the tall, blond man again. Peter scoffed.

"I'm sorry, I'd rather have my best friend safe than have him breathe in ten kilograms of the talcum powder you and your friends seem to be bathing in," replied Peter, as Harry pushed him away.

"Your best friend? Bullshit," said Harry, spitefully. Peter tried to ask him about what he just said, when all of a sudden the blond man pushed him.

"Can't you just leave us alone?!" he roared, seeming much angrier than usual. Behind him, another fight had broken out between two women. Adjacent to them were more fights, and it looked as if everyone in the club was fighting everyone else.

Peter dodged another punch by the man, as he backed away to the bar table. The blond man rushed towards him, but Peter ducked out of the way, grabbed his head and slammed it onto the table, knocking him out.

"Everyone's fighting each other? What's going on?" asked Peter, as he tried to restrain someone from attacking someone else. Subtly, he webbed up the man's foot to the ground, causing him to trip.

People began rushing out of the club and calling 911. MJ seemed to snap out of her trance as she and Peter helped Harry up.

"Take him outside! I'll get help!" exclaimed Peter, as he rushed back to the bar and jumped behind the table, quickly taking off his outfit, and revealing his Spider-Man suit.

He swiftly put on his mask and jumped back out, webbing more assailants to the ground.

"I know this was a rave, but why the sudden hostility towards each other, guys?" asked Peter, dodging someone rushing at him and webbing him to a wall. He jumped over someone else and knocked them out.

"Need to make sure I don't hurt them too much," thought Peter, as he began to web up all the attackers to the ground and to the wall. Victims began running out of the club, but some were brutally hurt.

Just then, Peter heard sirens, as police began to storm the area.

"Spider-Man! What happened?" asked one of the police.

"People began to fight each other for no apparent reason. I've got the assailants restrained…" said Peter, as he noticed something on the blond one's arm: A small yin-yang patch on his arm.

He looked at the other individuals under the webbing, and they all had the same patch.

"That's interesting," thought Peter.


The truck pulled into the warehouse that matched the address that Hammerhead had given him. Once the truck came to a stop, Hammerhead's men surrounded it, guns trained.

"Now, is that how you treat a business partner, Hammerhead?" asked Martin, in his black and white form, walking out of the truck.

"Precautionary measures," replied Hammerhead. "Did the shipment go?"

"As of now, the first shipment has been sent out, but I need more men," replied Martin.

"And I need control of F.E.A.S.T. Now, I do have an idea on how to coerce your…better half," said Hammerhead. Martin chuckled.

"You can do what you want to him. Hurt him, torture him, it doesn't affect me. If anything, I hope you do so after how long he repressed me," replied Martin, clenching his fists.

"Well, I plan to do so. I'm gonna need him right now," ordered Hammerhead. Martin nodded as he closed his eyes, the opaqueness seeming to disappear from his skin as his business suit turned from bright white to black.

Martin blinked and fell to his knees, eyes wide with terror.

"W-Where am I?" he asked, confused and terrified.

"Hello again, Mr. Li. This is where I tend to carry out my…peaceful negotiations," replied Hammerhead, as a goon slammed the butt of his assault rifle against Li's head, knocking him out.


That's Chapter 86! Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we learn more about Martin's backstory!

So sorry for the delay, the truth is I got kind of burnt out writing the crossover, plus my exams were also not a good combination. Nevertheless, my midterms are officially over! So expect chapters to (hopefully) come out faster. Therapy has been going pretty well, and I'm hoping that things look up soon.

I also finished the first story for my new DC Universe (DC: Earth V), titled Batman: Rising Sun. Do check it out if you get the time, the link and more details are in my profile!


Fate-Be Changed: He's definitely had an experience, that's for sure!

SpideyXBC: Thank you!

Marvel Nerd: Thanks lol. I'm not a super big fan of Slott's runs, and I do feel Superior Spider-Man went on for wayyy too long too!

Geek4Life: That's a good idea lmao

Teller-Story: Truly lol. It's way too unbelievable.

I am the Voice: Oh wow, that's interesting! I ought to check it out.


Yours Truly,

Shadow Strike.