All credit to respective owners!
Now as far as the Spidercide Arc goes, I don't think it'll be very long. I know I know I know, but there was a buildup! But honestly I have gone out of the way to show that Warren's mental state has harshly deteriorated and his rage causes him to lose control, but he does lead into a arc I was very excited to get into.
Another thing, as much of a 'villain' Osborn is, he loves Harry. He created Devil's Breath for the sole purpose of saving him and he kept it in the city — in my opinion — so that the moment it was perfect, he could save Harry and have his son back. So while he's not a good person, he's human — if a opportunistic and arrogant asshole who stomps on people who may challenge him — enough to warrant some sympathy in this iteration.
Y.A.R.N.
Peter fiddled with some of the wires as he worked on some of the prosthetics he had originally had the design for from his time as Otto's assistant. Part of him had rebelled against ever working on some sort of prosthetic, but a larger part of him wanted to finish this. Achieve the original dream that Otto and him had conceived when it came to helping people live regular lives. Max Model watched as Peter hand poked at one of the joints to test its firmness before fiddling with a controller to test the limb's range of movement.
"Parker... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Max inquired dubiously as the prosthetic rotated like someone flexing his arm.
Peter stilled and took a slow deep breath before he nodded, "It is... when Otto and I started this project, it was a way for us to assist the world by helping people get back things they lost. I know I said it before but when Otto used the interface, it wasn't ready and turned the man I respected into a villain. It went through a cascade failure that began to affect his emotions and personality making him angrier and vengeful, losing any regard for the collateral damage and innocents caught in the crossfire. Now I plan to make sure that I don't breathe a word of when it is ready until I know it's perfect. Once that's done... I think I'll finally be able to put the past to rest like I wanted. Besides, it will be a way to help people and this time I know how to make it work. Also, I don't plan to make something as advanced as what Otto created, like tentacles that can be used as weapons, but simply a sturdy and well functioning prosthetic."
Max Model hummed in consideration, "Very well. Just make sure you notify me of any tests, I don't want another supervillain to come from this and terrorize the city."
Peter turned to him and nodded, "It won't. I'll make sure of it."
Peter and Miles both lounged on top of the empire state building as they took a small break from crime fighting. With two spiders now patrolling the streets and the Maggia crumbling without Hammerhead and loss of Sable weaponry, things had calmed down for a time and allowed the heroes some much needed downtime. Sure some of the small-time had continued trying to commit crimes, it seemed like the entire city was taking some time to decompress after the events of the Maggia's recent bid for power. It seemed that everyone needed time to cool off and get things in perspective.
On one hand, Peter was glad as he got more time to focus on inventing and assisting the scientists in Horizon Labs, as well as increasing his paycheck. With the actual steady paycheck and his innovation into his suit applied to some new inventions — though to a lesser degree than his actual suits — Horizon Labs wasn't keen on kicking him out. The original design for the prosthetic had been going very well with him already knowing what worked and what didn't, and he was refining the interface more everyday. Plus he had used his access to better tools and tech to refine a new suit he had in the works as well as further reinforce the Iron Spider's defensive capabilities.
On the other hand, this was the perfect time to actual take MJ out on dates and she wasn't here and in Symkaria which itself was in the middle of a civil war. She called and they tried to keep in contact as much as they could, but ironically she was the one who was simply too busy.
Miles was glad as he got more free time to balance his regular life and his heroics, as much fun as it was, being a hero made it hard for him to focus the whole time in school (plus tips from Peter on washing his suit without mixing them with his regular clothes after his first and barely explained disaster with using the washing machine with his suit). His grades hadn't dropped or anything, but he did notice that studying had become a bit more boring than he was expecting when it came to living a regular life. The recent amount of excitement and crime-fighting had made him lose touch with some of the aspects of the real world. He was still a high-school student and that mean he had to make sure that he had a life outside the swinging through the streets and beating up baddies.
"It's amazing up here isn't it?" Peter said as the muted sounds of the city swelled and ebbed beneath them.
"Yeah. When you see the city from up here, it seems so big and small at the same time." Miles replied, "You don't really think about how many people are down there and may need help at any given time. But you think you can get anywhere so easily now."
"I hope the peace lasts." Peter sighed, more than happy with the recent pace of events "The last thing we need is more trouble."
Sable had been furious with Oscorp for developing Project Olympus beyond the prototype stage without her approval. Osborn's reputation was still reeling from the whole Devil's Breath fiasco, but now with Sable having leaked why the Maggia was suddenly so damn threatening, Osborn was about as close to exile as one could get. If this kept up, if Harry — when he got better because he had to (Peter had lost too too many people recently, he wasn't sure he could handle another) — would return to be the son of one of the most hated men in New York. Peter wished he could feel at least a bit more saddened about this, but Osborn had been causing so much pain, he deserved a lot of karmic payback for it.
But with all the good, there came the bad.
Maybe the Devil's Breath had been for a good cause, but it ended up killing so many. Oscorp had released that it was a cure that they were attempting to refine and what had happened was the result of a villain exploiting the imperfect serum, but he didn't specify anything beyond that. It had calmed some of the vitriolic hatred, but everyone had lost someone in the event, and that pain had quickly become hate. Hate directed at the man who ordered its creation and the man who had released it.
Yuri was still gone to the ground and there hadn't been hide or hair sighting of the woman since. Peter was already way past worried over the weeks, but now? He was downright terrified of what Yuri might be doing.
He had heard the rumors of a new vigilante, a lethal protector.
Followed the tapes, keeping Miles and even MJ in the dark about the recordings.
His stomach twisted at the last conversation with his friend and the things she had done.
Yuri was taking matters into her own hands and was done playing by the rules. If this kept up, he would have to take her in, a protector was fine (he was one himself), but this lethality and hate? He hoped Yuri would stop, would let this all go as he had once. But he didn't know if she could. The way she expressed pleasure and the feral joy in her voice was something he never thought he would hear and it made him sick to his stomach.
He needed to think.
He needed some time.
So peace was good, and he needed a lot of it.
Zabo observed Warren fighting with several criminals as they had been armed with guns and weapons. Warren was doing admirably well, he wasn't as acrobatic as the genuine Spider-Man when it came to fighting, he still commanded a respectable amount of strength, not to mention the fact he could shift his body into different forms based on his desires, though not without a noticeable drain to his stamina. His hand shifted between claws and hammers, spearpoints and axes, depicting different weaponry though his many tests. While the weapons he formed from his body couldn't be separated from him or stretch across the room, with his variety of options as well as webbing, he wasn't limited in the way of long-range combat. His shifts were nowhere near as malleable as the Leader of the Fantastic Four, he was suitable enough for his goals.
Zabo frowned as one goon fired off a volley of bullets that hit Warren in the side, causing blood to splatter the ground. Honestly, the man wasn't invincible, his mutagenic shift didn't cover and damage he received over the course of his battles and wouldn't seal up bleeding wounds or smooth over bruises. The man howled in rage and fired a gout of webbing at the terrified criminal before yanking him over and fastening him to the ground. The man screamed in terror as the enraged man stalked over him before raising a foot and mercilessly stomping on the man's head, killing him instantly. Warren's personality had gone from a grief-stricken vengeful scientist to a deranged psychopath within the weeks since his experiment to become a mock Spider-Man.
"How very disappointing." Zabo sighed as he watched the former scientist scan the abandoned subway station they had appropriated in order to test Warren's current abilities, "Truly, the man was much more valuable than the monster in this case."
Yuriko Watanabe sat heavily in the seat she had in her new base of operations as she rubbed her hand over her eyes, trying to wipe the sleepiness from them.
It had been a very difficult few weeks she had been holding onto as of late (with the bright spot of killing that enforcer).
Using her position she had managed to clear out where Black Cat had hidden several works of art and once cleared, she had it sealed up. Or so it said on any official file before she gone even further to hack into the police database and remove this location from any plans that were even remotely accessible.
Instead she managed to retrofit a security door that was covered in bricks and a handprint scanner that recognized her hand or a specific code. Then she moved in a high-end computer, medical supplies, technology she'd appropriated from the mobsters she killed, and munitions she had into the area and carefully organized them. With the most important things out of the way, she placed a few creature comforts like a coffee maker, a bed, a chair, a desk, several spare sets of clothing, and a small fridge for food.
She had debated whether or not to actually go that far but she figured that if she was going to go for broke on this, she may as well make it as comfortable as reasonably possible.
Then came the last piece to her new hideout, the suit.
It was nothing like the technological masterpieces she had seen Spider-Man, Adrian Tombs, or Otto Octavius create and use, but it should be enough to get the job done. She had grabbed all the tech she could off the Maggia she had killed and brutalized as well as the unopened canisters of sable tech, and promptly ran into a huge issue with her plan.
She didn't have the necessary knowledge to create the necessary equipment.
She had an idea of what she wanted, but no way to actually create it. So despite the fact she hated it, she 'commissioned' some of many scientists that were intimidated by the Maggia into making a variation on the Project Olympus enhancements (under an alias). Rather than the gauntlets and thicker armor that Hammerhead used before she shot him in the skull, she had gone for a more flexible and thinner variation that had offered increased mobility, strength for the wearer, and general armor for her body. In addition to the tech added, Yuri had managed to incorporate fasten a ballistic fiber weave that made her suit bulletproof (granted getting shot in an unarmored area would hurt but it wouldn't kill her) and strengthened ballistic fiber whips sprouting from the elbows that could be used to tie up and subdue criminals, as well as a utility belt and bandolier that allowed for weapons and tools. Smoke grenades, a combat knife, a tonfa with electrical strike points, riot-grade pepper spray, handcuffs, a basic medkit, and two sable handguns with multiple rounds. A quick purple and yellow paint job later and she looked over the suit with an air of grim satisfaction.
It was finally finished.
There was a small voice in the back of her head, cautioning her. Reminding her of who she would have to face if she continued forward with this path. She could still back out, Spider-Man would've been okay to let this slide as long as she let go of this.
No.
She needed this.
She wanted this.
Warren paced through the streets, wearing a concealing overcoat, as he rhythmically flexed his fists within his coat pockets. It had been annoying, but he had managed to shift his facial features back into his original human shape rather than his 'spider' mask. He knew he needed to avoid the attention, but it was galling to his ego. What should it matter? He was superhuman! He was the one who was going to cleanse the city of filth! Of the monsters who killed thousands!
He stared at the building where Osborn worked as he got closer and closer, anticipation churning in his stomach. According to Zabo, Osborn had been spending most of his time in his office, managing his business from there. Ever since his colossal hit to his reputation and chances at even trying to become a mayor, he had wholly focused on his business. He was rarely ever seen out in the streets as he was either in Oscorp or his suite, mostly likely to avoid the public.
"Coward..." Warren muttered, "Such a coward..."
He felt his fingers grow into claws almost instinctively before he force the features away. He smiled as he increased the pace towards Oscorp, he was going to enjoy this.
Osborn rubbed a hand over his forehead as he sat at his desk in his house.
Damn Otto.
Damn Li.
Damn everyone and everything over the past half year since Fisk's incarceration and the effects of it. What Fisk said to Spider-Man before being carted off to the Raft had come to pass, just as he knew he would. The power vacuum left had been taken over by Li, who used that to completely undermine all his hard work in running for Mayor again. Then Otto came in and compounded upon the problem and sent supervillains after all his relief centers he had been guarding with the best money could buy (which was useless against them). But his most important concern had been affected by the backlash.
Harry.
Osborn clenched his fists and bowed his head for just a moment, cursing the Devil's Breath loss.
They had been so close to saving his son!
He sighed and reclined in his chair, thinking back to the moment that he had first held his child in his arms. Such a tiny and fragile thing, but he could see the makings of a fine man even then, a true heir to the Osborn legacy. He and his friends pushed each other to greater heights and he could see the reflection of himself and Otto (though without the competitive edge and rivalry that could become hate). Then the sickness, that horrible genetic curse that took his wife and plagued him with grief as he saw the symptoms in his son. The point of hope that was the symbiotic creature from the space shuttle. It had been kept quiet and tested on before he learned of its healing capabilities and he fastened the alien to his son, watching as it kept him stable.
But that was all it was, stable.
Not stopping the sickness.
Just keeping his son alive.
That wasn't a solution, it was a bandage over a bullet-hole.
Though if he could think of any upside to this whole catastrophe of this last half-year it would be he was able to devote more time into running Oscorp. Granted splitting his time between that and being mayor had lessened his running of the company, he still had the resources and tools.
Proper utilization was all that was needed.
Suddenly he was shocked out his musings by his computer sounding an alarm. He looked to his screen to see what seemed to be the newest villain — Spidercide if J. Jonah Jameson was correct in his naming — attacking his building. He scowled in fury, could everybody not just leave him alone as of late? What the hell was up with supervillains coming to wreck his life and property? He clenched his fist as he dialed the Police and rattled the situation off in a rush. They had already been heading over, but now they knew it was a supervillain, not just a bunch of thugs with a bombs and RPG's.
Norman glared and tried to control his rage, there was nothing to come from this now but wait and hope the monster could be subdued.
"WHERE IS OSBORN?" Spidercide bellowed as he lifted a terrified worker to his face.
"I don't know!" The man whimpered, "He been working from his house today!"
"Worthless!" He screamed as he tossed the man away.
These people were all worthless, not a single one could tell him where Osborn might be and that was infuriating. Suddenly a bullet whizzed by Spidercide's head and he saw the SWAT and RAFT cars pull up behind him.
"Stay out of my way!" He howled.