Hello one and all! Welcome to my next Spider-Man story, Spider-Man: Survival of the Strongest! It's been long and coming but I've worked out all the kinks and planning and I'm ready to go! For those who read my first Spider-Man story, this is my gift to you! This new story picks up after Spider-man 2, and has ties to my first story as well. SO it does help if you read my first story, but it isn't necessary. Anyways, here you are, the next chapter of Spider-Man: Survival of the Strongest!
I do NOT own these characters, they are owned by Marvel Comics!
Spider-Man: Survival of the Strongest: Issue 3: Experimenting
A flash of light, exploding glass drifts through the air, reflecting the suns everlasting radiance. Chunks of concrete and metal hit pedestrians and cars, leaving them injured. Many scream, fleeing their vehicles and rushing away toward safety. Smoke billows through the sky, and the opening where the explosion occurred.
From out of the smoke steps a figure clad in diamond shaped patterned suit. The suit is yellow, portions are a dark red, and slits are cut for his eyes. On each hand are large mechanical devices, which he calls "Vibro shock units". These devices release concentrated sound waves, destroying any object in front of him.
This man is known as the shocker.
He stands above the streets of New York, a bag of money under one arm, the other arm pointed at the streets below. The vibro shock unit begins to light up, his whole arm shakes and the man grins under his mask. Without further hesitation he squeezes the mechanism under his fingers and releases a blast.
The shock blast hits the street, rupturing the cement and all stability. A car flies out of the way, finding its new home in the window of a nearby deli. Shocker cackles with delight and lets out another blast.
From above him swings in a colorfully clad superhero known to all as The Amazing Spiderman. Spiderman releases the web line that was in his had, flipping in the air, seemingly weightless.
He lands beside shocker, crouched and glaring up at the villain who had yet to notice his presence. He was too busy launching shock waves at the people below, the sick bastard. Spiderman leaps to his feet, using his springing energy to catch shocker in the side of the head with an arm.
"Surprise!" Spiderman yells, knocking the villain over.
The bag of money slips out of shocker's hands, falling off of the roof and down to the street below, its caught by a web line.
"Gimme back my money!" Shocker screams, tackling the wall crawler.
The two tumble and fall off of the roof. Their limbs flail and slap; blows have been exchanged several times, both fighters grunting. They're fall is stopped short by a low rooftop; both slam onto it with a sickening thud.
Spiderman rolls away, already crouched on his feet waiting for the villain. Shocker is slow getting up, rubbing the back of his aching head. Before he can fully rise to his feet, webbing surrounds its feet, and he's pulled off balance, slamming his head off of the pavement for a second time.
"ARGHH! Enough!" Shocker screams, releasing a super powered sound wave.
The wave hits the rooftop, rupturing and destroying concrete and brick. Shocker laughs, continuously releasing the pulsating waves and eliminating the entire portion of roof Spiderman was on. He finally stops, his apprehender nowhere in sight.
"That's what I thought, stupid mother—AYYIIE!"
The rest of the roof caved in, the masked villain falling floor to floor, whacking limbs on railings and other structures. He finally stops falling, hitting the top of a dresser and slumping to the floor.
The dresser was now in pieces, clouds of smoke swept through the now destroyed apartment complex. Shocker groans loudly, attempting to pick himself up off of the floor. From above him a voice speaks very confidently.
"Thanks for doing all of the work."
He glared upwards, Spiderman hanging upside down on a web line. His large white eyes haunting the defeated villain.
"Next time watch what your doing." He smirked, webbing shocker's body to the floor.
The webbed wonder was off, not paying any attention to the screaming emitting from the villain behind him. He swung through the skies of the city, muscles working to propel him further to his destination.
Today was his meeting with Dr. Conners; His favorite teacher from ESU. The two had met on previous occasions in the past year, as both Spiderman and Peter Parker. Last time he had seen Dr. Connors was at school months before. Since then they had been exchanging emails and talking about Dr. Connors new situation.
ESU had awarded Dr. Connors workspace over at Oscorp labs to continue his research and experiments on cells. They have also awarded him large sums of grant money for his work, which he is using very gratefully. Today he's invited peter in to have a look around at his experiments.
"Can't be any later."
He flipped, his body gracefully landing on the top of a nearby building. He pulls a web sack from under the ledge of the roof and tears it open. Spiderman begins to dress and transform back into peter parker. His mind was still racing from the fight, and how he was almost too late to stop it.
"Alright, gotta get to the labs."
Clouds begin to gather overhead, darkening and forming large mounds of gray. People begin to clear the streets, heading inside and fearing the rain. Oscorp labs looked menacing with a dark backdrop. For a second peter thought he saw the green goblins face form in the clouds.
Shaking his head, He jumps down, rushing across the street and stopping in front of the labs. Large glass doors show his reflection, the dark door handle was cold and solid as he gripped it.
Inside there was nothing but silence, no one roamed the corridors that led to the workrooms.
"Must have gone home for the day." Peter said to himself.
He turned around another corner, the numbers on doors shifting from threes to fours, and he finally stopped at his destination. Lab B46. Lightly, he twisted the knob; only to have the door pulled forward, almost throwing him off balance. He was greeted with the friendly face of his old teacher, Dr. Curt Conners.
"Hello peter! I was just coming to make sure you made it here." He said.
"Yeah sorry Dr. Connors, I was running a little late, there's a traffic jam two blocks over."
"Right, right. Well, come with me."
The two enter an enormous room, lines with shelves of bottles and tubes. There were piles of notebooks strewn about, several bookshelves in the back corner. From where they stood they descended the stairs into the work area where there was a familiar set up.
A section was blocked off, lined with lead casing, a large machine aimed toward the covered area. The neo-genic recombinator. Peter remembered last time the two used this, he was dressed as Spiderman, and Conners completely lost control of himself. The web slinger was almost defeated by his teacher.
They stepped over several thick wires and over to the opposite wall, notebooks were stacked here as well, which Conners pushed to one side and pulled over a small cage. Inside the cage was a large iguana, its eyes closed, sides contracting.
"I've unlocked the secret peter." Conners said, his eyes gleaming.
"What secret?" Peter asked.
"What we've been talking about all summer! DNA replication and cell growth! I can re-grow cells peter! I've done it several times already!"
"You can grow missing things back! Wait…how did…how is this…"
"Say no more." Conners interrupted. "Look at this, my first try with the recombinator."
He pulled over another smaller cage containing a large white lab rat. It chewed a piece of food firmly with its hands. It's red eyes blinked confusedly up at the two.
"Look at its left foot. Just look."
Peter saw that the rat's foot looked as normal as any others.
"Its there, it's a foot. It looks normal to me" He said.
"But it wasn't." Conners smiled.
He handed Peter a picture, dated just two months prior. The rat had been missing its left foot, it looked sort of sad in the picture.
"I can do it peter. I've revolutionized science, as we know it. "
"Why didn't you tell me you were doing these experiments before? I would have helped you, and it would have been really interesting to work on." Peter asked, studying the picture.
Conners shook his head. "I needed to be sure it would work, I couldn't go dragging a young boy into my work. You need to go out, get your full college experience. Besides, I kind of liked having this little secret. Now that it's a success Oscorp will give me full funding in future endeavors."
"So how do u regenerate the cells?" he asked.
"Reptile DNA" Dr. Conners answered.
"Reptiles! Of course! This is amazing Dr. Conners! But wait, if its already a success, why did you ask me to come here today?" he questioned.
"I need your help. I can't use the recombinator alone." The doctor explained.
Peter looked over to the recombinator and then to Conners, and to his missing arm. Suddenly he realized what the doctor had planned to do. Something risky and probably self-destructive.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I want my arm back more than anything. I need to be able to handle my experiments with both hands. I need…I need to be able to hold my wife completely again peter, do you know what I'm saying?" Curt explained.
Peter nodded and stepped forward, sliding the lead vest off of the rack and over his chest.
"That a boy."
Curt removed his lab coat and t-shirt, stepping over to the sectioned off portion of the laboratory. Peter moved to the thick separation between areas, setting up the recombinator according to instruction left by his teacher next to the console.
"Almost ready Peter?"
He nodded, sighing deeply, glaring down at the red buttons he was about to push and possibly destroy his former teacher into tiny atoms. Peter slid the tray of reptilian DNA into the recombinator, the lights on the side of the machine shifting to blue. He pulled another switch to the left, and the keys began to light up.
"Ready Curt? Here we go."
In another laboratory…
A loud and violent noise had erupted several laboratories away. The rush was so powerful the floor began to shake and beakers full of fluid smashed on the floor, sizzling and producing steam.
The figures toppled over, their balance lost, confusion flowing strong.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"
"DAMNIT MATHERSON! WHAT IS THIS!"
"SHUT YOUR DAMN TRAPS."
The lights flicker on, the three climb to their feet, brushing themselves off. Dillon glares at the duo that is with him, fixing his suit jacket. One man is tall, looming over the other two, the look on his face one of worry and confusion. His wide frame shifts uncomfortably at Dillon's glare.
The other is a smaller much older man, his nose hooked like a beak. His gray eyes glare back at Matherson, brushing the dirt off of his black sweater. His lips form a grimace, and he folds his small arms.
"Look we just need to get the suits, then we're out. Both of you need to calm down." Dillon said.
"Where are they then, lets hurry this up." The older man squawked.
"Yeah I wana eat after this, you promised man." The taller one moaned.
"Alright alright, just shut it Alex. And Adrian, don't be in such a hurry, there's no telling what could happen to a clueless old man." He smirked.
The three walked through the next door, Adrian still grumbling about the noise before, and how his back hurt. They stepped into a larger room with three stations inside. They approached the first, Dillon stepped forward.
"So what now? They're locked up with encryption keys and solid adamantium." Adrian snickered.
"And you think that I would come here without any means of getting them out? You're a complete idiot." Matherson sneered, pulling key cards from his pocket.
With a quick swipe of the card a small light turned green, large amounts of steam releasing from the sides of the containment cell. The huge doors of the first station began to slide open as Dillon slid the card on the second station. Adrian and Alex stepped back in awe.
The suits were massive, lined with powerful coating and technological parts. They gleamed in the bright laboratory light. Dillon pressed another button on the side, the locks sliding out of place and lowering the suits to the ground. They shifted loudly, shaking the room as they touched down on the floor.
"Jesus…" Alex said, his hand sliding across the huge armor.
Matherson pressed a button on the back of the taller suit; it immediately began to react and transform, opening its hull. It looked like a small tank sitting before them, gleaming in its power.
"You don't expect us to move these! They weigh a ton! Wait, your no suggesting we get IN them!" Adrian boomed.
"Adrian, how else are we supposed to move them? Why do you think we've had you inventing wings of the same basis for months? Both of you, in the suits now."
There was another low rumble, followed by an explosion, which knocked out the wall at the far end of the room. Bits of matter and concrete falling all over the floor. Alex is shoved roughly at the suit, his back hitting the inside.
The armor begins to react, taking the man in and securing itself around his body. Straps lock into place, and a metal spine injects itself into his back, the suit sealing itself around him. The man begins to scream violently in pain, falling to the floor.
"This is crazy, I didn't know he wanted us to do this. I-I…"
Adrian glares at Dillon who smirks back at him, waving him forward to the suit.
"Think about it Adrian, your going to be so powerful in this armor, nothing is going to be able to hurt you. You'll be an unstoppable force, picking off any opponent. What do you say?"
The old man looks down at Alex, who seems to have adjusted to the pain. The bigger man whimpers a bit, clawing at the ground and Adrian moves. The suit takes him in quickly, the spine attaching to his and securing him inside. The old man does not scream, but endures the pain.
Another explosion and a blur, Dillon is knocked off balance and his two accomplices rush to his aid. On top of Dillon is a young boy, covered in concrete and scratches. Alex reaches down, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and pulling him off of Matherson. He tosses the boy aside, his body slamming into a nearby lab table. Adrian helps Dillon up.
"You alright?"
"I will be, now lets move."
The trio makes their way to the door, stepping over rubble and small fires. They reach the opening the explosion created and are confronted by a mysterious figure. A loud hissing noise erupts from the darkness and it lunges, so quick it's a green blur.
Bonds have been forged, and people forever changed. Two mysterious accomplices to Dillon Matherson have acquired two of the most powerful suits in the world, what they plan to use them for is still a mystery. Who is the mysterious attacker? Find out next chapter in Spider-man: Survival of the Strongest!