Thank you all for greatly enjoying my previous chapter.
Felt like a return to form if I'm being honest.
Good to finally write about Spider-man in a circumstance he's used to.
Love seeing everyone freak out over the arrival of Wolverine. It's been a long time coming after all. many have asked if he shall interact with Wrex. After so many hints and Spidey teasing the old Krogan about it, you really think that's not gonna happen?
Also glad to see so many people graciously accepting Kamala Khans Ms. Marvels arrival as well. She was someone I was treading around for a while on whether or not I should include her but have hence forth decided on doing so as she reminds me greatly of Spider-man in his hay day albeit in a modern setting and she will become Peter's own "Sidekick". He won't baby her, nor will he talk down to her(Unless necessary cause she's still a kid). He and Logan will show the young fledgling hero the ropes of what it means to carve out your own path to becoming a hero.
And then there's the inclusion of TWO of Spidey's old baddies in Doc Ock and Sandman. Another long time coming as well cause I had planned this LONG ago with my old comrade BioshockerN7. Now we have Scorpion, Shocker, Electro, Sandman and Doctor Octopus. Starting to feel a lot like home for our little Spider(little is a term I use loosely). There is still more to come.
But that's what you're all here for!
And I saw a film recently that gave me such…hope and strength in myself to overcome my obstacles in the Darkest Hour.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day
Along Came a Spider Chapter 29: Some Familiarity Part 2
Kamala Khan sat in a daze, her brain going through some much needed reparations after the truth-bomb Spider-man and his companions had dropped on her.
Another universe. She was in an entirely different universe. Not the future, Not a familiar alternate reality, an entirely different reality where no heroes that either knew of ever existed.
A different universe with a different history and now she sat before one of her most idolized heroes, unsure of what to say or do.
Her mouth was slightly parted and her eyes glossy with her hands by her side, unmoving like the rest of her body and soul.
Peter naturally had a look of great concern and hesitation as to what to do next.
He stood up and walked over to Liara and Garrus who were observing from the side.
"So there's a piece of the tablet out there along with Logan and two of my baddies" Peter quickly recounted their situation "And now we have a junior hero with us who has no idea where the rock is nor where she is"
"And there's your friend Logan somewhere out in the city with the Sandman" Garrus said grimly
"Logan can take care of himself" Peter assured "If there's anybody who has the ability to adapt to any situation he's in, it's Logan. It's Marko who I'm worried about. Who knows what he's gonna do"
"You would know" Liara said "He is one of your adversaries"
"Good point" Peter said "But he's never been to an another reality…that I know of"
"So what do we do Peter?" Garrus asked
"I'm not sure" Peter crossed his arms in thought, staring down at the floor
"Really wish I brought my flying cycle right about now" Garrus said grumpily
"We could always rent a car" Liara suggested
"I think the payout of how we're gonna use it may bankrupt us, Liara" Garrus pointed out
"So what do we do then?" Liara reiterated Garrus's question
"For now…" Garrus also crossed his arms in thought "Spidey, this is your hometown, your turf. It's your call"
Peter exhaled heavily, rubbing the top of his head.
He glanced back to Kamala and saw that she was silent and downcast.
God knows what's going on through her mind right now.
Here she was, a young high school student who had just gotten powers beyond anything she understands and is now thrust into another universe that's as chaotic as home.
It felt a little too familiar for Peter.
"We should rest up for now" Peter said "For her sake especially. Cause tomorrow is gonna be a long day"
Garrus and Liara could only nod, moving to go to sleep whilst Peter walked back over to Kamala.
"Hey Junior M-bomb" Peter said kindly, snapping her out of her daze
"Listen, I know it's been a long day for you" Peter said gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder "Longer now than it seems. But right now, it's best for you to rest and save your strength. We'll find a way out of this mess for you, I promise"
Ms. Marvel only looked at Peter with great levels of anxiousness before nodding.
Peter only patted her shoulder like a brother would to his sister as she laid down on the bed and he covered her with a blanket.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
Peter only stared at her, a growing guilt within him as he could only use words of false hope in alleviating her fears.
Mentally chastising himself, Peter wordlessly crawled out from the window to go up to the roof.
He settled himself upon the edge, overlooking the grand apple.
Peter let out a sigh of a man who has seen and done too much in a short amount of time. Multiversal weariness sure can hit a guy like a freight train on full speed.
Taking off his mask, Peter drooped his tired head with a feeling of a growing headache coming up on the horizon.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and then his eyes, grunting in annoyance at what tomorrow is gonna bring.
Knowing how every universe functioned, it will undoubtedly be filled with physical pain up the wazoo so he was used to that much.
"Already up here by your lonesome. Gotta say, not that surprised"
"What'd you expect me to do, Garrus?"
"Honestly? Swing out there like a madman and not rest until you find your friend or your enemies" Garrus said knowingly, plopping down beside the web-head "Probably the latter knowing your luck"
Peter snorted, lightly slugging his friends shoulder.
"Don't tempt fate like that Garrus" Peter said "It'll just make it more than likely to occur"
"You know what the ironic thing about your version of trouble is?" Garrus rhetorically asked "Or better yet the irony of everything that has happened to us"
"What?"
"I think I would have regardless joined up with Shepard and the Normandy crew still would have gone on maddening missions and adventures" Garrus said "You joining us just doubled the insanity. It's why I'm starting to find it sad and disturbing that new experiences aren't that surprising anymore"
"Oh man, now you're just asking for something to happen, be it good or bad" Peter jokingly whined, the two sharing a laugh afterwards.
Garrus leaned forward, propping his arms on his knees.
His keen eyes scanned the city over, making quick notes over multiple areas.
"So the legendary Wolverine is somewhere in this city?"
"Most likely" Peter surmised "If Junior M and Doc Ock appeared in this city, who's to say that Logan isn't here as well?"
"But that would also mean that there's a probability that the other guy is here as well" Garrus pointed out
"Sandman" Peter said stoically, looking up at the sky
"Garrus" Peter said in total seriousness "If you see Sandman, it may be pointless in telling you this, but do not fight him. If you must, you gotta find a way to dampen him. Water, oil anything to make him solid. Then run cause even then, Flint still a dangerous individual"
"You've beaten him multiple times before haven't you?"
"And it was never easy" Peter said "You saw how much of a pain Electro was. Sandman is one of my most dangerous villains. Right up there with Ock and Goblin"
"I'll try my hardest not to die at the very least, Pete" Garrus said "You know how your luck is rubbing off on others"
Peter let out a mirthful chuckle "Yeah, it doesn't exactly fill me with joy buddy"
"Wonder where Doc Ock is" Garrus said "Or what he's doing exactly"
"More than likely trying to figure just where the hell he is" Peter said
Scene Cut to exactly that
Around Doctor Otto Octavius were several poor unfortunate souls that were sadly within the vicinity he currently resided in.
It was an old rundown building in Manhattan that was in need of some maintenance. You know what they say, the more things change the more things stay the same.
Currently, he was examining one of the blue skinned mono-gendered females that were known as the Asari. Some would assume that Doc Ock would have dissected the poor young lady but for heaven's sake.
He may have been a villain but he was not a savage animal. A scientist he may be but even he had morals and standards to abide by.
One of the more interesting tools that this alien seemed to have on her was apparently something that practically every individual in this city, nay the known galaxy possessed.
An Omni-tool.
His 'hostages' all had one, each of varying speed and function but having the some overall basic formats.
Ocks mechanical limbs served as an on the go lab for the scientist after years of upgrades, so he quickly began working on dismantling the Omni-tool to better understand its functions.
The "Good" Doctor was in for a long night.
Good thing he had found the source of which of how he had gotten here.
Central park
Logan had long since pulled back his mask and snatched a trench coat and fedora off of an unsuspecting vendor stand. He honestly could not believe that guy only had Fedora's as his only choice of headwear. In this type of Manhattan.
It definitely was Manhattan. Just not the one Logan knew.
So it was easy to surmise that he was in a different reality.
The old mutant only grunted in annoyance at the situation.
Sure he's been to other realities before. A few good times really. But not like Egghead Reed and the rest of the Four and their family.
This was more their forte than anyone else's.
But one thing was for sure.
Spider-man was here.
Somewhere in this city, Peter was crawling, jumping or swinging around.
He had picked up on his scent in his brief walkthrough of this universes Times Square.
Not only his scent, but the scent Ms. Marvel and Doc Ock.
There was also a news clip showing on one of the many screens of the Square with Spider-man battling Doc Ock in a new black suit.
And apparently, this isn't the only place that Spidey has been seen.
With a little bit of research at the New York public library('Thank god that place never closed' Thought Wolverine), it turns out that Peter has been very busy in making a name for himself the galaxy over.
"From a friendly neighborhood Avenger to next door neighbor Guardian of the galaxy" Logan said in a very Peter-like fashion "What have you gotten yourself into, web-head?"
That would be a question saved for when he'd find him. He sniffed the air twice in all the directions, being discreet about it by making a circle around the area he stood, pretending to be a tourist admiring the nature of the park.
His senses then sharpened upon one specific direction.
He looked towards where he saw the Empire State building and grinned to himself.
"There's only five places I know I could always find you, Pete" Logan murmured "Let's start off with number one"
The next day
Ms. Marvel was snoring peacefully with half her face buried in her pillow.
"She's a snorer alright" Garrus remarked, prodding at his ear, wherever that was on his head "Woke me up with a real rattle"
To justify this, Kamala let out a snort similar to a boar.
"Yeah that's the one" Garrus said with his own snort
"She's knocked out like a light" Peter said making Garrus stare at him
"The hell does that mean?"
"I dunno, heard it on the streets"
"The Streets? What are you some gangster now?"
"I'm pretty down with the in crowd yo"
"….Please…never say or do that again. For the love all that is holy"
"Alright featherhead, geez"
"So should we wake her?"
"Not sure. By the way, where'd Liara go off to?"
"Oh just….now that you mention it, I have no idea"
"Here I am"
Both Garrus and Peter turned to see Liara enter the room with some breakfast.
"I thought she would like something to eat when she would wake up" Liara answered several questions that they had before they could even ask
"Oh" Garrus said "What about us?"
"Don't we have all inclusive breakfast, lunch and dinner?" Peter pointed out, pamphlet in hand
"Shut up" Garrus snatched the pamphlet out Peter's hand to see the menu "Hmmm, Dextro waffles? Haven't tried that one yet"
"Aren't we supposed to be focused on what we're going to do today?" Liara said, confused by Garrus's nonsensical demeanor
"We know we have a long day ahead of us, Liara" Peter said confidently "But breakfast on the brain and stomach helps you through the day"
"Indeed" Garrus said heroically "For all the boys and girls out there, eat your breakfast as it is the essential start to every day"
Liara was thoroughly bewildered and thrown off by both of their behavior.
"Sorry about that Liara" Peter said sheepishly "Been having a strange week you know"
Liara now shook her head in amusement and understanding. She opened her mouth to respond, only for her to groan.
Her eyes widened along with Peters and Garrus, making her blush profusely.
"Tha-That wasn't me' She stuttered in denial, profusely shaking her head.
They heard another groan and this time they looked back to see the young hero shifting on the bed before sitting up.
Liara let out an exhale of relief, thanking the goddess for that little escape.
Kamala groaned, trying to open her eyes only to shut them immediately after the 'blinding' light hit her iris.
She brought her hands up, rubbing her eyes to get whatever gunk was clogging them up out.
Letting out a stretching yawn, Kamala slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a room she for a moment did not recognize.
For a moment, Kamala could only blink and stare at her bed, seeing that she was still in costume.
It was then that all the memories from before came flooding into Kamala, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping.
"Yeah, I had a similar reaction to that the first time I was in another universe"
Kamala's head snapped to her right to see Garrus, Liara and Human male with brown hair.
The young girl tilted her head at Peter. She saw he was wearing a cardigan over a white…spider…symbol. Without a mask.
"Uh….Are you Spider-man?" Kamala shakily raised her hand at Peter.
Peter was confused by the question, scratching his hair upon realizing the context of the question.
He forgot to put his mask on.
"Then again" Peter thought aloud "I figured it would have been better to tell you who I was anyway over keeping my identity secret from you. Logan already knows and so do these two. I'm Peter Parker"
Kamala's face scrunched up in thought, momentarily processing the name until she gasped and jumped out from bed. She was promptly with a wave of vertigo at the sudden action as her body had not fully awoken with her. Kamala fell face first onto the bed beside her, pointing at Peter and excitedly muffled out…
"MMRE MMAT MMMOTMRAMER!"
"Huh?" All three of them said at once.
Kamala lifted her head up to show an ecstatic, complete fangirl of a smile.
"You're that photographer who worked for the daily bugle and took photos of Spider-man for years" Kamala giddily explained
"Wow she is a hardcore fan" Garrus remarked
"I saw all the picture you took and I was always amazed" Kamala was in full fangirl mode "Every time, I thought 'These are amazing' and 'I wish I knew how he did that' and if you knew Spider-man. But you are spider-man"
Kamala's face went blank momentarily.
"So you took pictures of yourself and got rich off of that?" Kamala said in conclusion
Peter openly guffawed at the statement.
"Old JJ would never stomach the thought of paying more than what he already gave me" Peter said "I wish I was rich. In fact, I should have filed a suit against snapchat and selfies in general. I popularized the damn term and action anyway. There are so many royalty checks I'm owed, I think my ancestors 2000 years from now would have been covered"
Everyone just stared at Peter.
"Anyway" Peter continued as if the pace hadn't changed "How're you holding up kid?"
Ms. Marvel once more realized the situation she was in, gaining a slightly anxious expression.
"A bit out of it, Mr. Parker" Kamala said sheepishly making Peter chuckle
"It's just Peter for you Ms. Marvel"
The younger hero stared starry eyed at Peter before she moved to remove her own mask.
"Then you can call me, Kamala Khan" She said happily
Though they were surprised, Liara and Peter gave her kind smiles while Garrus gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"So…" Kamala looked back and forth between the three of them "What do we do now?"
"Now?" Garrus said "We'll give you the basic rundown of this galaxy, get you some new duds and an Omni-tool and then…"
"We find Logan" Peter finished making Garrus nod
"Then" Kamala scratched the side of her head "Where do we begin?"
Peter then let out a sigh
"Do you have any idea how many bars this place has?"
Scene Cut
Logan gulped down a large shot of whiskey, grunting in contentment.
"Damn good whiskey you got here, Roy" The metal endowed mutant said, placing his glass down
"Ah you're just saying that cause it's free" The bartender said good naturedly, refilling the glass once more
"You're the one that forced it on me really" Logan remarked with a toothy grin
"Hey, you saved my baby girl last night and my son in law" Roy said "That right there has gotten you my eternal gratitude"
Logan only humbly nodded at the veteran system alliance marine. He was a retired old dog who fought in the first contact war. Though he held some xenophobic tendencies in the beginning after the war, he soon dropped it upon making friends with a Turian and a Asari whom he employs here at his bar. One was also a veteran from the first contact war whilst the Asari was only 150 years old.
Said aliens were right now on their way to work.
"So where ya from Logan?" Roy asked as right now, his bar was relatively empty "Haven't seen you around these parts. You army?"
"Something like that" Logan said cryptically "Had my fair share of conflict"
"Semper Fi"
"Semper Fidelis" Logan said in turn
Roy grinned a brotherly grin when he displayed his dog-tags which Logan returned with his own grin and showing of his tags.
"So what brings you here brother?" Roy asked, moving to wipe clean a few glasses
"Looking for a friend" Logan explained "Lost track of him for two months and I hope to find him here. His aunt is worried sick about him"
"Any ideas where he could be?"
"Several" Logan mused, rubbing his chin "But…if he knows I'm here, which I'm pretty confident in, then he may find me before I find him"
"That sounds like finding him will be easier than expected" Roy stated
"Knowing his luck and my own" Logan let out a mirthful chuckle "It'll come with some sort of catch that'll tear his hair out"
"Your friend sounds high strung"
"More like he has a healthy level of horrible expectations" Logan correct "His life hasn't been a walk in the park….kinda like mine. I think that's why we're friends"
"Misery loves company"
"I'll drink to that" Logan said, downing his whiskey once more.
Before they could continue conversing, the two had heard the news reporter on the tv that was on for the sake of ambient noise.
"And onto today's more shocking set of news" The female anchor said to all audiences watching "There has been numerous reported sighting since yesterday of the man that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Times Square in a flash of light. A man with four mechanical arms that has proven to be dangerous. What is even more shocking is the appearance of the vigilante hero that has been sighted on the Citadel and throughout the Galaxy. The Vigilante known as Spider-man"
Roy turned to the screen while Logan only eyed the television set.
The news anchor listed off a bunch of sightings of the man with the metal arms, all the while, Logan silently got up, left a large credit chit on the bar and departed.
Roy in the meantime was so caught up in the news report, he realized a second to late that Logan had left.
Scene cut
Kamala now walked with Peter, Garrus and Liara with her new set of clothes they had brought her while fiddling with her Omni-tool like a child who got her dream gift on Christmas.
Only problem is, she has absolutely no idea what she's doing. And this isn't a super-smart teenager get-out-of-jail free card. She was learning from scratch.
Thankfully she had Liara who had taken to really helping her grasp the tech while everyone essentially helped her in accustoming to this reality.
"It just seems so much bigger now" Kamala said, wide eyed with awe
It was like going into Manhattan or discovering her powers for the first time all over again, times a million! Everything was fresh! Everything was new! Everything was terrifying!
She could not help but jump at every alien and even human that had bumped into her.
"Easy there K" Garrus said, placing a hand on her shoulder as they stood in the middle of "Take a breather"
"Sorry" Kamala meekly said, rubbing her arm "It's just…"
"Overwhelming" Peter finished getting a nod from her
"Yeah….How did you deal with all this when you began?" Kamala asked
"Honestly?" Peter crossed his arms, a mirthful look in his eyes "I kind of just let go of all logic and reasoning and accepted it. The world that I was a part of, that we're a part of at the time was growing in what was defined as an Age of Marvels. In the era we exist in now, both here and home, the possibilities are endless"
His three companions stared plate-eyed at Peter for his rather over the top philosophical view.
"Pete?" Garrus said wryly "Not to burst your bubble or anything but she asked how you deal with it. Not a lesson on philosophy and history"
"Oh I'm sorry, how am I supposed to explain to her the five step program of inter-dimensional travel" Peter rebuked "There's no pamphlet or book for it in case you didn't realize. And even if there was, it would have been made by Reed Richards and you'd need an IQ of at least 200 to even begin to understand it"
"Uh guys" Kamala spoke up "It's alright. I appreciate the effort is all"
"Sorry" Garrus and Peter said together
"We don't mean to make things crazier than they already are" Liara said to Kamala, getting an appreciative smile out of the hero.
"So then what do we do now?" Garrus asked, looking to Peter
"Now?" Peter let out a smile regretful huff of amusement "Now we wait for trouble to rear its ugly…"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Shouted a random pedestrian
All heads looked to the center of the bustling area and all jaws promptly dropped.
A brownish yellow substance was swirling in the middle of Times Square, forming up to shape a large humanoid figure.
Eventually, the imposing three story tall figure of one Flint Marko was looking down upon the citizens of New York.
"Where the hell am I?!" Sandman roared aloud, causing many to only silently stare in complete horror and awe
Peter only slapped a hand over his face at the sheer audacity of Flint and stupidity of what just happened.
"That's one way to get attention" Garrus said, still a bit bug-eyed at the sight of a literal giant Sand Man
It once again goes back to the old saying. It's one thing to hear about it, it's an entirely different matter in actually seeing it.
What they weren't aware of however was Sandman's plan in all of this.
He figured if he could make enough noise, there may be a possibility of finding Doc Ock in all of this. Aside from Wolverine and that other kid hero, Ock was the only one with him in the room when there was that bright flash of light and he ended here in a New York he did not recognize.
So no here he was making as much noise as possible.
"Alright" Peter said, pulling Kamala and Liara after him "Time to see if we can talk to him"
"By talk you mean not become a stain on the floor?" Garrus asked
"Precisely" Peter said, calling upon his suit while Kamala merely morphed into hers. It pays to have a super suit that she can change into at a moment' notice.
"What can we do?" Liara asked Peter
"You're Biotics are some of the strongest we've seen, Liara" Peter praised "Crowd control, keep the people back and safe"
"What can I do?" Garrus asked
"Haven't you been upgrading your rifle?" Peter asked
"Yes?"
"Have you made the high caliber scorch rounds?"
"Yeah?"
"Prepare to use them. Hopefully they'll be superheated enough to cause Flint some damage" Peter said
"How is that possible?" Kamala asked
"When Sand is heated enough it turns into glass" Peter said "Let's hope Garrus's bullets are hot enough to slow Flint down"
"This is crazy" Kamala murmured
"Welcome to my world" Spider-man said, fully suited up with Ms. Marvel and they were off to confront the newly arrived Sandman
Sandman in the meantime stood at the center of Times Square, looking around carefully to spot anything of familiarity.
Right now, this was nothing more than a really stupid gamble but it's he has right now.
Since arriving here, Flint had been on the down low, gathering up whatever info he could on just where he was.
This was Manhattan, that much was obvious but the aliens were a dead giveaway that this was not the city he knew so well. He scouted out areas that he had used as personal hiding spots and other locations where he had met up with the Sinister Six whenever they were combatting Spider-man.
And speaking of Spider-man, during his all-nighter, Flint discovered that Spider-man indeed was here. But he was wearing a black suit over his typical red and blue which confused Flint somewhat. Regardless, the bug was here in the city which meant if Doc Ock wouldn't find him then Spider-man undoubtedly would.
Sandman frowned, preparing to 'disintegrate' and take his search elsewhere when he heard a sound that he had not heard in a very long time.
A sound of a solid line being fired from a wrist mounted shooter.
THWIP
Sandman glared intensely at the swinging figure in black coming right for him.
He landed atop an old fashioned food cart stand and sat down cross legged.
"Flint" Spider-man greeted jovially "I can't believe I'm actually glad to see a familiar face after so long. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that"
"Spider-man" Flint glared intensely at the wall-crawler, a sense of angry Deja-vu coming over him "New suit but only you can piss me off just by looking at you"
"Glad to see some things never change" Peter wryly commented, standing up to stare down Sandman "Look Flint, I know this whole situation is crazy to you right now. Believe me, this is standard for me and even I had a hard time grasping it all. But right now, you don't have to hurt anyone or do anything crazy or stupid. Right now, we can just leave this area and talk"
Flint eyed Spider-man warily who held up his hands in a placating manner.
"Please Marko" Peter implored
"Don't be brought into his inferior wordplay, Flint"
Sandman looked behind him to see none other than Otto Octavius casually stroll out in a trench coat from the assembled crowd of people.
"Hey, Ock" Spidey waved nonchalantly "I see you're still as portly as ever"
"And I see your humor has yet to improve in terms of quality" Ock shot back snidely
Peter only feigned having an arrow through his heart.
"OH THE PAIN" Spider-man yelled out "OH IT HURTS. HOW COULD YOU DOCTOR"
Doctor Octopus only ignored his arch-nemesis, looking only to Sandman.
"Flint, let us depart from here post haste" Doc stated "Why waste your breath on the man who has imprisoned more times than anyone ever has? You know how society treated us back home. Why would this place be any different?"
"It can be different" Spider-man argued against Doc "Flint please, don't make me pull my trump card on you"
"Oh yeah? " Flint challenged "And what would that be?"
"I kinda regret bringing that up now" Peter admitted lamely
This greatly annoyed the super powered human who leveled a venomous glare at Spidey.
"WHAT WAS IT?" Flint yelled, getting in Peter's face
Peter was unperturbed by the sandy face that was his size in front of him.
He let out a dejected sigh.
"Think about your daughter Flint" Peter said calmly
Flint visibly recoiled, quite literally shrinking back away from Peter, his size greatly reducing.
Before Flint could even utter a word, his eyes suddenly snapped into a bluish white hue and he snarled dangerously.
Peter's spider-sense blared like a siren.
"EVERYBODY RUUARGH"
Spider-man was slammed back by a sand fist twice his size right up into the air.
Sandman reshaped both hands into giant maces and charged at Spider-man.
"NO" yelled out a young female voice
The citizens of New York's collective jaws dropped at the site of a human girl growing to the size of a small building with enlarged hands.
With a thunderous clap, a windy shockwave barraged itself against Sandman who disintegrated away momentarily only to reform a good distance away.
Sandman's eyes were still glowing with a wispy vapor now radiating out from them.
"What happened to him?" Kamala asked Spider-man who landed on her shoulder
"I think I have an idea" Peter groaned, feeling his body ache.
He looked to where Doc Ock was and saw the trench coat has been discarded to show his four metal arms. But the real defining feature that Spidey saw at the moment was the similarly blue wispy tendrils emanating from Doc's eyes like Flints.
"What the hell?" Peter murmured
People down below began screaming in terror as Sandman began to enlarge himself to a terrifying size.
Liara then appeared from the crowd and threw up a biotic shield in time as Sandman stepped forward.
His massive foot was deflected thanks to her timely intervention but the biotic field dissipated a second later as Liara fell to her knees from the strain.
Thankfully, Garrus found a nice spot on a roof with a good view of the battle below.
He began firing at Sandman's face on rapid fire mode gaining the giants attention.
"Garrus" Peter contacted his friend "You and Ms. Marvel need to lead Sandman away from here. Anywhere near water, it's the only way to take him down"
"Got it" Garrus complied "Hey double K, get his attention and high tail it out of there"
"How do I do that?" Kamala asked nervously
"Slap him around a bit, call him ugly, just get him away from civilians and to Central Park" Garrus called back, using the short range jet repulsors Peter had installed in his suit to jump from building to building. After every landing he turned back to fire at Sandman.
Ms. Marvel looked to the enlarged and clearly angered Sandman who only flinched in annoyance at the shots from Garrus.
Puffing out her chest, Kamala moved in for attack.
"GIANT SLAP" Ms. Marvel exclaimed, slapping Flints face into minerals.
It quickly reshaped with Flint giving her a deadpanned expression.
"Heh" Kamala laughed nervously before slapping him apart like a crazy maniac, kind of anime-esque.
This only served to further piss off Marko who was already enraged by the constant disintegration to reformation.
He then expanded once more, summoning the broken down minerals of the roads and sidewalks.
Ms. Marvel's eyes only widened in shock.
"EEP" Kamala let out a squeak, slapping Flints face one more time before turning to run for her life.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT" Sandman roared, chasing after her
"He's not thinking straight" Peter murmured to himself "That's good and baAK"
One of Doc Ocks arms grabbed Peter by the neck and pulled him towards the villain, having the hero at eye level.
"Ah, so this is what true power feels like" Doc Ock said smugly, holding up his hand to show a piece of the tablet of order and chaos "I have never felt so alive"
"Doc" Peter struggled in the grip "This is worse than you realize. What you've done to Flint, what you've done to yourself, it could kill you"
"Oh but you don't see what I see" Otto replied maniacally "What this is, what this can do…"
"Not interested" Peter declared, maneuvering himself to dropkick out of Doc's grip.
He fell to the ground and kicked back up only to bend his knees in a 90 degree angle to avoid being impaled by the metallic limb.
Spider-man then attempted to pull Doc over to him by quickly grabbing the tentacle with his legs and flipped back only to find that limb seemingly stretched out and Doc remained where he stood with crossed arms and a sneering grin.
That's when Peter's reflexes and spider-sense forced him into overdrive, dodging and weaving Doc's metal arms that seemingly felt longer and a lot stronger.
'It must be the stone' Peter grimly thought
He managed to get some distance and saw that Liara was still here, back on her feet and instructing civilians to steer clear and depart from the area.
"Liara" Spider-man called out to her "Go and help out Garrus and Ms. Marvel. They need the numbers if they're gonna face a super charged Sandman"
"And what about you?" Liara inquired, clearly worried
"This isn't my first tanGO with OCK" Peter responded while dodging the metal arms than now had their claws out to kill "JUST GO, TRUST ME"
Peter had both is arms grabbed and the two entered a momentary struggled of strength as Spidey held firm with his feet on the ground.
Doc Ock was surprised momentarily by the show of strength. It appears that he may be taking this more seriously than he thought.
He tried pulling Spider-man in only for him to tug back with all his might, spinning horizontally in the air getting Doc in close to give him a powerful kick to the chest.
Doc felt the wind get knocked out of him as he sailed back. His metal limbs quickly steadied him in the air and just in time to as Spider-man jumped after him on the attack.
He mentally commanded his top two arms to try and grab Spider-man.
They darted out, 'hands' wide open ready to snatch Spidey out of the air.
Spidey responded by corkscrewing in between the arms while firing out two webs to snag them both and tie them together.
Spider-man landed on the ground then pounced at Ock only to have his leg grabbed by both of the webbed up arms, flinging him away.
Peter gracefully landed on a food truck, flipping down to the ground and ran at Doc Ock.
'Gotta get the fight away from here' Peter thought grimly, thinking fast on his feet. He began firing globs of web at a rapid pace, Doc Ock quickly deflecting them all before having one smear over his face.
With a growl, a metal claw ripped away the webbing allowing Doc Ock to see Spider-man right in from him with hand stretched out.
Instead of getting a strike, what the Wall-crawler did was far more humiliating in Otto's eyes.
He pulled on his cheek and made baby noises at him before flipping over him and dashing away as fast as possible.
"Catch me if you can" Spidey taunted, now swinging away
Doc Ock stood stock still in stunned silence before the blue wisps emanating from his eyes began steaming, his face contorting into one of pure fury and rage.
Letting out a roar of anger, Doctor Octopus whirled around and pursued after his old enemy with a vengeance.
"YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THAT" Doc Ock declared
Meanwhile
Ms. Marvel ran from Sandman at full speed, constantly shifting her size between large and small to continuously evade the pillars of solidified sand he directed at her.
Something was definitely different with the age old foe of Spider-man. For one thing, his eyes were glowing blue and the super fan was pretty damn sure that's never happened before. She would know, aside from Carol Danvers, Spider-man was her favorite hero of all time.
So naturally she would know a great deal about the web-heads exploits and the many adversaries he has garnered over the course of his years as a superhero. And she could tell here and now…
"How did I get myself into this mess?" Kamala cried out animatedly with river tears streaming down her eyes.
She narrowly twisted her body into a snake-like manner to avoid a sand anvil the size of a van being crush on top of her.
"Kamala" Garrus's voice was heard through the earpiece they had provided for her "Go left, you're veering off course from Marko"
"I'm trying not to die here" Kamala whined, shrinking down to the size of a doll.
She managed to get out of sight momentarily and this allowed Garrus who was now standing at the entrance of Central park to fire a few rounds at Sandman.
Since they were scorch rounds, every hit turned small patches of sand into glass.
While this did nothing to hurt Marko, he did notice the small little duds against his "body" thus turning his attention back onto the Turian.
The Turian couldn't help but stare blankly at the giant sand face that was glaring daggers at him in irritation. All the while people around him just ran away, fleeing for their lives.
"Why in the name of the Spirits did I agree to this?" Garrus asked aloud, beginning to slowly walk back while unknowingly egging on the meta-human
Sandman snarled, allowing himself to dissipate into a sand cloud which went right after the marksmen.
He then turned into a full on sprint, answering his own question.
"CAUSE I'M FRIEND WITH SPIDER-MAN AND I'M A FUCKING RETARD WITH A PENCHANT FOR STUPIDITY" Garrus yelled out as the sand cloud crashed down to the ground behind him, morphing into a sand tsunami.
The sand tsunami then shifted into a tidal wave of large hands.
"OH COME ON, THAT'S NIGHTMARE FUEL RIGHT THERE" Garrus shouted, unclipping a superheated grenade and tossed it behind him.
It had the desired momentary effect as the sand dispelled momentarily, small noticeable pieces of glass falling to the ground.
Garrus now saw he was running in a field of strawberries, looking ahead and gasping in relief. The lake.
Glancing behind him, Sandman had reformed into a giant of a man with a mace on one hand and three headed scythe in the other.
Paling quite considerably for a Turian, Garrus high tailed it out from the fields using a jump of his thrusters to gain some distance from Marko.
Of course Marko merely shifted into a cloud like state again, going after Garrus.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD" Garrus exclaimed, seeing Flint was seemingly dead set on pursuing him "If you wanna beat somebody up, Spider-man's back at Time Square"
Before Sandman could reach him, Garrus's helmet flipped over his head and the C-sec detective dropped down into the water.
Growling, Sandman reformed at the edge of the water, awaiting the Turian's resurfacing.
Only instead, his attention turned to somebody who had run up from behind.
Sandman morphed his hand into a spear and turned to ready it against Ms. Marvel who had arrived on the scene.
Kamala let out a squeak and shrunk down to dodge the sand spear, noticing the water in doing so.
Her eyes widened with realization as to why Garrus had directed them here.
She ran towards the water only to get punted back by Sandman.
"Not gonna work that easily kid" Flint said like a winded beast
When Doctor Octopus imparted the power of their piece of the tablet, one thing none of them realized was that one needed to be in constant presence of the stone. Simply giving the power without its source to draw from would have dire consequences.
Such as now as Sandman felt like he really needed to concentrate on utilizing his upgraded powers rather than the seamlessness that he usual displays.
Something definitely felt off. He felt more powerful than ever but there was a near constant pain crawling all over his skin and it wasn't helping him think straight.
Regardless, these little punks wanted to fight instead of Spider-man then fine. They're gonna learn the hard way why he's one of Spider-man's most difficult enemies.
Calling upon the minerals within the ground, Sandman grew tenfold with his body remaining as it was from the waist up.
Not to be deterred Kamala grew to the same size as him and swung a punch.
Her punch went right through his chest and found herself stuck there.
"EEP!" Kamala instinctively switched back to normal which gave her freedom.
This certainly surprised Flint momentarily as he actually didn't expect that.
The surprise changed into annoyance once more as he felt himself being shot at again by that weird avian looking alien.
Time to settle this.
Scene Cut
Doc Ock was in hot pursuit of Spider-man who was narrowly a web swing ahead of him.
"GET BACK HERE NOW" Doc Ock roared "YOU SHALL PAY FOR HUMILIATING ME LIKE THAT"
"You mean like I always do whenever you think of a plan that fails?" Spidey shot back, letting out a teasing 'Whoop whoop whoop' while hovering in the air momentarily to do the zoidberg taunt.
This only served to further enrage Doc Ock who made one of his arms switch over to beam mode to shoot down Spider-man.
Repeatedly he missed, making Doc nearly face-palm at forgetting about his foes enhanced reflexes and senses.
He then shot at the web lines Spidey was swinging from which had his desired effect.
Of course, Peter naturally fired out more lines in response but now Ock was gunning at him, firing down line after line until finally the duo landed atop a moving train.
'Huh' Both geniuses thought simultaneously 'Why am I getting the case of Deja vu?'
Regardless, Doc attacked once more.
Spider-man ducked, side stepped and angled backwards to avoid the metal tentacles from skewering him.
Peter dived in between the metal arms, going right for Doc who responded by having one of his metal claws grab him.
In response, Spidey fired a web to the side of Otto's and tugged hard making Doc bash his head against one of his metal arms, stunning the villain.
Dropping down, Peter rolled forward and drop kicked Doc Ock.
Like always, Otto had his arms save him, keeping him on the train.
He snapped back and shifted all four of his claws into beam mode and fired at once.
Spider-man's spider-sense screamed to dodge and he jumped off the train and swung all around it from above to below the tracks.
"Crap" Spidey murmured "The Civilians could be in danger"
Deciding that he needed to finish this sooner rather than later, Spider-man landed back in front of Doc Ock and started to assault the bad doctor with a flurry of kicks and punches.
Otto's arms managed to deflect and catch some of Spidey's attacks but he couldn't help but be startled to just how determined Spider-man was to putting him down.
Even when he got a clean hit to the chest of the web-head, Spider-man merely grunted, taking in the pain.
He knew he had to get desperate. The stone's power was indeed helping him in allowing his metal arms to stretch further, have greater endurance along with his own body but a determined Spider-man in his eyes was a dangerous Spider-man.
So like so many times before, Otto wasted no time in reach down below into the train and snagging two unfortunate civilians in his claws.
Spider-man of course saw this and was instantly angered by such thug like actions.
Not wasting a second, Otto threw the poor man and woman away from the train.
They both screamed in utter terror as they fell.
Spider-man swung at break neck speed, catching the lady first before swinging underneath the tracks to grab the man. He set them both down on sidewalk with many looking on in shocked amazement.
Patting them down to make sure they were fine, Spider-man returned to pursuing after Doc Ock.
He landed back atop the forward cart of the train to find….
"Dammit he got awSPIDER-SENSE"
Spider-man jumped up to avoid Docs tentacles only to be grabbed by one on his foot and get violently flung down to the ground below.
Crashing into the pavement forming a small crater, Spidey struggled to get up out of the crater before quickly shifting his body to the side as one of Docs arms smashed itself into the ground.
He was momentarily winded as Doc then grabbed his chest and held him up to his face.
"This time" Doc seethed, sounding quite deranged "This time I put you down for good"
"If I had a nickel for every time you said that" Spider-man quipped/grunted
Otto responded by using his remaining arms to quickly immobilize Spider-man and clamping his head, applying pressure.
"Ringing headache much" Spider-man gritted out, struggling to power out from his bonds.
"You can't escape Spider-man" Doc Ock said with mad glee
He held up the stone which continued to radiate power.
"This stone has given more than enough strength to finally put you away for good" Doc Ock sounded crazier by the second, breathing heavily onto Spider-man's face.
Spidey managed out a cough "Oh man, do you know what dental hygiene is? When was the last time you brushed?"
Doc Ock merely deadpanned at his captured foe, squeezing Spidey's head. Spider-man only let out a pained hiss, fighting back as best as he could. He wasn't kidding, the stone definitely increased the strength of these metal tentacles.
He felt his vision blur momentarily but he wasn't going down so easily. Gritting his teeth, Spider-man began really utilizing his own strength. The strength he constantly holds back so often.
Doc Ock was startled, seeing Spider-man begin wriggle out from his grasp and slowly get his arms loose.
He retaliated by constricting Spider-man's body similar to that of a python.
"Not gonna be that easy" Spider-man said defiantly
"Just die already" Doc Ock snarled
The two fought against each other in this small war of attrition
When suddenly….
SNIKT
Peter's lenses widened and managed to snap his head towards the source of the sound, seeing someone he had not seen in a very, VERY long time.
Doc Ocks own eyes widened with hesitance and fear upon seeing the enemy he had had fought against not too long ago.
"Do me a favor doc" The Wolverine said menacingly, holding one of hands with his Adamantium claws on display "Let go of my friend there and I'll maybe decide on not turning you into a kebab"
Meanwhile
Sandman disconnected himself from the muddy part of himself that Ms. Marvel had soaked him with and he had to gain some distance now as the hero was drenched from head to toe and was repeatedly done so.
He had the upper hand in their little conflict, consistently knocking back the inhuman and finally getting some good licks in on that alien.
But they were tenacious and got back as quickly as he brought them down.
That was until he was abruptly pelted directly in the face by water. And after that water hit him, he was struck down hard by Ms. Marvel who herself was shocked by the sudden clean hit.
Looking around, the young hero saw that it was Liara. Her biotics were in full use as she essentially 'water bended' with her biotics and through spheres of them at Sandman.
Garrus was completely stunned, asking how did she do that.
Liara was a little embarrassed and said she didn't think. She just did what felt instinctual and scooped up some water in what was basically a biotic sphere/field/bowl and hurled it right at Sandman.
"Not gonna argue that, we've pretty much seen crazier at this point" Was all Garrus said, resuming his own attack on Sandman.
Now Flint was entirely on the defensive, throwing up sand walls around him all the while being pelted by water, Scorch rounds and Ms. Marvels drenched fists.
Sandman grinded his teeth and shot out spikes from his sand walls. Ms. Marvel was in mid swing when he did this so she managed to divert her fist from being driven into the spikes but she still wound up scratching the top of her hand.
"Ow" Kamala shook her, blowing on the scratch "That hurt"
"You punched me you little brat" Flint shot back bitingly "Cry me a river over your little boo boo"
"Now that's no way to talk to a kid" Garrus idly chided
"Shut up you little runt" Marko said angrily, sending a tidal wave of sand at Garrus.
Luckily, Kamala made a giant step over to Garrus and snatched him up out of harms way.
Sandman capitalized on this distraction and attacked kamala with a giant sledge hammer. She was knocked back hard into the lake with Garrus in hand.
Sandman chortled in success, facing the blue skinned lady that stared back at him defiantly even though he could tell she was nervous.
"Just surrender lady" Sandman's eyes blazed with the glow of power "You really don't want me to hurt yoGACK"
A water covered fist collided itself with Sandman's cheek with Ms. Marvel back up with her fists poised and ready to fight.
At this point, Sandman gave her a more deadlier stare then last time, greatly unnerving her.
"You know" Sandman said slowly "You remind me of Spider-man when we first started out. And since then he's been the greatest pain in my ass that I had ever experienced"
Sandman began to call upon his powers, drawing the dry minerals from near and far to reshape himself into a giant version of himself that completely towered over Ms. Marvel.
The young hero blanched at Sandman as he was nearly three times her size.
"I don't know if I could get that big" Ms. Marvel murmured
"Get out of there Kamala" Liara shouted fearfully
Ms. Marvel made her legs more thinner and bounded over to the other side only for Sandman to merely reach out and grab her.
Even though she was wet, Flint's sand quickly dried her, keeping her immobile.
"I wouldn't shrink if I were you" Sandman threatened "Cause even if you do, you'll still be trapped in my sand"
Kamala reared her head back tried to fling her head forward, neck extending.
Sandman merely made a hole through him for Kamala's head to sail through before it return back to normal.
He quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at her while she gave off a meager laugh to lighten the situation.
Sandman then had a dark gleam in his eyes as the sand shifted up onto Kamala's neck before smother her mouth.
Her eyes widened with terror already feeling herself suffocate from being suddenly cut off from oxygen was now struggling profusely to get air.
Within Flints mind, he knew this felt wrong. Something about this did not feel right whatsoever. Then why was he doing this? Since that sudden jolt of power, his mind and actions were a haze. He barely felt as though he was in control of himself, most of his actions being more instinctual above all else.
Liara was about to call upon her biotics to drench Sandman in water but she found that she couldn't move.
Glancing down, she saw that her legs were caught by sand and it was slowly moving up to the rest of her body, preventing her from moving.
The moment she tried to use her Biotics, the Sand snapped forward to fully encase her save for her head. Liara could only look on in horror at the thought of seeing her new young friend be suffocated to death by the Sandman and she herself felt the creeping sand go up her neck, getting closer to her mouth.
And then, just like that, the sand fell away from both of them. Ms. Marvel and Liara fell to ground, taking in deep breaths.
All the while Sandman reared back and yelled in agony, clutching his head. He writhed in agony, returning to a normal sized man and fall to his knees. His glowing blue eyes crackled with energy before it seemingly shut off like a switch. Eyes back to normal, Flint let out one last breath before collapsing into unconsciousness without another sound or move.
Liara and Kamala stared wide-eyed in shock, trying to make sense as to what just happened. The silence was cut off by the sound of splashing water and someone trudging through water to shore.
Garrus walked up to Kamala, looking between her, Liara and Flint in total confusion.
"Did we just win?" Garrus finally asked
Scene cut to earlier moments
Wolverine wasted no time in calling out his other set of claws and charging right at Doc Ock.
With his trademark growl, Logan jumped right at Otto with his claws by his sides.
Doc Ock moved to defend himself which was just what Spider-man needed.
Breaking free from Ocks grasp, Spidey quickly webbed together his metal arms giving Wolverine the chance needed to strike at Ock.
Panicking slightly, Doc managed to get his upper two arms free but his bottom two were grabbed and held by Spider-man. The web head pulled them upwards, allowing Wolverine to cleave right through the metal.
Doc Ock roared in agony as he felt the neural shock and pain of the connection he had with his appendages get severed.
He desperately tried to get some distance between himself and the two heroes but the duo would have none of it.
With near perfect synchronization, like riding a bike, Peter fired two web line's at Doc and pulled with all his might.
Ock's arms managed to ground him from going any further but the distance was more than enough for Wolverine to leap forward and with his body that had metal coated bones, he performed a lariat, putting down Doc Ock.
The mad genius only let out a pitiful whimper of pain before the power from the piece of the tablet of order and chaos dispelled from him.
It idly floated upwards, hovering before Logan who took it out of the air.
The old mutant then turned to see his old friend at long last.
"Looks like things haven't changed much for you, eh Web-head?" Wolverine said knowingly
"With you saving my behind back there, not they have not" Peter said jovially and the two shared a quick brotherly embrace
"Good to see again bub" Logan said with a smirk
"It is Phenomenal to see you again, Logan" Peter said in complete joy
"So where exactly are we?" Wolverine asked, looking around to see a crowd forming with the different aliens he had seen when he was exploring the city
"That….Well that's a really, REALLY long story"
oh GOD COLLEGE IS A FUCKING LIFE AND MOTIVATION KILLER
I had this chapter primed and ready but NOOOO college and work just had to suck the life out of me, leaving me exhausted every damn day. Oh man, but yeah regardless, back on track, hopefully….ah who am I kidding
The next chapter will come out when it comes out.
I'm already working on three stories with college and work on top of it all and to add more to the mayhem, I'm in the current development of new stories at the same time.
Speaking of which…
Noble Four was currently in the middle of his favorite pastime that doesn't involve killing covenant. Sharpening his prized Kukri on his armor.
After every ten scrapes, he would hold up his blade to eyes taking note of its sharp edge before resuming his work.
Off to the side of the small base that Noble Team was currently operating out of was the rest of the team.
Jorge and Nathan were conversing over a small meal, helmets off obviously.
Kat and Carter were discussing about the set of commands Preston Cole personally sent them in regards to a recent coming drop off.
"Commander" Jun, Noble Three had entered the room with a towering figure of fur behind him
"Jun, Morkash" Carter greeted
"We've got our inbound drop-offs in five" Three informed with the large fuzz ball letting out a warbling growl of greeting to the rest of the team
"Hey Mork" Jorge greeted, waving the large Wookie over
Mork walked on over to the large Spartan-II, letting out a few barks and growls in his language.
"Don't know, Mork" Jorge said with a shrug "Haven't heard much from command about all this"
"We're in the dark as much as you are" Six assured
"Are we really even sure we should trust these guys?" Emile said, joining in on the conversation "We don't even know these new guys. What if they're just like the covenant for all we know"
"We're gonna have to take that chance" Carter stated "Command was adamant about placing this unit with us specifically because we worked with them before"
"We worked with several of them specifically" Kat pointed out, datapad in hand "Not this rag tag collection we've got here"
"At the very least we could at least trust the one's we know" Six said
Mork added in his two cents getting a slight chuckle from Jorge and small grin from the others.
"Right. To an extent" Six nodded to the large Wookie
Eventually, the five minutes Jun spoke of elapsed and Noble Team heard the telltale signs of a pelican dropship descending on down to their little base.
Sliding their helmets on, Noble team exited the facility to greet the new arrivals.
The seven soldiers saw a pelican land with its ramp opening up to reveal Admiral Steven Hackett being accompanied by two familiar aliens that they had fought alongside not too long ago.
The Spartans and their Wookie comrade snapped into a salute which Hackett returned
"Noble Team" Greeted the avian alien in respect "Good to see you again"
"A Pleasure to see you as well Garrus" Carter said, exchanging a handshake between himself and the Turian
"Hey Wrex" Emile said tauntingly "Nice to see your still your old grumpy self you old dinosaur"
Wrex let out a rumbling chuckle, gripping Emile's forearm then Nathan's.
"Good to see your humor hasn't improved at all" Wrex shot back with a grin
Carter spoke to Hackett directly.
"Admiral" Carter said to his superior officer "We got our orders on our assignments, but we still haven't been given the full explanation. What's this about us getting reassigned to an experimental warship?"
"I'll explain in due time Commander Carter" Hackett promised "We're here to pick you up and take you to Castle Base right now. The rest of your new additions are waiting for you there"
"How many new additions are we talking about here?" Kat inquired
"You'll soon find out" Hackett said enigmatically, re-entering the Pelican
The mix-matched group of individuals stared in slightly bemused silence.
"Is being cryptic and weird a thing amongst you humans?" Garrus asked, breaking the silence
"Sometimes, unbearably so" Jun remarked
"Come on Noble" Carter said, authoritative voice on display "We've got our next mission"
With no argument from anyone, the odd collection of soldiers and warriors entered the large Pelican that was set for their new destination and mission for the war against the covenant
AAANNNNDDDD DONE
There we go everyone hope you liked this literally tiny teaser of my newest developing idea. As in this is officially under development and writing will soon begin.
I'll reveal more details later on but for now I'll leave you with this to all my comrades that know about this
Bullet Club 4 Life