In an unknown universe, a young man in armor was chasing a van driven by criminals, swinging from web to web.
The armor was predominantly red and black, with the helmet featuring a front spider motif with two surrounding legs and two large red eyes. The torso was also represented by a larger spider reaching above the waist, with only two legs reaching the same level, resembling two sharp spider legs. The forearm and bottom of the armor were black with red bits of armor. The belt was black and had a big red spider with a red bottle on it and a crank on the right.
He could have easily reached the van, but the gunfire he was under made the task more difficult, until he landed on the ground, spun webs around the rear of the vehicle and fired hard enough to turn the vehicle over, landing roof down.
The criminals get out, and just as they're about to attack him with guns, he ties them up in his webbing just as the police have arrived. But before he leaves, he spots a toy store on the street. There's a person in a black teddy bear costume with red eyes wearing a scarf of the same color.
Immediately after seeing this, he wove a web on the top of a building and swung himself into a deserted alleyway where he was able to remove the spider-shaped device from his belt, making his armor disappear before stowing his equipment in his coat and placing his hands in front of his face before leaving one at mouth level as he looked saddened and close to bursting into tears.
When his phone rang, he pulled it out and saw that it was his old dorm-mate Miles. He immediately picked up, hoping it would take his mind off things.
"Hello." He said, trying his best to sound as if nothing had happened.
"Hello, Andrew. How are you?" Gwen's voice asked over the phone.
"Yeah, and you?" Asked the hero in civilian clothes.
"Yeah. Can we get together soon? Miles and I found something interesting." Said Gwen.
"You're cheating on me with him, aren't you?" Andrew joked.
"Of course not, silly." Laughs Gwen. "Meet us at the Starbucks not far from your place so get your ass over here because there's something wrong and we need your help." Said Miles, before hanging up.
Andrew used his powers to scour the city from building to building in his homemade mask, trying to get to Gwen's location as quickly as possible without being recognized. When he reached a nearby alleyway to arrive without attracting attention at the Starbucks where he found Gwen and Miles.
"Hi." Andrew said, attracting their attention.
"Hi, Andrew." Said Miles as his friend joined them.
"You were fast." Said Gwen, surprised at how long it took Andrew to arrive.
"I took some shortcuts." Explained Andrew. "Otherwise, that's why you wanted to see me."
Miles showed him an article on his phone about people who had mysteriously disappeared in the aftermath of an explosion in the Fisk Tower before his arrest. And all we found where they disappeared was some kind of black gas.
"You're the smartest person I and my teachers know. And I've talked it over with Gwen, but the three of us could investigate this." Miles suggested.
"You're sick." Said Andrew.
"No, I'm not. Think about it, if we can solve this case, we'll be heroes." Said Miles.
"And if we fail, we're dead." Says Andrew.
"And if we succeed, we could prevent other disappearances." Miles retorted.
"He's right. You know, you're the first person in the history of Brooklyn Visions Academy to pass all his exams in his first year. If you use his intelligence to solve this investigation, it'll be done in no time." Asked
"Gwen, does your father have any records of his disappearances?" Andrew asked.
"Uh, yes." Gwen replied.
"Do you think you could access them with a quick hop to his police station?" Asked Andrew
"Yeah, why?" Gwen asked.
Andrew took out a notepad in his coat and a pen and wrote down on two sheets the name of the station where the spot he was going to relax was located and gave Miles and Gwen one paper each.
"Find a way to take as many photos of the files on this case as you can. And you, Miles, bring your laptop. Meet me at this station in an hour. I'll be waiting." Says Andrew.
"And you, what are you going to do in the meantime?" Miles asked.
"I'm going to set up the Internet connection. Andrew replied, half-joking.
The group split up and an hour later, they arrived at the station Andrew had indicated and without a word he led them into a room hidden in the station by a door reserved for maintenance staff, and pipes.
"Wow..." Miles said when he saw him. "How did you find this place?"
"My sister showed it to me a few days before... you know." Andrew replied. "Here at least we can study the case more easily without being disturbed."
"That's for sure." Says Gwen as Miles plugs her phone into her computer to see the photos she's taken on a bigger screen.
"How many disappearances have there been?" Andrew asked.
"There have been seven. Five worked at Alchemax, and the other two were at Fisk Tower during the fundraiser." Gwen replied.
"Oh, shit..." Said Andrew as he understood the connection between the victims: Both locations had a link to the synchrotron.
"What is it?" Miles asked.
At this point Andrew was lost in thought, he had to quickly come up with something so as not to say too much.
"Fisk was financing Alchemax before he was behind bars." He said.
"Wait, are you saying that the Kingpin caused these disappearances?" Miles asked.
"It's the common denominator of both places." Andrew explained.
"So it's suspicious." Said Gwen before hearing a noise. "Do you hear that." She asked as the noise grew louder.
"Yeah..." Said Andrew, looking in the direction of the spot's exit.
He approached it and passed through the corridor where he first found the synchrotron, discreetly followed by his friends.
He stopped where it all began for him: the place where the spider bit him, and where he found his equipment. And just as he neared another wall, it burst open, revealing four black humanoid monsters. Each had a singular shape vaguely resembling an object, animal or insect. Respectively, CDs, a castle, an owl and a deer beetle, which unlike the others was armed with two swords.
The three monsters attacked Andrew, who simply dodged and sent Miles and Gwen away, before placing his belt around his waist and pulling out his small spider-patterned bottle and spider-shaped gadget. He placed the bottle in the gadget before pulling up his legs and placing it in the belt.
Killbaspider !
After that, he quickly turned the crank, and when the pipes had made the canvases appear, he stopped.
Are you ready ?
"Henshin!" He said.
Spider ! Spider ! Killbas Spider !
When the transformation was complete, revealing his armor, he began to fight the three monsters. The power of his blows would have been sufficient if they hadn't been working as a team: the castle monster defended his teammates, the owl monster attacked from the air, and the Stag Beetle monster attacked the ground with his swords. The CD player monster seemed to be the loneliest of the four, attacking when the opportunity arose, but not helping his teammates.
Faced with this difficulty, he instinctively turned the crank of his Build Driver and stopped a few seconds later.
Ready, go ! Killbas Spider Finish !
At this point Killbas stands in front of each of the monsters, binding them with straps so that they can't move, while the area they're in has a spider web pattern under their feet, before striking it with four gigantic spider legs protruding from his back, blowing the monsters apart in the process.
Only the one with the owl motif was able to escape, fleeing back the way it came.
But the monsters stayed and turned into humans. Scientists in white coats with Alchemax employee badges. At the same time, he heard footsteps, and withdrew the Killbas Spider from his belt as quickly as possible, tucking his equipment away in his coat as Gwen and Miles returned with police officers, including Gwen's father, Captain George Stacy.
"Andrew! Are you all right, son?!" He says, approaching the teenager as he's accompanied by the other two teens.
"... Yeah... Killbas came and beat them..." Says Andrew in mock panic.
"Did you see where he went?" Gwen asked.
"No. He arrived and fought them when they had become some kind of monster. He defeated them and they came back unconscious. Then I looked at these guys and the next thing I knew he'd vanished without a word." Andrew replied.
Miles looked at the unconscious bodies of two scientists and saw before them two small bottles similar to Andrew's, without knowing what they were, except that instead of representing a spider, they represented a Stag Beetle and a CD respectively. He picked them up discreetly, pretending to be doing his weary thing again.
"Well done, son. Technically, you're the one who found four of the missing ones." Captain Stacy congratulated him.
"It wasn't just me, Gwen and Miles did most of the work. says Andrew, wanting to share the credit with his girlfriend and best friend.
The three teenagers then set off for their plaque, now that the police were taking the scientists back to the nearest hospital, without noticing the last bottle lying on the ground. It represented a castle and Andrew picked it up just before leaving.
"What the hell were those things the scientists had become?" Miles asked, still surprised because he'd seen them.
"I've no idea. And how could you have been stupid enough to face them alone, Andrew?! You're not a superhero!" Gwen replied before reprimanding Andrew.
"Someone had to take the risk, so the others would have a chance. And the important thing is that I got away with it." Said Andrew before they started looking again for the whereabouts of the other missing people.
The group continued their investigation later that night, in the now-abandoned Alchemax laboratory.
Since Otto Octavius, the lab's chief scientist, had been arrested for complicity with Fisk, an investigation had been opened and the building closed, putting the entire staff out of work. That is, until Tony Stark offered them jobs.
Since then, the building had been abandoned, but was still in good condition, as it had only been a few weeks since anyone had been there.
Armed with their flashlights, the group began to explore the premises. The speed with which the cobwebs dominated the place was frightening enough.
"Next time we'll just do urbex. I'll have to remember to pack some insecticide." Miles commented, killing a spider that nearly bit his hand.
"Oh, there's worse stuff." Andrew relativized.
"We're in a lab where research was probably done that turned scientists into the things that attacked us. I don't think there could be much worse." Gwen added, looking into a desk to find an empty bagel box. "Somebody must have loved these things."
The trio continued to explore the premises until they finally had to go through the inevitable: the basement.
"I'm warning you, if I see one creepy thing, I'm outta here." Said Miles.
"Oh, come on, grow up." Gwen joked as she moved forward, followed by her boyfriend and finally Miles.
Once in the laboratory's basement, they found something that shocked them. A huge hidden laboratory, still powered. There was all kinds of equipment, with screens next to each revealing its function: four mechanical arms that could be attached to the back, a jetpack with a pair of wings, a blue suit capable of storing and sending back electricity, a huge suit of robotic armor, an exoskeleton with a glider, and finally an assortment of small bottles similar to the one Andrew was using.
The three teenagers were surprised by this.
"All those things... all those weapons..." Said Gwen, as stunned as she was frightened.
"And all under our noses... even the police didn't think to look here." Said Miles as Andrew focused on objects similar to his own.
"Do you like it?" Asked a voice behind them.
They turned and saw... Peter Parker. But he seemed to have bags under his eyes. As if he'd hardly slept in weeks.
"Who are you? And what's all this?" Miles asked, looking directly into Peter's eyes.
"We're in my private laboratory. Otto let me set up here to create equipment for Fisk and his men. But as you can see, that's not really on the agenda anymore. So I've been studying Full Bottles instead." Peter replied, pointing to the little bottles as he pulled out the one depicting an owl in his possession. "The ones with the same color scheme as mine are the most intriguing, they give us unparalleled abilities once connected to us."
"You used these things to change your colleagues into these monsters!" Miles said, pulling out the two Full Bottles he'd picked up earlier.
Against all odds, Peter arrived in front of Miles in a flash and sent him against a wall after taking the Full Bottle from him.
"Thank you for returning them to me." Said Peter, turning to Gwen and Andrew." Changing them Smash was necessary to make sure the Full Bottles worked... I suppose it was one of you who had the last Full Bottle I lost after our fight with you Killbas?" He said, pointing at Andrew.
"Wait?! You think he's Killbas?" Gwen asked, turning her gaze to Andrew... who was looking at Peter with a seriousness she'd never seen from him, what with the belt he uses to transform himself at the waist.
She didn't understand this, but finally realized that what Peter had said...
"You really are Kamen Rider Killbas..." She said.
"It always makes this kind of face when secrets are revealed. My ex made the same face when she found out I'd been hiding from her that I'd been working on that cancer cure that resulted in that black gelatin." Said Peter, pointing to a jar in the center of the room, unnoticed until then, containing a black viscous material. "But hey, it's time to pick up the pace."
Once he'd said that, Peter pressed the owl-shaped Full Bottle against his neck, turning it into an Owl Smash.
Then he quickly flew to Gwen and grabbed her before Andrew could do anything as the compartments with the lab's different creations were covered by security shutters.
"If you want to save her, meet me in the tower near Oscorp's power generator in an hour, and return the Bottle to me. Otherwise, or if you come with police reinforcements, she'll die." Menaça the Owl Smash before fleeing, puncturing the roof ceiling as well as the roof of the laboratory.
Andrew had been powerless at the time. Even if he were a superhero, the manipulation to transform him would have taken too long, and he'd still have been able to kidnap Gwen.
Miles was still unconscious, so he would be alone to devise a plan. It was then that his attention turned to the jar Peter had mentioned earlier.
He approached it, raised a hand to it and was surprised at the result.
A few minutes later, Andrew was standing in front of the tower where Peter had arranged to meet him, the Build Driver at his waist.
The Owl Smash flew up to him and greeted him.
"I see you care about her enough. To come and give me back the Bottle." Said the monster.
Without a word, Andrew pulled out a black spider-shaped object whose face appeared to be painted white, with a red button on the spider's head and a silver circle containing a white web at its center.
Still without saying a word, he pressed the button twice.
Over the Venom!
He then inserted it into a slot behind the silver circle of the Build Driver and inserted the Spider Full Bottle and the Killbas Spider.
He placed the bottle in the gadget before pulling up his legs and placing it in the belt, but other sounds came out of the belt in addition to the usual ones.
Killbaspider!
Build Up!
Don ten kan! Don ten kan!
The last sound repeated itself in a loop, until he quickly turned the crank, triggering a new one.
Gata gata gotton! Zuttan zutan!
When the pipes made the canvases appear, he stopped.
Are you ready?
"I am ready..." He said instead of his usual transformative phrase.
Venom Spider! Venom Spider! Venom Killbas Spider!
When the transformation was complete, his armor revealed itself to be different in its color palette.
It was entirely black, but with white eyes and webs, and an aggressive spider symbol on its torso.
"If you want it, you're going to have to take it from me." Killbas said.
"I see you've made yourself a new look." Laughs the Owl Smash. "But you forget that there are different ways of defeating an opponent. How to make him too psychologically fragile to fight."
With this remark, the Owl Smash flew out of the tower window. Killbas followed to find him, holding Gwen by the neck above the void.
This took Killbas by surprise, and he quickly looked around, looking for a way to free and save Gwen while fighting Peter.
"You're up against the wall, kid. You won't be able to keep her from falling while making sure I can't stop you." Said the Owl Smash. "Then I'll ask you one last time. Give me the Bottle, let me continue my search. And in return, I'll leave you alone."
The more he thought about it, the more Killbas saw no alternative but to fight. He wanted to save Gwen, but couldn't risk Peter continuing his work and turning more people into Smash.
But Peter had already interpreted his silence.
"As you wish." He said, letting go of Gwen before rushing to Killbas.
Killbas's heart clenched, he was no longer thinking, he rushed at the Owl Smash and slammed it against a wall, breaking some clockwork in the process.
Meanwhile, Gwen fell, Andrew's heart falling with her. His hand fell on her side as she floated for a second before gravity realized it had to drag her down. He hoped it wouldn't.
He'd finished with the Owl Smash, which had reverted to Peter and was now in a deplorable state. He was alive, but barely. All the bones in his arms were shattered and he must have suffered head trauma from the streak of blood running down his face.
Killbas straightened up and looked at his heart, which was falling so fast. His blond hair looked like a golden halo. And blue eyes flooded with fear. He threw himself on top of her, time slowing down as his senses guided him. The woman he loved would not die. He wouldn't let that happen.
Why wasn't she fighting? She wasn't moving, as if she knew she was already dead, and thought he couldn't save her. No, he had to.
Metal gears fell around her, falling in turn. He plunged through them, throwing his hand forward, a web flying towards her. The web passed through the gears, and time resumed its normal speed. Gwen closed her eyes, accepting her fate. Andrew's web caught her and his hand caught on a crossbar. He heard the sound of her soul hitting the concrete, the metal stopped around her.
He tied the webbing to the bar and jumped down. He cancelled his transformation and took Gwen in his arms, breathing hard as he untied her from the canvas. He fell to his knees as he laid her on top of them.
"Hey..." He asked, waiting for an answer. "Gwen? ... Hey?"
Deep down, he knew it, but he didn't want to believe it.
She was just lying there. Her cold, dark eyes stared up at the sky, and her body felt heavy in his arms.
"Hey, hey. You're okay." He ran his hand over her shoulder, as he'd done if she were sick. The sobs broke free from where I'd locked them and he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Stay with me, stay with me, stay with me." He mumbled.
"Stay with me, you stay with me." He ordered. "Stay with me."
He waited for her voice to tell him she would never leave, but she didn't speak.
"Gwen?"
Blood dripped from her nose.
"Gwen." he sobbed.
"No, please." He said between sobs.
"Please..." he choked.
"Please, please, please. You promised me. Please don't go. Gwen, please."
And still nothing.
He buried his head in his chest. She couldn't be gone. But there she was, cold in his arms as he sobbed into his chest.
"Gwen?"
As Andrew was overcome with grief, behind him stood the armor of Killbas. It moved as if he were laughing hysterically, as if he were laughing at the distress of one who assumed his identity.
He placed his hand on Andrew's shoulder and disappeared as a whitish-blue liquid, entering the teenager's shoulder whose pupils changed color to a blue as clear as a clear sky.