Season 4 Chapter 13: Great Responsibility
"Spider-Man, calm down…!"
"Oh, I'm perfectly CALM alright!"
—
Many hours earlier after the huge scandalous uncovering found underground at the FEAST Building, when Liz went to lay low at the Allans' instead of the girls' dorm at ESU, heartbreaking news circulated from the Allans' family with a report to have witnessed their daughter, Elizabeth "Liz" Allan, being abducted by a masked stranger who took off to the skies last evening. And the moment Peter caught wind of the news through a personal phone call from Mr. Wilson Allan— his girlfriend's father— immediately called in absent from his classes and rushed over to the lobby with the rest of his friends that followed suit.
Police officers were found exploring around the scene and especially some of those heading to the top floor. In the lobby area were some college deskmates and former high school classmates that had already arrived — including the spiteful and snobbish blondie Sally.
But… there was someone else close to the Allans' who seemed a bit familiar and at the same time unfamiliar. Next to Mark was a young Latino like them who's probably around Peter's age, but appears to be both economically and vainly his polar opposite on many levels, catching the attention of some of their other friends like Glory and Sally, who visited them. However, he seemed totally familiar to both Bobby and Kitty.
"No way, Roberto?!" Bobby exclaimed in astonishment. "Is that you, bro?!"
"Hm? Bobby! Kitty! Great seeing you guys again after that big robot mess a long time ago!" Roberto greets with gladness as he high-fives Bobby and embraces Kitty.
"Uhmmm, hi? I am—"
"Pedro!" Mr. Allan called upon noticing Peter with an apologetic look on his face.
Although it would seem that Mr. Wilson Allan' relieved, he feels his guilt deepen and spike after his daughter's boyfriend has met Roberto. And when Mrs. Allan and Mark saw him, the tension rose to hotter levels for some other reason.
"You…!" Mark growled as he walked up to Peter with teeth gritting in rage, only to be blocked by Kitty.
"Uh uh, don't think about it. We're all worried as much as you are, but try not to do anything irrational," Kitty warns.
"Oh yeah? Gee, I was wondering how well things were myself," Mark scoffed in a demeaning tone. "Haven't you guys done enough to get entangled with us?"
"Um, what do you mean by "us"?" Hobie wondered what he meant by that, sensing his hostility.
"Don't play dumb. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Parker…!" Mark hissed, catching Peter by his collar.
"Peter!" Gwen angrily tries to intervene until Hobie and Bobby block her and Kitty, telling them to let Peter personally deal with him.
"I see that your old habits haven't changed. It's not enough to just have my sister's attention. You've become a sort of ladies' man behind her back, huh?" Mark replied out of spite and anger before bitterly releasing his grip.
"...Mark, do you really want to bring that up?" Peter growled, though trying his hardest to keep his hand and spider-powered rage from punching his lights out.
"Well, you don't seem to deny it…!" Mark scoffed with sarcasm, trying to rile Peter's anger. "Like I said again—stay away from her, and stay away from our family…!"
"Markito!" Mrs. Allan scolded, trying to get in between them with Roberto shaking his head at Mark's callous and reckless remarks that added salt to the wound in Peter's pride.
After Mr. Allan's glare sends a chill down Mark's spine as it catches him with his guard down and motions him to leave the premises in silence, his wife pulls Peter to a quiet corner, staying out of everyone's sight for a moment.
"M-Mrs. Allan, what are you doing?" Peter asks out of concern as she turns her back away from him.
"...Pedro…Peter, please, help us…" Mrs. Allan muttered, confusing him with her statement. "Please, bring our daughter back to us. You are the only one left who could help us."
"M-Ma'am, I don't—"
"Please, Peter…! Go find her before anything happens to her…! I beg you!" Mrs. Allan begged, barely holding onto her knees from all the sorrow she's feeling.
"Wait, did you…!?" Peter trails off, receiving a nod from her.
"I could never forget the day how I knew my daughter changed for the better. It was because you were honest and took care of her," Mrs. Allan confessed. "Even though I thought I was truly imagining things, I could not have been much more shocked."
"But wait, hold on—I was the reason your daughter—I mean— Liz is always out there risking her life! It was all my fault in the first place taking her out on my own problems and business after being completely open to her instead of all the normal things we could've done…!" Peter admits, taking full responsibility for her current welfare and change in character.
"And that is where she has learned to fully trust you. You've given so much of yourself to her, and knowing her, she would love to reciprocate that love you have for her. So, please, I ask you, Peter, please… save my daughter," Mrs. Allan begged with hands clasped to show her sincerity.
"…Ma'am, even if you didn't ask me, I would have gone out searching for her by now. I came because I was worried about you guys as well, even Mark, though he hates my guts. We will find her, you can count that," Peter calmly assures.
—
"...I know what I said, but thinking this through now makes me wanna eat my own words for blabbing out hard promises," Spider-man thought out loud before landing on a ledge, waiting for the others to catch up to his anxious fury.
"Hey, I feel you, bro. As much as we all do want to rescue Liz, we don't have any other leads, aside from the description her family's given about her abductor," Prowler points out.
"A guy with a mask and a glider, I can take a guess at that already," Spider-man deadpans, hesitating to reveal his knowledge. "Guys, what I'm about to say might be crazy to believe, well, maybe not for Iceman and Shadowcat."
"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" Prowler asks.
"The abductor… is most likely Harry, Harry Osborn," Spider-man replied. "He's most likely…that glider guy…"
They all paused for a moment of silence as they let the name sink in. To think that Harry would become Liz's captor, would mean that he is not just a chip off the Goblin block, but also possibly much more dangerous than everyone thinks he was. Iceman and Shadowcat subtly grew uneasy that their expressions were too obvious to keep it a secret.
"Wait, Kitty, you knew…!?" Ghost Spider screamed.
"I'm sorry! It was not the best time, and you wouldn't understand if we told you!" Shadowcat replied.
"Y-You're right…sorry," Ghost Spider frowned and held her aching head from the thought, recalling the time Harry was hospitalized back in high school and thinking about how weird and scary it was.
"Dang, sounds almost a lot like my story, if you guys hadn't shown me the light…" Prowler adds in a depressing tone. "So…if what you're saying is true, then that means, our first obvious lead could be in one of Oscorp's buildings or enterprises, right?"
"I don't think so. Well, maybe not. That would be too obvious. It has to be something else, or somewhere else that we could not guess or think of, unless—someone's behind him pulling the strings, just a thought," Spider-man shrugged his shoulders.
"Still, better thought than any of us could think of. It's hard to believe that Harry's possibly involved," Prowler shook his head.
"But in case it was not him, then it could be either another Goblin imposter or the Goblin father, Norman," Ghost Spider deduced.
"Wait, Norman!? Norman Osborn!?" Prowler exclaimed out of shock. "Isn't he dead!? I mean, YOU killed him, didn't you!?"
"And he's back to haunt us with a family of Goblins infused with the Green. I also believed that he might be involved, since I haven't heard about anything after we fought against Carnage and that She-Venom duplicate," Spider-man quipped.
"Wait wait wait, so Norman's alive, and you never told us!?" Prowler interrogated.
"It didn't seem that important at the time! I'm sorry!" Spider-man yelled in protest.
"Okay, guys, let's calm down for a moment, alright?" Shadowcat gets in between the quarreling leader-figures of the team. "Past is past, and what's important now is finding Liz and bringing her back safe, are we clear?"
"...This ain't over, Spidey," Prowler hissed, scowling up close to his face and tapping hard with rage in his finger on his Spider-Armor. "Once we get Liz back, safe and sound, you've got lots of explaining to do about whatever else you're hiding behind our backs…!"
"Oh yeah, a truckload of 'em," Iceman deadpanned as he crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Just a truckload?" Spider-man nervously jokes.
"Well, maybe more, depending on how much you've been keeping from us," Shadowcat lightly punched his tricep from behind in annoyance.
"Guys! Incoming!" Ghost Spider warned as her enhanced senses detected hostility from afar.
However, just before they could react, strangely enough they were bombarded by a hail of billiard balls and flaming pumpkins hurling to their position, and then exploding upon impact that separated the members from the site of the explosion. The team is divided as Prowler, Iceman, and Shadowcat fell off and down into an alley, all the while the two Spiders were scraped down at the open streets.
"Aghhhh, that…smarts…!" Prowler groaned before getting up on his knees with Shadowcat unconscious on the ground while Iceman's holding his side, probably from either a bad fall or the impact of the explosion. "Great… just great… Spidey! You there!?"
"They probably landed on the road outside. Ow! That boom hit us so hard right at the center. Nothing the Spideys can't handle though," Iceman assured while enduring the pain and getting back up to self-repair his icy body..
"Watch out!" Prowler warns, noticing a billiard stick behind him.
Thankfully, Iceman quickly fires a blast of ice at the stick, but is surprisingly pushed back by a gust of flame thrown at him that he backsteps away from the assailants.
"Well well well, ain't this gonna be just fun…!"
The assailants blocking their escape route wear strange outfits, with one wearing a thick orange suit similar to what an astronaut's supposed to wear while having flamethrower hoses attached on his wrists; the other wears a fully tight black suit and a big 8-ball for a helmet while hovering over a floating rack of billiard sticks.
"Ain't this town just full of more weirdo thugs. And now, I guess I'm cursed to beat a Goblin guy poser like Spidey himself," Prowler deadpanned out loud while preparing his gauntlets for battle and his flight tech.
"Goblin!? Ever checked your eyes, my good chap!? I once worked as a great inventor, to rise up in the world, but the world could not see my greatest feats and cast me aside! Now, it turned me into the life of a lowly survivor!" the man with the 8-Ball helmet grumbled in a dramatic tone.
"Screw your garbage, you broke idiot, let's just finish the job. I dun wanna get the Big Boss angry, you know what happens when he does," the man in the orange suit barked before firing up his flamethrower nozzles. "Now, it's Scorcher time, baby!"
—
"Awwwwwgh, mannn…! Oh shoot, Gwen! You okay!?"
"Urnngh, oghh, yeah, sorta…?"
Meanwhile the two arachnids try to recollect their bearings after what just happened, kinda peachy even after taking the heavy impact as Spidey's armor protected him and Ghost Spider's symbiotic suit tries to quickly recover and heal both the wearer and itself.
"Spidey, what happened? Where was your Spidey-sense?" Ghost Spider hissed from the burning pain being healed by her suit.
"I—I don't know either…! Wait, back then with Eddie…oh no— maybe he really did take away my powers…!" Spider-man whimpered, recalling how Eddie's Anti-Venom symbiote is able to heal the radiation in his body—the source of his powers.
"Well, you're still tough enough to take a blast to the face, so maybe not exactly all of them," Ghost Spider points out.
"Helloooo little prettieeess!"
Finally showing herself like a stalking ex-girlfriend, the Grey Goblin Menace pops out from around the corner behind them before the two Wall-Crawlers while floating in midair atop her glider.
"Awwww no, not you…!" Spider-man deadpanned. "How'd you get out of prison so early!? You were supposed to be waiting for your turn in Ravencroft!"
"Arrrrgh! We are tired of waiting!" Menace squealed like a spoiled Goblin brat.
"Waitaminute, "we"?" Spider-man and Ghost Spider looked at each other in confusion from her reply before Ghost Spider's enhanced senses shoves her arachnid boyfriend away from a huge furry burly fist and easily takes the brunt with a quick block.
"Ghost Spider!" Spider-man called before noticing that familiar green mist coming from behind. "Aw c'mon!"
"Hahahahaha! Tremble before the might—of—!"
Before the old faker magician Mysterio could even finish, Spidey shoots a web line to his bubble helmet and quickly finishes him by slamming him to the ground, hearing a couple of bones cracking aside from his helmet that he lets out a painful groan from the undesirable pain.
"Oooooh shoot, so sorry man…! I was really sure you were gonna be a bot!" Spider-man begged for forgiveness before webbing him up. "S-Stay right where you are and just wait for the police this time, or an ambulance!"
"Spidey! Help me!"
Now, Ghost Spider's found herself caught between dodging the unpredictable attacks of the Menace while trying to fight back the lion-mutate Kraven, both of whom were supposed to be in prison, in maximum security no less.
"Coming, Spidey!" Spider-man joked as he quickly webs Kraven and pulls him to redirect his attention towards himself. "Hey Kravy! How's prison food been doing for ya!? I know it's not up to NYC Zoo standards with whatever they might be serving but—whoa!"
"Grrrrgh, your filthy prattling games will not easily sway the mind of a hunter!" Kraven growled as he tried to lacerate Spider-man, who kept dodging his attacks or block with his gauntlets.
"Okay, I guess prison's made you crankier or more rabid—yipe!" Spider-man yelped, dodging a clawed grasp and kicking Kraven from below his chin with a good kangaroo heel kick. "Don't worry, I'll put a word in for some friends I have in the slammer to give you a bigger cage— one with a playground and everything!"
"Have at thee!"
"Too slow!"
Before Mysterio could have a chance to even attack, Spider-Man catches him with a web line and tosses him towards Kraven, who takes the body full force and breaks Mysterio in half out of rage, revealing to be just a robot clone.
"Whoa, awkward. Wonder if the real one saw this."
—
"Nnnnngh, unnn— huh?"
"You're finally awake."
Back in the secret laboratory of the mysterious Crime Master, Liz finally regains her consciousness and finds herself trapped in a cool glass case like a helpless doll.
"Brrrgh! Cold!" Liz yelped and embraced herself to keep warm. "Wh-wh-where am I!?"
"Relax, you are not hurt or anything. But I'm sorry for the beating and abducting part," New Goblin callously apologizes.
"Kidnapping? Wait—where is this?! Who are you!?" Liz angrily pounds her fist onto the case before her abductor, but for some reason can't ignite her fire. "Wh-What!?"
"Save your energy. This cell is personally meant for you, so just chill out, or else…" New Goblin hissed.
"Why…why are you doing this!?" Liz shrieked.
New Goblin looks around the room before pressing a little trigger in his palm that momentarily disables all the cameras and audio in the room, walking up close to Liz's face that she backs away in fear.
"Wh-What are you gonna do with me?!" Liz exclaimed and braced herself, only to open her eyes and see New Goblin opening up his helmet to reveal his secret identity: Harry Osborn, her own old classmate. "Oh…my…gosh…Harry!?"
"Now—ahem! Now, you don't have to fear anymore, right?" Harry quipped as he put his helmet underneath his pit, looking lethargic with slightly dark swollen circles around his eyes.
Harry changed over the last few days as his face seemed a lot paler, with dark half circles bolded below his eyes and bedhead that was barely combed neatly.
"Harry, what are you doing here with all this crazy!? And why did you kidnap me?!" Liz demands for an answer.
"…Because two things: One, my girlfriend…she was wrapped up in all this crazy just as I am, and I wanna get her back out of this…" Harry trails off before he scowls at the ground. "And then two…is to get back at Spider-man. He took away my father, threw my girl in prison, and now I'm stuck in this mess, all because of him!"
Harry vented out his anger in words and a fist to a durable transparent cell, frightening Liz from his fury.
"You know, despite being with my friend Peter, you're awfully close to that Web-Freak," Harry growled, donning his mask back on. "What happened with all the trust and loyalty? Maybe Sally's right to be angry with how mysterious you are to get so wrapped up in his web of troubles."
'That's because Petey IS Spidey! But I can't say that!' Liz internally screamed. "Harry, you don't have to do this. T-This isn't you!"
"It is too late. Too late to change all of this, but I can make things right, right after I get that bug—and KILL him, with my bare hands," New Goblin growled as he left Liz alone and imprisoned in the room.
—
"Hold on! Be there in a sec! Whoaho! Gotchu!"
Back at the streets, Spider-man manages to pummel Kraven into the ground with a double kick to the back before trying to beat him senseless with several heavy jabs long enough to stun him to go and assist Ghost Spider. However, before he could go to them, three bombs thrown by Menace caught him off guard and exploded in front of her face and body, rendering her completely unconscious that her suit's healing properties were not able to protect her enough.
"Ghost Spider!" Spider-man exclaimed, trying to run over and take his rage upon the sadistic Menace as she maniacally laughed her lungs out, carrying Ghost Spider over her shoulder. "Put her down, Gobby!"
"How bout I put YOU down! Hahahahahah!"
Menace then shoots a pumpkin missile out of her glider at a nearly point blank range and strikes Spider-man down in his shattered durable Spider-Armor Mk 1.5 with ease before gliding away in the skies with the unconscious heroine.
"Ughhhhhh…huh…?"
As Spider-Man's battered battle-worn body slowly loses consciousness and his heavy eyelids faintly glance at Gwen getting kidnapped by Menace flying away on her glider, he clenches his fist while lying flat on scattered pavement rubble from the great weakness of failing to fight back— again.
—
"...Owwwww…"
'Spider-Man…!'
"...Ughhhh, huh?"
"Spider-Man! Get up, man!"
As the downed Webslinger slowly awakens, left in a shattered shell of an armor, he meets Prowler with cracked gauntlets and scratches on his durable suit, and Iceman slightly cracked in his translucent icy form. By the side he sees the mutated hunter Kraven encased like a popsicle lying on the ground.
"Wh-what? What happened?" Spider-Man groaned, sitting back up.
"We lost, that's what," Prowler growled, clenching his fist. "They were watching us, almost too good. And now… they got Kitty too…!"
"Kitty? Oh no— Gwen! They got her too!" Spider-Man cried.
"Yeah? And what are we supposed to do about it? We got no leads, no tech, no nothing! And none of this would've happened if you never just kept things to yourself!"
"Whoa whoa Hobie, cool it, man," Iceman replied.
"You knew that Norman was out there, alive and planning something real big and bad! And you didn't even tell us! Nothing! Nada! Nil! And now— we lost the girls to those freaky thugs in weird suits that knocked our butts down."
Prowler then punches a nearby wall of a stairwell poking out of the rooftop, leaving a large cracking hole before falling to one knee and holding his mask.
"...There's no way we can find them. Not without turning the entire city upside down and they could be possibly anywhere: land, water, air. We got nothing…" Prowler depressingly adds, shaking his head.
"...No, we can find them. We can't give up."
Spider-Man takes out his battleworn helmet and tosses it aside for some air. Kinda amazing to be able to stand on weak legs after taking the tough beatdown and the heavy bombardments. Well, it wasn't really his first rodeo going through those hot messes. But now, saving the girls has become the huge number one priority enough to make his adrenaline and blood boil.
"They are counting on us, and we will have to take the long way around. I got a few clues on where the hideout might be, but all those will just be waiting for dumb luck, since we kinda destroyed most of 'em," Spider-Man adds.
"Then what if you have someone who could lead you there."
"That would be gre—waaaait…!"
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice entered out of nowhere, and a shadow shaded their position from somewhere midair. The three heroes turned to see a winged visored stranger with a petite structure and light metal armor, wearing some sort of external suit that has built-in wings made of metal, all the while hovering with the aid of a jetpack.
"Janice? Wait, you don't sound like her. Does she sound like her?" Spider-Man quickly questions Prowler for a response.
"Noope, not even close," Prowler quickly replied and loaded up his gauntlets to point at the stranger. "Who are you! State your business! You won't get us that easily! Nuh uh!"
"Don't worry. I'm not your enemy. If anything, I want to help you," the stranger replied, descending down from midair and retracting her foldable metal wings into her pack. "...Look, I know where your friends are, and we are going to help you save them."
""We?" What do you mean—?"
"HRAAAGH!"
Like a leaping hairy beast, a familiar old guy with thick long sideburns beneath the mask and long razor sharp knives protruding out between his knuckles leaps up to the ledge behind Iceman. It was the reliable savage guardian in a yellow and blue suit with a really short temper, Logan, aka Wolverine. And… he does not look pleased.
"Ohhh boy," Spider-Man groaned
"Where is she!?" Wolverine snarled and growled with a rage in his tone.
"Uhhhh, about that—"
"You!" Wolverine growls.
"Wait wait wait!" Spider-Man pleaded. "Before you get angry! Long story short: Myfriendgotkidnappedwetriedtofindherthen—geghk!"
"I trusted you and your buddies, bub. But right now ain't just your lucky day…!" Wolverine snarls, glaring right up close to his masked face with a clenched fist just below Spidey's chin while holding him by the collar, close to making his head into a shish kebab.
*KABOOM!*
"Hup!"
Suddenly a loud explosion-like sound erupted from the side and forces some distance between Spider-Man and Wolverine, revealing an orange-clad young man in a skin-tight spandex-like suit burning as dark as the sun's dark scorching skin launched up from the ground below and up onto the ledge until the flames and darkness on his body slowly dissipated.
"Berto! Sunspot! Long time no see again man!" Iceman gleefully screamed.
"Wazup, guys! You guys could use a hand, a fiery one," Roberto quipped with a smirk.
"Wait wait wait, you must be the guy from back at the hotel AND Liz's suitor!" Spider-Man screamed.
"Yep, that's me!"
"...I uh, suspected that you're like a mutant or hero, but to think that you're like uhhhhh…"
"Like?" Roberto raised an eyebrow with a smug smirk.
"...Nevermind, but wait, how are you going to help us?"
"He's not the one smart enough to be your lead, Hotstuff."
There again goes the familiar alluring voice that sent a nerving jolt down Spidey's spine, catching the attention of the male heroes. It was the elusive frenemy of the team, the cunning thief Black Cat, standing next to the stranger.
'Ohhhhh no…times fifty…' Spider-Man internally whimpered before gulping down his anxiety—just for a moment. "Cat…I—"
"Don't remind me. I have heard about the sitch from Sunny right here, and I guess you need to know where they might be kept hostage, am I right?" Black Cat points out.
"Yeah, and if you can take us there, I will do anything you want in return," Spider-Man quickly replied.
"What the—bro!?" Prowler yelped.
The seductress smirked at his plea, strutting up close with her face just inches beneath his as she looked up at his masked face.
"Anything, you say?" Black Cat raises an eyebrow as she cracks an eager smirk and plays with her finger stroking circles around Spider-Man's pecs.
"I—yes. I promise," Spider-Man replied in a defeated tone, really feeling wrapped up by her tricky tail and bewitching looks.
"Right then. Let's start, shall we?" Black Cat limbers up as she looks at all the male heroes including Spidey with a playful wink, smiting them with a dose of hot cuteness while making the masked stranger groan in annoyance and lean backwards. "It won't take long. Your friends have crossed paths with the Black Cat."
—
"Ughhh, ermm, huh?"
"Spidey! Oh thank goodness you're alright!"
"Huh?"
Not long after losing to the female Goblin, the spider-themed heroine found herself trapped in a some transparent tube-like prison cell. Next to her on her right is Shadowcat, unconscious with a brace around her neck; and on her left is Liz, calling out to her.
"Liz! Oh man, are you okay?!" Ghost Spider cried.
"She is fine."
Entering the room by the wide double automatic metal sliding door, there the New Goblin walks into the room with an air of mystery and familiarity, though not noticeable because of the mask, but his mannerism gives a little of it away.
"Wh-Who are you!? Why are you doing this!?" Ghost Spider slams her heavy fists to the transparent prison, only to trigger a failsafe security measure that emits a sharp sonic wave enough to paralyze and cripple Mania's erratic and sensitive suit and her mind from trying anything. "Ogh, ow!"
"Each cell is personally customized to cater to your individual powers. We've been studying you a lot lately, and seems like it worked in our favor," New Goblin shrugged his shoulders.
"Harry, why are you doing this!?" Liz screamed in horror.
"Wait, what!? Harry?! Like, Harry Osborn!?" Ghost Spider looks at him with wide open eyes.
"Can it, Liz! Don't make this any harder for yourself!" New Gobin slams his fist to the front of Liz's transparent cell, scaring her inside.
"Harry, no! Stop! This is not like you!" Ghost Spider pleaded.
"Oh yeah? Why should I? More importantly, who are you to say that to me?" New Goblin shot a glare at the white symbiote-clad heroine.
"Because—!"
"Having any thoughts, son?"
Entering by the same entrance of the technologically advanced prison facility of the base in a dark gray unbuttoned trench coat and fedora over his black mask and black suit is the mysterious masked Crime Master of Manhattan, accompanied by a pair of familiar villainous faces.
"It is only a matter of time before the Spider comes to turn this place upside down. So we should begin the process now, rather than later," Tombstone reminds.
"Patience, my grey-skinned friend. If we rush the process, the result will be disastrous, but I doubt your current mental capacity can bear to understand that," Doc Ock mockingly assures.
'No, freaking, way…!' Ghost Spider awed in horror from the sight of two evil bigshots standing in the same room with Harry and the mysterious intimidating leader of sorts. 'They broke those two out!?'
"No, I'm fine. Just wanna see their frightened faces before leaving for my post, that's all," New Goblin replied.
"Good, but no hurry. You may rest easy for now. You will get your chance later with that little red pest," the Crime Master assured with a pat over New Goblin's shoulder and letting him see himself out of the room. "...Now then, doctor. Shall we begin?"
"Wh-What are you going to do to us!?" Liz cried.
"Don't worry, little girl. Treat this as a little…blood test," Doc Ock assured as one of his metal tentacles holds a handheld advanced syringe with an empty vial.
—
"Hey! Are we really almost there yet!?"
"Almost! It's right over— there!"
Finally, after swinging and hovering around nearly the entire city on the tail of the Black Cat as the team's guide, they stop by a nearby pier and docks, filled with stacked crates and freights from incoming shipments.
"Waitaminute, I—I mean, we've already been here before. You really sure about this?" Spider-Man points out.
"Oh, trust me it's here, alright. Rendezvous points here are quite common, you know?" Black Cat playfully replies.
"Whoa! What are all you doing here!?"
Suddenly, out from a nearby warehouse behind them, there's an old rambling worker with yellow shades, wearing a worker's vest over his thick blue jacket, calling the heroes out for stepping on the public property for some strange reason.
"Spider-Man!? What brings you city heroes out here?" says the man wearing an ID card named Stan Lee.
"Long story, sir. We had um, kinda a huge problem. We're just gonna…take a look around here," Spider-Man nervously replied.
"Well why didn't you say so! Count me in! I know the ins and outs of this place around the back of my head!" Stan offers with open arms. "Don't be shy! You heroes are okay in my book! I'm just shocked that you came all this way for some super secret investigation of some sort!"
"Wow, Spider, looks like you have some use that even I don't have," Black Cat playfully replied before following Stan inside.
"...I dunno if I should take that as a compliment or…agh who cares," Spider-Man sighed and shook his head.
And so, with the permission to have free reins exploring the facility, the team looks around the stockpiled warehouse for any sort of secret mechanism. If anyone's tempted to turn the whole place upside-down, it would be a desperate web-headed superhero frantically crawling, picking, and flipping things around the area, knowing that time is of the essence and for a good reason after their loss and watching their teammates get kidnapped.
"Whoa, Spidey! Chill out!" Iceman yelled, dodging a couple of bundled tarpaulins thrown at him.
"But we're so close! It's gotta be here! Somewhere secret! Somewhere—!"
"Hey Hotstuff!"
Calling the Webhead's attention is Black Cat, standing next to an immaculate brick wall, in the middle of the warehouse full of cluttered steel shelves. Way too suspicious and seems out of place. But there is one flaw here…
"Wait, isn't the wall here like only about a meter thick? Is the base somehow invisible on the other side or—"
"No, dummy," Black Cat hissed as she pressed a pressure plate in the wall with her hand.
The pressure plate then triggers a hidden underground path in the warehouse from below the floor as the cement-printed metal doors split and slide into their compartments to give way to a lit stairwell.
"Holy smokes! I have never seen one of these in person before!? No wonder why the floor felt different when I was around doing my paces!?" Stan awed at the genius mind behind the contraption.
"And I think I know who is behind this simple magic trap door trick," Spider-Man deadpanned with a glare before looking at Stan with an anxious look. "Ummm…"
"Huh? Oh! If you're worried about anyone stumbling into this mess, I can keep this warehouse closed for your personal investigation for as long as you can, but hopefully within a day," Stan assures with a thumbs up under his smirk.
—
Entering the secret passageway, the team find themselves in an underground corridor with minimum security that is manageable with some webbing and heavy concussives. Later Prowler shoots a small gust of spray, noticing that no laser tripwires or traps seem to be set.
"All clear, again?" Prowler nervously adds. "Something's not right. This is all too convenient."
"No, stay focused, this is just to throw us off our game," Spider-Man sternly advised.
"Wow, such authority coming from a guy like you! I like it!" Black Cat comments in a passion-hungry tone.
"And you will see more of me doing it, believe that," Spider-Man adds before his smile falls to a sad sigh. "...Cat…?"
"Yeah?"
"Just wanna say it now: thanks for lending us a hand, even though, you have a rough impression with—"
"Yeah yeah, I get what you're saying. Though, I have to say, your girlfriends have some spirit, a force to be reckoned with, unlike you," Black cat teased.
"But seriously, you could have declined helping us, which I thought would be the case after what happened back at Ryker's…"
"Awww, wanna cry for me? I'm touched, but no. I'm doing this because it is only fun, and the other thing is that something's not right with this crazy gang I'm all caught up in."
"Lemme guess, cat burglary work I gather? If so, I can see why you're popular…"
"I know what you're thinking, but looks are not the only thing I've got, remember? And second, dirty work isn't my only means, I have a clean life beneath the suit."
"Uhhhhh, okay, okay, sure," Spider-Man nodded awkwardly before pausing for a few seconds. "...Speaking of your job, what will you do after this?"
"Simple: find another. This isn't my first rodeo working for someone mad."
"Ah, right, right. Huh? H-hey!" Spider-Man barked before seeing a hand getting in between the two of them.
"Enough chatter. The mission is still at hand. Stay focused," says the petite stranger, lightly shoving Spider-Man away from Black Cat and walking up close to Iceman and Prowler.
"Hehe, KHILLSHOY!" Spider-Man coughed, making Black Cat chuckle in response.
"Ughhhh, kids," Wolverine grunted about to light a cigar until a charring hand halted him.
"Uh uh. There could be smoke detectors around here," Sunspot points out before having his hand shoved away.
"Look in the mirror yet, Charcoal?" Wolverine growled.
"Uhhh, guys…?"
"What's up, Prowl?"
"We got a problem. A BIGGGGG problem…!"
Spider-Man then walks to Prowler and stands in awe of the sight outside the corridor. Beneath the warehouse seems to be a secret laboratory behind two glass pane walls from both sides along a narrow lit corridor, full of all kinds of advanced weaponry and technology handed by shady guys in lab coats, guarded by armed men in kevlar armor with black masks on their faces.
'This is not a big problem. This is a HUGE problem…!' Spider-Man whispered. 'Well, I could web up the whole place as cover, but that would be ironic for a cover, wouldn't it, seeing giant webs straight outta Mordor?'
'We need a huge cover then, to shut the whole place for us to enter,' Prowler adds.
"Why wait and bother!? We can take them down easily!" Iceman points out, slamming his fist to his palm.
'Shhhhh! Dude! Quiet man! Do you want the entire place after us when we just got here!?' Prowler scolds.
'Hold on, Bobby, I think I got just the idea!' Spider-Man replies, scratching his Spider-Armor mask's chin.
It took only a minute for the quick explanation, and the plan starts with Iceman going to the front with his entire body exuding a thick cloud of frosted moisture, slowly clinging onto the glass walls like moss as he slides on a slippery iced part of the floor on the center. There, as he travels down the corridor, the others carefully follow behind with the thick curtain of frosting moisture acting as their quick stealth tactic until they reach the other side that leads to a double V-shaped intersection in the lab that branches out to different paths, which can only mean one thing...
"Aw great, so I guess this is where we should split up," Spider-Man points out.
"I can take on one alone, bub. I'd take the other if I were you," Wolverine snarled.
"No Logan, we won't let you go off with whatever's in there, Berto and I can assist," Iceman replies.
"...Hey, Spider-Man," Sunspot called out.
"Yeah?"
"If you find the girls, please do save them. We got your back all the way," Sunspot assures.
"I will, and thanks!"
—
And so, entering the intersections, Spider-Man runs and takes the right path with Prowler, Black Cat, and the stranger with them, while the three X-Men Iceman, Sunspot, and Wolverine take the other one.
"Gotta admit, smart move with Bobby's ice back there," Prowler commented.
"Aw shucks, thanks. I was kinda nervous if that was a flub, but hey, those goons weren't smart enough to look twice at least," Spider-Man replied.
"You know, I wonder what will be the look on your girlfriends' faces when they find out about me saving their sorry butts and not you!" Black Cat teases.
"Please don't! I didn't get any life insurance yet!" Spider-Man screamed.
—
"Wow, these kids never learned to knock. How childish,"
Behind the scenes and watching the team go through the separate corridors over a hidden surveillance, the Crime Master of Manhattan grins behind his black mask and sits up from his recliner. He then looks behind the corner of his eye…
"Time we give them a show, shall we, girls?"
—
"Geez, wonder which mad evil genius came up with having a maze for an underground facility!?"
It was bad enough they went through separated branching paths, only to go down some more branched out paths that lead to different departments and rooms, all the while making sure they are still in the clear from any unwanted attention.
"I think we just might find our guy around here," Spider-Man replies before seeing an unlocked door that automatically opens the way accidentally. "... Maybe behind door number one?"
Inside he spots a familiar guy with the flashy cape and getup with the same crystal fish bowl for a helmet, worn by none other than the fake magician Mysterio. It seems that he accidentally intruded as Mysterio turned around upon hearing the entrance open without his knowing or orders.
"Spider-Man!" Mysterio called out in anger, levitating off the ground in midair.
"Mysterio! Geez it's great seeing you! The real you!" Spider-Man playfully replied. "Man, you must really love wearing fish bowls for head accessories! Looks brand new—so smashable!"
"Grrrrgh, ever the little dimwitted pest as you were!" Mysterio angrily replied before firing fake mystic bolts at the time from his gauntlets.
Upon opening fire, the team scattered in different directions as they try to avoid getting struck from the bolts. And it was only easy until Mysterio was able to summon even more copies of himself that are able to fire mystic bolts the same power and rate he does, some chasing the heroes in groups.
*CLANK!* *BZZT!* *BOOM!*
"Seriously!? Robot clones!?" Prowler exclaimed as he knocked down one of the clones with a kick to the gut that shattered its glass bowl for a head.
"Nothing I can't handle though!" Black Cat exclaimed as she nimbly dodges jabs and bolts before catching one clone by its arm with her grappling hook, reeling it in and slamming it to another one. "This is great for stress relief!"
Even the winged stranger held her own against the flock of robot clones chasing her around in midair, some of which being shot down by her pistol or tossed around by her martial art skills.
"You know! I'm starting to miss those gremlins of yours! I'd take those little guys over more than these guys any day!" Spider-Man screams as he web swings around the lab and takes out two of the Mysterio look-alikes with a double kick that shatters both their bowl-shaped helmets and instantly kills them. "C'mon! Fight me like a real man!"
"You want me?" Suddenly a group of five Mysterios condensed and popped around him and huddled like a flock of birds with glowing gauntlets. "Then! Come and find me!"
"...Wow, so much for the third-person voice speech," Spider-Man deadpans before dodging a barrage of energy bolts and runs around the circular platform with a holographic sphere at its center. "Hey! Who bought you this big toy of yours!? I wanna know!"
"Enough of your prattle and just die already!" Mysterio roars, firing rain of energy bolts down with his flying robot clones and then also summoning four of his snakelike dragon holograms towards the nimble hero.
"Hey, I knew this trick before!" Spider-Man said with glee, looking spunk as he let the swirling holograms phase through him, making him dodge a laser blast with a backflip and then shooting two lines of webs at one of the Mysterios, dragging him down and hearing a grunt out of him. "Gotcha! Time for your curtain call!"
Like that day on Christmas Eve, a good strong angry fist to the face shatters the helmet into glass shards and leaves Mysterio's face exposed, followed by a strong stomp planted onto the remote control worn on his gauntlet, which causes the bots to go offline or freeze. There an angry hero grips onto his collar and pulls him up close to his face.
"Alright pal, I'm only gonna ask you nicely before I punch your lights out: where are they!?" Spider-Man angrily asks, shaking him once to his senses.
"Oh I dunno, man. Maybe they're dead by now," Mysterio smirked, not seeing his mistake that he takes a strong fist full of fury to the face that nearly sedates him.
"Okay, now while I'm still nice: where are they!?" Spider-Man roars with daggers in his eyes, tempted to do the same thing Gwenom did to his robot clone. "I'm not joking this time, man…!"
"Spider-Man!"
Seeing him raise his fist to the bruised downed villain, Black Cat tries to stop him from doing what he never does. Prowler and the stranger stop as the bots have frozen from attacking them, watching the same scary look of Spider-Man with Mysterio.
"Well, he's not telling me anything! He won't budge!" Spider-Man barked in protest while holding Mysterio by the cape collar.
"We will find them, but with what we could find here. Not our fists!" Black Cat replied. "...I thought you were smarter than just relying on brute force, Spider…"
"...Hrnnngh…!"
With that, he loosens his grip and drops Mysterio, webbing him up like a burrito and carrying him over his shoulders. Passing by Black Cat, his face walks close to her ear…
"Y-You're right… Thanks for the pep talk…"
The platinum-haired thief silently smirks before following behind him as they leave the premises with the others.
"This place is not a holding cell. No one else but this goon here," Spider-Man points out. "Not to worry though! We got ourselves a free tour guide! Well, not really free since a little persuasion was needed."
"Works for me," Prowler shrugs in agreement. "Let's go then!"
"Wait for me!" The stranger called, gliding to them from around the corner in another room.
"W-What were you doing in there?" Spider-Man wondered.
"Just looking at some catalogs for any use, and what I found out was that one of the holding cell facilities is just nearby on this floor," the stranger said.
"Cool, but we got our pointman up and ready, so even better," Spider-Man shrugged. "Awright, let's move out!"
—
Meanwhile, on the side of the team of mutants…
"Dios mio! This is taking forever!" Sunspot groans before dodging a shock baton and does a blazing capoeira helicopter kick that slams the goon to the nearest wall.
"Hey! At least we ain't bored!" Iceman smirks as he flails a hail of solid ice like bullets after leaving some of the masked men in ice like ice sculptures.
*SNIKHT!* *SNIKHT* "RAAAAGH!"
Unlike the other group with a couple of geniuses on their team, they stumbled upon an armory barracks that is filled with men and accidentally got their full attention. As they tried to shake them, they eventually decided to just fight their way through. Taking a whole gang of ten down a wider corridor, Wolverine growls and pops his claws, slashing every single of their weapons before utilizing his metal boned fists and kicks to subdue them. He grabs one of the somewhat conscious masked goons with his bare metal claws touching his left cheek as a threat.
"Hraaangh! Where is she, bub!" Wolverine snarls.
"Wh-what?"
"Where is she! Where do you keep yer prisoners!"
"I-i-in the lab a-around the corner! I heard they were doing something to them, but that's all I know, I swear!"
And to shut him up, Wolverine literally punches his lights out with a portion of his restrained fury before heading to the place directed.
"Hey Logan! Wait up!" Sunspot follows behind just after kicking another goon in the head to knock him out cold. "Bobby, you really shouldn't have opened that door without checking first."
"How am I supposed to check behind doors with no windows!? I don't have x-ray or something like that, just ice!" Iceman replied while running beside him. "I mean, I could've sealed the door, but that won't last, won't it!?"
"Stop! …We're here…"
After following the directions and finding what probably seems to be the door, it automatically slides apart open, revealing what seems to be a laboratory with holding cells in the shape of translucent tubes, but they are barren with no sign of the girls or any prisoners around.
"Drats, are we too late?!" Iceman screams with hands on his ice temples.
"Wrong!"
Coming from around the corner was the same assailant with the 8-Ball head, along with the guy named Scorcher with flamethrowers for hand weapons.
"Come to save the damsels in distress, I believe?" 8-Ball taunts with a cue stick over his shoulder and three pool balls in his hands.
"Ohhh yeah, it's Scorcher time, baby!" Scorcher riles up as he ignites his gauntlets.
"Gentlemen, I must say you have done well coming this far, but this is where it all ends."
Out of the same corner, with a more intimidating aura than the two thugs, he towers over their shoulders by a two inches or so with skin as pale as cement and a monstrous glare like none other that shook Iceman to the core, having entangled with him in Spider-Man's fights… the infamous crime lord Mr. Lincoln—aka Tombstone.
"No. Freaking. Way!? Not you!?" Iceman screamed.
"Yes. A generous benefactor released me from prison earlier than expected, but was unpleasant with the duration so he took matters into his own hands, my cold iced friend," Tombstone cracks his knuckles and tosses his tight blazer jacket aside. "Now, get to doing my favorite hobby— of breaking bones and bodies."
"Man, wait till Spidey hears about this."
"Hraaaaangh!"
Without hesitation, Wolverine lunges out with claws bare, preparing to slash until he takes an exploding pool ball to the face, but came out unscathed and tries to impale 8-Ball, only to stop inches away from him as he has his hand caught and pulled away by Tombstone and takes a strong fist tough like stone to the face, but manages to stay on his toes.
"Where are they!" Wolverine growls with claws ready to slash.
"You tell me, but ask after you learn some manners," Tombstone smirks, riling Wolverine's anger and engaging in combat with him.
"Hey buddies! We're still here!"
Following the old furry mentor, the two younger mutants attack the two thugs, with Iceman fighting 8-Ball and Sunspot taking on Scorcher, two wise choices. 8-Ball barely held his own with explosive balls that are frozen in ice followed by having his cue stick shattered before being blasted and encased in ice. And on the other corner, the fight was so one-sided as Sunspot takes the heat thrown by Scorcher's flamethrowers and absorbs the flames.
"What the!?"
"Ahhhhh, that's the stuff, I feel all fired up!" Sunspot smirks as he hurls huge blazing flames back five times stronger and pushes Scorcher to the side of the room, resulting in an instant knockout. "Burrn! Hahaha!"
"Sunspot!"
"Huh?"
*Thwack!*
Just when he's done, Tombstone smacks Sunspot with a backfist to the side of his face that dazes him to the floor from the sheer superhuman strength that nearly overpowered Spider-Man.
"Hmph, like putting out a candle," Tombstone smirks before seeing Wolverine lunge onto him and manage to land slashes on his light gray business vest and sky blue long-sleeved shirt. "Still alive, you furry midget?"
"Hrangh! I don't need this to beat you, bub!" Wolverine snarled, sheathing his metal claws and resorting to his martial art skills.
Thanks to a healing factor that rapidly regenerates his cells, fatigue and pain are not enough to cripple the angry instructor, though it may seem that Tombstone's street fighting is on par with an expert fighter like Wolverine. But the only thing that sets the two of them apart…
"Grrrrgh, you're pretty tough for an old guy," Tombstone growls, locked into a clash with hands clasped to push each other without breaking free.
"Yeah, I'm old, bub!"
*Bonnnngggk!*
There, Wolverine headbutts Tombstone in the face with his seemingly forehead as it made a slight clang sound, tougher and stronger than the pale-faced crime lord that it stuns him before uppercutting below his chin and punching him and heel-kicking him right in the gut that sent him flying to the wall next to the frozen 8-Ball to be frozen in place by Iceman.
"That's why I'm the best at what I do!" Wolverine grunts, patting dust off his hands.
"We're here! Wait, what on earth just happened here?"
Entering the same door they just came from, Spider-Man with Mysterio carried over his shoulder reaches the place with Black Cat, Prowler, and the stranger. They stand still by the entrance as their eyes and brains process the situation that just has transpired in a flash.
"Ummm, did we miss a big fight?" Spider-Man nervously adds.
"About time you caught up, bub, but we're too late," Wolverine scratches the metal wall to spark and light his cigarette.
"Whoa! Tomby! You're here too!?" Spider-Man screamed, seeing Tombstone lying down like a resting ice sculpture.
"Okay, this is both weird and wrong. But, iff he is here, then does that mean Silvermane's here?!" Prowler guesses.
"Not bad, kid…!"
To give a reply in time, the evil boss in silver shining armor, Silvermane, appears and tries to pummel Prowler to the ground with a double fist slam, only to miss by a large margin by Prowler's agile prowess.
"Okay, I was hoping to be wrong, but not complaining," Prowler deadpanned before retaliating by shooting a gas bomb at Silvermane, who smacks and parried it with the back of his hand.
"We've been expecting you, all of you. Even that insufferable cat burglar," Silvermane gritted his teeth as he pulled out a pair of galvaknuckles.
"Yikes, angry old man incoming!" Spider-Man screamed as the silver crime boss charges through Prowler and aims for him, barely having time to react as his mask was just about an inch close to the galvaknuckle tips as he dodges. "Hey Metalbutt!? Still in second place? 'Cause y'know, you're silver?
Black Cat and the stranger then tried to fight back, but she leaned back as the galvaknuckle nearly touched her chin. However, the stranger fought back as she spread her wings as her weapons, only to have them ripped apart by Silvermane's enhanced strength and fell on the floor before taking a tough kick to the gut.
"Grrrrrgh! If I were the man I was back then, you wouldn't live long for saying those words!" Silvermane roars as he throws some jabs at Spider-Man and Prowler.
"Gaaaagh, too strong!" Prowler groaned before throwing a knockout gas bomb point black to the floor, putting some distance between them and the evil knight in shiny armor. "Any bright ideas to take him down?"
"His hydraulics! The suit's hydraulics!"
"You really think that same old trick's gonna work the second time?" Silvermane smirked, slamming his fists to make a small tremor that knocked both Prowler and the stranger off balance, except for Spidey on the ceiling and Black Cat who nimbly lunged and tapped over the wall.
Popping her small claws, she lacerates the pipe hydraulics on Silvermane's arms, rendering unable to function as they droop down like tassels and let the moisture evaporate away.
"Oh? You didn't think that I could cut through my newly filed nails?" Black Cat taunts with her sharp claws brandished. "Spidey!"
"Dropkick!"
*BAAAANG!*
With the force of maybe a semi-truck ramming, Spider-Man's dropkick knocks Silvermane off his feet before quickly flipping on all fours as he sent him flying to the wall and flop to the floor loud because of his heavy armor.
"Now with the finishing touch!"
*THWIP! THWIP! THWACK! THWACK!*
With that, Silvermane is subdued in webbing, wrapped up to send to the police once they're done with the mission and the place.
"That wasn't so hard," Spider-Man quipped.
"Don't push your luck, Spider. The fun just might begin," Black Cat sternly advises.
*CA-CLICK!* *WOOONG! WOOONG*
Suddenly as the fight settled, the alarms were set off out of nowhere, causing everyone's minds to ring with their guards down and prone to scrambling around from the red alerts in the room.
"Crud! Who tipped us off!?" Spider-Man looks around in a panic.
"Next time, Spider-Freak!"
He turns to see Mysterio out of his web bindings with a knife on one hand and a strange ball in another. The scene seemed familiar until it just clicked in his mind that he tries to stop the inevitable as Mysterio drops the ball to the floor. Out of it came a curtain of green gas smoke, and as it faded, he was gone without a trace.
"Traitoring little snake," Tombstone grumbled before taking a fist to the face on the ground and getting knocked unconscious by Wolverine.
*Sniff! Sniff, sniff!*
"Hey Webhead! If you done dazing around, we got company comin'!" Wolverine barked.
"Oh yeah? You think the red alarms are not telling us anything?!" Spider-Man quipped back.
"Looks we gotta hold them off from here," Prowler points out, hearing faint rumbling from outside the door of their position.
"Hey Hotstuff, time for you to get to work!" Black Cat quipped.
"We can handle things from here, but it looks like you're on your own. Someone's gotta watch over the sleeping kids," Iceman jokes, referring to the unconscious villains and baddies lying by the corner.
"But are you guys sure about—"
"Yeah we are! So you better come back with the girls, and fast!" Sunspot adds.
"...Okay, I'll be right back quick, I promise!"
"I can smell their scent from the door over there! You get in there! We just gotta hold this line!" Wolverine orders, with Spider-Man nodding and leaves the room through the automatic sliding door. "Hey kid! …Knock 'em dead."
"Yessiree!"
With that, Spider-Man departs and travels through another laboratory, ignoring all the technical clutter as he heads through the other door that leads him out another corridor. From around the corner, he takes one glance of an army of armed masked men just trying to sift their way along the bottleneck of the corridor to have their butts kicked in a room full of expert fighters and superpowered mutants. Now with the element of surprise, he enters deep into the facility, taking a few thoughts and guesses of where they might be.
—
"Okay, this is wayyy harder navigating around without a map on hand. Man, they should have kept them at a concierge or reception desk nearby. Who knows which other underworld boss they would have gotten a tour around this place for."
Even with the element of surprise, he still has to be wary of his surroundings, especially without the use of his Spider-Sense. His walk in the base is no walk in the park, aside from the obvious, as he is now not just alone, but also partially weaker than he used to be. Yet, the responsibility over his friends that care about him greatly weigh on his shoulders outweighing his fear and insecurity— mostly. After another minute strolling and navigating around the maze, he sees a suspiciously brightly lit crack between another sliding door along a somewhat wider corridor in front of him, out of all the doors he has passed by.
"Hmmm, well this one got my attention. Please let this be the right one."
*THWANG! SSSSSS!*
Behind the door, he enters a space barren of any technology with a large source of light glowing above from the dome-shaped ceiling. The door behind him suddenly shuts itself as he steps in a little deeper.
"Oh boy…!"
"Good job! I must say, you're doing great coming this far in my turf."
Behind a translucent glass wall, lights lit up inside, revealing a man in a trench coat, fedora, and black mask, most likely the mastermind, the "master-planner" of the entire base.
"I take it, I'm in the right room? Seeing how the great mastermind is kind enough to be the host of my personal visit in illegally-made property," Spider-Man quipped with hands at his side.
"You think you are so clever are you, little hero. Well, I consider myself a gentleman. And I do have manners in treating my guests well."
"You must have twisted manners. I think your folks didn't raise you right," Spider-Man quipped, noticing how quiet it was before looking below his feet to see two hands sprouting out of the ground. "Yikes!"
He hops and sticks his hands and feet to the ceiling to see Shadowcat phasing out of the ground.
"Kitty! You're alright!"
However, something felt off by the looks of things, most particularly the look in her eyes staring blankly at him like a mindless zombie.
"Kitty? What's up with you? Hey! Snap out of it!"
Shadowcat phases back into the ground like a mole, raising his heart with anxiety as he crawls around the ceiling and walls like a nervous turtle to avoid getting caught by Shadowcat, only to get caught off guard as she phases out of the wall he's onto and lands a kick to his gut strong enough to knock him down to the ground.
"Ow, double ow! Geez, were you always this strong!? Whoa!"
He was barely able to dodge a heel to the face with a backward tuck-and-roll as Shadowcat lands crouching on one knee before turning her gaze at Spider-Man in like a zombie-robotic state. But the tension quietly falls as a tear drops on one of her eyes, stirring up the courage within the web-headed hero. With no time to lose, instead of avoiding her, he guns himself at her, trying to at least block or parry or take every one of her jabs, hooks, kicks for a minute or so, just long enough to tire her out until he catches her in an arm lock behind her, seeing a strange gray glowing device attached to her back between her shoulder blades.
"So this is why you're acting weird!" Spider-Man quipped, feeling her trying to wriggle her way and phase out of his arms. "Now wait just a minute!"
No hesitation, he grabs hold of the device and slowly attempts to pull it, not knowing the risk it may impose on Shadowcat as she screams and jerks from the pain, but still far better than letting her keep struggling with her internal conflict. With his Spider strength, the device is reluctantly detached with ease and goes offline as it is separated from Shadowcat. And to add a little rage on top, he crumbles it in his hand hard like an aluminum can that it explodes into cinders. At the same time, Shadowcat slowly comes back to her senses.
"Errrgh, ermmm, h-huh? What on earth— agh!" Shadowcat moaned before feeling a soreness on her back and shoulders. "Ow, what happened?"
"Yeah, stings a lot worse than a bandaid I bet," Spider-Man quipped as he helped her back on her feet. "How are you feeling, Kitty?"
"For the most part, free. Other than the beating I give you—oh shoot, did I hurt you hard?"
"Surprisingly, yeah. Your punches hurt like rocks to the face, maybe because you weren't yourself when punching."
"Having fun, Spider-Man?"
Letting out a chuckle after watching the heroes struggle, the Crime Master taunts the stressed-out hero from a safe confine, having gone through a maze after dealing with super-powered thugs and goons, in addition to reuniting with some of his worst enemies.
"Don't worry, this is only the beginning."
"Can I just add something? You have a twisted dictionary if you're calling this fun!" Spider-Man replied with anger in his tone.
"Spidey! Hold me!"
"Huh!?"
Just in time, Shadowcat catches and embraces Spider-Man, causing both of them to phase and let a gliding figure pass through both of their bodies, followed by another gliding figure hovering and passing over their heads, revealing to be the infamous Menace, the Grey Goblin, and his worst fear, the New Goblin.
"Hahahahhaha! He has arrived, lover!" Menace laughed in a shrilling laughter with her axe in hand, hovering atop her glider.
"Spider-Man, we meet again!" New Goblin barked out of spite, hovering atop his glider.
"No…why…why is he here!?"
"Not just us, little pests," New Goblin adds, scowling with a glare behind his tinted visor.
*THWANG!* THWANG!*
Suddenly, the two doors from either side in the room open, revealing Ghost Spider and Liz with the same stiff zombified looks on their faces.
"...No...Harry… is this—is this what you really wanted… did you want this!?" Spider-Man screamed.
"Okay, that's enough grace for you. I'll shut you up myself—for good!" New Goblin roared as he brandished a single-edged shortsword from a back scabbard.
"Hahahhahah!" Menace brandishes her ax, diving towards Spider-Man with her reluctant lover, followed by the two mind-controlled heroes armed with tendril and flame.
—
"Hrngh! Where are the rest of you!? C'mon!" Wolverine barked.
"Settle down, tough guy!" Black Cat sweeps one baddie off his feet with a kick before finishing with a fist pound straight to his face. "I think we got all of them already."
What felt like hours in a couple of minutes, the waves of masked goons eventually died down as several piles of them now are left lying around unconscious in bruises and broken armor. Much to Wolverine's disgust for some agitated reason, he seemed to be begging for more of a fight from them, just to vent out his rage. Meanwhile, Iceman kept the unconscious villains in ice, just long enough till they could get the police to come and clean up their mess.
"Hrangh! What do you take me for, bub!?" Wolverine snarls, pointing his three razor sharp metal claws below her chin.
"Huh? Logan! What are you doing!?" Iceman screamed.
"...Uhm, youuu have a problem with me, big boy?" Black Cat shuddered, but kept her cool even when having sharp knives poking at her raised chin and near her neck.
"I suspected that you are the little tart the Half-pint has been moaning about a lot," Wolverine snarled before sheathing his claws and giving her space to breathe. "You gave her and the others a lotta trouble, so better watch yourself carefully, bub, or else…!"
*Snikt!*
"There's gonna be trouble for you, anytime, anyplace," Wolverine snarled as he shot a glare at her.
"Hmmm, intriguing," Black Cat hummed.
"Gee, wonder what Spider-Man is doing right now?" Prowler adds.
—
"Whoa! Liz! Stop! Yipe!"
Meanwhile, back with Spider-Man, he managed to get over one hurdle, only for four more to pop out like a Hydra beast twist or something. It was then, he realized the flames that he was playing with would eventually burn him, having fought Kitty, and now Gwen and Liz, barely dodging limb, tendril, and fire under their evil mastermind's mind control. And adding gasoline to the fire, he has two Goblins aiming for his head.
"Ow hothothot!" Spider-Man screams as Liz hurls a blast of fire at his armor without restraint. "Geez, I really underestimated you girls! Poof!"
As his guard's down, he gets pushed to the wall by Ghost Spider, web-swinging towards him with a double heel kick to the gut. If only his Spider-Sense were still with him, even though he knows that the ooze is undetectable in its range.
"Ughhh. Guys! Snap out of it! I don't want to hurt you!" Spider-Man pleaded, holding his aching stomach area before noticing a pumpkin bomb detonate from his side. "Gaghk!"
"But I do!" New Goblin roared, hurling another pumpkin bomb at him.
"Not today!" Spider-man catches it with a webline and hurls it back at New Goblin.
*Boom!*
"Grrrrgh!"
Like the fractured mask he's wearing, so did his sanity as he goes berserk all of a sudden, flying down at Spider-Man with his blade and intent to kill. Thankfully, the Webhead knew better than to fight head-on with an angry amateur villain. Instead, he lets him come at the right moment, waiting for the perfect distance until he is close enough. With no time to waste, he flips up in midair to dodge and then hitches a ride webbing a line to the back of his skateboard-like glider.
"Mind if I be a passenger!? Although, that seat doesn't seem big enough for two people!"
"Get off!"
While Spidey's tangling with New Goblin, Liz, and Ghost Spider, Shadowcat is at least dealing with the other big thorn in his throat…
"Mangy little mutt! When I get you, I'll shred you into corned beef!" Menace roars, chasing and searching for the elusive Shadowcat.
"Hey Pretty cheeks! Over here!" Shadowcat taunted phasing and sticking out half her body on the wall.
But to Shadowcat, it's like a play of classic whack-a-mole, with her being the mole, and Menace being the hammer as she tries to chase her down around a certain part of the dome. Then, Shadowcat sees the blurry silhouettes of the Crime Master and Doc Ock in the corner behind a dim translucent glass, and an idea comes to mind. She phases back before Menace could catch her, slowly making her way to phase out of the wall near the hidden room.
"Heyyyy! Right here, Orc Girl!" Shadowcat taunted, getting her attention before phasing through into the hidden room, abruptly meeting the two big bads while standing atop their monitor. "Hi!"
"Grrngh!" Doc Ock angrily tries to get Shadowcat with his metal tentacles, but they pass through her gut and face. "Hahahahah! Byeeee!"
She then phases into the monitor, disrupting the power line that causes a haywire from the inside out. And on top of that, Menace rams into the wall and crashes into the small room, instantly knocked out cold by her own rage.
"Hrrrrngh, some evil genius you are," Crime Master growled as he shot a glare at Doc Ock.
—
"Miss me! Missed again!"
"Grrrgh!"
On Spider-Man's side, he tries to beat the tension by fighting New Goblin, Ghost Spider, and Liz all around the room like some dangerous theme park ride.
"See ya!" Spider-Man quipped as he jumped and pushed New Goblin's glider to the wall and let him crash onto the floor, landing nimbly on his feet and putting his hands in prayer with a slight bow. "When fighting angry blind Goblins, best to stay out of the way."
Though the New Goblin's down for the time being and separated from his insignificant other, he still has to deal with—
*BOOM!*
"Aghhh—poof! Ughhh…"
He still has two big hero-sized hurdles. Liz hurled another huge fireball behind his back that sent him flying. Lunging towards him with talons bared, Ghost Spider lacerates but misses Spider-Man by mere inches, only scratching the wall before taking a heavy kangaroo kick below her gut from him that she crashes into the ceiling before having her arms and legs webbed up like a straitjacket burrito hybrid.
"Unghhh," Ghost Spider moaned from the heavy beating, incapacitated on the floor that she couldn't feel the pain of Spider-Man forcefully removing the device off her back.
"Sorryiloveyoudonthateme!" Spider-Man quickly apologizes before backflipping and sticking to the wall, managing to avoid a flamethrower wave from Liz.
One down, and one more to go. However, the Peter inside feels heavy, as he's facing the very fury that burns with a passion that's turned into a living weapon, standing before him in her flaming glory against her will. But even though time is not on his side, he resorts to doing it the Parker way…
"Liz! Wake up! I know you're in there!" Spider-Man pleaded, all the while dodging her gusts of flames.
It does not seem to be the effective method as Liz has not pulled herself away from accidentally attacking Spider-Man while he dodges to save his skin from burns. That's when he has another Parker plan that he surely no one could really do…
"Liz, listen to me! You're not thinking straight! The Liz I know—she is smart and witty and headstrong in her own way!" Spider-Man spurred on, this time parrying or blocking her flames to take her on. "You wouldn't give in that easily, right!?"
With every blast on high dangerous power levels, each hit Spidey takes slowly touches his skin through the suit, even to the point that parts of his Spider-Armor Mk 1.5 slowly burns into dust from the sheer intensity. However, the relentless heroic tenacity of Spider-Man marches on into the fire, and the heat turns hotter as Liz uncontrollably blasts her flames like a single scorching beam right at him that even the floor is not spared from the line of fire.
"Liz! Please! Stop! You! Can! Fight this!" Spider-Man cried out, enduring the hot blast of fires eating his armor into ashes.
Suddenly, the heat intensity lowers with every last step he took, five slow and steady steps. The closer he gets, he could see the pain in Liz's crossed fiery eyes with vapor emanating around them like vaporized tears. There, he grabs both her hands and then her trembling wrists before locking onto her fiery gaze to talk some more sense into her without using his Spider-strength.
"Liz, listen to me! I'm here for you! And I won't leave you alone, especially not like this!"
—
'What's happening? Where am I?'
'Liz!'
'Petey!'
Somewhere locked in her own mental void, Liz struggles in the darkness as she hears Peter's voice in pain. Then, she feels a warmth emanating behind her, revealing that it is her own reflection, in her fiery form.
'Whoa, is that…me? I look kinda hot,' Liz muttered in her thoughts before noticing her holding fireballs in her palms preparing to hurl them. 'Wait, uh oh.'
Now, inside her own mind, she engages in a power struggle of her own, against her manipulated self. 'Hey YOU—I mean, ME! That's enough!'
Dodging her own fireball and tackling her down flat, she wrestles against her with hands clasped against her fiery palms. She starts to absorb the flames and the body of the mind-controlled version of herself, battling the evil that holds her mentally captive. 'Nuh uh! This time, I'm taking over, not you!'
—
"...Petey…!" Liz's voice faintly leaks with pain, shaking her head as she slowly takes back her mind.
"Liz! Concentrate on my voice!" Spider-Man exhorted, locking his grip on Liz's wrists to avoid getting blasted away by her firepower. "You can fight this!"
"Urgh! Petey! Stand back! Please!" Liz screams, struggling to break free from his grasp.
"No, Liz! You have to fight, do what you have to—"
Suddenly, Liz's body turns hotter in the split of a second, catching him off guard before imploding a burst of flames around her body like several packs of lit dynamite, blasting Spider-Man to the wall and shattering the device on her back from the intense firepower that was forced out of her body that it left a large diameter of scorched metal surfaces on the floor, all until she gave up and fainted flat on the floor.
"Liz! Ow, awgh man, I miss my Spider-Sense—huh?"
"Spider-MAAAAAAN!"
Just as he gets back up, the New Goblin awakens from his bruised slumbering and slams Spider-Man to the wall, stopping him with his serrated blade edges on his gauntlet close to his neck. He could see the anger in his eyes beneath his mask's cracked visor while trying to struggle and wriggle out of his predicament.
"Ughugh, Harry…" Spider-Man murmured in a daze, trying to pry himself out of New Goblin's hold.
"Shut up, Spider-Freak!" New Goblin shuts him up with a fist straight to the face, fracturing the front of his damaged helmet, completely exposing his normal cloth mask. "...Now, finally, I get to finish you, what I've always sworn to do…!"
"Harry…no…"
"Time for the reveal, as I see the despaired look on your face, right before you DIE!"
But, there the harsh reality hits Harry like a flash of lightning, because the moment he pulls and unmasks Spider-Man's mask, he now knows that the thorn on his family's side is none other than his own on-and-off best friend, Peter Parker. Upon the staggering sight of pinning his supposed best friend to the wall, he stepped back and fell on his rear in shock, letting Spider-man down to get some air and quickly grab his mask, wearing it back on before he stared back at him.
"...Harry, I—"
"P-Pete!? I-...It was you, y-y-you killed him…! You…killed…my dad…!?"
"Now this is quite an interesting revelation."
Appearing behind one of the hidden doors Ghost Spider appeared out of, the enigmatic Crime Master watched in stoic awe of the discovery, next to the mad scientist Doctor Octopus.
"So, you are the ill-begotten fool of that wretch, Osborn! Well, I had suspected much from the same greedy ambitious air and mannerisms, aside from the fact that you are predictably less of a bother than your predecessor," Doc Ock points out with a smirk, aligning his glasses with a metal tentacle.
"However, it is an added bonus to think that the beloved infamous hero is just a little kid. And for some reason, you seem somewhat familiar…" The Crime Master thought out loud, holding the bottom of his mask's chin. "...No matter…"
Out of his pocket, he holds a small remote in his hand, pressing a stiff button that makes a faint clicking sound. Suddenly, the whole room turns red, alerting siren sounds rang all around inside the base.
*WARNING! SELF-DESTRUCT SYSTEMS ENGAGED! EVACUATE IN T-MINUS TEN MINUTES!*
"The old self-destruct button, when in doubt, it's the easy way out... from the police, of course…" Spider-Man deadpanned.
"It's high time we leave, doctor," Crime Master crushes the remote in his hand and drops it to the floor before glancing and getting pinned to the wall by a metal tentacle to the chest.
"You are weak, feeble, and cowardly! I should've taken over this stronghold when I had the chance, before you recklessly decided to destroy it! All my hard work, my hard research, all in vain again, because of you and your weak spirit against that PEST!" Doc Ock roared in anger.
"Sheeesh, you guys have issues, especially the human cephalopod," Spider-Man deadpans.
"...You're going to regret that, doctor…!"
Suddenly, the Crime Master grabs hold of the metal tentacle, pulls it off his body that it tears even a portion of his shirt and trench coat before pulling it and Doc Ock closes in like a roped person in a lasso. Then, the Crime Master instantly knocks him out cold with a single good jab to the chin and following it up with a double hammer fist slam to his back, causing a malfunction to the connection between Ock and his tentacles.
"Ughhhh…" Doc Ock groaned on the floor.
"Poor little doctor, you could've been a great ally, if you weren't so stubborn," Crime Master scoffs, patting dust off his trench coat and tugging on his partially ripped tie like a gentleman, not minding his torn white shirt before leaving for the door. "I wouldn't stick around if I were you. Till next time, Spider-Man."
*THWANG!*
"Show off," Spider-Man scoffed.
—
"Is this all of them?"
"Probably. But Spider-Man's still in there with the others!"
"Others?"
Outside the entrance of the secret base, full of policemen, frozen supervillains and crime bosses, cuffed masked men and scientists in a ransacked warehouse like a mass-investigation, the team and the police arrived at the scene under the assisted jurisdiction of Captain George Stacy, who won't be too pleased with the incoming news…
"You see, we ran into some uh, problems, and some bad guys kidnapped the girls so—"
"What? What did you say?" George asked for clarification with eyes wide open from what he just heard.
"Trust him, Captain. Spider knows what he's doing."
The masked thief in black with platinum hair by the corner, the infamous Black Cat, vouched for the hero.
"You seem familiar, criminally familiar," George shoots a glare and raises an eyebrow with his hand on handcuffs strapped to his belt.
"I am infamous around these parts, Captain," Black Cat seductively replied before shooting her grappling hook to the ceiling near a ceiling window and zipping out through the window. "Catch you kids later!"
"Hey you!—"
"You won't be able to catch her, Detective. She's slick like oil," Iceman warns the tough Officer Carter.
—
"I shouldn't have smashed your glider if things would turn out like this!"
"Forget it! We have no time for that anymore!"
Running down the dark red flashing corridors, Spider-Man and New Goblin carry the two knocked out heroines Liz and Ghost Spider and the evil mad scientist to rush out on light feet clanging against the metal floor with the time bomb ticking. That was until New Goblin paused midway.
"Harry! What's wrong!?" Spider-Man yelled, carrying Liz like a princess while Doc Ock's on his back with his tentacles worn over Spider-Man's shoulders.
"The bomb. It could level the entire facility on the surface, thirty feet underwater!" New Goblin points out, carrying Ghost Spider with her arms around his neck.
"W-We'll figure something out! We could—"
"I know the codes, I can access it through the monitor there!" New Goblin points in a familiar direction.
"Wait, I've been through that with a certain fake magician! Are you sure you can do it?" Spider-Man nervously asks with a shaky voice.
"...Yes. It's the only way I can make up for my mistakes… and for…agh, does not matter now…" New Goblin trails off, turning his head away before going and giving Ghost Spider to Spider-Man. "Go! While there's still time!"
"Easier said than done! I'm not as strong as I used to be!?" Spider-Man hysterically yelled.
"Hey guys! Need a lift?!"
Popping and phasing down from the ceiling upside-down like a droplet, Shadowcat shows up just in the nick of time.
"I got Goblin Lady safe and sound uptop! Now it's your turn!" Shadowcat adds.
"Awesome! Nice job, Kitty!"
"You go ahead, I have something big to do!" New Goblin replied.
"What? Why?" Shadowcat wondered.
"Take them up first. You can take me back in five minutes!"
"Make that US!" Spider-Man intervenes, putting both Doc Ock, Liz and Ghost Spider's arms over Shadowcat's petite shoulders. "You get them back up first, and then us later, 'kay! See ya later, alligator!"
With that somehow sorted, Spider-Man and New Goblin head down to the spacious laboratory where Spidey fought Mysterio, to find a way to end the huge disaster from ever happening, leaving Shadowcat to phase back to the surface with two in tow.
"You know, you didn't have to follow me!" New Goblin barked while running to the lab beside Spider-Man.
"No way, Jose! Not this time! I'm not leaving you hanging this time around, you hear!" Spider-Man yelled back.
—
In the red flashing laboratory, they head to the central monitor near a huge floor-mounted hologram projector, trying to configure the buttons and whatnot to defuse the city-level threat.
"Uhhh, here!"
"What do we do here!"
"Bypass access first!" New Goblin replied, tapping on a keypad.
"Uhhh, okay, I think we got it, now what!?" Spider-Man responded with multiple countdowns flashing on a screen and a map of the entire facility with red spots all around in different locations. "Oh boy…!"
"...Crud, so there are multiple explosives patched around the place, we gotta defuse them all before this place blows up sky high!" New Goblin points out. "We gotta do each of 'em, quick!"
And so, with gaming hands tapping for dear lives, the two unlikely former friends work on saving the city, setting aside their differences with lives on their shoulders and their tapping fingertips. Second after second, out of the ten heavy explosives, they defuse and kill each red dot on the monitor, able to disarm five of them.
"Almost done! Just—no!" Spider-Man screamed.
"C'mon, Pete, we gotta pick up the pace!" New Goblin screamed back while tinkering on the keypad.
"Trying already, bro!"
—
Back on the surface outside of the warehouse, after a few minutes have passed…
"...I'm getting a bad feeling about this, I'm going in!" Shadowcat rushes back into the base, phasing down as she runs.
"Alright, go get 'em!" Iceman yelled.
—
"PETERRRR?!"
"I'M HURRYING!"
Looking back up and down on the monitor with shaky fast hands and fingers, they successfully killed four of them, leaving one last bomb remaining, and in the map screen, it's one beneath them. However, the timer is not so merciful…
*...TEN! …NINE! …EIGHT! …SEVEN! …SIX!*
"NONONONONONONONONO!"
*...THREE! …TWO!*
—
Somewhere lurking within the ground…
"Hang tight, Pete! I'm coming! Just wait for—"
Suddenly, in front of her, fumes, shrapnel, and flames burst forth from the direction Spider-Man's located at. The pressure of the explosion was strong enough to push and send her flying.
"WHAAAAAA!"
"Gotcha, Half-pint."
Saving her like a daughter rather than a princess is her animal of an instructor, Wolverine, who just rushed in after her.
"You good, kid?" Wolverine grunted.
"But Spidey's still in there!" Shadowcat screamed, not answering his question.
At the direction of the explosion's aftermath, ash, soot, and rubble were left forming a path trailing down the wide damaged corridor. Severed wires are found dangling around with sparks. And at the site, it would appear that even the ceiling came crashing down on the laboratory, exposing the cement layer with more dangling wires and shrapnel. Rubble piled all around like a mountain of gravel and shrapnel, probably burying someone. And like an animal, he sniffs the air polluted with dust and smoke until he catches a scent that's out of place.
"Hold on, Webhead!" Wolverine starts digging and pushing the debris away for at least ten minutes until he finds a hand exposed. "Gotcha!"
With his superhuman savage might, he kicks off a little more of the pile before pulling the arm just enough to get whoever's in there out of it, only to find an unconscious kid around Spidey's age, all bruised up while wearing his fractured armor and helmet.
"Grrrgh, not him," Wolverine snarled before laying him down aside with his head on a flat slab of cement. "Pile number one, nope."
"Ughhhh, unnngh…"
Hearing the sound of pain, he lunges over to the next pile to dig away again, this time finding a hand covered in red webbed cloth. He recklessly pulls him out of the heavy pile, freeing an injured Spider-Man from his early grave.
"Bah! Finally, fresh air!" Spider-Man gasped for air, but looked around to see a trashed laboratory as he got back up on his feet. "…Nevermind, still ten feet under…oh no, Harry!"
"He's still breathin', bub. Be cool," Wolverine assured before lighting a cigar to smoke. "You gave Kitty quite the scare, but good thing yer one tough cookie."
"Tha—ow! Th-Thanks, I guess," Spider-Man replied. "Wish I could chat more, but we need a hospital, or first aid kit? Or something?"
—
"Rrrrngh…what a day…"
Found within the backward parts of New York, in an old rundown apartment building, the Crime Master retreats in his little spacious dilapidated apartment barely having any sort of the proper stuff for any ordinary city-living citizen. He gets to his open wardrobe, tossing away his torn trench coat and shirt before putting on a better black and darker set, looking at his reflection on a mirror mounted to the cabinet door.
"Much, much better," He thought to himself, tugging on his trench coat and tightening his gray tie and black cuffs. "You may have gotten me this time, Wallflower. But next time, there won't BE a NEXT TIME…!"
—
"…He's going to be alright. Right, doc?"
"He just avoided death, but not without some…complications…"
Five days have passed and gone. Liz and the girls are saved; some of the missing bigshot inmates are returned to their rightful places; more additions to Ryker's. The Black Cat left the scene shortly, thinking that her job was done while trying to avoid getting arrested. The stranger, on the other hand, slipped away without anyone's notice, giving an ominous taste in Peter's mouth, although short with other things to take care of. However, the Crime Master escaped, and with every good thing coming, there comes bad things. And one among them is Harry, still unconscious and left in a coma in Manhattan's General Hospital. Despite having the power, status, and wealth to afford the best of the best in the hospital, it didn't help him out of his current condition, in addition to him having a weaker constitution than Peter.
"Whatever is keeping him alive, it seems to have a sort of adverse effect, resulting in a backlash in the form of fatigue and lethargy due to the overuse and straining of his muscles and mental capacity. I may need to look into this for some time. Other than that, he will be fine," the Osborn family doctor replied.
"Thanks doc. I-I understand," Peter replied, watching him leave the ward before looking at Harry lying on his hospital bed, hooked up to machines monitoring his vitals with a sophisticated respirator worn on his mouth. "...Harry, for what is worth, I don't blame you for your reasons. For keeping my secrets from you… for what I've done… for leaving you out every single time. Yet… you always had my back. Well—maybe not all the way with, you know already… but now, you've proven what a true friend you are, and became a guy that I never thought you'd turn out…"
"Mr. Parker? …Visiting hours are over," a nurse entered, kindly seeing Peter out of the ward.
"...See you later, pal…" Peter bade, getting up from his stool and leaving the ward after taking a little glance just by the door before closing it.
Outside the ward, he finds Gwen standing near the vending machine with canned coffees in her hands.
"Umm… Peter?" Gwen quietly hands him a coffee.
"...Thanks, Gwen…" Peter takes the coffee and pops the tab, taking a heavy sip as he de-stresses from the caffeine hitting his brain. "Whew…that hits the spot…! …How are you feeling?"
"Peachy? I had some help healing," Gwen smiled weakly from his response, holding her elbow in silence for a few seconds. "How's Harry doing…?"
"He is going to be fine, at least that's what the doctor's said. I just hope he wakes up, sooner or later. I got a mountain of explanations in store for him," Peter quipped, trying to lighten up the sad atmosphere. "Where is everyone?"
"They um, got other stuff to do. Kitty and Bobby said something urgent came up with their instructor; Hobie because of Jan; and Liz, well, her family's both relieved and prickly with us…" Gwen briefly explained.
"Sheah, no doubt. It's been a long and heavy day for all of us…" Peter trails off before his weak smile turns upside-down.
"...I never thought he would do something like that, after putting us through thick and thin, he risked his life not just for me and you, but a part of the city!" Gwen points out, gently holding her coffee and staring at a small blurry reflection inside. "I could've done more… I should have…"
"Don't be, you weren't in your right mind. You were close to making me into ribbons though," Peter jokingly adds, getting an elbow to his side. "Oww!"
"Not funny, Peter. You could have died!" Gwen replied in protest.
"Well, maybe just a little. But it's not the first time I've risked life and limb for anyone, whether I knew them or not," Peter calmly replied. "Though… it is always a scary thought— to die, I mean."
"Hehe, true that," Gwen lets out a chuckle.
"Hey, Tiger. How's Harry?"
Coming out of the restrooms from the corridor to their left, the cool-headed redhead Mary Jane Watson is still around, causing Peter and Gwen to make a little distance between them, though they are not fooling anyone.
"Hey MJ," both Peter and Gwen replied, making the air even more awkward.
"You two should loosen up. I'm not the dating police," Mary Jane jokes.
"Well that sounded familiar," Peter quipped.
"Heh, same with you two. Same people as usual," Mary Jane shot back with a smirk before turning to the door of Harry's personal medical ward. "...How is he…?"
"He needs his rest. He's been through a lot, a lot of rough," Peter replies.
"Yeah…the news was a little secretive on details, but it's not my business to pry too much. I just hope he is alright."
"Yeah, hopefully he will come around…"
"Oh yeah, here Tiger."
Mary Jane tosses a newspaper to Peter, containing another headline from the Daily Bugle, saying: "Manhattan's Menace Finally Revealed! Spider-Man Blows Up A Shipping Warehouse!"
"Huh, he just keeps getting more and more creative day-by-day," Peter moped, scratching the back of his head.
"Peter, you don't have to always stick to taking pictures. Not saying that it's a bad idea, but remember that you have better options? Mister Stark personally wants to invite you to the workplace after all," Mary Jane suggests.
"Or, you can try to work with Doctor Connors back in ESU," Gwen adds.
"Th-Thanks, for the advice, but now's not the time to talk about this stuff. I… I need to clear my head for now."
"...still trying to put on the tough guy act," Mary Jane shook her head.
"Boys will be boys I guess, but it is still rough," Gwen shrugged her shoulders.
—
Peter stands up and walks away from the girls, hiding his worried, saddened look with his head slightly down, leaving the two girls alone. Making his way outside of the hospital under the red-orange sky, he runs away from the anxiety and pain overwhelming his mind to the nearest alley around the corner to quickly change into his costume before climbing up a building and then crawling up to the top. Before it all got to him, he shot away and swung around the city at dusk, thinking how things would have turned out differently…
'I should have told Harry. I shouldn't have left him. Would've been a cool ally and friend if he were accepting. Wait, he still thinks I killed his father, but… he prolly won't believe me if I say he was still alive…!' Spider-Man thought to himself, swinging around the city. 'And then there is the She-Goblin, his own girlfriend, getting dragged into this mess… awgh wait, why is this even happening to me!?'
"Lookout!"
"Huh?"
Distracted by his cluttering thoughts and alerted by a female onlooker, he bumps into a thick blanket that was in front of him from around the corner, catching him off guard and making him fall in midair, but not all the way if not for his reflexes to web a line to zip back to a wall high up and return the blanket to the citizen.
"Sorry my bad, didn't look where I'm swinging," Spider-Man apologizes before springing away from the wall and swinging out to the streets, unable to catch the faint voice saying thanks.
He swings passing near the Chrysler Building, shooting a long line at its side and throws himself up to perch on one of the eagle statues, giving him a breathtaking bird's eye view of the city from a certain angle. There, the thoughts finally weighed his head down and churned the awesome view for his eyes.
"Haaagh…should I…no…I shouldn't…it's bad right? Ughh, nevermind. Man… I wish I could take a break from heroing, a real break," Spider-Man thought out loud, slumping his head down in deep thought.
—
"Whew, mission accomplished!"
"Don't get so cocky, drop the cowgirl act, or else you could get hurt."
Somewhere hovering around the skies, in a facility full of advanced weapons and technology, the stranger stands in a pad with robotic rings automatically detaching each part of the armor around her body, unscrewing corners to loosen harmlessly, and then returning the parts into a glowing gallery of weapons and parts. Standing beside the machine monitoring on the robotic rings was a woman in a tight black suit with long red hair and armed cufflinks.
"Yes yes, I know that," the stranger replied.
"Are you ladies done talking yet?"
Coming from the sliding door entrance with the pixie cut and sharp glare was the stoic female agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria Hill.
"Quite so. She only shared some thoughts on today's mission," the red-haired woman in black replied.
"Really now? Well, not that I should be so surprised with the person you had to come into contact. A little reckless, but it is handled fairly better than I had hoped," Maria commended.
"...It's all in a day's work, ma'am. Failure is never an option," the stranger replied as her masked helmet, letting her brown hair hang down tied in a ponytail and revealing a fair olive brown-skinned face, small nose and lips adorned with chocolate brown eyes. "Besides, I adapted to the situation, thanks to him."
—To be continued
A/N: Okay guys, hello again, and to be clear with the long long long time for a long long chapter, I have no excuse for being this late.
Burnouts, laziness, writer's block, college, but all those are nothing compared to the sin of "wasting time"—basically laziness.
Also, not sure if you noticed some references, some were right there, others were a little more subtle (PS. I love the Marvel Nemesis and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe video games and add a little of them)
Had a hard time thinking of how to even proceed with this movie-ish long season finale.
But thanks to you guys always notifying me, you set some good reminders.
Thanks for reading my stuff, hope to see you next season!
I need more ideas for some storylines guys, although I have some planned, but I'm open to opinions, hates, critiques, anything. Wonder what other rogues gallery lineup should I have for the next season. And expect the unexpected for the old cast too btw.
That's all for now, take care everyone, and God bless!
