Over in Time's Square, neon lights around every corner show off hundreds of products and ads. It's a place where people can find the Ruby Staircase, and one of Spider-Man's place to take his selfies, as well as the Arachnid. Arachnid was on his way to Times Square, but he needed to clean his suit from all the blood after his crazy power trip from Martin Li. Best place he could patch up his suit would be in his parents science facility.
"Hey Arachnid, where are you?" Spider-Man called him from their comms.
"Gimme a minute!" Arachnid yelled as he finalized the last touches on the mess off his suit, "I'm on my way now. Needed to patch up the suit."
"Oh I know how that feels." Spider-Man said, the tone in his voice implied he can relate.
"Shut up, Spider-Man. I'm heading to Times Square now." Arachnid cleaned out the final touches on his suit from all the blood, and made his way to Times Square.
Arachnid found Spider-Man on the rooftop nearby, "Hey, Arachnid." Spider-Man waved.
"What's with this box? Looks military grade." Arachnid asked.
"I don't know." Spider-Man replied looking back at the big box.
Arachnid knocked on the box with his fist, "Hello, I'm here now. You got something for us?"
The box morphed and showed a monitor with a man in a skull mask, "Arachnid, glad you could make it."
"What do you want?" Arachnid asked.
"I've been watching the two of you, for the past year, and I've collected enough data to take the both of you down."
"You've been watching us for the past year?" Spider-Man asked.
"And this city calls me a villain? That's just plain stalker vibes right there." The Arachnid looked appalled and violated.
"Now that all three of us are here, allow me to introduce myself. Gimme a moment." the mysterious figure switched off.
Soon after, a couple of laser bolas smacked both spiders down on the streets. The civilians all ran away from the commotion while a few further away kept their distance and watched.
The two broke out of their binds, and a puff of smoke burst in front of them. A tall figure, a broad armored man in military-grade armor, a white cape, and a skull mask, walked out of the smoke. He even carried a laser sword over his shoulder.
"Wait I know you, you were on my neighbor's porch for Halloween." Spider-Man quipped.
"No way, Spider-Man that guy was way more handsome than this piece of shit." Arachnid bolstered.
"The name's Taskmaster and you two are about to be taken to school." Taskmaster knelt with his blade at the ready.
The Taskmaster charged for the two Spiders. Taskmaster took a jump and landed a stomp, but the two were quick.
"Seriously? What kind of merc are you supposed to be?" Arachnid leaped out and cloaked.
"Keep talking, kids. I have a photo-reflexive memory. Anything I see you both do, I can do," the taskmaster told the two.
"Only not as good, you big copycat." Arachnid insulted.
Spiderman threw a manhole lid over at him but Taskmaster caught the lid with a form of webbing of his own, "Hey that's a Spider-Man original!" Spider-Man whined.
"Oh, and I can anticipate what you're gonna do." Taskmaster caught Arachnid by the throat while he was cloaked, "Playing hide and seek, c'mon Arachnid, fight like a man." Taskmaster chuckled, "I've gone toe to toe with the Avengers, you two are nothing."
"Okay, you're good I'll give you that." Arachnid said then opened his spider arms and smacked him away.
"Wait, you've gone up against the Avengers?" Spider-Man asked.
"That's awesome, it's gonna be all the more satisfying when we kick your ass!" Arachnid realized.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves boys." Taskmaster zipped to Spider-Man and delivered a hard uppercut to the sky and kicked him just before falling back to the ground.
"Hey you stole my finisher!" Spider-Man was getting pissed.
"C'mon, you slow or just stupid?" Taskmaster asked Spider-Man.
"Don't worry, Spider-Man's not slow, just stupid!" Arachnid returned the response with a sly insult.
"HEY!" Spider-Man replied in disgust.
"Don't worry, Spider-Man, I'll shut him up." Taskmaster pulled out the same type of spider arms as Arachnid.
"OH FUCK NO YOU DIDN'T!" Arachnid yelled at Taskmaster's surprise.
"Oh c'mon, when do I get my own spider arms?" Spider-Man was not happy to be left out on such cool gadgets.
"You big man just made this personal!" Arachnid shot more of his blaster webs at Taskmaster.
"No way! Arachnid did you just fire lasers from your web?" Spider-Man was curious.
"Hell yeah I did!" Arachnid smiled under his mask.
"That's a new one." Taskmaster admitted, "I studied you, Arachnid and I know just how to weaken you." Taskmaster pulled out a prod and electrocuted Arachnid with it. "Electricity weakens your abilities, limits your powers."
Spider-Man grabbed another manhole cover and smacked it on Taskmaster's head, "Hands off the Arachnid!" Spider-Man kicked Taskmaster out of the way and pulled the Arachnid back on his feet, "You able to fight?"
"Yeah, let's kick this caped bastard's ass to next year." Arachnid held his fists and zipped over to Taskmaster, but he quickly sliced off the web with his blade.
"Seriously?" Arachnid groaned.
"You know if you're trying to kill us with jealousy, that energy sword is doing the trick." Spider-Man called out while swinging to him up close.
"Maybe for you." Arachnid swung and threw a garbage can over to him. The moment Arachnid made gave Spider-Man a window to land an uppercut on him.
He launched up in the air, and Arachnid jumped over to web him but Taskmaster electrocuted him again. Dropping back on the floor he writhed in pain on the road. The minor victory over Arachnid was short when Spider-Man seized the opportunity to web yank Taskmaster's blade. Taskmaster rolled away from Spider-Man's throw and pulled out two pistols.
Keeping the Merc occupied, Arachnid quickly picked himself up and reached for Taskmaster's blade that lay near him, where Spider-Man threw it.
Spider-Man smiled at Taskmaster's expense, Arachnid swooped from above. Taskmaster was prepared to shock the Arachnid again, but he expected that and dodged it quickly. An opening was given and Arachnid stabbed him in the left side near the pelvis. Yanking out the blade, Spider-Man quickly patched the stab wound and subdue Taskmaster with his webbing.
"Good teamwork, Arachnid!" Spider-Man patted his back.
"This was pretty fun, actually." Arachnid held Taskmaster's blade over his shoulder. Looking back at Taskmaster, the two of them stood above him with pride.
"School's out, loser." Arachnid boasted, "Also, thanks for the blade. I'm keeping it."
"So care to tell us why you were stalking us?" Spider-Man asked.
"An organization hired me to see if you two are worth recruiting," Taskmaster confessed.
"We'd rather be Jonah Jameson's foot masseur than work for anyone who'd hire you." Spider-Man replied for the both of them.
"Took the words right out of my mouth, Spider-Man."
"Your loss. They pay six figures." Taskmaster shrugged.
Arachnid knelt to respond to Taskmaster face-to-face, "That's pocket change compared to all the loot I've amassed over the years, you're wasting your fucking time." Arachnid spoke the truth, and tossed his head over to have him strain his neck.
"Guess some people just deserve to be poor." Taskmaster smoked away his disappearance.
"Six figures?" Spider-Man asked.
"Dude!" Arachnid scoffed at Spider-man with a smack to his forehead.
"Nah, that's not happening." Spider-Man nodded, "So what do you plan to do with that?" Spider-Man pointed at Arachnid's new blade.
"I don't know, maybe see what makes it tick, and hang it as a trophy. Just like I did for your old web shooters." Arachnid confessed.
"What? You still have those old web shooters?" Spider-Man was shocked.
"Don't even think about it." Arachnid cloaked and webbed over to Central Park.
"Maybe I should follow him… Nah." Spider-Man webbed in the other direction.
Brooklyn Visions
The party was bustling with music, decorations, colorful lights, candy, and caffeinated sodas. Angie was enjoying her night very much. The DJ was dropping heavy beats, like colors morphed for the ears to raise her feet, and it felt amazing. The rhythm to the flow of the muscles in her body, she couldn't get enough of this feeling.
"Everyone! It's almost midnight. Let's keep dancing like it's the afterlife." The DJ called out on the mic.
Angie noticed someone familiar sitting over the side of the dance floor with someone else beside him. Angie walked over to the two, "I remember you, your Miles, right?"
Miles looked up to see Angie who was in costume as the Arachnid, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"Sorry, forgot." Angie removed her mask and showed off her rugged blonde hair and sleek smile.
"Wait, I do remember you." Miles was starting to connect the dots.
"Yeah, we met at the… Well… You know." Angie answered, knowing full well what else happened that day, "My name is Angie Williams." she took a seat beside Miles.
"I'm Miles Morales." he offered to shake her hand. Which she gladly accepted, "This is my friend-" Miles pointed with his thumb.
"I'm Ganke Lee." He offered to shake her hand as well, and she accepted as well.
"I didn't know you went to our school." Miles was shocked.
"I started this year. I've been homeschooled for most of my time, but a friend of mine managed to get me enrolled here." Angie explained.
"That's cool. Good to have you here, Angie." Miles was a little better with the extra company.
"So how was homeschool?" Ganke asked.
"I… Ugh well, I don't really have a home. I live at the FEAST shelter in Manhattan." Angie confessed.
"Really? My mom suggested I take a job there. After everything that's happened." Miles remembered.
"I think you should! I lived there most of my life. We could always use extra help." Angie recommended.
"Alright, I'll do it." Miles smiled at the new opportunity.
After Spider-Man and the Arachnid split ways, he finished looking for leads over at ESU. A distinguished alumni as Peter Parker. He finished crashing their annual Halloween party to look for one of the scientists who had info on the Devil's Breath. Unfortunately, Martin Li found him first, and he took his own life by his order from his power. With the paramedics taking care of the rest of the party goers, Spider-Man dashed out to the rooftops.
"Yuri, I need your help." Spider-Man called.
"I've got reports of shots fired at ESU" Yuri said.
"Yeah, that's me. I'll explain later. But right now you need to find a Dr. Morgan Michaels." Spider-Man gave Yuri the name.
"Spider-Man Who is this Dr. Michaels?" Yuri called Spider-Man after the whole ruckus at ESU's Halloween party.
"I think he's the head scientist on this Devil's Breath project. Did you find him?" Spider-Man assumed.
"Yes and no. Sable says they have him under protection at a safehouse somewhere in the city. But they won't tell me where." Yuri explained.
"I thought you guys were working together?" Spider-Man asked.
"So did I."
"Okay. I have an idea on how to find him. I'll let you know if it works."
Captain Watanabe hung up on her side, and Spider-Man switched to MJ, "Hey, did you find Dr. Delany at the party?"
"Yeah, but so did Li. He was vicious, His face was all bloodied."
"By you?"
"No, I couldn't land a finger on him."
"So what happened?"
"Li corrupted him and made him kill himself."
"That's horrible. We have to stop this guy."
"We will. Before Delaney died, he gave Li a name, Morgan Michaels."
"Morgan Michaels, who is he?"
"Not sure, but I bet he works on the Devil's Breath project. Have you learned anything from that Devil's Breath file?"
"Yeah, get this. Few years ago, Osborn came to Fisk and asked him to build a lab, but to keep it hidden from regulators."
"Secret lab? For Devil's Breath?"
"If it's as dangerous as we think it is, I can see why."
"Where's the lab?"
"That's not in the file. Osbon made Fisk destroy all records of it. All I have are invoices from Osborn's personal account to Fisk Construction. Knowing Fisk, he kept the invoices for blackmail material on the mayor."
"Everything leads back to Norman Osborn. Guess it's time to pay him a visit."
"I doubt he'll tell you anything."
"Wasn't planning to ask. Especially when I'm gonna need backup for this type of job."
"Wait, you're not suggesting."
"MJ it's okay. The Arachnid will help, I know it."
"Alright, do your thing." MJ hung up the phone.
Spider-Man swung past Times Square and called on the Arachnid, "No, Spider-Man, I'm not giving you the sword."
"What? Oh c'mon- d'uh you know what, never mind, I need your help." Spider-Man was taken aback by Arachnid's opening words.
"Spider-Man, buddy, I know I agreed to be your mole, but we really need to stick with just helping with passing information. I can't keep pulling your ass out of the fire when things get tough…" Arachnid chuckled, "As much as I love doing that, just as much as beating the crap out of you." Arachnid was not interested in listening, which irritated Spider-Man tremendously.
"I'm breaking into Norman Osborn's office in Oscorp. Wanna help me or not?" Spider-Man went straight to the point.
"I'll be right there." Arachnid quickly did a one-eighty on Spider-Man's offer.
The Ocsorp facility is in sight, Spider-Man can hardly believe this is what it has come to, this place always brought bad luck.
Arachnid decloaked beside him, "Alright Spider-Man, I'll bite, what's your plan?"
"Norman has a door at the top, that's how we get into his office. We can't get in there without shutting down some security systems."
"And if they see either of us, they'll put the whole place on lockdown," Arachnid added.
"We should be able to hack the security modules from the outside," Spider-Man added.
"There's four security modules across the tower. The moment we hack the first one, they'll know something's up, and with Sable in town she won't make it easy. I can't believe I'm doing this." Arachnid slapped a piece of tech on Spider-Man's suit.
"Hey what did-" Spider-Man was about to argue until he noticed his whole suit is invisible as well as himself, "Wait did you just-"
"It's outdated cloaking tech, unfortunately, your webs won't be usable, so I recommend you cloak till after we get to the tower.
"Thanks Arachnid." Spider-Man was happy, "Always wanted to make a stealth suit."
"Well don't get comfortable I'm taking it back when we're done. Hold on." Arachnid sent Spider-Man a patch for his suit, "I synced our suits signature to our HUD's so we'll know we don't bump into each other. Ready?"
"Let's go Arachnid." Spider-Man decloaked and they both swung their way over to the first security console.
"Alright, Spider-Man cloak." Arachnid called over to Spider-Man and complied.
The two started from the bottom, and found the first sub-system module.
"Alright, Spider-Man, I'll cover while you hack in." Arachnid stood watch as Spider-Man whipped out his phone.
The hacking process wasn't hard, but when the lights around the building went out, things started to become difficult.
"What the hell? Security teams call in." An Oscorp security guard's transmission was picked up by Spider-Man and the Arachnid.
"Sable team Alpha standing by." Alpha squad's leader came up in comms, "Looks like an electrical problem."
"Copy that. Keep an eye on the exterior while we try to track down the issue." The security guard replied.
"Just when I thought it would be easy." Spider-Man said to Arachnid while climbing their way up.
"Oh you sweet and stupid spring spiderling, this life never gets easier." Arachnid said to his other half, "Don't worry they won't spot us. Just keep climbing."
"I got a line on the next module, let's go." Spider-Man complied.
Making their way up and around the building, the sniper teams had no sight on both Spiders. They arrived at the second module, and this time Spider-Man took watch.
"Gimme a moment." Arachnid pulled out his phone and hacked in.
"What? All agents, someone's taking control of one of our subsystems." The security guards chatter was picked up.
"Initiating Delta protocol." A Sable agent brought out several drones to scan the perimeter.
"Man everybody's got drones these days." Spider-Man whispered.
"Focus, Spider-Man, I ran the specs on those drones before I got here, they carry infrared sensors. Stay out of their sight." Arachnid explained the obstacle above.
"Damn," Spider-Man swore as they both moved up.
Making their way up and further around the building all while trying to avoid the drones spotlight. Luckily the snipers still can't see them, and the drones are pretty slow.
"The next module is just ahead." Spider-Man called.
"Alright, you're up." Arachnid gave Spider-Man the reins.
"Dammit. Another subsystem is going offline. I need a team to scan the eighty-fifth floor exterior." Security sent out a chopper to investigate up close.
"Copy control, bird inbound." A Sable agent responded.
"Classic Norman Osborn, going into overkill. Fucking Hell." Arachnid groaned.
"Looks like the chopper is using a regular spotlight. The drones are still our only problem." Spider-Man noticed.
"Good, let's go." Arachnid crawled over as they were tracking the final module.
At the worst possible time, MJ gave Spider-Man a call, "Hi other partner, I'm with the Arachnid at the moment. We're kinda busy right now."
"Oh really? Wow, look I'll be quick. I got a lead on Charles Standish's location. I think if I can get to him, I can make him talk. He knew about Dr. Delaney, he probably knows about Morgan Michaels as well."
"Okay just don't do anything crazy." Spider-Man insisted.
"Hey wrap up the chat, we're approaching the final module." Arachnid called out.
"You two really are working together, wow. Hey tell him I found a lead on the Demon's next Oscorp factory raid. It's a chemical factory in Brooklyn. I'm texting the address." MJ said before hanging up the phone.
"Who was that?" Arachnid asked.
"My partner on the other side." Spider-Man answered.
"That girl you mentioned last week? She a girlfriend?"
"No… no, she… umm get this final module for us." Spider-Man redirected the attention to the final module.
Arachnid hacked in the final module. From there the tower was at their disposal, "Good work Arachnid, now we can get inside and find out more about Morgan Michaels, and Devil's Breath."
"Morgan Michaels?" Arachnid asked.
"He was the head scientist for Devil's Breath."
"Got it, Martin didn't tell me about him. Then again the last time I saw him I beat his face to a pulp." Arachnid boasted.
"That was you? Damn dude." Spider-Man looked over his shoulder to acknowledge Arachnid's response.
"Exterior sweep negative. Should we go on lockdown?" The Sable agents asked.
"Not yet. Mr. Osborn is in the middle of an important call, but keep tracking. There must be someone out there."
Spider-Man was the first to enter the vent, and Arachnid followed, "Nope, nobody here but us Spiders."
The two of them decloaked when crawling their way inside.
While in the vents, Spider-Man and Arachnid could hear Norman on the phone, "Hold on, switching to a secure line. I'm way ahead of you, Wilson. I had my people go through all of your files. If you try to expose our business arrangement. It'll be your word against mine, and I'm not the one behind bars right now."
"Wait is Norman talking to-" Spider-Man was interrupted by his partner in crime.
"Yes, that's Wilson Fisk buddy, c'mon stay quiet." Arachnid answered.
"Ni-Oh statue, what are you talking about? What do you mean Arachnid stole it?" Norman was sounding very upset for what Arachnid was overhearing. It kinda makes him proud to rattle the mayor up like this.
"C'mon, he's leaving the room." Spider-Man and Arachnid jumped down in Norman's office, "Jackpot."
"Hold on." Arachnid ripped off the piece of tech he gave to keep him invisible.
"Told you not to get comfortable." Arachnid smiled.
"Whatever," Spider-Man walked over to the computer.
The two of them found the peer review summary on 'Project GR-27 commissioned by Oscorp. Review conducted by Dr. Isaac Delaney.'
"GR-27. Hm." Spider-Man was curious along with Arachnid.
"Hold on," Arachnid plugged in an untraceable jump drive, "In case this needs to go public."
Clicking the next page, 'Audit materials submitted by GR-27 Chief Scientist Dr. Morgan Michaels.
Observe experiment at LOCATION REDACTED
Summarize GR-27 status, experience, and risks.
Recommend next steps.
"So Dr. Morgan Michaels is the chief of GR-27, confirmed. Current location redacted." Spider-Man read out loud.
"What are the next steps?" Arachnid asked.
Switching to the next page, "AI controlled CRISPR? If that actually works it could cure any genetic disease. Cystic fibrosis, Huntington's…"
"Brugada syndrome? CCD?" Arachnid added a couple of more.
"This is crazy." Spider-Man realized.
"Yeah, but Martin doesn't seem to want it to cure anything. Let's dig deeper." Arachnid switched to the next page.
"The good is 'high efficacy. And consistent results'. Alright, but you can't tell me this isn't clean and perfect." Arachnid clicked on the next page to find the bad.
"Viral delivery mechanism targets the immune system, highly contagious, and all the rats died in one week. Thank God Pied Piper didn't know about this thing." Arachnid reminded Spider-Man of the old fairytale.
The next page showed a photo of a lot of dead rats.
"Creepy." Spider-Man commented.
"Krysař." Arachnid said.
"Was that German?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah it was a stop-motion movie of Pied Piper in 1986, y'should check it out. The plot is very dark but it's worth the watch. Alright, next page." Arachnid turned the page to see the 'UGLY' end of the GR-27.
"Whoa, GR-27 is Devil's Breath. It's designed to cure diseases-" Spider-Man said.
"But in it's current form it's like a bioweapon." Arachnid concluded.
Spider-Man turned the page to see the final page, "Dr. Michaels keeps the only sample with him at all times. That's why Li wants him."
"We find Michaels, we find Devil's Breath." Arachnid finished.
Then, a realization dawned on the Arachnid. He gave Martin the file and helped Martin secure the ordinance. "What have I done?" Arachnid was starting to find it hard to stand.
"Hey, Arachnid, you alright?" Spider-Man kept his other half from collapsing.
"This whole city is gonna die." Arachnid stopped in his words at the thought of his wife and kids, and they're in terrible condition already, "They're gonna die, because of me."
"Hey, don't think like that. You can still make this right. Believe me, you've shown that you're a lot of things. You're a thief, but you're not a terrorist, you're a good person, Arachnid." Spider-Man reminded.
"Alright, Li's put together a giant APC. He must be using that to break through Sable to get to Michaels." Arachnid realized.
"Thanks, I appreciate the info. Good work, are the Demon's sending you there?" Spider-Man asked.
"No," Arachnid was telling the truth.
"Good, let's get going," Spider-Man suggested and Arachnid followed his way outside.
Making their way outside, and down to the nearest rooftop, Spider-Man gave his other partner a call, "Partner, do you have a second?" Spider-Man didn't call her by MJ given Arachnid's presence.
"I have time. What's up?" MJ answered.
"Get this, Devil's Breath wasn't designed to be a weapon; it's a treatment for genetic disorders. But its current form is wildly imperfect - in trying to fix the body, it rips it apart. We need to locate Dr. Michaels. I don't trust Sable to contain something this deadly." Spider-Man explained.
"I may have a lead on that. Charles Standish is being held at Sable's Central Park compound. If anyone knows Michaels' location, it'll be Oscorp's CFO. I'm trying to reach him now." MJ explained.
"Reach him? That place is crawling with guards. How are you trying to reach him?" Spider-Man asked.
"Very very quietly. Before I go, be sure to tell Arachnid about the Oscorp address. Gotta go, partner." MJ hung up.
"Sounds like your other partner has some trust issues." Arachnid noticed.
"You could say that, look she also found where you can find your next piece of tech." Spider-Man mentioned.
"What? Seriously? You trust her?" Arachnid was in disbelief.
"I trust her, I'll give you the address…"
"What's the catch?" Arachnid asked.
"Catch is still the same. Help me put Martin behind bars." Spider-Man requested.
"I'm not you, Spider-Man, but as long I give Martin a piece of my mind, then I'm in." Arachnid agreed.
"Texting you the address." Spider-Man offered a handshake.
Arachnid shook his hand, sealing their agreement.
"Sounds like your partner is getting ahead of herself. Better go see what's happening. I've got a factory to rob." Arachnid was preparing to leave.
"Umm, think you can keep the body count low?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah, whatever." Arachnid waved off and dived off the roof, heading to Brooklyn.
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think.