Spider-Man raced his way over to Grand Central Station. Martin has the Devil's Breath and his final phase is starting over there, "Arachnid, Martin has the Devil's Breath. I'm making my way to Grand Central now, what's happening?"
"Norman's having his science expo. Whole lot of people here, get here ASAP." Arachnid responded.
"My partner is already there. Be ready." Spider-Man ended the call.
MJ turned around to call Pete only to find herself face to face with somebody she didn't expect to see here, Noah. "Noah, what are you doing here at an OsCorp Convention?"
"You really shouldn't have come here MJ, this is gonna make things harder for me."
"Harder for you? What are you-" MJ stopped as soon as she saw Martin Li right behind Noah. "Wait you're working for Martin Li?!"
Noah nodded shamefully. "No, not anymore, but I hoped you wouldn't learn about this. Nor that you, Peter, Harry, or Emma would ever find out about this?"
"Find out about what?" MJ asked.
"Forgive me," Noah lowered this mask to MJ, then his clothes suddenly ripped off with his spider arms revealing his suit, and his alternate persona.
"Noah? You're the Arachnid?" MJ spoke in her mind.
"Stay calm till Spider-Man gets here." Arachnid whispered.
Martin was seen with glowing eyes, and a few of his men arrived armed and dangerous. Quickly disposing of the security, they rounded the remaining guests. Gunshots were fired to the roof, and one of Martin's men reached for the Gaia Microbe disperser.
"(Demons!)" Martin called. The Demons sealed every exit, and any lingering civilians were huddled up and kicked down to the floor.
Martin pulled out his phone and called Oscorp, "Mayor Osborn's office." Norman's assistant answered.
"I would like to speak to Mayor Osborn." Martin asked.
"Who's calling?" Norman's assistant responded.
"The man he is looking for."
"What do you want?" Norman answered as the call was switched over.
"I want you at Grand Central Terminal in thirty minutes. By yourself. Or there will be more blood on your hands." Martin crushed the phone in his grip. Walking over to the dispersal device, Martin inserted the Devil's Breath.
MJ noticed the whole scene before her and pulled out her phone, "Party at GCT. Your brother is here, bring your matching suit."
"Going as fast as I can." Peter answered.
"Listen, Li's going to release the Devil's Breath, and he's got Arachnid here to make sure you don't stop him." MJ Explained.
"You gotta get out of there."
"He's not gonna do it until Norman Osborn gets here." MJ answered.
'Wait… This must've been Li's plan all along. Make Norman responsible by forcing him to release the Devil's Breath himself.'
"Sort of makes sense - in a twisted, psychotic way."
"Alright, Arachnid and I are gonna end this Devil's Breath here and now." Spider-Man sounded determined.
"Peter… There's something else you should know about the Arachnid, and you're not gonna believe it."
"What?"
"Noah is here too," MJ revealed.
"What?! What's he doing there?"
"Peter, Noah… He's the Arachnid."
"WHAT?!" Peter almost shouted over the phone at that news.
"I'm telling the truth, Pete. Noah is the Arachnid. Look, just get us out of here." MJ said, quickly changed the subject.
"Alright, gotta focus, Demons first, Noah later. Okay, I'm here. Coming into the terminal now. Anything I should be on the lookout for?"
"Looks like he's got some drones patrolling. Looks like he's prepared for you." MJ noticed.
"Not everything, he doesn't suspect Arachnid… Er-Noah is on my side. I'm in the ventilation. Do you see him?"
"He's patrolling the northside." MJ turned his head over to the other side, "There's a vent on the southwest. That'll be a good entrance."
"Alright, I'm heading there now." Spider-Man called.
MJ saw Spider-Man crawl out of the vent. She pointed to him, and he swung out of sight to the ceiling.
"See that tablet I'm looking at? That controls the drones." MJ called Spider-Man.
"Think you can snag it?" Spider-Man asked.
MJ was ready to pounce and grab the tablet, "Yes... If you can distract them."
"Arachnid, my partner is huddled up in the crowd, she's going to reach for the tablet that controls the drones, I'm about to set a distraction."
"Do it, I'll play along." Arachnid responded.
"Okay, I'm ready." MJ called to Spider-Man.
"Incoming, Arachnid will do his part." Spider-Man called.
Spider-Man fired a webshot at the clock near the huddled hostages, Arachnid walked up and played along with the ruse, "Hey did any of you freaks hear that?"
"Okay move," Spider-Man called and MJ silently crept to the tablet.
Arachnid took a peek to see who was reaching for the tablet and to his surprise, "Mary Jane is your partner?" Arachnid called rather angrily.
"She's a go-getter. Just like you called her last night." Spider-Man answered.
"Gimme one reason why I shouldn't kill you when this is over."
"She knows what she's doing. Trust me, Arachnid." Spider-Man assured.
"They're not gonna take me without a fight." A civilian runs up to one of the Demons, but he deflects the punch and guts him with his knee, and pulls a pistol to his head.
"(Had to be a hero!)" The Demon insulted the hostage in Mandarin.
"Wait!" MJ stood with her hands up.
"MJ, what are you doing?" Spider-Man called while the Demon held his gun at her.
"Let's all just relax."
"(Stop. Or I'll shoot you too.)" The Demon threatened.
"Listen, I'm a reporter. I have a direct line to Mayor Osborn. I can help make sure he arrives on time." MJ was bluffing, Arachnid can tell.
"How?" The Demon asked.
"First let him go." MJ requested.
"You heard her." Arachnid stepped up, swiped the gun from the demon, dropped the clip, and threw it across the station. He hoisted the hostage and threw him back to the crowd.
"I'll take her from here-" Arachnid took over.
"You don't give me orders." The Demon spat.
"No, but I can kill you just like I almost killed your boss last night. Now step aside." Arachnid said with a threatening tone to the Demon. The Demon fearfully complied, hauled MJ by the collar, and threw her into the side hall.
"Get up, bitch!" Arachnid was speaking harshly, but it's helping. He hauled her from the floor and pushed her forward.
When no eyes were around them, Arachnid turned around the corner to see Spider-Man waiting above the wall.
"Jump over the railing." Spider-Man said to MJ.
She did what she was told, and Arachnid cloaked out of sight.
She landed fairly well, but the worst was the approaching Demon. She quickly went around and stayed low till she made it to the corner upstairs.
"Uhoh," MJ spotted the oncoming drones.
"Drones! Get to cover!" Still got that tablet?" Spider-Man asked.
"Yeah."
"Better work fast."
"Okay, I got this. Come on, come on. Almost there." MJ finally switched off the drones, "I did it."
"Good job. Now, let's get you out of here." Spider-Man dangled from the ceiling.
"What about the Devil's Breath?" MJ asked.
"I'll come back for it." Spider-Man excused.
Out of the blue, Arachnid decloaked beside them, "Like Hell you are." Arachnid whispered, "We take the Devil's Breath and Martin out today, and now."
"No-Arachnid what're-" Spider-Man almost spilled Arachnid's real name.
"NO if ands or buts, we do this now or I'm doing it without you, your choice." Arachnid caught the 'No' in Spider-Man's mouth.
"I'm actually starting to like this guy, Spider-Man, I have a plan," MJ suggested.
"What is it?" Spider-Man surrendered to his two friends.
"Spider-Man clear me a path back to the device, and I'll disarm it. Arachnid how's Martin escaping?"
"He's using the subway line." Arachnid answered.
"Good, think you can disable his subway, so he has nowhere to go?" MJ asked.
"Count on it!" Arachnid said as he cloaked and left the chat.
"Okay what is going on? How is he- why is he?" Spider-Man strained his whisper.
"I don't know he just walked up and said, 'forgive me'. Look for now we keep this to ourselves." MJ looked stern in her words.
Spider-Man recalled what Arachnid said at the docks, "Wait a minute, all the tech he's been receiving, he says he's making a cure…" The realization reached the both of them like an egg timer, "Oh my God, he's trying to cure his kids."
"Jesus." MJ replied.
"So that's why he came back." Spider-Man sulked for a moment, the revelation of the Arachnid's identity put him at pause.
"Hey, focus, get me to the Device where the Devil's Breath is." MJ shook Peter.
"Got it." Spider-Man webbed up and kept a close eye on her, "Arachnid, do you copy?" Spider-Man called, only silence, "Gotta focus."
MJ slowly snuck back to the hostages, Spider-Man kept the Demons from noticing her. She even used the invisible platform to her advantage. The Demons couldn't see her at all. Creeping towards the ammo crates to get out of sight, Spider-Man kept the Demons away from spotting her, and Noah still had no word.
"Keep them busy. I'll take care of the Devil's Breath," MJ called to Spider-Man.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Spider-Man asked.
"No, but that's never stopped me before. Oh! Okay. Looks like blue is connected to the battery. And yellow to a fan. Red one has a little exclamation mark." MJ explained to him.
"Okay, you'll want to detach the wires from the battery first. Trace the wires to the other end and unplug them there." Spider-Man educated.
"Okay." MJ answered, "Have you heard from Arachnid?"
"No, I'm starting to worry. He was feeding me intel, Martin may have figured it out."
"Okay, I'm removing the battery wires- What? The timer just changed to thirty seconds!" MJ was startled.
"Argh, a collapsing circuit." Spider-Man groaned.
"What's next, the fan?" MJ asked.
"Yes, then the last wire, but you have to hurry!" Spider-Man was worried just as much as he was about Arachnid.
"Alright, now the red one." MJ removed the red wire, "Got it!"
"You did it! Wow." Spider-Man was surprised.
"Yeah, now let's get these people out of here. I could use a little Spider-help. You ready?" MJ asked.
"Fisk never would've taken hostages like this... He was right, I'm starting to miss him." Spider-Man said to himself until he heard a gunshot from below from Martin himself, and with a glowing hand over Arachnid's neck, he was cuffed.
"(Bring me one of them!)" Martin called to his men and grabbed a woman in a pink sweater.
"Please, Li, your shelters helped me put my life back together. Remember my son!" The woman begged who was a former FEAST guest.
"Which is why you're going to be quiet." Martin held Arachnid still, and one of his men held the woman at gunpoint, "Spider-Man, a certain mercenary with a skull mask from Times Square told me you and Arachnid have been working together. How disappointing. You have five seconds to show yourself, or they both die! One! Two! Thr-"
"Martin!" Spider-Man dropped down with all of Martin's men aimed at him. The hostages were left unguarded from there, and took the advantage to leave, "Everyone go!" MJ called out.
"Let them go, we have all we need here." Martin ordered his men to leave the civilians, "Spider-Man, I offered you a chance to join us, but what I failed to mention was that your partner here was more than willing to dawn my mask."
"Noah… What?" Spider-Man thought.
"But curious, he could resist my control, and he became feral with my power. Of course, that's what he thought. He was not fully immune to my control. Just one more taste of my power, and he'll be mine to control. You have one more chance-" Martin walked over to Spider-Man and gave him a hand, "Just like your friend, will you join us? Just as he joined us."
Spider-Man was forced to a crossroads: take Martin's power beside Noah or let an innocent civilian die, "Martin, you're sick. We can help you." Spider-Man tried to console him, but he wasn't listening.
"You're wrong, nothing can hurt me now." Martin raised his hands with pride.
"Spider-Man." Spider-Man caught a strange sense at Arachnid, he could feel something while looking at him. Could it be their Spidey-Sense linking? Whatever this is, Spider-Man can trust Arachnid. Peter Parker can trust Noah Monroe, "Trust me, Spiderman." A faint murmur rushed to Spiderman's senses.
"Nothing can hurt you?" Arachnid spoke out loud.
"I hate to disappoint you, Martin, but this won't be the first time." Arachnid activated a web mine over the civilian, lifted her away from the oncoming battle, gripped his hands on Martin, and absorbed his power, "Spider-Man won't take your offer, but you're nothing compared to me!" Noah smiled under his mask.
"Let's settle this for good!" Martin smiled in return. He absorbed the rest of the Demons around him, and they all died. He took Arachnid, slammed him into the ground, and hammered him with two punches to the chest.
Arachnid kicked him in the face, jumped back on the floor threw Martin across the other side of the station like a worn ragdoll. He webbed over to him and slammed him with both his feet. He pulled Martin by his hair and slamed his head back down on the floor, and pressed his hands. Focusing his power back inside Martin. To where this power truly belongs, Arachnid is free from this bastard's power.
Spider-Man swung over to assist with the remaining fight. Martin picked himself up and was left with not one but two spiders, the embodiment of Manhattan's Yin and Yang.
"What'd you take the scenic round?" Arachnid said before he chuckled.
"Well, I wasn't gonna go let you take all the fun." Spider-Man returned the quip.
Shortly after, the two noticed Martin getting back up from the ground. His Negative powers quickly swerved back all around him as he turned over to the two Spiders, "Arachnid, Spider-Man, it's as if both the good and evil of this city has come full circle." Martin spoke rather poetically. He even reached for another sword from one of the dead Demons. He twirled both swords smoothly in both hands.
"Call it what you want." Arachnid began to move, "What's your call Spider-Man?"
"Get in close, and beat the crap out of him, think you can swipe those swords away?" Spider-Man asked.
Arachnid responded by dropping his head with his cowl, hiding his toothy smile as his four arms popped out from his back, "You don't even have to ask." he looked back up, and they both leaped towards Martin.
Martin launched a jolt of negative energy at both spiders, but they both dodged quickly as if it were in unison. Arachnid aimed two of his mechanical arms at Martin's blades, and reached his feet with his second pair of arms. Arachnid swept his legs off the ground and swiftly kicked Martin towards Spider-Man.
Spider-Man caught Martin and launched him in the air with a hard uppercut. Both began to web Martin and sent him launching back to the ground. Arachnid walked over to see what was left of Martin, and he was struggling to get back on his feet, Spider-Man caught up, and they both nodded in frustration.
"One more kick?" Arachnid asked Spider-Man.
"Let's do it." Spider-Man replied.
Both Spiders shot webs on the ground to make themselves a makeshift sling shot and with enough pull, they launched themselves giving Martin two hard kicks into one of Norman's neon signs. The shock enraged through his entire body rendering him unconscious.
"That's how it feels." Arachnid said, knowing his weakness to electricity.
Arachnid looked over at Spider-Man and nodded at him to come over, "Thanks for trusting me." he called.
"My man!" Spider-Man offered a fist bump, to which Arachnid returned.
"C'mon, Arachnid, we really do work well together." Spider-Man offered a hug.
"That may be true, but Martin's is done, and so is our arrangement."
"What'll you do now? I'm assuming returning to retirement is possible?" Spider-Man spoke to Arachnid.
"I dunno, but I'll tell you this… Spider-bro, this city doesn't need me. Because after swinging a mile in your shoes as your mole, I think it's safe to say you need me more." Arachnid turned over to his other half.
"I don't understand." Spider-Man was curious.
"The absolute truth that separates me, and you, Spider-Man. As the Arachnid, I'm not afraid to kill, but you, on the other hand? You always see the good in this city. And if it's worth any consolation, it's best you stay like that."
"Thanks, Arachnid; if I see you robbing another money truck, I'll see you then." Spider-Man respected both of their roles.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Arachnid turned and cloaked his way out of the scene.
With Arachnid gone, Spider-Man finally spoke his mind, "I'm not letting you fall into this darkness, Noah." Spider-Man swung away.
Sable was right on schedule. They hauled and tied Martin up on a gurney. If he had a mouthpiece, the RAFT would welcome a chinese Hannibal Lecter knockoff.
Closing the prison truck, two Sable agents carefully hauled the Devil's breath into another APC.
"Get that cargo to the lab." A sable agent yelled over.
"Let's go." The driver called.
Over the tower overlooking the scene, the press swamps the scene, but Spider-Man is looking down, hoping MJ will call, "This is Mary Jane Watson. Please leave a detailed message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
"Uh, hey. It's me. Let me know when you want to talk. I need my partner's help, for our friend's sake. Please?" Peter left MJ a voicemail.
"Not rdy to talk yet"
"Texting isn't talking?" Peter said outloud.
"Ok. Me and Noah beat Martin, btw." Spider-Man
"Good, but yeah, I need to process the news today too, I'll call u tnght, Noah needs us, partner."
"Our Partner needs us."
"N I'm sorry for being 2 upfront about how different this partner thing was. Ttyl Pete ;)"
"Cya!"
Peter hung up the phone and tried to call Noah, "C'mon brother pick up, pick up. Please." Peter hoped for any chance he'll call, but like MJ the call wen't straight to voicemail.
"What's up Hermano?" Noah texted.
"Oh thank god, buddy." Peter was relieved to hear from him.
"What are you up to?"
"Running a personal errand, with any luck we'll be getting closer to curing my kids."
"I can't believe I never knew this side of you all these years." Peter spoke out loud.
"Is there anything I can do to help? I can't just stand on the sidelines while my niece and nephew are dying."
"Thx for the offer, but I got this. I just might be able to get the cure ready today. Don't worry, uncle Peter, you'll see them soon. I promise."
"Okay. Thnk we can meet up at Otto's lab in a few?"
"Wouldn't meet anywhere else. Maybe we can meet back at FEAST later tonight, eh hermano?"
"This can't be the Arachnid I've known for so long." Peter was in denial, "I need to clear my head, I need to put some Peter Parker time at the lab."
"You did it, Li's off to the Raft, the Devil's Breath is safe with Sable. How do you feel?" Yuri called with positive vibes in her voice.
"How do I feel? How much time do you have?"
"Not much. Heroics for you means paperwork for me. But I just wanted to say... good job, same with the Arachnid."
"Thanks Yuri. I'm sure Arachnid sends his regards by staying quiet."
"It was a one-time thing, next time you see me it'll be just like the good'ol days." Arachnid spoke out.
"Well, I'll be ready then." Yuri called.
"Yuri, do me a favor and hang up the phone. I need to speak to my other half alone."
"Ugh… Sure." Yuri hung up as promised.
"She's gone, what's up?" Arachnid surveyed the signal.
"Can you really say to yourself we can go back to who we were before you retired?"
"You got a problem with that?"
"Arachnid, there's no going back to who we were before. You helped me save this city. That's not going away."
"Spider-Man, skip the emotional lecture. If you have something to say, just say it."
"Over the years, I know it was never personal, but I'll tell you right now, next time we meet, it will be personal." Spider-Man said with a slight bass in his voice.
"Is that a threat? I didn't know you had it in you." Arachnid laughed it off.
"It's a promise. I won't let you fall deeper into this rabbit hole, even if I have to fall in with you." Spider-Man was stern in where he stood in his words.
"You're playing with fire, Spider-Man. You're truly as naive as they come. Alice would've been impressed to hear this."
"You said you're not afraid to kill? Well I'm not afraid to die." Spider-Man confessed. He hung up the conversation and swung over to Otto's lab.
"Well that's a side of him, I never seen before." Arachnid stuffed the phone in his side pocket, and swung to Otto's lab.
Noah arrived with Peter waiting for him at the front door, "Hey buddy!" Peter smiled, offering a high five for his friend, "Hermano!" Noah returned the gesture.
"Thanks for meeting. Is Otto waiting for us? I wanted to see you before we heard from him." Noah seemed a little timid.
"What's up?" Peter asked.
"I think I'm gonna resign tonight. The things he's working on, I can't risk this any further. He's up to something." Noah confessed.
"It's okay." Peter patted Noah's shoulder, "We've been through Hell and high waters, brother. I'll be by your side, just as I always have been."
"Don't know what I'd be without you." Noah returned the shoulder tap.
"You'd probably be a lot more dangerous without me." Peter thought to himself, "C'mon, let's go check on Otto."
Peter and Noah stepped inside the lab and found a new bottle of Jack. "Otto?" Peter called.
"Parker, Monroe! Just in time to celebrate." Otto walked over in his green jumpsuit.
"Otto, what's with the welding suit?" Noah asked.
"Celebrate? Wait, where are the arms?" Peter asked in slight shock.
Just at the right time, Otto revealed two separate arms expanding from behind him, like claws with a glimmering mix of greenish yellow.
"Oh wow. So cool." Peter was astonished, while Noah was looking rather the opposite.
"Holy shit, what have I created?" Noah thought as he shook a little.
"But how did you-" Peter asked but was quickly brushed off by Otto.
"Inter-cranial neural network." Otto reached for the bottle of Jack, "Neuro-transmission speeds under one nanosecond." Using his arm to open the bottle he poured the three of them shots, "Faster than signals travel inside the brain. Never mind to an external prosthesis. Noah, Peter we did it." The three of them clinked their mugs.
Noah chugged his shot, "Ugh… I'll take the whole bottle." he requested the whole bottle, which he handed via his tentacles, "Thank you." Noah gulped down a whole mouthful of the strong stuff.
"Young man can hold his liquor." Otto smiled, "No one can take this from us."
"Amazing." Peter said.
"That's one word," Noah said.
"And your work on the neural web was the key, Peter, just as much as your work on the CPU network, Noah." Otto hoisted himself off the ground to show them the results on their current specs.
"But we haven't even tested it yet. There's so much we don't know-" Peter said as he and Noah walked up to catch up.
"It works beautifully. C'mon, take a look, both of you." Noah and Peter looked over the specs while Otto walked over to the other side of the lab.
"Voltage spike. Should be an easy fix." Peter slightly struggled under his breath.
"Got it," Noah called but was quickly shot down when the warnings didn't disappear, "No, this is worse than I thought."
"Hope that stabilized that." Noah said and was dead wrong, "Fuck, the spike is still rising."
Noah ran through to correct the final specs, "Come on."
"HIGH RISK OF MOOD AND OR PERSONALITY SHIFT DISCONTINUE USE IMMEDIATELY," The monitor wrote in red with an alarm.
"Oh fuck." Noah was about to shake.
"This is bad." Peter walked away from the tablet, "Doctor?"
Just after, a loud rumble quaked to the left side of the two, with Otto walking over, "Doctor, we found a potential problem." Noah tried to explain, but Otto was too proud of his high horse to realize the danger unless that's what he had wanted all along.
"Everything has problems if you look hard enough, but fortune favors the bold." Otto unfurled two more tentacles, and with the extra limbs, he stood above his two assistants like a God, "It's time to show the world what we've done!"
"Otto, the neural web isn't isolating your motor neurons. It could be affecting other parts of your brain: your inhibitions, your mood." Peter tried to explain.
"Sir, if we could run a few more tests, we cou-" Noah was halted in his words when Otto threw a tentacle near his feet.
"We've done enough testing! For the first time in my life I don't feel like a failure. I feel like me!" Otto was changing. Noah can tell in his voice.
"Otto, you're not a failure, but this could permanently damage your your mind. Please." Peter could reach in Otto's conscience, and he lowered himself back to the floor, "Right." Otto switched off the CPU from his neck.
"Don't worry. We're close." Peter consoled Otto
"We're closer than you think. Just need to put in the extra foot in the journey." Noah assured.
"I'll keep at it. Work out some bugs. Go. Go." Otto waved them off.
"You sure you're okay?" Noah asked.
"Yes... Noah, Peter, thank you. For everything." Otto was sincere in his words.
"We now take you live to Grand Central Terminal, where Mayor Osborn is about to address the media." The TV reporter called.
The two of them took their leave, and just as they both were about to leave for good, Noah realized something, "Oh crap, I'll meet you at FEAST later, Pete, forgot my phone." Noah called.
"Okay, see you there." Peter waved.
Noah walked back into the lab, trying not to take any notice of Otto, but he saw him with those arms turned back on, "Oh shit." Noah whispered.
Noah quietly went to reach for his phone as Otto was being distracted, but then Norman's voice caught his ear, "The people of New York will soon make a decision that could change the course of this city forever. So when you're casting your vote, remember what I've done. We are all safer now than we have ever been."
"LIAR!" Otto crushed the TV with his arm, "You have no idea what you're in for."
Not wanting to know what this is about, Noah used his web shooter, snatched his cell phone, and left as quietly as possible.
Back outside, putting on his suit, he swung over to the nearby tower across the street, "Holy shit." Noah sighed, "He's up to something. Gotta call Peter."
Noah was about to call Peter, but Emma sent a message, "I need you at the apartment. The hospital sent a package."
"Oh no!" Arachnid swung over to his apartment as fast as he could.
I hope this chapter was good please leave a review and tell me what you think.
Also in the next chapter things will get interesting.