Chapter 516: Simultaneously?Four hours after Otto Octavius announced his total lockdown of Manhattan.
Inside the penthouse of Avengers Tower, Otto dumped Norman Osborn onto the polished floor. The Green Goblin armor had been systematically stripped away. Norman's face was a bruised, bloody mess, missing several teeth, but he still glared up at the clone body Otto was parading around in.
"You surprised me, Norman," Otto said, one of his mechanical tentacles adjusting his goggles. "It turns out you do possess a fraction of actual intellect. The countermeasures you designed were impressive. But unfortunately for you, they were insufficient."
Norman spat a mouthful of blood onto the pristine floor. He let out a wet, rattling laugh. "I only regret one thing, Otto."
Otto tilted his head. "And what is that?"
"I regret that my bullet was a fraction of a second too late," Norman grinned, his teeth stained red. "I should have put a hollow-point through your skull before you ever had the chance to steal that new body."
"You will never get that chance again," Otto replied, his voice cold.
A pair of titanium tentacles lashed out, wrapping heavy industrial cables around Norman's wrists. Otto hoisted the former CEO into the air, leaving him dangling from the reinforced ceiling beams. He wasn't going to grant Norman the mercy of a quick death. Before he snapped Osborn's neck, Otto intended to systematically dismantle Oscorp, erasing Norman's legacy from the face of the Earth.
But first, Otto had a more pressing biological failing to address.
Deep inside the underground bunker known as The Web, Dr. Jonathan Drew stood protectively in front of his daughter, Jessica. The early stages of ALS were already ravaging her nervous system.
The heavy steel doors hissed open. Otto Octavius hovered into the laboratory, a sickeningly warm smile stretched across his stolen face.
"Good evening, Dr. Drew," Otto said smoothly. "I believe you know exactly why I am here."
Jonathan backed up against the carbon-fiber weavers, shielding Jessica. "The experimental data is incomplete. We haven't even had time to begin clinical trials on the Savage Force spider peptides." Jonathan lied, trying desperately to stall. "You want me to map out a surgical gene-therapy plan right now? I'm sorry. I simply cannot do that."
"Do not be so hasty to refuse, Doctor," Otto chuckled, his tentacles clicking against the floor tiles. "I am not asking you to treat me. In fact, I am going to offer you an irresistible opportunity."
Otto's mechanical claw pointed directly at the girl. "Take your daughter, for example."
Jonathan's blood ran cold. "What are you going to do?!"
"I am not going to do anything, Jonathan," Otto said, his smile vanishing into a flat, sociopathic stare. "I simply want you to demonstrate the efficacy of your research. You are going to cure your daughter's ALS right now, in front of me, using the modified spider serum. You won't refuse that, will you?"
Jonathan's jaw clenched. There was absolutely no way to refuse.
He turned in silence, walking over to the containment units to retrieve the genetically modified spiders. Otto Octavius was an egomaniac; he would never allow another scientist to perform genetic surgery on him. Otto just needed to watch the procedure and steal the telemetry data so he could perform the operation on himself.
Jonathan took a slow, measured breath. He had to be meticulously careful. For Jessica's safety, he needed to stretch the procedure out as long as physically possible.
"I will do it," Jonathan finally said, turning back to Otto. "But Jessica's body is deteriorating. Her body cannot survive direct, immediate exposure to Vita Rays. We have to administer the serum and allow the DNA transcription to occur naturally. We won't see stable experimental results immediately."
Otto's eyes narrowed, evaluating Jessica's frail posture. He ran the biological calculations of the Savage Force project in his head.
"Very well. You get twenty-four hours," Otto declared.
"You will get your twenty-four hours, Dr. Drew," Otto agreed, turning toward the exit. "I will wait here for the initial injection to conclude. Once the serum is in her bloodstream, my men will relocate you both to Avengers Tower. I expect satisfactory results by this time tomorrow."
"I cannot guarantee perfection," Jonathan warned.
"That is your problem, not mine," Otto laughed.
Once the Drews were secured at the Tower, Otto would finally have the time to orchestrate the total demolition of Oscorp.
Deep beneath the streets of New York, in the sprawling, uncharted labyrinth of the city's sewer system.
Peter Parker's translucent, blue astral projection floated a few feet above the damp brickwork. He was currently breaking down the tactical variables of Otto's ego.
"In order to cure the ALS rapidly degrading his clone body, Otto is going to force Dr. Drew to finalize the spider-peptide treatment," Astral Peter explained, his glowing hands gesturing in the air. "Once Otto steals that data, he's going to initiate the genetic modification on himself."
Peter looked around the makeshift subterranean camp. "Here is the key. During a delicate genetic rewrite, Otto will be completely incapacitated. He won't be able to monitor Electro or the grid. That surgical window is our only real opening to strike."
Felicia Hardy leaned against a rusted pipe, crossing her arms over her Black Cat armor. She let out a dry sigh. "Great plan, Spider. That takes Otto and Sparky off the board. But what about the other four? Hmm?"
"The Defenders are still actively fighting the occupation forces up on the surface," Peter said, scratching his spectral chin. "If we can establish a secure comms link with Matt or Luke..."
Before Peter could finish, heavy boots splashed through the runoff water.
George Stacy trudged into the maintenance hub, aggressively wiping grime off his NYPD trench coat. "I had absolutely no idea the department employed this many corrupt officers," Stacy grumbled, his face a mask of exhaustion. "Care to guess how many dirty cops just enlisted in Doctor Octavius's private army? It's unbelievable."
"Look on the bright side, Captain," Felicia smirked. "Once we clean up this mess, you're practically guaranteed a promotion."
Stacy didn't even acknowledge the joke. He just muttered something under his breath and kept walking.
Hours earlier, it was George Stacy who had found Peter's broken body in the alleyway after the catastrophic fall. Stacy had dragged him directly to F.E.A.S.T., handing him over to Martin Li. Li had flooded Peter's system with Lightforce, accidentally inverting the residual symbiote cells into the stark-white Anti-Venom suit. The trauma had locked Peter's physical body in a coma, forcing his consciousness out into the astral plane.
Knowing F.E.A.S.T. was compromised, Li had evacuated his people into the sewers, where they physically bumped into Silver Sable and the Wild Pack. The two factions had merged, establishing this temporary underground bunker.
But it wasn't a permanent solution. The Sinister Six's patrol drones would eventually map the subterranean network.
"We have the Erskine serum Harry brought," Dr. Curt Connors rumbled, his massive, one-armed frame shifting in the shadows. "But we need an isolated facility with a functional Vita Ray chamber. Direct injection of the serum isn't enough. Without Vita Ray catalysis, we cannot shock your suppressed DNA back into an active state."
Astral Peter nodded. "Speaking of which, I actually know a place. It's down here in the sewer network. It's not exactly safe, but it has the hardware."
He was talking about Otto Octavius's original underground laboratory—the exact same bunker Peter and Oscorp had raided after the Lizard crisis. It was heavily compromised, but it still housed the necessary high-end experimental equipment.
George Stacy frowned, looking at Peter's glowing blue form. "What you need to do right now is rest, kid. You're burning the candle at both ends from outside your own body."
Peter nodded. With a subtle shimmer, his astral projection dissolved, snapping back into the comatose physical body lying on the cot.
The board was set. The remaining resistance just needed to scout the abandoned lab and wait for Otto Octavius to put himself on the operating table.
Chapter 517: The Timely Reinforcements"You're absolutely positive this is going to work?" Gwen asked, pulling her jacket collar up against the biting wind.
They stood at the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. Traffic was completely dead. A massive, crackling wall of high-voltage blue lightning shot straight from the asphalt into the clouds, cordoning off the entirety of Manhattan. Max Dillon had locked the cage. Anyone trying to breach Electro's perimeter would be instantly vaporized.
Cindy Moon nodded. She reached into her utility belt and handed a glowing red vial of Pym Particles to Kitty Pryde.
Cindy's tactical plan was crazy, but it was their only option. Cindy and Kitty would shrink down to sub-atomic scale using the Pym Particles. Gwen would carry them both across the bridge in her pocket. Kitty would share her mutant phasing ability to render the three of them immune to the lethal electrical current, while Gwen would activate her cosmic "Ghost" power to ensure Otto Octavius's automated drones completely ignored their existence. Once inside, Cindy would use her passive sense to physically track Peter's location.
"Okay," Gwen exhaled, rolling her shoulders. "Let's get started."
Kitty and Cindy uncorked the vials. In a rapid shrinking displacement, they reduced to the size of insects. Gwen carefully scooped the two tiny heroes off the concrete, placing them securely in her breast pocket.
Gwen took a breath and activated her power. The world seemed to slide out of focus around her; her physical presence ceased to register to any observer or sensor. She stepped onto the bridge.
She walked with excruciating caution. Every step was measured and slow, terrified of jostling the two miniaturized girls in her pocket. The agonizing trek across the bridge took nearly an hour.
As Gwen finally reached the towering wall of blue electricity, she relied entirely on Cindy's telepathic-like sense tugging her forward. Gwen squeezed her eyes shut and stepped directly into the lethal current.
It felt completely bizarre—like wading through thick, static-charged water. Kitty's phasing negated the raw voltage entirely. Gwen stepped out onto the Manhattan asphalt without a single burn.
She ducked into an abandoned alleyway, gently setting Cindy and Kitty down on a crate. They instantly reverted to normal size.
Cindy tilted her head, her dark hair shifting over her shoulders. Her eyes lost focus for a fraction of a second.
"Peter," Cindy stated flatly. "He's underground. He has to be hiding in the sewers."
Gwen groaned, aggressively rubbing her temples. "Why is it that Spider-Man and raw sewage are always so inextricably linked?"
"It builds character," Cindy deadpans.
Kitty grabbed both of their hands. "If you feel sick when we pass through solid matter, just keep your eyes closed. Going down."
The concrete beneath their boots liquefied. Gwen's stomach did a violent flip as they dropped straight through the crust of the city, landing softly in the dimly lit, foul-smelling subterranean tunnels. Cindy flicked on a tactical flashlight, taking point while Gwen and Kitty flanked her.
Gwen studied Kitty in the dim light. She only knew the X-Men by reputation—she had always pictured a squad of grizzled, thirty-something combat veterans. She definitely didn't expect a teenager in a yellow-and-black uniform. It was a total accident that Kitty had missed the X-Men's primary deployment, but right now, her phasing was the only reason they were alive.
Suddenly, Cindy threw a fist up. "Hostiles."
Cindy dropped into a low combat stance, but Kitty reacted faster. She yanked them both backward by the collars, phasing the trio directly into the solid brick wall of the tunnel.
A patrol squad of mechanical, octopus-like drones scuttled past their hiding spot, their optical sensors sweeping the damp brick. They passed right through the phased girls without registering a single thermal signature.
Kitty exhaled a shaky breath as they stepped back into the open tunnel. "How did Octavius manufacture an entire drone army that fast?"
Nobody had an answer. They kept moving in tense silence. A few minutes later, Cindy stopped dead in her tracks. Her breath hitched.
"Peter isn't far away."
Six hours after Otto Octavius announced his total takeover of Manhattan.
The United Nations convened an emergency global summit in Shanghai. Within hours, the world's most powerful leaders touched down on the tarmac.
President Matthew Ellis stepped off Air Force One, adjusting his tie as the humid wind hit his face. He glared across the airfield. In the distance, the flags of Latveria and Genosha snapped violently in the breeze.
"Victor von Doom is at least an internationally recognized dictator," Ellis grumbled, marching toward the motorcade. "But Magneto? Have his mutant rogue state's borders even been recognized by more than ten sovereign nations?"
Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes walked a half-step behind the President, his posture rigid in his military dress uniform. "You might want to reconsider the enemy we're facing, Mr. President," War Machine advised calmly. "Erik Lehnsherr is an Omega-level asset. We shouldn't be ruling his firepower out."
"I know that, Colonel," Ellis muttered. "But flying the Genoshan flag on an official diplomatic stage still leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
Ellis knew exactly what Magneto was doing. Genosha was providing crucial, world-ending military power to fight Kang the Conqueror. In exchange, Magneto would absolutely leverage this crisis to force the UN into formally recognizing Genosha as a legitimate nation.
It was extortion, but Ellis was pragmatic. No sovereign nation was going to accept Kang's demand to dissolve their governments and hand the Earth over to a time-traveling warlord with a fleet of spaceships.
Besides, Earth held a stacked deck. Not only had they repelled the Chitauri during the Battle of New York, but they currently hosted the primary deities of the Norse, Greek, and Slavic pantheons. Kang might have 31st-century technology, but he was picking a fight with literal mythology.
Ellis entered the summit, shook hands with the global leaders, and sat down.
The vote was unanimous. Nobody surrendered. The discussion shifted immediately to tactical retaliation. Both Doctor Doom and Magneto pledged their full military assets, an offer made significantly more urgent by the sudden, ominous disappearance of the Fantastic Four.
Eight hours after Otto's takeover of Manhattan.
The United Nations finalized the counter-offensive. A unified, global strike force would launch into low Earth orbit to engage Kang's armada directly. S.H.I.E.L.D. would coordinate the logistics. The roster was unprecedented: government militaries, volunteer superhero factions, Genosha's mutant forces, the Latverian army, the Wild Pack, and Kree tactical advisor Mar-Vell.
The moment the assembly adjourned, Nick Fury strode across the war room toward Steve Rogers.
"You think we can actually win this?" Fury asked, his single eye tracking the bustling tactical monitors.
Steve strapped his vibranium shield to his forearm. "We'll fight to the last moment."
"That wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement, Captain," Fury sighed.
"What's the status in Manhattan?" Steve asked, his jaw locked tight.
"The insertion worked," Fury said, lowering his voice. "My ghost team found Spider-Man. I believe they're drawing up a counterattack as we speak. The second things are settled in Manhattan, we'll pull those assets directly up into the orbital battlefield."
Fury reached into his dark trench coat, pulled out a battered pack of cigarettes, and offered one to Steve.
Steve looked at the white cylinder. He let out a slow, exhausted breath and took it.
"I haven't smoked a cigarette in almost eighty years," Steve muttered, rolling the paper between his fingers.
"Depends on if you're counting the ice, Cap," Fury deadpans. "I'd say it's been less than two."
Chapter 518: Counterattack PlanGwen Stacy, Cindy Moon, and Kitty Pryde's subterranean trek hit an awkward and entirely unexpected roadblock. As they rounded a tight corner in the sewer network, they practically bumped chests with Captain George Stacy. The NYPD Inspector was just gearing up to head to the surface to rally whatever uncorrupted officers remained.
George froze, staring at his daughter in absolute disbelief. "Gwendolyn? What are you doing down here?!"
"We need her, Captain," Cindy stepped in, maintaining her flat, professional S.H.I.E.L.D. composure. "Her 'Ghost' abilities are the only reason we managed to bypass the electromagnetic blockade around Manhattan."
Unfortunately, that was not the kind of help Gwen wanted right now.
George's eyes went wide. He looked from Cindy to Gwen. "What do you mean? Are you telling me Gwen is... enhanced?"
Cindy blinked. A metaphorical question mark floated above her head as she turned to Gwen. Wait, you didn't tell him?
Peter and Cindy had never really hidden their abilities from their families once the secret was out. Peter had explicitly mentioned that Captain Stacy knew his identity. Why hadn't Gwen told her dad?
Gwen let out a heavy, defeated sigh. She hadn't even told her dad she played drums in a rock band instead of taking ballet, let alone that she possessed cosmic stealth powers.
"It's... complicated, Dad," Gwen muttered, aggressively rubbing her temples. "I have powers, but they aren't combat-oriented. I just hide well. Look, where is Peter?"
George's stern expression faltered. "He's resting. He's badly injured. Octavius hit him with something... he lost his powers."
Gwen stared at him, stunned. Cindy's brow furrowed in deep confusion. If Peter had lost his powers, his spider-mutation would be gone—so why could she still perfectly sense his bio-rhythm humming in the back of her mind?
"I have to go secure the perimeter," George said, his tone dropping back into its authoritative register. "Please, Gwen, just stay out of trouble."
"What do you mean, causing trouble..." Gwen grumbled under her breath as her father marched down the tunnel.
Cindy led the way into the makeshift subterranean command center. It was crowded. Martin Li, Tandy Bowen, Tyrone Johnson, and the uninvited Frank Castle were huddled around the perimeter. The Wild Pack mercenaries were guarding the flanks, though Silver Sable and Felicia Hardy were noticeably absent.
In the center of the room, lying completely motionless on a military cot, was Peter. He was breathing steadily, wrapped head-to-toe in a sleek, stark-white symbiote suit with a jagged black spider emblem that none of them had ever seen before.
"Okay, looks like the gang's all here," Gwen said, crouching next to the cot. She looked up. "How is he?"
"His vitals are stable, but the situation is dire," Dr. Curt Connors rumbled. The massive, one-armed scientist sighed heavily, adjusting his glasses. "Doctor Octavius's reverse-transcription serum completely exhausted his cellular structure. He needs rest."
Connors and Martin Li were managing the medical triage. Cloak and Dagger had been tasked with teleporting high-value targets out of the city via the Darkforce dimension. As for the civilians on the surface, Otto didn't care about them; as long as no one resisted the occupation, he wasn't indiscriminately executing people.
"Captain Stacy said Peter lost his powers," Cindy said, crossing her arms. "But I can still sense him."
Connors blinked, leaning forward to inspect Cindy's face in the dim light. Recognition dawned on him. "Ah. You must be the Silk operative. Yes, your connection makes sense. Because Peter carries the DNA of at least three distinct mutated spiders in his system, the serum essentially had no effect on the baseline code. It merely suppressed the active spider genes temporarily. If we can introduce a massive biological stimulus, we could forcefully reactivate his abilities."
Before Connors could finish, Gwen reached into her pocket. She pulled out a sealed vial of glowing, iridescent liquid. "Will this work?"
"The spider-isotope from Earth-65," Cindy noted. "Peter took a sample from my alternate-universe counterpart and asked Gwen to hold onto it."
Connors scratched his chin, his scientific mind spinning. He nodded slowly, finally understanding why Peter had vehemently refused to hand the sample over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Then, Connors shook his head. "I am afraid that won't work."
"Why not?"
"If what you're saying is true, administering that introduces a fourth distinct spider-genome into his biology," Connors explained. "His DNA is currently deadlocked in a precarious balance. If we overload it with more spider-mutagen... he won't just get his powers back. He might mutate into a feral, uncontrollable monster. A humanoid spider."
The thought of Peter turning into a mindless, multi-eyed arachnid made Gwen shudder. "Okay. Never mind. Bad idea."
"We already have a viable protocol," Connors continued. "Harry secured a dose of Erskine Super-Soldier Serum. All we need is massive electrical voltage and concentrated Vita Rays to catalyze the injection. We already have the electricity problem solved. But we completely lack a functional Vita Ray emission chamber, and building one in the short term is impossible."
Cindy reached into her utility belt. She pulled out a small, metallic cube no larger than a shoebox.
Connors frowned. "What is that?"
"It's a one-to-one scale replica of The Web," Cindy said casually. "S.H.I.E.L.D. mapped Spider-Man's entire underground lab, replicated the hardware, and shrank the whole facility using Pym Particles. It has all the equipment you need inside. You just need to find a flat patch of concrete to deploy it."
Connors stared at the tiny box, utterly dumbfounded. He suddenly realized exactly why Peter never trusted S.H.I.E.L.D. with his tech. Who the hell feels safe knowing a covert government agency carries a miniaturized, fully stocked bio-weapons lab in their pocket?!
"Right..." Connors muttered, taking the cube. "Well, that solves our hardware problem. Now we just have to wait for Spider-Man to wake up so we can coordinate with our remaining allies."
"I have a question," Gwen said, her brow furrowing. She pointed toward the ceiling, referring to the streets above. "I know the black-suited Spider-Man currently swinging around Manhattan isn't Peter. But if all of you are down here... who exactly is wearing that suit?"
The room fell completely silent. Everyone looked at each other. Nobody had a clue.
Topside, Eugene "Flash" Thompson was currently fighting for his life.
"There's sand everywhere! I can't punch sand!" Flash screamed, diving behind a crushed taxi as a massive, abrasive wave of yellow grit slammed into the asphalt.
I do not know how to counter this! Venom roared in his mind. The primary host utilized concentrated bio-electricity to superheat the silica into glass!
"Can you shoot lightning?!" Flash yelled, desperately vaulting over a shattered fire hydrant.
A long, awkward silence echoed in his brain. ...No. I cannot.
"Then we run!"
Flash fired a web-line, trying to launch himself out of the financial district. As he arced through the dusty air, a heavy, metallic grinding echoed below.
MacDonald Gargan dragged his paralyzed lower legs through the rubble, his massive, newly-upgraded cybernetic tail acting as an articulated spine, violently propelling his dead weight across the street. The Scorpion surged forward with terrifying speed, his claws snapping.
Flash groaned as he touched down on a fire escape. "Oh my god. This guy again?"
Chapter 519: Lightning Strikes OutFlash Thompson was currently getting his teeth kicked in. Or rather, he had been getting systematically dismantled ever since he put on the black suit.
To be fair, this wasn't entirely Venom's fault. Aside from Sandman and Electro, Venom had the raw physical stats to crush the rest of the Sinister Six in a fistfight. And with the insulated Velocity Suit layered underneath the symbiote, Electro's lightning grounded out harmlessly against the fabric.
The problem was Flash. His combat experience was absolute zero. Peter Parker had spent months cutting his teeth on street-level muggers and mob enforcers to build his reflexes. Flash was starting his superhero career on "Nightmare" difficulty, fighting a hit squad of veteran mercenaries.
"Spider-Man actually fights these guys?!" Flash gasped, vaulting clumsily over the hood of a crushed taxi. "I can barely dodge one of them! There are six! Well, five right now!"
He rounded a corner and froze. A heavily armed NYPD tactical squad, equipped with Otto Octavius's upgraded riot gear, charged straight down the avenue toward him.
"Whoa! Hey! Friendly!" Flash waved his arms frantically. "Aren't you guys supposed to be helping the Avengers?!"
[They are corrupted,] Venom's dark, rumbling voice echoed directly into Flash's cerebral cortex. [The host never trusted this city's police force. Aside from Captain Stacy, the department is a cesspool. Do you not remember when Daredevil handed the FBI the Kingpin, and the NYPD engaged in a street-level shootout to hijack the prison van?]
"Okay, noted! The cops are bad guys!" Flash pivoted, sprinting down an adjacent alleyway. "Is Spider-Man actually okay? It's been like eight hours!"
[The host is alive. I can feel his bio-rhythm. Keep moving.]
The sky above Manhattan darkened as the sun dipped below the skyline.
"Great, it's getting dark," Flash panted, his chest heaving. "Don't these guys need a lunch break?"
Suddenly, the entire street warped. The asphalt stretched and twisted, shrinking into a narrow, impossible tightrope. High above the skyline, a colossal, hundred-foot-tall projection of Mysterio materialized in the storm clouds. The giant fishbowl helmet glared down at the city.
"How dare you show your face here, Spider-Man?!" Mysterio's voice boomed like thunder, rattling the glass of the surrounding skyscrapers. "You don't belong here!"
"What the hell is that?!" Flash shrieked. "Is that magic?!"
[Obviously not,] Venom growled. [It is a neural illusion.]
Before Flash could react, the giant Mysterio swung a massive, holographic hand. The impact was entirely fabricated by Shi'ar hard-light tech, but the physical feedback hijacked Flash's nervous system. He felt like he'd been hit by a freight train. He slammed into the pavement, his ribs grinding against the concrete.
"Are you kidding me?!" Flash coughed, tasting copper. "That's an illusion?!"
[An advanced neural hallucination. Brace yourself. I am activating the Velocity Suit's sonar and brainwave imaging.]
Flash's HUD flickered. A secondary visual layer superimposed itself over his white lenses. The photorealistic nightmare faded slightly, replaced by a chaotic, monochromatic wireframe of sonar feedback.
It should have helped. To Peter, those outlines formed a perfect, readable tactical map. To Flash, it was just a mess of confusing, overlapping geometric shapes.
"Uh, the tall rectangles are buildings, right?" Flash guessed blindly, stumbling forward. "And the short boxes are cars?"
[Do not ask me. I am an alien parasite. I do not drive.]
The ground beneath Flash's boots began to liquefy into a spinning vortex. Panicking, Flash relied on his human instincts. He started running. But the illusory ground moved like a treadmill, keeping him locked in place.
[You are Spider-Man!] Venom roared in exasperation. [Running is pathetic! Use the webs, you idiot! Swing!]
"Oh! Right!" Flash snapped his wrist. He fired a thick black web-line blindly into a tall rectangular outline. He yanked himself into the air, swinging awkwardly out of the vortex.
He didn't escape. Through the wireframe HUD, Flash saw a massive, low-to-the-ground shape hurtling toward him at highway speeds.
"Is that a truck?!"
[Worse,] Venom warned. [Rhino.]
Aleksei Sytsevich smashed into Flash mid-air. The collision sent Flash tumbling across a rooftop like a ragdoll. Venom flared, absorbing the lethal blunt force to keep Flash's spine intact. Flash groaned, clamping his eyes shut and forcing himself back to his feet.
"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Flash muttered.
[My assessment is worse,] Venom hissed. [Doctor Octavius has completed his objective. The Sinister Six are converging on our position.]
"Seriously?! What do we do?!"
[We run.]
Flash fired another web, desperately slinging himself across the financial district. Below him, a localized sandstorm ripped through the avenues. Flint Marko was right on his tail. Max Dillon hovered above the clouds, raining indiscriminate lightning strikes down on the rooftops.
Behind him, a heavy, metallic grinding echoed. MacDonald Gargan dragged his paralyzed legs across the concrete, his massive cybernetic tail acting as an articulated spine, violently propelling his dead weight forward.
The entire Sinister Six—minus Otto—was closing the net. Their singular directive: execute Spider-Man.
Flash braced himself for the end.
Thwip.
A white line of silk slapped onto the back of Flash's suit. He was violently yanked sideways, pulled out of the air and dragged into the shadows of a water tower just as Gargan's tail shattered the ledge he'd been standing on.
Flash scrambled backward, his heart pounding against his ribs. He looked up at his savior. It wasn't Peter. It was a girl in a white, red, and black suit, a red scarf pulled up over her lower face.
"Oh! You're his partner!" Flash gasped. "Listen, I'm actually—"
"I know you're not him," Cindy Moon interrupted, her voice tight but professional. "But you did the right thing. The city needed to see that Spider-Man is still fighting."
"I am still fighting!" Flash pumped his fist enthusiastically.
Down on the street below, a stolen police radio crackled to life. J. Jonah Jameson's voice broadcasted over an emergency pirate frequency.
"As I said before, New York will not stop fighting!" Jameson's voice roared through the static. "Until we liberate this city, we press on! I don't care if the enemy is an octopus or any other overgrown animal! They will not take our home!"
"Wow," Flash blinked. "He sounds exactly the same as when he's screaming about Spider-Man. He just swapped the animal."
Cindy ignored the broadcast. She peered over the ledge at the converging villains.
"I don't know who you are," Cindy said, looking back at the black-suited teenager. "And I have no idea why Venom is letting you pilot him. But you kept them distracted, and we need your help."
"You got it," Flash nodded eagerly. "What's the plan? We're gonna sound the alarm for the big counterattack, right?"
Cindy remained silent, dropping into a low stealth crouch. The counterattack would have to wait. Otto still held the board.
Chapter 520: Spider-Man's Revival PlanTen hours.
That was exactly how long it took for Earth's coalition to launch their counter-offensive after Doctor Octopus locked down Manhattan.
The first strike team didn't bother with stealth. It was a divine decapitation squad: the Norse God of Thunder, the Slavic thunder god Perun, the Greek God of War Ares, and the Prince of Power, Hercules. They launched directly into the upper atmosphere, aiming straight for Kang the Conqueror's flagship. Once they breached the hull and secured a beachhead, Thor would summon the Bifrost. He would funnel the rest of the world's heroes straight into the warlord's lap.
It was a solid tactical play. But one unsettling variable hovered over the entire operation. Kang hadn't fired a single shot. He hadn't declared war. He just parked his armada in orbit and waited for Earth to make the first move.
What exactly was he waiting for?
Meanwhile, in New York, Otto Octavius briefly slipped out of Manhattan.
He hovered into a private double-suite at Rikers Island. He sat across the table from an old business partner.
Wilson Fisk casually sawed through a thick cut of steak. He didn't look up. "To be perfectly honest, Octavius, I preferred your old look."
"The clone body is highly efficient, Wilson," Otto said smoothly.
Fisk took a bite. He chewed methodically, setting his silver knife down on the porcelain plate. "Congratulations. You have successfully conquered the entirety of Manhattan. In name only, of course."
Otto's mechanical tentacles clicked aggressively against the concrete floor. "Do you truly believe I cannot control the island?"
"I believe you captured a useless rock," Fisk said, shrugging his massive shoulders. "You think I couldn't have seized the city? Before the Chitauri invasion, my private army and my assets within the NYPD could have locked New York down in an afternoon. I simply chose not to."
Fisk leaned forward, resting his heavy forearms on the table. "What exactly do you gain from a hollow Manhattan? There is no commerce. No society. No consumption. No working infrastructure. You conquered a graveyard, Otto. It yields no capital and generates no genuine respect. Though I suppose respect is the least of your concerns."
An isolated, dead city. That was the Kingpin's blunt assessment.
Fisk preferred a vibrant, breathing metropolis. The game of power required a functioning board. Wealth needed to circulate to be siphoned. Otto had simply flipped the board over and set it on fire.
"That," Otto smiled, a cold, synthetic sound, "is precisely why I have come to ask for your counsel."
Fisk paused. "So, you actually intend to hold Manhattan permanently?" He studied Otto, his eyes narrowing. "Why? Do you truly believe the Avengers are going to lose?"
"The Avengers are already dead," Otto stated with absolute certainty. "If they comprehended the cards Kang holds, they wouldn't even attempt a counterattack."
Fisk frowned. He leaned back in his chair, his mind spinning through the tactical variables.
Night fell over the caged city.
The Sinister Six continued their patrols, but Spider-Man had vanished from the streets. Even the imposter had gone dark.
Dropping down a storm drain, Cindy Moon let out a long breath. She was still processing the sheer absurdity of the fake Spider-Man's identity. Eugene "Flash" Thompson. The loud, obnoxious Midtown High football star. Cindy didn't know much about Flash, other than his terrifying devotion to Spider-Man.
Cindy navigated the subterranean maze. The resistance had relocated their base to avoid Otto's drones, but her innate Silk-Sense kept her perfectly tethered to Peter's bio-rhythm. The path was illuminated by chemical flares Frank Castle had strung along the damp brickwork.
She stepped into the maintenance hub.
It was crowded. Silver Sable and Felicia Hardy stood near the entrance, checking the action on their weapons. Most of the people huddled in the damp tunnel were Midtown High students, wearing various tactical uniforms. Flash, completely oblivious to his classmates' identities, stood near the center of the room.
Peter Parker was awake.
He stood next to the medical cot, rolling his shoulders. He wasn't wearing his standard red-and-blue. He was wrapped in a stark-white symbiote suit emblazoned with a jagged, inverse black spider emblem.
Peter paused, his white lenses locking onto Flash. Or rather, onto the Venom symbiote currently pooling over the teenager's skin.
"First off," Peter said, his voice echoing slightly in the tunnel, "thank you. Seriously. Stepping up to play decoy while I was in a coma? You bought me the time I needed, and you gave the city a lifeline."
Flash rubbed the back of his neck. The black symbiote retracted, pulling the mask back to reveal his flushed, exhausted face. "No, hey, it's nothing! Happy to help, Spidey!"
It really was Flash. Peter shook his head in quiet disbelief. He pointed at his own white suit.
"Martin Li flooded my system with Lightforce to heal my internal injuries," Peter explained, directing the comment to Venom. "The cosmic energy reacted with the microscopic traces of your biomass left in my bloodstream. It spawned this."
Venom shifted across Flash's shoulders. The alien processed the information instantly.
The Anti-Venom suit was a symbiote, but it was fundamentally different. Driven by Li's negative energy, it was closer to the cosmic Beyond Realm. It lacked any independent consciousness or voice. It was just a biological suit. And it was highly caustic to other symbiotes.
"So..." Venom's dark, rumbling voice vibrated from Flash's chest. "You are equipped."
Venom slithered back over Flash's face, reforming the black mask. "Remaining bonded to this host is tactically advantageous. We will provide secondary support."
Are you sure about this, buddy? Peter thought.
"We are certain," Venom growled.
Peter nodded. He stepped up to a rusted workbench, laying out a makeshift tactical map.
"Here is the play," Peter said, pointing to Osborn Technologies. "According to Dr. Jonathan Drew, Otto is going to force him to administer the Savage Force serum to his daughter, Jessica, tomorrow around 2:00 PM. Otto is going to steal that data, synthesize his own cure, and immediately inject himself to reverse his cellular degradation."
Peter tapped the map. "Otto is going to be completely incapacitated during his genetic rewrite. He won't be monitoring the grid. Max Dillon will be entirely unsupervised."
"So we hit Electro?" Felicia asked, sharpening a steel claw.
"We rob him," Peter corrected. "To jumpstart my suppressed spider-mutagen, Dr. Connors needs to hit me with the Erskine Super-Soldier Serum. But the serum requires a massive catalyst. I need Vita-Rays, and I need a colossal surge of raw electrical voltage."
Electro controlled every kilowatt of power in Manhattan. They had the miniaturized Web bunker to provide the Vita-Ray chamber. Now they just needed the juice.
Peter turned to the black-suited teenager.
"Flash, we need you," Peter said, his white lenses narrowing with absolute focus. "We need you and Venom to siphon Electro's power and jumpstart the machine."
Flash practically vibrated with excitement. He was the only one in the room wearing an insulated suit capable of surviving Dillon's output.
"We are counting on you, Thompson," Peter said.