Ten hours after Doctor Octopus announced his takeover of Manhattan, the first wave of warriors from the United Earth Forces departed. This initial strike team, composed of the Norse God of Thunder Thor, the Slavic God of Thunder Perun, the Greek God of War Ares, and the demigod Hercules, headed into the sky to launch a direct assault on Kang the Conqueror's flagship. Once a stable bridgehead was established, Thor would summon the Bifrost to teleport the remaining heroes directly into Kang's vessel.
The only path to victory they had devised was a decapitation strike. However, many were troubled by the fact that, up to this point, Kang had neither declared war nor launched an offensive, acting as if he were waiting for Earth to make the first move.
What exactly was he waiting for?
Meanwhile, in New York, Otto Octavius temporarily left Manhattan and arrived at Rikers Island. There, he found an old friend and sat down to share lunch with him.
"To be honest, Octavius, I think I was more accustomed to your old look."
Kingpin cut into his steak without hesitation. "Congratulations. You have successfully acquired all of Manhattan—at least, formally."
"You think I cannot control Manhattan?"
"In reality, you have acquired a useless Manhattan." Kingpin shrugged. "Do you think I couldn't have done the same? At least before the Battle of New York, I could proudly say that I could have mobilized my private forces and the NYPD to achieve exactly what you have, Otto."
"But what do you gain from a Manhattan that has nothing? No normal trade, no normal life, no consumption, no jobs, no power circulating through it... You have acquired a dead city, Otto. You gain no power, no money, and no respect—though that last one is the least important."
An isolated city, a dead city. This was Kingpin's assessment of the current state of Manhattan.
If it were up to him, he would prefer a vibrant Manhattan. Not for altruistic reasons, but because the game of power could function properly and wealth could circulate normally.
Regrettably, Otto's Manhattan was devoid of such conditions.
"That is precisely why I have come to consult you."
Kingpin appeared quite surprised.
"So, you intend to occupy Manhattan for the long term?" Kingpin looked at Doctor Octopus with interest. "Why? Do you truly believe the Avengers are doomed to fail?"
"Yes, the Avengers are doomed. If they realized what chips Kang the Conqueror holds in his hand, they wouldn't believe for a second that they could win."
Kingpin frowned and looked at Otto, sinking into thought.
In the dead of night, the Sinister Six might still have been fighting, but Spider-Man had ceased his activities—even the fake Spider-Man.
To be honest, Cindy was slightly surprised. She hadn't expected the fake Spider-Man to be their classmate, Eugene "Flash" Thompson. She didn't actually know much about Flash, other than the fact that the boy was in great physical shape and was the rising star of the football team.
She also knew he was a Spider-Man fan. Spider-Man had once told him not to bully his classmates, and he had truly ceased all bullying behavior—at least, no one had seen him do it since.
She suspected the others were even more shocked. Then again, Gwendolyne hadn't hidden her identity; hopefully, she wouldn't slip up.
Thinking of this, Cindy returned to their base. They had relocated once, but thanks to her ability to sense Peter, she didn't get lost. She was grateful for the Punisher; he had brought enough glow sticks to help them carry out the plan.
Oh, and there was the matter of Peter's brand-new symbiote suit.
This time, almost everyone was present, including Black Cat and Silver Sable. Everyone was in uniform, and since Flash was a bit slow on the uptake, he didn't realize that a significant portion of these people were his own classmates.
Though, he didn't know Felicia anyway.
Notably, Spider-Man was awake. Wearing his brand-new Anti-Venom suit, Peter was stretching his limbs when he froze upon seeing Venom.
Venom also froze upon seeing the anti-symbiote suit on Peter's body.
"First of all, I have to thank you. Thank you for pretending to be me while I was unconscious. At the very least, it boosted morale and bought me some time."
Flash scratched his head sheepishly, retracting the headpiece of the suit. "No, no, it's nothing, Spidey. I'm just glad I could help."
It really was Flash. Peter, having had a hunch already, nodded and then looked at Flash—or rather, the Venom on his body. "This suit was born while Mister Negative was treating me. The symbiote residue in my body merged with his power to create this symbiote suit."
Venom understood instantly.
Did the Anti-Venom suit count as a symbiote? Perhaps. It could tap into the symbiote hive-mind, but there were distinct differences between it and a true symbiote. For one, their nature was fundamentally different; because of Mister Negative's intervention, its essence was closer to the Lightforce rather than its counterpart, the Living Abyss. It even possessed an "instant-death" lethality toward almost all other symbiotes.
On the other hand, it had no consciousness of its own. Anti-Venom was truly just a symbiote suit.
"So... oh, should I give this suit back to you..."
"Perhaps not."
In a rare moment of self-expression, Venom spoke through Flash's body. "Being with him might allow me to be of greater help."
"Are you sure, pal?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Peter watched Venom for a few seconds before nodding. He then began to explain his plan. "According to the contact we established with Doctor Jonathan Drew, Otto's experiment will take place tomorrow afternoon around two o'clock. At that time, Doctor Drew will inject his daughter Jessica with the Spider Serum.
"Then Otto will take those reports, adjust the components of the serum himself, and inject it into his own body to complete the final stage of his enhancement.
"Therefore, to avoid enemy interference as much as possible, it's best if we conduct our experiment simultaneously with theirs to call back my superpowers. But I need electricity—a massive amount of electricity."
Currently, Manhattan's entire power grid was occupied by Electro. To be safe, they would need to seize power from Electro's hands. Coincidentally, they actually possessed a piece of equipment capable of usurping power from him.
"When that time comes, we need you, Flash. We need you to take Electro's power and then power up the machine."
Flash was quite excited, as he was currently the only one who could accomplish this task. Peter looked at Flash, slightly worried as the latter spoke excitedly.
"We're counting on you, Thompson."
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