In the night, two figures moved through the city—Garfield and Holland in their Spider suits. The two big-hearted kids never tired of lending a hand.
On a rooftop, Holland glanced at Garfield. "Garfield, why won't Maguire come out on patrol with us?"
"If this were before, I kinda hoped he would," Garfield said. "But now? Better not."
"Why?" Holland asked, puzzled.
Garfield gave a dry little laugh. "These days, if Maguire shows up, never mind protecting civilians—half of them might die of fright first."
Maguire had single-handedly mowed down the Lizardman legion in front of Oscorp Tower and saved New York. Even so, opinion about him in the city had split hard. Some treated him like a savior—especially the ones who adored his… ruthless methods. But those were the hot-blooded crowd; not exactly mainstream. So Garfield's "scare people to death" line wasn't baseless.
Meanwhile, at Sector 16—Obadiah's secret base—two black sedans rolled to a stop. A group climbed out: Phil Coulson, Pepper Potts, and several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The intel matched this location, and they pushed toward the lab.
Inside, the place was lit by a few dim lamps, the gloom making it all the more eerie. Pepper, Coulson, and the agents spread out to search. By the flicker of the lights, Pepper thought she saw something beyond a curtain of hanging chains. She drifted toward it.
Two points of light winked on behind the chains.
A moment later, a hulking giant stepped into view—the Iron Monger suit Obadiah had built.
Pepper gasped and screamed, stumbling back in a panic. From within the steel shell, Obadiah grinned with a sickly delight. "Scream, go on. Scream your lungs out and no one's coming. Heh-heh-heh… You've stayed at Tony's side long enough. It's time someone 'cherished' you properly."
In his mind, Tony Stark was already dead. The rush of power swelled until it drowned him. Pepper's scream brought the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. agents running. They opened fire at once—sparks danced in the darkness—but it might as well have been scratching an itch. In a few brutal moves, Iron Monger sent several agents to their deaths.
The thrill of ending lives so easily made Obadiah sink deeper into himself. He charged after Pepper again.
Pepper, light on her feet and running for her life, reached the lab's outer door. Just as she thought she'd made it, the ground ahead split open. A massive bulk surged up from below—Iron Monger, right in her path. The arm swung up; a black barrel leveled at her.
A webline snapped across the dark and smacked Iron Monger's arm aside. Two figures dropped in beside Pepper—Garfield-Spidey and Holland-Spidey. Lucky break for Pepper: they'd happened to pass by, spotted Iron Monger about to execute her, and rushed in.
Garfield pulled Pepper away to safety while Holland moved to contain the suit's movements. The two launched their attack together. Their strength was impressive, but against a suit weighing several tons, they couldn't gain a clear edge. Even so, with speed and agility far beyond Iron Monger's, they pressed it into a temporary disadvantage—just not enough to finish it.
Garfield suddenly remembered what Maguire had told him: if you hit something big, call me. He dialed.
Maguire picked up fast. "Yeah? What's up, Garfield?"
Garfield spilled the situation in a rush. Maguire had been at home chatting with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Excitement flashed across his face. "Nice—work to do. I live for this. Gotta move before Tony steals my gig."
He excused himself to Uncle Ben and Aunt May, slipped into a nearby alley, and the symbiote suit flowed over him. Watching Maguire practically vibrate with anticipation, the symbiote muttered in the back of his mind: Great. Which poor soul is he going to fixate on now? Hope they at least get a body to bury. Under Maguire, even dying in one piece is asking a lot.
At the secret facility entrance, Garfield and Holland were still tangled up with Iron Monger. Obadiah, rattled by their slipperiness, snarled to himself—he couldn't land a clean hit. Jets roared from his feet and the big frame blasted skyward.
He looked down at the two Spiders and smirked. "Too bad you don't fly."
A streak knifed across the sky, trailing a long white tail—Tony in the Iron Man armor, powered by the older arc reactor he'd just retrieved—slamming straight in at Iron Monger.
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