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***
7 May 2013. 18:45.
Peter Parker's flat.
- BOOAAAACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK...
The bathroom was filled with the sounds of spewing stomach contents.
"Bearer, are you alright?" questioned his master Raj worriedly.
"Perfectly," the brown-eyed brown-haired man hissed, "I think it's just poisoning."
"Your body has been giving off signs of illness throughout the day."
"Yeah, I agree, doesn't sound like me."
Peter stepped out of the bathroom, wiping himself with a wet, cold towel.
"Your skin is burning, probably a fever."
"You should go to the hospital."
"No hospital."
Parker continued walking with a lurch.
"But I think a visit to the doctor might be in order."
The guy walked over to the window.
"Shit! I can't even get my suit on!".
"And you say you're fine?"
"I'm used to being brave, but honestly, I haven't felt this bad in a long time."
"It started yesterday, after we got back, right?"
"Yes. But we'll discuss it later. Suit me, Raj!"
The symbiote habitually created a uniform for the host from its cloth.
Peter opened the window and jumped outside, snagging a spider web on a ledge in the process.
"Where are we going, Bearer?"
"Oh, that's right, you don't know her, do you? Let me introduce you to an old friend."
***
Dr Maria Crawford's lab.
Half an hour later.
Maria was checking out research when there was a knock on her window. Uncontrollably, a small sad smile crept onto the woman's face.
- Hi Doc," someone she hadn't seen in many months crawled into the room. And who she had let down terribly.
- Hi, Spider.
However, the brunette said hello as if they had only seen each other yesterday and as if nothing had happened. Though it wasn't his fault.
- Are you all right? - The hero inquired sympathetically.
Did he feel the confusion?
- Yes, yes, I'm fine, Spidey. Though, if you've arrived, then all is not well with you, is it? - Crawford tried to change the subject.
- I haven't been the best patient, have I? I'm sorry doc, I haven't visited in a while.
- It's all right, I understand," Maria said to the boy, "and I'm immersed in experiments myself, so I might not see people for a long time anyway.
- Still, you should have sent flowers....
- If anything, I like scarlet roses," the woman smiled sweetly. - Let's forget the little things in life," the woman leaned on the table. - So what brings you here?
- Many joys are in the little things, - Stenolaz hurriedly took his usual place in this laboratory. - Since yesterday I've been feeling ill. Very bad. I anticipate your question, it's very unusual for me and my immune system, you know that. Besides, my gut tells me I should have come to you.
- A hunch? - Maria is clearly referring to Spidey's mythical sixth sense.
- Not exactly. It's more of an instinct, but my gut's also showing a little trepidation.
- Well, then, take your chair, - Maria took the syringe, - research time.
Two hours from now.
- Oh, my God! - Crawford exclaimed.
Spider, tiredly collapsed in the chair, immediately jumped up and ran up to the woman.
Mary raised her brown eyes at the hero, in which read fear and regret.
- Is it so bad? - Peter asked tiredly and with carefully concealed fear.
The doctor silently turned to him a monitor with graphs and test results.
Parker delved deeper into the study and with each page became more and more gloomy.
- I haven't seen you in over six months and I honestly don't know what's been going on with you in that time, but I didn't think your adventures would have such consequences," the brunette said in a slightly shaky voice.
- My genetic structure.... is breaking down? - The boy whispered disbelievingly.
"Carrier?" - Questioned the symbiote with horror.
Parker, however, was too shocked and stayed in his thoughts.
"When? HOW?!"
Peter picked up the computer chair like a piece of fluff and hurled it at the lab wall.
Crawford jumped up from her seat.
- Spider, stop!
But the guy continued to frantically smash everything in sight, trying to release his feelings. Everything was destroyed: furniture, lab supplies, equipment.
Crawford could only watch helplessly as New York's hero.
Eventually, having destroyed a substantial part of the lab, Spider knelt down tiredly.
- Dr Crawford, is everything all right? - There was a knock on the door and a concerned voice.
- Yes, Lucas, it's just that the experiment didn't go according to plan, - Maria hurriedly shouted, looking pityingly at her guest.
- Okay then," the sound of footsteps moving away began to emanate from the door.
Maria took a step, then another and another, gradually approaching the frozen Spider.
The woman put a palm on the guy's shoulder, and he jerked.
The wall-crawler turned his head to her, so inhibited, as if he didn't realise where he was.
- You know, Doc," the hero suddenly spoke, "I recently learnt the true cause of my parents' death, well, if not the cause, then the circumstances for sure," Spider waved his hands indefinitely, "this discovery shocked me, I even began to lose control of myself, completely irresponsible. I thought that the news would not be worse during the week, but it turned out like this.
Maria sat down next to the boy on the cold floor.
- Do you know what can cause changes in your body? - The woman tried to switch to a businesslike manner.
- What does it matter? I'm dying anyway," he said tiredly.
- You are NOT dying! - Crawford said firmly and loudly.
- Doc, you saw for yourself, the genetic chains they....
- Dissolve, but DO NOT DESTROY," Maria tried to find a silver lining in the situation, "maybe the DNA is just rearranging itself.
- For such changes you need at least some kind of trigger, a trigger, an event, but the last few months have been quite ordinary," cold calculation began to replace the sudden apathy, "what if..." she said.
"Raj," Pete addressed his partner suspiciously.
"Carrier, I would never do that to you, I swear," the symbiote's tone was pained by the sudden distrust.
"I'm not accusing, mate," the guy clarified a little tiredly, "but I have to consider all options. Surely you're not harming the Carrier's body in any way?"
"If you were a normal human there might be problems, but your body is much stronger and there is no harm, I guarantee it."
"You can examine my body, what are your guesses?"
"With the exception of physical manifestations, along the lines of fever, your body is as strong and robust as before. I can't probe any deeper," the symbiote regretfully issued.
"A dead end, then."
The spider rose from the floor and took a deep breath.
- Whatever happens, I'm sure of one thing, this is my life and I won't sell it for nothing," he turned to the brunette, "what are our options, Doc?
- We do what we did last time. I'll study your blood analysis, try to find out what's going on and what can be done.
- Good," Spider put his hands behind his neck, "good. I'll also turn to my friend, he has a good laboratory and equipment. By the way, - Spider looked guiltily at the destruction he had caused, - I'll pay for everything I've damaged.
- Don't worry, it will be an excuse to press the bureaucrats who don't pay the percentage of financing for the laboratory renovation, - Maria tried to turn everything into a joke.
- Still, I apologise, I lost control.
- You're understandable.
The conversation was interrupted by the sharp beeping of the communicator on the guy's hand.
Spider pressed a button and transferred the call to the communication module in the mask.
- Yes?
- Spider, can you talk? - A serious male voice sounded.
- Captain Stacy? Sure, is something wrong?
- I need to meet you, on the roof of the police station, in half an hour, can you do that?
Spider thought about what had happened, looking around. It wouldn't hurt him to get some air.
- Yeah, I'll be there.
- Good. See you later," the captain hung up.
Spider switched off the communicator and approached Maria, who had returned to the computer.
- Will this blood sample be enough for you to analyse?
- Yes, I think so, but I expect you in three days.
- All right, - Spiderwolf went to the window, - but remember, we'll proceed according to the old plan, destroy the blood after the analysis.
Spider, who had turned away, couldn't see Dr Crawford's hand twitch nervously.
- 'Yes, of course, destroy it,' the brunette repeated.
- 'Thank you Dr Crawford, I'll be back on Friday,' Spider was just about to start crawling out of the room.
- I hope you're not going to be a hero? - Maria clarified with a frown.
- Essentially, you're asking a smoker if he's going to smoke? - Pete grinned, but turned round to meet the look of concerned, angry brown eyes. - You said yourself I'm not dying, Doc.
- But you said yourself that you're not feeling well, in case of a collision with someone, it could be fatal," Crawford hastened to admonish her patient.
- Don't worry, Doc I have a few tricks up my sleeve and a personal guardian angel," Parker saluted and jumped out the window.
Maria still didn't know if he was joking.
***
Raft Prison Island.
Same time.
The silent Latverian mercenary flew between the floodlights and nimbly followed the blind-spot track of the surveillance system his employer had kindly laid out. Today was the day of the grand show.
Beetle would never show it, but he was excited. In the Latverian Army, they were trained not to show emotion and to be as efficient as their Master's favourite robots. They were essentially being turned into machines. However, the mercenary didn't care, he was even grateful. It was because of these methods that he became the best and eventually received this awesome suit from the Doom Lord as a reward. Since then, he left the army and became a free mercenary, allowed to do whatever he wanted, but obliged to return home at any time, as ordered by the Overlord. Beetle was fine with that arrangement. Though the man wasn't sure if he'd give up what he was doing if he received an order from Lord Doom right now. Revenge. It was too desirable and alluring. Tonight, he would have his revenge.
The mercenary landed on the shadowy side of the prison complex and activated his wrist communicator.
- Beetle, are you there? - Otto Octavius' face, half hidden in the shadows, appeared on the display.
The mercenary only nodded in response.
- Excellent. I'm sending you a diagram with the marked locations, you know what to do. As soon as the explosions go off, go to the lower levels and to the selected prisoners," the transmission ended.
The Latverian opened the blueprints sent to him, reviewed them and activated the Invisible cloaking device sewn into his armour.
The bug flew from point to point, planting Octavius-designed bombs, each no bigger than the palm of his hand, but with a staggeringly large impact.
Once all the explosives were planted, the mercenary pulled out the detonator and pressed the button.
A series of explosions erupted.
A few minutes later, alarms went off all around the perimeter of the island.
Guards began to run out in squads from one building to another.
Beetle enjoyed watching the chaos, but his work was more important.
The mercenary activated his 'wings' and headed for the ventilation panel that would take him straight inside.
The Latverian made his way through the rather large shafts.
"Lord Doom would have executed the architect for such a miscalculation," a thought flashed through the man's mind.
Meanwhile, the prison was in turmoil. The explosions not only destroyed the structures, freeing some of the prisoners, but also allowed Dr Octopus to break into the prison's security network and disable the electronic locks without risking detection.
Some of the prisoners immediately fought with the guards, those who were smarter than their brothers in distress tried to free the other prisoners to consolidate the numerical advantage, but mostly it was a massacre. The guards decided to use truncheons, shields and tear gas without firearms. The convicts responded with shivs and special aggression. There were already casualties on both sides.
Beetle didn't pay attention to what was happening, he was thinking about the plan of the prison and moving towards his goal.
Meanwhile, on the lower levels, criminals with superpowers began to rampage.
- AAVAARHAAA! - roared Rhino, knocking back five servants at once.
- Not bad, Tank," Dillan said, stepping out of the cell and shooting electric shocks at the fleeing guards.
- You're not bad either, Electronics.
While the two supercriminals were having fun, Beetle came down to them in disguise and activated his two mini-drones.
Once the machines were operational, they launched the downloaded hologram.
- Greetings, Rhino and Electro," Otto Octavius' translucent body began to shimmer in the hall, giving away the identity of its owner with only four tentacles moving behind his back.
- Who are you?" Max asked.
- More importantly, why are you so transparent? - Sicevich banged his fist on his palm. The impenetrable material creaked threateningly.
- I am the one who is the reason you are not in the cells now, but more importantly, I am the one who can help you achieve what you desire most of all?
- And what is that? - The prisoners looked at each other.
- Revenge, - for a second the hologram of Doctor Octopus changed to an image of Spider-Man.
- Agreed," the villains said in unison.
Max and Alexei had become friends during their imprisonment, and one of the things they had in common was their desire to kill one bug.
- Excellent. There's a helicopter heading for the prison yard. I suggest you make your way to the exit.
The hologram faded, the villains chose to heed the advice of their unexpected benefactor, and the mercenary moved on.
*
On the first floor of the third compartment of the Rafta complex, a fervent brother-sister reunion was taking place.
- I missed you so much," Roland said, pulling away from his sister's lips.
- I missed you too, darling, but we have to get out of here," Roxanne said.
- Lead the way.
The Gaines began their own escape.
*
- Unthinkable! - Adrian Tooms, who had decided to stay in his cell, exclaimed, "Besides, I'm not an insect catcher, I'm a scientist.
- Think about it, Adrian, you help me, and I'll help you," said the hologram of Otto Octavius. - You still need Donald Roxon's head, he took away your development, your reputation, your company.
- All right, I'll do it," Tooms glared, his eyes dark with anger.
- Fine, Beetle will take you to the chopper, but before you do, go get the last candidate.
The mercenary walked to the far cell, with one eye on the safety of the old man following him.
The Latverian activated another drone.
- Herman Schultz, greetings, - said the holographic Octopus again.
- I don't know who you are, but go away," the dark-haired man wrapped himself in a blanket and turned his back to the wall.
- Are you sure it's the right man? - Adrian, the hook-nosed man, hesitated.
- Herman, I want to give you a chance to get revenge on whoever put you here, a chance to kill Spider-Man.
At the mention of the hero, Schultz twitched.
- Don't say his name," the prisoner said fearfully.
- 'I don't know what he did to you...'
- Exactly, you don't know! - Schultz exploded and jabbed his finger at the transparent hologram. - Everyone thinks Spider is a noble hero, picking cats out of trees, a kind of "Friendly Neighbour", but he's not like that at all! No-one believes it, but I was the one who fought him for the first time, and no-one had ever heard of Spider before!
- Tell me, what did you see? - Otto asked quietly and calmly.
The one who once bore the name Shocker, swallowed.
- At first...at first he seemed like a clown, joking, twirling and dodging attacks, a familiar image to everyone, but then.... I don't know, maybe I got him, maybe something else, but he changed. The spider approached and in a moment damaged my gloves, squeezed the cluster of metal and wires like wet earth. Broke my arm and then began to torture me.
- Torture? - Otto was surprised.
- Yes! So don't, I don't care what anyone else says, I saw his true face! The spider is not a hero, he's a vicious and cruel monster!
- So get your revenge, Herman. Take back your power, the name of Shocker, once shaking everything, now you won't be alone.
Schultz looked at the hologram with breathless hope.
- I won't?
- No, we'll help.
The man nodded in response, his lips thinly compressed.
Three men moved into the prison yard.
***
A little earlier.
Police station.
Spider-Man.
Landing on the roof and, unfortunately, less gracefully than I would have liked. Fucking condition.
There's a George waiting at the designated spot.
- You know, maybe we could put some kind of signal on the roof so we don't have to call you? - Stacey asks with a smile.
- Isn't my personal number and the Paukobot in your office enough for you, Captain? - I answer with the same smile, but my voice is hoarse.
- You okay?
- Yeah, yeah I'm fine," I wave it off, "what do you want?
- You probably don't know, but I do some side business on my days off, personal investigations you might say. So there's been a breakthrough in a case recently and I need your help before I act.
- Sure, I'll help in any way I can, Joe....
Abruptly, the door leading to the roof swung open.
- Captain... - the young policeman wanted to say something, but the presence of a famous New York hero on the roof shocked him slightly.
- What's up, Gonzalez?
The guy pulled himself together.
- There's been a series of explosions in the Raft, Captain, the prisoners are rioting, there's been a riot!