...
Chapter 109: Fusion
Mac Gargan stumbled into the laboratory through a secret passage known only to him and Doctor Octopus.
Cold sweat covered his face, making him look utterly disheveled.
But the moment he entered the laboratory, his attention was immediately drawn to the surveillance screens above the main console.
On the neatly arranged monitors, a massive deep-sea submarine had appeared.
Countless concealed compartments opened across its hull, releasing swarms of deep-sea drones that quickly formed into attack formations.
They were launching an all-out assault on the undersea base.
The undersea base responded in kind, deploying mechanical octopuses just as quickly and in equally large numbers.
Without the slightest hesitation, every mechanical octopus hurled itself at the deep-sea drones closing in from all directions.
Then they self-destructed!
The shockwaves from the explosions filled the surveillance screens with enormous, rapidly expanding bubbles.
Every new cloud of bubbles meant that a mechanical octopus and a deep-sea drone had destroyed each other.
Even more cold sweat poured down Mac Gargan's face.
He never imagined Spider-Man's reinforcements would arrive this quickly.
His betrayal of Norman Osborn had barely brought him any benefits, and now he might have to pay a terrible price for it.
He regretted it deeply.
Only one thought remained in his mind. He had to get out of this damned undersea base as quickly as possible and find somewhere to hide until things blew over.
Once everything had settled down, he could find a way to access the savings he had accumulated over the years, buy some land in a small country, and spend the rest of his life in comfort.
The only good news was that the undersea base had more defenses than just the mechanical octopuses.
All around the base, defensive turrets rose from beneath the rocky seabed one after another. Their barrels fired deep blue energy beams, tearing apart the first deep-sea drones to reach the perimeter.
The entire area surrounding the undersea base had become a steel meat grinder filled with explosions, debris, and bubbles.
Yet all of this was being handled entirely by the base's automated defense system.
As for Doctor Octopus, the true controller of the undersea base, he hadn't even lifted a finger.
He simply stood before the enormous culture chamber, his mechanical Octopus Tentacles gathered behind him as he stared intently at what was inside.
"Otto!"
Mac Gargan rushed over and grabbed Doctor Octopus by the shoulder.
"You still have time to mess around with your little experiment? Black Spider-Man is already inside the base. I just fought him!"
"That means Spider-Man must be here too! They could find this room at any moment. By then, it'll be too late for you to escape!"
Doctor Octopus didn't turn around.
His lips moved slightly as he muttered something under his breath.
Mac Gargan leaned closer and barely managed to make out a few words.
"Perfect... all the traits fused... Riot's weapons, Phage's spines, Lasher's tentacles, Agony's hair... all of them are there..."
Mac Gargan followed Doctor Octopus's gaze into the culture chamber.
A brand-new, dark red Symbiote floated within the pale green culture fluid, its surface constantly shifting through different forms.
Each of those forms had once been unique to one of the Second-Generation Symbiotes.
They switched across its body at incredible speed, making Mac Gargan dizzy just from watching.
He even began to feel sick.
The creature was so bizarre that it seemed to defy the limits of human imagination.
Some people fainted at the sight of blood. Others couldn't stand the sight of needles.
At that moment, Mac Gargan felt as though this thing was pushing his body's natural tolerance to its limit.
"Don't tell me this thing came from your fusion experiment."
Mac Gargan forced down his nausea.
"When did you..."
"Shh!"
Doctor Octopus raised a finger to his lips.
"Don't talk. Your voice will disturb it."
Mac Gargan stared at Doctor Octopus's utterly captivated expression, then looked again at the revolting dark red Symbiote floating in the culture chamber.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
He spoke through barely suppressed anger.
"There are countless deep-sea drones attacking the base right now. You've already lost more than half your mechanical octopuses. Spider-Man could kick that door down at any second, and you're telling me to be quiet because I might disturb your new pet?"
"Are you kidding me? Or has the Symbiote eaten your brain?"
"The fusion is perfect."
Doctor Octopus finally turned around, an intensely satisfied smile on his face.
"All the traits of the four Symbiotes have been integrated into a single genetic sequence. There's no rejection and no genetic conflict."
"It is now the closest thing to a perfect creation among all Symbiotes."
"But we're still missing one thing."
"What?"
Mac Gargan asked without thinking.
Doctor Octopus shifted his gaze toward Mac Gargan, and there was something indescribably strange in his eyes.
"A suitable host. No matter how perfect a Symbiote is, it remains incomplete. It needs a host capable of enduring all of its traits operating at the same time."
"Originally, I planned to use Norman Osborn as the host."
Doctor Octopus stepped closer to Mac Gargan.
"But what you just said reminded me that I don't seem to have enough time for that, so..."
A sudden burst of agony tore through Mac Gargan's upper-right abdomen.
He looked down.
At some point, one of Doctor Octopus's mechanical Octopus Tentacles had curled around from behind him.
It had stabbed through the exposed gap in the armor over his upper-right abdomen and pierced straight through his body.
"Why..."
Mac Gargan clutched the metal casing of the mechanical Octopus Tentacle with both hands.
He looked up at Doctor Octopus as blood continued to spill from the corner of his mouth.
"Aren't we allies? Why would you betray me..."
"There's no deeper reason."
Doctor Octopus casually pointed toward the brand-new dark red Symbiote inside the culture chamber.
"Under the current circumstances, you're simply the optimal solution."
"You're in excellent physical condition, which makes you a suitable host. Science concerns itself with the optimal solution, not personal feelings."
The moment he finished speaking, the mechanical Octopus Tentacle violently whipped upward.
Mac Gargan was lifted high into the air, leaving an arc of blood behind him before being hurled straight into the culture chamber.
The glass shattered on impact, and culture fluid burst through the broken chamber.
Mac Gargan fell inside along with the shards of glass.
The dark red super-Symbiote was instantly activated.
Countless dark red tendrils exploded outward from its body and surged over Mac Gargan from every direction!
"No!!!"
Mac Gargan let out one final scream before the Symbiote completely engulfed him.
Chapter 110: The Hybrid
Peter and Magik were locked in a fierce battle in the corridor separated from the laboratory by only a single wall.
After splitting up with Harry, they had continued searching for Doctor Octopus.
But Doctor Octopus had taken extensive precautions to protect his laboratory.
The closer they came to the lab, the more mechanical octopuses patrolled the surrounding corridors.
Under those circumstances, only Peter's Invisibility combined with Magik's Teleportation Ability allowed them to continue infiltrating without alerting the mechanical octopuses.
By the time only one final passage remained between them and the laboratory, the battle between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the undersea base had erupted in full force.
So the two of them simply switched to a direct assault, intending to break through the final obstacle as quickly as possible.
Boom!
The last two mechanical octopuses were yanked down by spider-webs and smashed against the floor, shattering into pieces.
Peter and Magik stood before the laboratory's tightly sealed gate.
They exchanged a glance, and deep blue energy flared around Magik once again.
The next instant, both of them vanished and teleported to the other side of the gate.
The moment they reappeared, Peter and Magik were already prepared for a fight.
But what they found inside the laboratory caught both of them by surprise.
Doctor Octopus stood before a massive, shattered culture chamber. When he sensed the two of them appear behind him, he calmly turned around.
Then he raised one hand and beckoned to them as though welcoming honored guests.
"You two arrived at exactly the right time."
There was no panic in Doctor Octopus's voice, nor any anger at their intrusion.
There was only an almost pure sense of delight.
"To witness the birth of the ultimate life form is the greatest honor of your lives. Now, please welcome the arrival of the Hybrid!"
The Hybrid?
Peter looked past Doctor Octopus toward the massive shattered culture chamber.
A huge, imposing figure slowly rose from the pale green vapor.
It stood more than three meters tall, its entire body covered in a dark red Symbiote suit.
Every inch of its surface churned constantly.
Four distinct abilities manifested at the same time.
The Riot Symbiote's weapon transformations appeared on both hands.
The Phage Symbiote's spikes periodically protruded from its body before sinking back down.
The Lasher Symbiote's tentacles extended from both sides of its spine near the waist, swaying slowly through the air.
The Agony Symbiote's hair-like strands spread from the back of its neck to the outer edges of its shoulder blades, resembling an unusual pair of wings.
Peter had seen this special Symbiote known as the Hybrid in the comics.
It was a super-Symbiote created by forcibly fusing Riot, Phage, Lasher, and Agony.
Even in the comics, its strength far surpassed that of any individual Symbiote.
And the version of the Hybrid standing before him was probably even stronger.
Peter had noticed a massive mechanical scorpion tail lying on the floor beside the shattered culture chamber.
That meant the host of this Hybrid was most likely Scorpion, Mac Gargan.
Peter's expression immediately turned serious. He moved in front of Magik, shielding her behind him, then lowered his voice.
"If things go wrong, retreat immediately. Take Harry and get out of here. Don't hesitate for even a second. Do you understand?"
Magik tightened her grip on the hilt of the Soulsword.
A trace of worry slipped into her voice.
"What about you?"
Peter gave a faint smile, his tone as relaxed as ever.
"Don't worry. There's no way I'm dying here. If things really go bad, I'll just use guerrilla tactics and keep it occupied until S.H.I.E.L.D. breaks into the undersea base."
"I've got plenty of patience. I'm not so sure it has that much time."
Magik fell silent for a moment before slowly nodding.
She understood.
Peter had never intended to fight the Hybrid to the death in the first place.
They held the advantage. As long as they fought smart, the risk was almost nonexistent.
While the two were speaking, the Hybrid Symbiote slowly stepped out of the culture chamber under Doctor Octopus's control.
It walked straight toward Peter and Magik at a steady, deliberate pace. Combined with its massive size and monstrous appearance, every step radiated overwhelming pressure.
It was as though something invisible in the surrounding air were closing in on them, weighing down their every movement.
When the distance between them narrowed to around ten meters, the Hybrid Symbiote attacked.
It raised its right hand, and the entire arm instantly transformed into a dark red crossbow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dark red bolts shot through the air with piercing shrieks.
But before the sound even reached Peter's ears, his Spider-Sense had already warned him. He grabbed Magik and slid aside.
The dark red bolts struck the steel gate behind them and silently sank straight through it, leaving fingertip-sized circular holes behind.
The entire impact made almost no sound at all.
If those bolts struck flesh, they would undoubtedly punch straight through and kill their target instantly.
Before Peter had even regained his footing, his Spider-Sense flared again.
The Hybrid Symbiote had clearly inherited the combat experience of the Second-Generation Symbiotes. Once it started attacking, it had no intention of stopping.
Whoosh!
Six Lasher tentacles shot from the Hybrid Symbiote's back.
They moved so quickly that four sonic booms cracked through the air.
Peter grabbed a nearby piece of unidentified equipment and hurled it toward the Hybrid.
Then he split away from Magik and flipped into the air.
Two Lasher tentacles stabbed beneath him and buried themselves in the alloy wall behind him, tearing two straight cracks across its surface.
The other four changed direction in midair and crossed toward him from different angles, while the equipment Peter had thrown was already shredded to pieces before it could reach its target.
Peter activated [Bullet Time].
The Lasher tentacles instantly seemed to slow.
Peter twisted his body in midair and slipped through the nearly nonexistent gaps between the four converging tentacles.
As he landed, he fired spider-web from his right hand and attached it to the Hybrid Symbiote's leftmost Lasher tentacle, using the pull to launch himself toward the creature's front.
The Hybrid Symbiote's dark red strands swept toward him.
But Peter vanished into thin air right before its eyes.
With its target suddenly gone, all of the Hybrid Symbiote's attacks swept uselessly through empty space.
Invisible, Peter circled around to the Hybrid Symbiote's rear flank.
Blinding blue-white arcs of high-voltage electricity wrapped around his right fist as he drove it into the Hybrid Symbiote's lower back.
Crackle!
Dense electrical arcs erupted, and the smell of scorched protein filled the air.
The punch blasted a charred hole into the Hybrid Symbiote's lower back.
The burned edges of its Symbiote suit curled inward, giving off wisps of smoke.
But the dark red Symbiote cells surrounding the wound immediately surged forward to fill the gap.
The charred tissue was covered and replaced in the blink of an eye.
In less than half a second, the wound had completely healed.
The Hybrid Symbiote didn't even turn around.
All six Lasher tentacles stabbed backward toward Peter at once, only to strike empty air again.
Peter had already activated Invisibility and disappeared into the surrounding space.
Chapter 111: How Did Your Dad End Up Like This?
While invisible, Peter didn't rush to attack again.
Instead, he put some distance between himself and the Hybrid Symbiote and began observing it.
The earlier Bio-Electricity attack had clearly been effective.
However, the Hybrid Symbiote's Healing Factor was simply too fast.
Any damage caused by Bio-Electricity healed almost immediately, while using it drained Peter's stamina.
When he weighed the cost against the result, it simply wasn't worth it.
Who knew where the upper limit of the Hybrid Symbiote's Healing Factor was?
Unless an opportunity arose to finish it in a single blow, Peter had no intention of using Bio-Electricity again and wasting his stamina for nothing.
This was the first time Peter truly understood just how troublesome a Symbiote could be.
No matter how much damage he inflicted, his opponent could recover completely within seconds.
It was nothing like fighting Second-Generation Symbiotes such as Riot.
The Hybrid Symbiote's Healing Factor and environmental adaptability had already gone far beyond those of an ordinary Symbiote.
No wonder Doctor Octopus called it a Super-Symbiote. The name fit perfectly.
Even Carnage, the strongest Symbiote in the Venom family, probably wouldn't be able to match the Hybrid Symbiote.
After losing track of Peter, the Hybrid Symbiote didn't seem concerned in the slightest.
Countless spikes suddenly erupted all over its body.
In an instant, it resembled a gigantic hedgehog covered in enough spikes to make anyone's skin crawl.
Then its body began spinning at high speed.
Driven by centrifugal force, the spikes shot out in every direction.
A torrential barrage of black spikes engulfed the entire laboratory.
The walls, ceiling, main console, and shattered remains of the culture chamber were all riddled with holes wherever the spikes struck.
Peter was forced out of Invisibility by the barrage. He flipped behind a pile of discarded equipment crates and grabbed a steel plate to shield himself.
The spikes hammered against the plate with a rapid series of metallic clanks.
However, this attack had one weakness. It sacrificed power for quantity, making each individual spike far weaker than the crossbow bolts from earlier.
'Never saw this move in the comics. What is this, tornado versus parking lot?'
Peter glanced toward Magik.
She didn't need any warning from him. Deep blue energy was already glowing around her body.
Her figure vanished into the light before the storm of spikes could reach her.
Peter charged straight toward the Hybrid Symbiote with the steel plate held in front of him.
The Hybrid abruptly stopped spinning.
Both of its arms transformed at once, becoming two enormous dark red blades nearly two meters long.
The blades crossed and came slashing down, cutting the steel plate into four pieces. The cut surfaces were as smooth as mirrors.
But there was no one behind the plate.
A moment before it was struck, Peter had already fired a web onto the ceiling above the Hybrid Symbiote.
He swung over its head.
In midair, he grabbed one of the severed steel fragments in each hand.
When he came down, he landed steadily on the back of the Hybrid Symbiote's neck.
Then he slammed the two pieces of steel together with all his strength.
A piercing metallic clang exploded directly above the Hybrid Symbiote's head.
The shrill sound was sharp enough to rupture a person's eardrums.
Every inch of the Hybrid Symbiote's suit convulsed violently under the sonic assault.
Irregular ripples surged across its dark red surface.
For the first time in the battle, it let out a howl of genuine agony.
Sound waves were just as deadly to Symbiotes as fire. As a fusion of four Symbiotes, every cell in the Hybrid Symbiote instinctively recoiled from the sound.
"So you're still vulnerable to noise. That makes things easier."
Peter flipped off the back of the Hybrid Symbiote's neck and landed on the main console.
His eyes swept across the metal debris scattered throughout the laboratory.
Unfortunately, there weren't enough long steel rods lying around.
Otherwise, he could have planted them around the Hybrid Symbiote and struck them repeatedly, creating a sonic field that surrounded it from every direction.
Then he could completely suppress it, just like Tobey Spider-Man had done to Venom.
At that moment, deep blue energy appeared not far from Peter.
Magik leapt out of a Portal. When she landed, both of her feet were completely soaked with seawater.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s submarine had already breached the outer layer of the undersea base.
Seawater was pouring in through the cracks.
The Hybrid Symbiote was running out of time.
Magik glanced at Peter and, without saying another word, raised the Soulsword and hurled it toward him.
"Catch!"
Peter caught the hilt of the Soulsword in midair.
The next instant, Magic Armor materialized around the hand gripping the sword.
Deep blue Magic Runes spread from Peter's palm like a burning fuse, first along his arm, then across his shoulder, and finally over his entire body!
Within a single breath, a complete set of magnificent Magic Armor covered Peter's red-and-blue suit.
The Magic Armor was weightless and didn't hinder his agility at all. It was essentially the perfect enhancement.
As for Magik, the moment after she threw him the Soulsword, she teleported away again and disappeared from the laboratory.
Peter knew exactly where she had gone.
According to their earlier plan, she would find Harry first, then activate the Spider-Cycle so they could prepare to evacuate together.
Since S.H.I.E.L.D.'s submarine had already broken through the undersea base's outer defenses, the water pressure at a depth of five hundred meters would soon tear the base apart completely.
Once that happened, the entire undersea base would be flooded within minutes.
Peter raised his head, Soulsword in hand, and looked at the Hybrid Symbiote as it recovered from the sonic attack.
"Round two. You've got a weapon, and now I've got one too. Sounds fair, right?"
...
In the corridor outside the isolation chamber, two figures were locked in a brutal close-quarters fight.
Norman Osborn, transformed into the six-armed mutated Green Goblin, possessed raw strength that even surpassed Harry's.
Combined with the tremendous advantage of having six arms, he had become a humanoid engine of destruction.
Wherever he went, the walls and floor were left covered in countless fist-shaped dents.
Fortunately, Harry was far more agile than his opponent. By constantly moving and attacking from different angles, he was just barely able to fight him to a standstill.
Eventually, Norman Osborn struck with all six arms at once.
The impact forced Harry backward, sending his back crashing into the corridor wall.
A complicated look flashed through Harry's eyes.
He had already been fighting his father for five full minutes, but he was holding himself back at every turn and couldn't bring himself to strike with lethal force.
After all, the man in front of him was still his father.
But the price of holding back was more than a dozen claw marks torn across his Symbiote suit.
Just then, a deep blue Portal suddenly opened beside Harry.
Magik leapt out of the glowing light.
She looked at the man on the opposite side of the corridor, all six arms raised as he let out a beast-like roar.
Then she looked at Harry, whose suit was covered in ragged tears from the fight.
Her expression shifted back and forth between shock and complete bewilderment.
"How did your dad end up like this?"
...
Chapter 112: How to Eliminate Hybrid
Faced with Magik's shock, Harry could only respond with a wry smile.
His voice carried a mixture of resignation and self-deprecation.
"It was probably some kind of genetic mutation agent. It caused him to grow those extra arms, and he lost his mind. Now he attacks anyone he sees."
Magik nodded and didn't press him for details.
After all, if she kept asking questions, Harry really would be too embarrassed to know where to hide.
"We don't have time to keep fighting here."
While Norman Osborn was still confused by someone suddenly appearing out of thin air, Magik made a suggestion to Harry.
"I'll open a teleportation portal. Why don't the two of you go through it and continue the fight somewhere else?"
Fight somewhere else?
Harry was still a little puzzled, but he trusted Magik, so he nodded without hesitation.
Magik wasted no time. Ghostly blue flames flared around her once again.
A spatial portal rapidly took shape.
"Go through here and you'll arrive directly at the combat training ground on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. It's the best place for the two of you to fight, and you won't have to worry about him escaping."
"Got it."
Harry turned his attention to his father. The only question left was how to get him through the teleportation portal.
Whoosh!
Harry raised a hand and fired two jet-black spider threads, wrapping them around Norman Osborn's waist and two of his arms.
The instant Norman Osborn roared and began struggling, Harry leaped into the spatial portal, throwing his father a taunting beckoning gesture on the way in.
Norman Osborn, completely devoid of reason, was immediately enraged. Gripping the jet-black spider threads, he charged straight through after him.
The next moment, Magik closed the teleportation portal.
The corridor instantly fell empty. Only the dozens of claw marks gouged into the floor and walls remained as evidence of the fierce battle that had taken place there.
Magik herself had no intention of joining the battle between father and son.
She opened another Portal, this time setting the coordinates to the location where they had first entered the undersea base.
Magik's Teleportation Ability had one essential requirement: teleportation coordinates.
She could only teleport accurately after fully confirming the spatial coordinates.
Otherwise, the Portal could open almost anywhere.
High in the sky, deep underground, in the ocean, or even directly inside a layer of magma. Any of those outcomes were possible.
That was also why she had chosen the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier training ground as the battlefield for Harry and his father.
She knew that location extremely well, making the success rate of teleporting there 100 percent.
When Magik returned to the teleportation point where they had entered the undersea base, she found that the seawater had already risen to two meters above the floor.
Fortunately, the Spider-Cycle had been left on the maintenance platform, well above floor level. Otherwise, it would already have been submerged.
Magik felt around for the Spider-Cycle, which was still in Invisibility mode, and gripped the handlebars with both hands.
Ghostly blue flames flickered, and Magik vanished from the maintenance platform along with the Spider-Cycle.
A few seconds later, the seawater suddenly began rising even faster and completely submerged the maintenance platform.
Meanwhile, the battle inside the laboratory was still raging.
Peter twisted aside, evading the simultaneous strangling attack of the Hybrid Symbiote's three Lasher tentacles.
Then, at the last possible moment, he swung the Soulsword in his hand and severed two of the Hybrid Symbiote's remaining three Lasher tentacles.
Now only a single Lasher tentacle remained behind the Hybrid Symbiote.
All the others had already been severed one by one by Peter with the Soulsword over the course of the battle.
Although these Lasher tentacles looked fairly ordinary, seemingly capable of little more than basic whipping attacks, they actually possessed a very unusual ability. As long as they connected to the body of any living creature, they could instantly take complete control of it and use it as a weapon.
Only in a one-on-one fight like this were they unable to make use of that ability, which significantly weakened them.
When Magik returned to the laboratory with the Spider-Cycle, this was exactly what she saw.
The Hybrid Symbiote let out a pained roar.
The Soulsword had inflicted some kind of genuine damage on it. In addition to the physical wounds caused by its cuts, there seemed to be damage on a mental or even soul level.
Symbiotes themselves might not possess anything that could be called a soul or mind.
But their hosts did.
"Looking at it now, completely defeating this Hybrid Symbiote doesn't seem as difficult as we initially thought."
A flicker of fighting spirit rose within Magik, and she felt tempted to join the battle.
Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Nick Fury's voice suddenly came through the micro-communicator.
"The fleet is in position. Seven breaches have been opened in the undersea base's outer shell, and seawater is flooding in faster."
"I need you to begin evacuating now. Lure the Symbiote out of the undersea base. We've established a fire network directly above it. The moment it emerges from the base, every gun will open fire at once."
"This is the option with the lowest projected losses. It's much safer than fighting it inside."
Peter heard Nick Fury as well.
Without hesitation, he immediately fell back to Magik's side and climbed onto the Spider-Cycle.
Magik climbed on behind him and took the Soulsword Peter handed her.
Peter switched the Spider-Cycle's dashboard to combat mode.
Mini-missile launchers unfolded from both sides of the vehicle, while high-frequency shockwave emitters emerged from underneath.
The next instant, the Spider-Cycle shot into the air and fired several mini-missiles at the Hybrid Symbiote.
Trailing long streams of flame, the mini-missiles slammed into the Hybrid Symbiote's body.
Then...
BOOM!
The violent shockwave sent the Hybrid Symbiote staggering backward.
But a moment later, the wounds in its body writhed and closed. Thoroughly enraged, it charged after the Spider-Cycle.
Peter didn't look back at the massive dark-red figure rapidly closing in behind them.
Instead, he pressed his thumb against the red virtual button labeled "Danger" in the center of the combat interface.
High-Frequency Vibration Emitter, activate!
Buzz!
A visible shockwave spread outward from the underside of the Spider-Cycle.
Everywhere it passed, the laboratory's alloy walls caved inward as though struck by an invisible giant hammer.
Then they twisted apart and shattered completely, leaving behind a massive breach.
The Spider-Cycle shot through the opening. Another shockwave blasted apart the next wall, forcibly carving a perfectly straight passage through the undersea base where none had existed before.
The instant Peter fired the fifth high-frequency shockwave and blasted through the final wall, endless seawater, driven by the immense pressure of the deep ocean, came surging in like a flood through a broken dam, instantly submerging the entire corridor.
"Hold on tight!"
Peter warned Magik behind him, then switched the Spider-Cycle to underwater mode and plunged straight into the seawater.
Chapter 113: A Complete Victory, Norman's Repentance
The silver-gray Spider-Cycle carved a straight path through the surging seawater, traveling almost parallel to the rocky seabed.
Sitting on the back, Magik felt a long-forgotten rush of excitement welling up inside her.
She glanced over her shoulder. The entire undersea base was gradually being torn apart from within.
The breaches ripped open by the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine's attacks had connected with the fissures blasted outward from inside by the high-frequency shockwaves. Under the immense water pressure, the two sets of damage merged completely.
The once incredibly sturdy structure began an irreversible collapse, like a row of falling dominoes.
But just as Magik began to worry that the Hybrid Symbiote might end up trapped and crushed inside the undersea base, a massive dark-red figure suddenly burst through every obstacle at astonishing speed.
It came straight after the Spider-Cycle.
Its feather-like wings spread fully in the deep sea, every strand pushing against the water to generate tremendous thrust.
"That thing's catching up!"
Magik warned Peter, who was driving the Spider-Cycle.
Peter didn't look back. His gaze remained fixed on the submarine rapidly growing larger ahead.
Every docking hatch on the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine had already been opened.
The navigation lights flashed repeatedly, as though urging Peter to hurry into the docking bay.
At the same time, Nick Fury's voice came through the communicator again.
"The fleet's fire network is fully deployed. Target lock is underway. All weapons, stand by."
"The Hybrid is about a hundred meters behind me. Get ready to attack."
Peter twisted the throttle all the way, sending the Spider-Cycle surging forward once again. It shot through the water like an underwater phantom and raced into the docking bay.
Whoosh!
The docking bay doors slammed shut behind them.
The command room aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine was completely silent.
On the screen, the dark-red dot representing the Hybrid Symbiote was rapidly closing in on the submarine.
Nick Fury rested his black-gloved hand on a red button.
His one eye remained fixed on the dot. The instant it reached the exact center of the fire coverage zone, he pressed the button.
"Open fire!"
BOOM!
The first barrage began the moment Fury gave the order.
Underwater drones positioned two hundred meters directly above the undersea base opened fire simultaneously.
Dense volleys of deep-water torpedoes rained down, leaving countless white trails through the seawater.
Every deep-water torpedo converged on the Hybrid Symbiote's position.
The overlapping shockwaves from the explosions blasted a massive bubble more than a hundred meters across into existence beneath the sea!
Inside the bubble was water vapor created when the seawater was instantly vaporized by the intense heat.
The Hybrid Symbiote disappeared completely inside it, with no trace of its figure visible.
Being driven into a corner only brought all of its survival instincts to the surface.
The instant the massive explosion began, the Hybrid Symbiote curled itself into a ball. All of its symbiote cells formed a sturdy outer shell in an attempt to withstand the explosive shockwaves around it.
Unfortunately for the Hybrid Symbiote, it had run into Nick Fury.
As far as Nick Fury was concerned, all fear came from insufficient firepower.
One barrage was nowhere near enough.
"Second full barrage. Open fire!"
A second salvo of deep-water torpedoes launched simultaneously from the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine's torpedo tubes.
The density of this barrage wasn't as extreme as the first.
But its explosive yield was even more terrifying. The massive bubble hadn't even begun to rise before it was blown apart on the spot.
The shell formed from symbiote cells was crushed without resistance by the successive explosions.
Nearly half of the Hybrid Symbiote's body was torn apart, like a toy ripped to pieces by a mischievous child.
But Nick Fury still didn't think it was enough.
A massive high-frequency shockwave emitter extended from the very front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine.
BOOM!
A huge shockwave two full meters in diameter blasted forward, completely engulfing the Hybrid Symbiote.
A few minutes later, every symbiote cell had completely detached from Mac Gargan's body and was floating in the seawater.
The separated symbiote cells were no longer dark red.
Instead, they had divided into four distinct colors. This proved that the symbiotes had ended their fusion state and returned to their normal, independent forms.
Once it was confirmed that the Hybrid Symbiote no longer existed and that the symbiote cells no longer posed a threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents began controlling the deep-sea drones to recover the scattered symbiote cells.
Cheers erupted throughout the S.H.I.E.L.D. submarine.
They were celebrating the complete success of the mission.
...
By the time Peter returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier with the main S.H.I.E.L.D. force, Harry's battle had already ended.
Fighting inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s combat training room gave Harry an overwhelming advantage.
With the help of the combat robots, Norman Osborn's stamina was completely exhausted, and he once again fell unconscious.
Outside the combat training room, Harry stood panting heavily as he exchanged high-fives with his two comrades, celebrating their complete victory.
"I never thought things would end like this. Doctor Octopus probably died at the bottom of the ocean too, right?"
Harry spoke with a hint of emotion.
Peter, however, remained noncommittal.
"We still can't say for sure. Doctor Octopus's body hasn't been found, so it's hard to know whether he's actually dead."
In the Marvel Universe, there was no shortage of ways to escape death. Even someone who had already died could be brought back through cloning technology, which was why Peter remained so cautious.
"There's also some good news about your father."
"What good news?"
"We found information in the undersea base related to the changes in your father's body. Dr. Connors has already started developing the Reversal Serum. It shouldn't take long before he succeeds."
Harry's eyes immediately lit up when he heard that.
For him, this truly was the best possible news.
Three days later, the Reversal Serum specifically designed for Norman Osborn was successfully developed.
Things had gone so smoothly not only because they had obtained firsthand research data, but also for another reason.
The Human Enhancement Serum had never been a finished product. Much like what had happened when The Lizard transformed into a lizard, its effects were relatively easy to reverse.
Inside a sickbay aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Norman Osborn slowly opened his eyes.
He stared at the unfamiliar ceiling as long stretches of memories flashed through his mind.
Norman Osborn remembered everything he had experienced during this time.
His final memory settled on the moment Harry removed the mask of his Symbiote suit and revealed his identity to him.
Tears ran from Norman Osborn's eyes.
He murmured to himself,
"Harry, I'm sorry! I lost myself in the pursuit of money. I was wrong. I was terribly wrong!"
Outside the sickbay, Harry watched his father repeatedly confess his regrets on the monitor, his expression filled with complicated emotions.
For a moment, he had no idea how he was supposed to face his father.
Chapter 114: The Symbiote Project
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Nick Fury's office.
Peter leaned back in his chair, rhythmically tapping his fingers against the Coke bottle in front of him.
Nick Fury's words were still echoing in his mind.
Their conversation had mainly concerned the symbiotes recovered from the undersea base.
So far, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s biological repository contained five different Symbiote specimens.
Venom, Riot, Lasher, Phage, and Agony.
Nick Fury wanted to follow Harry's example and try to find humans capable of perfectly controlling these Second-Generation Symbiotes.
The goal was to strengthen S.H.I.E.L.D.'s high-end combat capabilities.
S.H.I.E.L.D. might have plenty of agents, but the vast majority of them could only handle ordinary supervillains.
Against truly powerful supervillains, they simply weren't strong enough.
The recent Symbiote attack had made that painfully clear.
That was why Nick Fury had proposed the [Symbiote Project].
Harry could be considered the first Symbiote Agent.
If everything went smoothly, there would be a second, a third, and perhaps many more after that.
Peter offered no opinion on the plan.
His thoughts had already drifted to the Symbiote Agents of other Multiverses.
In most Multiverses, Symbiote Agents were also known as Agent Venom, a role usually taken by Flash Thompson.
The high school football captain who had once bullied Peter Parker later enlisted in the military, lost both legs in combat, and eventually bonded with the Venom Symbiote to become a Superhero.
But Peter's arrival had caused the storyline of this universe to diverge.
The person chosen by the Venom Symbiote was no longer Flash, but Harry Osborn.
Fury studied the silent Peter with his one eye, then casually tested the waters.
"Interested in bonding with one of those Symbiotes? The original Venom sample is still sealed in the biobank."
"If you're willing to give it a try, it might make you stronger."
Peter immediately shook his head.
Was he kidding?
Peter already had more than enough abilities of his own.
Spider-Sense, Electric Shocks, Invisibility, Ultra-Fast Regeneration, and Super-Fast Reflexes.
Those abilities were already enough for him to deal with all kinds of enemies.
Adding a Symbiote on top of everything else didn't sound like an enhancement to Peter. If anything, it might become a burden.
He simply didn't have the time to incorporate a Symbiote into his existing combat system.
Besides, Symbiotes had too many weaknesses. In an actual fight, those weaknesses would probably become a liability.
Peter raised a hand and waved it dismissively, making his position perfectly clear.
"Definitely leave me out of this. I don't want to get used to relying on something external."
Nick Fury fell silent for a moment before giving a slight nod.
"All right. We'll leave it there."
Peter understood and didn't pursue the subject any further.
Instead, he brought up something else.
"What are you planning to do about Norman Osborn?"
Nick Fury pulled an investigative report from a drawer in his desk.
"According to our investigation, the mastermind behind the Symbiote incident was Otto Octavius, the man you call Doctor Octopus."
"Norman Osborn provided funding and equipment throughout the operation. His main objective was to profit from Symbiote research, not to develop biological weapons."
"The evidence we have so far indicates that he knew nothing about the attack on Midtown High School. Surveillance footage also confirms that Otto Octavius betrayed him after Norman tried to stop his human experiments, then injected him with an unfinished genetic serum."
"So our current course of action is to issue a warning and place him under observation. Oscorp will be prohibited from conducting any further Symbiote-related research, and during the monitoring period, S.H.I.E.L.D. will have the right to conduct random inspections of Oscorp's laboratories and project files."
Peter carefully flipped through several pages of the report before nodding.
"That seems fair. If he really has changed, this is probably the best outcome Harry could hope for."
Nick Fury gave no direct response.
"Whether someone is truly repentant is something only time can prove. We're not gods. We can't see into people's hearts, and we can't predict the future."
That more or less brought their conversation to an end.
Peter rose from his chair and stretched his neck.
"I'm heading home. I've got a mountain of stuff to catch up on after the last few days, and I owe Aunt May and Uncle Ben a few proper dinners."
"Maybe I'll visit your place next time. You're always bragging about Aunt May's cooking. I'm starting to wonder if it's really that good."
"You're welcome anytime, but there's no menu. You eat whatever Aunt May makes."
The two looked at each other, and Nick Fury burst out laughing.
"Haha, works for me."
...
The automatic doors of the medical pod slid open without a sound.
Harry appeared in the doorway carrying two cups of coffee.
The casual expression on his face looked carefully rehearsed.
He walked in, placed one cup on the nightstand, then sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed.
"The attending physician says you're fine now and should be discharged soon. I snuck the coffee in, so don't tell the nurses."
Norman Osborn leaned back against the hospital bed, his eyes tired and somewhat vacant.
His hair was still slightly disheveled.
The shrewd, calculating air of the businessman he had once been was nowhere to be seen.
Still, compared to the mutated form he had taken in the undersea base, simply returning to normal was already the best possible outcome.
He slowly turned his head toward Harry and remained silent for a long time.
"I remember."
The sudden statement caught Harry off guard.
His hand stopped halfway to his mouth, coffee cup still raised.
"Remember what?"
"Everything. Everything from after I became that monster. I attacked you."
Norman's voice was hoarse and slow, filled with a complicated emotion that was difficult to put into words.
"I remember you removing the mask of your battle suit in front of me and showing me your face. You called me Father and tried to bring me back to my senses. I remember all of it."
The smile on Harry's face froze. He nearly crushed the coffee cup in his hand.
Of course he remembered what had happened.
During a brief opening in the fight with his father, Harry had removed the mask of his Symbiote suit.
He had revealed his true identity in an attempt to reach Norman Osborn, whose sanity had been completely consumed.
In doing so, he had effectively exposed his identity to his father.
He had revealed that the Black Spider-Man was Harry Osborn.
Harry opened his mouth, wanting to explain himself, but in the end, he couldn't come up with a single excuse.
"Yes, Father. I'm the Black Spider-Man, and I suppose I'll keep being the Black Spider-Man from now on..."
...
Chapter 115: A New Interdimensional Travel Experience, A Terrifying Marvel Zombies Universe
Norman Osborn watched the flicker of panic cross Harry's face, and a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"You don't have to worry. I won't stop you from pursuing your dreams."
Harry froze.
"And there's something else I want to tell you."
Norman Osborn continued, "You're my pride and joy. You always have been, and you always will be."
Harry's fingers loosened around the coffee cup as he stared at his father, almost as if he were trying to make sure he hadn't imagined those words.
His father was a man who had always measured everything by financial reports and stock prices.
And now he was actually saying something like this?
Norman Osborn was actually proud of his son?
"Harry, I've only just realized that I owe you an apology, and I owe you the recognition you deserve."
Norman Osborn raised his right hand, the IV needle still inserted into it, and reached toward Harry.
Harry hesitated for a moment before finally taking his father's hand.
"Starting today, I've decided to live my life differently."
"Maybe being the father of a Superhero and supporting him from behind the scenes isn't such a bad way to live."
...
Because of the Symbiote attack, that week had felt exceptionally long.
Fortunately, everything had ended smoothly.
Peter enjoyed a relatively relaxing weekend.
With Harry and Magik now helping out, Peter's usual patrol duties around New York could be divided among them, with each person covering a different shift.
That significantly reduced Peter's workload and gave him much more free time.
Over the weekend, Peter took Aunt May and Uncle Ben on a short trip and spent the weekend with them.
Ever since Peter became Spider-Man, it had been a very long time since he had enjoyed such a peaceful, ordinary life.
...
Before he knew it, another new week had begun.
On Monday night, Peter returned once again to his usual spot, the very top of the Empire State Building.
Peter sat astride his Spider-Cycle, fully prepared as always.
After getting plenty of rest, all the fatigue from his battle with the Hybrid Symbiote had disappeared.
He was now in peak condition.
It was Harry's turn to patrol the streets tonight, so Peter had nothing else to worry about.
He could approach this new Interdimensional Travel with a completely relaxed mind.
"Let's see what universe number I get this time."
At Peter's thought, the Web of Life and Destiny silently unfolded before him.
Another hazy Destiny Node on the vast Web of Life and Destiny gradually became clear.
Under Peter's expectant gaze, the number on the Destiny Node finally became legible.
But the instant he saw it, Peter felt as though his heart had plunged into a bottomless abyss.
Because the number displayed on that Destiny Node was...
No. 2149!
Earth-2149!
"Oh my God. My luck really couldn't be any worse this time. Earth-2149 is the Marvel Zombies Universe!"
...
Soon, Peter passed through the familiar spacetime portal and arrived in a brand-new Marvel Multiverse.
Once again, his starting point was the familiar New York City.
Peter could identify his general location from the street numbers nearby.
This time, however, he hadn't arrived in Manhattan at the heart of New York City, but in a relatively remote area.
The streets were crowded with people.
Peter stood at the edge of the rooftop of a low-rise apartment building.
The afternoon sunlight had warmed his red-and-blue suit slightly.
He spent three full minutes swinging back and forth across several nearby blocks, making three complete passes to confirm that every face on the streets looked completely normal.
None of the cars parked along the roadside showed anything unusual.
There were no blood-covered pedestrians stumbling out of buildings.
On this particular afternoon, New York City looked no different from New York in any normal Multiverse.
Peter crouched at the edge of the rooftop, his hands hanging between his knees, and let out a long breath.
He had arrived before the zombie crisis began.
That was the best news he could have hoped for.
Even so, his fingers continued tapping against the rooftop without him realizing it.
His relief lasted only a few seconds before being replaced by a much more urgent question.
How long was left before the zombie crisis began?
Weeks?
Days?
Or only a few hours?
The answer would determine exactly what Peter could do now.
If he had enough time, he could warn the Avengers of this universe in advance.
They could establish an effective defense before the zombie crisis fully erupted.
That would keep them from being caught completely off guard by zombie heroes they had never encountered before, as they had been in the original storyline.
But if there wasn't enough time, Peter would have to prioritize finding this universe's Spider-Man.
Then he would find Aunt May and the others and move them somewhere safe.
Though Peter himself had no idea what place in this apocalyptic universe could truly be called safe.
Peter knew all too well what the zombies of this universe were capable of.
They weren't the crippled zombies from ordinary movies, shambling along while groaning and dragging broken legs behind them.
Nor were they the stronger zombies from World War Z that could run and leap.
The zombies of the Marvel Zombies Universe retained all the memories and superpowers they had possessed while alive.
Iron Man devoured humans while wearing his armor. Captain America's shield became stained with the blood of his comrades. Every strike from the Green Hulk could reduce an entire street full of people to pulp.
This terrifying Zombie Virus turned the Superheroes themselves into unstoppable predators.
Only one thing drove them.
An endless, overwhelming hunger.
That hunger burned day and night in the depths of their minds.
It burned away every trace of reason and emotion.
They would throw themselves at any living person without the slightest hesitation.
Any uninfected creature they saw would become the most delicious meal imaginable.
Not even their closest loved ones were exempt.
Peter closed his eyes, but the image he least wanted to remember surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.
In this Marvel Zombies Universe, after Spider-Man became a zombie, he used the very hands that had once protected this city to pin Aunt May and Mary Jane down on the dining table.
Peter remembered the expression on Zombie Spider-Man's face in that comic panel.
It was the face of a pitiful creature driven insane by endless hunger.
Once Peter had gathered his thoughts, he immediately opened his eyes and straightened up.
"First, I need to confirm the timeline."
He muttered to himself.
His fingers pressed against the Web-Shooter on his wrist.
A strand of web shot out and stuck to the wall of the building across the street, and Peter swung out into the afternoon sunlight.
"I have to make it in time!"
"The source of the Zombie Virus in this universe is that guy, Sentry. Once he arrives in New York City, the entire city will fall within half an hour!"
"Not even a god could stop it!"
Chapter 116: The Sentry Arrives, Quicksilver, the Key Figure
Martha, the receptionist at the NYPD's 6th Precinct, sat behind the front desk, busy with her work.
She had worked for the NYPD for twenty-two years and had long since grown accustomed to days like this.
So she had never imagined that one day, a Superhero would walk into her precinct.
And not just any Superhero, but New York City's incredibly popular Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Peter walked through the precinct's main entrance, passed the crowd of people lined up in the lobby to file reports, and headed straight for Martha's window.
Spider-Man?
Was that really Spider-Man standing right in front of her?
Martha wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Then she noticed that the Spider-Man before her looked almost exactly like the image printed on the mug sitting on her desk.
It finally sank in. With a mixture of caution and admiration in her voice, she said,
"Oh my God, Spider-Man... Is there anything I can help you with?"
Peter rested one hand on the reception desk and made a phone gesture with the other.
"Could you connect me to the reception desk at the Triskelion? I need to contact them urgently."
The Triskelion?
The name flashed through Martha's mind.
Of course she knew what the Triskelion was. It was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters, located on an artificial island in the middle of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
In this Multiverse, S.H.I.E.L.D. operated openly as an international security organization.
By going through the front desk of a police precinct, there was a good chance Peter could get directly in touch with someone at S.H.I.E.L.D.
That was the main reason he had come here.
To Martha, the Triskelion was the kind of building she only ever saw on the news.
It had never had anything to do with a middle-aged police officer sitting behind the front desk of a local precinct.
But since Spider-Man himself was making the request, Martha naturally intended to do everything she could. She took a deep breath, pushed her mug aside, and dialed a number she had never imagined she would actually call.
While he waited, Peter quickly ran through his entire plan in his head.
Step one, contact Nick Fury.
Step two, convince Nick Fury to act as quickly as possible against the zombie crisis that was certain to erupt.
The plan sounded simple, but there was one major problem with actually carrying it out.
Peter had only just arrived in this Multiverse. He had no direct channel to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
So he had chosen what seemed like the least reliable option.
Walk into the nearest police station and ask the receptionist to connect him to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.
If even that failed, his only remaining option would be to swing straight over to Stark Tower and knock on Tony Stark's window.
Fortunately, Lady Luck seemed to be on his side.
Martha held the receiver to her ear for more than ten seconds before her eyes suddenly widened slightly.
She covered the mouthpiece with one hand and said in disbelief,
"Mr. Spider-Man, the call went through."
Peter took a deep breath and accepted the receiver.
A professionally trained female voice came through the line.
"Hello, this is the Triskelion at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters. How may I assist you?"
"I need to speak with Nick Fury."
The woman answered without even a second of hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Director Fury is not currently accepting phone interviews. If you have intelligence to submit, you can use the official encrypted channel..."
Peter cut her off before she could finish.
He had expected that answer.
There was no way he was getting through to the legendary Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. without dropping something big.
Peter lowered his voice so only the person on the other end could hear him clearly.
"Listen carefully. Captain America of the Avengers has been brainwashed by HYDRA's Red Skull and turned into Captain HYDRA."
"Pass that information to Nick Fury. I think he'll be interested in speaking with me personally."
The other end of the line fell silent.
This time, the silence lasted half a minute.
Then the same voice returned. Her tone hadn't changed, but her words had.
"Please hold. I'll transfer your call immediately."
Before long, a calm, authoritative middle-aged man's voice came through the receiver.
"Hello, Mr. Mysterious Informant. This is Nick Fury."
Peter's grip on the receiver tightened slightly.
He hadn't expected his attempt to go this smoothly. This was an excellent start.
"Listen carefully to everything I'm about to tell you."
"I'm Peter Parker from another Multiverse. The Multiverse you live in is about to suffer a catastrophic zombie crisis. In less than a month, this entire planet will become a paradise for zombies."
"So send a Quinjet to my location right now and pick me up. I need to speak with you face-to-face."
As expected, silence followed Peter's words.
Nick Fury didn't answer. Clearly, the sheer amount of information Peter had just thrown at him had left him stunned.
Of course, there was another possibility. Fury might simply think Peter was a rambling lunatic.
After all, in a country this free, there was no shortage of people like that.
Peter didn't give Nick Fury much time to remain silent.
"I know you're skeptical, so let me give you some information that can prove who I am. Nick Fury, you were born in New York. You're the eldest child in your family, with a younger brother named Jacob Fury and a younger sister named Dawn Fury."
"You're a product of the SSS Program. You took a special antioxidant that extended your lifespan, which is why your appearance doesn't match your actual age."
"During World War II, a grenade injured your left eye and destroyed ninety-five percent of its vision. You later replaced it with a Bionic Eye capable of holding all kinds of miniature tools."
"You built S.H.I.E.L.D. yourself, and I also know that right now, you're sitting in your office aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, taking this call with a bottle of Coke in front of you."
Everything Peter had just said came from Nick Fury's comic book background.
The Nick Fury of this Multiverse was white, with the classic background of a World War II veteran.
As for the Coke, that was simply an educated guess based on Peter's observations of the Black Nick Fury he knew.
If he guessed correctly, it would make Nick Fury even more curious about him.
At that very moment, Nick Fury was indeed sitting in his office aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
He had been holding the receiver in one hand while drinking from a bottle of Coke with the other.
After hearing everything Peter had said, he froze for several seconds.
Then he slowly turned his head and stared at the Coke in his hand, feeling an absurd sense of disbelief for the first time.
Who exactly was the person speaking to him?
Could he really be what he claimed to be, a Spider-Man from another Multiverse?
At that moment, Nick Fury's curiosity about Peter finally became genuine.
So he agreed to Peter's request.
"Mr. Mysterious Informant, I have to admit, you've caught my attention. I'll send a Quinjet to pick you up."
Peter immediately felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
So far, the plan had gone perfectly.
Then Peter asked another question.
"What are the Avengers doing right now? Has anything unusual happened in New York recently?"
Peter would use Fury's answer to determine whether the Zombie Sentry had already arrived in this Multiverse.
Fury fell silent for a moment.
He seemed to be weighing whether a stranger claiming to be Spider-Man from another Multiverse had any right to receive that information.
In the end, however, he answered.
After all, the man even knew Fury had a Coke in his hand. That went far beyond anything an ordinary intelligence leak could explain.
"The Avengers were just dispatched to Manhattan on a mission. A red flash of lightning appeared in the sky above Manhattan, and a man wearing a yellow skintight suit with a cape emerged from it."
Peter's heart rate instantly spiked, and he nearly crushed the receiver in his hand.
That super-zombie from another universe had already arrived on this planet, carrying an unstoppable pan-dimensional Zombie Virus.
Damn Zombie Sentry. Damn Zombie Virus!
They had arrived too quickly!
Peter took another deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He knew perfectly well that panic would only make things worse.
Only by keeping a clear head could he find even the slightest chance to change the future in this seemingly hopeless world.
The story had already begun in earnest. Peter's arrival had happened almost simultaneously with the start of the crisis.
That left him with very few options.
But Peter had no intention of wasting the tiny window of opportunity he still had. He needed to use it to create the best possible situation for this world.
His mind began racing.
Without even realizing it, he activated Bullet Time.
Everything around him stretched almost infinitely within his perception.
The faint ripples across the surface of the coffee in Martha's mug.
The rotation of the emergency lights atop a police car passing outside the window.
Fury's increasingly urgent questions coming through the receiver.
Everything slowed dramatically.
Only Peter's thoughts continued racing like lightning.
Countless ideas and possibilities surfaced and collided in his mind.
Then, suddenly, his thoughts stopped on a single name.
Quicksilver!
A Mutant who seemed almost insignificant, yet was absolutely crucial.
Peter's eyes widened in the slowed world of Bullet Time.
Quicksilver's real name was Pietro Maximoff, and his twin sister was the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff.
Once the zombie crisis fully erupted, nearly everyone's attention would be drawn to devastating threats such as the Zombie Sentry and Zombie Hulk.
But in Peter's view, the person who truly transformed the Zombie Virus from a regional disaster into a global catastrophe wasn't Sentry.
It was Quicksilver.
Quicksilver's ability was Super-Speed. Under normal circumstances, that ability might not seem especially critical.
But once Quicksilver became infected with the Zombie Virus, the rate at which the infection spread would increase exponentially.
With speed faster than lightning, Zombie Quicksilver could cross entire cities and even national borders in an incredibly short time, carrying the Zombie Virus with him wherever he went.
In terms of both transmission range and speed, even the overwhelmingly powerful Zombie Sentry couldn't compare to one percent of what Zombie Quicksilver could accomplish.
No matter how powerful Zombie Sentry was, he could only devastate one region at a time.
Zombie Quicksilver, however, could carry the Zombie Virus across an ocean before anyone even realized what was happening.
So no matter what, Quicksilver could not be allowed to become a zombie!
Peter dropped out of Bullet Time, and the sounds of the outside world rushed back into his ears.
He raised the receiver to his ear again and took a deep breath.
"Director Fury, there's something extremely important you need to know. That red flash of lightning is what started the zombie crisis."
"As for the man in the yellow skintight suit and cape, his name is Sentry. He possesses enough power to devastate the world. He was originally a Superhero, but unfortunately, he was infected with the Zombie Virus. The virus doesn't take away his powers or intelligence. It only makes him unbearably hungry."
"So I can tell you with absolute certainty that the Avengers who took the Quinjet to Manhattan have already been infected by the Zombie Sentry. Pandora's box is already open! You need to contact Quicksilver immediately and send him here to me!"
On the other end of the line, Nick Fury unconsciously sat up straight.
A bead of cold sweat slowly rolled down his forehead.
If what this mysterious Spider-Man was saying was true, then Quicksilver really was critical.
With Nick Fury's intelligence and experience, he immediately understood how terrifying a Speedster infected with the Zombie Virus would be.
It was a risk he absolutely refused to take.
He immediately began trying to contact Quicksilver while also attempting to reach the Avengers, hoping to verify whether the mysterious Spider-Man's warning had already come true.
Unfortunately, none of the Avengers responded to his calls.
Nick Fury's heart sank.
...
One minute later, Peter felt an unusual rush of air beside him.
He turned and saw a young man with white hair wearing a blue-and-white skintight suit, staring at him with a strange expression.
Peter spoke first.
"Pietro?"
Quicksilver blinked.
"You're the Spider-Man Fury told me about?"
"The real deal."
"Interesting. Two Spider-Men at the same time? I wonder what the Spider-Man I know will look like when he sees you."
Quicksilver looked openly curious, clearly eager to see how that encounter would play out.
But Peter was in no mood to chat with Quicksilver.