42Survival
Dracus6: Ok dude I apricate it but I can't just make a crossover like that…..I mean I literally can't that's like asking if I can cross Star Wars over with…books…..ok bad example but you get what I mean right?
awesomerebel55: Beacon not so much, I mean it's a huntsmen academy, not ESU or stark industries. And…god damn that sounds badass! It's also pretty true, give Spidey time and he can outthink his bad guys. Though you gotta be careful with that otherwise you'll pull a Dan Slott and turn him into Batman/Ironman.
the mysterious Mr. E: Didn't get your name until I typed it out, kudos man. Also yeah the hype hit me like a truck the day before the premiere.
Blood Spider: I planned on it to be totally honest but it clashed with the theme of the story for one thing, and…..there's like…..maybe five Molten Man stories? And One of them isn't even Mark Allen as Molten Man. In fact he's not molten Man anymore I think….doesn't mean he won't show up in this at some point.
pyrojack25: Basically HBO fund Roosterteeth to make Gen:Lock and they in turn stream it on their site first instead of RT's. People are mad about it since we have to wait like three months after they premire on HBO before getting it on RT first but I look at it like this: We might not even have season 2 if HBO didn't foot the bill for it. So that's a fair trade to me.
Malestrom Resurrected: Yup! I'll be honest growing up I thought Ultimate Spider-Man was the best version of the character. Now that I'm older I see that's not really the case but I still enjoy the stories Bendis and Bagley made together.
Peter had never left the Kingdom of Vale before in his life.
It wasn't something uncommon for those who had grown up within a Kingdom, each Kingdom might have had some problems with it, but compared to living outside the boarders of the Kingdom? Were the Grimm roamed freely? Peter even admitted to himself he would rather deal with the Kingpin of crime over possible endless hordes of Grimm. But if he had to leave the relative safety of the Kingdom to save someone's life? He wouldn't waste a second to hesitate in leaving.
That being said leaving the Kingdom and sticking to the side of an airship on the way to a island which was presumably full of people made into animal monsters was a little different then strolling out of Vale's border. Jameson offered Spider-Man a seat inside but Peter opted the external view for a little bit of privacy as he made some calls, 'What is that noise? It sounds like your going through a tunnel.' Aunt May asked him through his earpiece.
"Oh I'm on the roof of the Bugle, it's a little windy up here is all." he lied, the excuse not seeming too implausible. "I just wanted to call and say I might be home a little late tonight." he explained with a hint of fluster in his voice. I'm basically preemptively saving the Kingdom of Vale and I need to let my Aunt I'll be home late…truly I'm at the peak of being a superhero. he thought dryly to himself.
'Planning to see how MJ's doing?' She guessed.
Peter nodded to himself, "Yeah I…..I know I can't do much but it's something at least." he said, saving Mark might help her a little bit but given how much he hurt her with what he did Peter didn't know how she would react. If he was in her shoes, he'd at least want to know what happened to the person who hurt him, as some small form of closure if anything. But he couldn't compare his hypothetical to what Mary Jane was really going through.
'I think she's doing better, her cousin stopped by earlier to talk with her. She's a very polite young lady.' Aunt May complimented making Peter smile beneath his mask, he was happy that at least Pyrrha could be there for MJ when he couldn't. A sense of guilt resonated through him at that thought, he had been feeling that whenever the redhead came to mind and she had been on his thoughts throughout this entire endeavor, she was one of the unintentional victims of this entire thing.
"Yeah…..MJ's a lucky girl." he said wistfully as the island in the distance began to grow in size as the ship approached it, "Look May I gotta go. Love you." he said, bidding her goodbye before hanging up and crawling over the side of the aircraft onto the side of the ship, the door sliding open behind him with RWBY standing at the ready to disembark. Looking down below, Peter was taken aback by the sight of the Island, the landmass itself was fairly spacious, about the size of one of the boroughs in Vale, with a large section of the landform housing a large facility that looked somewhat incomplete, it had multiple sections with two large smokestacks stretching up into the sky with blackness leaking up into the sky above.
"I'll circle around the island from a distance. Team RWBY, radio me when you need pickup. Good luck to all of you." Jameson said from the cockpit. Spider-Man gave the pilot a two fingered salute before backflipping off the airship, spraying webbing out to create a parachute, whilst RWBY dropped down from the shup, Weiss using her glyphs to slow her fall while Yang and Ruby used the recoil from their own weapons to slow their own decent, Blake meanwhile threw her weapon out with her ribbon and snagged onto a tree to swing around and safely land on the ground.
Peter watched their various forms of landing as he wafted down to the ground of the rocky and barren island, "For the record, I could have done that too." he remarked to Blake as he touched down on the ground, the Faunus giving him a slightly bemused look, looking around the area they landed at was about a thousand yards away from the facility, no doubt where Mark was being held at. The five quickly approached a large wall of rocks that hid them from direct view of the compound, Spider-Man scaled the rocks easily and peered over the side, in the distance he could make out more of the android guards that Mark used to capture people.
Dropping back down beside Blake and Ruby as Yang peered around the corner as well, he cupped his chin with his finger in thoughtful pose, "Ok….ok…." he muttered beneath his breath as he began thinking of ways he could get inside.
Ruby watched him with interest, back at the warehouse he had offered to scope the area out to make sure that the lead he had gotten wasn't a dead end, before they could further discuss it he had swung off. Of course he did, he's a lone…..spider….wolf…wolf spider…..man. she thought, the team leader mimicking the masked vigilante's pose as she took cupped her chin. Weiss took notice and looked between the two…..trying to recall the reasons why Ruby was their leader in the first place as she did.
Suddenly Spider-Man snapped his fingers in recognition, "Ok, got it. I'll sneak up to the building, find a ventilation duct and get inside. Once I'm in I'll find Merlot, web him up, after that I'll-" he continued before Ruby held up her hand like she was in class. "Yes Ruby?"
"Um….what are we going to do?" she asked, noticing how all of his plan so far involved only himself. Spider-Man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "We're a team, meaning we all do our part." Ruby said with a determined look despite the kind expression she had.
Blake nodded, "She's right, you can't just do everything yourself." she said, speaking from her own firsthand experiences of trying just that.
Spider-Man turned his head and looked at the four other capable people around him, Weiss gave him a questioning look, "What?" she asked, slightly offended at the idea that he might not have thought they were capable.
"Nothing just…I've been on my own since day one and most people I meet on the job? They try and kill me…your four are a nice change of pace." he explained, Ruby beaming at the praise while Weiss offered a small smile of her own. "Ok then new plan-"
"Uhhh we might need to shelve the plan." Yang said as she looked back at the rest of her team from the corner of the rock as she pointed towards the facility. The four others rushed to her side and they all peered around the corner to see a number of the android encroaching upon their position. "Looks like they saw us land, we gotta fight our way through." Yang said with determination as her gauntlets activated and extended from her bracelets to her forearms.
Spider-Man watched as the other members of the team raised their own weapons, "Wait a sec! This is perfect!" he realized, causing the others to look at him with confusion, "I'll go out there, distract the androids and Merlot while you guys find him and stop him, we can find Morbius after." he reasoned. Ruby however looked unsure, she didn't like the idea of ditching someone to fight these odds, but the plan was sound from a logical standpoint.
"Call us if you need help, we'll split up and back you up." she conceded, the masked hero nodded in agreement. Stepping away from their cover, he readied himself into a jumping position, ready to leap over the rocks and dodge whatever it was the automations fired at him.
As he readied to spring into action however, Blake's feline ears beneath her bow twitched, "Wait….they stopped." she announced, making her friends look at her questionably, none of them daring to check and possibly blow their cover in the case they weren't already discovered.
'Hello? Is this thing on?' a booming voice asked from the other side of the rocks from what sounded like a megaphone. The group looked amongst themselves questionably, Spider-Man shrugged before he leapt up onto the top of the rock formation to see the dozen machines stopped patiently with the one closest to the rock formation looking up at him with it's head mounted camera focusing on the wall crawler, 'Spider-Man! I knew my cameras picked up something coming down from the air but-I never expected it to be you!' the voice said with excitement.
The teen tilted his head questionably, "Dr….Merlot?" he guessed, not daring to glance over his shoulder to team RWBY who were all but frozen in place and waiting on baited breath for the situation to unfold. I must have been seen because my web parachute slowed me down so much. he realized. That's what I get for being responsible and safe. he thought sarcastically to himself.
'Yes! Yes! Please, won't you come in? I've been dying to meet you!' the voice said excitedly as the android turned and gestured towards the facility. The rest of the machines mirroring the one Merlot seemed to be directly controlling, which only served to unsettle to masked vigilante even more than he currently was.
Ok this is obviously a trap…let's do it. "Sure thing, lead the way." Spider-Man said as he hopped down from the rock and fallowed the android, glancing over his shoulder to see Ruby looking out from around the corner, she nodded in understanding before disappearing behind the side of the cover. So I see this ending with us; A, saving the day and beating Merlot. B, me turned into some sort of spider monster. Or C, everything explodes. Which happens more often than I like to admit. he thought as he followed the androids to the structure.
As Spider-Man and his escort left, RWBY took off towards the opposite side of the building they were leading him to. The team of four carefully treaded along the outskirts of the Island's shore as not to risk discovery and put their ally in any more danger than he already was, Blake was constantly on alert with her Feline ears acting as their collective early warning system. "One thing is still bugging me about this whole thing." Yang suddenly said as they walked around a angular hillside made of stones.
"One thing? Between the Faunus abduction, some new criminal in the streets responsible for it, and this Dr. Merlot backing him, you find only one part of this entire situation strange?" Weiss asked her blonde companion. Their schooling went into detail about the different types of missions that Huntsmen and Huntresses went on, however this was something else entirely from what they were taught in Professor Port's classes, and even those seemed farfetched.
Yang shook her head at her phrasing, "Ok strange is not the right word, but one thing I don't really get is why?" she explained as they rounded the hillside and came upon a rear entrance to the compound in the form of a port where the ship came in from, which was thankfully unguarded. Yang's question gave pause to the group, "I mean Ironwood thinks that he wants to attack Vale but….a few dozen people versus hundreds of Huntsmen?" she asked.
Weiss's face morphed into one of curiosity, Blake frowned as she thought of one possibility, "For all we know he's doing it because he can…it's enough for some people." she reasoned knowingly, her blonde partner giving her a sympathetic look, feeling bad that she brought the topic up to begin with.
Ruby pursed her lips together briefly before taking a breath for herself, "I don't know…..and whatever his reason is or isn't doesn't matter, there's people who need our help and it's up to us to save them." she said firmly, her sister and friends nodding in agreement with their leader. The cloaked reaper looked out to the dock from their new cover, a flurry of rose pedals easily covered the distance between the shore and the entrance to the facility. Slowing to a stop she kept a hand on her weapon as she looked around for any guards. When she didn't see any she looked back over her shoulder to her team and gestured them to fallow her, the three breaking cover from their position and joining their leader before the four of them proceeded down a hallway, leading further into Merlot's lair.
Well this is certainly a first, knowing walking into a trap I mean. Peter thought as he fallowed one of the android into the facility, from what Peter could guess this place was at one point a research facility. They had passed a number of empty labs that had their equipment moved somewhere else, however there was yet to be any sign of Morbius or the other kidnapped victims. Hopefully RWBY finds Mark and the others, until then I better keep Merlot focused on me. he thought as the androids led into a large room that Peter would only describe as a grand hall, it was barren with the exception of the empty circular desk in the middle of the room, with a large viewing box on the far wall where a man was standing within.
Spider-Man looked up at the box, "So I'm gonna take a wild guess here, Doctor Merlot?" he assumed as the androids turned around and walked back the way they came, the doorway they entered the room from pulling itself closed with twin metal doors that locked together behind him. Ok well guess that way out is not an option. the vigilante realized as he readied himself for yet another fight.
The an gestured to himself with his robotic hand, "Ah, your familiar with my work!" he said proudly.
Spider-Man's lenses narrowed at the doctor, his mind flashing back to his encounter with Vermin, his first meeting with Morbius ending with an innocent woman dying, all the police officers where were hurt or killed by the Rose's men…..the devastated look on Mary Jane's face when she found out what Mark was doing. "…..yeah. I am." he said in a low, angry voice. He pointed up at the glass between him and Merlot, "I'll give you one chance to give yourself up before I come up there and make you." he threatened.
Merlot frowned in disappointment at the vigilante's words, "I think you misunderstand what I'm doing-" he began.
Spider-Man gritted his teeth, "Your kidnapping people! Your subjugating them to experiments against their will, and making them into monsters!" he shouted accusingly with his anger not in the least controlled.
The doctor's expression turned into one of hurt, "I'm…I'm trying to honor you." he said simply.
Peter felt like he was just slapped in the face, "What!?" was all he could manage to say as he processed, or rather tried to process what reason, or even correlation there was between him and these poor people whom Merlot had kidnapped.
The doctor reached into his coat pocket and retrieved his scroll, tapping a button, the space above the center of the circular desk lit up with screens of light, various ones of them showing images and videos of Spider-Man himself preforming various feats of strength, agility, speed, and endurance. Peter suddenly felt a sense of dread creep up his spine, he himself had taken some of the pictures shown, while Jonah twisted the truth about them this felt more…..wrong. "When I first saw you? Saw what you could do? It was as though seeing color in a world of black and white, humans and faunus? We're only a stepping stone to our true potential!" he explained as he highlighted a video of Spider-Man swooping down in front of a car to save a old man from being hit.
"At first I thought you merely a huntsmen whom had a Faunus trait, but over time it proved to be impossible. Your abilities would take years to hone for a mere human, decades maybe, but you use them with such ease." he explained, a picture that Peter himself had taken of Spider-Man preforming a single handstand atop a spire with it's tip just smaller than his palm. "Just imagine instead of a spider, you gained the traits of a wolf, or rhino, or a scorpion, the possibilities?" Merlot asked in awe. "The faunus are the closest to my goal genetically and look at my success with them! And soon, every human and faunus alike will be like you, a genetic cross species." he explained proudly.
Peter felt his stomach churn sickly, hearing how his actions, his existence itself inspired someone to do such heinous things to innocent people caused a feeling of ill spread through his body, his hands visibly shaking from the revelation, He….he's sick! He's insane! And I…..no….NO! "NO!" he shouted before leaping through the holograms and slamming against the glass between him and Merlot, he drew a fist back and rammed it against the barrier with the intent on grasping the mad scientist by his neck. It felt like punching a brick wall to the vigilante, Merlot took a cautionary step away from the glass despite his self-reassurance that it would be held together.
"I thought we could be civil about this-" he began before Spider-Man once more punched the glass, leaving a small smear of blood on the surface from one of the teen's knuckle's being bruised against the glass. "-but you leave me no choice." he said before tapping a button on his scroll. Beneath the room which Merlot was secure in, the wall split apart revealing a hidden elevator, Spider-Man leapt off from the glass and readied to combat whatever new monster he would have to face. However the figure that stepped out from the elevator was one Peter didn't want to fight.
"Morbius?" He asked as the pseudo vampire stepped out of the box with a new collar around his neck, looking up at Spider-Man, the teen raised his hands at the clouded look in the crimson eyes of the man. A growl emanated from the scientist's throat before he suddenly lunged at the teen, knocking him off his feet and putting him through the circlar desk behind him.
Peter braced his arm at Morbius' throat as he pushed back against him, the vampire's claws digging into his shoulder and arm, "Michel! Come on man snap out of it!" he plead to the scientist.
"RRRGGGHHHHAAAAAA!" he bayed as he threw the teen up into the ceiling before leaping after him. Spider-Man reacted fast, rolling on the ceiling to avoid the fallow up attack with Morbius' claws digging into the ceiling before Spider-Man kicked him in the side of the face, sending the vampire into the glass and falling to the ground. The vigilante stood up on the ceiling and shot webbing at Morbius' hands and feet as he tried to stand up, trapping him in place for a moment.
"Morbius listen, I know you're in there, and I know you don't want to hurt anyone!" he called out to the scientist. For a mere moment, Morbius' face softened, focus began to come into his eyes before his collar shocked him back into his feral state of mind, he instead responded by tearing out of the webs binding his hands and then using them to free his legs. Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling and cast a web out to swing around the room from as Morbius spring after him, Ok it looks like that collar is keeping him mad. I gotta get that off him….which means getting him in close. Great. Spidey realized as he pulled up on his webbing to avoid an midair attack by the vampire, Morbius clipping his claws on the wallcrawler's leg and taking apart of his costume with him.
Hope RWBY's having more luck than I am right now. Peter dryly thought, shooting a webline back to Morbius' back and pulling him back to deliver a double kick to the vampire's back, sending him sprawling into the nearby wall whilst Spider-Man touched down on the floor. The man let out a snarl before the two once again charged at one another, Merlot watching the exchange the entire time from his secure room.
Upon reaching further depts to the Merlot facility, the team of four girls reached a set of steel doors. While they would easily hold against any conventional type of forced entry, the dual sliding doors were no match for Yang Xaio Long's strength. The blonde brawler forcing the doors apart with all her strength, opening them enough for Ruby, Blake, and Weiss to slip inside before she herself forced herself through the doors. What they were met with was rows upon rows of cells reminiscent of a prison, the only difference being the various animalistic noises coming from within them.
Entering the literal belly of the beast, the four girls marched onward through the cell block, Blake glanced within one of the cells as they passed by, inside it was a figure whose entire body was comprised of something moving, it wasn't until it turned to look back at her and it moved did she realize that the movement was from a swarm of bees that reached out towards the team, the cloud of insects being stopped by the force field barrier, allowing the faunus' amber eyes to see the man's arm no longer resembling skin, but the substance of a beehive. A grasp at her hand made her jump and turn her head to Yang, the brawler urging her onward with a gentle pull. "This is…this is a nightmare." she whispered out fearfully. Her teammates looked into other pens, one of them resembled a large cat, another some ancient beast, one of them was the Iguana that had aided in helping Morbius escape, the beast hissing at them as they walked past.
Weiss glanced over her shoulder at her friend, "But if we find the chemical that turned them, we can undo this." she reminded, trying to keep Blake's mind on the task at hand as well as calm her.
Ruby nodded, "Weiss is right. We need to-"
"Weiss?" a small voice asked, one which both the heiress and blonde recognized, they turned their attention to a cell ahead and both immediately rushed forward, looking inside they were met by the child they encountered the night before. The bat child looked at the two of them like they were his saviors, "You're here!" he said excitedly, his bat ears perking up as Yang kneeled down at his level, giving him a gentle smile.
"Of course we are. You didn't think we would leave you alone after what that man forced you to do did you?" Weiss asked, turning her head to Blake and Ruby who joined them, "This is Ruby and Blake, they're on our team and we're here to free all of you." she explained.
The boy smiled but it quickly disappeared with a realization, "You can't break us out here, the doors lock themselves…..the robots just push me in here and they turn this thing on." he said, nodding to the force field separating the boy from the rescue party. He then reached up to the collar still around his neck, Weiss looking at the poor boy sympathetically.
The boy looked down at the floor sadly, "The man said that we're being moved somewhere else tonight….I-I don't want to go." he said fearfully.
Yang felt like she was stabbed in the heart when she heard how scared the child was, "Well….don't worry, we're here to rescue you. We'll be out of here before those mean robots even show up." she said positively.
The child wasn't convinced, "Even then if I step out of my room, this thing will shock me until….." he trailed off as he nudged his collar, wincing at the memory of how the doctor tested to see if the devices could subdue each of the experiments. RWBY collectively gained an appalled look from what the boy said, "….but maybe if you got his scroll you could stop him." he realized, causing the girls to perk up, "He uses it like a remote to everything around here." he explained.
Ruby contemplated his words, "If it's like a remote then….we need to free all these prisoners!" she realized, making her team look at her bizarrely.
"But he just said-" Blake began.
"It's a remote, yeah but think about it, if we get the remote then we can turn off all the collars and they can defend themselves!" she reasoned.
The boy perked up at her words, "She's right! The man only uses them on one of us at a time, they just finished putting them on everyone, even the new guy." he realized, the four turning to him.
"New guy?" Yang asked, a hint of dread in her voice as she thought of whom it might be. Before the bat boy could answer her, a howl echoed down the cell block, causing the rest of the prisoners to grow silent, "Mark." the blonde realized. She looked back to the boy, "Ok this is important, do you know where the man who put you here is?" she asked. He shook his head, making the lavender eyed girl sigh, "We'll find him, and we'll free you." she promised, Weiss put a hand on her shoulder as she leaned down and smiled confidently at the boy as well.
Ruby cupped her shin, "But….if we let all of these people out then…." she trailed off, it would be like a prison riot. And even then they needed to locate the substance that transformed them into this in the first place if they wanted any hope of undoing this whole mess…..but they couldn't let these innocent people be shipped off somewhere else for even more experimentation. "Let's find that scroll." she said, her team nodding at her. Ruby crouched down at the boy, "We'll be back, and when we do? We'll take you home." she swore.
The unwilling experiment nodded at her words with a hopeful smile, Ruby stood up and took out her scroll, dialing Spider-Man's number, "Spider-Man this is Ruby, can you talk?" she asked.
Peter winced as Morbius' claws scraped his knee before being slammed into the ground face first, as the vampire tried to lift him up to repeat the attack he staggered as the teen stuck to floor and coiled his leg, drawing Morbius in so Spider-Man's other foot kicked him solidly in the chest. He raised his one hand to his ear while he used his other to pick himself up off the ground, "Little busy Ruby make it quick." he said, sidestepping a slash aimed at his neck and connecting his fist to Morbius' jaw from under his extended arm and fallowing up by grapping Morbius by the arm and pulling him inward to get him off balance.
He was beyond tired at this point and fighting Morbius wasn't helping, he was just as fast as he was so his reflexes were just barely keeping the living vampire from gutting him like a pig with his claws. And whatever reasoning he tried to do was cut short with a violent shock from the collar around Morbius' neck. But he was still in there, fighting against his most basic instinct.
'We found the prisoners in a cell area but Merlot has a remote control on his scroll that keeps them here with collars and force fields, we need to turn both those off before we can ! Have you found him yet?' Ruby asked, Spider-Man pinning Morbius to the ground with his knee pressing into the back of the vampire's shoulder.
Whilst Morbius was trapped in the arm lock, Spider-Man's head tilted up to Merlot's safe room to see the scientist still observing, typing notes down onto his extended scroll with his metal hand typing away. "You could say that yeah. Give me one minute." he growled out as he reached down to Morbius' neck with his empty hand and grabbed the collar before crushing it before breaking the device apart with his sheer strength. Morbius responded the kindness by yanking his arm free and backhanding the teen away into the wall.
'You gotta hurry! Merlot sent his androids to gather them up and move them and-oh wait there they are. Be right back!' she said before the sound of gunfire was heard and quickly cut off by her hanging her scroll up.
"Agh. Your welcome doc." Peter muttered out as he rubbed his jaw, watching Morbius feel around his neck and fond the device that had been causing him pain was now gone. His head now snapped up to Merlot, the scientist attacked the glass, throwing his entire weight against the glass, the concussive force making a crack appear in the glass.
Merlot's eyes widened at the show of force, he immediately turned around and ran as the vampire threw himself against the glass again. Falling to the ground he backed up once more as Spider-Man leaped behind him a few feet away. "Maybe a little more force is needed." the teen thought, shooting two weblines up to the window and pulling himself up into Morbius' back as he once again threw himself against the glass, Spider-man slamming into his back and putting him through the slightly weakened glass which buckled from force of the two crashing into it.
Rolling off and flipping onto the far wall, Spider-Man readied himself to continue the fight with Morbius, the scientist groaning slightly as Spider-Man slowly lowered his ready fist, "Morbius? You back with us?" he asked, panting between breaths as the scientist lifted himself up from the glass covered floor.
"Spppider-Mannn?" he drawled out tiredly, the vigilante dropping off the wall, the forearms of his costume having tiny cuts along the red of his gloves from the glass. Taking him by the arm, he helped Morbius back onto his feet, it took merely a second for the memories of what transpired to come back to him, "Merlot!" he snarled as he marched to the door, he and Spider-Man both knocking the steel doors down off their hinges and bursting into Merlot's office, the scientist standing behind his desk as he typed something into the screen on his computer before Morbus rushed across the room, throwing the desk aside into the wall and grabbing the scientist by the throat.
The vampire's jaw dropped, his fangs twinkling in the moonlight from behind the windows staring out to the sea behind the scientist, "Morbius don't!" Spider-Man cried out, quickly shooting a web to his hand and pulling it back, the pseudo vampire turning to him with rage barely contained in his eyes. Unlike before he was not blinded by it though, it was focused, directed, he knew what he wanted and his animal instincts were only weakening his control.
"Don't interfere Spider-Man!" he snarled out, yanking his arm and pulling the tired wall crawler off his feet. He looked at the struggling man in his grasp, his cybernetic eye glowing red in fear for his life as he tried desperately to free himself from the vampire's grasp. "You sought to create monsters for your own sick enjoyment, yet to see one all you had to do was look at yourself." he growled out. "I took an innocent woman's life. She was barely a woman and because of what you turned me into she is dead…..so be it fitting that you share the fate of the only person I've killed."
He reeled his head back, like a viper ready to strike, Spider-Man watching the scene with horror, just like before, unable to do anything in his tired state. "No! Please Morbius don't!" he pleaded, "If you do this then he wins! What you did was out of your control, but if you give into your hunger now? Then all you'll do is prove Merlot right." he said desperately, hoping, praying that his words would reach the man within the beast. The Pseudo vampire looked over at the wall crawler on the ground.
His mind flashed to nights ago when he was in the same position, holding his neck from a wound he had given the wall crawler, whom was only trying to save a innocent girl from a gruesome fate. Michel looked to Merlot, his fangs slowly disappearing as he shut his lips together. "….I shall not be a monster you made me to be…..but a man whom I strive to once again become." he decided, dropping him to the floor.
Spider-Man let out a shaky breath as Morbius approached him, helping him up onto his feet, "Thank you. Now then, mad scientist, I'll take that." said, webbing the scientist's scroll on the floor and pulling it into his hand. Opening it he quickly found the controls for the collars within a menu and deactivated them all, he tapped his comm, "Ruby it's Spidey, the collars are off but I can't find anything for the cells you mentioned." he said.
Ruby's scythe sliced through one of the red androids as she sprinted past them, swinging the weapon low she cut upward through another as her sister used her shotgun gauntlets to blow one away beside her. The leader raised her finger to her ear to reply while Weiss sent a barrage of fire dust into a crowd of the androids, the heiress smirking in satisfaction as the five blew up. "It must be somewhere around here, we'll find it but-" she stopped, raising the chute of her weapon to block one of the javelins the androids used, Blake leapt onto the pole of the weapon Ruby was blocking and cut the head off the robot before jumping off.
"-we still need to find what turned the people into these things." she reminded as Yang used her gauntlets to launch herself forward, punching one of the droids so hard it flew down the corridor. The blonde raised her gauntlet to block one of the spears, grabbing it she spun under it and drove her elbow into the chest cavity of the robot before twisting her arm up and delivering a shotgun shell upside it's head.
"It's gonna get more crazy down here when it does!" she said, noticing a few of the android approach one of the cells and stick their weapon through a small opening made in the barrier before a spray emanated from it, the large Iguana that she had fought before roared at before it's frame wobbled in place and fell over. She charged over to the door and slammed the robot's head against the barrier with her foot as a meta door sot up from the floor on the other side of the barrier and the cell dropped down! "Crap they're taking prisoners! We gotta hurry!" she informed the others.
Ruby looked down the hall where the android were coming from, that had to be where the controls for the room were located! "Weiss! IceFlower!" she called out to her partner, the Schnee heiress finishing slicing the arms and legs off another android before snapping her head to their leader. Ruby tilted her head down the hall for where they were going.
"Are you sure?" she asked doubtfully. Ruby nodded as she rushed over to her partner's side, the cloaked leader nodded assuredly. Weiss raised her rapier down the hall, a large glyph appearing behind the both of them. Ruby wrapped an arm around her partner's shoulder before the black glyph pushed them forward, Ruby's speed semblance enveloping both of them as they became a sharp swirl of Red and White, slicing through the androids as they zoomed down the corridor!
Within the span of a second they reached the end of the hall, Weiss putting up white glyphs to slow themselves down as the wall ahead became closer and closer. The pair stopped right before wall, Ruby and Weiss' noses barely touching the surface. "Told you!" Ruby said cheerfully, Weiss turned her head to her partner with a sour look. They had practiced that maneuver a dozen times outdoors when they didn't need to worry about their slowing down, as she opened her mouth to reprimand her friend however her eyes caught sight of something behind Ruby.
The leader noticed and turned around to see one of the Cells at the end of the hall, however unlike the others, this one was empty. Ruby turned back o Weiss, "Later, we need to get the rest of the cells open now." she reminded, Weiss nodding firmly in agreement before they both ran down the hall that led further into the compound, cutting through more droids as they were met with resistance.
"Tell us where the substance you used to change these people is." Spider-Man demanded of Merlot as he picked himself up from the ground. Morbius was standing back towards the door to the office, the only way in or out of the room. "Or I could let our mutual friend ask you." the teen said, gesturing with both arms to Morbius who bared his teeth threateningly to the scientist.
Merlot glared firmly at the vigilante of Vale, "You won't hurt me, or let anyone else hurt me. Why should I help you upend my life's work?" he asked bitterly.
Morbius snarled at him, however Merlot was surprised by a sudden backhand from the wall crawler, making him stumble back into his window with a now bloody lip. "Because I've spent the last day seeing all the lives that have been ruined in your wake." the teen growled out, his hands clenching into fists as he approached Merlot. "I've seen innocent people be hurt or killed because of what you've set into motion, and so I'm done with jokes, I'm done being nice, and I'm done with you getting away with this!" he yelled as he grabbed Merlot by his coat and forced him through his glass window!
Merlot grasped the teen's arms for dear life as he was lifted above the thirty story drop to the hard ground below, he panicingly looked back to Spider-Man, "Fine! Fine! The Isotope thirty eight! It's in my lab two floors down!" he revealed. However the teen did not yet pull him back into the building for safety.
"Where's Mark Allen?" he asked.
Merlot looked at him with confusion before a smirk formed on his face, "GAAAAAHHHHH!" Peter's eyes widened as he turned around to Morbius' scream.
"Right behind you." Merlot said as Peter saw the form which Mark now inhabited. Instead of MJ's former boyfriend, what stood in the doorway of the office, standing over six feet tall, covered in white fur and who had Morbius by the shoulder in it's now bloody claw lifting him off the ground was something out of a horror movie. It's head was that of a wolf, complete with a snout which had rows of razor sharp teeth, yellow eyes that locked onto the vigilante whilst a growl came from it's throat. The clothes Markw as wearing had been torn to shreds with barely his shirt remaining, "my greatest achievement, the first true human cross species!" the scientist said manically.
Peter turned to him with rage behind his mask, spraying a web to his torso, the teen dropped him out the window and stuck the end of the web to the floor, Merlot slamming into the wall outside as Spider-Man turned to the Man Wolf. "Mark? Please tell me your in there." he said hopefully.
Mark responded with a animalistic cry, tossing Morbius back out the door he charged at the web slinger, the teen sprung onto the celing just as Mark's new claws slashed at the air where he was. Dropping down on the real life warewolf, Peter kicked off his back, jumping out through the door as Mark stumbled. Rolling on the ground the hero faced Mark in a crouch before unloading a torrent of webbing, covering the beast and sticking him in place for the moent. "Doubt that is gonna hold." Peter said to himself as he turned his head out to the room below where Morbius was nursing the wound on his shoulder.
Spider-Man leapt out the window to the room, dropping down beside the vampire, "Morbius you heard Merlot, go get the Isotope from his lab, I'll hold off Fido." he insisted, helping him walk towards the elevator he emerged from. "Find RWBY after that, we're getting you and everyone else off this island." he explained as he helped him into the box, leaning him against the wall.
The scientist breathed heavily against the wall, "I….shall, my friend." he breathed out, Spider-Man pressing the button for him and stepping out of the elevator as the doors shut closed.
Peter took a deep breath, Alright, I'm exhausted, but I gotta push on. I'm not gonna let Mark stay like that. He thought with determination as he shot a web to the underside of the observation box. Pulling back her swung up and looped around the edge back the way he came, "Alright Mark lets-GAHHH!" the hero painfully yelled as Mark slashed his arm out and batted him out of the air into the wall, taking off the mouth part of his mask. Before he had a chance at all to recover, Mark blitzed him through the wall!
The two fell through the open air of the outside to the ground below, reacting on instinct Peter shot a webline out to the wall below where they came out, swinging them back towards the building and slamming mark against the surface and letting go of the wall crawler, his claws tearing at the teen's shoulders as he clung to the wall to recover. 'Spider-Man? Ruby again, good news! The prisoners are free, but some of them got relocated somewhere else already, we'll find them later, what's your status with the cure?' she asked.
He shakily raised his hand to his ear, "Morbius is on it, Merlot is taken care of too. I'm dealing with another experiment of his. Don't suppose Ironwood is on his way with the cavalry?" he asked hopefully, looking down at the ground to see Mark scaling the building using his claws to dig into the surface of the wall and scale up. "Gotta go Ruby Find Morbius, get the cure, and get out of here." he said before abruptly hanging up and standing on the wall, Legs feel like they're covered in cement, arms are sore as all hell….but no way am I giving up. Leaping off the wall he fell down towards Mark.
Seeing his prey fall through the towards him, the werewolf lunged off the wall at his target just as Spidey cast a webline out, curving his fall just out of Mark's grasp, shooting a webline to his chest with his empty hand, he swung Mark up over the side of the facility to the roof before pulling on the webbing with both hands and throwing him down onto the roof! Mark hit the surface and bounced across it for a few feet as Spider-Man landed on a weather antenna.
Firing a line to the Man Wolf, he pulled himself into the beast, cracking his fist across the beast's snout and then quickly swinging his elbow up into the underside of his jaw. His Sixth Sense rang down his spine he ducked just as Mark's claws slashed out, just barely cutting the top of his mask, his brown hair poking out of the tear as he fell onto his back and rolled onto his hands, pushing himself up and slamming his feet up into Mark, sending them both airborne, rolling forward Peer readied to attack but awas causght iff guard as Mark quickly slashed his chest!
Biting down a yell he knocked Mark back a few feet and used a web to zip back towards the smokestacks to get some distance. holding his hand to his chest he cringed at the cuts across the spider on his chest. "Well at least he didn't take me heart out of my ribcage." he grunted out, turning on the smokestack to see Mark on all fours sprinting towards him. Raising his hands he unleashed a barrage of webshots, the balls of webbing hitting the Man Wolf and making him divert his course away after one of them nailed his eye.
As Mark took cover behind the metal smokestack next to the one Peter was on, the teen immediately scurried up the side of the tall tube, Can't get close to him with those claws of his, I'll end up like pre sliced cheese. He's fast, he's though, and he's got very deadly claws. So…..yeah, basically every monster I've fought in the past twenty four hours. he thought sarcastically as he reached the peak of the smokestack and leapt over to the one Mark was hiding behind. So I use the one thing I have over them, my brain. he thought as he made his way around the side, seeing Man Wolf was nursing his wounded eye.
As the hero was about to drop his perch onto his target, he heard and engine fly overhead, looking up he saw the airship which brought him and RWBY here descend towards the northern section of the compound where the waterside entrance was located. Mark noticed the ship as well and took off towards the edge of the roof! "No!" Peter cried as he launched himself off the smokestack towards the Man Wolf as he leapt off the roof, colliding with the beast in midair. Mark turned mid fall and crushed Spider-Man against the ground beneath him.
Mark stood up and turned, seeing the vigilante trying to get up only for Mark to plat his foot in his chest, snarling at his prey as he lowered his head and opened his may, the sharp rows of teeth reflecting within the eyes of Spider-Man. The teen tried to lift the foot off his chest but the weight on him and how tired he was proved it impossible for him in his current state.
BLAM!
Mark tumbled onto his back from a shot to his shoulder, clutching the wound as Peter looked up at the attacker, seeing none other than John Jameson aiming his sidearm at the Man Wolf as he rushed to his side, "Spider-Man! Are you ok?!" he asked with concern as he knelt down and looped his arm under the masked hero's shoulder and helped him to his feet.
"Ugh…ask me when everything doesn't feel tired and sore." Spider-Man replied before his Spider Sense rang down his spine. Looking at Mark he was too late to react as Mark lunged at him. Suddenly he was shoved aside and hitting the ground as another scream echoed through the air, the sound was like a shot of adrenaline, turning over he saw Man Wolf's fangs sunken into John's arm! No! Not again! NOT AGAIN! "NOT AGAIN!" Spider-Man shouted in rage before tackling Man Wolf and cracking the beast across the face again, again, and again, not even bothering to hold back his hits.
Mark tried to slash his claws out but Spider-Man leapt back and immediately spring forward as Mark tried to recover, kneeing the creature right in the snout and breaking it. Mark howled in pain as he clutched his now bloody snout. Raising his hands he webbed the hands to his face, Man Wolf tried to tear the webbing apart but Spider-Man didn't stop, casting two lines to the Man Wolf's feet he pulled them out from underneath him before pulling the webs to the left, using his strength to spin the creature around in a full circle for momentum and throwing him into the side of the building, Mark smashing into the side of the building before falling once again to the ground unmoving.
Suddenly the rage in him quickly dissipated as he rushed over to Mark, Oh god no! Nononono did i-! he thought in fear as he rushed over to his side. However his fears were quickly put to rest as the transformed teen let out a tired growl. The teen cradled his head in his palms, Thank you….god I thought I…..I could have…. he thought fearfully as John approach him, clutching his wounded arm.
The pilot noticed the distressed look upon the vigilante and offered him his hand on his shoulder, "Spider-Man…it's ok….it's over." he assured, the hero lowering his hands and taking a long, tired breath. Looking over to the entrance of the poert, he saw Team RWBY lead a few dozen people out of the facility, he saw that Yang was carrying one of them in her arms, a boy who seemed to be no older than a preteen….with bat wings.
Spider-Man sighed, it was over.
After contacting Ironwood, Atlas troops arrived and helped tend to the prisoners, RWBY had a few cuts and bruises but nothing major. Peter however felt like his legs were like jelly, but other than him the only one who was really hurt were Morbius and John, the former of whom had discovered the laboratory of Merlot and easily found the chemicals, and the later said the wound he received from Mark was superficial at best.
However…..it wasn't a total victory, there were a good number of prisoners who had been relocated, the cells actually operating as elevator shafts that went down to a tunnel which led who knows where. Spider-Man went to interrogate Merlot about it….only to discover a webline and no scientist. It was reasonable that he escaped during the ensuing chaos of his battle with the Man Wolf. However it mattered little, his plan had been foiled in the end, the prisoners were rescued, Mark was captured and with the serum they collected he hopefully will be returned to normal within a matter of days.
Spider-Man crouched on the side of the building as he watched Atlas officials unload the prisoners from another transport ship. Beside him, Morbius leaned against the wall with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder from Mark's attack. "I have spoken with Ironwood, he said he will get in contact with the police and explain the situation to them." he said to the vigilante, the masked teen looking at him with pity.
"Morbius….there's still a chance that you can be cured, it might be close to the wire but-" he provided hopefully. The Isotope could cure the people effected only within a short time frame, Michel had been one of the first experiments however, and the time he had when he was brought to Beacon was short, every day counted and so the odds slimmed with each passing hour.
However the Living Vampire bowed his head, "I have taken innocent life. And nearly took it willingly again tonight if not for you." he pointed out, recalling how his bloodlust had nearly driven him to kill Merlot. "I must pay penance for that, and there are others who require the Isotope more than I." he said, looking up to see Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang around the young boy who had been forced to help in his breakout from Beacon. Ruby was playing a game with him on her scroll, the boy smiling as he once again got to interact with other people.
Spider-man rubbed the back of his head, "Not to mention the ones that got away. And Merlot himself…but I think they won't be a problem for now so that's an adventure for another day." he said, looking up to the shattered moon in the sky. It was Halloween night, a fact that had slipped his mind despite having to go up against actual monsters made by a madman, it sounded like something out of an old horror movie itself.
Dropping from the wall, he turned to Morbius, lifting his hand, the scientist looked at it before offering a grateful smile and shakng it, "Be well Morbius." the teen insisted.
"You as well. And know that should you ever need me? I will answer the call. After I find a way to treat myself properly." he replied, making Spider-Man smile before casting a webline up in the air and pulling himself away, swinging through the night sky on his way back home.
Walking down the street past Flash's house, it was apparent the party there was in full swing. Stopping outside the house, Peter Parker let out a sigh, he had changed into the clothes he had at the Bugle before heading home on the train, using the time he had to nap and recover a little bit of stamina. He was still sore like an open wound, but at least his feet didn't feel like they were about to give out from underneath him. He could see through the window that Flash was proudly wearing a Spider-Man costume inside as he talked to Kenny Kong, Peter had to stop himself from chuckling at the pure irony. If he only knew. he thought wistfully shaking his head and turning down the street as some trick or treaters ran past him.
Well I saved Halloween, so good job I guess. he thought as he continued down the sidewalk a ways before crossing the street and stopping in front of the Watson house. On the front porch a small Jack O Lantern lit up the stoop. Peter inhaled a deep breath before waking up to the front door of the house. Reaching the porch he knocked on the door and patiently waited, a moment later Anna Watson opened the door and gasped at the sight of him.
"Peter! Goodness what happened to you?!" she asked with concern upon seeing the bags under his eye along with the split lip he now had.
However Peter thankfully came prepared, "Oh it's my 'costume'. I'm a guy who got hit by a truck, one of my friends at work did it." he lied, making MJ's aunt relax. He glanced behind the older woman and saw no sign of his friend, "May I come in?" he asked tepidly, not knowing if MJ even wanted to see anyone.
However Anna gave him a soft smile and stepped aside, letting him into her house. Stepping inside Peter couldn't help but recognize how much the layout of the house was to his own, the only differences was the placement of furniture. "Make yourself at home dear." Anna said welcomingly as she entered the living room, a muted horror movie in black and white was on the TV. Anna approached the doorway to the kitchen but stopped herself and looked at Peter expectantly, "She's up in her room, I'm making dinner…..do you think you could go tell her for me?" she asked.
Her request was obviously what Peter needed, an excuse to go see MJ, "Right, yeah. Of course." he nodded before looking up the stairs and walking up them. Reaching the top of the stairs, he turned to the right, his room was on the left side of his house so MJ's had to been on this side of her's since their windows were in direct lines of each other. Plus her room was the only one with a closed door.
Walking up to the door, he took a deep breath once again before raising his hand and gently tapping his knuckles against the door, "Mary Jane? It's uhh….it's Peter." he greeted awkwardly. He heard a shuffling sound on the other side of the door but it didn't open. Maybe she's asleep? I can't exactly blame her if she is. he thought, glancing down and noticing there was light coming from under the door with a shadow in front of it. Welp there goes that theory. he thought dryly.
"Um…..I found Mark…..he…he's going to be ok but…..well what happened to Morbius happened to him…he should be fine in a few days though." he assured, closing his eyes and resisting the urge to smack himself. That's exactly what she wants to hear you idiot. he reprimanded himself. He could hear a breath on the other side of the door but she still didn't say anything, "Mary Jane….I'm sorry…for….for all of this." he apologized, turning his back to the door and leaning against the wood. "I don't mean like usually when I feel guilty, and I could have stopped it or something but…..I'm sorry that this happened to you." he explained.
He was met with more silence, "Not that I would want this to happen to anyone or something but….you…." he faltered, taking a moment to think of how to say what he wanted to. "…..when we first met? I thought you didn't have a care in the world, and I sort of envied that….I mean you know why, because I'm….well me." he said lightly as he shrugged his shoulder. He felt the floor creak on the other side of the door, "But then….I had a bad day and you…..you saw how much weight I had on me…and then you showed me the weight you had on your own shoulders…and you know what I thought?" he asked rhetorically.
"I thought….'Wow….she's so much stronger than I thought anyone could be.' I mean I've heard stories like that before, at the Bugle, on TV but…..to know you? See how despite what you had to go through? You still manage to find joy in life? I made me realize that if you can do that? Then I can definitely deal with Flash Thompson's bullshit." he said, smiling to himself.
"And I know that opening up to me like that was…it was the hardest thing you could do. I mean I couldn't even do that, you had to break open a chest to figure out what I was keeping to myself." he pointed out as he slid down against the door to the floor. "And I'm honestly glad you did…you knowing…..it…..I honestly wish I told you back then when you opened up to me." he said.
He heard a sound from beyond the door, "And with this….all this crap that's happened? You don't deserve that…..I saw the way you looked at Mark…..I was happy for you, you found someone…..but he…..I can't even imagine what that feels like." he admitted, the thought of such an intimate betrayal was something he was not at all familiar with. But he would gladly have him receive it himself then let any of his friends be subject to it, "I just want you to know MJ that….I care about you…and….well….I know that I'm not Mark, and that you don't see me like you see him. But….I'm here MJ….and I'm not going anywhere…not literally, figuratively I mean." he explained before the door he was against was suddenly swung open, the teen nearly falling over since all his weight was against the door.
He scrambled onto his feet off the floor and stood straight against MJ, the red haired young woman's jade eyes looked at his with tears brimming in them, contrasted with the heartache mile on her face. Without any form of protest she walked into him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tighter than she ever had before as her face buried into his shoulder. Peter's arms found the familiar place around her waist and held her gently in his grasp.
Both teens unaware that Anna Watson had come to check on the two of them, only for her to happen upon the tender moment between the two of them. She turned on her heel and quietly walked back down the steps, leaving the two alone for their tender moment with a smile on her face.
"Your…your unbelievably sweet." MJ sobbingly said against his shoulder.
Peter snorted, "Yeah I know…..mean every word though." he replied as she pulled back, wiping the tears out of her eyes, getting a good look at Peter she raised her thumb to his lip and brushed it against the cut he had, making the secret hero wince at the touch. "I'm fine….few cuts here and there but nothing a bottle of disinfectant can't solve." he assured, Mary Jane snorting at his reasoning.
"Look can we just…not talk about any of that right now and just….I think I need this." she explained before once again leaning into Peter, his arms wrapping around her once again without so much as a slight complaint. Her jade eyes closed against his shoulder, I may have lost Mark…..but I'll always have you Peter.
A man walked the streets of Vale on Halloween night, taking he same route home as he always did. Day or night, sunny days or rainy nights, the latter of which had happened recently. It was close to midnight now, most tick or treaters had gone home for the evening, he however had unfortunately had to work on the holiday. So the man decided to go straight home for the evening.
Turning the corner, he smiled as he saw the construction that had obstructed his usual route home had since cleared up, "That's more like it." he said to himself as he stepped off the sidewalk over a storm drain.
He did not see the brown furred arm shoot out from the darkness of the storm drain, all he saw was the pavement before he hit it, before a yell or scream could be let out, he was pulled back into he darkness beneath the streets. Where the monsters lived, where the monsters fed, and where they thrived.
"Yum Yum."
"An animal may be ferocious and cunning enough, but it takes a real man to tell a lie."
-H.G. Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau
AN: I'VE DONE IT!
Not only have I done it but so has CRWBY! No spoilers obviously for non FIRST members but man the first episode of Volume 7 teed off to a great start! Not only that, but this week continues the story of 2099 in Spider-Man! I'm so excited! I even ordered the first volume of Spider-Man 2099 for the occasion.
God I can't tell you how great it feels to finally finish this. Originally I had this in two parts, but it didn't really flow right so I rearranged some things and came up with this and I honestly think it's much better for it pacing wise. Unfortunately for Spidey, things aren't exactly tied up with a neat little bow on top. Merlot is still around, Vermin is in Vale, and an untold number of cross species are on the loose!
And just wait until you see what happens next…time in Spider-Man Volume 3!
See ya true believers!
