xo103-107

[Location: Safehouse] [New York City]

Frank and I were gearing up for the hunt. We are gonna hunt Green Goblin tonight.

"Aliens, robots as high as the sky, mutants, human experiments... Haaa..." Frank grumbled while gearing up, "Oh, not to forget Gods and underwater people. Isn't the list getting way too crazy by the time?" He shook his head and started putting the Kevlar armor over his shoulders.

"I know, right? They are nuts. Nowhere is safe in this world. You don't even know when an alien ship might crash down on your house and blow a crater. Or when one of those captured supervillains escapes and wreaks havoc in the city," I said while activating the suit, "Or those government programs that conduct human experiments in some shady research facilities and turn them into some freaky cyborgs and whatnot. Oh, and the list continues..."

"At least you have superpowers," Frank snorted.

"Hey! You also have enhanced strength and speed thanks to your gadgets. You don't give yourself that much credit," I told him while turning around to face him. "And don't forget those high-tech guns capable of blowing out an entire neighborhood, if aimed correctly," I added, grinning.

"Okay, okay," Frank chuckled, "If you put it that way, it doesn't look so bad," and double-checked his guns.

Frank came a long way from that gruff loner attitude to opening up with his thoughts to people. But his killer face while facing those criminal scums? Still as cold as ever. The man's a damn pro. He sure knows how to torture and kill someone in style. He was keeping himself busy, killing those gang members, taking advantage of the chaos I created. For now, those gangs have called a temporary ceasefire thanks to Emma Frost who took over Kingpin. I guess, I'll just have to stir the hornet nest once more.

"Ready?" I asked him after a long pause.

"Yeah. Let's do this," Frank nodded and strapped his gun to the thigh holster, and put his two combat knives behind the holsters near his knees. He checked the wrist watch which I had configured to show his weapon charges and armor condition. It's like a mini hud but with just those few important details.

We entered the garage.

"What's that?" I pointed toward the old rusted sedan that was sitting in the garage.

"Our ride," Frank grinned as he went into the driver's seat and turned on the engine.

"Really, man? What about those cool spots cars and those brand new SUVs we swiped from that drug cartel's warehouse? We could just choose any car we wanted and yet, why a piece of junk that is rusting by the second?" I told him as I frowned.

"Because there's no fun if someone notices you riding a nice car in such a fucked up neighborhood. And we are going incognito. We won't have to worry about cops stopping us at the checkpoint and under the rust, I've added some custom parts. From the outside, yeah, it a trash, but under the hood, that's a different story," he stated proudly.

"Why do I feel like you are taking revenge for making you explode your mini-van?" I took the side seat as Frank started driving out.

"I couldn't possibly hate you because of that. Even though I spent months working on that van and upgraded it to the max, and that it's been with me for years and you happened to have me explode it on our very first mission... Nope. I forgive you for that, Spider-Man," Frank smirked while driving.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes behind the mask.

We drove out of the underground parking lot and went out onto the streets.

"Alright, let's go hunting," Frank accelerated as we sped out onto the highway.

I activated the tracker on the mini pad and located the green goblin signal.

"Where's the freak?" Frank asked me as he drove.

"He's heading north toward Manhattan Bridge. Just keep driving straight ahead," I said as I zoomed into the map.

"Got it."

After half an hour of driving, we arrived at the bridge. It was nighttime so there weren't many cars on the road. We stopped the car at a nearby gas station and waited for him to show up. He is nearby according to the tracker.

A couple of minutes later, a flying weird green hoverboard thing passed by us above the bridge.

"That must be him," Frank commented as he watched the figure fly past us.

"Yup! Norman aka Green Goblin," I replied while tracking the board as it flew further away from us. "Let's see where's he heading next.

Frank started the car as we followed the figure. I kept tracking Green Goblin's movements, making sure we stayed a safe distance behind him.

"He's heading towards Midtown," I informed Frank who kept driving, "Looks like he's not in a hurry. Probably up to something."

Frank nodded, his grip firm on the steering wheel. "We'll stick with him. Let's see what he's planning."

As we followed Green Goblin, I noticed that he was slowing down as he approached a street full of buildings. I zoomed into the mini pad and saw that it was a shopping mall.

"A shopping mall?!" Frank stopped the car around the corner from the mall entrance. "What does he want to steal in a shopping mall?" He looked confused as he stared out the window.

"He is stealing food and other supplies, duh!" I pointed out.

"Right... Even he needs food and supplies to survive, huh?" Frank scratched his chin. "Anyway, let's go inside and stop him before he causes trouble."

"And blow up the entire mall in the process? Nope. Let's wait and follow him back to his hideout. Then we can attack him and blow up his lair instead," I suggested.

Frank thought about it for a moment. "You got a point. Let's do that."

As Frank and I waited in the car, keeping a close eye on the entrance of the shopping mall, Green Goblin emerged after a while, carrying a large bag filled with stolen goods. He hopped onto his hoverboard and flew off into the night. Frank quickly started the car and chased after him.

We followed him through the streets of Midtown. The road was almost empty and we were keeping our eyes peeled for any sudden moves from the freak. Green Goblin eventually led us to an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. There appeared to be nothing else around it except for some dilapidated buildings and abandoned factories.

"This looks like a perfect place to hide out," Frank parked the car far enough so Green Goblin wouldn't notice us.

"Alright, time for some recon," I took out my spider bots and drones from the back of the car and prepared them for deployment. "Here goes nothing!" I released the spiders and drones into the air. The little things scattered across the area, scouting the area for traps.

I controlled the spider bots while Frank took over the drones. We scanned every inch of the warehouse and surrounding areas. Soon, we discovered several booby traps hidden around the perimeter of the warehouse. Some of them were simple tripwires while others included explosives or poison gas bombs.

"Damn! Just how many traps did this guy install here?" I mumbled as I began to disable each trap individually using the spider bots. "Good thing he didn't use motion sensors otherwise I would have triggered all of these traps already."

Frank flew the drones over and around the building, "Multiple turrets and laser beams. Military-grade locks.Wait! That's too much explosives... This guy is really paranoid."

"No shit! Look at all those crates of weapons lying around the warehouse," I zoomed into the drone feed, "There's enough firepower inside to level down a small army."

Frank whistled in amazement.

"You are thinking what I am thinking?" I asked Frank.

"Take half as always and blow up the rest?" Frank answered without looking at me.

"Yep!" I nodded vigorously.

We continued dismantling every trap Green Goblin had installed around the warehouse until only one remained.

"This one is going to be difficult," I checked the infrared scanner readings. "It appears to be some sort of pressure plate connected to a bomb underneath the ground beneath this spot. A little trip, we'll trigger the explosion and everything else will follow suit. But the problem is the hollow space under this pressure plate. If we try to remove it without knowing exactly what kind of mechanism he used then it might set off the whole thing off."

Frank scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm.... He's hiding something in there if he has gone that far to protect it."

I pondered upon Frank's words. "True. Guess, I'll go in and check it out." I looked toward the screen, "Look at that bastard. Chugging cola and eating steak like there's no tomorrow."

"Wait!" Frank stopped me as I was about to go out. "Look here, closely." He zoomed into the building.

"Motion sensor?! A new version of motion sensors?" I exclaimed as I saw multiple circular objects placed on all the floors. At first glance, they appeared to be mines but upon closer inspection, I realized that they were actually motion sensors. They were emitting sound waves in a straight stream and are connected to each other via that sound wave frequency. Once triggered, all of these motion sensors will create a chain reaction causing them to explode simultaneously destroying everything within their range.

Frank sighed deeply. "You have to be careful on this one."

"Don't worry. You just keep an eye on him. And snipe him in case I fail," I patted Frank's shoulder.

"Roger that," Frank acknowledged and readied his sniper rifle.

I left the car and sneaked up towards the warehouse.

[S-0X]Ch: 104 [Confrontation]

April 12

[3rd person POV]

With the outside traps taken care of, the only remaining ones are those motion sensors and a couple of other explosives inside the building. 'Might as well take a couple of these after deactivating.' Spiderman smirked. He easily picked the lock on the main door and sneaked inside the warehouse. The dim lighting inside allowed him to use the walls and ceiling to cover his presence. Norman was inside, sitting on a couch, sipping on a big bottle of coke, and munching on the steak while watching a television on the wall in front of him.

"Humans are such simple creatures," Goblin said, sighing, "Their actions, habits, and reactions...everything is pretty much the same. Every single one of them is replaceable. Like cattle in a farm. Why does humanity have such a strong sense of value towards itself despite being completely disposable to the greater good?" He rambled pretty loudly as he took another gulp from the bottle.

'Can you stop the nonsense and just drop dead?!' Peter shouted inside his mind.

He slowly crawled toward the pressure plate, trusting his tingle and avoiding the traps. Norman has no idea that a spider has crawled into his secret warehouse and is on the ground floor. Norman casually kept sipping on his cola and eating on the top floor.

'Slowly and carefully, Pete, slowly and carefully...' Spiderman crept further, passing a couple of more motion sensors and avoiding touching or tripping on them. 'Nothing like a near-death experience to spice up the day!'

Minutes ticked down and after ten minutes of non-stop dodging and tingling, Spiderman finally arrived over the pressure plate. His senses were tingling too much, letting him know that a small touch and boom! Dead.

'Alrighty then...' Spiderman sighed and held onto his breath as he softly landed just on the edge of the pressure plate and began to examine the area. After careful searching, he found a circuit connected with the pressure plate, 'Ok. Just like the games. Trust your senses and follow the circuit, then take out the fuse box. Right...' Spiderman sniggered inside as he tracked the circuit down on the surface and noticed a little bundle of wires a few steps from the plate. His Spider-sense flared at that and he immediately turned to dodge the invisible beam sweeping over the area.

'The fuck was that?!'

He looked at the wall on his right and noticed some strange metal devices the size of a fist placed there. It was a moving motion sensor. 'Motherfucker has something like that inside?! Fuck!' Peter clicked his tongue, 'Better finish it, ASAP.' He webbed to the ceiling and crawled over to the fuse box, dodging the sensors. He threw a web line on the box and pulled it open. Inside, there was a big fuse with a little red switch next to it.

'There you are...' Spiderman threw another web line and pulled out the fuse. Then he looked around the room once more, carefully for any more hidden surprises. And there were camouflaged turrets and mines everywhere. 'Oh damn... what kind of a lunatic was this guy?' He clicked his tongue. He webbed on top of the turret that was pointing at the pressure plate and ripped the wires connected to it, deactivating it. Then, he did the same to the other turrets.

After taking care of the turrets, he used his spider bots to deactivate the mines inside the room.

Twenty minutes of trap defusing and dismantling... Spiderman felt annoyed, but he wanted to see what kind of treasure Norman was hiding in that small hole in the ground under such heavy security.

With all the security measures disabled, Spiderman removed the concrete tiles covering the secret vault. The vault was locked tight but Spiderman's raw strength was enough to get the job done. He opened the vault. There were five familiar vials of serum. They were labeled 0X-Serum. And a USB drive.

'There were more?!' Spiderman felt rage burning inside his body.

Painful memories of his past life emerged before his eyes. He still remembers the way those doctors extracted his blood and bone marrow on Norman's order. He thought the serum he found in the lab on the day of the lab tour was the only one, but now there were at least five of them.

'Just how many more are there? Don't tell me, this bastard is milking this version of Alex's body even after his death! Or, is he even dead? I need to find the body. Thank God, I didn't kill Norman first. Now, I'm so gonna torture this bastard for information now...' He opened the vials and chugged them all. 'Hehe. Oh well... I'm taking what's mine. Serum or poison, with my immunity active all the time, this is nothing to me!'

"Found something interesting?" Frank's voice came to Spiderman's ears through the earbud he was wearing.

"Yeah. Don't kill Norman. He got a lot to answer to..." Spiderman replied in a low voice.

"Goblin's on move. Hide!" Frank warned him. He took the drive and hid just in the nick of time as Norman jumped down and ran to the hole.

"Where is it?!" He yelled out and stomped his foot on the ground furiously. "Gaaahhh!" He grabbed his head and slammed it on the floor, "NOOOO! MY LAST HOPE!"

"HAHAHAHA!" Goblin's personality came out.

"Shut up! I'm in control. You just shut up!" Norman yelled angrily.

"I told you it's useless. A thief entered your home and stole your precious serum and what were you doing? Eating food and sipping your coke," Goblin said in a mocking tone, "You have power and yet you deny it. Give me control. Let the Goblin out and I promise, I'll find the thief. He can't be far away."

"NO! You killed so many people!"

"And what's wrong with a little killing? After everything you did with your sane mind, are you better than I am? Hypocrisy, huh, Norman? Well, then, die with that hypocrite mind of yours!"

"AAAAAGHH!" Norman shrieked and collapsed on his knees.

"So... tired..." Norman muttered, "So... Harry's cure... Must save him..."

His body went limp on the floor.

Spiderman watched the entire show from the ceiling. 'This insane motherfucker! Forget interrogation, better kill him right now. He has no gadgets and right now, it's his weakest form." He took out his stingers/claws and dropped down from the ceiling. 'I'll cut his arms and legs like what Tiffiny did to Nick in the Chucky TV show, then I'll ask him questions.'

"Surprise!" Goblin grabbed Spiderman's wrists before he could sever his arms, "The bug has been caught!" He roared in laughter.

"Humfff!" Spiderman's strength was far superior to that of Goblin's. He pressed down his stingers forcefully, piercing through Goblin's shoulders, "You talk too much." He smashed his forehead on Goblin's nose.

"GAAAHHH!" Goblin released his hands. The stingers were still attached to his body, digging into the shoulder."Fucking insane motherfuckers!"

[Splat!] Spiderman severed Goblin's arms with a swift slash of his stingers.

"RAAAAH!!!" He shrieked and shouted in horror as blood spilled out from the opened sockets.

"Ufff..." Spiderman spun and hit the Goblin's face again. "Stop screaming like a bitch. This is nothing compared to what you did that day." He stood up and kicked Goblin's right side. He spun two times in mid-air before smashing into a support column.

Spiderman held his legs, ready to cut off both of them at the same time, "Question time, where did you keep his body? Reward, I'll cut off your one leg, penalty, I'll cut off two."

"What body?" Goblin snarled, blood spilled from his mouth.

"Subject 0X," Spiderman retorted and his stingers moved just a little bit.

"Ha...ha...ha..." Goblin laughed bitterly. "That dead motherfucker! Hahahaha! I extracted his bone marrow, and blood and then grinded his body to a pulp. So what? There's no point in preserving useless body parts anymore. Waste of resources and space. So, I developed the serum from that. Nothing went to waste."

Spiderman wanted to vomit now, knowing that the serum he drank before, was processed and extracted from a corpse. He thought that it was just made from chemicals or bone marrow with Mutant factor extracted into it, but the pulp of a corpse added on top was just too much. But can he really trust Goblin's words?

[Slice!] [Splat!] Spiderman followed up another kick by cutting off Goblin's legs with his stinger.

"Don't act oversmart... I will cut off your balls next..." He threatened as he noticed that the bleeding had already stopped and the cells around Goblin's severed parts closed themselves by generating skin around it. 'Ah! He can't regenerate parts, but his body is preventing blood loss to keep him alive. And look at the way the new tissue forming is, seems like a lesser version of regeneration.'

"Guaaaagh! Damn! That motherfucking body... fuck!" Goblin grunted in pain. He glared at Spiderman, his face filled with fury and pain, "Mother...fucker..." he muttered under his breath.

"Spit it out already. You're just prolonging your suffering," Peter warned, "As it is, you are a waste of resources and a wasteland of space."

Frank entered the building and saw the gory scene before his eyes, "The fuck!"

Spiderman pointed his stinger at Frank, "Don't get in the way. Just stand there and listen to what this bastard has done."

Xcalibur Xc

[S-0X] Ch: 105 [Spidey dead?!]

April 13

[3rd person POV]

[Fifteen minutes of interrogation...]

After a very gruesome scene with Spiderman cutting off some body parts, every time Goblin answered with lies or no answers at all, Norman's consciousness appeared again. The damage was severe, but thanks to the regenerative capabilities of the Goblin, his wounds closed slowly. The pain of Spiderman's venom that he pushed into Goblin's body was too much for even the insane lunatic to endure.

"Haah..." Norman coughed out black thick blood.

'Damn! I knew that he kept captives for experiments, but to think there was someone who suffered even worse than the others... Extracting mutant factor, blood, and bone marrow while alive without anesthesia. How sadistic and crazy is this man?' Frank turned around to leave, "Do what you think is best," he muttered and left the scene.

Spiderman turned his attention to Norman who was lying in a pool of blood and flesh. He was missing his arms, legs, and ears. The rest of the body was covered with fresh scarred injuries that had not fully healed.

"Ah! Looks like Mr. Osborn is back again. So, I'll ask you this time. What have you done with his body?"

"No... More... please..." Norman pleaded. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, no more tears, Mr. Osborn," Spiderman smiled as he cracked two of Norman's right ribs with his bare hand.

"Gaaaa!!" His screams echoed. "I've dissolved his remaining parts... Cough! Cough!" He coughed up blood as the burning sensation on his body tormented him again along with the new pain.

"And what did you do with that liquid?" Spiderman asked Norman about the remnants of the dissolution process.

"Dispose... along with the rest of the other experiments' waste products," He grunted, "I used the marrow and blood to make the serum, luckily they were able to extract a part of his mutation. but failed to extract the mutation he awakened just a second before his death."

'What? I awakened a new mutation before my death?! Wait! My reincarnation... Could it be that it's the effect of my mutation? Damn it! I need to find out more about what I can do. But no matter what I tried or how hard I tried, I didn't even figure out my other spidey abilities... Haaa... Need to train even more...'

"Well, time's up, Mr. Osborn. Hope that was the last truth."

"It was... No...! No... don't kill... Please..." Norman begged again with teary eyes. "My son. I've to cure my son. I can't die..."

"Oh, you are worried about your son? What about Alex and the others whom you killed for your own gain? They were someone's son, daughter, brother, father, mother, or guardian! And yet you just treated their lives like disposable trash," Spiderman jammed his stinger into Norman's stomach and pushed in more toxin. "Your son's life is life and theirs isn't? Fuck off!"

"AHH!! Please..." Norman pleaded one last time as he looked Spiderman in the eye, "Have mercy."

"Mercy...? Hahahahaha!" Spiderman began to laugh loudly like a madman, "Ahh... Norman, that sounds familiar. Have mercy, please let me go, if I survive I'll kill you, how long are you guys going to inject toxins in my body? Where's my dad? Did he sell me to you, lunatics? So, you are going to use nuclear waste and radiation on me this time? Tell me, Norman, do those words ring a bell?"

Norman's eyes widened as memories of that day came rushing into his mind. Alex's agony and final breath flashed in his brain, "No, I was desperate. Please don't... NO! Please let me live... I beg of you. If I live, I'll change and repent..." His voice drifted away as Spiderman pulled up his mask a bit to reveal his mouth. He gave Norman a familiar grin and showed him the middle finger. "No... No... YOU! HOW? WAIT! THE SECOND MUTATION!"

[Slash!] [Splat!] Spiderman sliced off Norman's head like an ordinary piece of bread with his stingers.

The severed head rolled on the ground as Spiderman stomped it under his feet crushing it like a watermelon, splattering the fresh blood, brains, and bits of shattered bones everywhere.

"Oopsie... Didn't mean to splatter his brain everywhere. Oh, well, another scum down..."

[Beep!] [Beep!] "Huh?!" Spiderman's senses tingled as a beeping sound came from Norman's body. This tingle was nothing like he ever felt, it was...

[Booom!] The entire warehouse exploded into flames...

[Outside]

Frank jumped onto the ground unable to withstand the shockwave generated by the explosion as the whole warehouse burst open, sending out flaming debris everywhere. The searing flames from the blast rushed past him burning his clothes, but luckily he only sustained a few mild burns.

He lay there on the scorched ground for a few minutes...

Pinggggg! Frank grabbed his ears and shook his head to regain his orientation. "Shit!" He cursed. His ears were ringing. Two stones have penetrated his right arm and thighs causing small burns and a gash of blood. It hurt, but his eyes were on the burning warehouse where Spiderman was torturing Green Goblin.

'That kid... No!' He pushed past his pain and dialed 911. He staggered forward while talking, "Y...Yes. Send... An ambulance to... this location... Someone's trapped... under the burning warehouse! Also... Fire-fighting unit." After calling 911, he tried to call Spiderman. He hoped that somehow, through some luck, Spiderman trapped under the burning warehouse may still be alive or he might have escaped before the blast.

But his phone was unreachable...

Spiderman was someone he respected and would gladly give his life to protect him. He was the first and only person who understood Frank and his pain. He was the only one Frank shared his past with, his crimes, his sorrows, and the guilt that he felt while carrying a cross he didn't ask for on his back. Spiderman was the only person he thought of as a friend. He was just a teenager and yet...

'I should have stopped him. If I hadn't left...' Frank staggered on his car's hood trying to support his own weight. He looked at his bloodied hands, "I'm sorry, boy." He mumbled to himself as he watched the flaming building. His hand squeezed the wooden cross hanging around his neck. He knew that no one could have survived a blast like that...

He could do nothing else. Spiderman died, and he's the sole culprit to have let him walk down the same path he once walked.

However, at this point, there's nothing he can do and he can't let the cops capture him again. So, pushing his wounded body, Frank pulled himself into the driver's seat and started the car. As he was about to drive out, a torn piece of Spiderman's suit landed on the car's front glass.

"Humff!" He grunted as he got out of the car and took the piece. He placed it on the ground and placed a stone over it. Then went back to his car and drove past the emergency vehicles driving towards the disaster zone...

As a drop of sweat formed on his forehead and rolled past his lips, leaving a salty trail behind. Frank glanced over his side mirror looking at the reflection of his face for a second and bit the edge of his lips so hard that blood began flowing. He hit the pedal and drove like a lunatic across the road.

[Back at the site]

[Peter's first person POV]

I slowly opened my eyes feeling extremely lightheaded...

Everything around me was on fire, and the surroundings were extremely hot, burning with extreme heat, similar to the taste of a sunburn. Sunburn? What the fuck am I even talking about? I was too fucking careless.

Hahaha... Damn, it hurts to laugh, let alone breathe. Guess this is it then?

Fuck it! If you think I'll die like this under some burning shit again, then I'm sorry to burst your bubble. I'll crawl out of this fucking shit if I have to like a fucking bug. I just drank the serum... My regeneration will kick in... Just need to... Humfff!! My fingers dug into the scorching ground as I pulled myself...

Slowly, very slowly, I kept crawling...

Don't know where I'm going, but... "Keep crawling, Parker... You are fucking immortal... Yeah, almost immortal..." A deep tired grin spread on my face with each step I take, or in this case... crawls...

One more step and... I got to crawl again, and again, and again...

Damn! Crawling sucks. My back burns just as bad as when I was flying in midair like a burning moth... The stench of my burning flesh...

My eyes fell on my arms. It was pitch black. I can't see the bones, but there was something weird about it. Something scaly! Well, who cares at this point? Need to get out of here...

Water! I can see a water canal. Good.

I don't know if I can use my web at this point, but here it goes. I aimed my right arm at the tree before me. I just need to somehow swing down... My arms burned as if it's melting, my shoulder joint popped and twisted and my broken rib grinds against the muscles that it ripped apart. My index finger trembled as a line of web shot out of my wrist and attached itself to the bark of the tree. "HUMFF!!" Grunting and pulling my entire body, I closed in on the tree and detached myself from the ground...

I let the web line go as I fell into the canal, hitting the surface of the water with a splash. Then everything turned black...

[Vol: 2 END][S-0X] Ch: 106 [Exo Skeleton armor]

April 13

I have no idea how much time has passed. Might be an hour or, I dunno... But one thing was sure, I'm not in some canal, but in a room. I looked at the ceiling. It was green and brown, decorated with intricate patterns. I'm pretty sure the patterns just sparkled for a moment there. I must be dazed or delirious with whatever was in the air. The bed I was lying on was very soft, like I was sinking, I turned over and lay on my side. The pillow was... really fluffy!

But something is kinda odd...

I looked around. Uumm... Why is everything so old and ancient? Is this a castle or what?!

I tried to move my body, but couldn't feel anything around my waist. I can only move my right arm and... Fuck! My arm looks pitch black with some kind of scales all over... It's like I grew a fish or lizard skin? What the actual fuck?! My right palm, it's scaly all over too. I looked at my left arm, and it was wrapped up in a glowing bandage... Magic?!

Ancient glowing paintings on the ceiling, old furniture, glowing bandages... Kamar Taj?! Maybe a branch of Kamar Taj? Could also be evil magicians. Well, either that or I was dreaming. Damn it! I tried to move the blanket, but it was really difficult to move my right hand. These scales are too hard. I can barely grab or hold anything.

After trying a few times, I managed to slightly pull it and saw the remaining body of mine. It's scaly all over, from my torso to my hips. Not even the soles of my feet are left... It's like... I became some sort of dragon? Scales, wings, and claws, no canine teeth though. What the fuck am I talking about? This must be one of the new powers...

Considering the explosion intensity and the fact that my nano suit got blasted to smithereens, this scaly thing on my skin must have protected me like armor of some kind. Organic armor?! I kept on examining my arm. I would have thought of other things like who brought me here or is it even safe here? But considering the fact that I'm still alive and kicking... well... minus the kicking part... I just have to believe that whoever rescued me must be good people. I'll eventually know, so no point wasting time thinking about them.

What I need right now is to figure out what this shit on my skin is and if I can control it or not.

After a while, I noticed that I had lost my sense of touch. I mean the sensation of being able to feel my right fingertips or other parts. I must have suffered some real damage that turned off all the nerve connections or the other conclusion that I can think of is because of these scales. And whenever I try to move my right arm, all I hear is scratching sounds... Hmm... Did these scales grow or change the molecular arrangement in some way and cut off or sever the connections to the nerves? That makes more sense.

Haaa... I glanced toward the window. It's morning... I can see the sunrise from here.

With so many questions, I ended up sleeping...

Don't blame me. I'm tired and injured as fuck... I'll know when they're coming to see me anyway, and I'll have time enough to...

The next time when I woke up, an old lady entered the room... She is short and has a sharp, but grumpy face. She seemed a little lean. It's like looking at my grandma after she entered her old age.

I wanted to talk, but I couldn't move my mouth. My tongue! Shit! I can't feel my face, but I can turn it on my sides, well, that's a good thing. The bad thing is that these scales must have grown all over my face. I wonder how fucked up I'm looking, if I get a mirror right now, I might break it looking at myself.

"Ah! You are awake. I'll call her," She muttered while throwing me a quick glance. She turned around and left the room while saying "Wait here for a moment."

'Yeah, yeah, I'll wait here. It's not like I'll run away or anything. Take your time, I'll just lie here,' That's what I'd have liked to say, but sadly my vocal cords won't listen.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, I heard footsteps outside. Then the door opens again...

A familiar girl entered the room along with a bald lady. That young girl is Wanda. I'd have said hi to her, but sadly I can't do that. It would seem that she's doing pretty well. Last time when I saw her at the docks, she was kinda malnourished and thin, but now she looks healthy and fit. I'm glad to see that she's doing well.

As for the bald lady. She was wearing a white robe with golden embroidery patterns and a necklace with a glowing green crystal. I think she's the Ancient One.

Wanda walked near my bed and sat beside me. Her brows furrowed as she examined my face...

'Hey, hey. Don't stare like that. I know that I look ugly, but...' Okay! Let me rephrase that sentence. I can think clearly, but I just can't move my mouth or any other parts of my body...

"Wanda, give us a moment, please," The bald lady spoke.

Wanda nodded and left the room...

Now it's only the Ancient One and me.

The bald lady stared at my face for a few seconds before speaking, "Yeah, I'm the Ancient One. But the question is how do you know?" She asked with a calm and composed expression as she sat on the chair beside the bed.

'Magic?! Or telepathy? She read my mind?!'

"Magic, not telepathy." Ancient One answered.

'Can you read my mind?' I asked.

"Only your thoughts. Your memories, I cannot read," She replied as she placed her palms on the edge of the bed. "I tried but something is blocking my attempts. Maybe it's your power or maybe you are special. I don't know, but one thing I can tell for sure is that you are not normal," Ancient One continued.

'Thanks! I guess? What happened to my body?' I asked.

"You suffered severe injuries. Some of your organs were damaged beyond repair. You almost died due to internal bleeding, but your body healed on its own. However, these scales prevented most of the damage. You might not have survived if not for this armor power of yours," Ancient One answered.

'Armor power? I had no idea I had such power. It must have awakened during the explosion.'

"Interesting... You did not know you had this power?" Ancient One questioned with a surprised expression.

'No, I didn't. I mean yes! I knew I could use different powers, but armor wasn't one of those. Although, armor is kinda a cool name. Exo Skeleton sounds cooler. Soooo... Can you remove these scales?'

"We tried but we failed. These scales grew all over your body and merged with your muscles. It's a part of you and only you can remove it. As for removing them forcefully, it might cause permanent damage to your body. I suggest you gain control over them first," Ancient One explained as she touched my scaly right arm and began to examine it. "So, back to my previous question, how do you know my identity?"

'Don't you already know the answer? Haven't you already seen the future where you asked me countless different questions and learned many things about me? I'm pretty sure that you have already had this conversation with me somewhere in one of your alternate futures.'

"Future vision? How do you know?" Ancient One questioned as she stopped touching my arm and leaned forward while staring at my eyes.

'Humm... Wait!' Her expression shifted a bit. Can't she see my future? I mean, she can, right? Is it probably because of my Immunity power? It work on her too? Too many freaking questions. 'You can't see it, can you?'

"No. I cannot," Ancient One answered as she leaned back.

'Then, I would like to refrain from answering that question because that answer will lead to another question, then another, which might destabilize this timeline and I doubt even you have the power to maintain your sanity after hearing my answer. So, shall we talk about something else, like... How long was I out?'

"Eight months, 12 days, and 15 hours," Ancient One answered.

FUCK!

Ch: 107 [Uncertain future- Savior or Destroyer?]

April 15

"Damn! Eight months?!" I wanted to say it loud but couldn't. Well, I spoke in my mind as usual. "What about my family?" I asked.

"As far as the world knows, Spiderman is dead. He stopped Green Goblin and died a hero. As for your family, I'm sorry, but we couldn't expose ourselves and put them in danger. For all they know, you got into an accident and are recovering under Fantastic Four's care. We have been able to keep it that way for quite a while now. Your relationship with Susan Storm made it easier for us to maintain the story," Ancient One answered as she began to check on the bandaged left arm.

"Well, that's good to know. Oh, by the way, who rescued me? The last thing I remember was crawling toward a canal and that's it," I asked as countless thoughts ran into my mind about what changed in these eight months. To me, it feels like just yesterday... I guess, drinking those serums in one go was a pretty bad idea. But on the bright side, I survived and met the Ancient One.

I wonder what May and the others are doing. Are they alright? Fuck! Eight fucking months. Gwen already knows my identity as Spiderman, so, she either believes that I'm dead or the story of me being under Fantastic Four's care. I hope it's the latter.

"You should thank Wanda," She answered.

"Oh..."

"She was tracking you to thank you for saving her and her brother during the OsCorp incident, and you happened to be floating in a canal with a broken body and scales," She added as she looked into the wound on my arm.

"I see. Well, we are even now, I guess. So, what now? I can barely move my right arm and head. The rest of my body is practically useless. So, use your magic and fix me, yeah?" I said as I smiled with my unmovable lips.

"Ah! I'm afraid that's impossible. I've already tried, but it didn't work. Even Strange's magic wasn't of much use, unfortunately. I'm guessing that's your unique ability. Immunity against foreign power. So, the only one who can fix you is you," Ancient One replied and stood up after checking the wounds.

"Me? How? You want me to learn magic with a barely moving arm?" I asked in disbelief, although not even I could see the expression on my own face, but the meaning got across. Let's pretend to be clueless like this for now. Once I get a grasp of magic, my plan will be completed. Slowly, I'll gain their trust and gain access to all those forbidden magic. I'm pretty sure there's something that will help me travel between realities. But that's a long way to go. For now, I need to get out of bed.

"Learning magic has nothing to do with the arms. With or without hands, you can still cast magic," Ancient One replied, taking my statement literally. "As long as you have focus and willpower, you will eventually learn it. And once you reach a certain level of mastery, you should be able to heal yourself."

"And just like that you are going to teach me magic? Even though you couldn't see my future or my memories. Heck, you barely know me, so, if you don't mind me asking, why?" I asked while hoping for a reasonable excuse.

"Many reasons. But you aren't yet ready to know the answers. All you need to know right now is you need to get back to your feet as soon as possible and lessen the worry of your family. That should be a good reason, right? Then let's start. There's no time like the present. And just so you know, when you are in the Sanctum Sanctorum, you follow our rules," Ancient One replied and stood up as Wanda walked back and entered the room.

"I thought you would be curious to find out what I'm hiding. Were you always this trusting? Did you have a vision from a deity of some kind? Perhaps in your future visions, there is no Spiderman, yet, Spiderman is alive and kicking, right before your eyes. You can not explain this situation, right? If I were to guess further, all the future visions you saw, they are slowly started to become useless. To be more specific, wherever I'm involved, the outcome you predicted and acted upon... in reality, the result completely changed. Like ripples of water in a pond. At first, there are no changes, but as time passes by the ripples get bigger and bigger. Causing an outcome you could have never predicted," I said in my mind.

Ancient One looked at me with a smile, "You are correct. That's why you must get stronger to prevent that one future that still remains unchanged even with you involved. The faster you get back on your feet, the faster I'll show you what exactly happened in that future. We will begin tomorrow, for now, rest up." She left, leaving Wanda alone with me.

"You can read mind too, right?" I asked telepathically.

"Huh! Yeah, sort of," Wanda replied and moved closer to the chair that the Ancient one was sitting on a few minutes ago.

"Thanks for saving me. How have you and your brother been?" I asked.

"Ah, Thanks to you... everything's okay. My brother is staying in the Mutant Academy and I'm here, learning more and more about my abilities," She said happily.

"Good. So," I slowly turned my head toward her, "How handsome am I looking right now? Ten out of ten? A hundred out of one hundred?"

"Huh! You can still manage to make jokes at this time... Who would've thought," She smiled as she conjured a mirror before my face with a simple swish of her finger, "Take a look yourself and tell me, a handsome prince has fallen right before your eyes. How lovely."

I was greeted by my scale-filled face. Ah! That's a freak face. Any sane human would run away at this sight. Now, I know how bad of a life The Thing is going through daily. His is rock and mine is freaking scale armor.

"Now that's a face you can't forget. Girls will die of heart attack at a mere glance. A face that will haunt any sane person's dream. Fuck! That's bad," I thought to myself while maintaining a calm mind. I look like a freak.

"Yep! Pretty messed up. I wanted to use my unique magic to heal you, but she stopped me saying, 'Reality manipulation is a hard and dangerous thing, you shouldn't use it recklessly. It can break the very fabric of reality if you lose control.' I mean, come on, I can do it. But, you know the rules. She's the boss," Wanda shook her head helplessly and sighed.

"She's right though. It's dangerous, isn't it?" I asked with a slight smile. I don't know if she saw it. Oh, well...

"Yeah, it's dangerous. I know. I just wish to use all this new magic on the field, but I'm not allowed to use it because 'It can cause irreparable damage.' 'Magic should not be used like that,' 'Reality warping and reality manipulation can put you in danger if not used under a master's supervision' and blah blah blah," She imitated an old lady's voice and added, "You know what she sounded like? Always cool and calm and cryptic."

We talked for a few minutes... Maybe hours...

Wanda kept on telling me about her life here. She gave me a brief layout of this place and the routine everyone follows. She hates the food. So she sneaked out a couple of times and was caught by Dr. Strange, but she blackmailed him into buying her food. They have a deal of some sort. Well, Wanda caught Strange using memory manipulation on Wong for fun on multiple occasions and used that as leverage.

---

[3rd Person POV]

[Master Hall]

Ancient One entered the room and noticed Dr. Strange already waiting for her.

"So...?" Dr. Strange raised his eyebrow questionably. He has been having dreams for a while and he saw his mentor getting stabbed by the dark wizard and then the arrival of a purple Titan on Earth, followed by endless chaos. That is going to happen in the future. But, recently something changed. The vision kept changing randomly and in each of these new visions, Spiderman is involved. These visions are so random, that even someone of his caliber was confused and lost. "Got anything out of him?"

"I couldn't see through him. But surprisingly he possesses great potential. It may even exceed you and Wanda, Strange," Ancient One replied. She tested his magic aptitude when she was examining his arms and it came out the strongest she had seen in a human.

"Are you serious?" Dr. Strange narrowed his eyes.

"Not only that, he has somehow awakened Chi in his body alongside magic. He's the key to stopping the upcoming doom," She added as she took her usual seat.

"But you do know the alternate future, right? The future where Spiderman becomes the biggest threat the entire universe or should I say the entire multiverse had ever encountered, right?" Dr. Strange said as he sat on the other side of the table and poured two cups of tea.

"That's why, it's our duty to guide him. Just like how I guided you and Wanda, we must not let his destiny walk that dark path, and bring forth a brighter future," Ancient One replied with a smile.

"But how are you planning to prevent her death? We can not act according to our visions. You know the rules. We can't destabilize the timeline. But... If we don't act..." Strange asked while analyzing her actions.

Ancient One replied calmly, "There's a thin line between revealing the truth and ignorance. At the end of the day, the outcome that we've foreseen is what is going to happen, albeit changed due to our interference or not. Time isn't static, Strange. We have our responsibilities in the grand scheme of things, but in the end, we are just actors playing our roles in the predetermined scenario. If we overstep our boundaries, the cost we would pay would be tremendous and unmeasurable."

"You are just going to let her die then?" Strange slightly raised his voice, before calming down, shaking his head with a sigh, noticing Ancient One's stoic face, "Do whatever you wish." He stood up and opened a portal. "I just hope you are right this time too..." He walked into the portal.

"So do I... So do I... Stephen," Ancient One silently looked into the cloudy New York skyline through her vision as destruction ravaged the city. "So do I."