Restart, Spider-Man! [160]
"Has what?" Xia Luo feigned ignorance.
"Let's just say he has unique tastes…"
As soon as he finished speaking, Harry's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Xia Luo: "…"
One by one, Carter and the others also buckled, sinking to the ground with labored breaths, beads of cold sweat dotting their foreheads.
"I… I can't breathe…" Carter's face turned pale.
Natasha struggled to hold herself up, feeling weaker than she ever had before.
"We've been had," she muttered, grimacing.
Clint's bow slipped from his hands, and he half-knelt on the ground, his gaze locked on Ophelia across from him.
"It's her… she did this."
"Did what?"
Tony frowned as the holographic display in his helmet flickered.
"Sir… unknown virus detected. Systems shutting down…"
"What?"
The moment his suit shut down, Tony suddenly felt the full weight of the armor, rendering him immobile. Without the assistance of the suit's internal systems, his own strength couldn't even begin to maneuver it.
As his allies faltered, Xia Luo clutched his head and slumped to the floor.
"Oh… my head is spinning. Could someone bring me two glasses of fresh juice? Preferably freshly squeezed."
Watching this unfold, Ophelia chuckled softly behind her hand.
"Well, well… how could you not tell I was stalling to release a toxin? For all your bluster, Avengers, you're nothing more than fools. What an embarrassment."
Tony gritted his teeth. "What kind of toxin could bypass my suit's systems? That's impossible."
"Oh, it's very possible."
Ophelia smirked. "The virus that infiltrated your suit wasn't my doing."
She tapped on a virtual console, and the screen lit up with the sinister visage of Red Skull, her eyes glinting an eerie green as lines of code flashed.
"She's an AI!" Tony's face turned ashen.
Ophelia sneered, "This was only a minor favor from Dr. Zola. Remember that in hell, Avengers—gossip won't do you any good."
Pietro instinctively shuffled a little further from Ophelia, leaning toward Wanda.
"Did you hear that? Time to swear off gossip," he whispered.
Wanda flipped her auburn hair and rolled her eyes. "Mind your own business."
"I'm your brother; of course I'll mind your business."
"You're older by half a minute, at most."
"It still counts—uh, wait… what's this?"
Pietro glanced down to find fine, nearly invisible webs tangled around his legs.
"Is this…?"
Wanda's eyes widened. "It's a trap! Pietro, move—"
In an instant, Xia Luo yanked on the glittering webbing.
Thrum!
The webbing tightened instantly, enclosing Pietro and the others in an intricate snare.
Slash, slash—
"Aaagh!!"
"No!"
Cries of pain rang out as blood sprayed, only for scarlet energy to explode around them, sending tendrils of bloody mist swirling.
"Damn it! Spider-Man wasn't affected by the poison at all!"
Madam Gao hacked away at the webbing with her sword-staff, rolling clumsily to the side. Her black robe was shredded and soaked in blood from the web's sharp edges. Thankfully, her telekinesis had slowed the webs enough to prevent a worse fate.
Nearby, Ophelia's severed head rolled across the ground, her face still wearing a smug smile, even in death.
Across the field, Wanda tended to Pietro, who was clutching his severely injured leg.
"Are you alright?"
Scarlet energy flowed from her hands, trying to staunch the bleeding, but the wound was too deep, blood still gushing from the bone-deep gash.
Healing wasn't her forte.
Seeing Pietro's face grow paler, Wanda was left with no choice. She forced the wound closed with her magic, knowing full well it would cause him excruciating pain.
"Argh! Easy, Wanda—I feel like I'm dying!"
"Blood loss does that," Wanda replied coldly.
Sweat beaded on Pietro's forehead. "Here I am, on death's door, and you don't even look worried. No more pink princess dresses for you!"
"Shut it. And don't you dare tell anyone about this," Wanda gritted out.
Pietro pressed his lips together, nodding emphatically.
Meanwhile, Otto Octavius seemed untouched, his mechanical arms completely unharmed by the webs. Rose, however, had a slight scratch on her arm, which sent Otto into a rage.
"You damned insect! I'll tear you apart!"
Xia Luo scratched his head. "You scratched her with your own arm. How's that my fault?"
Otto: "…"
He looked at Rose.
She nodded. "You did get a bit… overzealous."
Otto: "…"
"I don't care. I'm going to shred this bug."
Embarrassed, his eyes reddened as the blood-red mist around him thickened, his mechanical arms lashing out.
The air grew oppressive as the colossal phantom of HYDRA's sigil loomed once more, clawing at the ground in its bloodthirsty fury. Xia Luo's eyes narrowed at the horrifying display.
"Oh, boy. You're supposed to be a mentor, Otto. Right now? You're failing."
Xia Luo fired a web, slinging Harry and the others to safety on a nearby patch of grass. Then, he launched himself skyward in an electric arc.
Bzzzt!
Hummm!
High above, the electricity spiraled around him.
"Electric Spiral Strike!"
Zap—BOOM!
A massive electric drill spun downward, crashing against Otto's vibrating vibranium arms as he formed a protective shield around Rose.
Crackle
Hummm!
Sparks flew, electricity flaring wildly, but Otto's vibranium-augmented arms held strong.
"Ha! Insect, die!!"
Otto's expression twisted in rage as the HYDRA sigil behind him reared up, forming colossal, hundred-foot-long blood-red tendrils, each eye on their suctions glinting ominously.
All at once, the eyes fired a barrage of red lasers, aiming to turn Xia Luo into Swiss cheese.
"Oh, what? Really? Taking 'if looks could kill' a little too literally here!"
Xia Luo flipped and dodged, a stream of lasers hot on his trail. He veered toward Wanda and Pietro's position, the lasers following suit.
"What the—?!"
Wanda's face went pale. Scarlet energy flared from her hands to shield against the onslaught.
Pow, pow, pow!
Boom!
The ensuing blast threw Wanda and Pietro off their feet, clearly outmatched by Otto's power. Pietro was sent hurtling toward the artificial sun.
"No! Pietro!"
In horror, Wanda lunged forward, but she was too late.
Bzzzt!
A blue flash appeared, whisking Pietro out of mid-air.
"Hey, here's your brother," Xia Luo said, holding Pietro as he returned to the war-torn battlefield. Wanda heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Spider-Man—"
"Don't mention it. He's my hostage. You know the drill."
Xia Luo promptly tossed Pietro over to Carter.
Wanda: "…"
Carter took a deep breath, forcing herself to her feet and steadying Pietro with her shield.
Ophelia's toxin, potent as it was, didn't seem designed to kill them outright, and her recovery was almost complete.
Seeing this, Wanda exhaled sharply and unleashed a scarlet blast at Otto.
"You dare turn on HYDRA, child?"
Otto was furious, effortlessly swatting aside the crimson energy with a single tendril.
Rose, now behind him, whispered, "Focus on the task. The Temporal Tablet is still drawing energy from the artificial sun. We can't let it keep absorbing power."
"Understood."
Otto had absolute trust in his wife.
Immediately, his mechanical arms lashed out, ignoring Xia Luo and Wanda's attacks as they shot toward the artificial sun.
Seeing this, Xia Luo knew he had no choice but to try something new.
Squeak, squeak!
Arc-Spider bit down on Xia Luo's wrist, and waves of red and blue magic surged through his veins, fusing with the electric energy around him.
Boom!
With the power from both of his miniature spiders, Xia Luo was faster and stronger than ever before. But the energy coursing through him was chaotic, each force clashing against the other, threatening to tear him apart.
But he didn't have time to care.
Against Otto Octavius, bolstered by the power of HYDRA, he couldn't afford any slip-ups.
Venom Mode: 100 Kill Points, 100% Critical Rate!
"Pretty Witch! Give me a boost!"
He shouted, transforming into a magical arc of lightning as he charged straight for Otto.
Wanda didn't hesitate. Her hands flared up with brilliant scarlet energy, adding a surge that propelled his electric arc forward like a rocket.
BOOM!
In an instant, Xia Luo's magic-infused electric form became a second artificial sun, blindingly bright with streaks of red and blue that flared even brighter than the lab's reactor core.
With every ounce of power concentrated, the electrified figure tore across the field, scarring the ground with a massive trench as it barreled straight at Otto.
Focused on the Temporal Tablet, Otto held his vibranium claws steady under the crushing heat from the artificial sun. But as the magical arc charged forward, Otto's face tightened.
"Rose, get back!"
Without looking back, he spread his arms wide, summoning a sea of blood-red tendrils from the HYDRA shadow coiled at his back.
Gah-hah-hah…
In that moment, an evil laughter echoed through the void around them—a haunting, otherworldly sound, as if summoned from the depths of hell or an eldritch dimension.
"Die!!" Otto roared, and the HYDRA phantom shot its tendrils forward, surrounding the magical lightning.
Buzz… BOOM!
The ground quaked, blood-red tendrils crashed against the earth, and the arc of red-and-blue magic burst apart as a tidal wave of darkness surged over it.
The shockwave radiated outwards, destabilizing the reactor further, and once more it ballooned with energy, pulling everything around it in as it collapsed inward, only to expand yet again.
"It's going to implode!" Carter yelled, pulling out her web-shooter and anchoring a line from Harry and the others to a nearby tree.
Boom!
The artificial sun's gravity intensified, tearing the mansion apart piece by piece, dragging every fragment into its core to be consumed and melted.
Meanwhile, Carter and the others, caught in the pull, began to lift from the ground.
"What do we do? I don't even have the strength to struggle!" Natasha shouted.
Clint, pale, glanced over at her. "Then how are you shouting so loud?"
"What? I~ can't~ hear~ you~"
Buffeted by the fierce winds, the group swayed like leaves in a storm, held back only by the single webline keeping them from the sun's grip.
Nearby, Otto's final assault had left a trench stretching hundreds of meters, at the end of which lay Xia Luo, his suit in tatters, the once-glowing spider emblems on his chest fading one by one.
One… two… three…
With the fifth emblem's light extinguished, his suit finally disintegrated, leaving only a fractured mask to cover his face.
Yet, with the sixth emblem's flare, Xia Luo felt a resurgence of strength, finally shaking free from the darkness.
Otto, panting and drained, still had a thin layer of blood mist surrounding him, enough to press on.
"Pathetic bug… I've won!" Otto cackled, his grin twisted as Xia Luo struggled to his feet.
Slowly, Xia Luo raised a trembling hand, his fingers brushing his mask.
"Dr. Octavius… if Spider-Man can't stop you, then maybe…"
He took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"If that doesn't work, then I'll do what I have to."
He knew he couldn't defeat this HYDRA-infused Otto, but mutual destruction was still within reach.
It would mean losing a friend.
Someone who once wanted to share the Nobel Prize with him.
And it would mean gaining a formidable enemy if he were ever resurrected.
He'd hold off if there was another way.
Otto sneered. "What's this, bug? Do you have something to say?"
"I think…"
Before Xia Luo could finish, a piercing scream cut through the air.
"No! Otto, help me!!" Rose's terrified voice rang out.
"What?!"
Otto spun around, only to see Madam Gao gripping Rose's throat, her aged face cold and ruthless.
"Hand over the Temporal Tablet," she demanded.
"The Tablet will be yours! Just let Rose go," Otto replied, his tendrils reaching for the Tablet.
As soon as Madam Gao laid eyes on it, her face twisted in greedy anticipation.
This was why she'd partnered with HYDRA. The Temporal Tablet had always been her goal.
With the HYDRA queen dead and Otto weakened, this was her best chance.
The HYDRA might have wanted the Tablet, but she wanted it more.
"HYDRA needs the Tablet too. Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, smirking.
Otto clenched his jaw. "I don't care. I just want Rose back."
"Good. We'll exchange on three."
"Fine."
"One, two, three!"
In a single movement, Otto hurled the Tablet at Madam Gao, who promptly tossed Rose toward the artificial sun.
"No!"
"Rose!"
Otto's eyes went wide with horror as his mechanical arm shot forward to catch her, but the reactor's magnetic pull wrenched her out of reach, his claws grasping at empty air.
He'd lost her.
Otto's face contorted with shock and despair as he realized he'd failed to save her.
Meanwhile, the gravitational surge snapped Carter's webline, tearing her and the others free from their anchor.
"Pietro!" Wanda extended her scarlet magic, trying to stop them, but she could barely hold herself back, let alone pull her brother to safety.
As she watched her only family be pulled towards the reactor's core, a lone figure shot forward into the maelstrom, racing past them toward the heart of the sun.
In his wake, a lattice of spatial webs stretched out, intercepting the tumbling heroes and holding them back.
"Spider-Man!"
"Spider-Man!"
From the webs, the others shouted his name in surprise.
"Really? Even now, you're calling out your own name?" Carter said, shaking her head.
"Sorry, just one last time."
A single webline held him steady as he glanced over at the unconscious Harry and finally at Carter.
"This time… Spider-Man couldn't save the world."
"What?" Carter's eyes widened as realization dawned.
Xia Luo shook his head. "They're conducting the same experiment across the globe, and HYDRA's close to success. I've got to try something risky."
"Is this really your plan?" Carter clenched her fists. "I'll go with you."
"No. I need you here to handle the aftermath. This time, it's all on me."
Xia Luo loosened his grip on the line, looking at her one last time.
"This is a one-shot deal, a straight run to the end. There's no margin for error. If I fail…"
HYDRA's victory would spell global chaos, a world in which no one—not heroes, not even civilians—could be guaranteed survival.
Even Spider-Man couldn't stand alone against a world plunged into darkness.
Without interference, each reactor would be unstable in less than twenty-four hours.
One shot. No resets. In this resurrection cycle, he had to succeed and unravel HYDRA's scheme.
He wasn't confident, but he'd give it his all.
As the wind whipped around them, Xia Luo's mouth moved silently, lost in the storm.
But Carter knew what he'd said.
The Spider emblem on Xia Luo's chest flared one last time, a powerful blast that pushed the reactor towards the ocean. He vanished into the fiery orb as it descended.
The blast wave sent Carter and the others flying from the webbing, freeing them from the sun's gravitational grip.
"He sacrificed himself…"
Wanda clutched Pietro, staring at the reactor sinking into the sea, awestruck.
Pietro, holding his bleeding leg, muttered, "So… that's Spider-Man's spirit?"
He shook his head, his expression a mix of confusion and admiration.
"I don't get it. Why did he save me? I'm his enemy."
Wanda shook her head. "Maybe he's just different… Maybe he's an actual hero."
Nearby, Otto held Rose close.
"Spider-Man saved me," Rose said, her eyes reflecting a complex mix of emotions.
Otto sighed. "I… I think I misjudged him. I'm sorry."
"Do you think he'll survive?" Rose asked.
Otto hesitated. "The artificial sun would vaporize him completely. I don't know. Maybe… maybe not."
They stood on the shoreline, watching the water settle as the sea cooled, none willing to continue the battle.
After an unmeasured silence, Carter's communicator crackled to life.
She blinked, snapping back to reality. "This is Carter."
"Captain, there's… there's something serious."
Agent Hill's voice was strained, her tone unsettled.
"Did you know Spider-Man was Xia Luo Parker?"
"What?"
Carter was stunned. "How did you find out about this?"
Agent Hill's voice came through, tense and hurried. "The Daily Bugle just broadcasted it across the entire city—Xia Luo Parker is Spider-Man. Everybody knows now."
"What?!"
Frantically, Carter pulled out her phone, only to see the flashing headline:
"Spider-Man Exposed as Public Menace: New York's Biggest Pest is Xia Luo Parker, just a regular kid from Empire State University!"
In the video clip, J. Jonah Jameson, cigar in hand, leaned forward with a scowl.
"From now on, every single person Spider-Man has ever 'wronged' will be out for Xia Luo Parker's blood. This kid is done for!"
"No way…"
"Xia Luo Parker is Spider-Man—that bug!"
Otto Octavius froze, completely taken aback.
Everyone was speechless, the weight of the revelation settling over them like a dark cloud.
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind Carter.
"Carter! To your left!"
"Huh?"
She turned, and her eyes widened as she saw an elderly Steve Rogers, shield in hand, sprinting toward her.
"No time to explain—get to Spider-Man's family. Save them before it's too late!" he shouted urgently.
Carter blinked in disbelief.
What on earth was happening?
Seems like this resurrection round could be interesting. Not as messy as the last one.
---
T/N: I KNEW IT I KNEW THE ROUND WAS GONNA BE ON HIS EARTH! anyway Xia Luo def said I love you at the end there
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