Restart, Spider-Man! [140] [DDD!]

Last December Double Drop!

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"Ma'am, Peter Parker has brought Spider-Man."

"Peter Parker? Who's that?" Ophelia barely remembered the names of small fry.

Cindy explained, "He's the one we took the symbiote from. He wants to exchange Spider-Man for his partner."

Ophelia snickered at this. "Imagine calling a dangerous symbiote a 'partner.' I can't decide if he's naive or just plain foolish."

"Fine, let him in. I'd like to see what's so special about this Spider-Man from another universe," she said.

Cindy hesitated. "Another Spider-Man might not be affected by the gene toxin. If he…"

"If he what?" Ophelia smirked. "If Spider-Man's using this as a ruse to get close to me? Is that what you're thinking?"

Cindy nodded. "Yes. Spider-Men are always cunning; we can't let our guard down."

"No need to worry."

Ophelia drew back the curtain, her expression amused.

"They've tracked me down so quickly; that's impressive. Rather than leaving them to plot in the shadows, let's meet them now. Here, I have absolute control."

With Ophelia's decision made, Cindy fell silent.

Soon after, Lizard Parker strode into the room with Xia Luo slumped over his shoulder. Felicia, meanwhile, looked around curiously, her gaze searching for the energy shield Xia Luo had warned them about.

Draped in her snakeskin robe, Ophelia regarded Lizard Parker coolly. She hadn't activated her charm, so Lizard Parker wasn't immediately captivated by her allure.

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Ma'am, Cindy says you're the most dignified queen here. Are we supposed to kneel or something?"

Xia Luo: "…"

Felicia: "…"

Ophelia: "…"

No wonder he and that brute hit it off; pure innocence, clearly.

"Do as you like. I'm more interested in knowing if the one on your shoulder really is Spider-Man," she said.

Without hesitation, Lizard Parker dropped Xia Luo unceremoniously to the floor. "Yep, he's Spider-Man."

Xia Luo: "…"

He's definitely doing that on purpose!

"How can you prove it?" Ophelia asked.

Lizard Parker fumbled in his pocket, pulling out a Spider emblem. "Here's his suit. I'll put it on him to show—"

"No need. I was just teasing."

Ophelia had no desire to watch Lizard Parker's antics. She crouched down, tracing Xia Luo's cheek with her long fingers. A flash of her snake-like tongue gathered Xia Luo's genetic information.

"Perfect… Compared to those wild-grown test subjects, he's clearly more refined."

Seeing how Ophelia touched Xia Luo, Lizard Parker swallowed hard.

If he'd known this would happen, he would've swapped places with Xia Luo!

But even that wasn't enough to distract him from the task at hand.

"Ahem. I want to exchange him for the symbiote," he announced.

Ophelia shook her head. "Impossible."

"Uh… Can't we negotiate?" Lizard Parker widened his eyes, putting on a pitiful look.

Felicia couldn't stand it any longer. She stepped forward. "From the moment we walked in here, I knew we were doomed."

"Oh? Do tell," Ophelia said, intrigued.

Lizard Parker leaned closer to Felicia, whispering, "You messed up your line."

"No, I didn't."

Pointing to Xia Luo and Lizard Parker, she continued, "They're working together. Technically, before we came in here, we were all working together."

"Hey, Big Cat, what do you mean?" Lizard Parker felt a twinge of worry.

"Don't call me 'Big Cat'—it's gross." Felicia wrinkled her nose. "Can't you tell? Xia Luo used us."

"What?" Lizard Parker looked shocked.

Before he could say more, Felicia added, "Even if we help him take out the Viper Lady, we'll never make it out of here. And my guess is, the Lady here has already seen through our plan. Isn't that right?"

She looked at Ophelia, taking a deep breath.

"I thought this would just be a simple assassination. But as I walked through here, I saw too many terrifying things. I don't want to die, so… I'm sorry, Peter, but I'm not dying for this."

With that, she took a step back, drawing a clear line between herself and the others.

"Ma'am, if I tell you the truth, can I leave here alive?" she asked, pleadingly.

Ophelia nodded approvingly. "I like a smart woman. If you agree to serve me, I'd be willing to spare you."

"Thank you," Felicia said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Lizard Parker was deep in thought, glancing back and forth between Xia Luo and Felicia. Slowly, he pieced things together.

"That scoundrel! He almost tricked me again."

Lizard Parker glared at Xia Luo. "Stop playing dead. She's already figured us out! So what? You planned to use me again, didn't you? Never cared whether I'd make it out or not, right?"

"He's all yours to manipulate."

Ophelia looked down at Xia Luo's unmoving body, her smile growing.

"No Spider-Man can resist my gene toxin. You made the right choice," she said.

"Gene toxin?"

Felicia and Lizard Parker looked at each other, confused.

It was something Xia Luo hadn't mentioned.

Ophelia didn't elaborate. She merely waved her hand. "From the moment he stepped in here, his fate was sealed."

"Cindy, take them away. I have my own plans for this perfect Spider-Man."

"Wait." Lizard Parker looked at her warily. "What are you going to do to him?"

Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "You seem awfully concerned about him. Aren't you even curious about what I'll do with you?"

"Not at all."

Lizard Parker scoffed, "I just want to know how he's going to die."

For all the times Xia Luo had tricked him, Lizard Parker wanted to get even—but he also found himself genuinely worried.

Conflicted emotions twisted inside him, though he didn't recognize them as such.

Ophelia burst into laughter.

"Ahaha, this is rich! It seems you really have been deceived. But you can't lie to yourself—you care about your friend. Too bad you've already made your choice."

"No, seriously, I just want to know how he'll die," Lizard Parker insisted, stubbornly.

Ophelia laughed, delighted. "Very well. Meeting someone like you has put me in a good mood. I don't mind sharing."

She grabbed one of Xia Luo's legs and dragged him toward the bed.

Xia Luo: "…"

No way—there's a whole audience here!

Luckily, Ophelia wasn't one for public demonstrations.

Turning back to the others, she began, "Years ago, I started a project. I wanted to create a perfect child—a child with beauty and strength beyond compare."

Lizard Parker: "???"

"What's that got to do with this loser?" he asked.

As Ophelia laid Xia Luo on the bed, she answered, "A perfect Spider-Man, paired with a perfect Viper Lady. Do you see the connection?"

"What?"

Felicia gasped, "Are you saying you want to—?"

Ophelia nodded. "Indeed. I've waited too long to create a truly perfect offspring. Gene engineering has its limits, and while advanced technology can do much, there is still nothing as effective as the most… natural method."

She smirked, casting a sidelong glance at Xia Luo. "So when you brought him to me, I was thrilled. I won't need to kill you now; consider it my thanks."

With that, she pulled the bed curtains closed.

"You'd best leave… while I'm feeling generous."

Watching her climb onto Xia Luo, Lizard Parker's eyes filled with tragic tears.

"Why… Why is he getting this? I really thought he was in for a horrible end… This is so unfair! If I had another chance, I'd be the one taking the most dangerous role! That would've been perfect for me!"

His voice cracked in sorrow.

He was practically drooling with envy.

"Let's go, don't disturb them," Felicia muttered, urging him along.

As the two left, Cindy met them at the door with a scornful smirk.

"Did you really think Spider-Man could leave here alive?"

"What do you mean?" Lizard Parker asked, alarmed.

Cindy walked them out, explaining as they went.

"Madam is both the world's most flawless woman and the deadliest. Spider-Man has no chance of surviving this."

Lizard Parker's face fell. "How can that be? That idiot's her… man now, isn't he? She wouldn't…"

"Why wouldn't she?"

Cindy halted, shooting him a knowing look.

"The truth is, Lady Viper's lethal nature comes from more than just her ruthless heart. Her body itself is laced with deadly toxins.

Her gene toxin is a curse from which no man can escape… not even Spider-Man."

"So Xia Luo… is doomed?" Lizard Parker's face turned grave.

As much as he hated that con artist, there were moments when the guy wasn't so bad…

Wait, since when had he started to think that?

Lizard Parker thought for a moment; not great, but not terrible either.

"What do you plan to do?" Felicia asked, nodding towards the Cindy clones scattered around.

"Even if you regret it, the fact remains: you can't save him."

Lizard Parker took a deep, shaky breath, his body trembling.

"But he got me out of the survival game. That's a fact too… if I just leave him now, I'll be haunted by it."

Felicia shook her head. "Well, good luck then."

She stepped back, watching as Peter transformed into the Lizard and threw himself into the swarm.

That guy wouldn't actually die, so she couldn't understand what he was fighting for.

Was this the famed "brotherhood" people talked about?

She didn't get it.

Inside the room, Ophelia paused at the sound of the commotion.

She glanced at the door, frowning. "Looks like your friend had second thoughts."

"I knew he would. He's a kind person."

Xia Luo spoke up, and Ophelia wasn't surprised.

From the gene information she'd extracted, she understood that this Spider-Man wasn't fully affected by her gene toxin.

But it didn't matter—he couldn't resist.

Xia Luo cast a glance toward the door and shook his head.

"Actually, my original plan was to let them kill you."

"Was it now?" Ophelia continued her work, and Xia Luo considered his options.

"So, aside from covering me in saliva, what else can you do?"

Ophelia: "…"

"Be quiet!"

"Could you hurry up? I'm on a tight schedule."

"So am I."

Pain flashed across Ophelia's face, but her efforts only increased.

Her long-held wish was finally coming true.

As a child, scarred and insecure, she'd hated the strange looks people cast her way.

She felt small, weak, afraid.

She yearned to be beautiful, to be flawless, because people are visual creatures. They only value the beautiful.

As she grew older, she understood this more and more.

Perfection meant everything to a woman.

In her search for perfection, she'd been lured into a Hydra experimental facility as a young girl.

The experiments succeeded; she gained a flawless figure, a beautiful face, and an unnaturally long life.

But the experiments also failed. Her body was full of toxins, and no one wanted to be around a beautiful but "poisonous" woman.

Everyone feared her.

She tried to explain that her gene toxins didn't harm ordinary people.

But no one believed her.

Even as a perfect woman, she remained insecure, weak, afraid.

Until she found a new goal.

Power!

A perfect woman shouldn't just look perfect—everything about her should be flawless.

Using her gene toxin, she eliminated her rivals and took one step closer to becoming her ideal self.

On one secret mission, she killed Steve Rogers, Hydra's greatest adversary.

That earned her a place among Hydra's core members.

She had power, beauty—she was even closer to her idea of perfection.

But she wasn't satisfied.

Because a woman's worth wasn't just measured by beauty and success.

There was also legacy!

So, she decided to continue her quest for perfection.

Unfortunately, the men around her had inferior genes.

Even Captain America's genes were, in her view, worthless.

She wasn't impressed, so she continued to wait.

She wouldn't settle for less than perfection.

She needed a man with flawless genes.

But after all these years, she'd still found nothing.

So she decided she would create the perfect child with her own hands.

A child powerful and without weakness— a perfect being.

That was how her Spider-Man program was born.

But to her frustration, the test subject most compatible with the mutated cells turned out to be… a woman.

She'd been so annoyed.

She'd already confirmed that children born from gene engineering weren't perfect enough.

She didn't believe in God, but fate had granted her a gift anyway.

A perfect Spider-Man named Xia Luo Parker appeared before her.

She was overjoyed, nearly impatient.

At last, her dreams were coming true.

No—there was more.

Hydra had begun to fade from the world's memory.

Dwindling power had tarnished her sense of perfection.

It was time for the world to know the name "Ophelia" again.

It was a name that would mean the ultimate, flawless life.

The most perfect beauty, the most supreme authority, and a child without weakness.

Ophelia would have everything perfect.

No one would ever remember the ugly duckling.

Never again!

Ophelia's fervor grew, and Xia Luo knew the moment had come.

He'd reset so many times; there was no way he didn't have a backup plan.

He appreciated Felicia's improvisation and knew that Lizard Parker wasn't suited to deception.

It was impossible for the two of them to fool Ophelia alone.

So, his backup plan was Shiba Inu Thor and Crocodile Loki.

However, the "betrayal" of his team had given him unexpected inspiration.

If people could betray, then so could the gene toxin!

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A/N: Apologies for the mishap on this round, folks. I'll patch it up in the next chapter—just one more shot! I'll get it right next time, I swear (nervous laughter).

T/N: even I'm slightly getting tired of the many restarts T^T

Spotted any mistakes or awkward wording? Let me know—I'm always looking to improve!

Also, quick reminder: take a moment to check your posture and sip some water. Stay comfy while you read!

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