Restart, Spider-Man! [159]
The HYDRA agents around him had no time to react.
"No!" Rose cried as a flash of silver streaked forward to intercept him.
Crackle… Bam bam bam!
Electric sparks exploded as Xia Luo and the silver blur clashed in midair. Each time he tried to approach the power source, the silver figure intercepted him, forcing Xia Luo to shift tactics and target the antennas.
Boom!
But before he could connect, a thick blood-red mist spread through the air. Four metallic tentacles whipped out, extending from a bloody spine on Dr. Octavius's back, wrapping Xia Luo in a cloud of red haze.
"What the…?"
Caught in the mist, sparks erupted from Xia Luo's nanomaterial armor, forcing him to dodge. Firing a web, he swung onto a steel beam near the ceiling, watching as the tentacles retracted, embedding themselves into the spine at Octavius's back.
"The Black Spine of HYDRA!"
Rose had transplanted one of HYDRA's infamous Black Spines into Otto—there was a fourth spine after all.
Across the room, the silver blur slowed to reveal a young man with silvery hair clad in a light blue suit.
Pietro Django Maximoff! Quicksilver, twin brother of the Scarlet Witch… or maybe her older brother?
Trouble just doubled.
Quicksilver's speed clearly exceeded his own, Xia Luo thought grimly.
Clack, clack, clack.
The mechanical tentacles swayed menacingly as Dr. Octavius positioned himself protectively in front of the artificial sun. With a slight wince, he reached out a tentacle to retrieve a pair of sunglasses from a nearby shelf.
As he put them on, he looked every bit the ruthless Doc Ock from Xia Luo's memories.
"Spider-Man, out of respect for Xia Luo, I'm giving you a chance to leave. If you don't, I won't hesitate to turn you into fuel for the sun."
Xia Luo drew in a deep breath. "Your wife is with HYDRA; she's destroying you."
"No, she saved me!" Dr. Octavius's voice trembled with emotion. "And I'll do the same for her. A husband and wife are meant to save each other, and I've chosen to believe her."
Hearing this, Xia Luo knew there was no use arguing.
Zzzt…
With a burst of blue electricity, Xia Luo launched forward, prompting Pietro to smirk and pick his nose dismissively before transforming back into a silver blur and intercepting him.
Splat!
Blue webs exploded, veiling Pietro mid-lunge and knocking him off course.
"Dammit!" The young mutant struggled, clawing at the webs to free himself.
Meanwhile, Dr. Octavius roared, the red lights in his tentacles pulsing as they zeroed in on Xia Luo.
Crunch!
The tentacles slammed him against the wall, pinning his limbs firmly in place.
"Spider-Man, you can't hide from us."
Octavius's smile grew darker as blood-red tentacles erupted from his back. Each was lined with monstrous eyes, twitching and hungry.
Without a word, Xia Luo activated his own four mechanical limbs.
Clang, clang!
Their mechanical arms clashed in a fierce exchange, with sparks and metal flying. But Octavius's tentacles held firm while Xia Luo's bent under the strain.
"It's useless, Spider-Man. These tentacles are reinforced with vibranium—HYDRA's second gift to my husband. There's no way your strength can break them."
Rose stepped up beside her husband, her familiar smile making Otto's heart swell with affection.
"Son of a…." Xia Luo growled in frustration. "So having money makes you invincible?"
Chirp chirp
The Arc-Spider scampered off his chest, and Xia Luo's Mystic Spider climbed up his arm, its mandibles glowing with eldritch energy.
Chomp
As it bit down, a surge of magic flooded into Xia Luo's body.
Whirr
With his muscles swelling and his eyes glowing a venomous red, he activated Venom Mode.
Boom!
With over a hundred tons of force, he flexed, making Otto's tentacles quiver.
"Now!" Rose shouted. Pietro, freed from the webs, dashed back into the fray, colliding with Xia Luo at lightning speed.
Wham, wham, wham!
Silver light flashed, shards of nanomaterial flying, but Xia Luo's now-purple veins pulsed as he withstood the brutal impacts.
"Fast… but not strong enough."
With a smirk, Xia Luo's chest emblem, a spider totem, expanded outward.
"Explode!"
Kaboom!
A massive spider-shaped blast erupted, sending debris flying. Octavius immediately shielded Rose with his body, while Pietro flitted through the wreckage, his speed barely protecting him from the sharp debris.
Crack!
The lab equipment toppled as sparks flew from the power source. The artificial sun fluctuated but remained stable behind its reinforced shield.
Whoosh
Out of the magic-induced explosion, Xia Luo shot up.
Boom!
He burst through the ceiling, only to see the debris suspended in midair, reassembling into a steel and concrete cage around him.
"What…?"
Xia Luo's eyes widened. Magneto?
No way. This isn't the revival tournament!
Crack
As the cage formed around him, Xia Luo detonated his second spider totem.
Kaboom!
With a flash of magic, the cage shattered, allowing him to swing into the open sky. Below, the lab glowed with the fierce light of the artificial sun.
Hovering above, Xia Luo noticed a black-clad woman holding a cane at the edge of the hole in the ceiling.
Relief washed over him—it wasn't Magneto.
Still, the situation wasn't much better.
"Oh, Madam Gao, missed your chance for a sneak attack. It seems your Hand won't be getting that partnership with us."
A familiar snake-like figure appeared beside her, sending a shiver down Xia Luo's spine.
Madame Viper!
"This world's Madame Viper… just great," he muttered to himself.
Gao frowned at Viper. "Your toxin didn't work on him. That's why we lost the advantage."
With a sly smile, Madame Viper waved her hand dismissively. "Relax, we're just getting started." She glanced at Xia Luo and confidently held up three fingers.
"Counting down."
"One, two, three."
Xia Luo tilted his head in confusion.
She repeated, "One, two, three!"
"Are you counting sheep?" Xia Luo asked, feigning a yawn. "Sorry, but you're not putting me to sleep."
Viper's face twisted in annoyance.
"That's impossible… my toxin took years to perfect. How could it not work?"
Gao sneered. "Is this your grand plan, Madame Viper?"
With a flick of her wrist, she levitated several chunks of debris.
Boom
She hurled them at Xia Luo, but he ensnared each in webs, swinging them back in her direction.
Gao deflected them with a hidden sword inside her cane, slicing through the webbed projectiles.
"Nice moves!" Xia Luo applauded, then peeked through the hole in the ceiling, spotting Pietro below.
At least the guy couldn't fly; that was one less worry.
But with Quicksilver present, where was Wanda?
If her chaos magic awakened, he'd be in serious trouble.
Xia Luo scanned the area but saw no sign of her.
Meanwhile, from below, Octavius's mechanical arm emerged, eyeing Gao and Viper.
"Who's in charge of HYDRA here?" he demanded.
Madame Viper's eyes glinted. "Why do you ask?"
Green venom glistened on her fingertips, ready to strike if Octavius made a move.
Taking a deep breath, Octavius said, "My wife's completed her task. She deserves to live."
"Of course. Once this is over, she'll receive greater resources and our full support. You'll both have a better life than before."
Viper's smooth reply clearly eased Octavius's tension.
"Good. Now… as for Spider-Man," Octavius's gaze locked onto Xia Luo with a sinister glint.
"Poor little bug, you brought this on yourself."
"When you're gone, Xia Luo may lose a friend, but he'll gain a true mentor. Together, he and I will be the brightest minds in science."
His voice dropped to a menacing whisper.
"So, Spider-Man… die!"
Octavius roared as a massive blood-red mist coalesced behind him, forming an ominous octopus-like apparition that radiated a deadly aura, pushing even Viper and Gao back in shock.
"What the…"
Ophelia's astonishment soon turned into delight.
"Incredible! Otto's compatibility with HYDRA's power is beyond belief. This is true HYDRA strength—Steve and Bucky are nothing in comparison."
Madam Gao's lined face seemed to tremble in awe. "As expected of HYDRA's might… this is truly something else."
Otto's mechanical arms deepened into a sinister shade of blood-red, their joints snapping and extending by hundreds of feet, the blood hue distorting the air around them, all aimed squarely at Xia Luo.
Xia Luo didn't back down. Just as the magical spider totem on his chest started to glow again, a flash of crimson energy surged up from below.
"Damn!"
Frowning, Xia Luo halted the totem's charge as his Arc-Spider scurried up his body.
Zzzzt…
Electric arcs crackled as he dove downward, and Otto's mechanical arm clashed with the scarlet energy, unleashing a red storm in the air.
"Wanda, your target is Spider-Man," Ophelia commanded. Wrapped in crimson energy, the figure followed, pursuing Xia Luo relentlessly.
Boom!
At that moment, a volley of mini-missiles shot through the sky with fiery explosions trailing in their wake.
KABOOM!
The blast and debris held back Wanda's scarlet energy, allowing Xia Luo to zip toward the artificial sun, where he clashed once more with Pietro.
Before long, the scene was punctuated by the arrival of a gleaming, red-and-gold suit of armor.
"Hey, am I late for the party?" Tony's voice crackled over the speaker, a smirk clear in his tone.
Overhead, a helicopter's blades whirred as it approached. Inside, Carter led a small team, including Harry, to the scene.
"I'll assist Spider-Man. You all stay on the ground and keep an eye on the others."
With that, Carter secured the dragonbone fragments to her legs.
Bzzzzt—BOOM!
In a split second, Carter shot into the fray like a cannonball.
CLANG!
Amidst the blue electric arcs and flashes of golden light, Pietro was unprepared for Carter's shield strike, slamming him into a wall.
"Catch!"
Without missing a beat, Carter tossed two pieces of the dragonbone fragments to Xia Luo.
"Got it."
Xia Luo leapt to grab the fragments, fastening them to his legs. In that moment, the blue electricity fused with a radiant gold, enveloping him in a unique aura.
Bzzzt—
Before Pietro could rush in again, Xia Luo dodged, transforming into a faint streak of lightning that weaved through the ranks of dazed HYDRA agents.
Zzzzt…
In an instant, the electric arc and silver streak froze, Pietro staring down the barrel of Xia Luo's handgun.
"So, Pietro, think this can take you out?" Xia Luo asked, twirling the weapon in his grip.
Pietro raised his hands with a forced smile. "I could dodge a bullet easily, but for some reason, something about you… feels genuinely dangerous."
"Wanna test that?"
"Uh… I'll pass."
Whoosh
In a blur of blue, Pietro vanished, satisfied that he'd fulfilled his mission.
As he disappeared, Xia Luo tossed the gun aside. "Good choice. I forgive you."
Bzzzt
Electricity arced through Xia Luo once again as he sprinted around the machine, finally disabling the shield protecting the artificial sun. Its glow dimmed momentarily before flaring brightly.
BOOM!
A wave of searing heat pulsed out. Xia Luo's arc wrapped around Rose, whisking her away from the flames.
"Rose!"
Otto, distracted from the Avengers, made a frantic move to reach her, only to see that she was safely in Xia Luo's grip.
"Release my wife, Spider-Man!" he bellowed.
"Release her?"
Xia Luo glanced at Rose, then tightened his grip on her throat with a smirk.
"Thanks for the suggestion, Dr. Octavius. Now, listen up—I'm calling the shots."
"You're a coward, Spider-Man!" Rose spat.
"Apologies. Can't help it that your husband is an evil genius," Xia Luo shrugged.
Rose glared, speechless.
With Rose in his grasp, Otto dared not attack recklessly.
Suddenly, Carter tossed the Temporal Tablet into the lab.
Hummm
Golden light radiated from it, absorbing the sun's unstable energy, quelling the spread of heat in the lab.
A tense standoff ensued.
Tony's expression grew grim.
"We should probably handle the artificial sun first. If it goes full black hole, none of us are getting out," he said to Ophelia.
She laughed, entirely unfazed. "It's just an artificial sun. At worst, it'll devour all of New York, not the whole world."
Tony: "…"
That… was not the answer he wanted.
"Speaking of which, Stark, since we're all here, there's someone I'd like you to meet. You'll remember her, I'm sure."
Ophelia activated a nearby screen, revealing a blood-red skull.
"Dearest Stark, remember me?"
The voice was smooth, mature, and unsettlingly familiar. As her flesh and sinew twitched, the face on-screen morphed into a disturbingly alluring face.
Seeing it, Tony visibly recoiled.
It took him back to that night. A woman, desperate to buy his weapons to eliminate Spider-Man, had offered herself in exchange.
The experience had been… unforgettable.
But this…
"No… no way. That woman couldn't be this sickening creature!" His face drained of color, gagging as he stumbled back.
Xia Luo, equally disgusted, made a face.
So in this universe, Red Skull was a woman?
Had she… had work done?
And Tony… Tony had actually… with her?
Wow, desperation really did some things to a man.
But… at last, he had a way to leverage Tony. He could finally use this against him.
Perfect. He was going to reclaim the Web patent.
And he was going to be rich.
---
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