Chapter 7- Everything is Not What it Seems

"You know, anger will only make you more wrinkled," Gwen commented, shielding Arthur behind her.

"I'll kill you first. Then, I'll desiccate this kid's body," said Olivia Octavius with a crazed look.

"I know a very strong sedative." Gwen began to walk to the side, keeping the focus of the tentacles around her. 'I need to keep her away from Arthur.' "I think age is starting to weigh on you," she taunted, advancing toward Octopus.

***

It had been a long time since Peter had faced someone so experienced. The blows were exchanged every second, and he found himself on the defensive, trying to protect himself from the punches that aimed to knock him out.

'This guy is very skilled', he thinks, feeling the impact in his chest. "Oh!" Hitting a tree, Peter ducks just in time for a blade to pierce the space where his head was. "That was danger" Quick to improvise, he picks up some snow from the ground and throws it at Prowler's mask.

"Take this!" Taking advantage of the momentary lack of vision, Peter delivers a direct punch to his opponent's private parts.

Bam!

"OUCH!" He didn't expect there to be a metal protector there. "I feel sorry for your wife,"

"The game is over; I'm going to kill you now," Prowler declares with a distorted voice.

"That was... quite threatening," Peter is lifted off the ground by a punch to the midsection.

***

Gwen skillfully dodged the blades at the tips of the tentacles, using the trees as a shield; her movements were hampered by the absence of one of the web shooters.. Still, with the grace of a dancer, she 'danced' through the debris and mechanical arms.

'I've fought an Octavius before; I know exactly what to do.' Gwen begins to shoot several webs in the direction of the mad scientist.

"Stop running, insect!" Olivia exclaimed in frustration, using two of her four tentacles to cut the webs approaching her. Chasing the spider with her vision partially impaired, she doesn't notice the web on the ground, getting her foot entangled.

Seizing this moment, Gwen jumps onto the two nearest tentacles, holding the web with the hand without the shooter and expanding it with the other. Quickly, she wraps the two mechanical arms and secures them to a rock.

Impulsing herself upwards, she shoots more webs at Olivia, who now had only one tentacle protecting her; the other was on its way to cut the web entangled in the foot. A single tentacle wasn't enough to cut all the webs; some hit Octavius, leaving her even more stuck in place.

"Shit!" Olivia exclaims when a web hits her eyes. Trying desperately to remove it, she couldn't defend herself from the knee coming at her, knocking her out instantly.

Gwen watches the unconscious woman on the ground, confirming that she wouldn't wake up anytime soon. She secures the remaining tentacles... just to be sure.

Hearing the fight between Peter and Prowler, Gwen quickly swings in that direction.

***

Peter was facing serious problems, unable to dodge all the blows with his enormous belly. "Please, stop hitting my little belly. I think I'm going to vomit if it keeps going like this."

Prowler, an experienced fighter, knew how to exploit Spider-Man's weaknesses, gradually forcing him to retreat.

Looking around, Peter sees the net lying around Arthur, struggling on the ground. 'I need to wrap this up quickly and check what's going on with him.'

Shooting the web at the cut part and pulling, Peter grabs the web and wraps it around Prowler's wrist, who was approaching. By trapping the hand, Peter rotates his arms, bending Prowler's arm to the left and dislocating his shoulder.

Prowler uses his boots to step back from Spider-Man. At that moment, Gwen arrives next to Peter. "Need a hand?" She asks, glancing at Arthur from a distance.

"Sooner now than never." Peter stretches his back a bit; this fight really wore him out.

Crack!

The two of them focus on Prowler, who has just popped his shoulder back into place. They get ready to fight; if they worked together, the fight would be over quickly.

A͓̥̪ͥ̈̆͢͞͞h͌̓ͦ͏̰̗̖͘͝!̈́͑̅̕

N̛̻̟͍ͤͮ͊́͟o̧̳̥͍̽̂̈́́͝wͥ͑̊͠͏͎̜͎͟ ̸̨̛̤̠̰̓̿̚ņ̛̰͍̣̉ͪ̆͜ơ̫̮̰͆̊̏͢͠ť̡̛̔̅͏̥̤̲!ͨ̆̃͞͏̫̼̱͠

Peter and Gwen fell to the ground, failing more than before, giving Prowler time to raise his challenge, preparing to shoot and kill them both. Their spider senses were screaming in their heads.

Arthur looked at him helplessly; he didn't understand what was happening to his body. It seemed like energy was building up somewhere, but that wasn't the problem; there was too much in his body. Arthur felt like he was going to explode at any moment; his body craved the release of this energy, but he just didn't know how to do it.

'I need to do something, anything... am I going to let them die like I did with Peter Parker?' Arthur desperately reflected, seeing Prowler preparing to take the lives of his friends. With all his willpower, he extended his left arm toward the enemy.

Closing his eyes, Arthur plunged into the darkness of his mind. A pulsating electrical current, a force resembling a river of life, began to flow through him. His once tumultuous mind now found electrical clarity as he envisioned electricity dancing through his veins, seeking a freedom that could only be found through his outstretched arm. Then... it happened.

KAAAABOOOOMMM!!!!

A focused lightning bolt, containing all the stored energy, erupted from his hand towards Prowler, catching him by surprise. The electrical discharge was so intense that a good portion of his upper clothing evaporated instantly.

***

"Haa... haa... haa," Arthur finally managed to sit up, his body finally getting the release he craved. Getting up with difficulty, he goes over to Peter and Gwen, who had stopped struggling. "Are... you... okay?" Arthur asks with difficulty, helping Gwen to her feet.

"If by 'okay' you mean getting beaten up or disintegrating slowly," Peter B. responds with difficulty. 'My back is killing me.'

"Thank you, Arthur, for a moment there, I thought I was going to die," Gwen thanked, taking his hand and getting up.

"No need to thank me, Gwen. You also saved me. That's what... partners do," Arthur said, looking into the eyes of the Spider-Woman's mask.

"Uh-huh!... partners." The two gaze at each other, forgetting the world around them.

"...You know, I don't want to interrupt or anything, but we need to leave before anyone else shows up." They both turned quickly, embarrassed for getting distracted at that moment. 'Teenagers...' Peter B. thought, watching the awkwardness between the two.

"I-I'll grab the computer," Gwen hurriedly 'escaped' from there, blushing under the mask. 'Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Let my guard down!'

Arthur watched Gwen's back receding, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. Turning his gaze back to Peter B., he sees him giving a thumbs up.

'Idiot.' Arthur thinks, walking over to the fallen body of Prowler, lying on his back. "I released a lot of energy..." he murmurs, looking at the disheveled state of the villain.

Placing his hand on his shoulder and turning his body, Arthur wanted to see who this enemy causing so much trouble was. "No... it can't be!" In front of him was the last living family member on his biological father's side. "Uncle... Michael..."

Never in his life would Arthur have imagined that his uncle was the man behind the mask; he was... his enemy now. "Arthur, let's go!" He heard Peter's voice calling him, but many emotions were running through his mind. 'Why... why... why!? There must be a reason!'

Arthur needed answers; raising his wrist, he begins to wrap Prowler with his web.

"What are you doing!?" Peter B. puts his hand on his shoulder, not understanding what the kid was doing.

"Is something wrong, Arthur?" Gwen asks at his side, holding the computer with one hand.

"This man... is my uncle."

***

"Let me get this straight... your uncle, who has been missing for several years, comes back and is actually the Prowler, who tried to kill us?" Peter B. asks Arthur, trying to understand the situation.

"...yes."

The three of them were on the bus heading back to Brooklyn. Fortunately, there was no one else inside with them; it would be difficult to explain why there was a charred man tied up.

"I'm sorry, Arthur," Gwen comments, touching his shoulder reassuringly.

"Thanks. Do you know what to do with the computer now?" Arthur asks, placing his hand in hers.

"I know where to get another system key," Gwen replies.

"Okay... let's split up!" Arthur concludes with a firm tone.

"What?" "Why?" Gwen and Peter speak at the same time, respectively.

"While you two set up the key, I'll interrogate my uncle. We don't know if he has any tracker on his body." Arthur explains his reasoning, mentally preparing for the confrontation. 

***

Prowler wakes up slowly, his head pounding. When he tries to bring his hand to his eyes, he realizes he's tied to a punching bag. His vision adjusts to the darkness, and looking around, he sees that he's in his old warehouse.

"H-how did I get here?" The last thing he remembers is seeing a lightning bolt coming toward him.

"I brought you here." Prowler looks ahead, seeing the Spider-Man he had taken down emerging from the shadows. 

"Wh-who are you? How do you know about this place?" Only three people knew that this place belonged to his family, and the only living man who should know was—"No... it can't be... it can't be you."

Arthur looks at his uncle, desperate and shocked in front of him. He knew he was taking a considerable risk, but everything was calculated. Removing the mask, Arthur Maxwell stands right in front of his uncle's face.

"It's been a while, Uncle Mike."

"No... no... no... no..." 

"Explain to me, uncle, why are you working for Kingpin? Don't you know I live in Brooklyn? My family lives there, WE COULD ALL HAVE DIED!!!"

"I-I'm sorry," Michael said with difficulty, helplessness was felt in his voice. "He promised he would bring your father back, he said there was a way to bring him back, and... he knows something."

"Something?"

"About your father's death, when I finished the job, he would tell me everything he knew." 

"How is that possible? I thought my father was killed in a fight involving Spider-Man."

"It wasn't! It was all set up. Since that time, I've been searching for who did this. Adam was investigating a secret organization. I couldn't find anything, all these years searching in vain. But Kingpin knows something. My plan was to bring your father back, get the information, and destroy the machine." 

.....

Shaken was the best word to describe what Arthur was feeling. His father's death wasn't an accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; he was murdered, and anger pulsed through his veins. His hands clenched so tightly that blood dripped to the floor.

"How did you find out?" Arthur asked calmly, having controlled his emotions and focused on rationality.

"Adam left a folder with me a week before," explained Michael. 

"And what was inside?"

"Just a paper saying that a secret organization controlled everything in the shadows."

"You got a folder with just that?"

"Adam told me not to open it. But when he died, I opened it, and there was this. I think he knew he was in danger and left this for me to figure out."

Looking at his chained uncle's miserable face, Arthur recalculates the risks. 'The chance of him revealing my identity is lower now. All these years, Michael Maxwell seeks revenge for his brother. He's not an entirely evil person and cares a lot about family. The percentage of possible betrayal has dropped to... 3.45%.'

.....

" Kingpin's plan wouldn't have worked, and even if it did, it wouldn't be the same Adam Maxwell from our world. What would come out would be just a face and a similar personality," said Arthur, staring into his uncle's eyes.

"I understand... so it wouldn't have worked." Prowler murmured, sad and ashamed of his actions.

"I will find out who killed my father."

"WHAT! YOU CAN'T-"

"I'm not naive! I know the risks, and I'll be cautious."

"B-but-"

"No 'buts', I have powers now, I'm not the weak little kid you knew."

"Yes... you're not," Michael weakly replied, still concerned and regretting revealing what really happened to his brother. 'Shouldn't have talked... now I've put him in the middle of this.'

"Haa... don't look at me like that. At some point, I would have clashed with this organization; I'm the city's protector now."

"...I know... I'm sorry for everything; I didn't want you to see me like this."

"We can't change the past. I... understand your reasons, but I can't absolve your actions. I'll take you to a police station; you'll surrender and face all your crimes."

"You're right... I deserve this after everything I've done."

"Yes, you deserve it... I didn't want our reunion to be like this."

"Me neither."

Arthur begins to free Michael from the punching bag. "I'll visit you, I promise."

"I'll be waiting... Spider-Man."

***

Arthur was on top of a building across from the police station, making sure that Michael had been taken away by the police. He leaped down, feeling the speed and the wind hitting his suit strongly, calming some of his anger. Approaching the ground, he shot his web.

Swinging through the city toward the location Gwen mentioned, Arthur reflected on the words his uncle had spoken. He was now... Spider-Man, seeing the people below him, looking at him, pointing at him. These people were his responsibility; this city was his responsibility. 'I can't ask Kingpin about this secret organization!'

If he asked, Fisk could link him to Prowler, discovering his identity. This would put his family at even greater risk and compromise his duty to the city. 'I can't do that; too many lives are at stake. Eventually, I'll find out who did this, and then... I'll have my revenge.'

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or songs featured in this fic. Additionally, I do not claim ownership of any products or properties mentioned in this novel. This work is entirely fictional.