Web of the Multiverse - 141/142 (Patreon)

Chapter 141: The Spider-King Makes His Entrance, and the Bewildered Hulk

Tony Stark was flying above Broadway in Manhattan, clad in his Iron Man suit.

Running the length of Manhattan Island for 25 kilometers, Broadway had once been one of the busiest streets in the world.

Now, however, it was completely unrecognizable. Thousands upon thousands of Bad Spiders were rampaging through the once-bustling thoroughfare, looting and destroying everything in sight.

Smoke blanketed the entire street, making it look as though World War III had broken out right there.

Even the once-gleaming MARK-42 Iron Man suit was now battered and falling apart.

As for Tony Stark himself, after fighting inside the suit for so long, he was so exhausted he barely had the energy to speak.

Since morning, he had lost count of how many infected individuals he had taken down.

Every time he blasted away one that lunged at him with a Repulsor Blast, another infected individual immediately rushed in to take its place.

They seemed to pour endlessly from every corner.

The first time Tony Stark saw a scene like this, only two words came to mind.

Overwhelming. Endless.

It felt like trying to stop a waterfall with his own body. There was simply no way he could hold it back.

Fortunately, Tony Stark's will had been tempered by countless battles with supervillains and more than a few life-threatening crises.

That was the only reason he had managed to endure such relentless attrition until now.

But just because the man inside the suit could keep going did not mean the suit itself could.

On the Iron Mask's projection interface, the energy reserve bar was dropping at a visibly alarming rate.

Low-energy warnings had already begun flashing across the display. The alert tones Tony normally ignored were now getting on his nerves.

"Mr Stark, the suit's energy reserves have fallen below half. Current remaining energy is 45 per cent. Please monitor your rate of energy consumption."

Jarvis's distinctive synthetic voice sounded in Tony Stark's ear.

"Based on the current combat intensity, the remaining energy is projected to sustain operations for approximately twelve minutes. I recommend initiating the energy module replacement procedure immediately."

"Twelve minutes?!"

Tony Stark gritted his teeth, slammed his shoulder into an infected individual lunging at him from the side, then fired the Electric Pulse Cannon in his right hand and sent the attacker crashing into an overturned bus.

"Jarvis, do you think twelve minutes is enough for me to clear this block?"

"I'm afraid not, Mr Stark. The density of Spider-Virus-infected individuals in the area still shows no sign of decreasing. Theoretically, it is impossible for you to accomplish your objective."

Tony Stark's mouth twitched. He had only been joking with Jarvis, but apparently Jarvis had taken him seriously.

"Jarvis, forget I said that. Just keep working on the power problem."

"Certainly, Mr Stark. The Veronica System is now on standby. Shall I initiate remote replacement of the energy module?"

Jarvis's suggestion reminded Tony Stark of something.

Veronica was a space-deployed combat system jointly developed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

The Veronica System operated in low Earth orbit in the form of an orbital satellite.

It housed a complete set of Hulkbuster Armor, namely the Iron Man Armor: Mark XLIV.

It also carried a Containment Cell and several sets of Universal Armor Replacement Modules.

The name "Veronica" was actually a reference to the name of Dr. Banner's former girlfriend.

Giving an emergency system specifically designed to deal with the Hulk such a pointed name was, naturally, Tony's little joke at Dr. Banner's expense.

If Dr. Banner ever transformed into the Hulk and lost control, becoming an uncontrollable threat, the system would activate directly from low Earth orbit.

The Hulkbuster Armor and Containment Cell would then be deployed to temporarily restrain the Hulk until he regained his senses.

The Hulk might not have lost control today, but Manhattan certainly had.

That meant the Veronica System had every reason to come into play.

Any damaged component or depleted energy module in an Iron Man suit could be replaced remotely in real time using the satellite modules stationed in low Earth orbit.

With a single command, Tony Stark's MARK-42 Iron Man suit could have its energy module replaced in moments.

Before long, the suit's remaining energy had dropped below 40 per cent, and the red numbers began flashing.

Tony Stark drew a deep breath, preparing to pull out his trump card and go all in.

"Jarvis, prepare to activate Veroni..."

Tony Stark abruptly stopped speaking.

A high-speed signal had appeared on the tactical radar of his Iron Mask and was rapidly closing in on him.

It was moving far faster than any of the Spider-Virus-infected individuals.

The next second, Tony Stark saw a figure appear at the far end of Broadway.

The figure swung down from a massive billboard on a strand of webbing and landed without making a sound. It was textbook web-swinging.

The Iron Man suit's auto-lock system activated, locking onto the distant figure and magnifying the image.

He was wearing nothing more than an ordinary hoodie, light blue jeans, and a pair of worn trainers. His face was completely uncovered.

"Peter?"

Tony Stark's voice came from beneath the Iron Mask, filled with disbelief.

"What are you doing? Where's your suit? Where's your mask? Do you have any idea how many media helicopters are circling over New York right now? Every TV station in the city is broadcasting live... and you just swing out here with your face exposed?"

Just as Tony Stark began to wonder whether Peter had lost his mind, countless points of light suddenly appeared across his suit's radar interface.

Hundreds, then thousands of figures came swinging between the skyscrapers behind Peter.

Every one of them was wearing a Midtown High School uniform.

Their web-shooting posture was anything but proper, and the arcs of their swings were crooked and clumsy, nowhere near as smooth as Peter's.

But there was something fearless in the way they threw themselves forward despite their awkwardness.

Only then did Tony Stark understand.

Peter had not gone crazy. He had simply chosen the smartest possible way to fight this war.

When an entire city was filled with infected individuals capable of shooting webs, the real Spider-Man effectively ceased to stand out.

The best place to hide a leaf was not inside a safe, but in a forest.

A faint chuckle came from beneath Tony Stark's Iron Mask, tinged with exhaustion and a pride he could not quite put into words.

"Young minds really are sharper. Looks like I'm getting a little slow."

Tony Stark abandoned the idea of activating the Veronica System.

He knew that from this point onward, the veteran Superheroes were no longer going to be the stars of the show.

Half a minute later, the first group of Midtown High School students landed on Broadway.

Without the slightest hesitation, they followed Peter straight into the fight.

With this fresh wave of reinforcements joining the battle, the pressure on the previously overwhelmed Superheroes dropped immediately.

It did not take long for the students to get used to fighting alongside the Superheroes.

Once the two groups began working together, the result was far greater than the sum of its parts.

The Bad Spiders were driven back again and again. Their defeat was only a matter of time.

More importantly, the entire scene was captured by the media helicopters circling overhead and broadcast to televisions and mobile phones in homes across the city.

Countless New Yorkers who had also gained Spider-Man's powers were inspired by what they saw.

One after another, they chose to step forward and do their part.

Active police officers, retired officers, firefighters, office workers, even housewives and countless other ordinary New Yorkers with a sense of justice took to the streets.

Within little more than ten minutes, their figures could be seen throughout Manhattan.

They became an unstoppable tide. Some had never received any combat training at all, yet they fought without fear to protect the streets and homes they depended on.

...

The massive battle that had engulfed Manhattan was nearing its end.

At that moment, the Hulk was crouched outside the Federal Reserve Bank near the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge.

Using his thick green fingers, he was tossing bundles of US dollars into the overturned armored van in the street.

The Hulk remembered Banner telling him that robbing banks was bad, so he had collected all the money stolen by the Bad Spiders.

As for how the money was supposed to get back to the bank, that was Banner's problem. It had nothing to do with the Hulk.

The Hulk was only responsible for smashing people.

Dozens of Spider-Virus-infected individuals lay sprawled across the ground around him, still twitching.

Naturally, none of them posed any real threat to the Hulk. Their punches against his skin were little more than scratches.

But there had been so many of them that even with the Hulk knocking them down one by one, it had still taken dozens, perhaps even a hundred punches, to flatten them all.

So the Hulk had gotten more than his fill of fighting today.

The huge green musclehead was in an excellent mood. Otherwise, he would never have bothered doing something as considerate as returning stolen money to its owner.

Just as the Hulk tossed the final bundle of cash into the armored van, a strange, distorted voice drifted from the far end of the street.

"Hul...k..."

The Hulk raised an eyebrow. His dark green pupils narrowed slightly as he turned toward the sound.

Through the smoke-filled street, a massive dark-gray figure slowly emerged from the ruins of a destroyed building.

Four enormous, grotesque spider legs extended from its back.

Eight pitch-black eyes were embedded in its spider-like head. Its lower jaw jutted forward, lined with interlocking fangs, and the warped voice had come from that very mouth.

Naturally, the Hulk had no way of recognizing the true identity of the dark-gray spider giant standing before him.

Even if Dr. Banner were in control and thinking rationally, he would never have connected this monster with Steve Rogers, Captain America and the undisputed core of the Avengers.

The Spider-King, only now revealing himself, faced the Hulk, bared a mouthful of fangs, and slammed a fist against his own chest.

A dull, deafening clang of carapace echoed through the street.

It was a challenge and a provocation, like a beast declaring ownership of its territory before a fight.

The simple-minded Hulk had only one thought.

He got to have another good fight!

The Hulk loved fighting, especially against opponents big enough to make it worthwhile.

That was what the Hulk existed for.

"Fight... good!"

The Hulk threw back his head and roared deafeningly. He clenched his fists and pounded his chest in return, the muscles beneath his dark green skin writhing and swelling like living creatures.

The next instant, the two similarly massive figures charged straight at each other.

Every step they took shattered the concrete beneath their feet.

The entire street trembled as though a small earthquake had struck.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion shook the air.

The Hulk and the Spider-King collided head-on, their fists crashing together like two missiles and producing a deafening crack of muscle and bone.

The next second, all four spider legs on the Spider-King's back stabbed forward.

Four deep-gray streaks flashed through the air like blinding bolts of lightning.

The Hulk only had time to raise his arms and block two of them.

The other two struck his body, piercing through his thick green skin and sinking deep into his flesh.

The Hulk's brow furrowed as the fury in his eyes burned even hotter.

"Hulk smash you flat!"

Enraged, the Hulk unleashed both fists, leaving broad trails of dark green afterimages through the air.

Yet the Spider-King merely raised both arms as a shield and, with astonishing precision, intercepted every single punch before it could land.

On the surface, both giants looked like pure embodiments of brute force.

In reality, however, the Spider-King possessed extraordinarily refined combat skills.

The Spider-King had inherited all of Steve Rogers' combat memories and fighting techniques.

Combined with a powerful body capable of matching the Hulk in strength, the result was a terrifying Spider-War God!

The instant the Hulk's wild barrage of punches finally lost momentum, the Spider-King twisted his body 180 degrees and whipped his right elbow around.

The sharp joint tore through the air with a piercing sonic boom and struck the Hulk squarely on the chin with pinpoint accuracy.

Thud!

A visible white shockwave burst outward from the Hulk's jaw.

The blow sent his enormous body crashing backward.

The back of his head smashed through the concrete, driving his entire skull straight into the ground.

When the Hulk finally yanked his head out of the shattered pavement, he stared at the Spider-King in complete bewilderment.

Then he turned his head and spat a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva onto the street.

Clack!

A huge molar struck the ground.

The jagged fracture along its base made it obvious that the tooth had been snapped off by sheer brute force.

The Spider-King glanced at the broken tooth, and the corner of his mouth curled into a mocking smile.

It was as if he were saying...

Was that all the Hulk had?

Pathetic.

...

Chapter 142: No Time to Mourn the Hulk, Next Up Is

The Hulk shook his head and climbed back to his feet, the green in his pupils now blazing with searing rage.

The furious beast within him had been completely unleashed.

The next second, two heavy blasts of hot air burst from the Hulk's nostrils.

"Hulk! Smash!"

He spread his arms as far apart as they could go, then brought his palms crashing together.

Crack!

A tremendous blast of compressed air erupted outward like a cannon shell fired from its barrel.

The impact was so powerful that even the Spider-King's enormous body was lifted off the ground and hurled more than ten meters backward.

Before the Spider-King could regain his footing, the Hulk was already charging toward him, each heavy step crashing down like an avalanche.

The two massive giants, each strong enough to crush a tank with their bare fists, began their second round of hand-to-hand combat.

Fueled by rage, the Hulk's strength had increased noticeably.

Every punch he threw was faster and heavier than before.

That was the defining trait of the Hulk's power. The angrier he became, the stronger he grew.

Countless deafening impacts thundered through the street.

The concrete beneath the Hulk and the Spider-King had already been completely destroyed by the tremendous force of their clashes.

Both of them had sunk several meters into the ground.

Terrifying cracks spread wildly in every direction from where they stood.

Yet despite the Hulk's obvious increase in strength, he still could not defeat the Spider-King.

After all, even Captain America in his normal state had been capable of fighting the Hulk to a standstill through sheer mastery of combat.

He might not have been able to defeat the Hulk, but he could certainly keep him occupied for a long time.

Now that Captain America possessed a body powerful enough to rival the Hulk's, his overall strength had already surpassed the Hulk in his normal state.

Unless he encountered one of the Hulk's special forms, such as the Green Scar Hulk, the War Lord Hulk, or the Immortal Hulk, Captain America had virtually no chance of losing.

Right now, the Hulk appeared to have the upper hand.

But that was only on the surface...

Throughout the battle, the Spider-King's gaze remained cold and merciless.

He looked like a terrifying hunter patiently waiting for his prey to expose a weakness so he could end the fight in a single strike.

After dozens of violent exchanges, the Hulk erupted with raw brute force and smashed open a gap between the Spider-King's arms, which had been raised like a shield.

The muscles in the Hulk's neck suddenly bulged, dark green veins spreading across his entire neck.

The next instant, he swung his head forward like a wrecking ball and slammed it into the Spider-King's skull with everything he had.

The tremendous impact snapped the Spider-King's head backward, and all eight of his eyes seemed to see stars at once.

That savage attack broke through the Spider-King's sophisticated defensive technique through sheer, unreasonable force.

The Hulk raised a hand and wiped his forehead.

Then he looked down at the blood on his palm, a trace of satisfaction appearing in his eyes now that he had gotten even.

The next second, everything changed.

The Hulk suddenly felt a tearing pain near his heart.

The agony was so intense that his massive body froze in place.

He looked down in disbelief, his dark green pupils widening sharply.

Only then did the Hulk realize that at the exact moment his headbutt struck, the Spider-King had launched a counterattack.

The Spider-King's right hand was pressed against the Hulk's chest. Something was gleaming against the surface of the fist covered in dark-gray carapace.

The Hulk quickly saw what it was.

A semicircular fragment of metal.

Traces of red and blue paint still remained on its surface.

At the very center of the fragment, the remains of a star-shaped pattern could be seen, torn cleanly in half.

Although the Hulk was currently the one in control of this body, that did not stop him from recognizing where the metal fragment had come from.

It was unmistakably a fragment of the Vibranium shield used by Captain America, Steve Rogers!

The Spider-King had kept this fragment of the Vibranium shield hidden within the layered carapace of his right arm the entire time.

He had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver a potentially fatal blow to the Hulk.

"Shield...? Cap...?"

The Hulk struggled to raise his hand and grabbed the Spider-King's right wrist.

But the Spider-King showed no reaction to the Hulk's voice.

He simply unleashed his strength without mercy, lifting the Hulk's massive body high into the air with one hand.

Then, with a violent swing, he hurled the Hulk dozens of meters away, sending him crashing straight into the churning waters of the Hudson River.

The fragment of Vibranium shield had sunk completely into the flesh of the Hulk's chest, leaving only a straight wound visible from the outside.

His body sank rapidly toward the bottom of the Hudson River.

Once the splashing subsided and the surface of the river became calm again, the Hulk seemed to have vanished from the world entirely.

The Spider-King turned around and continued toward the center of Manhattan without expression.

He paid the Hulk no further attention and did not even bother trying to finish him off.

But before the Spider-King could leave the ruined street beneath his feet, a silvery-white arrow tore through the air and flew straight toward the back of his neck.

Without even turning around, the Spider-King raised his right hand faster than the naked eye could follow.

His five fingers closed around the arrow, catching it firmly in his palm.

He lifted it before his face. His eight jet-black eyes needed only a glance to recognize where it had come from.

The corners of his mouth slowly spread apart.

"Hawkeye."

Hawkeye was hiding on the rooftop of an apartment building that the Hulk had partially demolished.

The bowstring of the compound bow in his hand was still faintly vibrating.

Hawkeye's expression was extremely grim. He kept his attention fixed on the Spider-King below while contacting Tony Stark through his communicator.

"Tony, I've got some very bad news."

Hawkeye drew a deep breath, then forced himself to describe what he had just witnessed.

"The Hulk is down. A giant dark-gray spider threw him into the Hudson River. He probably won't be able to fight for a while."

"I'm at the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge. I need backup immediately. As much as you can send!"

Tony Stark's disbelieving voice came over the comm channel.

"What did you say? The Hulk is down? You mean... some Spider Monster took out the Hulk?"

"Yes. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it myself, but there's no time to explain..."

Hawkeye repeated his request for support, keeping his voice as low and quick as possible.

"I'm near the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge. I'll hold him here as long as I can. You need to get here fast."

"Copy that! We've got things under control on our end. I'll send people over right away."

Tony Stark understood how urgent the situation was and did not waste a second.

Hawkeye then asked, "Tony, where's Captain America right now?"

Tony Stark sounded helpless at the question, his voice weary and heavy.

"I can't reach him. I've called him seventeen times since last night, and every single call failed to connect. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. can't find him."

"Clint, once this crisis is over, I'll go look for him myself. But right now..."

Tony Stark's voice turned serious again.

"How long can you hold that giant spider?"

"A few minutes shouldn't be a problem."

The communication ended there.

Hawkeye's gaze never left the Spider-King.

The Spider-King was still standing in the same place, casually playing with the arrow he had caught barehanded, apparently in no hurry to continue on his way.

Hawkeye muttered to himself.

"Looks like you're my problem now. I probably can't kill you on my own, but slowing you down for a while shouldn't be too difficult."

He reached behind his back and drew another arrow from his quiver.

The arrow's shaft was entirely dark purple, with a tiny point of blue light glowing faintly near the tail.

It looked completely different from the silvery-white arrows Hawkeye normally used. This was one of the special arrows he rarely brought out.

Each one had been personally crafted by his fellow Avengers.

He had used very few of his special arrows during the earlier fight against the Spider-Virus-infected individuals.

That was why he was confident he could stall the Spider-King now.

Hawkeye nocked the dark purple arrow, drew the bowstring, aimed, and released.

The instant the arrow left the string, a strange humming sound filled the air.

The arrow began expanding at an astonishing speed.

Its arrowhead grew from the size of a fingernail to the size of a basketball, then continued expanding until it was as large as a truck.

Within just a few seconds, the arrow had transformed into an enormous projectile more than a meter in diameter and over twenty meters long.

Carrying devastating kinetic force, it hurtled straight toward the Spider-King.

This special arrow had been made for Hawkeye with Ant-Man's help and was enhanced with Pym Particles capable of freely altering an object's size and mass.

Hawkeye had once used it to pierce one of the Chitauri fleet's ships.

"This one's for the Hulk!"

...

Inside the medical bay of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the warm white glow of the overhead lights made the medical equipment seem a little less cold and clinical.

Gwen Stacy lay quietly inside the enormous MRI machine, her long pale-gold hair tied into a high ponytail.

Her expression was calm. She even gave Peter an [I'm fine] gesture through the medical bay's glass window.

But Peter could clearly see that her fingertips were trembling slightly.

She was doing her best to suppress her fear, but for a second-year high school student, completely controlling the terror caused by a genetic mutation was no easy thing.

As soon as Peter learned that Gwen was also showing symptoms of infection, he immediately brought her aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier for treatment.

Dr. Curt Connors was standing at the control console, his fingers moving rapidly across the holographic display as he brought up page after page of blood test results and MRI scans.

Dense streams of data and scan layers scrolled quickly before his eyes.

His brow furrowed deeper and deeper until even the glasses on the bridge of his nose shifted slightly.

Peter stood beside Dr. Curt Connors, the unease in his eyes betraying the anxiety he was trying to hide.

A few minutes later, Dr. Curt Connors slowly removed his glasses and turned to face Peter.

His expression was somewhat grave, but there was still a trace of reassurance in his voice.

"We've confirmed it. Miss Stacy is in the early stages of Spider-Virus infection. Fortunately, if there is any good news in this situation, it's that her symptoms are among the mildest we've seen in any infected individual so far, and she was infected more recently than most. She shouldn't face any serious problems in the short term."

Peter's shoulders visibly relaxed when he heard that.

"So she still has enough time?"

"Yes."

Dr. Curt Connors nodded, then put his glasses back on.

"As long as we can complete the Spider Serum within that window, she should be able to return completely to her normal, pre-infection state."

"Then how far have you gotten in figuring out the Spider-Virus?"

Peter's question made Dr. Curt Connors fall silent for a moment.

He raised a hand and rubbed his brow.

"Progress has been much slower than we expected."

He chose to be completely frank with Peter.

"The origin of this virus is far too mysterious. Part of its genetic sequence doesn't match any known organism on Earth. It's as though it was grafted from an evolutionary tree entirely separate from humanity's."

"The only good news we've been able to confirm is that this is a DNA virus specifically targeting humans. It only infects individuals with normal human genes, so Mutants and Inhumans aren't affected."

"Ordinary humans whose genes have already undergone mutations are immune as well."

He pointed at Peter, then toward Manhattan beyond the window.

"People like you and the Fantastic Four, for example. Your genetic sequences have already been fundamentally altered. The Spider-Virus can't even recognize your cells, which means you're naturally immune."

Peter was not surprised by the answer.

The Spider-Island Crisis storyline in the comics had also mentioned something about how the virus worked, and he still remembered the general idea.

"That's about what I expected. What about the Spider Serum? Is there any chance you can finish it within twenty-four hours...?"

"Mr. Spider-Man."

Dr. Curt Connors interrupted him.

"I don't want to give you false hope. Our research is still at a very early stage. At our current pace, we'll need at least several weeks, possibly longer."

Peter nodded silently.

He knew he had to do something.

"Dr. Curt Connors, my sixth sense is telling me that the Anti-Venom you discovered earlier could play a major role in finding a cure for the Spider-Virus."

In the Spider-Island Crisis from the comics, Anti-Venom possessed the remarkable ability to cure people infected with the Spider-Virus.

Peter did not know whether Anti-Venom in this universe would have the same effect, but no matter what, it was worth trying.

"Hm? Really? Theoretically, there doesn't seem to be any clear connection between the two, but I'll run a thorough set of tests."

Spider-Man's sixth sense being remarkably accurate was already widely accepted among superheroes and super-agents alike.

Dr. Curt Connors felt that Spider-Man's suggestion was worth taking seriously.

But just as the two reached the most important part of their discussion, a sudden knock sounded at the door.

Dr. Curt Connors opened the medical bay door, and Nick Fury appeared before them.

"Good news. Mister Fantastic has come up with a way to treat the infected."