Outside the hospital, police sirens blared in unison.
As squad cars arrived one by one, the sharp-eyed officers quickly spotted a red and blue figure perched atop a streetlamp.
“Oh, it’s Spider-Man! He’s finally here!”
“It’s him.”
“Thank goodness—this’ll be much easier now.”
The officers, encouraged by his appearance, charged into the chaotic hospital with renewed determination. For once, even George didn’t wear his usual look of disdain when seeing Spider-Man.
After all, his daughter Gwen was inside this hospital—and she was one of the many infected with the spider virus.
In other words, Gwen was also Spider-Man now.
She had since lost her powers, but she’d once been Spider-Woman, and that fact alone kept George from lashing out at the web-slinger.
It didn’t mean he was happy to see him, though.
“Stop standing around and go rescue people.”
With a grunt, George led a group of officers upstairs, fighting against the panicked crowd, while the rest focused on evacuating civilians.
“Quickly, get out of here!”
“This way!”
“Boom!!”
The ceiling suddenly shattered overhead, debris raining down and sending the crowd into fresh waves of horrified screams.
“Aaaah!”
“It’s coming!”
“Ahh!”
A monstrous spider-like creature landed with a heavy thud in the midst of the crowd, followed immediately by a massive green lizard crashing down on top of it.
“Gotcha!”
Professor Connors’ twisted grin flashed as he raised a clawed hand and tore off the creature’s head.
Under the horrified gaze of onlookers, he leaned down and sank his teeth into the monster’s flesh, the sickening sounds of tearing and chewing making everyone’s skin crawl.
“Oh, crap! It’s eating the other monster!”
“Ughh…”
“Run!”
Black blood splattered as Connors straightened, licking his lips with a satisfied, monstrous smile.
The pain in his body had finally subsided after devouring his foe’s flesh.
“Shoom!”
The next moment, a web shot down from above, blanketing him in a silvery net. Professor Connors tensed, eyes widening.
“Spider-Man!!”
“Hey, it’s me, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! I can be your friendly neighbor too.”
At the sound of his voice, Connors looked up through the hole in the ceiling and saw a pair of pale blue eyes gleaming.
“Don’t mess with me, or I’ll tear you apart!” Connors growled, ripping the webbing off with a quick swipe.
Xia Luo shrugged. “I’ll back off—just tell me why you’re eating that disgusting thing.”
“That’s none of your business!”
Connors sneered, picking up the monster’s corpse and hurling it at Xia Luo.
“Thud!”
Dark blood sprayed across the ceiling as Connors took advantage of the distraction to scurry out of the hospital on all fours.
“Stop! You monster!”
Officers at the entrance cried out in alarm, firing their guns as he tore past.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Bullets embedded themselves in his muscles, only to be tightly trapped there as his torn skin quickly regenerated.
“Out of my way!”
Growing more enraged by the gunfire, Connors whipped his tail, snatching up a nearby motorcycle and preparing to launch it at the officers.
“Fwooosh!”
Just then, a glowing red-and-blue web shot out from the bushes near the entrance, hitting Connors squarely in the back.
“Boom!!”
In an instant, a blast of magical energy erupted, sending Connors hurtling to the wall.
“What the hell is that?”
The monstrous lizard skidded to the corner, stunned, as a strange-looking spider leapt from the bushes.
“Shoom~”
The red-and-blue figure swung down on a web and landed nearby, his tiny spider companion hopping to his shoulder.
“It’s Spider-Man!”
The bystanders cheered, and the officers immediately holstered their weapons and resumed guiding civilians away from the scene.
They instinctively left the terrifying creature to Spider-Man.
Xia Luo gave the little spider on his shoulder a pat and turned to Connors.
“Sorry about that. I meant to mention I have a pet.”
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
The little spider, eager to assert itself, spun around, shaking its abdomen in an open taunt at Connors.
Seeing this, Connors stood up, brushing the rubble off his chest, his face twisted into a dark scowl.
“Damn you, Spider-Man. If you insist on causing trouble, congratulations—you’ve got yourself a bigger problem.”
Xia Luo spread his hands. “I was just trying to find you a nice retirement home. You only have to follow me.”
“Should I thank you for that?”
Connors glanced up at the building, baring his sharp teeth in a menacing grin.
“You might want to worry about someone else.”
“Huh?”
Xia Luo instinctively looked up, just as a loud crash echoed from above. Another humanoid spider creature smashed through the window, scaling the outer wall.
“Hmm?”
He raised an eyebrow, signaling to the little spider on his shoulder, who quickly understood, firing a web and swinging toward the high-rise.
“Shoom~”
“Boom!!”
The magic-infused web exploded on impact, and the creature screamed as it plummeted, its skin dissolving where the energy had made contact. It lay a grotesque sight on the ground below.
Watching this, Xia Luo began to understand.
The little spider had been summoned with self-destructing nanotech as its primary component, which gave it an added advantage against ordinary mutants with transformed cells.
However, Connors was a lizard mutation, and the magical energy wasn’t nearly as effective against him.
Seeing how easily the spider creature had fallen to the little spider, Connors’ expression faltered slightly.
But his goal wasn’t to fight Spider-Man to the death tonight.
He sneered. “The mutant cells left in those fake Spider-Men are activating. Spider-Man, you’re going to be busy.”
With that, he leapt up the wall. Several more humanoid spider creatures appeared in Xia Luo’s line of sight.
“Well, I am busy, so I won’t bother with you.”
Xia Luo shook his head, abandoning the chase. He shot webs from both hands, latching onto the void above.
“Boom!!”
Using the webs like a slingshot, he launched himself forward, rocketing toward one of the spider creatures and hitting it squarely.
“Grr!”
“Thud!”
With a shriek, the creature’s black blood splattered, and it dropped lifeless to the ground.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
The little spider, waiting below, wasted no time. It jumped onto the barely-breathing creature, sinking its fangs into its skin.
“Aaah!!”
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
As the creature’s scream grew faint, a radiant magical glow spread over the little spider’s body.
In mere seconds, the monster had reverted to human form.
More spider creatures were soon tossed down by Xia Luo, and the little spider continued its work, extracting the mutated cells from each one.
Watching this, Xia Luo raised his thumb, giving his tiny pet an approving nod.
With a creature that could neutralize mutant spiders, things would be much easier for him.
Especially now, with the little spider’s ability to absorb mutant cells—an unexpected bonus.
“Boom~”
Suddenly, flames roared in the sky as Harry arrived on his glider.
“Hey, buddy, that big lizard over there is mine!”
“Hold up—don’t get too close to him.”
Xia Luo quickly stopped Harry from approaching Connors.
Harry hadn’t taken the gene serum yet, and he was still a regular human.
Connors’ thick hide wouldn’t be fazed by a pumpkin bomb.
“There are plenty of monsters here—let’s focus on these first,” Xia Luo advised.
Harry, convinced, nodded. “Got it.”
With that, he leapt into the hospital’s upper floors.
“Harry, over here!”
At the entrance to one of the hospital rooms, a weakened Mary Jane was helping Gwen navigate through the crowd.
Seeing his familiar green figure darting by, she shouted out.
“Huh?”
Harry swung his glider around a cement pillar and came to a stop in front of her. “Almost forgot you two—don’t worry, you’re safe now.”
He barely had time to reassure them before a blood-curdling screech rang out from the room next door.
“Boom!”
The door shattered, and a spider creature lunged at a passing patient.
“Grrr!”
“Aah! Help…”
“Splat!!”
Blood sprayed as the monster gnawed hungrily on its victim’s flesh.
Mary Jane went pale at the sight, while Gwen fought to keep from retching.
Harry noticed that the spider creature hadn’t seen them yet, and he gestured silently, urging them to slow down and retreat.
But just as they were nearly out of sight, a high-pitched scream sounded from behind.
“Ah! A monster! It’s terrifying!”
“Shhh!”
They all spun around, frantically signaling for the new arrival—Ned—to keep quiet.
But it was too late.
“Grrr!!”
The spider creature turned, its menacing eyes fixating on them.
“What are you waiting for? Run!!” Ned screamed, nearly deafening them.
His shout echoed, drawing more spider creatures toward them.
“Grr!”
Dark shapes closed in, blocking their every escape.
“Damn loudmouth,” Harry glared at Ned.
Ned looked apologetic. “Sorry, I was just… terrified.”
But there was no time for blame, as several spider monsters lunged toward them.
“Get down!”
“Boom!!”
A handful of pumpkin bombs exploded in mid-air, lighting up the hallway with fire and heat. The blast threw the charging spider creatures off their feet, while Ned, now sprawled on the ground, let out another pained scream.
“Oh, my butt!!”
A piece of debris had lodged itself in his backside, reopening an already injured spot from last time, causing blood to seep through.
“Sorry, that was a bit close—but hey, we’re all still here,” Harry said, seizing the chance to lead Mary Jane and Gwen away from the scene.
Behind him, Ned limped, clutching his injury. “Wait for me~ Ow, ow, ow…”
“Watch out!”
Another spider monster came barreling toward them when a flash of red and blue swung in and sent it flying with a well-placed kick—straight into Ned’s backside, preventing a grislier fate for him.
“Aah! I’m going to die!”
Sent tumbling, Ned landed at Harry’s feet, using his face as a brake. The pain made him feel like life itself was slipping away.
But Harry’s face lit up as he recognized the voice of Spider-Man.
“We’re saved!”
In these narrow hallways, he couldn’t really use his glider’s full power. Spider-Man’s arrival was a relief.
“Oh, my hero!” Mary Jane cupped her cheeks, her eyes sparkling.
Gwen gave her a questioning look. “Isn’t your hero Xia Luo?”
Mary Jane rolled her eyes. “Don’t even mention that guy. He hasn’t come to see me once. And the worst part? He sent you flowers. I’m done with him!”
Hearing this, Harry awkwardly looked away, saying nothing.
Meanwhile, a series of powerful punches tore through the room, accompanied by the sound of the wall shattering. One after another, spider monsters embedded themselves in the walls, screeching in pain.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
With each leap, the little spider extracted mutated cells from the spider monsters, restoring them to human form.
Once finished, Xia Luo dusted off his hands.
He turned to Harry and the others, “You guys alright? Good, I can see you’re still alive.”
“Nope, I’m about to die,” Ned, lying flat on the ground, raised his hand.
“You’re almost dead, but not quite.”
With a flick of his wrist, Xia Luo shot a bright, rainbow-colored web patch onto Ned’s injury. “There. The bleeding’s stopped.”
“Thank you, Spider-Man.”
Ned looked at him gratefully, while Harry and the others turned their heads, trying to avoid looking directly at the bright patch of webbing on such a conspicuous spot.
They wanted to laugh, but it seemed rude.
“How are you guys holding up?”
Just then, Carter and her team arrived, splattered in dark blood—clearly, they’d taken down quite a few spider creatures.
Natasha tapped her earpiece. “Coulson just reported: there shouldn’t be any more of these things nearby.”
“Who says?”
Without looking back, Barton shot an arrow, hitting a spider monster clinging to the ceiling.
“Hisss~”
The creature hit the ground with a whimper, and the little spider quickly jumped on it to siphon the remaining mutant cells.
Everyone watched as the creature turned back into a human, all slightly shocked but refraining from asking questions.
Soon, Xia Luo motioned to his little spider.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
He held it up in front of Mary Jane. “Hold out your hand.”
“What?” Mary Jane looked puzzled.
Xia Luo explained, “Those monsters mutated from people like you with spider powers. I suspect you might turn into one too.”
“What?”
Mary Jane turned pale, but before she could react further, the little spider crawled onto her shoulder.
“Snick!”
Its tiny fangs punctured her skin, and she instinctively flinched.
“No—”
“Deep breaths. Pain is normal.”
Xia Luo gently held Mary Jane in place.
Mary Jane blinked. “Actually… it doesn’t hurt much.”
“Then why the scream?”
“Reflex.”
After three seconds, the little spider hopped onto Gwen’s outstretched hand, and she let it bite her fingertip without flinching.
“Bzzzt~”
The little spider glowed with magical energy, and Gwen felt a strange sensation, like something was being pulled from her, though it wasn’t painful.
“All done.”
Xia Luo placed the little spider back on his head.
Seeing this, Carter stepped forward. “If your theory’s correct, other infected people will start turning into monsters too.”
Xia Luo nodded, handing the little spider to Harry. “I’m leaving the rest of the mutants to you.”
“No problem.”
Harry wiped his hands, then eagerly took the little spider with both hands.
“Hey, little buddy, be good now. I’m your owner’s best friend, so whatever you do, don’t bite me.”
Mary Jane gave him a pointed look. “Isn’t your best friend Xia Luo?”
Harry waved dismissively. “Just something I say—don’t worry about it.”
Mary Jane: “…”
As Harry left with the little spider, Carter frowned in concern.
“I didn’t realize those people still had residual mutated cells. If they’re lucky and don’t turn into monsters, maybe they’ll get their powers back soon.”
“Or it could be that their mutant cells depleted, which is why they’re mutating into monsters now,” Xia Luo suggested.
Everyone fell silent, slightly taken aback.
This… wasn’t the usual turn of events.
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