Restart, Spider-Man! [134]

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Back in the Cosmic Web, Xia Luo woke up in frustration.

He’d been so careful, and he still fell for it.

Thinking back, that thing was probably like a virus—it had to be, or it wouldn’t have spread from Gwen to him.

On the bright side, Xia Luo was piecing together Cindy’s secrets.

This time, the invincible Spider-Man wouldn’t fall!

Restart!

Fifth Reset Match

After quickly taking out the Black Order on the Brooklyn Bridge, Xia Luo moved on, eliminating all the supervillains holed up in Kingpin’s mansion.

As for Cindy, who was on her way, Xia Luo left her to Old Man Steve.

In the middle of a crowded street, cars clogged the roads, and citizens watched as Mjolnir pinned Cindy to the ground. Xia Luo spoke to Old Man Steve through his communicator.

“See if you can get her to talk.”

Old Man Steve frowned as he looked down at Cindy’s blank expression.

“She’s completely silent. She looks… almost empty.”

“Hm?”

Xia Luo’s brow furrowed. “Try again.”

“Can’t. She’s… gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I hit her a little too hard.”

“Be serious.”

“I am. She’s dead, without a single warning.”

“Well, we’ll read all about it in tomorrow’s headlines: ‘Elderly War Hero Assaults Innocent Young Woman in Broad Daylight.’”

“What now?”

“This isn’t over yet. Something doesn’t feel right. Head back, and I’ll find Thor.”

“Want me to lend you the hammer?”

“I can’t lift it.”

Disconnecting, Xia Luo swung up into the night.

Since Old Man Steve had called Mjolnir early, Shiba Thor was likely hanging around some diner, watching people eat fried chicken, blissfully unaware that his hammer had gone missing.

By the time he noticed, he’d probably be too faint with hunger to track Xia Luo.

For now, Xia Luo would just have to locate him.

Such was life for the God of Thunder in the Animal Universe. No hammer, no thunder—just a dog.

A dog with an endless supply of signs.

Whoosh!

The red-and-blue figure darted through the city, Xia Luo scanning the neon landscape until he spotted a familiar form in Central Park.

“Is that…?”

His eyes flashed as he honed in on a hulking, monstrous black figure darting through the trees.

Venom Parker!

So, he was one of the contestants after all.

Venom Parker tore through the forest, fleeing from something, swinging wildly, only to stumble and fall clumsily as he broke through the trees, collapsing onto the grass.

“Oh crap, I’m just…hungry, that’s all. I’m not sick…”

Venom Parker struggled to his feet but barely made it a few steps before his legs gave out again.

“No, my eyes…I’m going blind?”

His vision blurred, panic rising within him.

Crunch, crunch

He heard faint footsteps treading over fallen leaves.

“Who’s there?”

He turned sharply, but with his blurred vision, he could only make out a shadowy figure…a woman with tentacles sprouting from her back?

It didn’t matter.

If it was alive, it was food.

Venom Parker grinned. “Perfect. Just what I need to recover my strength.”

He licked his lips, saliva dripping from his tongue, preparing to feast.

Yet, the shadowy figure remained still, letting four tentacles snake out towards him, slowly but surely. Venom Parker’s expression shifted as he realized he couldn’t dodge.

Shlick!

The four limbs pierced his body, but his stiffening form barely registered the pain.

He couldn’t even fight back.

“What…what’s happening?”

In that moment, he felt his healing abilities drop to almost nothing. Venom Parker was terrified.

He quickly realized it wasn’t that his healing powers had weakened but that his host, Peter Parker, was somehow failing.

As Peter’s abilities weakened, so did the symbiote.

And since it was bound to Peter’s malfunctioning body, it, too, was starting to deteriorate.

Leaving Peter might be its only option.

But it couldn’t bring itself to do it.

The longer it waited, the clearer it became that this enemy was targeting Peter Parker.

The strange power worked like a curse that only affected Spider-Men.

“No…don’t hurt my Peter!”

The black ooze twisted in anguish, but the shadowy figure was unmoved, holding Peter Parker’s limp body aloft as it retreated into the forest.

“Damn it! Let him go, or I’ll rip your head off and kick it around like a ball.”

“Please…please let him go.”

Venom’s threats softened into pleas as it tried to merge more deeply with Peter to save him. But it couldn’t.

Because it, too, was now a “Spider-Man.”

The symbiote’s cells had absorbed Peter’s mutated genes, making it susceptible to the same strange curse.

Unless…

Venom’s narrow eyes flickered with resolve.

Squelch

The black ooze writhed, peeling back to reveal Peter Parker’s unconscious face.

Looking at Peter, Venom’s typically fierce and violent gaze softened.

“Peter Parker…my friend. Thank you for giving me freedom.”

It sounded almost like a farewell.

“When I first offered to help, I meant it. I wanted to save your Gwen. You were the first person I met on Earth…the only friend I ever had.

“You may never understand how strange it is for an alien symbiote to call a human a friend. It’s absurd, but somehow true.”

Venom continued, its voice tinged with nostalgia.

“I’ll miss those days when you’d secretly sneak me food. Those winged snacks were tasty…and cute.”

“But what I really wanted to eat was your cat.”

“I hated it. Maybe because I wanted to replace it.”

“But I knew Gwen gave it to you for your birthday. It was precious to you, so I couldn’t.”

“More than once, I bonded with that cat to watch you and Gwen together.”

“I couldn’t understand what that feeling was.”

“I started to want something more. To imagine what it could be like for me. But…I think I got it wrong.”

“Then…when Gwen was gone, you came to me, needing my strength for the first time.”

“Seeing that determined look in your eyes, I finally understood.”

“We were friends, and friends help each other. No strings attached.”

“We fused together. And your body…exploded with power I’d never imagined.”

“We almost did it.”

“But fate didn’t care. It was one accident after another, until we were left with nothing.”

“We failed.”

“And you, my friend, you gave up entirely.”

“You let me take over because that wasn’t really you anymore.”

“I tried to shock you back to your senses with my ruthless methods, hoping you’d rise to be the hero everyone wanted again.”

“But you just wouldn’t wake up.”

“You must have hated me.”

Venom’s eyes glistened with something…something almost human.

“Peter Parker, my friend…this is what you wanted.”

“From this moment on, you’ll have a new life. You won’t remember Gwen. You won’t remember your uncle, Aunt May, or Mary Jane. You won’t remember your painful past.”

“And you…you won’t remember me.”

“…Haha, I’m letting you go. It’s time you let yourself go, too.”

“Good luck, my friend.”

“Goodbye, my friend.”

Venom’s voice grew faint as it poured its last energy into removing every trace of Peter’s mutated spider genes—and itself—from his body, erasing all memory of their time together.

Thud

The black ooze separated, leaving Peter Parker unconscious on the grass.

As the shadowy figure picked up what was left of Venom, it frowned, realizing Peter was no longer Spider-Man.

But it didn’t matter. The symbiote held the spider mutation now. It would do.

Soon, only Peter’s unconscious form remained in the park.

High above in the Web of Life and Destiny, Xia Luo had witnessed everything.

“Octopus Cindy?”

Yes, it was another Cindy. This one wielded the powers of Doctor Octopus.

And the Cindy he’d encountered before—could her monstrous strength have come from the Rhino?

No matter which Cindy he faced, they all seemed to possess powers that left Spider-Man hopeless.

Otherwise, Venom wouldn’t have been beaten so easily.

Things were getting complicated again.

With a determined leap, Xia Luo dove toward Central Park to retrieve Peter.

He’d spent time with him before the reset and hadn’t caught any “virus,” so Peter was likely “safe” now.

After picking up Peter, Xia Luo headed to a diner where he found Shiba Thor, who was loitering outside and begging with his sign. Xia Luo managed to lure him away easily—with a single hot dog.

—

Shadows flickered outside the window, and before Carter and the others could react, Xia Luo swung inside, carrying Peter Parker and Shiba Thor.

“Do Spider-Men ever use the front door?” Carter muttered.

Xia Luo set Peter and the dog down, shrugging. “I don’t like doorbells.”

He quickly introduced Peter Parker and Shiba Thor, then recounted his encounter with Cindy along the way.

“Another Cindy? So…where’s the real Cindy?” Gwen’s face was full of worry.

Old Man Steve had already briefed her on the situation before Xia Luo arrived. She felt helpless for her friend, with no leads to follow.

Old Man Steve glanced at Peter. “To forcibly separate a symbiote without a sonic device…that Cindy’s got skills.”

Lizard Parker hid behind Old Man Steve, keeping as much distance from Peter as possible.

“He looks out of it, but he could snap and bite our heads off any second. Better safe than sorry.”

“Coward.”

Felicia rolled her eyes. “He’s just some parasite that needs a human to survive—how dangerous can he be?”

“Very dangerous.”

Old Man Steve’s face grew serious. “Without the right tools, Little Spider wouldn’t stand a chance against him.”

“What?” Felicia’s eyes widened.

She’d seen Xia Luo’s strength firsthand, and even he might struggle against this guy?

Her confidence shook, she took a few steps back, hiding behind Gwen.

“You promised I could sit back and coast. You all have to protect me.”

Xia Luo sighed. “You’re officially the most useless teammate I’ve ever met.”

He rolled his eyes, then addressed the group.

“There’s more than one Cindy. She could be a clone, a duplicate, maybe even something else—we don’t know for sure.

“But according to what I learned from Kingpin, their goal is to distract us, not to send Cindy in for an all-out attack. There’s got to be a reason behind it.

“I’m guessing Cindy will show up again in a few days. Gwen and I can’t go near her, so it’s up to the rest of you.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll finish her off,” Old Man Steve said confidently, hefting Mjolnir.

At his feet, Shiba Thor glared with deadpan eyes, raising a sign that read:

[LIAR. RETURN MY MEOW MEOW!]

Old Man Steve pretended not to see.

Carter frowned. “And if she doesn’t show up?” he asked Xia Luo.

“She will,” Xia Luo replied with certainty.

“And then?” Old Man Steve pressed.

Xia Luo grinned. “Don’t kill her outright. Once she’s hurt, she’ll retreat to her base. Then we can follow her and take out all the Cindys in one fell swoop.”

“That’s it?” Lizard Parker blinked.

“That’s it.”

“But if you already found one Cindy, why didn’t you follow her?”

“Well…I was by myself and, um…felt unsafe.”

Everyone: “…”

That was…a surprisingly powerful excuse.

Three Days Later

Right on cue, with a knock on the door, Cindy arrived at Gwen’s apartment.

Almost exactly on schedule, just as Xia Luo remembered.

But this time, waiting for her was not Gwen—but Old Man Steve and the others, ready and waiting.

BOOM!

Lightning erupted as Shiba Thor led the charge.

CRASH!

Lightning spread across the building as Cindy’s body was smashed through the wall, crashing down onto the street in a diagonal arc.

Watching from a nearby rooftop, Xia Luo and Gwen took in the scene, but something didn’t add up.

“Wait, her powers…?”

They saw the Cindy that had been struck crawling away, injured, using webbing to swing through the city and even slipping through crowds to avoid Old Man Steve’s pursuit.

“That’s…Spider-Man Cindy!” Gwen’s face grew grim.

“They actually replicated Spider-Man’s powers in her.”

Xia Luo frowned. “More than that. This Cindy seems…different from the last.”

“What’s different?” Gwen asked.

Xia Luo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s more adaptable…she’s got this…different vibe I can’t quite explain.”