Being stuck to a ventilation pipe wasn’t fun. It’d been nearly thirty minutes now, and my back was really starting to ache. My arm too. Why had I landed so awkwardly when I’d been webbed up? Why couldn’t I have landed nicely, or been webbed to the floor? Surely my back wouldn’t ache as much as it did know. Plus, the floor wouldn’t be so windy or so cold. God, it was seriously so cold. The suit was decent at insulating, but I’d been up here so long it didn’t matter anymore. The skin on my face was going to peel off at this rate. I groaned, twisting my body as I pulled uselessly at the web. It gave slightly before pulling me back against the pipe with a thud.

“Ow” I mumbled. Stupid. This whole situation was stupid. Stupid weather, stupid costume, and stupid Spider-Man. I mean seriously? This was the guy who’d outsmarted Mysterio, and his first thought was to directly confront the guy responsible for this? I furrowed my brow. Not like I could talk. If I was so much smarter – which I definitely wasn’t - I wouldn’t even be here right now. I’d be at home, snuggled up in a blanket watching YouTube videos whilst Ryo nagged me to play video games and the thought of my homework loomed over me like some kind of ghost.

The corners of my mouth upturned in a bittersweet smile. That sounded nice. Really nice. I shivered violently, my teeth chattering. Crap. I really wanted to go home. I wanted to go home and think about silly stuff like crushes and homework, not mad scientists and ghastly human experimentation.

I needed to figure a way out of here. With a slight positional adjustment, I began fiddling around with my hand, the only part of my body that was free. Not like it could reach anything. I strained against the webbing again, pushing against it as it gave, stretching before pulling me back against the pipe. I frowned. The web was definitely more flexible than it had been ten minutes ago, probably more flexible than it should’ve been in general. Maybe he’d used old webbing or something?

I furrowed my brow. Maybe if pulled myself hard enough, for just a moment the web would give? But how would I pull? I glanced at my hand. The web shooter. I could fire a web and pull myself with the triple tap.

That might actually work. I twisted my hand, aiming it at something random. The building edge should be fine. Ok. Alright. Either I was about to yank my arm off, or I was going to free myself. Either one would be better than doing nothing. Well… more entertaining at least. I closed my eyes and let out a breath. Then in one swift motion I fired a web, threw my entire body forwards, and tripled tapped the trigger. For a moment, I felt a pain in my arm and across the entirety of the of my body, then I was crying out as I flew across the roof. I detached from the web and crashed to the ground, rolling across the floor before I slammed into the building’s lip. Ow. I rolled over and blinked up at the sky.

“Holy shit. That actually worked”

I sat up, feeling myself over. Other than an aching pain in my arm, I felt mostly ok. I was covered in strands of web, but I was free. I could go home.

Oh shit. I could go home!!

I rushed over to my bag quickly and grabbed my phone. A groan escaped my lips as my eyes fixed onto the screen. I had more than enough missed calls from Dad to last a lifetime. With a sigh, I went to call him back, but I paused. Before I’d realised it my mind had gone back to Jess, Spider-Man and the dossier.

I hung my head, a knot of dread growing in my gut. It was fine. Even if he was making a mistake, he was Spider-Man. Sure, he was actually just some regular guy so maybe that sentence didn’t feel like it held the same weight, but he was still Spider-Man. Even if things went badly, he’d win.

The knot of uneasiness didn’t fade.

Crap, was I seriously considering this right now? I could go home. I could leave right now and neither of the others would ever find me. Sure, I’d never figure out what was going on with Alchemax, but I’d see something on the news when Spider-Man dealt with it. And I’d probably never get to make sure Jess was ok, but we barely knew each other. Plus she had Spider-Man now. She’d be fine. She’d said he could probably fix the stuff that happened to her or whatever.

I stared out over the city. It’d be fine. It’s not like I’d stopped a thief, or rescued a bunch of people from an apartment fire. Ok, I was just tooting my own horn now. This was serious. Mad scientist level serious. My mind flashed to the images in the dossier and I slumped to the floor, suddenly a lot less eager.

“You wouldn’t even help anyway” I mumbled to myself. Yeah. I’d just hold the others back. Maybe, to sate this strange self-destructive desire, I could think about this as my part of the mission? All I had to do was change and go home. That was easy. I stalked over to my bag, picking it up before peering over the edge to look below. The streets were quieter now, half an hour or so before the bustle of rush hour. People went about their day, engrossed in the bubbles of their own worlds. It was weird to think everyone’s lives were just as intricate and important as mine. Well… I had had quite an interesting week. My mind flashed back to Jess’ fight with Scorpion, and I shuddered. Maybe it was better I was just going home now. It was more than likely I wouldn’t be able to stomach any more violent stuff if things got hairy.

I went to pull away from the balcony, when I froze. Holy shit. I leaned forward, looking closer. An elderly man, serious man with glasses walked down the street. I recognised him. It was Dr Octavius. What the hell was he doing here? I stared at him as he made his way through the street, his walk deliberate and focused. Wait… wasn’t he was heading towards Alchemax? What the hell? What was going on? Where were Jess and Peter? I felt the knot in my stomach twist even further. Instinctively I pulled away from the edge. Shit. This was bad wasn’t it? What did I do? Stop him? Ask him questions? I mean this couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it?

I peered back over the edge, pulling on the mask. He continued walking, his pace fast. He was almost down the road now. He held a suitcase in his hand, and every so often glanced back in the direction Peter and Jess had gone in. Then he disappeared out of sight around the corner.

One thought came to mind – What if he had the dossier in there?

Dammit. I was following him. I jumped up, grabbing my bag, as I rushed to the fire escape. I bolted down it, faster than was probably necessary, earning myself an angry shout from a resident in the process, before hopping down to the ground and taking off. People’s eye’s widened as I rushed through the street towards Dr Octavius, my entire body suddenly feeling alive.

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If nothing was wrong, then he’d just be confused and I could go home. But if something was wrong then… who knows? I could probably take the suitcase from him, or web him to a random wall or something. Then I’d just… wait for Jess and Peter? That seemed a bit off, but I had no better ideas. If the police showed up though, I might be in trouble if he was involved with that Kingpin guy. I emerged around the corner, and continued rushing forwards, spotting Dr Octavius as he made his way down the street. He glanced back like usual, and his eyes fixed onto me, widening in a mixture of shock and horror.

Then he bolted, stumbling and falling as he frantically pushed others out of the way. That wasn’t good. I continued chasing him, gaining quickly as he ran shouting obscenities throughout the streets. Then suddenly he turned down an alley, and I followed. As I emerged into the opening something clicked, and I felt something hit me in my side. I cried out, falling backwards, expecting waves of pain to follow, but nothing did. I stood up, feeling my face flush as people stared at me, and I glanced to a small dart sticking out my shoulder. Quickly I wrenched it out. Hopefully that wasn’t anything weird.

I looked up to see Dr Octavius scrambling down into a now open manhole cover. What? The sewers? What the hell? It slid back over as he disappeared.

“Spider-Man? You alright” someone asked from the crowd.

“Eh? Oh, yeah. I think” I said, flashing a thumbs up as I stood. I jogged over to the manhole cover and with a greater effort than expected, slid it open. The sound of the sewers echoed underneath. I stepped back, revolted by the smell, then glanced over my shoulder at the crowd. I really didn’t want to go down there. I looked back down. It didn’t matter. I’d already started following this guy, what would going into the sewers change?

I clambered inside, my hands flying down the rungs. My feet hit the ground, the sound of rushing sewage water surrounding me. I looked around. Crap, it was dark. Really dark. I closed my eyes and listened closely. I could hear the sounds of rushing footsteps and panicked breathing. There. I turned off to the left and ran. As I raced around the corner spotting the edges of faint shadows, as my eyes adjusted. My body thrummed with nervous energy. There were so many questions, in the back of my mind but my body was solely focused on the task at hand.

“Stop!” I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls of. The shadow of Doctor Octavius continued running, but his ragged breathing was closer. I was catching.

“Just stop!!” I shouted again, more desperate this time. No response. Dammit.

I continued running, emerging onto a straight stretch of the sewer. The doctor was at the other end, still running. What the hell? I was faster, but he was way too fast for an old guy. I stumbled, falling before quickly picking myself back up. Crap, I was starting to gas out. I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed past the exhaustion, following the doctor.

Rounding the corner I suddenly emerged into a wider open area. A bunch of different sewer paths led to a large square hole, water pouring the sounding of the water rushing echoing around us. The only light came from above, from a small set of grates above a rusty metal stairway. Where the hell where we? I looked around, spotting the Dr in a corner. He stood next to a door viciously pressing at his phone. I’d finally caught up. I tried to fire a web, but nothing happened. Dammit. It didn’t matter. I raced over, steeling my body.

The door opened with a hydraulic hiss and the Dr stepped through before quickly slamming a button on the other side. The door began closing, quickly, but with a burst of speed I slid underneath. It slammed down behind me the sound echoing through the room I was in, light overhead by a single large fluorescent light.

Before I could even sit up and really take the room in, a fire extinguisher came out of nowhere, arcing down towards my head. I rolled out the way as it slammed against the ground, chipping the floor. Holy shit. I looked up to see the Dr take another wild swing at me. I threw myself backwards, dodging the extinguisher before slamming into a table. The sound of glass falling and shattering on the floor echoed through the room, and the Dr cried out at me. He swung again but I dodged, landing in the piles of glass and bugs. Bugs? I didn’t have time to think it through before, a fire extinguisher slammed into my side. The wind went out of me and I fell to the ground my side throbbing with pain. The Dr continued towards me, but this time I kicked at his legs before he could swing. He cried out, falling to the floor, and then I pounced. I dived at him, reaching for the hand still clasped around the briefcase. He cried out as I clawed at him and pushed me off.

I crashed to the ground rolling before quickly picking myself up. He was strong. Way too strong. But it’d just been unexpected. I could still take him. I charged him as he stood, and tackled him, sending us both crashing into another table. It skidded across the floor and crashed into something else, knocking a large glass case filled with water and an octopus onto the floor. It shattered, spraying us with glass and water. We rolled away together before I grabbed him by the hair and yanked it violently. He cried out and I dived for the briefcase. He elbowed me in the sternum and slammed me against the frame of one of the tables. Ignoring the pain, I grabbed his head and headbutted him. A sharp burning pain shot through my head, but I’d been expecting it. The Dr reeled and, in that moment, I dived forward hitting him with the hardest punch I could muster. He slumped to the floor, unmoving as I landed next to him.

I rolled over breathing heavily. Holy shit. I sat up, taking a chance to look around. A lab. This was a lab. My eyes darted from place to place, spotting the rows of desks with bugs and other animals inside, and a large tube at the very end with a mass of black goo stuck to the glass. I looked back down, reaching for the briefcase, before I heard a shout from behind me. Something hit me in the side and I went flying before slamming into a table, smashing through glass and crashing to the floor. But I held the briefcase firmly in my hand. I stood quickly, staggering as a group of insects flew around me in a swarm. I swatted them away then felt something crack against the side of my face. I fell and the Dr jumped on me, punching me viciously. I elbowed him, and then slammed the briefcase over his head. I jumped on top of him and hit him as hard as I could, again and again and again.

“Stop! Peter stop!” Otto cried, his face bloody. I stopped, my body shaking violently. Silence surrounded us. I pulled myself off him, as he lay on the floor weeping, his face a mess and his left arm limp at his side. Quickly I snatched the briefcase off the ground, before stumbling over to the exit. I caught myself against the wall breathing heavily before slapping the button Otto had used to close the door. Nothing.

I pressed it again. Still nothing. Crap. I glanced back to Otto, who’d propped himself up against a table. He stared lifelessly, his eyes distant as he looked over the destroyed lab.

“Years of research… lost” he mumbled.

“Let me out” I said. He ignored me continuing to mumble to himself.

“Just let me go. You lost” I said. Suddenly he looked up, his eyes fixed on me. His look was one of pure unadulterated hatred. He moved quickly, rushing across the lab, I hesitated for a second, rushing towards him as he made his way for a specific desk. He reached it first, grabbed something, then spun around pulling a gun out. He levelled it with me as I skidded to a stop.

Oh.

I tried to move, to dive to the side, but it’s like my body was frozen. Like time was frozen. And then the pain came. It was a hot, sharp pain, right below my chest. Somewhere in the back of my mind registered the deafening bang, but the rest of me was too focused on the pain. My legs fell out from under me and I hit the floor gasping. The briefcase fell from my hand as I reached for my chest, rolling over as I let out a strangled sob. I shrivelled up into a ball, my mind struggling to comprehend the pain. The floor felt so cold. Like ice.

I should’ve gone home.