[Third Person's PoV]
Spider-Man and Spider-Kat burst out of the swirling tear in the mirror dimension and were flung into the overworld. As the shimmer of the dimensional portal faded behind them, Peter reacted instinctively, shooting a web toward the nearest skyscraper and swinging away with practiced ease. Felicia was close behind, mimicking his movements with her own unique acrobatic flair as she soared after him through the air.
One after another, the rest of the group shot out of the portal. Lizzy and Harry came next, flying at full speed as they twisted and wove between the towering buildings of the cityscape. Their forms became blurs against the backdrop of glass and steel as they tailed Peter, relentless in their pursuit.
Gwen and MJ emerged right after, their momentum propelling them forward, determination etched into their expressions. Kraven followed shortly behind, gritting his teeth, having strapped a salvaged jetpack—taken from one of his now-unconscious soldiers—onto his back. The city erupted into a chaotic, high-speed chase that twisted through alleys, over rooftops, and between traffic.
Peter led the charge, maneuvering through the concrete jungle with the confidence only someone with months of experience could have.
As he swung around the corner of a tall building, sprinted onto a glass window, running horizontally with a web tethered to the edge. Just as he was about to leap again, a portal shimmered into existence in front of him. Without hesitation, Peter extended his hand, firing a bolt of electric-charged energy directly into the outer-ring of the portal. The energy within the vortex sparked erratically as Peter's bolt hijacked the current, destabilizing it.
With a precise flick of his wrist, Peter slammed the portal shut just as Harry's hand stretched toward it, intent on using it. The portal collapsed mid-reach, slicing through Harry's outstretched limb. His severed forearm spiraled through the air, spinning downward.
But before the limb could touch the pavement below, a green blur streaked past. Harry caught his own dismembered hand mid-fall with flawless precision. Without missing a beat, he pressed it against his bloody stump. Green chi blazed around the connection point, crackling and flaring as it surged with regenerative force.
Skin and muscle knitted together in real-time, sealing the wound as if it had never existed. Harry flexed his fingers, testing the connection. Satisfied, he leaned forward on his glider, the thrusters roaring with power as he rocketed forward with renewed speed and fury.
Up ahead, Peter had reached a massive scaffolding enveloping a half-constructed high-rise. He vaulted into the framework, weaving through the narrow metal poles and beams like a phantom.
'I need to be strategic about this,' Peter thought sharply, flipping over a beam. 'Right now, the biggest threats are Felicia and MJ. Felicia's powers are unpredictable and chaotic—they could end up hurting the others too so I could hold off on her and make use of her. But MJ... She's the real problem. Especially to me.'
Felicia lunged at him from the side, claws slashing through the air. Peter instinctively grabbed onto a horizontal beam and spun around it, letting her momentum carry her past. As she tried to recover mid-air, Peter dropped down, landed behind her, and delivered a powerful kick to her back.
She was sent flying downward, her body crashing through a series of metal poles with a metallic cacophony.
"Sorry, Kat," Peter quipped as he launched a web above and zipped upward again, "You're supposed to land on your feet—it's a cat thing, isn't it?"
As he ascended, Gwen intercepted him, flipping in from the side. She leapt from a suspended platform and aimed a flying kick at him. Peter countered mid-air, their bodies crashing into each other. The two began a furious mid-air exchange, bouncing between platforms, trading rapid strikes, counters, and blocks in a blur of mixed martial arts and enhanced acrobatics.
"You know," Peter grunted as he blocked a downward kick, "For someone who's supposedly given into their animal instincts, you still fight like a trained professional."
Gwen snarled, her stingers unsheathing as she swiped at him. Peter caught one wrist, then quickly trapped the other under his arm with expert timing.
"Gotcha."
With a fluid motion, Peter leapt backward, planting both feet against her chest. With a pulse of blue energy from his soles, he launched her with explosive force. Gwen was hurled across the air, smashing through part of the scaffolding and disappearing into the skeletal framework of the half-built skyscraper. Steel supports groaned and snapped under the impact.
Then came the dread.
An unnatural sensation rippled through Peter's body, stronger and more terrifying than before. A paralyzing fear clutched at his spine, and his eyes snapped upward—just in time to see MJ descending like a predator. Her body twisted unnaturally, clinging to the steel like a spider, her eyes glowing with malevolent focus as she used her Fear Inducement ability.
"Just the girl I wanted to see," Peter said with a crooked grin, even as she pounced.
She landed directly on him, and the two tumbled through the maze of scaffolding, crashing and rolling. Peter groaned, "Normally, I'd be into a little rolling around, but I'm getting the feeling this isn't foreplay."
But MJ didn't respond. Her eyes glowed brighter as she activated her Synaptic Disruption. Peter's limbs seized up. His muscles locked, stiffened. His body betrayed him.
'Move, move, move—!' Peter's mind screamed, and then he remembered—he didn't need to move himself.
He ignited his chi.
Brilliant blue energy surged from his core, wrapping around him like a second skin. The energy shifted and condensed into spectral hands—four extra limbs—extensions of his will. As his physical body remained paralyzed, his energy construct arms moved, grabbing onto beams, pulling him along, keeping him mobile.
MJ unleashed her psionic spider-limbs, aiming to finish him off but the constructed arms moved forwards and held their point from reaching him. Her claws slashed forward, carving through air and striking at his shielded form.
Peter stopped trying to command his nerves—and instead, commanded the energy itself. He visualized each limb, each move, and allowed the energy to guide his form. It was awkward, like puppeteering himself from outside his own body, but it worked.
MJ finally broke through part of his suit, her claws tearing at the armor, and Peter felt her closing in fast, aiming to strike his skin. But he was ready.
His energy-powered arms lashed out and caught her wrists, holding them tight. Then, with effort, Peter forced his head to move—jerking it back—before slamming it forward in a brutal headbutt.
CRACK!
MJ's nose shattered under the impact. She cried out in pain, her concentration breaking completely. The psionic energy around her flickered and faltered, and Peter's muscles snapped back into control.
MJ hissed, and in a blur of movement, sharp fangs erupted from her mouth. Her eyes shimmered with predatory hunger as she lunged toward Peter's exposed neck, intent on siphoning away his willpower and mental strength.
Peter didn't flinch. Instead, he tilted his head with a dry smirk and muttered, "Although I love neck-kisses as much as the next guy… I could do without the teeth." With deliberate calm, he retracted the part of his suit around his neck, giving MJ a clear shot—an opening most would never dare offer.
The moment her fangs sank into his skin, Peter's body tensed, and his breath hitched. The sensation was immediate and overwhelming—like icy vines snaking through his mind, leeching his determination and clarity.
Still, he didn't push her away. Instead, he cupped her head gently, eyes narrowing. "Sorry, Red," he whispered. "You need to learn—I tend to leave behind a nasty aftertaste."
Without another word, Peter unleashed everything he had stored. Every ounce of chi, and static energy he'd gathered during the chase erupted outward in a violent, electrified wave directly into MJ's body.
Her scream was guttural, sharp, and quickly garbled. Her limbs spasmed uncontrollably, eyes rolling back as arcs of blue lightning danced violently across her frame. The crackle of power echoed through the scaffolding like a thunderclap trapped in a cage.
But Peter didn't stop there.
As Lizzy's blazing fire rained down like divine punishment from above, Peter twisted at the last second, curling himself around MJ's convulsing body to shield her. The flames licked across his back, heating the metal scaffolding until it glowed red-hot beneath his feet. His suit strained against the sheer heat, warning signals flashing inside his HUD, but Peter gritted his teeth and endured it.
With one last burst of motion, he leapt free, web-slinging with breakneck speed through the tangled construction zone. For a moment, he was a blur—heat-distorted and glowing with residual energy—until he vanished from Lizzy's line of sight.
He came to a stop deep in the scaffolding and immediately cocooned MJ in a thick, reinforced webbing, wrapping her body securely and latching the threads to the steel beams around them like anchors.
"Aria," Peter called aloud, tapping the communicator in his ear, "I'm leaving her in your care. You know what to do next."
Without waiting for a response, Peter dove through the open metal frame and launched himself into the open sky just as Harry came sweeping past, scanning for any signs of him.
"Hey, Dick Grayson! Looking for me?" Peter yelled, flipping through the air before smashing his fist directly into Harry's face. The impact sent Harry spiraling, his glider sputtering as he fought to regain control.
Peter barely had a second to breathe before Lizzy returned—her hands lit with fire as she hurled a barrage of molten fireballs in his direction. He didn't dodge. Instead, he met her head-on.
Twin chi-charged stingers extended from both his wrists, glowing a radiant blue as Peter slashed through the incoming flames. With a sudden burst of chi at his feet, he kicked off the air itself and flew toward Lizzy.
"Wow, you guys really are good at working together even when ill," Peter shouted sarcastically. "At this rate, you'll be able to say you protected each other in sickness, and in health!"
The three—Peter, Harry, and Lizzy—collided midair, a chaotic storm of fists, webs, and fire. Each clash sent shockwaves rippling out, disturbing the clouds of smoke rising from the chaos below.
Then—disaster.
A stray energy blast from Harry struck a towering yellow construction crane with a resounding boom, making the metal groan. The support cables snapped one by one as the massive structure tilted, toppling toward the street below—toward terrified pedestrians who screamed and scattered like ants.
"God damn it…" Peter muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing.
Without hesitation, he fired a web straight at Harry's glider, yanked hard, and flung him in a wide arc straight into Lizzy. The two collided midair and were sent crashing toward a nearby rooftop.
"Now kiss the bride!" he yelled.
Time slowed.
Peter's world narrowed to the sound of creaking metal and the screams of people below. He launched himself forward, landing hard on the unstable crane as it tilted dangerously. Every movement had to be precise.
He fired a web at the swinging steel hook and reeled it in, locking it against the crane before leaping again. A grenade-web shot out, exploding in a burst of reinforced thread that anchored the hook in place.
Swinging madly from support to support, Peter fired webs like a man possessed—anchoring the crane to adjacent buildings and beams. His web cartridges clicked empty, but he didn't stop. Mid-flight, he ejected the spent cartridges, tossed full ones into the air, and reloaded mid-motion with gun-like precision.
Finally, after an impossibly tense few seconds, the crane groaned to a stop—mere feet above the pavement. It bobbed slightly, suspended by a massive spiderweb of reinforced filament stretching between buildings like a safety net woven by the gods.
Below, civilians stared upward, mouths agape. Fear turned to astonishment.
Peter sat atop the tilted structure, breathing heavily. His suit was scorched, his limbs trembling from adrenaline and strain. He looked down at the crowd.
Then he sighed.
'It hasn't even been five minutes... and I already have to deal with shit like this. I'm already tired of this.'
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