[New York City – One Week Later]
It was a good morning.
Cool breeze. Light traffic. Pop music wafted from a rooftop café.
Ghost-Spider swung between buildings, her white-and-magenta suit cutting through the skyline like a streak of lightning. Her earbuds pumped music into her ears as she twisted through the air, flipped off a billboard, and landed on the edge of a glass skyscraper with barely a sound.
"Nothing like a Tuesday patrol," she muttered, stretching her arms behind her head. "No supervillains. No mutant-hunting death bots. No exploding magical portals. Just me, gravity, and some chill vibes."
Although she was acting chill and all, her eyes were continuously looking around the area, searching for someone. Old memories flashed before her eyes. She could still remember how Aron was practicing his teleportation that day and then... Well...
Her fingers tapped against her web shooters absently. "If I get bored enough, I might stop for cake..."
An explosion rocked the Financial District.
Gwen's eyes snapped toward the sound. A pillar of black smoke rose above the rooftops, followed by panicked screams and the unmistakable clang-clang of something metallic.
"So much for chill."
She launched off the rooftop, swinging low and fast, weaving between cars and pedestrians before landing hard on a nearby building ledge overlooking the chaos.
Below her, Midtown's fourth-largest bank was under siege.
By tentacles.
Dozens of mechanical limbs, long, razor-tipped, and twitching like insect legs, were burrowing through the bank's front entrance, peeling back steel and concrete like wrapping paper. Civilians fled in every direction, some narrowly dodging stray swings of the metal limbs.
And standing at the center of it all?
Dr. Otto Octavius.
"Doc Ock."
He was in a heavier, reinforced version of his usual armor that covered her entire body and metallic limbs gleaming in the sunlight. They looked brand new and polished. But he wasn't alone.
Crawling behind him, spilling out of two massive transport vans, were dozens of smaller, spider-like Octobots. Eight-legged drones with glowing red sensors and hydraulic pincers.
One of them leapt up and sliced a streetlight in half just for fun.
"Ah, c'mon. You escaped again," Gwen groaned, flipping down onto the nearest awning. "Ain't you embarrassed? You got beat up last time and last last time too. Who greenlit the octopus sequel?"
Doc Ock noticed her immediately, eyes narrowing.
"Ghost-Spider," he sneered. "Still clinging to rooftops and childish banter, I see. Today is different."
Gwen flipped midair, landing between him and a pair of fleeing civilians. "Right, because this time you brought backup from the sushi aisle."
"I brought evolution," he snapped, and with a loud clang, his new metal limbs extended outward like scorpion tails. "Now move, or be dismantled."
Gwen smiled under the mask. "Dismantle me later. Right now?"
She shot two web lines, yanked herself forward, and kicked him square in the chest.
"I'm shutting you down."
Doc Ock stumbled, but the nearest Octobots hissed and surged toward her like a swarm of mechanical spiders. She ducked and flipped, firing webs at two and kicking a third into a parked taxi. The impact shattered the windshield and set off the alarm.
"Ugh, I hate robots."
A beam of pink energy suddenly blasted half a dozen bots across the pavement.
"Need a hand, Spider-girl?" Jubilee skidded to a stop beside her, chewing bubblegum like she had all the time in the world.
Right behind her was Pixie, flying in the air. She threw a ball of acid spit on top of a bot, and it instantly melted before exploding. She gained multiple new powers after Aron unlocked her latent potential.
To their left, Banshee let out a sonic scream that shattered a wave of Octobots mid-leap, while Angel soared above, throwing metal feathers at those bots.
Gwen grinned. "You're late."
"We wanted to let you warm up," Jubilee said with a wink.
Pixie teleported directly onto a passing Octobot and kicked it hard toward Jubilee.
[Boom!] Jubilee punched it to smithereens.
Above, Angel banked hard and unleashed a burst of feather-sharp projectiles, slicing through two drones that were trying to escape.
Banshee landed hard next to Gwen, panting lightly. "Just how many bots are there? They are like a never-ending swarm of mosquitoes."
From a rooftop overlooking the chaos, Emma stood with arms crossed, watching the fight unfold. She wore a pure white coat, not a single strand of hair out of place.
Beside her, Wanda floated slightly off the ground, her red aura barely visible.
Emma raised an eyebrow. "They're handling it."
Wanda nodded. "So far. But if Octavius releases those reinforced units I sensed underground, it's going to escalate fast."
Emma looked bored. "Yeah, well, you can simply turn them to ashes."
Back on the ground, the team moved like a well-oiled machine. Gwen zipped through the Octobot swarm, taking out three with a single acrobatic combo. Jubilee launched a massive plasma blast that sent a wave of bots flying. Pixie kept blinking in and out, confusing their sensors. Banshee's voice kept the swarm from gaining formation, while Angel's aerial precision kept the sky clear.
But Doc Ock wasn't done.
He slammed his fists into the pavement, sending a seismic wave that knocked them back. The road cracked and then opened.
From below, four massive Octobot Titans crawled out, each the size of a delivery truck, armored and humming with power.
"NOW," Doc Ock bellowed, "You will see the future!"
Gwen groaned. "Okay, now it's a sequel."
Jubilee cracked her knuckles.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The pavement trembled as the four Octobot Titans unleashed a mechanical roar, their frames shifting and expanding as new weapons unfolded from hidden compartments. Plasma cannons, buzz saws, and electric prongs snapped into place like an arsenal built for war.
"Those things have more limbs than a centipede with a gym membership!" Jubilee shouted as she launched herself toward the closest Titan, plasma bursting from her hands.
Pixie blinked into the air and shouted, "I'll draw fire! Ban, scream at its leg joints!"
Banshee soared up, his mouth already opening. A sonic blast shot from his throat, targeted directly at the Titan's knees. The vibrations caused the massive bot to stagger, and Pixie swooped down, spitting a ball of acid into its exposed gears. The hiss of melting steel, followed by an explosion, told her it worked.
Angel rained down steel feathers, targeting the optics of the next Titan. It swiveled its massive head and fired a beam of concentrated energy. He barely managed to dodge, rolling through the air and sending more feathers in retaliation.
Jubilee slid underneath one of the Titans, blasting upward with both hands. A column of pink fire shot through the machine's underbelly, severing cables and internal hydraulics.
"Eat glitter, ugly!"
The bot erupted in sparks and collapsed to its knees.
Gwen, meanwhile, darted across the battlefield toward Octavius, still focused on disabling the mastermind. She landed in front of him, breathing hard but grinning.
"You gonna give up, Doc? Or do I have to keep embarrassing you in front of your murder toaster army?"
Octavius growled, sweat beading on his forehead.
'So weak. Let me show you what real power is,' A foreign voice spoke in his mind.
'What?! Who are you?' Doc shook his head in confusion.
His limbs twitched.
Then his hands shot to his temples.
"Stop it... stop it... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Gwen paused. "...What?"
Octavius fell to his knees.
And then...
The street cracked beneath him.
A shockwave of crimson energy burst from his chest, throwing Gwen backward through a store window. Glass exploded around her as she rolled, groaning, and looked up just in time to see something horrifying.
His tentacles spasmed wildly, then transforming into something... Organic. Flesh merged with metal. His eyes glowed red, then blood-red. Veins of crimson chaos magic pulsed across his body, feeding into the tentacles, which split and multiplied like infected roots.
The armor on his back cracked open, exposing bones inside the machine. His scream tore through the air, warped and layered with voices that weren't his.
Then his body expanded, swelling as muscle and tech fused in impossible, grotesque patterns.
Four arms became eight.
Metal became flesh.
Flesh became chaos.
The monster that rose from the crater was no longer Otto Octavius.
It was something else.
Fifteen feet tall. Hulking. Tentacles lined with glowing runes of madness writhing behind its back. A massive mouth opened across its chest, teeth twisting like rusted gears.
And from within the monster, a voice cried out...
"LET THE CHAOS BEGIN!"