Through the few days that passed, the public realized that the voice of the vigilante was no longer heard, the approach being much more violent. Rumors said that some criminals disappeared, never to be heard from again, and the question was whether the wenhead would be behind this along with the multiple detainees with fractures and traumatisms captured by him. For now, the city was no longer beset by terror from those who took its absence as permission to do as they pleased. There were another three days in the hero's life in which he went out on the streets for crime, and returned on the tracks of the strange water creature that devastates the city. Each account just hurt a little more, the irony of water crimes always going back to the friend's accident. As much as the new approach of this new spider put a little revulsion in the population, criminals were increasingly scattered, and where Spider-Man cut the skies, there were no more of these types of problems.
But it doesn't take long for the hero to discover an attack pattern. All crimes involving water were within a few blocks’ radius of the entire coastline of the island. So, in no less than three days, after patrolling the coast area, he couldn't believe his eyes. As if it were a tsunami, a great wave came to life and, like an arm, extended into the city, confirming that reports that spoke of living bodies of water were not mass hallucinations. The webhead didn't know what to do but follow the movement, how could he fight the water? Soon, the living wave headed towards a large furniture store, where it began to enter through all the doors and windows, as if the place were being submerged. The spider flew into action and began evacuating the place soon after. Soon, a part of the maritime mass began to form a kind of body, and above it, a strange metallic suit with tubes and latex. The man had his back turned, the only thing he could see was his long hair floating in the air, as if he were underwater. All the rest of the water still floated around him, connecting with his feet.
- Stop there, little friend — Spidey mocked — The maximum time in the pool is fifteen minutes, you need to accompany me to the police station.
He didn't say a word, he just turned around slowly, with a disgusted face, and made all the water he had brought start to rise through the vigilante's body. He tried to push the current away with his hands, but it didn't work, so he jumped onto the ceiling, but the water was everywhere. The water man turned to the counter from before and started to take all the money and was picking up some more furniture. It was at that moment that Spider-Man decided to attack, releasing his web to detach one of the assailant's suit tubes. He looked slightly uncomfortable, reconnecting the tube, and letting the water envelop the arachnid. Soon, a bubble formed around him, and in despair, he began to drown. There wasn't much time to think, he used his spider instincts and trapped his webs in two columns, pulling them as hard as he could. Soon, he released them, and went flying like a projectile towards the criminal, who was taken by surprise by the diving at high speed. This made him lose concentration, causing all the water that wasn't in his body to lose stability, running off the walls and floor like a current, out of the establishment.
Quickly, a series of webs were released, but he became completely liquid, causing all the webs to pass through his body. Soon, to Peter's quick realization, the mysterious super-being's exposed right arm formed a kind of microchip next to the hand, which formed a large, massive fist of water. He dodged the giant member's attack with inches to spare but couldn't dodge the powerful squirt of water it released from its mouth. Flying out, Spider fell to the ground, spitting up water and hyperventilating for air. The strange being slid out of the store, starting to reabsorb the water that was still there. Spider dodged the first attack on full instinct, doing a backflip. The hero had to think fast, so he started to run and threw himself into the air, he needed to find a way to neutralize him for now. If he could feel your attacks when he was still physical, then he could feel pain, and saline water is the greatest conductor of electrical energy.
- Oh, Aquatic Lord, you can call your mermaid friends and arrange a meeting for me, I am quite single — He proved, followed by a shout from the enemy, who advanced quickly towards him.
Once he propelled his entire body upwards, the water spread out. The time for him to rearrange himself was enough for him to find the nearest panel of cables and start ripping them out of their transmission circuits, this gave him unfortunate flashbacks to when Electro first appeared, ripping the wiring in the same way to get fed. The strange waterman reformed enough to charge towards the hero again, but he trusted his instincts, and at the right moment, turned around, and placed the exposed power cable in front of him. The criminal started screaming in pain, his watery body writhing, but his face was facing Peter's, and his expressions were clear now. He staggered back, letting the hilt fall, thereby releasing his enemy. Morris's face wore a grimace of rage, he saw what had happened as a slip, and he sprinted for the nearest drain. Peter couldn't believe what he had just seen, Morris' face. Whatever has been happening wasn't a cruel twist of fate, Bench was alive, or living somehow, in the form of the strange water elemental.
Morris had become that thing, the same way Max and Harry had changed, and there was only one answer to that, Oscorp was to blame for that too. He needed to speak as a friend, not fight him, so he used everything he knew to his advantage. The crimes he committed all made sense now, furniture for a house, money, appliances, even the aquarium that was missing from the zoo. He wanted a home of his own, which he could never have before. The next day, he drove along the coast near his robberies, and he wondered where his old friend might be. He knew that, in that region, there were no underground formations of any kind underneath the island, so he assumed that the only place he could be hiding would be in one of the storage sheds. For that, he let his instinct guide him, his “spider sense” was infallible in these situations.
He took it to an old, abandoned shed among dozens of others, and looked for a way to get inside. It didn't take long before he realized that the door was broken open, his sense told him it was right there, and then he opened the door with a heavy clang of old wood, his footsteps echoing throughout the structure. He couldn't put his life on the line, so he wasted no time in saying so.
- Hello! Is there anyone there?
Peter walked slowly, he could already hear water moving somewhere among the many damp and dusty crates. Crates that formed a labyrinth among their tight spaces, poorly lit by the few windows, which were high on the walls of the place. It didn't take long for Peter to find the end of this labyrinth, an open space with all the stolen stuff, with a kind of small room with some furniture, a pile of money and an aquarium. Thankfully, he could rely on his senses, for the moment he approached the aquarium, his former friend's presence resonated, but not quietly, as he turned to face behind him a large, misshapen aquatic figure. He waited, preparing to strike him. He didn't need to dodge, when the being saw who it was, he stopped at once, and began to revert back to humanoid form, with his costume.
- Peter… — He whispered — Buddy, it's good to see you.
- Morris. My God man, what happened to you?
- I don't know, Peter — he stammered, clearly on the verge of tears, but he couldn't cry, his body was already made up of water — They took everything from me.
- Calm down. Why don't you sit down, huh? — Parker pointed to the armchair, where he sat — Tell me… Do you know how alive you are? How did this happen to you?
- I was taking the crates, we were in the path of a storm, I needed to take care of the loading. There was something in that shipment, Peter, something you were doing.
- Oh my God… The Injection Compound.
- I fell into the sea in such pain. And… Then… — He started babbling again.
- Breathe, breathe... What happened next?
- I woke up… In a place. A lab. There were several Oscorp scientists there, most notably... Doctor Alistair Smythe.
- Is Smythe involved in this? — Peter stared into space, knowing this was equally shocking and likely.
- They did this to me, Peter. They said it was an accident, but they did it to me, an experiment, they called me their “Hydro-Man”. They still said they were helping me, they gave me this outfit, a psychiatrist and they recorded everything. My God, and I haven't eaten or slept since I woke up like this...
- Morris…
- But all that ended when they just said I was free. It was the final blow, they waited for me to be distracted, thinking about what to do and they stuck the rest of these… Nanorobots in me. And then they threw me in the gutter, down a drain. I didn't know where I was until I ended up in the sea… It gave me strength. And so here I am, trying to live a normal damn life that I can never have again.
- Man, I'm glad I found you. You must stop this, I can find someone to help you, you can't keep stealing. Come with me, let's get out of here and look for real help.
- No, Peter, you don't understand…?! — He got to his feet, impatient — It's not about help. Everyone has tried, they said they were going to help me, and where did that lead me!? I'm here, without family, without money, and without my own goddamn body. They took everything from me, I'm taking it back, one way or another...
- Morris, no... I know what it's like to lose everything that's important to you, everything you value most, but listen to me, my aunt says that a little good deed every...
- Wait one moment! How did you find me, Peter? — His voice was grim, and his body moved fluidly again.
- I… I take pictures of Spider-Man. He told me about...
- About what?
- … Morris, please.
- You don't just take pictures of the Spider, do you? What is he yours? Accomplice? Agent? Friend?
- All you need to know is that he told me it was you. You need to stop this, there are a lot of people in the same situation as you who are getting hurt because of you.
- No! Nobody ever gave me a chance to get better, Peter. I'm taking my role and taking everything the world has denied me until today!
- Morris…
- Get out of my way! — he said, launching a strong blast of water that sent Peter flying through the roof of the warehouse.
He didn't want to react, firstly because he didn't think he had the right, and secondly because he didn't want to reveal his second identity to his friend just yet. The last reason lingered in his mind after he got back to the house, soaking wet from falling into deep water. Soon, Peter had to predict Bench's next steps in his hunt for revenge. He had money and a house, what more did he want after all this time? And then the answer came like a sign from the damned. He changed as quickly as he could, and from his cell phone, he researched where they might be. Bench's ex-wife, Amanda Whitehouse's apartment was a long way from Queens, so when he got there, he expected the worst.
Entering through the already open window, he called out her name. But no response. He walked slowly through the rooms; he couldn't hear anyone but the child sleeping in the room. At the end of the hall, he could see his mother's room ajar. He began to walk along the walls to the ceiling, and when he passed through the narrow gap, he found Amanda being suffocated by a bubble of water created by the Hydro-Man right in front of him. Bench apparently hadn't noticed Spidey's presence, so he used a surprise attack, delivering a spinning kick to his head from the ceiling. It was no use; the foot went through the head as if it were a puddle of water. Morris laughed.
- It's no use, spider — He twisted his head, turning it to her back to face him, without stopping what he was doing — It's time for the person responsible for making this family end up paying for what they did!
- Bench, let her go, for God's sake!
- No! And it's not Bench, it's Hydro!
And then, Spidey tried in every way to stop him from drowning Whitehouse, he tried to knock her legs down, throw punches, drag her out, but he remained immobile and impassive while his hands created the bubble that enveloped the woman's head. It was then that the hero remembered how he had defeated him for the first time. He desperately looked for an outlet, and when he found it, he pierced the wall of the apartment with a punch and grabbed the wires, breaking and pulling them close to the killer. The Hydro-Man realized this, and finally let go of the ex-wife, who kept spitting water and hyperventilating, turning to the webhead.
- That's enough, Spider-Man. I'm going to finish you off, permanently this time.
The space was very closed, and Spider had no way to move around much, and hand-to-hand combat against a liquid being was out of hand, he had no other option. He extended the bare cable of energy as fast as he could to hit him, and there was a brief contact with the criminal, but he quickly immobilized the arachnid's arms, as well as the legs. He opened his mouth and a stream of water came out of it, showering his face with water, just as it had the woman's. But she couldn't let that happen to the man who had come to save her life, screaming "You Monster!" she lifted a nearby chair and tried to hit him. He easily blocked the attack and slammed her into the wall. He looked happy and serious at the same time, it was time to end that, until a voice was heard, from a very young boy.
- Mom... What's going on?
Morris stopped short, freeing Spidey. He looked around at the fight-ravaged room, at Amanda passed out on the floor, his face a mixture of hate and regret, thinking that this wasn't what was best for his boy, but that he wasn't going to leave without getting revenge on someone... There was no time for him to react as he turned to charge at the arachnid again, the red and blue hero moved forward in a blur and brought the power cord to him, not to some exposed part of his body, and to the great white disc on the chest of his outfit. All the energy in the building repulsed between a shimmering glow, shattering many of the light bulbs of a low, hot glow, and Hydro-Man screamed very loudly as his body vibrated and began to completely liquefy. The power to the entire block went out, and the building was thrown into complete darkness, both Spider and Hydro fled into the night.
Comments (0)
See all