When he arrived at the shed where he was hiding, Morris couldn't believe what had happened. He might even hate Amanda for abandoning him, but he didn't want any of this to happen to hurt his own son, who was surprisingly alive. What kind of monster had he become? No, he wasn't thinking straight about who should pay for everything that was taken from him during his lifetime. Sitting down in his armchair, he realized, it's the people who control the lives of others, the ones who took everything they had left. They are the powerful who guided the destiny of that city. Soon, he would end it all. Soon, Oscorp would cease to exist permanently.
There were two days left for the new project proposal for the internship. Peter was still staring at his computer screen, silent, as well as the empty wall of his room. What could he do with Morris? What is he going to do next, and where. And what was that the night of the day before? It was then that he realized that Morris was talking about nanorobots. Oscorp was clearly behind this again, and then realized all about Bench's new form. The nanorobots resetting themselves into larger nodes across his body, the plate on his chest, these are all larger control nodes, those were his nanorobots. He quickly reopened the programs he used to control their behavior. If that cruel experiment they did on Morris didn't change too much, he could rewrite their programming and… Well, hoped he didn't have to use that.
Soon, he recorded a new program on a kind of electronic device with several small tips at the top, which he used to manipulate the nanotechnology he was studying, with a plug at the opposite end that coupled to the output of the web-shooters. He really hadn't expected it to come to this point, but he had one last measure. He knew that Morris' attacks weren't going to end now, so he told his aunt that he was going to be busy all day and ran off to become the Amazing Spider-Man. From the top of the Empire State Building, he watched over the city, and it was at noon that the waters of the Atlantic began to come to life and fly over the skies of the city, people looked scared at the event while the arachnid hero analyzed the movement, he already knew what to do. where he was heading.
It didn't take long for him to find the epicenter, a small translucent man extending his great water limbs over the great Oscorp building. He stepped between the man and the building, the mighty Hydro-Man didn't like that one bit, moving closer to speak with the other superhuman.
- This needs to stop here, Bench. There are many innocent people inside this building. Ending this place won't bring you peace.
- You don't understand, Spider-Man! You don't know what it's like to have everything taken from you, to be abandoned by everything and everyone. They deserve to pay, all of them who see me passing by and don't have an ounce of empathy for me! I want what's rightfully mine!
- I can't let you do that.
- Then you will die, Arachnid.
Spider quickly threw himself at him, before one of his giant tentacles could reach him, the two entered a melee conflict, Spider used his suit, which was more solid, to his advantage, and the two threw each other for between the streets and the skyscrapers. Much damage was done in the midst of the skirmish, one of the water giant members slammed into Oscorp's facade, knocking the sign down into the streets. Police officers ran from one side to the other, mobilizing the population to move away. Spidey used all sorts of elements on the streets to fight, manhole covers, poles, antennas, and windows. Eventually, one of the tentacles hit Peter, who went flying at a very high speed towards the Oscorp building. Using a web, he managed to smooth the speed, but still crashed through one of the windows and crashed into one of the walls.
His back hurt a lot, and he was screaming at all the employees to run and get away. He could already see the enemy approaching, but he needed to buy time for all the civilians. Launching several balls of web in his direction, he attracted the villain's attention with a "Hey, mister hydrant, here". He advanced at a greater speed, and Spider looked for something to distract him. When he arrived, Morris was startled by… A series of furniture thrown at him. A little confused and irritated by what was happening, he advanced on Spidey in a defensive position until he spoke again.
- I know how it is, Morris.
- What…?
- Having everything taken away from you and being alone. This place has done me as much harm as it has done you. Do you know why? — He remained silent, and Peter took off his mask — I'm like you.
- Peter… — He whispered, putting his feet on the ground, shocked — You're Spider-Man…
- Come with me, Morris, please. We will find a solution to this together.
- Solution… No, Peter. Look at the way I am, the things I've done, I'm going to spend the rest of my life in jail. There's no way to save me anymore. Please, if everything that happened to me also happened to you, let me avenge us both.
- No. Innocents shouldn't pay for what bad people did. Only they paid until today, with their own lives. My Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, Max... Gwen. We need to stop this, Morris.
- No, I can't be weak like that anymore… No!
In a fit of fury, Morris attacked Peter again, who managed to dodge in time. And then, putting his mask back on, he jumped out the window and the chase continued. Peter would have to use the reprogramming drive, but there was too much water for him to control and defend against. It was then that he saw a large construction of a building, and he had an idea. The two entered the construction site, which was already empty, and Spidey hid between the unfinished walls of the site. The Hydro-Man began to destroy all columns and walls looking for the hero, who sneaked stealthily, looking for what he was looking for. Eventually, he found a container full of cement, and he knew what to do. He drew the enemy's attention once more, already throwing a bag of cement in his direction, which fell apart and began to be absorbed by the water.
Morris felt very uncomfortable with the substance penetrating his body, as several ants were under his skin. Even angrier, he charged towards the webhead, who remained static as he prepared a powerful jet of water, floating swiftly in an attack. At the exact moment, Spider-Man launched his webs towards the container and pulled it with everything he had between him and Bench, who could not stop the impact trajectory, his jet piercing the wall, with him entering the opening with everything, reaching the colossal amount of cement. Spider approached slowly, until a gigantic jet of water destroyed the container, with only the Hydro-Man in its epicenter, who was in a strong gray tone, he moved slowly, and could not stretch and shape his body as before.
Roaring with fury, he ran towards the hero, who just threw him a punch, he returned the punch, and Spider began to swing through the structure of the building, with the criminal launching blast after blast of water in an attempt to hit him, something that only made him more rigid. Spider used his webs and with each movement, he immobilized his opponent a little more, who needed to free himself more and more from even more webs that stuck his limbs to the ground. When he was too busy getting loose, the hero plugged the drive into the end of his right shooter, and with a well-aimed volley, it hit Morris's chest plate. At first, he looked confused, but then he felt his body distort and shift, much to his terror. He was starting to lose consciousness; he didn't want to go back to how he was before. His screams were muffled as all the cement was purged from his body and his suit engulfed him.
The strange transformation lasted a few seconds until only a small tank of the liquid that was once Morris was trapped remained. The lone hero approached the object, attached webs to make a handle, lifted it on his shoulders and projected himself to the heavens. It was on the coast of the Liberty Monument that he read Morris's interface, it's like he was in a deep sleep, it gave Peter some peace. A man like him would never be able to live like that, he didn't even have his own body anymore, so Peter gave his friend one last release. He disconnected all the nanorobots from his body and approached the waters... Opening the tank, he let his friend rest in the waters that he inhabited so much for all these years, taking his sleepy body to live in the waves, without having to worry about anyone ending his peace.
There were a few more things Peter wanted to check. He saw through the window of Amanda's apartment, she was taking Morris's disabled son to school, she was apparently fine, although the fight with him had left her with serious marks on her face. He needed to keep an eye on the kid, for now, he'll hear that his father died soon, and Peter knows what that's like, maybe a visit from Spider-Man could help him in the future. Another thing Peter needed to sort out was a certain promise. That evening, Debra Whitman was expecting a visit from her service partner, which she concluded was to evaluate the next proposal. When she opened the door, she found Peter, not in a lab coat, but dressed to go out, and holding a rose.
- Peter… — She sighed.
- Debra, look, be quiet just this once — He interrupted — Here's the thing, I… You… You know, I decided it's time to build up the courage and strength to do a little at a time. You know, moving on. Would you like to move on with me?
- Oh, Peter... — She took the rose, stared at it a little, and then returned to face the suitor — Come here.
She pulled him in for a kiss, something Peter hadn't done in a long time. They put their arms around each other in a hug, and when the kiss ended, they looked at each other, smiling.
- Where do you want to take me? — She asked.
- Where do you want to go?
She grabbed his hand and dragged him away. Peter fulfilled a promise to a friend, and even let one more person be part of his life. Maybe from then on, he could continue knowing that he can take one day at a time. But at the Ravencroft Institute, Gustav Fiers approached the cell of Harry Osborn, who was sitting on his bed, with a sheet over his body. Fiers showed footage of Spider and Hydro-Man's final battle, and Harry got up, not removing the sheet from his body, but with a clear smile underneath the fabric.
- So, it was a success?
- Yes.
- You can call the rest of our candidates, it's time to start acting...
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