Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Beyond expectations (Edited)
Everyone made their way to Kingpin's building, and through the window, they could see a lively party happening below.
"This guy is really shameless," Arthur said after seeing what was going on downstairs.
"Thank you. It's good to have you all here in this tribute to Spider-Man. We used to be good friends. He was like…" Kingpin began his speech at the podium. Anyone looking at his expression might think he was truly grieving.
"What a shameless pig…" Gwen couldn't help but curse upon seeing him.
"Did you forget I'm right here?" Spider-Ham asked, clearly exasperated.
Noir interrupted the chatter and pointed to the waiters below. "Wait, look at those waiters' outfits. They're tacky, but… we can copy that."
What he meant was simple: wear a bowtie and walk in boldly.
"Arthur~" Gwen suddenly called out with a grin as she somehow appeared with the Spider-Man suit she had made for Arthur.
"...Damn it," Arthur sighed, realizing there was no way out of this.
He would have to wear the suit one more time.
After Arthur got changed, they all put on bowties and entered the party without a hitch.
"That was surprisingly easy." The four of them wore bowties, pretending to be waiters, while Spider-Ham, Penny, and Aurora squeezed inside the spider-bot, pretending to be a serving cart.
"We look awesome," Noir said as they walked in.
They thought they had gotten in unnoticed.
Unfortunately, Kingpin had already spotted them. But with so many guests around, it would be difficult to take action, so he was lying in wait beneath the collider.
Arthur had already realized this. Still, he did nothing—there were too many civilians around to risk hurting someone.
"Thank you, Mary Jane Parker, for joining us tonight."
Upon hearing Kingpin's words, Peter suddenly froze and looked at a familiar figure. "MJ?"
"Hey, could you focus? That's not your MJ," Arthur said, trying to pull Peter forward, but he hadn't expected this guy to be just as unreliable as in the story.
"I just want to tell her… oh!" Peter turned and nearly bumped into Mary Jane.
"Hi, can you bring some bread to table 12, please?" Mary Jane asked politely.
"Uh… Sure…"
"No, I mean, I'm really sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most…"
Peter's words quickly derailed, and Mary Jane took a step back, startled.
Arthur and the others facepalmed in frustration.
Arthur couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward, pulled Peter away, and smiled at Mary Jane. "Don't worry about this guy. He gets like that sometimes. Bread for table 12, right? We'll bring it over soon."
Suddenly, the ground trembled. Time was running out, and the collider was about to activate.
Arthur and the others quickly made their way above one of the colliders. Both machines had already started, making loud noises.
BOOM! All of Brooklyn shook as countless items from other universes started appearing everywhere.
"We have to hurry!"
They reached the spot where the key was supposed to be inserted, but several young people in a nearby building pointed guns at them.
"I'll stick this thing in there, and once you're all gone, I'll blow it up… huh." Peter suddenly felt something was off—not just him, but the other Spider-People too.
"They already know we're here!"
Before he could finish, they were attacked and forced to split up. Spider-Man had to take on Doctor Octopus.
Aurora, Gwen, and Penny fought Hammerhead.
Noir and Spider-Ham were dealing with Tombstone and other thugs.
At the same time, Arthur had to take on the rest of the enemies.
"Let's dance~" Arthur said, getting into a fighting stance.
[A/N: I should've done this earlier. From now on, just nicknames.]
"Die!" Scorpion was the first to attack. Garou easily dodged and countered with an open palm strike to his chest.
At the same time, he ducked under a high-speed strike from Vulture coming from the side.
"Raaaah!!" Shocker slammed his hand into the ground, sending a powerful shockwave toward Garou—who jumped and kicked Shocker in the face.
"The star of the show has finally arrived," he muttered, catching a glimpse of Miles approaching.
"Let's stop playing around~"
At that moment, Arthur's appearance changed drastically. His body grew larger, his hair stood up and split to the sides like horns.
His exposed skin turned obsidian black like armor, and his fingers transformed into claws.
[IMAGE]
BOOM!! The particle collider started spewing out more things—buildings, cars, even trains.
"Shocker, I permit you to go all out," Kingpin's voice came through Shocker's earpiece.
Upon hearing the order, Shocker set his gloves to maximum power. He had been holding back—at full strength, he could level a building.
BOOM!! Shocker slammed his fists into the ground, sending out a shockwave far stronger than before, tearing everything in its path. Even Scorpion and Vulture struggled to stay upright.
Garou simply stomped the ground, sending out a second shockwave.
The two collided—canceling each other out.
"What!?" Shocker yelled in disbelief.
He never thought something like that was possible.
But at that moment, Garou vanished from sight.
Not just for Shocker—Vulture and Scorpion began looking around desperately.
BANG!! x3
In a flurry of swift attacks, Garou struck all three in the gut with enough force to send them flying.
"Instant Step." Garou disappeared with a thunderous boom, leaving a crater behind and reappearing in front of Vulture midair.
He used one of his strongest moves:
"Whirlwind Water Stream: Roaring Aura Sky Ripping Fist…" The power of the attack, amplified by his transformation, unleashed a shockwave that utterly obliterated Vulture's body.
"Arrgh…" Shocker and Scorpion, after crashing to the ground, looked up—only to see that Garou was the only one airborne. Vulture had vanished.
"Screw this, I'm done with this job!" Scorpion cursed and bolted.
Shocker did the same. No amount of money was worth dying for—not against a monster like that.
"Where do you think you're going?" Spider-Girl landed right in front of them.
Then Noir, Spider-Ham, Penny, and Spider-Woman landed behind her with arms crossed.
Each of them had already defeated their opponents. Garou smiled at the sight. He turned and saw Spider-Man and Miles fighting Doc Ock in the distance.
But an unexpected event occurred—Doctor Octopus got hit directly by a truck, making victory for Peter and Miles laughably easy.
"It's almost over." The rest was up to Miles. Arthur looked at everyone and said, "Guys, we should go!"
On the other side, Miles told Peter, "Okay, time to finish this. I'll handle it."
"Okay, I still have the—" Peter checked his hand and noticed the key was gone. As panic started to rise, he spotted something in Miles' hand.
"I totally fell for your trick." Peter narrowed his eyes. When had he done that? Was he getting old?
"Hey, you can't just listen, you've got to watch."
Miles jumped up elegantly toward the top.
"Wait... we taught him that?" Peter's eyes widened in shock.
"That wasn't you," Arthur said, back in normal form, walking up to Peter. "At least I taught him something."
Everyone headed to the roof. Miles had already inserted the key, and Kingpin's plan was on the verge of collapse.
"AH!!" Kingpin smashed the device in front of him in frustration, then muttered: "You forced me into this."
Everyone on the rooftop said goodbye to Miles.
"Goodbye, friends. And you, Aurora." Sitting in the spider-bot, Penny said farewell to the group and then specifically to Aurora, who had become a good friend.
"You too. Bye, Penny."
Noir placed his hat over his heart and said, "It was a good adventure, fellas. I'm taking one of those things called a Rubik's Cube."
"I want you to have this. It fits in your pocket. Bye, everyone." Spider-Ham handed Miles a wooden hammer as a keepsake and left with Noir.
Next came Aurora.
"Goodbye, Mommy. Goodbye, Daddy. It was great seeing you both younger!" Aurora smiled.
Arthur patted her head. "Goodbye, my lovely daughter."
"See you in a few years, sweetie!" Gwen shouted as Aurora gracefully jumped into the collider right after Noir and Spider-Ham.
"Okay, my turn. Thanks to Aurora and Miles, I finally get to see MJ again. I want to have a daughter as cute as Aurora."
"That's impossible, Peter. No daughter can be cuter than mine," Arthur teased.
"Hahaha!!" Peter laughed.
...
All their friends returned to their own universes. Only Arthur, Gwen, and Miles remained.
"I'll go first, Arthur…" Gwen whispered into Arthur's ear.
"I've got a special reward waiting for you at home." Laughing, she jumped into the collider.
"That girl…" Arthur chuckled.
"Thanks, Arthur, for all your help these past few days."
"No need to thank me, Miles. I—"
"!!"
Just as Arthur was about to say goodbye, he felt a malicious presence approaching.
"You can't stop me!!" Kingpin roared, his voice filled with madness and resolve. In his hand, like a rag doll, was Harry Osborn—unconscious, injured, but alive. Arthur's eyes widened, trying to process what he was seeing.
But what shocked him more came next.
Kingpin stabbed a grotesque syringe into his own neck. The liquid inside shimmered with an iridescent emerald glow, cloudy and pulsing.
"With this… no one can stop me anymore…" he muttered, pushing the plunger all the way down.
His body immediately began to convulse. Veins bulged across his neck and arms like serpents under the skin. His eyes widened, pupils turning slit and reptilian. A monstrous roar burst from his throat—part growl, part howl, part insane laughter.
The transformation was fast and horrific. Kingpin's muscles swelled by the second, his clothes tearing like paper. His skin took on a thick, greenish hue, resembling scales. Claws burst from his hands, and his jaw expanded into a beastly grin, filled with jagged, predatory teeth. Spikes and bone plates erupted from his back like a monstrous carapace.
But then, something even more unexpected happened.
A black, gooey substance began oozing from Harry's body, moving as if alive, slithering through the air before merging with the monstrous Kingpin.
Arthur stood frozen.
(What the hell!? What the hell is happening!? First that weird injection and now Venom!? What the hell happened to this world!?) he thought, stunned.
Kingpin roared again—louder this time. His already monstrous form grew even larger, more menacing. His muscles expanded to unnatural levels, his aura radiating raw power and violence. His eyes gleamed with rage and insanity—as if chaos itself had taken form.
As if discarding trash, he hurled Harry aside with no care.
"Catch him!!" Arthur shouted, urgently ordering Miles to rescue Harry before it was too late.
"Got it!" Miles swung into action to catch him.
Arthur's eyes sharpened as he looked at the monster before him. A Kingpin-Venom hybrid was completely outside his expectations.
(First of all… how the hell did Venom even get here?) he thought, transforming once more.
(End of Chapter)
Give me some power stones there you go~😉