Home Invasion
Peter and his aunt May had taken Alex, Mia, Sandman, Dillon, Octavius and Osborn in a FEAST's truck, to Happy Hogan's apartment before Peter closed the door, reactivating the security system.
"Where's Connors?" asked Peter noticing the absence of Lizard.
"He told me he wants to stay in the truck." May replied as she walked back into the apartment.
"Good." replied Mia. "I don't trust him."
Peter turned to Supergirl's sister, who had put on civilian clothes.
"Where is J'onn? You told me he'd be here?"
"He should be here." said Alex.
Then it was J'onn J'onzz who joined the whole troupe in Happy's apartment.
"I'm here, Peter." he said with a sympathetic smile to the young man.
"Who is this guy?" asked Dillon looking at the new arrival.
J'onn took his Martian appearance in front of everyone. All visitors seemed stunned at the sight of the shape-shifting alien.
"My name is J'onn J'onzz. And I come from Mars." replied the Martian.
"My God!" exclaimed Sandman stunned.
"Are there aliens in this universe?" exclaimed Dillon, stunned and impressed.
"Martians?" made Osborn and Octavius at the same time with the same bewildered look.
As the visitors recovered from their shock at seeing a real Martian, Peter turned to his aunt, feeling uncomfortable.
"Okay. I feel kinda bad using Happy's place like this."
"No, no, no, no. He'll get over it." assured his aunt.
Dillon used his electrical powers to turn on the television. While Sandman sat on the black leather sofa in the living room. Unconsciously, he dropped sand everywhere.
"Oh, sorry." he said, clumsy, trying to remove the sand from the sofa, but only added more.
Osborn watched with curiosity the DUM-E robot from Stark Industries placed on the kitchen table.
Doc Ock was wrapped in his own tentacles, against his will. He frowned and grumbled at the young hero as he looked inside the apartment with contempt:
"So this is your plan, Peter? Mmm? No lab, no facilities, just performing miracles in a condominium? What, you're gonna cook up some cures, some frozen burritos in a microwave?"
"I could go for a burrito." says Osborn.
"Do you have a plan, Parker?" asked Mia looking around with skepticism, expecting something more remarkable.
"He's gonna kill us all." grumbled more beautiful Octavius with hostility.
"Well, let's hope not." replied Peter as he passed by. "You're up first, Doc."
He slapped Octavius in the shoulder, who grunted even more, and headed to the back room.
"What? Hey, I told you. I don't need fixing! I don't need fixing! Especially by a teenager using scraps from a bachelor's junk drawer."
"No, no, no, no. He got something back there." says Dillon with ecstasy as he follows the young man. "I can feel it. Weird energy..."
Alex, Mia, Osborn and Dillon followed Peter with May behind them as they entered the room to see Peter pulling out a sheet to reveal a huge metal box with the words Stark Industries written on it.
"What the hell is that?" asked Osborn, intrigued.
"It's a fabricator." Peter announced by pressing a button.
The others watched with incredulity as the box unfolded and turned into a high-tech gadget whose machine was powered by an Arc reactor.
"It can analyze, design, construct... basically anything." continued Peter as the big machine revealed itself.
"I thought that was the tanning bed Happy broke." said May.
Dillon stared at the Arc reactor with greed.
"Look at that."
The machine that folded forward tilted and made a hole in the kitchen wall. Doc Ock glared at him.
"He's gonna kill us all!" he said frightened.
Even Mia noticed what was powering the machine.
"That thing... it's an Arc reactor. The same one Iron Man used for his armor?"
"True." replied Peter.
"Who's Iron Man?" asked Osborn puzzled.
"You don't have a Tony Stark in your universe?" asked Peter.
"Tony Stark?" the confused scientist. "That name doesn't ring a bell."
"An Earth without Iron Man." says Alex while staring at Osborn.
"Look guys." said Mia. "I may be from the future, but I'm not a scientist. This is out of my area. I'm gonna go get a burrito."
"I'm not as brilliant as Stark, Lena, Brainy or the Team Flash, but I think I can help Peter." said Alex by joining the young man.
"Are you a scientist?" asked Osborn with frown.
"I'm not just badass." replied Supergirl's sister. "I am also a doctor of medicine and bio-engineer."
"Thank you Alex." said Peter warmly.
Outside, the FEAST truck was shaking suddenly, surprising two random passers-by. The Lizard was having a lot of fun.
Peter and Alex worked on the fabricator with Norman Obsorn who assisted them. Peter explained the subtleties of Octavius' tentacles to the second, using visual symbols and semi-tangible 3D models, the basis of Stark Industries' technology.
"So, the chip in the back of Doc's neck was designed to protect his brain from the A.I. system that's controlling these tentacles. But if you look here..."
He turned the hologram with his hands and identified the damaged chip.
"The chip is fried. So rather than him being in control of the tentacles, the tentacles are now in control of him. Which, I guess explains why... he is so miserable all the time."
"It's not just that." said Alex while enlarging a hologram of the scan of Octavius' brain. "I can see neurological damage in his brain activity. It's probably because of the way the chip got fried. The tentacles act on his nervous system and make him dependent on them."
"But, if you look here, if I can introduce self..." said Peter pointing to the hologram of Octavius' neck.
"Self-healing composite circuitry." Osborn concluded with admiration.
"Exactly." the young man nodded. "So, theoretically, I mean, if this were to work..."
"…He would go back to the way he was." said Alex happily.
"It's a pleasure to work with both of you." said Osborn satisfied and impressed.
Octavius was standing in the room, still held in place by the tentacles that held him, when May tapped one of them and then raised a glass of water.
"Thirsty?" she proposed to him, raising her glass of water towards him.
Doc Ock turned to her and answered abruptly.
"Well, yes. I am thirsty."
"Fresh water or salt? You know, because you're an octopus." she asked.
Octavius looked at her with confusion.
"What?"
"Fresh water it is." May replied awkwardly.
Dillon looked out the window, looking at the alternative New York in which he was.
"Look at this place! And all the possibilities!"
Sandman standing next to him with a framed photo in his hand, turned to him.
"What? This condo?"
Annoyed, Dillon answered sarcastically.
"Yeah. yeah, the condo. I love the whole overfloor plan. No. No, man. I'm talking about the world. I kinda like who I am here. And all that power back there... I could be so much more. So why did you come here?"
Mia joined him and looked at him with round eyes.
"Don't get too used to it, pal! Your stay here is only temporary! "
Dillon stared at her with curiosity.
"What about you, Miss Robin Hood? Why are you here? I heard you were from the future? Far away?"
"Very far away. From 2041."
"Oh shit!" exclaimed Dillon, dumbfounded.
Sandman in turn beheld her, detailing her closely.
"You're looking for someone. A loved one. Someone you lost."
The female archer looked at him with a neutral look.
"You don't know anything about me." she replied.
"That look you have, I know it too well." said Marko. "I didn't choose to become a sand being. I don't want to hurt anyone. All I want is to go home and get back to my daughter. I'll do anything to see her again. You, Miss Archer, who did you lose?"
"He's my brother, and I haven't lost him." Mia replied severely. "He was taken from me. And since then, I have been searching for him. I'll do anything to see him again."
"I'm sorry." Marko replied with a touch of sadness in his voice.
Mia walked away, then Marko turned to Dillon.
"I can't wait for the kid to finish his science project so we can all go home."
"You trust him?" asked the perplexed electric man.
"I don't trust anyone." replied Sandman crossing his arms against him. "How'd you end up like that anyway?"
"Oh, the place where I worked at..." said Dillon. "They were experimenting with electricity created by living organisms, and then... I fell into a vat of electric eels."
"You're kidding." replied Marko slightly surprised. "I fell into a supercollider."
"Damn. Gotta be careful where you fall."
Near them, J'onn watched them with a touch of pity for the two meta-human visitors.
"In other Earths, Spider-Man has strange enemies, he commented."
Alex and Osborn watched as Peter slowly assembled the new chip.
"Geez, Peter, it's impressive." Supergirl's sister congratulated him. "I'll have to make you meet Lena. She would be fascinated by you. I'm sure you two would get along well."
"Remarkable. The technology and you."added Osborn looking at the new chip. "When all this is over, if you need a job and you're willing to commute to another universe..."
Peter placed the last element on the chip. The microprocessor was finally ready. All three smiled with joy.
"It worked." exclaimed Peter, excited. "That totally worked!"
"Let's try it on Octavius." replied Alex ful.
Peter grabbed the finished chip and ran out of the room, joyfull.
He ran with the new chip and presented it to May, Mia and J'onn.
"I got it. I did it. I did it." he announced happily.
"You managed to create a new chip for the man-octopus?" said Mia, stunned.
"And it will really fix him?" added J'onn frowning.
"Yes, it'll work." replied Peter overexcited. (Addressing his aunt.) "Will you send him up?"
Peter rammed up the stairs while May adjusted the holographic controls of the Iron Spider. Peter stopped abruptly, took off his magnifying glasses and threw them at May.
"Hold on, Doc!" said Peter's aunt as Doc Ock was lifted up by his tentacles.
Octavius' tentacles lifted him up, towards the second floor of the loft.
"Oh, will all these humiliations never cease?!" the scientist with tentacles roared angrily.
Peter reached the landing of the second floor, Octavius now hanging in front of the railing. As the young man approached him, Doc Ock stared at him with fury.
"You! Keep your science fair project away from me!"
Down below, Osborn tried to calm him down.
"Hey, it will work. Have faith."
"Says the reckless fool who turned himself into a monster!" spat Octavius to his former scientific colleague.
"Please stop. Hold still." said Peter as he tried to place the new chip on Doc Ock's neck.
"Don't you dare!"
Alex, Mia, J'onn, May, Osborn and Sandman looked down as Peter tried to implant the new chip. They anxiously awaited the result, while Octavius continued to writhe and growl in rage.
"I swear... when I get out of this, we're gonna rip you a..."
Peter gently placed the chip in the slot on the head of the mad scientist as it attached itself to his tentacles, while Octavius collapsed forward, seemingly fading away.
A moment passed. The man with tentacles remained unconscious and motionless in the air, still held by his mechanical arms. Peter approached him slowly, a little anxious.
"Doc? Doc?!"
Everyone looked at him with apprehension.
"What happened to him?" asked Mia, dazed. "Is he...?"
J'onn made his eyes glow and used his telepathy in the mind of the inanimate scholar. He spoke in a calm and serene voice.
"He's alive. He is unconscious, but he's still alive." he told everyone.
"The new chip must take time to start moving on his tentacles." assumed Alex eyes fixed on Doc Ock.
Peter kept calling him.
"Doc? Doc? Doc? Doctor Octa..."
Octavius suddenly came back to him, panting, breathing heavily. He seemed stunned and disoriented. He looked around him, speaking in a very soft voice. As if he had suddenly softened in a few seconds.
"It's so quiet... Those voices... Inside my head... I... I'd almost forgotten..."
"Otto?" said Osborn softly.
"Yes... Norman." said Octavius as he gently landed on the ground. "It's me."
Peter jumped from above as they all looked at him with disbelief and relief.
"Did it really work?" asked Mia, stunned. "Is he himself?"
"Would you look at that." exclaimed Marko, stunned.
Dillon seemed stunned and disappointed. The young man had really managed to heal him.
Peter used the holographic controls of the Iron Spider to release the grip on the tentacles. Nanotechnology reformed on Peter's red and black suit, creating a hybrid suit.
"Wow!" exclaimed Mia in amazement. "He did it! He really did it!"
J'onn had a joyful smile.
Relieved and happy, Octavius reached out to the young man with a grateful look.
"I'm grateful, dear boy. Truly."
"Yeah. You're welcome." Peter replied warmly by shaking his hand.
"Welcome back, Doctor Octavius." says Alex with sympathy.
"How can I help?" proposed the new scientist, who had become good again.
Happy Hogan drove his car at home. His security app on his mobile phone showed him the visitors that Peter and May had brought to his condo.
Driving his car, he tried to reach Peter, but he only got his voicemail.
"Uh, yeah, Peter, this is Happy. I accessed my doorbell camera... Who are those guys, huh? Is that a cyborg, you bring a cyborg with robot legs into my house? One of the guys was made of mud? What about a girl dressed as the Green Arrow? What's going on? Call me back."
Alex was doing some calculations with the fabricator. She was working on the cure for the serum that turned Norman Osborn into a psychopath on a glider.
The latter approached her. Alex accosted him nicely:
"I'm almost done here. With the data you have given me, I should be able to reverse the formula that changed you into Green Goblin. You will no longer have to fear that a second evil personality will control on you, Norman."
Osborn stared at her, barely, as if lost in his thoughts, while he supervised her calculations. Otto Octavius, standing near his learned friend, gave him a warm smile.
"How does it feel, Norman? You're about to become whole again. No more darker half. Just you."
"Just me." replied Osborn in a dark voice.
He turned to Octavius with a surprisingly happy expression. It almost looked like gloat. Which had not escaped Alex.
"Norman, is everything okay?"
"I'm okay." he replied with the same dark tone.
Peter and Dillon were sitting at the table in the living room. The young Queens' hero was running a newly constructed electricity drainer for the electric man.
Max watched him with suspicion as Peter drove the drainer into his chest. The device buzzed, stalled, clicked and started the healing procedure.
"That should be drawing power now." Peter explained to Dillon. "I'm gonna come back in a second just to check on it, but... keep an eye on the lights. When they're all green, it means all the electricity in your body's dissipated. Well, not all the electricity. I mean, obviously you know you need electricity for your brain to function... Your nervous system is..."
He interrupted when he saw that Spider-Man's villain wasn't interested in his scientific explanations.
"I'm not really sure why I'm explaining electricity to you."
"Can I ask you a question?" asked Dillon.
"Sure."
"Are these your Legos?"
He pointed to the Legos remains scattered on the living room table. Before the young man could answer, Alex called him from the storage room.
"Peter, I need you to check on Norman's serum."
"I'm coming." he replied as he left the table. "I gotta go. I'll be back."
After Peter had moved away, Dillon moved in uneasy. He checked the drainer's indicators in his chest.
"Something feels off." he mumbled.
"What do you mean?" asked Sandman who was near him.
"I don't like this."
Marko just shrugged his shoulders with sand.
"Leave it alone. The sooner you guys get through with this, the sooner we go home."
A van from the Daily Bugle is parked in the lobby of Happy Hogan's apartment. J. Jonah Jameson came out and joined the man he had hired to follow Peter.
"Well? Where is he?" asked the old journalist.
"He's inside." his informant whispered.
But Jameson was only furious.
"And yet here we are, outside. Did you not hear me say, don't lose him?!"
"Yes, sir, I..."
"I want incriminating footage of Spider-Man. The place is about to be swarming with cops!"
The two men didn't notice the FEAST truck near them. And inside the truck was Lizard who watched everything with enthusiasm.
"And so it begins..." he muttered with a grin on his lips.
Across the parking lot, a black L-Corps limousine was parked there. One of the rear windows of the long car came down, revealing Lex Luthor who was watching Happy's apartment with a nasty grin on his face.
"Things are going to take a whole different turn from now on. Peter. Peter. Peter... You've no idea what awaits you..."