The SyntheSpider Saga - Part 1
“I told you I don’t need help!” Ben’s voice was loud and clear, as he prepared to get back to work, the sun setting outside their home. Peter followed him all the way, visibly worried about him.
“And I’m telling you to stop for a moment! Just a moment! Have you seen the SIZE of these dark rings?” He pointed out the tired eyes on his brother’s face. “Also, you keep fainting from overexertion on class, it’s not like you’re fooling anyone!”
“I have a lot more to worry about than sleep, like the training records on certain students.” Ben kept brushing him off, making Peter annoyed enough to grab his shoulder. He turned to him with an angry stare.
“Why not making yourself the priority for once?!”
A soft laugh then called their attention: Aunt May was taking care of stuff in the kitchen and stopped to watch them.
“What's so funny?” Peter and Ben asked at the same time.
“Sorry… Even though I know why, it’s just so adorable how much alike you are.” She said, her answer shocking them.
“ -time freeze- Okay, at one hand, Aunt May have a point.” Peter stated. “Ben is a clone made from my DNA and we share some similarities and powers, but, really? I don’t see anything that would make me alike Mr. Sunshine here! -time unfreeze- ”
“Spidey, Ben!” Agent Venom called them on the radio. “We’re coming to pick you up.”
“Pick us up? What happened, Venom?” Peter questioned.
“One word, buddy: Zola.” Flash sounded serious, the answer surprising both the listeners.
Episode 04 - The SyntheSpider Saga - Part 1
As the Spider-Jet flew across the skies, Amadeus had settled a table on the cockpit for the team’s reunions.
“Isn’t it risky to have a reunion table here and the ship flying by itself?” Miles wondered.
“Not after K.E.R.B.E.R.O.S. was installed.” He assured, whistling afterwards. A bunch of pieces started walking across the floor, assembling on the table as he explained. “The Kinetic Energy Retriever and Brig Enforcer Operational System. Or Kirby for short.” As he finished explaining, a robotic coyote stood in front of the team.
“Took you long enough to invent a pet.” Spider-Man teased.
“Hey! He’s more than a pet. He’s our new autopilot and is programmed to protect us and all our allies. Also, he’s a clean good boy.” Cho defended Kirby, as the coyote pounced on him after the compliment. “Aw, yeah, who’s a good boy? You are! Yes, you are!” Mary Jane then cleared her throat, reminding him to explain why they were there and where were they going. After Cho pointed to the controls, Kirby nodded and marched to sit on the pilot chair.
“Agent Venom said Zola was the reason we’re here.” Ben recalled.
“Exactly. After the test of courage we realized, some agents were found unconscious in the woods.” He pointed out, the holographic screen showing the evidence. “Apparently there was someone else watching everything we did, and whoever this person might be, it must work for H.Y.D.R.A., because it helped Zola to get off Octopus Island a long time ago, enough to join the Cabal and attack the Avengers."
“After this happened, a couple more agents was sent to look for more clues in the undergrounds and disappeared.” Amadeus proceeded.
“So WHY are we in the skies?” Spidey showed some confusion.
“Because of this.” Cho pressed a button and a codified message in Morse Code was shown. “This radio message was tracked from Bannerman’s Island, which at once doesn’t make sense, considering what that island has.”
“ -time freeze- For you that never visited New York, Bannerman’s Island is among the spookiest places to visit.” Spidey explained. In a fantasy scenario, Chibi Spidey showed a map of Bannerman’s Island in a slideshow. “50 miles north of NYC, there’s Pollepel Island, with a castle in ruins that served as an arsenal and prison during the Civil War.” An image with Captain America and Iron Man facing each other surprised him. “Oops, wrong Civil War.” He quickly switched to an historical battle image, and rubbed the back of its head in embarrassment.
Back to reality, the Spider-Jet crossed the skies, reaching Pollepel Island. Finding a safe spots in the woods, it landed nearby the water.
“Kirby, stealth mode.” Cho ordered, the cloaking device on the ship activating. As the Web Warriors walked out, he signalized for Kirby to stay.
“Why did we have to come here by night?” Kid Arachnid looked around, visibly nervous about that place. “I read in History class this place has driven people crazy.”
“I have to listen a certain Spider so much I think I’m going crazy.” Ben mentioned, clearly meaning Spidey, who answered with an angry glare.
“Miles does have a point though. If something is going on in a place that’s been abandoned for decades, we should investigate.” Cho added, trying to track any more signals.
“No, it’s the opposite! Haven’t you ever watched horror movies?” Miles scolded him.
“Yes, and they’re completely fictional and absurd. Will you stop freaking out?” He replied.
“Note to self: think twice about who you invite to a scary movie sleepover.” Spidey mentioned. Ben, who was leading the group, felt something reach his nose and surprised the team with his sneeze being so soft and high-pitched. Practically a cat sneeze.
“That’s your sneeze?” Spider-Woman asked.
“What?”
“It’s so cute.” She continued.
“No, it’s not!” He felt embarrassed and annoyed. Spidey held back a chuckle and Agent Venom smiled under the mask.
“You mean all that time you were a double agent and then returned to help us you had THE cutest sneeze ever?” Spidey added.
“What’s your problem, punk?” Ben scolded them. “I’m not cute, alright?”
“Sorry, Ben. I’m with them on the sneeze thing.” Venom admitted. Ben growled out loud and stepped on, the team chuckling at him. Miles then noticed something moving in the woods.
“Ah! What’s that?” He pointed out and the others stared at the direction he pointed.
“It was maybe just the wind-” Amadeus tried explaining it, his suspicion cut short by a quick attack on his back, pushing him back. Everyone stood on their guard.
“That was NOT the wind! It’s NEVER the wind!” Miles insisted. “Also, WHY didn’t the Spider-Senses rang?! Are ghosts immune to Spider-Sense?”
“Can you stop shouting for a moment?” Spider-Woman demanded. “You’re making Carnage agitated.” She was then barely hurt by a group of spikes thrown at their direction, Scarlet defending from one of them, and picking it up.
“Wait, that’s…. No. N-No, it can’t be.”
“What can’t be?” Venom asked, then feeling something crossing his body, not like a trespassing spear, but equally hurtful. As he fell to his knees, Scarlet knelt nearby him.
“Spider-Man, don’t you recognize this?” He showed him the spike. “And this?” He pointed at what just happened to his boyfriend.
“I’m not sure, we’ve faced lots of different bad guys.” Spidey picked the spike up and then watched it melt in his hand; he shook it off quickly. “Ew, ew! Okay, NOW I see it! But it doesn’t make sense, they-”
MJ finally had enough and using her spike arm, slapped the nearest invisible attacker. It felt quite hard however, as she held it afterwards, then being hardly plummeted on the ground.
“Halt! Our guests had enough.” A voice called, signalizing for the attack to stop. As the cloaking device on them was removed, the attackers were revealed to everyone’s shock… the Spider-Slayers.
“Bone-Spider, Goliath-Spider a-and Ghost-Spider?!” Spidey exclaimed. “But how?!”
“Isn’t it obvious? Who else has a sickly obsession with synthezoids than Zola?” Amadeus pointed out.
“Clever boy...” The mysterious chief of those Slayers walked towards the group. “But I supposed we haven’t met properly though; you see, there is another member joining this “family reunion”.” He finally revealed himself to the others, his red eyes staring at them threateningly.
“Morbius?!”
“Whoa, you said Morbius?” Cho asked, looking at their glaring foe. “Ock’s rogue assistant? He looks more… alive than you said he was.”
“Unfortunately some bad guys are like this...” Spider-Man recalled.
“We saw the Carnage Queen draining you, bat face!” Venom barged in, sounding a lot more irritated.
“Truth be told, even I believed my time had come.” Morbius admitted, recalling the misfortunate events of his previous scheme. “My supposed masterpiece for H.Y.D.R.A. turned out a complete failure.” Mary Jane was visibly angry as well, clenching her fists.
“You all left me to rot.” In flashback, Morbius explained what happened after his supposed death. “I laid there for undetermined time, fearing for my foolish life… until I noticed i was conscient. Very weak, but conscient.”
“As I recovered my own energy, draining the life force of the smallest creatures I could find, I made my way back to H.Y.D.R.A. Clearly I had no idea of the full extension of my powers, so I contacted a familiar foe for this mission. A foe you know as Lord Dracula.”
“Dracula?! He’s real?!” Kid Arachnid cut his speech.
“Unfortunately, yes.” Spidey added.
“Don’t interrupt me! How annoying.”
“Even not being truly a vampire did not stop me from learning some of his tricks, and showing him some of my own. During our training period, H.Y.D.R.A. informed me of the events; like the drowning of Octopus Island and the fact that Ock helped you save the Heroes he imprisoned. Pitiful.”
“Finally, my training was complete, and I was recruited back to take over where Ock failed at. Including the Spider-Slayer project.”
“Shortly during your little experiment, I made my way to Octopus Island. Zola was far gone from there, but his technopatic trace was visible enough to find him again."
“The months without him were a pain; after all, I had no knowledge on synthezoids like him or Ock, but I am a fast learner and even faster perfecter.” He snapped his fingers, and the synthezoids activated their cloaking devices.
“URGH, I hate invisible bad guys!” Venom growled in anger, clenching his fists, the symbiote growling just as agitated. Spider-Woman and Carnage were equally furious. Spidey and the other didn’t like the sound of that, and stepped back. As predicted, they both assumed Feral Mode and charged against Morbius, but were stopped by Goliath-Spider.
“Spider-Woman calm down! You have to be in control, you-” Spidey was saying, until she looked at him. “You’re already in control, right?”
“You bet, tiger.” She answered in a growly, pitched voice, shoving Goliath away and charging as the other two synthezoids attacked Venom.
“They’ve been training this for the past weeks! How couldn’t you notice?” Scarlet scolded Spidey.
“Come on, I’m not 24/7 on the Triskelion anymore!”
“Good boys, hold’em still.” Morbius said, attempting to drain their life force, though without success, for Amadeus shielded the two of them.
“You might have not met me, but I’m sure you met Patrioteer. This was a little gift from him to avoid energy stealing.”
“Well, it’s not like i want to be here any longer. Slayers, seize our guests out! I must return to our army at once!” The Living Vampire started flying away.
“You come back here, bat face!” Venom threatened, as he threw Bone-Spider away, him persisting on attacking him.
“Don’t worry, we’ll follow him!” Spidey assured, Iron Spider and Kid Arachnid agreeing. Spider-Woman plummeted Goliath to the ground, threatening him with her spikes.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” She remarked, before being trespassed by Ghost and hold her chest, giving space for her opponent to throw her towards Venom.
“I defeated you once, I can do it again, punk!” Scarlet battled Bone, his stinger against his spikes. A web was then shot at his opponent, surprising him. It couldn’t have been Venom or Spider-Woman, they were occupied with the other two synthezoids.
As he looked behind, there was another silhouette in the shadows, which shot a web and dragging Bone-Spider with it, sliced him as fast as he tried getting free, the slicing marks making the synthezoid melt. Goliath and Ghost noticed it and were visibly afraid, trying to escape and leaving their opponents aside. An useless effort, as from the shadows behind them, they got sliced in the back, melting at once.
“What the-” Venom looked over to the silhouette that just saved them, Spider-Woman and Scarlet rejoining him. As they watch it get smaller, it started running away.
“Hey, wait! Come back!” Scarlet called, running after it and being followed by the two Feral Mode symbiote hosts. The figure made its way to the nearest construction, hiding in the woods with a quick turn.
“Whoa, we’re already in the castle?” Venom asked. “Guess Cho didn’t parked that far.”
“That’s not the castle, though it looks like one.” MJ explained. “This place used to be Bannerman’s residence, while the known castle was the military storage.”
“Oh, I thought it was the other way around. Remember, C- student.”
“Hush.” Scarlet told them. “There it is.” He pointed to the figure, looking from behind a tree, obviously afraid. The synthezoid approached it cautiously, getting down at one knee. “It’s okay. We’re not gonna hurt you.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, uh… little big guy?” Venom tried joining in, but clearly that didn’t work as the figure hid back behind the tree.
“Maybe less feral?” Spider-Woman pointed out, reminding him they were still in Feral Mode. As quickly as he realized, they reverted back to usual form. “You saved us back there, and we wanted to thank you.” She said soothingly, the figure peeking.
“Just let us see you. Come into the light.” Scarlet extended his hand. Venom then gave him a bag of chips, to which he looked in confusion.
“I don’t see a better way to establish trust.” He winked at his boyfriend. It did work after all: a smaller hand reach for the bag on Scarlet’s hand, and dragged it into the shadows, eating the chips with quite excitement.
“Whoa. Poor thing possibly haven't ate for days.” MJ guessed, watching it eat.
“Actually...” A weak, young voice started speaking, and coughed for a moment, possibly having choked for eating so quickly. “I haven’t ate all my life.” He stepped towards the light: it was a boy, with long shaggy brown hair, and ripped clothing, bruises all over his body. Scarlet then recognized the uniform as something alike his own; clearly that child was a synthezoid, like the Slayers… like him.
“You’re not getting away, Morbius!” Spider-Man and the others were trying to keep up with the Living Vampire. Finally, they reached the castle and saw their foe entering it through the open roof. “A vampire in a castle? How original…”
“We should split up and verify the perimeter, but be careful. The Bannerman Castle is quite a patrimony, we can’t risk its destruction.” Amadeus suggested
“Why? That’s the easiest way to get caught!” Miles insisted on the horror movie tropes.
“Dude, enough already!” Cho demanded, the group getting to work. Spider-Man swung from tree to tree, trying to take a look from the heights.
“Okay, no signs of guards, and wait a minute, I think I see somebody- Uh-oh.” Spider-Man protected himself from the incoming spikes at his direction. These were not like the one Scarlet handed to him: they had a mixture of Bone and Ghost-Spider’s uniform colors in it.
“Please tell me you didn’t say Uh-Oh.” Kid Arachnid begged Spidey, watching things over from the cleanest corner of the woods. Until he stepped on something gooey. “Ew, EEEW!”
“Stepped on mud?” Cho asked, looking over the very woods with his robot spider legs carrying him.
“No, synthezoid goop.” He explained. “Uh… FRESH synthezoid goop. COLORFUL fresh synthezoi-”
“Okay! I get it!”
“What are the colors?” Spidey asked, climbing down the tree and running to Miles’ location.
“Uh, red, a bit of silver and white... oh, never mind, it’s usual goop color again.” Kid Arachnid watched the melted goop change colors.
“I think we’re looking at pieces of Morbius’s army. He’s not just cloning the Slayers, he’s mixing them up.” Spidey said as he reached Kid Arachnid. “And considering what we saw of hybrid synthezoids in the past...”
“Frightening.” Amadeus shivered.
“It’s gonna get worse, I was seen!” Spidey sighed, and him and Miles were surprised by the very synthezoid he saw: a distorted hybrid of Bone-Spider and Ghost-Spider.
“Well, they’re not ghosts but I might as well fight as one.” Kid Arachnid, a bit more relieved and determined, activated his suit’s ghost mode and attacked their opponent. Spidey was going to join him… but another bunch of spikes barely hit him from behind. These had Bone and Goliath’s colors.
“Cho! We’re surrounded, and need backup!” Spider-Man said as he turned around to face the hybrid staring at him. “Amadeus? Spider 2?” Cho was soon thrown against him from the woods, his spider legs were all broken.
“I might’ve underestimated these guys’ smarts...” It was all he could said before Miles was thrown back at them, and a bunch of steps were heard: lots of hybrids stepped onward against the three Spiders.
“Still thinking it’s not like horror movies, brain boy?” Miles asked.
“The horror part is real, I admit it!” Cho shivered under his armor as they got surrounded.
“I’m curious about him being so young. Just how long does it take to a synthezoid to grow?” Mary Jane questioned the boy as he walked with them through the island.
“Synthezoids aren’t meant to grow… unless they have human DNA. Clearly it must be his case as well.”
“No one likes me here. They said I had something they didn’t, and kept staring down at me, calling me bad things and- and I-” The boy shivered, recalling his first transformation into the creature. “I was a monster… they hate me because I’m a monster.”
“No! They “hate” you because they don’t understand nothing!” Scarlet immediately defended him. “Look… I know how you feel: rejected, abandoned, as if no one ever will care or ever cared for you. I refuse to let another synthezoid suffer this same way I did.”
“You don’t… think I’m a monster?”
“I think you’re a synthezoid child with a very special gift.” Scarlet ruffled his hair. “A gift that saved us… that saved me.” The child’s smile comforted him at once. “There is a lot more on the world than pain, and I can show you.”
“Uh, what?” Venom asked. “We’re… taking him? Not saying it’s not a good idea, but-”
“Quick, hide!” Spider-Woman asked, dragging them all to the nearest bush. they were a few steps away from the castle and a small group of synthezoids was carrying the captured Web Warriors.
“I get it already, not ghosts, but why are they not detected by Spider-Sense?” Miles asked.“It’s genetics 101, Morales. Spider-Man’s DNA mixed on their cellular structure.” Cho patiently explained. “It identifies them as “self”. And if we consider you were bitten by the same spider as him...”
“ -time freeze- Just how much of my DNA did they have in stock? I’m getting pretty tired of being the reason bad guys are created. -time unfreeze- Look, the agents! Oooh, and they don’t look good.” Spidey flinched as he saw the missing agents and a group of tourists being guarded by more synthezoids. They all looked tired, weakened; certainly that was Morbius’ fault. An entrance to an underground location soon opened.
“It’s official, they don’t care about infringing historical patrimonies.” Iron Spider said, before he was shoved down there. Soon after, Kid Arachnid was thrown and Spider-Man was the next. Down there, a familiar group of mechanical arms trapped them.
“Of course mechanical arms. Not too original, Zola.” Spidey teased, and Zola’s face appeared in the various screens of that secret hideout.
“And I suppose you had better ideas, Spider-Man?! Either way, you’ve possibly met our little army of SyntheSpiders thanks to Dr. Morbius.” He pointed, the Living Vampire joining him. “This last month after I was revitalized was the most productive, especially with the Avengers gone. We just couldn’t have nosey intruders get in our way, and I made sure of that sending a copy of me with them.”
“So while I feed of the energy of our prisoners, without S.H.I.E.LD. and Earth's mongoloid heroes, we have worked non-stop to perfect what could become a powerful army! Unfortunately, only once we were able to replicate the immunity of the rebel clone; and this was our only failure.” Michael recalled.
“Rebel cl- Scarlet Spider?”
“No matter how we tried using your DNA, the results only lasted weeks, even days. The very guards that apprehended you will cease to exist a lot faster than that. But your clone’s expanding genetic, even though sharing the same templates as you, makes him a one of a kind synthezoid.” Arnim reminisced. “When finally one was successfully created… we were disappointed at once. It was born an infant. An annoying infant with a disastrous power.”
“We didn’t even care about going after that abomination, for failures deserve to be forsaken. It’s a pity though that we could not replicate the immunity needed… or at least it’s because we didn’t have that much of your DNA left.” Morbius’s look was threatening. “And with your little buddies here, the possibilities of improving are more than clear!” Spider-Man struggled to get off the arms’ grip, until Scarlet Spider’s stinger slashed the entrance open and dived down at his prisoner teammates, the boy holding firmly to him as they freed them with the impact.
“That… wasn’t my best plan.” Scarlet said, looking over to the boy to see if he was okay, to which he replied with a silent nod.
“I’ll say.” Spidey complained, standing up and helping Kid Arachnid while Iron Spider dusted off his armor. “Uh, hey, little buddy.” He noticed the boy clinging to Scarlet’s back like a koala.
“H-Hey?”
“You!” Morbius hissed.
“The failure!” Zola recognized the kid immediately.
“This is the failure?!” Miles pointed out.
“He’s NOT a failure!” Scarlet shouted at them all. “He saved us from your real abominations! You might not see his value, but I do!”
“Uh, where are-” Amadeus Cho was going to ask about the symbiote hosts, until dripping synthezoid goop fell on his armor, and they all heard battle noises. “Never mind.”
“Wait, HE saved us?!” Spider-Man was stunned. “Awesome, but… how?”
“I’m-” The boy looked down, intimidated. A mechanical charged against him and Scarlet, but the synthezoid defended from it and the kid dropped down from his back.
“How can you be defending this worthless failure?!” The Living Vampire growled.
“He’s a creation of Otto Octavius! It was clear he’d be a sleazy traitor to H.Y.D.R.A. like him!” Zola glared at the synthezoid. “But since we have him here...”
“Yes, yes! More research for the SyntheSpider glory!” Michael agreed, charging against Scarlet… until the boy shoved him back with one hand. Pressing his hand to the chest, he looked up to the “failure”, as he was gripping his head.
He growled in pain and anger and looked up to him, revealing a pair of red, iris-less eyes; a second pair opened in his forehead, his shape growing bigger, two more pair of arms and legs splitting from his own, fingers turning into claws, his hair disappearing in his fur and a spider mandibule appearing in his mouth, his voice turning into growls. The team, Zola and Morbius just watched in horror and shock, Amadeus and Miles practically embracing each other in fear.
“What the-” Spidey could only say that before the creature emitted a loud roar, calling the symbiote hosts’ attention; by then they had already wiped the floor with all the SyntheSpider army. Michael was visibly terrified, but refused to show it, attempting to drain his energy; this was in vain, as it grabbed him by the face and plummeted him on the wall.
“Herregud ...” Zola said, clearly something on his mind. “Doctor Morbius! We have enough already, let them be destroyed by the thing they tried saving!”
“What?!” The Living Vampire asked in disbelief. However, when Zola’s face disappeared from the screens around the room, thanks to the creature’s rampage, and finally returned on his bracelet, he had no choice but to obey. “Very well...” Agent Venom and Spider-Woman were surprised by Morbius dashing in high speed out of the entrance.
“What the heck is going on down there?!” He asked, the tourists and agents afraid of what could be the answer. The creature continued the rampage, breaking more and more the screens.
“Hey, stop!” Scarlet finally ran to it. “It’s over, they’re gone!” The creature turned to him with a growl; tensing up, Scarlet shivered a bit… and sneezed due to the closure of the thing’s breath. As it widened its two pairs of eyes at him, it started calming down. “T-They left for now, and if they return I will never let them put their hands on you again. Nobody’s ever gonna hurt you again; for now on…” He removed his mask, revealing his face to him. “I’m your brother.”
Finally the creature started to revert back, visibly tired; in his arms, there was him again. His hair was longer and his suit more torn than ever. Some of his bruises were also gone.
“...Is he taller?” Miles asked, breaking the shocked silence.
Back at the Spider-Jet, all tourists received food and medical care, Amadeus and the others looking over their new companion petting Kirby in awe.
“He went all Hulk, an arachnid furry Hulk, and broke EVERYTHING there!” Miles told everything excitedly. “I was scared as never before, but that was SO awesome!”
“I’m sorry… I can’t control when I get angry.” The boy’s voice was a bit more raspy and deep.
“‘Awesome’ is something good! You were good, buddy. Stop apologizing.” Spidey assured.
“Oh.”
“He’s just not used to people being nice to him… Yet.” Ben looked over to him from his watching on the window, as they got farther away from Bannerman’s Island.
“Well, this “gift” of his is pretty interesting. I think Connors will like to meet you.” Cho said.
“Oh, wait, I just noticed I didn’t asked your name.” Spidey recalled.
“Kaine.” Ben answered before the boy, who stared at him in surprise, the others equally surprised, but for another reason..
“How did you-”
“Just a hunch.” He assured with a smile under his mask, and turned back to the window, soon being joined by the symbiote hosts.
“Not really though, right?” MJ inquired. “After all, Morbius and Zola did took over Ock’s project… and they’re still out there.”
“You know… Maybe a part of me still wanted to save the Spider-Slayers. Murderous synthezoids or not, they were my family in a way.” Ben reflected. “Trust me, I’m just as surprised.”
“I’m not surprised. That’s actually sweet.” Flash replied.
“It’s more than sweet. It’s human.” Mary Jane gently pat Ben’s shoulder.
“I guess.” Ben looked over to Kaine, as him and Miles had a cheerful conversation. “I want to give this boy the chance Spider-Man gave me. The chance to live, be happy, and find his own path… To be human.”
They were then surprised by Kaine’s sneeze… who was just as cat-like as Scarlet’s own. He looked embarrassed at Miles, moving his hair away from his face. Everyone chuckled at that, and he joined them with a shy smile.
“Okay, I admit it… this IS cute.” Scarlet said, the Spider-Jet flying over the ocean.
To be continued...