26 Spider and Mist

As Rhino smashed into the wall before him, a loud echoing boom sounding throughout the laboratory, Scott came up from his roll, quickly diving and rolling once more to avoid Sandman. He turned quickly and backpedalled with dashes as he ducked under numerous swings of the large hardened sand hammer.

Each one whistled as they moved through the air, the wind produced ruffling his hair and some sand peppering his skin. Yet Scott kept his eyes sharp and alert as he scanned his surroundings, noticing Rhino turning and bursting towards him.

He came through Sandman, whose body exploded into a shower of sand that coalesced back into his form, still in motion to strike him despite the temporary pause. Rhino bared down upon Scott who manoeuvred around him as easily as he had throughout the entirety of this fight, it was now a repetitive exercise that Scott had almost mastered. His feet shifted and moved as he danced around the numerous sand-based attacks, coming to a stop to see both Sandman and Rhino turning to him.

It had been quiet for some time, except for the sounds of their battle.

Rhino's shouted words of frustration became silenced as he grit his teeth and glared out at Scott who continued to remain calm and collected.

Sandman who had always been quiet, was noticeably frazzled and agitated by the way in which both he and Rhino were being contained.

It was clear to them both that they were superior to Scott in every physical way, faster, stronger and much more durable than Scott could ever hope to be. Yet it was meaningless, the two often getting in each other's way and hitting one another, inadvertently protecting Scott from harm, or as had become clearer, was done by design.

He was toying with them and it was becoming clearer to see that it was easy for him.

Their problem wasn't their powers.

The problem was themselves and it was something neither could no longer fail to recognise.

Scott wasn't beating them because he was more powerful than them, he was beating them because he was smarter and far more skilled. He knew when to move and how to move in a way that maximised his impact without much expenditure of energy. Every movement was purposeful and calculated, timed to absolute perfection that it rendered Rhino and Sandman helpless to stop him from dodging.

He was winning this fight without even landing a single blow.

It was a fact they both recognised.

But like always, motivated by their own reasonings, both charged at him all the same, hoping that this time would be different despite everything to say otherwise. Yet this time, Scott did not prepare to dodge and instead, shifted his footing, legs spreading apart, farther than shoulder widths, a firm and strong stance.

Rhino and Sandman only noticed his eyes glowing red for a fraction of a second before they opened

The beam of energy that fired out was brilliant and furious in its colour, almost blinding to look upon. But neither Rhino nor Sandman could move out of the way in time, it was already upon them, or more specifically, upon Sandman.

He tried his best to avoid it by breaking apart into numerous different tendrils of sand, but the width of the beam was too wide and moved far too quickly. By the time his body was in the process of breaking apart, the beam struck him and smashed him into the wall on the other end of the laboratory, drilling him in further and further.

Rhino, on the other hand, followed the trajectory of the beam with wide eyes, continuing to charge forwards unable to fully bring himself to a stop. But when he turned back, Scott was already in motion to avoid him, a mistaken belief that Scott could not fire so soon again filling him.

A belief that was shattered moments later.

For as he smashed into the wall where Scott had once stood in front of, the metal already heavily dented and damaged breaking even further as he smashed into it again. He was suddenly struck from behind, Scott standing there and firing out with his Optic Blasts, slamming into Rhino's exposed back and smashing him through the wall, blasting a hole wide open.

It would not be enough to take out Sandman or Rhino right away, but Scott had been working to open an entryway out of the laboratory from the beginning. Now he had it and as he looked over his shoulder, he could see Sandman slowly reforming once more.

But it would take him some more time, the sand of his body scattered and across that side of the laboratory.

That left just him and Rhino who was slowly getting to his feet.

Moving forwards, he stepped through the hole in the wall, the gravel beneath his feet from the concrete on the other side of the thick metal wall crunching beneath his feet.

All the while his eyes glowed red, Rhino looking at him, unsure of what to do next.

So, he did what he always did.

He charged forwards.

But Scott's eyes opened once more and his Optic Blasts fired out.

-X-

Firing a web up into the air, Spider-Man pulled himself up, body arching as he flew through the air, gravity yet to take ahold of him as he moved up the floors rapidly. There were terrorists down below, but the lower floors had been evacuated.

It was the upper floors where those like Norman Osborn and many other workers had hidden away. They were safe for now according to reports, but how long that would be the case unknown and so, he was racing against the clock. His friend, Harry had been missing for a few days, a serious illness had taken hold of him according to Norman.

But the last thing Peter was going to let happen was to let Norman die.

He would save Norman and with it, put Harry at ease because no doubt such news as this would not be having any type of good effect upon his recovery. Spider-Man was a hero and right now, not only was he going to save his childhood friend's dad and his workers, but also his childhood friend in the process.

'It's getting pretty misty though.' Peter thought to himself, looking to see the unnaturally moving mist as it travelled up the building. He had no idea where it was coming from, but it was definitely strange in its movements. 'Could it be?'

Another Mutant.

He had heard on the police radio that Oscorp had been attacked by a Mutant that was firing energy beams from his eyes. There had been no real description of his actual appearance besides what he was wearing. But the fact that he was a Mutant, or so people claimed was the most heavily stressed part of the news.

Spider-Man had always considered that there was a possibility of more Mutants being involved in this attack.

But was the unnaturally moving mist a Mutant as well?

Or was it something else?

Quickly firing his webbing to one side, Spider-Man pulled himself up onto a ledge, crouching down upon the rail as he studied the mist closely, eyes narrowing in concentration. Only for his senses to go off and he quickly leapt up into the air, just in time to see a strange, green-clad figure bursting through the glass window behind and tackling the air where he once was.

Sticking to the wall with one hand, both feet braced against it, Spider-Man looked upon the figure to see him standing upon a strange flying object, a wicked and dangerous-looking platform that he was standing in a crouched position atop of. He possessed green scaley skin and was clad in a strange, almost fantastical purple outfit that looked like a gnome outfit.

A very strange individual indeed.

"Hey, buddy," Spider-Man called out, trying to look past the figure and to see if he could spot the mist once more, only to see it nowhere in sight. "What the hell was that for? Anyone ever tell you it's not nice to sneak up on a guy like that?"

In response, the figure pulled out a strange-looking ball that beeped ominously, a vicious smile coming onto his face as he cackled madly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Despite his warnings, the figure threw the object anyway, Peter leaping off the wall and firing his webbing down at the figure, sticking his hands together. All the while the object that struck the wall exploded, and Peter cried out in shock as he got caught in the aftershocks of the explosion.

He curled his body up as he smashed into the pillar, it cracking, but he recovered quickly, catching himself on the railing two floors below, turning to see the figure free himself by tearing the webbing apart. An impressive show of strength, that made Peter release a deep sigh, completely forgetting about the strange mist as he focused on the figure before him, two more balls in his hands.

But his senses quickly screamed at him once more, Peter looked down to see a figure flying up towards him. He was clad in all-green body armour with wings attached to the underside of his arms that flapped powerfully.

Leaping off the rail, Spider-Man flipped through the air, avoiding the avian-inspired figure and firing his webbing up, sticking one arm to his side. He cried out, smashing through a railing and into the floor of the walkway above, falling to the walkway below. But fired more webbing up at the first figure who cackled madly, moving his platform in the way of his webbing acting as a shield.

Then he zoomed down, throwing both balls that Peter just barely managed to avoid, the aftershocks making landing especially difficult.

-X-

Things were getting out of hand.

Amelia had panicked when she saw that Scott was not in his room, even more so when she began to figure out what exactly he was planning to do. Attacking Oscorp was a very dangerous thing to do and in her mind was the beginning of the very thing she feared most.

She had already overheard the police outside and the Oscorp guards posing as terrorists below talking about Scott. They knew this was a Mutant attack and from this, Amelia knew Mutant hysteria would be stirred up into a frenzy.

Things were about to go from bad to worse.

All because Scott had decided to recklessly attack Oscorp of all places.

She knew why he did this, he was certain Warren was trapped here, but how he came to that, Amelia did not know. Nowhere in his plans did it provide concrete evidence that he had discovered Warren being held here.

It was pure conjecture on his part.

That's what worried Amelia even more, that Mutant hysteria would be made even worse and at the end of the day, it was all for nothing. That Warren wasn't here and that Scott had attacked Oscorp for nothing.

Yet, she had no idea where he was.

Scott was nowhere to be found and she had just seen the new hero, Spider-Man being attacked by two strangely dressed figures. One on some strange hovering platform with strangely designed grenades more powerful than the norm. The other, wearing a suit that was seemingly inspired by Warren's own powers. Amelia would not deny it, it was the latter that made her slightly convinced that Scott was right in that Warren was being held here. It also made much more sense when amongst his pile of notes and plans, one thing had been dead centre in the front of her view the entire time.

A little note.

She was almost frustrated when she figured out what exactly she was doing only as she had entered Oscorp.

She, Amelia was being played by a sixteen-year-old boy.

He hadn't accidentally left his plans there out in the open for anyone to come across, Scott had purposefully left them there knowing she would find them. Not just knowing, but wanting her to find them and all so she could carry out a mission of her own.

Freeing Warren.

She had come here to stop Scott, but instead, she was actively helping him.

All because Scott knew that she would prioritise helping Warren over stopping him.

Amelia had thought he hated her and perhaps that was the case, but while she had spent her time working around him, Scott had spent his time studying her. He knew her better than she knew him and because of that, he was able to use her own character against her.

But as she seeped through the cracks in the walls and appeared on the other side of the room, forming into her body, Amelia looked upon the figure of Warren unconscious and laid out on a surgery bed, she was equal parts frustrated and impressed. When Warren awoke, Scott would no doubt use this as a means to convince him to join the X-Men and it would more than likely work.

Yet as, Amelia moved to help free Warren, everything that happened just confirmed her worst fears.

Scott was proving that he was not just determined and intelligent, but incredibly skilled in using people around him in order to achieve his goals. She was but another pawn in his plans and she hadn't even realised it until she was already here, doing what he wanted.

He was just sixteen and beginning his journey.

What would he be like ten years from now with more experience and allies at his side who fully believed in his cause?

The thought terrified her.