Chapter 37: Sinister Six - Part 5

Midtown, late at night.

The moon's out tonight, so it’s a bit brighter than usual.

I sneak into the Oscorp building.

...Security is way tighter than at the Daily Bugle.

Relying on my spider-sense, I avoid the surveillance cameras and finally reach the upper floors.

"...This room..."

Looks like it used to be Dr. Curt Connors’ lab—Dr. Connors’ old workspace.

He lost his job when Norman turned into the Green Goblin and had the lab shut down.

And yet, Connors is still listed as the lab’s administrator.

...Which means this lab hasn’t been used once since it was sealed off.

Holding my breath, I cling to the ceiling.

Upside down, careful not to make a sound, I begin my search.

The lab...a conference room divided by partitions...a break room with a coffee maker.

When I focus and listen...

...Someone’s talking.

The voices are coming from...the conference room.

I’m good at sneaking.

Crawling through the ducts, I make it to a crawlspace above the conference room.

I peer through a vent to see inside.

...They're all here.

All six members of the Sinister Six.

“So, you killed Jameson?”

That’s Shocker—Herman—speaking.

I press my ear to the duct and listen in.

“Oh no, killing him recklessly would just leave evidence... He's being held captive. If it comes to it, we can always use him as a hostage.”

That was Mysterio speaking.

...Good.

J. Jonah Jameson’s still alive.

...But.

Without knowing where he’s being held, there’s no way to rescue him.

If only I could find out where he’s being kept...

As I’m thinking that, Redcap looks like he’s pondering something.

...Then, he lifts his gaze slightly.

For some reason, he glances up at the ceiling.

...Since I’m hiding up there right now, it makes me nervous.

I focus on making absolutely no sound.

“Mysterio, got a moment?”

Redcap speaks up.

I tense up instantly.

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me where you’re keeping Jameson?”

...That’s exactly the information I need the most.

“Well, sure, I don’t mind... but why do you ask?”

Mysterio replies, his tone suspicious.

“It never hurts to know. Or what, don’t you trust us?”

The air in the room grows tense.

...Eddie the reporter and Shocker both flinch slightly.

Even Mysterio, the one being asked.

“No no, I never said I wouldn’t tell you. We’re using the break room on the top floor of this very Oscorp building.”

I burn the information into my memory.

“Hmph. And security there is airtight, I assume?”

“Yes, the New Goblin personally guaranteed it.”

...I glance over at Harry.

He’s taken his mask off.

He nods with a sour look on his face.

...Careful not to make any noise, I crawl back through the ducts, heading for the place where they’re keeping—

“Hey, Eddie...there’s something up there.”

...Venom’s voice.

Cold sweat runs down my back.

“A rat or something?”

Eddie’s comment gets a reaction from Harry.

“There are no rats in the Oscorp building. If there’s anything up there—it’s—”

“A spider! My prey!”

Suddenly, Eddie’s body is engulfed in a black, tar-like substance.

A white spider emblem appears on his chest, and his face morphs into a monstrous, savage shape.

...I give up on looking down and decide to make my escape.

The duct’s height is barely a meter...no way to stand and run at full speed.

On all fours, I crawl like a real spider, sprinting away.

“I’ll rip you apart!”

With a roar, several black tendrils pierced through the duct.

I managed to dodge them... but since my spider-sense doesn’t react, I can only rely on pure reflexes.

Why doesn’t Venom trigger my spider-sense...? Most likely, it’s because we were once joined—as the “Black Suit.”

Now, Venom has the ability to copy and reproduce my powers.

In other words, my spider-sense perceives his attacks as if they’re my own.

Spider-sense is a power that predicts attacks from external threats.

So when it comes to attacks from Venom, who is essentially a clone of myself, it can’t anticipate them.

I drop out of the duct and leap onto the top of the elevator.

The sound of destruction draws closer... This dissonance—an attack coming without my spider-sense reacting—I’m still not used to it.

I hook my foot onto one of the elevator cables and kick off the wall in a triangle jump, sticking to it.

Then I fire webs left and right toward the upper floors, release my feet, and fall.

In that instant, the elevator roof shatters, and Venom appears right next to me.

“Found you, Spide—”

Ignoring Venom’s voice, I launch myself upward using the rebound of my webs.

It’s a slingshot maneuver.

I soar high into the air and grab hold of the main elevator cable.

The distance between us is now about five meters.

Using my webs again, I kick off the wall and begin running upward.

“Don’t run!”

Venom stretches tendrils from all over his body, stabbing them into the wall and climbing after me.

His speed matches mine... no, he might be even faster.

Four meters... three meters...

Venom’s closing the distance.

As I kick off the wall, I spin midair and fire a web straight down.

My target is Venom’s face.

It hits—but the web gets absorbed into his body and doesn’t blind him at all.

“Damn it!”

I was panicking.

If I fight him here, I’ll just waste time and give the rest of the Sinister Six a chance to regroup.

But if I prioritize drawing the enemy away—my original mission—over rescuing Jameson, Mysterio will absolutely use him as a hostage.

I can’t let that happen.

So my mission is this: avoid Venom’s attacks, rescue J. Jonah Jameson from the top floor, and escape to the abandoned building where we planned to meet.

Right. Now that I’ve put it into words, it actually sounds kind of doable.

“I’ll drag you down!”

Still clinging to the wall, Venom shoots a tendril from his right hand like a spear.

I press my hands to the wall and twist my body midair just in time to dodge it.

Since spider-sense isn’t working, I have to rely entirely on sight to dodge.

...Yeah, this is absolutely not easy.

I plant my foot on a vent cover and destroy the mounting bolts.

Using my web, I rip the cover off the wall completely and hurl it at Venom with force.

Venom smacks it away with a tendril, bending the cover out of shape.

But my goal wasn’t to hit him.

Behind that vent, I had attached a spare web cartridge. It breaks open, scattering web fluid everywhere.

“Guh!?”

It was a backup cartridge I brought from home.

Since I knew I’d be up against six enemies, I came extra prepared.

I used a web to stick the cartridge to the inside of the cover.

Just as planned, when Venom hit it too hard, it broke open, spraying raw web fluid everywhere.

It touched the air, and now the walls and Venom are wrapped in countless layers of webbing.

I plant my foot on the now-open vent and leap forward.

Venom is still struggling with the tangled mess of web.

I pry open the top-floor door and slip inside.

I run through the glass-walled room, searching for Jameson.

I don’t have time to waste.

Every second counts—my time limit is closing in.

It’s not just Venom. The others are definitely in pursuit, too.

Out of the two elevators, I glance at the other one—it’s rising.

I keep running, checking each room.

...There! The break room!

I rush to open the door—damn, it’s locked.

Well, of course. It is a holding room. They’d have some kind of security in place... even Harry mentioned that.

I shoot a web at the door and start pulling with all my strength.

“Guh! Hrrgh!!”

Every muscle in my body screamed.

The door warped, and a gap opened.

I jammed my fingers into the gap and forced it open.

With a cracking sound, the door broke apart along with its fixtures.

“Haah… haah…”

I’m exhausted.

If I can help it, I never want to do that again.

I check the inside of the room.

In the center is a chair.

And sitting in it… is Jameson.

He looks surprised to see me.

But his mouth is sealed shut with something like tape, so all that comes out are muffled grunts.

He’s tied to the chair with rope… but it looks flimsy.

So I wrap it up again with my webbing.

…Jameson’s raising his voice in protest, or at least it seems that way.

But I don’t have time to be considerate right now.

“Hang on, Mr. Jameson! We’re taking off!”

“Wha!? Mnghh!?”

I kick through the glass wall.

And then—

“Wait! Spider-Man!”

Mysterio barges into the room.

Shocker, Rhino, and the others are probably here too.

But I don’t look back.

I lift Jameson, chair and all—

And toss him outside.

“Mmmnnnngh!?!?”

Jameson’s muffled cries—no, probably screams of rage—echo through the tape.

I jump out the window after him.

With my left hand, I shoot a web to catch the chair flying through the air with Jameson in it.

With my right, I shoot another web to a nearby building to swing.

At the arc’s peak, I detach the web and now switch—grabbing Jameson with my right, swinging with my left.

Jameson is tossed into the air like a juggling ball.

A normal person would’ve fainted from the shock—but he’s hanging on by sheer force of will.

He’s even glaring at me, trying to shout through the tape.

...My spider-sense flares.

Without looking back, I shoot a web.

A bat-shaped shuriken wrapped in wires—Razorbat—zips past me.

Thanks to my web, its path was knocked off course, and it hits a completely wrong spot.

The one chasing me is the New Goblin… Harry.

The abandoned building isn’t too far now.

I dodge his attacks as I hurry toward my destination.

I keep firing webs at New Goblin’s face to throw him off.

But of course, none of them hit directly.

He blocks them with his arms or slices them apart with Razorbat.

...Finally, I reach the abandoned building that Iron Fist—Danny Rand—prepared.

I land Jameson safely on the top floor, then launch myself back out the building.

New Goblin, caught off guard, throws a Razorbat to intercept.

He probably didn’t expect me to double back the moment I made it inside.

I shoot a web to alter the projectile’s path, then wrap both arms around New Goblin.

“Let go! Don’t touch me!”

I dodge his furious punches, stick a web to one floor below the top, and—

—hurl both him and myself into the building.

“Damn it! Quit darting around like that!”

“Don’t worry…! I’m not running anymore!”

I charge at New Goblin.

The Sinister Six will probably be arriving soon, chasing me down.

I dodge his hook punch, sweep his legs, and knock him down.

Even as he slides across the floor, the Goblin kicks at me.

…There’s no time to think about the other Defenders.

Right now, I just have to focus on the fight in front of me.