Spider-Man : The Story of a Hero

As soon as Wilson Fisk gave the order, they all rushed at Spider-Man. Despite her injuries, Silver Sable quickly moved around the young hero to position herself behind him.

She immediately drew her weapon, carefully took aim, and opened fire several times, hoping to finally manage to hit him. Against all expectations, Spider-Man did not even try to dodge.

A strange black substance burst from his suit and instantly formed a massive shield that intercepted every single one of the mercenary’s bullets.

— ”A-A shield?! But how is that possi—”

She did not even have time to finish her sentence. A black tendril suddenly burst from Spider-Man’s suit and transformed into a long blade of terrifying sharpness and speed.

In a fraction of a second, it pierced straight through Silver Sable’s side. The wound was not immediately fatal, but it was serious enough to permanently take her out of the fight.

The mercenary collapsed to the floor, letting out a violent groan of pain as her breathing immediately became heavy and irregular.

— ”That bastard! S-Shit… this is bad!”

— ”Silver Sable is down!” Hammerhead shouted.

— ”Forget about her and focus on the kid!” Wilson Fisk replied.

Tombstone and Hammerhead immediately charged at Spider-Man, attacking simultaneously in the hope of finally inflicting even the slightest damage on him. But all their attempts were in vain.

The strange tendrils emerging from the black suit pushed them back with brutal force, hurling them both to the other side of the room, where they crashed violently into a wall.

Now, Wilson Fisk was the last one still standing against this threat. He threw a powerful left hook, immediately followed by an attempt to crush him, but Spider-Man dodged each of his attacks with disconcerting ease before fighting back.

A violent uppercut struck the Kingpin’s chin, followed by a succession of blows as fast as they were frenzied, combining Peter’s fists with the symbiotic blades that continuously emerged from his suit.

— ”Looks like you ran into someone stronger than you, big guy.”

With a roar of anger, Wilson Fisk charged again. This time, whether by luck or pure chance, he finally managed to grab Spider-Man between his arms.

But it was already too late.

Several black blades instantly burst from Peter’s suit and pierced the Kingpin’s body in several places. Wilson Fisk’s face immediately turned pale as his eyes widened from the pain.

Little by little, blood began to flow from his mouth. Without the slightest emotion, Spider-Man then removed each blade with an almost unbearable slowness, needlessly prolonging his suffering. When the last one finally left his body, Wilson Fisk collapsed heavily to the floor, like a corpse.

He was unconscious or perhaps already dead. No one could have said. Only one certainty remained: their leader had just been defeated.

A few meters away, Tombstone and Hammerhead watched the scene, completely stunned. They had always considered Spider-Man nothing more than an insolent teenager who relied more on his humor than on his strength.

The reality was entirely different. The young hero was a true monster of power. And, without even realizing it, they were no longer only facing Spider-Man...

They were also facing the symbiote.

— ”...W-What do we do?!”

— ”Listen, Hammerhead! We’re going to—”

He never got the chance to finish his sentence.

Before his eyes, Hammerhead’s head suddenly detached from his body before falling heavily at his feet. Another symbiotic blade had just decapitated him from a distance.

For several seconds, Tombstone remained completely frozen. He no longer knew what to think. His boss had just fallen... and his most loyal ally had just been executed before his eyes. In front of him, Spider-Man slowly advanced.

Tombstone’s gaze remained fixed at first on Hammerhead’s severed head, unable to look away from the horrific sight. Then he slowly raised his head toward Spider-Man, who continued walking in his direction with chilling calm.

Fear gradually consumed every one of his features. He no longer moved. It was not resignation... his body simply refused to obey him.

With a swift movement, two black tendrils burst from Spider-Man’s suit, wrapped themselves around Tombstone, and lifted him into the air like a simple puppet. Without slowing down, Peter continued forward until he reached the massive windows overlooking New York.

Finally understanding what his enemy was about to do, Tombstone felt uncontrollable panic overwhelm him. He desperately tried everything still within his power to survive.

— ”W-Wait, wait! L-Listen, I... I’m sorry!”

Hearing those words, Spider-Man suddenly stopped in front of the massive windows. He slowly tilted his head to the side, as though he genuinely struggled to understand what he had just heard.

— ”You’re… ’sorry’?”

Suspended in the air by the black tendrils, Tombstone swallowed with difficulty. His entire body was now trembling. For the first time in a long while, he truly understood that he had gone far too far.

— ”Y-Yes! I’m truly sorry about the captain’s death! I had nothing against him at first, and it was the same with you! I was simply working for my boss! If I didn’t obey him, he would have killed me! I never wanted to hurt you!”

Spider-Man stared at him without the slightest emotion.

— ”Was it your boss who told you to kidnap Gwen and her father to lure me into a trap? Was it your boss who ordered you to blow up your building, trapping me inside with several innocent people? Was it him again who ordered you to humiliate me, have me executed, and threaten my family?”

As Spider-Man listed each of his crimes, Tombstone’s face fell apart a little more. He felt as though he had already been condemned before his executioner had even acted. Fear completely took over.

— ”I-I... I HAD NO CHOICE!”

— ”That’s not true. Even when a situation seems hopeless... we always have a choice. You had a choice when you decided to kidnap Gwen and her father. And you had one every other time you chose to hurt people. You’re nothing but a bastard... a coward who changes sides the moment he starts losing.”

At that moment, there was no longer any doubt in Tombstone’s eyes.

He knew it: it was over.

— ”W-Wait!”

— ”Remember… I made you a promise.”

— ”P-PLEASE!”

Just as he was about to scream in terror, Spider-Man hurled him with unimaginable violence through the massive windows. The glass exploded with a deafening crash as Tombstone’s body was thrown into the void before crashing brutally several dozen floors below onto the roof of a car.

The horn immediately blared with a sinister sound. All around, the passersby who had witnessed the scene panicked and began screaming before fleeing in every direction.

Among them was Yuri Watanabe, who was patrolling on foot nearby. Alerted by the noise, she immediately ran over and discovered Tombstone’s completely mangled body.

When she recognized the man responsible for George Stacy’s death, she remained frozen for a few moments, unable to look away from the scene. Then, almost instinctively, she slowly raised her head toward the top of Fisk Tower, as though searching for the person who had caused the fall. But she saw no one.

Inside the office, now covered in blood, Spider-Man suddenly felt his body deform. The black substance rippled all around him before gradually transforming him into the same monstrous creature that had appeared a few hours earlier in front of his house, when Silver Sable’s mercenary had tried to target his family.

Now in this terrifying form, the monster slowly approached the motionless bodies. Without the slightest hesitation or remorse, it devoured them one by one, leaving behind no trace of their existence except for the blood that already stained the floor after their confrontation.

It began with Wilson Fisk, then Hammerhead… and when it finally moved toward the place where Silver Sable had fallen a few moments earlier, it suddenly stopped.

The body was no longer there. The creature slowly swept its bestial gaze across the entire room… but nothing. Silver Sable had disappeared.

A few memories then resurfaced in its mind. Before revealing its presence, it had discreetly observed the scene from the shadows and heard part of their conversation.

That was when it remembered the mercenary’s words... she was supposed to join her team, who were waiting for her at Wilson Fisk’s private airport.

At that thought, the creature let out a deep animalistic growl. Its enormous tongue slowly slid between its long, razor-sharp teeth as a monstrous smile twisted its face.

At that moment, it was no longer Peter Parker.

It was the symbiote.

— ”Kill… them all!”

TO BE CONTINUED.