"This." Sue brought up an image of the New York skyline. Peter narrowed his eyes and saw several glowing flying objects heading toward them. The image suddenly zoomed in. Beneath the light was a group of robots wearing dark green cloaks.
They wore the same outfit as everyone's favorite lunatic dictator.
"Victor von Doom. He's here." Peter's pupils contracted. "Fuck, he's after the portal!"
"Possibly." Reed was already tapping at the portal's console. "I'm trying to shut it down from here, but the system won't recognize my authorization code! Sue!"
"Working on it!" Sue rapidly typed at the keyboard, trying to regain server access. "No-dammit! He's already hacked the system. He's stopping us from shutting down the portal!"
"Can't we just unplug it?!" Peter asked.
"No. It takes too much energy to run, so I connected it to a fully digital, independent power system." Reed cursed his own design.
"What can we do?" Ben asked.
"Simple." Johnny stepped forward with a grin, flames erupting across his body. "Beat him down!"
"Johnny's right." Sue nodded.
"He's right?" Ben and Peter said in unison.
"I'm right?" Johnny blinked.
"Ben, Peter, Johnny, get outside and hold him off as long as you can," Reed ordered. "Sue and I will find a way to stop this portal. I'll tear it apart with my bare hands if I have to! Go!"
"Let's go!" Ben charged out of the lab first.
Peter tore off his shirt and pants, revealing the suit underneath. He took out his mask and pressed it to his face. The material instantly burst outward, covering his entire face and clicking together into a helmet. He pulled on his gauntlets and slapped the component on his chest. Black web patterns rapidly spread across his body.
He rushed to the nearest window and jumped out, firing a web to swing toward the other end of the street, charging straight at the rapidly approaching formation of Doom Robots.
"Spider!" Johnny flew up beside him. "You web them, I'll burn them!"
"Deal!" Peter shouted as he plunged into the robot formation.
He swung into the air and fired two compressed web bullets. The instant they hit two Doom Robots, they exploded into vast sheets of webbing. Johnny immediately followed with two streams of flame, burning them to destruction.
Two down, and still... more than forty left.
"Execute total extermination."
Every Doom Robot spoke in the same cold electronic voice, unleashing a barrage of green lasers at them.
His Spider-Sense screamed warnings. Peter kept changing direction in midair, weaving and dodging before finally landing on one robot's back.
"Hey, big guy!" Peter pressed one hand against its head and the other against its chest. "Bye, big guy!"
He thrust all ten fingers forward. Both palm Repulsor Cannons activated at once, and two beams punched straight through the robot's body.
He leaped away, landing on another robot and tearing them apart one after another. Then two Doom Robots closed in from either side, grabbed his arms, and carried him high into the sky.
Fuck!
Peter instantly realized they meant to drop him from high above.
With no other choice, he pressed his palms against the two robots' chests. As the repulsor beams tore them apart, he began to free-fall.
Peter twisted in midair and landed on yet another Doom Robot. Its mechanical arms immediately clamped around his neck.
"These things are everywhere!" Johnny shouted from above, blasting apart another robot, completely unaware of the one sneaking up behind him.
Green light slammed into his back, instantly extinguishing his flames. Johnny plummeted like a kite with a severed string.
"Johnny!"
Enraged, Peter punched through the chest of the Doom Robot beneath him and forcibly tore out its power core. Then he jumped off the robot and swung downward.
He rapidly spun an enormous web safety net between two buildings.
Johnny crashed heavily into the web. Peter landed right after him and crawled over to check his condition.
His heart was still beating, fairly steadily overall, just a little fast.
Peter looked up. The main force of Doom Robots had stopped paying attention to them and was speeding toward the Baxter Building.
He didn't want to leave Johnny here alone, but he had no choice anymore.
Peter jumped off the web and landed on a rooftop. He shot out a web, yanked down a Doom Robot, and slammed it hard into the roof.
The Doom Robot slowly climbed to its feet, utterly unconcerned with its damaged parts. It glanced at Peter, then turned and flew away, paying him no mind at all.
Fuck, this scrap heap has some attitude!
Just as the robot was about to take off, Peter jumped onto it, grabbed its head, and pulled backward with all his strength.
Mechanical parts creaked, groaning as they struggled to stay intact. Suddenly, some unknown component snapped completely, and the entire head flew off.
Peter tossed the head aside and looked up at the sky.
The Doom Robots had surrounded the Baxter Building's top floor. Spaced evenly around the building, they spread their arms. Green energy pulses surged from their bodies, forming an enormous energy barrier that enveloped the entire building.
"Fuck!"
Too late.
Peter swung to the building's outer wall and tried to climb through the energy barrier, but the shield was so tough that even his Repulsor Cannon couldn't leave a single crack.
He also tried going through from inside, but whatever technology the shield used, it could pass straight through solid walls without severing the building's structure.
Just then, the shriek of a jet engine pierced the night sky.
Peter looked up. A black single-seat fighter was heading straight toward the Baxter Building.
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the cockpit. The person inside wore a green cloak and metal armor.
Doom!
Peter let out a low growl.
But before he could react, the fighter slipped into the green force field and landed safely on the roof.
Fuck! Doom's inside. I have to get in too!
Peter looked around.
Brute force wouldn't work, so he would have to use his brain.
Just then, Ben's roar echoed throughout the entire building.
Peter's heart tightened.
What could hurt Ben that badly?!
He had to get inside!
Peter looked around, and a thought suddenly struck him.
The building itself.
The shield didn't block the building. Why?
Had Doom calibrated the shield to ignore concrete structures?
That's... that's fucking brilliant!
Peter climbed beside one of the Baxter Building's corner columns and punched it again and again until the concrete surface began to crack.
The chunks of concrete that broke off were enormous. Peter picked one up, secured it firmly to his back with webbing, then climbed toward the shield.
He slowly approached the energy barrier and tossed the concrete chunk on his back through it.
The concrete passed safely through the shield without encountering any resistance.
Peter grinned.
Hiding behind the chunk of concrete, he slowly climbed through the thick wall of light. The moment he reached the other side, Peter cast off the concrete and rushed through a broken window.
Doom Robot wreckage lay strewn all over the floor inside.
It looked like Ben had taken out quite a few.
Peter crossed the wreckage and rushed into Reed's lab.
Ben had been smashed into the wall and was already unconscious.
"Ben!"
Peter rushed over and bent down to check on him.
His breathing was shallow, but he was alive.
He turned and rushed into the lab's main room. The sight inside made his heart sink.
The entire room was devastated, and the dimensional portal kept spewing electrical sparks.
"You cannot stop Doom, Richards. Doom will have the spoils that belong to him!"
Doctor Doom stood between Reed and Sue, with the portal behind him.
"Not necessarily, Victor," Reed growled, enlarging his fists.
"Fool! You think you can stop Doom?!"
Doctor Doom snapped his fingers. Several Doom Robots crashed through the ceiling, pouring in one after another.
"Tear him apart!"
Reed and Sue were about to engage when Peter leaped into the fray, firing a Repulsor Cannon blast square into the lead robot's chest.
He landed between Doctor Doom and his friends.
"Leave the robots to me! You two deal with the brainless, heartless tin can!"
"You again." Doctor Doom's voice was incredibly hoarse. "I'll skin you alive, boy!"
"Tch, that thin-skinned?"
Peter dodged a laser, landed on the wall, then launched himself off again, pouncing on another robot and smashing it apart too fast to see.
"Don't do this, Victor! You don't know what's on the other side of the portal!" Sue shouted, raising an energy shield in front of herself.
"No, Susan, that is precisely where you are wrong. Doom knows all too well what lies beyond-power!"
Doctor Doom threw out his arms, and a bolt of lightning struck Sue's shield. Web-like cracks rapidly spread across it.
"Holy fuck!"
The words slipped out of Peter's mouth.
He'd completely forgotten this guy could do that too!
Peter dodged another mechanical fist and landed on a distant wall. Two Doom Robots charged straight at him. He waited until the last instant to leap away, and the two couldn't stop in time, crashing straight through the wall.
They slowly turned around, trying to lock onto their target again, only to find Peter's glowing palm Repulsor Cannons aimed right at them.
"Drop dead."
With a low growl, Peter blasted their heads off.
"Ah!"
Sue screamed. Doctor Doom's attack punched through her shield, sending her flying. She hit the floor hard and lay unconscious.
"Sue!"
Reed's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Doctor Doom.
"You bastard!"
He charged, his fists flying like a torrential downpour.
Doctor Doom merely raised a hand slightly. A green force field enveloped his entire body, blocking every one of Reed's attacks.
"Of the five of us fortunate enough to be granted powers, Richards, yours is the least impressive."
Doctor Doom laughed and struck Reed with another bolt of lightning, sending him crashing back onto a lab bench.
"I won't give up, Victor! Not until I stop you!"
Reed roared and lunged back into the fight.
Peter returned to his own battle.
Two Doom Robots rushed at him. He dodged aside, fired webs, and swung them like throwing hammers, smashing them hard into another squad of robots.
Peter plastered them all in his hardest webbing, then turned to look at Reed.
He was being shocked senseless!
Peter had to help!
"Doom, you dumbass!" Peter shouted.
"Who dares-"
Before Doctor Doom could finish, a fist slammed into his face, cutting him off and sending him staggering two steps backward.
"Reed, are you okay?!" Peter rushed to Reed's side.
"I-I'm fine." Reed panted.
"Good. Can you shut down the machine?"
"Yes. Give me a little time."
Reed turned and lunged toward the console.
Peter turned back to face Doctor Doom.
"You vile insect!"
Doctor Doom shakily rose to his feet again.
"You dare challenge Doom?!" "Die, you ignorant fool!"
Doctor Doom roared and unleashed a bolt of lightning.
Peter could have dodged.
But he couldn't.
Reed was right behind him, and Reed was the only one who could resolve this situation.
So Peter stood his ground.
The lightning slammed into him head-on like a heavy truck.
Peter felt his fingers and toes curl from the electric shock. He held his ground, and soon felt something drawing away the current pouring into his body.
Doctor Doom stopped attacking.
Peter still stood where he was, gasping for breath.
"How can you still be standing?!" Doctor Doom roared.
Peter smiled beneath his helmet.
"Simple. I'm just stronger than you."
He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Now, try this!"
Peter flung his arms wide, and the unibeam in his chest roared to life.
Doctor Doom's eyes widened as the Arc Reactor's full-powered blast struck him head-on.
The web-like "Parker's Blood" energy conduits covering the suit channeled all the electricity they had just absorbed into the Arc Reactor.
All that electricity you pumped into me just now-I'm giving it all back, asshole!
At last, Peter lowered his hands, his strength almost completely spent.
"How is this possible?!"
Doctor Doom struggled to his feet, roaring in fury.
"How could you possess technology like this?!"
"Stole it from your Doom Robots." Peter flashed a brilliant smile.
"Ignorant fool! No matter. Doom will never be stopped!"
Doctor Doom snapped his fingers.
The squad of Doom Robots Peter had plastered into a corner with webs suddenly reactivated. They tore through the webbing and swarmed out, pinning Peter firmly against the wall.
Peter struggled wildly, punching his way out of the surrounding robots, tearing them apart piece by piece.
"Don't move, Richards."
Doctor Doom fired an energy beam, striking Reed in the back.
Reed screamed and fell to the floor.
Doctor Doom stepped over his body and began operating the control terminal. Within seconds, the purple curtain of light covering the portal vanished.
"Resisting Doom was futile from the start, Richards."
Doctor Doom strode smugly toward the portal.
"Such immense power, such vast knowledge, and you wanted to hide it away like an illegitimate child? You truly are the greatest of fools, Richards."
"No, I'm not the greatest yet."
Reed grinned, stretched out a finger, and pressed a button.
The machine suddenly gave a deep rumble, then began furiously sucking in everything in the room.
"What have you done?!"
Doctor Doom desperately tried to break free of the portal's pull.
"Sending you where you belong!"
Reed roared, driving Doctor Doom backward with a punch.
But it was still not quite enough.
He had yet to fall through the portal.
"Leave it to me!"
Peter shouted, and the unibeam in his chest blasted out again, ripping apart every Doom Robot surrounding him.
He broke free and charged at Doctor Doom, leaping into the air and driving both feet hard into his stomach.
Doctor Doom went flying backward.
"Bye-bye!"
Peter fired a strand of webbing at the wall and held on for dear life.
Doctor Doom screamed as he passed through the portal.
"No!!!"
The instant he slipped into the portal, Reed slammed another button.
The machine stopped, and the terrifying suction vanished with it.
Peter released his webbing and collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
He turned to look at Reed.
"Did you have this planned all along?"
Reed nodded.
"Victor's arrogance meant he had to find someone to witness his victory firsthand. And with how deeply he hated me, that person was almost certain to be me."
"So you turned the portal into a trap."
Peter let out a long breath and lay flat on his back.
"Beautiful. Never doubted you for a second, boss. I just... ah, I just want to lie here for a while. Is that okay?"
Reed smiled and lay down beside him.
"I think I could join you."
Once he had recovered a little, Peter went outside to help Reed dismantle the energy barrier Doctor Doom had set up around the building.
Then he swung down the building and retrieved Johnny, who was still unconscious on the webbing.
Together, they woke Johnny, Sue, and Ben.
The three teammates were furious at having been taken down so easily, but they breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Doctor Doom had finally been stopped.
Only Sue remained a little downcast. The price they had paid to stop Doom had been far too high.