Spider-Man : The Story of a Hero

New York — Wilson Fisk’s Private Airport — Night

About an hour later, Silver Sable arrived at Wilson Fisk’s private airport, where her entire team of mercenaries was already waiting for her.

The moment they saw her appear, covered in blood and visibly wounded, they immediately rushed toward her, their faces marked with deep concern.

— ”B-Boss?!”

— ”What happened to you?!”

— ”Who did this to you?!”

— ”Later! We don’t have time!” Silver Sable replied quickly.

She struggled to catch her breath before raising her head.

— ”Get the plane and the helicopter ready for takeoff! NOW!”

Seeing her condition and the urgency in her eyes, none of them dared ask any more questions. Despite their concern, they immediately carried out her orders and split up to complete their tasks. But it was already too late.

— ”Hey... what’s that thing over there?”

Hearing the remark, the other mercenaries frowned and instinctively turned their heads in the direction he was pointing, not understanding what he had just seen.

Silver Sable, however, immediately felt her heart tighten. She already dreaded the answer. Slowly, she turned around as well... and in the distance, she saw what could only be described as a living nightmare.

It was no longer the young teenager dressed in a black suit whom she had fought an hour earlier.

It was a gigantic, deformed, monstrous creature. A being that looked as though it had crawled straight out of a madman’s imagination. At that very moment, Silver Sable shouted at the top of her lungs:

— ”That thing did this to me! One team gets the plane and the helicopter ready! The other kills that monster! Use everything you’ve got! Do you hear me?! EVERYTHING! YOU HAVE FULL AUTHORIZATION!”

At her command, every mercenary reacted without the slightest hesitation. Part of the team rushed toward the plane and the helicopter to prepare them for takeoff, while the others spread out to confront—or at least slow down—the abomination charging straight toward them.

Some grabbed assault rifles, others picked up shotguns, while one of them even retrieved a rocket launcher.

— ”YOU HEARD THE BOSS?!”

All the mercenaries answered with a determined shout.

— ”OPEN FIRE!”

A hail of bullets immediately rained through the night. At the same instant, the symbiote let out a bestial roar before charging at the mercenaries with terrifying speed.

It lunged at the first one, trying to tear him apart with its enormous hands ending in long, razor-sharp claws. The mercenary, however, managed to dodge at the last second.

As the creature immediately resumed its pursuit, another man, positioned just behind them, fired a devastating shotgun blast into the creature’s back.

And against all expectations, it did absolutely nothing.

The projectiles seemed to be absorbed by the strange black substance composing its body before slowly being expelled onto the ground, as though the monster were naturally spitting them back out.

The symbiote immediately turned toward the man who had fired and was already preparing to pounce on him when another mercenary, positioned a little farther away, suddenly shouted:

— ”CLOSE YOUR EYES!”

At the same moment, a flash grenade rolled to the creature’s feet. Not knowing what it was, the symbiote instinctively looked down at the strange object.

The next instant, a violent detonation echoed through the air. A blinding white light exploded before its eyes, completely disorienting it.

The creature let out such a terrifying scream that several mercenaries froze in shock. They could hardly believe that such a being could truly exist.

Taking advantage of the time it needed to recover its senses, and after everyone had cleared the area, the mercenary armed with the rocket launcher shouldered his weapon, carefully took aim, and fired.

The explosion immediately engulfed the symbiote in a gigantic fireball. For a fraction of a second, they all hoped it would finally be enough to bring him down. But when the smoke began to clear, they quickly realized that it wasn’t.

The symbiote had indeed been wounded, but it was still far from defeated. Through the black substance torn apart by the explosion, they could even make out Peter Parker’s body, trapped inside the creature and apparently unconscious.

— ”A-Am I dreaming, or is there someone inside that monster?!”

— ”WHO CARES?! KEEP FIRING!”

Without the slightest hesitation, they all aimed their assault rifles and shotguns at the creature once again. They didn’t care if their bullets also struck the man trapped inside it. Their only priority was to destroy the thing before it slaughtered them all.

Sensing that its host was in danger, the symbiote immediately turned around to present its back, using its own body as a shield to protect Peter while it regenerated.

For long seconds, the creature remained perfectly still beneath the relentless rain of bullets. The mercenaries kept firing without pause, emptying magazine after magazine until the ground was soon covered with spent shell casings.

At the same moment, the plane and the helicopter finally seemed ready for takeoff. Seated inside the helicopter, Silver Sable leaned slightly out of the open door and shouted:

— ”EVERYONE! GET ON BOARD! NOW!”

At that command, the mercenaries immediately ceased fire and began running toward the two aircraft. Everyone climbed aboard as quickly as possible, while the creature silently continued regenerating. After a few moments, a massive, terrifying smile slowly spread across its black face.

It had fully regenerated.

The creature immediately turned around, ready to resume its assault. Only then did the symbiote realize that the gunfire had stopped, so focused had it been on protecting its host.

Its gaze then settled on the plane and the helicopter, which were already taking off. The monster let out a roar of rage before charging forward at full speed, running like a wild beast toward the two aircraft.

Seeing it rushing toward them, several mercenaries inside the helicopter immediately opened fire in an attempt to slow its advance. But their bullets remained completely ineffective.

While the helicopter had already climbed high enough to be out of reach, the plane was still rolling down the runway to build up takeoff speed. And second after second, the symbiote was dangerously closing the distance between them.

Just as it was about to leap onto the aircraft, a mercenary aboard the plane threw a grenade that landed directly inside the monster’s enormous mouth.

Instantly realizing that its host’s life was in danger, the creature reacted with unbelievable speed. It tore the grenade out of its huge mouth before hurling it behind itself a fraction of a second before it exploded.

The blast immediately erupted behind it, inflicting severe damage, but failing to stop it.

At last, the plane left the ground and climbed into the sky. It was now flying side by side with the helicopter. On board, the mercenaries gradually regained their composure, convinced that this time it was finally over. Even Silver Sable seemed to have lowered her guard.

But it was precisely at that moment...

That a violent jolt suddenly shook the plane.

TO BE CONTINUED.