Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Chapter 86: Secrets in the Shadows

The following days passed in a blur of activity and tension. Peter couldn't shake the ominous feeling that had settled in his chest ever since that cryptic message. Whoever had sent it knew more than they should, and they were clearly watching him—waiting for him to make his next move. But who could he trust in a city so full of secrets?

Peter didn't want to involve anyone else. He didn't want to drag Harry, Aunt May, or even MJ into this mess. But with Oscorp's reach growing by the day, Peter knew that sooner or later, he'd need help to bring them down.

His usual routine had changed. During the day, he was Peter Parker, trying to balance his responsibilities as a student, a friend, and a nephew. But by night, he was Spider-Man, swinging across the rooftops, hunting down leads, and avoiding detection. Oscorp's influence was everywhere, and Peter had to be careful. Every move he made was watched, every web he fired, every step he took. But the harder he tried to uncover the truth, the more elusive it seemed.

Peter sat in his bedroom late one night, the glow of his computer screen illuminating his tired face. He was sifting through pages of documents, blueprints, and classified files that had been leaked online by a mysterious source. Most of them were redacted or encoded, but there were enough clues to suggest that Oscorp's experiments went far beyond what Peter had imagined.

Oscorp wasn't just creating weapons and genetically modified creatures—they were building something bigger. Something catastrophic. The pieces were starting to fall into place, and the puzzle was far more dangerous than he had anticipated.

His phone buzzed, pulling him from his thoughts. It was a message from Harry.

"Got something. Meet me at the usual spot. Bring the suit."

Peter didn't hesitate. He grabbed his suit from the closet, slipping it on under his clothes. The night was still young, and if Harry had found something, it was worth investigating. They needed all the information they could get, especially with the growing sense of urgency hanging over them. Peter was sure they were running out of time.

A few minutes later, Peter found himself standing in the alleyway behind a local coffee shop. Harry was waiting for him, his expression serious as he paced back and forth.

"What'd you find?" Peter asked, his voice low as he approached.

Harry handed him a small, encrypted drive. "I managed to hack into one of Oscorp's secondary servers. There's something going on under the radar. It's not just the experiments—there's something much bigger at play. I think they're planning something huge, Pete. And it's happening soon."

Peter frowned, taking the drive from Harry. "What exactly are they planning?"

Harry shook his head, his eyes dark with worry. "I'm not sure. But there are mentions of something called 'Project Genesis.' It's marked as a 'world-altering event.' I've seen a lot of messed up stuff, but this… this feels like the real deal."

Peter's stomach dropped. "World-altering event?" The words echoed in his mind, and the possibilities terrified him. Oscorp had always been a giant, a shadowy force behind much of New York's problems, but this… this sounded like the kind of thing that could change everything.

"We have to figure out what 'Project Genesis' is," Peter said, his voice tinged with urgency. "This is bigger than we thought."

Harry nodded, but before either of them could say anything else, Peter's spider-sense went off, a sharp buzz in his head. His instincts screamed for him to move, but he didn't have time to react. A shadowed figure dropped from above, crashing to the ground between them, sending a shockwave through the alley.

Peter barely had time to recognize the silhouette before the figure lunged at him, a blur of speed and raw power. He narrowly dodged the attack, flipping backward just in time to avoid a devastating blow. His heart raced, his body already on high alert.

The figure stood tall, its body cloaked in a black, sleek armor-like suit. Its face was obscured by a dark helmet, but the gleaming red eyes cut through the night, locking onto Peter with chilling precision.

"Who the hell are you?" Peter demanded, his fists raised, ready for a fight.

The figure didn't respond. Instead, it attacked again, moving faster than Peter could track. A series of punches came at him from all angles, and Peter barely had time to react, blocking and dodging, trying to keep up. This person—or thing—was faster, stronger, and more skilled than anyone Peter had faced before.

"What the hell?!" Peter grunted, narrowly avoiding a punch that would have sent him flying.

Harry, not one to stand by and watch, quickly drew out his pulse gun and fired a shot at the attacker. The blast hit the figure square in the chest, but the armor seemed to absorb the impact, the blast having little effect.

The figure turned its attention to Harry, moving with incredible speed. Before Peter could intervene, the attacker knocked the pulse gun from Harry's hand, sending it flying across the alley. The force of the blow sent Harry tumbling backward, hitting the ground hard.

"Harry!" Peter yelled, but there was no time to check on his friend. He had to deal with this new threat first.

The figure's movements were like a blur, each strike pushing Peter to his limits. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he was on the defensive. He couldn't predict the figure's moves, and the more he fought, the more it became clear that this wasn't an ordinary opponent.

Finally, Peter managed to get in a lucky shot. He webbed the figure's legs together, forcing it to trip and stumble. Peter quickly closed the distance, delivering a punch to the attacker's helmet. The figure recoiled but then, in a shocking twist, its body morphed—its armor retracting and transforming into a more fluid, organic shape.

Peter's jaw dropped as the creature's true form was revealed. It was a symbiote.

The creature's black liquid mass writhed and contorted, forming a humanoid shape before Peter's eyes. Its face twisted into a grin—a malicious, knowing grin.

"You're too late, Spider-Man," the creature said, its voice deep and otherworldly. "I am the harbinger of the end."

Peter's stomach sank. The creature's words echoed in his mind, sending a wave of dread through him. It wasn't just a random symbiote—it was something much more. And it knew exactly who he was.

As the creature loomed over him, Peter's spider-sense screamed again, and this time, it was louder, sharper.

But even as he prepared to fight, he knew that this was just the beginning. The real battle, the one that would decide the fate of everything, was only just beginning.

End of Chapter 86