Miles Morales: New Spider Chapter 5.

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Three weeks after acquiring the blueprints, I finally managed to build a severely downgraded version of the exoskeleton. Warmonger’s armor was mostly mechanical, which worked in my favor since I didn’t have access to the advanced components needed for a more sophisticated suit.

The exoskeleton I built looked like a slimmer version of the Japanese "Hal" exoskeleton. It wasn't even close to a full suit of armor—no protective plates, no high-tech gadgets. It was a purely basic powered exoskeleton, the kind you’d call a poor man’s version, made with very specific purposes in mind.

No rockets, no arc reactor, no super strength to toss cars around like toys. The only protection it offered was the black web vest I’d made earlier and a repurposed half-face visor fitted with micro intense image projectors and control units, doubling as a heads-up display (HUD). The visor was wirelessly hooked up to various sensors and fitted onto a black, closed-mouth ski mask.

Despite its simplicity, it was still a powered exo. It had enough strength to lift twice my weight—not exactly impressive when compared to Stark’s or Stane’s suits, but it was something. It was light enough to wear unpowered and mobile enough to not get in the way of performing complex movements. I designed it with flexibility in mind since I planned to use it alongside my web shooters.

I fitted sharp-tipped claws at the end of the glove piece to help me scale rough surfaces, taking inspiration from lizard claws and the ceiling glitch ninjas are famous for. And since I didn’t have an arc reactor to power the exoskeleton, I had to make do with a highly efficient battery pack. No, I can’t build an arc reactor... yet. Where would I even get the money for that?

I wasn’t rich, and neither was my family. We were comfortably middle class—no one would go hungry, but we couldn’t spend money like it was water either. The pen testing jobs and white hat hacking bounties? I wasn’t the only computer expert in the world. This is the Marvel universe, for goodness' sake. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone out there could use computers as an extension of themselves, and companies had their own tech teams.

And what happened to all the money I’d made before? The microbots happened, dammit. Looking back, I might’ve gone overboard with a whole unit of them, but it was worth it to acquire the blueprints.

Even if I had the money, where would I find connections to acquire materials with radioactive elements for the reactor? That stuff is illegal to even possess. So, the battery pack for the exo was my only option. Once powered up, it had enough juice for about four hours of operation. Beyond that, it was useless.

As I examined the finished exo, I had to admit it looked kinda cool—like a less bulky version of the one Matt Damon wore in *Elysium.*

After scouring the web, I managed to locate Dr. Sterns' lab. I found his address online and tracked his digital footprints by hacking into his computer. I knew he’d be talking to Banner, which meant there’d be a significant spike in data usage. His lab would be consuming a lot of power due to the gamma ray machines and computer systems. Tracing those connections and power usage back to his lab was how I found it.

I then proceeded to bug and rig Sterns’ place in Harlem. The reason? I wanted to get Blonsky’s blood before he underwent the gamma treatment. Blonsky had been injected with a low-dosage variant of the Super Soldier Serum, which gave him enhanced speed, strength, agility, and healing.

I say "variant" because after Hulk delivered a Spartan kick (heh) to him, his bones were shattered, yet he healed completely within a day. Captain America doesn’t have that level of regeneration, so something was definitely different.

While rigging Sterns’ lab, I might have "borrowed" some of his equipment—just the spares or rarely used ones. I was on a tight budget, so cut me some slack. It’s for a noble cause, after all. Besides, Sterns was too occupied with Banner and the antidote to notice a few missing tools.

It took about a month for the events at Culver University to unfold. None of it made the news. I had set up an online bot to search for specific phrases like "green monster," "army," and "Culver University." It paid off. Students were posting about it on forums—claims of seeing a green monster, even footage—but everything related to the topic was quickly taken down or banned. The government was clearly trying to cover up the events.

I had brainstormed various plans, but they all led to one conclusion: my death—either quick or painfully slow. After a week of pushing my mind to the limit, I came up with Operation Vampire. It took time to iron out the edges and streamline it, but in the end, it was solid.

Now I had to wait.

Two weeks passed, and everything was falling into place. Late one evening, I was geared up, wearing my exoskeleton with my costume underneath—a black jacket with a hoodie over the ski mask and visor, the web vest beneath the jacket, and a metal canister strapped to my side. Black jeans and a pair of all-star Converse sneakers completed the outfit. I didn’t put any symbols on the jacket; I didn’t want to be recognized. I just wanted to get what I came for and leave.

Fully prepared, I lay in wait, watching the live feed on my visor of Bruce Banner and Betty in Sterns’ lab. The antidote had been successfully administered to Banner when Blonsky and his unit stormed in, beating the crap out of Banner. Vindictive, isn’t he? Guess that didn’t make it into the movie.

It was a miracle Banner didn’t Hulk out. Blonsky’s men secured him and Betty, taking them to the helicopter while Blonsky remained behind. He demanded that Sterns give him a dose of Banner’s gamma radiation treatment. Sterns warned him that the combination of the Super Soldier Serum and gamma exposure would be unpredictable, potentially turning him into an "abomination." But I could see that Sterns was curious, even intrigued by the possible outcome.

Blonsky didn’t hesitate. He stripped down and lay on the bed. This was where my plan came into play. I’d considered several scenarios: should I attack Blonsky with my power exo and get his blood? Nope, he’d kick my ass and then kill me. Should I convince him to give me his blood? No way. He was too aggressive, and why would he trust me? He’d just as soon kill me.

The only plan that made sense was to rig an automated device under the lab bed. It was designed to push a needle fitted to a vacuumed tube deep into Blonsky’s muscles and draw blood. The device would activate before the gamma bombardment and, after Blonsky transformed and left, I’d sneak in, grab the tube, and head out.

Would it hurt him? Yes, immensely. Since I needed the blood before the gamma bombardment, I made sure the vacuum in the tube was extremely high. He might notice it, but hopefully, he’d dismiss it as the Super Serum doing its job during the gamma exposure.

As Blonsky was strapped to the bed, I activated the device. He grunted a bit, but Sterns started talking and hitting switches, the gamma machines revving up. My device finished extracting the blood—it was sealed and ready for extraction. Now I just had to wait for Abomination to leave.

But this was the day Murphy decided to bitch-slap me. Abomination was growing too large, and at this rate, he’d crush the bed, destroying the blood tube in the process. I had to get in there before that happened.

I powered up the exoskeleton, burst into the lab, and fired a goldline web at the sealed tube, yanking it toward me. I quickly checked it for damage—thankfully, it was intact—and stashed it in the metal canister.

Then I looked up. I shouldn’t have. I should’ve just run. But no, I had to look. Sterns didn’t notice me at all, his eyes glazed over, a drop of blood on his forehead.

And there it was: Abomination, towering at ten feet, looking down at me, then at the metal canister. He was a terrifying sight, with bones protruding from his limbs. The movies don’t do him justice. He was horrifying, and his eyes held a sick amusement.

"Holy shit!" I muttered, freezing in terror. My thoughts spiraled into panic.

'I’m going to die. Why didn’t I just stay home and live a peaceful life? Now I’m here, doing this, and I’m going to die. I don’t want to die! I won’t die!'

'Calm down!' I screamed at myself mentally. 'Do something!'

Abomination took a step toward me, and my mind went into overdrive, shoving the panic aside.

'Webs!' I thought of the ones I made specifically to hold back the Hulk.

I shot his feet with my golden-graphene super webs and bolted, leaping over cars, looking for any cover I could find. I glanced back to see him charging after me, bulldozing everything in his path. The golden-graphene webs were still attached to his feet, but they were dragging the flooring along with them.

'He ripped out the damn floor!' I thought in disbelief.

"What the hell?" I tried firing at him again, but nothing came out of the web shooter. The canister was... empty.

“Impossible!”

“What did I ever do to you, Murphy?”

“Focus, man! Focus!”

Abomination swung his massive arm, and I knew that if it connected, I was done for.

Switching to the goldline webs, I fired them at the surrounding buildings, latching onto anything that could hold. I pulled with every ounce of strength I had, straining until my arms ached. The exoskeleton’s arms creaked and snapped under the pressure, but it was enough. I was launched into the air, narrowly missing Abomination’s sweeping attack.

His massive finger missed me by inches, but the shockwave sent a brutal force through my body, throwing me off course. I overshot my landing and crashed into a phone booth, the impact jarring every bone in my body.

He charged toward me, and all I could think was, *Even if I’m finished, I won’t die lying down.*

With tears in my eyes and pain wracking my body, I forced myself to stand. That’s when I noticed a light approaching him. He caught it, pausing just long enough for it to explode, engulfing him in flames. Seizing the opportunity, I shot my webs at a nearby building, yanking myself through a window just as the blast hit.

It had only been about ten seconds since I burst into the building, but it felt like an eternity.

I lay sprawled on the floor, taking deep breaths and staring at the ceiling. The walls were covered in paintings and graffiti—whoever lived here must’ve been an artist. Slowly, I sat up, assessing my condition.

My left exo-arm was busted, and I had bruises all over, including a likely fractured rib. But it could have been worse. The canister was still securely strapped to my side.

I was in decent shape, but the situation was dire.

*Abomination almost killed me. I nearly gave up. I don’t want to die, but I don’t just want to survive—I want to live.*

*I’m doing all this to become immortal and powerful, yet I almost lost it all. I need to be more careful. Without power, you’re just a sheep in a slaughterhouse.*

This was a wake-up call.

I could hear screams outside, explosions ripping through the air, and the deafening roars growing louder and more primal. Hulk was fighting Abomination.

I stood and looked through the window. What I saw was far worse than I could have imagined. Harlem was in ruins, a scene of unimaginable destruction. In movies, this might look cool, but in reality, it was like a natural disaster.

*This is why Fury was so paranoid.*

It was unbelievable.

Harlem was devastated. The streets were littered with broken and burnt bodies, people who hadn’t escaped in time—parents, siblings, children, lovers, friends. They were all someone’s loved ones, people who never expected their lives to end so suddenly. The scene was heartbreaking.

I raised my hands, checking my web shooters.

*I have the power to help. I might not be able to save everyone, but there’s nothing stopping me from trying. Someone I save today might rescue me tomorrow.*

*I know the cold grip of death, and I never want to feel it again. Seeing all these innocent people die, people who couldn’t even put up a fight, swept away by the waves of the powerful—it’s not right. I may not be a saint or a savior, but I have the ability to help. It’s wrong to ignore someone’s cry for help when I can do something about it. I was given a chance; let me give others the same.*

*Such fragile lives we live,* I thought silently.

I felt the energy orb within me begin to rotate.

*I think I’ll call it chi from now on,* I mused.

It was as if something lost had been found, like a piece that had been missing suddenly clicked into place. I felt my soul evolving, growing—a gradual process, but an essential one for my development.

I felt comfortable in my body, as if the empty spaces were filling up with my soul. The chi that had been the size of a marble was now the size of a golf ball, its energy brighter and more intense than before.

My wounds were healing, and the bruises were fading. I felt energized, as if I had never been tired in the first place.

*I need to find a teacher to guide me in using this.*

I had just been scratching the surface before, but now I realized it was much deeper than I’d thought.

I needed to access this power. I needed a teacher.

I pushed the broken exo off my arms and took off my jacket. Grabbing a red spray can from the room, I began to work, drawing the outline of a red spider with its front legs arching all the way to the front of the jacket. I took a moment to admire my work, then put the jacket back on, slipping into the exo.

I looked out the window and saw parts of buildings on the verge of collapsing, with people still trapped inside and others pinned under debris and car parts.

*Let’s help people first.*

I jumped out the window, web shooters ready, and shot weblines through the air.

*Time to be a hero.*