Chapter 148: Broadcast
Every advertising screen, along with televisions, laptops, and cell phones, went dark for a few brief moments before displaying the image of a person almost everyone in New York recognized.
"Good evening, New York. First of all, please allow me to apologize for interrupting your regularly scheduled programming."
Undoubtedly, people across the city immediately began making noise. Some tried changing the channel, others attempted to turn off their devices, but they quickly realized it was impossible. With no way to stop the broadcast, they could only watch and listen to what the man they had labeled a threat had to say.
"I do not plan to take up much of your time. I have simply come to thank all of you...the citizens and heroes of New York."
The last word was delivered with considerable sarcasm and mockery.
....
In a secluded mansion, several people could be seen staring at their phones and televisions. Among them was a muscular man smoking a cigar while drinking a beer, and beside him sat a man dressed in red-and-black spandex who was laughing like a maniac.
What are you doing, bub? the muscular man thought.
Nearby stood an extraordinarily beautiful blonde woman dressed entirely in white, watching the television with an indifferent expression as though nothing being said mattered to her.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Peter, she thought with concern, though her expression remained perfectly indifferent.
That same concern was shared by a woman dressed in purple, a red-haired teenager, another blonde woman dressed in black, and several other women gathered nearby.
Master, what happened to you that forced you to wear that suit again? someone else thought.
Dad, three girls who looked extremely similar to one another thought in unison.
....
"Many of you must be wondering how someone like me could possibly be thanking you, and that is precisely what I am about to explain."
The figure on every screen spread his arms.
"I thank you for breaking the one person who could have ruined my plans."
A pause followed.
"I thank you for breaking Spider-Man!"
Across the city, countless people fell silent.
"Some of you may not have figured it out yet, but I am Otto Octavius...the greatest villain to ever exist! HAHAHAHA!"
-----
Inside a penthouse, a red-haired man dressed in an extremely expensive suit watched the television, his face twisting with intense anger.
"Octavius, you wretched, miserable son of a bitch! You are still alive?!"
He shouted as the glass in his right hand shattered under the pressure of his grip.
------
"Many of you may not know this, but for a year and a half, I occupied the body of your beloved hero, Spider-Man. At first, I considered destroying this entire city, but then a far better idea came to me."
The masked figure leaned closer to the camera.
"Why destroy Spider-Man when I could replace him?"
The screen behind him flickered.
"And with that replacement came many wonderful opportunities. Secret codes. Hidden locations. Information on powerful individuals. Access to technologies that should never have fallen into my hands."
Now, unlike before, much of New York’s population was paying very close attention.
"I do not only thank you, citizens of New York. No, no. I must also personally thank Tony Stark for helping me with my plan."
The broadcast paused for dramatic effect.
"Thank you, Stark, for refusing to reveal to your little group of idiots that I had impersonated Spider-Man. When your machine detected that I was not truly Peter Parker, I expected you to expose me. I thought you would betray me and force me to take drastic action."
A low laugh escaped him.
"But instead, you erased the information so that no one else would know."
"I also thank you for creating the substance that drove Scarlet Witch into that particular state, ultimately contributing to the M-Day event."
The figure tilted his head.
"And now that substance is in my hands, so you have nothing to worry about...."
A pause.
"Or perhaps you do."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Many people could not believe what they were hearing. They did not want to believe that one of Earth’s heroes could have done such a thing.
Then the screen changed.
A video appeared showing Tony Stark creating the substance. With the assistance of a small robot, it was dispersed inside a room containing a young woman.
A woman almost everyone recognized.
Scarlet Witch.
"Oh, wow. How did those recordings get there?" he asked mockingly.
The footage disappeared, and Otto returned to the screen.
"I do not only thank you, Stark. I thank you for giving me access to that formula...and to the variant designed for Inhumans."
His voice became colder.
"I also thank the large number of heroes who despised Spider-Man so much that, instead of stopping me, they unknowingly helped me."
The image behind him changed again.
"Thanks to them, I had free rein to do whatever I wanted in this city. Thanks to them, I stole enough technology to create a clone of Spider-Man....the very body I am using right now."
He slowly spread his arms.
"Thanks to all of you...."
A grin could almost be heard in his voice.
"I cheated death."
---------
At Avengers Mansion, screams, explosions, and the sounds of destruction echoed through the building.
One of the windows suddenly shattered.
Iron Man came flying through it.
A gray armored figure followed immediately behind him, equipped with heavier weaponry and firing relentlessly. A jet tore through the air nearby, while several superpowered individuals capable of flight joined the pursuit.
But the most dangerous among them was a muscular blond man wielding a hammer.
Lightning erupted from the weapon again and again, and more than once, the blasts struck Iron Man directly.
But the real chaos was unfolding elsewhere.
Inside another mansion, a brunette woman hurled objects in every direction, each surrounded by a reddish aura. Her fury was unmistakable from the expression on her face.
"STARK!"
She screamed before tearing open a hole in the ceiling and floating through it.
"Damn. We are in trouble again," said a woman with white hair and brown skin. "Although I would not mind seeing Stark face some consequences either."
"Me neither, Ororo."
"Wow. I just hope he does not end up the way he did in that alternate film. What do you say, my handsome readers?"
"Wade! Stop talking nonsense and help!"
"No way, Logan, I am serious! I wonder why I even agreed to be here, and then I remember it is because of Colossus’s particular physique. It is not quite like our friend Spidey’s, but it is better than nothing. That must be Russia’s contribution."
"Wade!"
"Great! Holy—"
"Language!"
"Fuck your mother!"