[IC] Spider-Verse: Dark Destiny

Web of Life and Destiny Time Unknown

Anansi stared at the large web in front of him. A hint of sadness present on the god's face immediately snuffed out by anger as another universe went dark. Another Spider-Totem dead. It was happening at a more rapid rate lately. Sometimes at the same time. His enemy had friends now and they were splitting up. This wasn't good. He walked over to a particular universe that he had been monitoring. One that he had been preparing to face this enemy. He wasn't sure if they were ready yet. Some had experience, others were still new. These universes that were dying had Spider-Totems who had been at the job for years. No. This wasn't the time to doubt. He chose them for a reason. He trusted them to do what was required of them. Maybe one more test was necessary. One that would bring them all together.

The god rubbed his chin in thought and snapped his fingers as inspiration struck. He smiled to himself almost forgetting the gravity of the situation.

"Oh, this will be fun."

---

Times Square, New York City, NY December 24th 2023, 8:33 PM

A reddish blue portal appeared in the air above Times Square. The people celebrating on the streets looked up at the weird spectacle and took out their phones to record it. They couldn't tell if this was a Stark Display or some incoming threat. Ever since heroes became prominent in the State villains and otherworldly threats continued to cause chaos. Either way it was another day in New York. If it was a problem some hero or specifically some Spider-themed hero would handle it before it got too bad. They were about as an invasive of a species as real spiders.

After the portal had been opened a minute a large web launched out of it and attached to a skyscraper below it. As if the web were some kind of grappling hook it pulled whatever was on the other end out of the portal. When it landed on the building people could see a rather large creature with six legs, a human torso, two arms, and an almost apelike face. It was approximately as big as King Kong and carried a staff just as large. It looked like something from an old movie.

Despite the familiar feeling to it the masses couldn't help but panic trying to evacuate from the area. This felt way too real to be some 3-Dimensional projection.

[King Kindred]

Caty Davis, Nearby Roof, Same Night, Around the Same Time

"You really don't want to give us a try again?" A young man with white hair asked, pleading to a hooded figure.

"How many times do I have to say no? I like you, Felix, I do. But it's kind of hard to get over your boyfriend leaving you for your twin brother because he liked the bad attitude some alien suit gave him." The hooded figure responded. She took off her hood to reveal Spider-Woman.

"Oh, come on. That was almost two years ago. You can't still be held up on that. I said I was sorry. I was immature. I didn't know what I wanted, but now I do. I want you."

"I'm what you want right now. Like a cat you'll be onto the next thing as soon as you're bored. Either way, you're too late."

"For someone who's named Cat you sure have a serious thing against them. And too late? Don't tell me this is about that Octopus guy."

"Arachnid... and no. It's about me. And what'd I tell you about calling me that?"

"That I'm the only one that can."

"You were, but now I hate the nickname even more."

Their conversation was interrupted by a sound in Spider-Woman's ear.

"Come in, Spider-Woman. Come in Spider-Woman. This is Arachnid."

She pressed the earpiece and spoke back to the man on the other side. "Spider-Woman here. I'm reading you, Arachnid. What's up?"

"It appears that your Holiday Theory may have some merit to it, because it seems that someone has plans of canceling Christmas. A giant spider monkey creature is attacking Times Square."

"I swear someone out there hates me. I'm on my way." She clicked the communicator off before Otto or Felix could say anything else.

"You have to go." Felix said walking up to her and reaching for her hands.

"I do." She wanted to pull her back, but couldn't.

"I can't come, can I?"

"No. You'll only get in the way. Maybe prove me wrong and get some people out of there?" Spider-Woman stepped back and reached her hand outwards. She couldn't wait for his answer. People needed her. She pressed her fingers to her wrist releasing a string of web before jumping off the building. "Siri, call Danny."

[Crimson Flame]

Danny sat on top of a stone gargoyle on the phone with his friend Harry. The air was thick with tension. He had been dreading this for a while, but it needed to happen. “Harry, I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to right now, but I have to make this right…”

“Danny, we need to talk about what happened with that Symbiote. You let it take over, and you—”

Danny, interrupted with a defensive tone, “I know, Harry. I messed up. I regret picking up that damn thing. But I didn’t exactly plan for an alien goo to latch onto me and turn me into… that.”

Harry’s frustration was palpable as he continued, “It’s not just about the Symbiote, Danny. You let it change you. You hurt people, you hurt your own reputation, and you hurt the idea of Spider-Man.”

A heavy sigh escaped Danny as he ran a hand through his hair. “I get it, Harry. I messed up my whole superhero thing. People don’t see Spider-Man as the friendly neighborhood hero anymore. They see me as a threat.”

Harry’s tone softened. “I’m not just talking about your superhero image, Danny. I’m talking about you. You lost yourself in that darkness, and I… I didn’t know how to reach you.”

Danny’s shoulders slumped, the guilt weighed heavily on him. “I’m sorry, Harry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted to feel powerful for once, to prove I could handle things. But I lost control, and now I’ve alienated everyone, including you.”

Harry’s voice, a mixture of concern and disappointment, came through the phone, “Look, Danny, we’ve been through a lot together. I’m not saying it’s easy to forgive and forget, but we need to figure out how to move forward from this.”

Danny took a deep breath. “I don’t want to be that person, Harry. I need to find a way to fix this, to make things right. But I can’t do it alone. I need your help. I want to be the Spider-Man people can believe in again.”

There was a lingering pause before Harry responded. “I want to believe you, Danny. But you have to show me, show everyone, that you’re serious about fixing this mess. The city needs Spider-Man, not some dark version of him.”

Before Danny could say anything else, his phone beeped. It was Caty on the other end. “Sorry about this. Caty is on the other end. We’ll talk about this later.” He pressed the button, and switched to Caty. “Hey, what’s going on?” She said something about a giant Spider Monkey attacking Times Square. It sounded ridiculous, but Danny had been through a lot of ridiculous things these past few years. “On my way!” He put his mask on, spun some pink web, and swung off.

[GubGar]

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros.

Also near Times Square around the same time. Unfortunately.

---

Times Square was not on Oliver's usual route. He had carved out a nice chunk of the Narrows; Staten Island and Brooklyn were his haunts, not Manhattan. So of course, it was the one time he was nearby that everything went horribly, horribly awry.

It was that Christmas glumness that did him in. No money for a flight to see his folks, and the only other people he'd want to spend the Holiday with were on rocky terms with him. Combine that with the fact that Oliver was already the type of guy to feel glum around the winter holidays, and he felt in need of a pick-me-up. He made his rounds early today, and decided to go see the Rockefeller Center tree. Hoping it would inject some much-needed cheer into his spirit.

When Oliver made it to the center, though. He found himself looking at the large Christmas Tree with a feeling of 'yeah, that sure is a large Christmas Tree.' And little else. He was certain he'd love it if he were a tourist, though. But a tourist he was not, and the charm had worn off a few years into his life in New York. Oh well, time to head home. He'd buy himself something nice for Christmas, see if that did the trick.

Which was of course, when he turned around just in time to see a portal straight out of a sci-fi movie manifest above Times Square, and for what could only be called a monstrosity to emerge from it. With.. webbing.

"Haaahhh.."

Oliver presses his fists into his eyes in frustration, knowing full-well they would only exacerbate the dark circles he'd been rocking for a while now. "The one time I decide to head to another borough.. I'd ask if this was divine punishment, but I don't wanna risk a lightning bolt." He grumbles to himself, while working up as much energy as he could muster. Hurrying to the nearest alleyway, he scrambles with his backpack, luckily well isolated and hidden from view since folks were fleeing, not hiding. What good would hiding do when you were dealing with King Kong's half arachnid cousin?

Hidden from the chaos momentarily, Oliver hurriedly takes out his costume, which he ensured to keep with him a despite the risk to his identity. Ever since he had to confront the Human Fly costume-less with a makeshift web mask last month, he had become a lot more paranoid on ensuring he had the option to change available to him. So once he threw his costume overtop his civvies, and webbed his backpack to the wall for safekeeping, he was off to try and deal with..

..Whatever the hell was going on.

Twin ropes of web fire, one from each wrist, that cling to either side of the alleyway he was in. He proceeds to back-pedal in order to pull the webbing taut.. and then snap forward, slingshotting himself into the air, where he starts to swing off to the scene of the disaster. Fortunately for those in danger, and unfortunately for Oliver, he was seriously right there. Primed to arrive on the scene likely before anyone else. "On the job on Christmas Eve? Against something way bigger than my weight class too? Bah, humbug!"

[Polaris North]

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

---

^{In a bar, New York Times Square}

"Another round for us, boss."

Sam raised a hand with a cigarette pinned between two of her fingers as the bartender acknowledged them and took out a bottle of scotch to pour into their glasses. She wouldn't say that she was a regular drinker. She preferred the company of a cigarette more than the mind-addling effect of alcohol, but it was a special day! Christmas was right around the corner and she thought she deserved a break or two from the whole writer and vigilante thing.

"Thanks for covering the tab for this, Rye." She said as she turned to her companion. Four drinks in and she supposed that the whole spider-powers thing really helped with metabolism because she was not as tipsy as she expected her to be. Maybe she should try taking shots of tequila next time?

The editor snorted as he picked up his newly refreshed drink and held out the glass to which Sam responded in kind. "To a prosperous year to both of us."

"And may we have more money this time around. Cheers."

The two of them downed the drink in one go. Sam would have liked to talk more, really, but there was a buzz at the back of her mind. For a moment, she thought that maybe the drinks were finally getting to her. However, her hopes were soon dashed when she realized this was another thing entirely. She let out a deep sigh as she put down the glass. Technically, she could just leave this to the others. Surely, Otto or Caty would be on the case. If not, then there were plenty of other heroes in New York City.

"I need to make a call with a friend." Sam said and Rye made a dismissive hand wave as she made her way out of the bar with her backpack.

Of course there was a large-ass portal in the middle of fucking Times Square. Onlookers were still captivated, perhaps not sensing that this was abnormal. With another heavy sigh as a rope of web shot out of the portal, Sam turned around and made her way to one of the alleys. And just as chaos began to erupt from the scene as some monster exited the portal, Sam walked into the shadows.

After a few moments, Araltus shot out of the shadows, swinging to a higher vantage point where she could see the monstrosity in full view while sticking to a glass pane window of one of the buildings. What in the ever living fuck was that? Like, Araltus didn't deal with that kind of shit unless someone else called her to help them. For a moment, she idly wondered if that thing was an ape that got bitten by a radioactive spider like she and the other spiderfolks did.

That would be kind of cool, having a spider monkey pet or a spider pig pet or a spider animal thing.

Araltus took another long drag of her cigarette before snuffing it against the window behind her as she surveyed the scene. Spider King Kong was likely going to wreak havoc in the city (nothing new) and civilians were going to get in the way (again, nothing new) so they probably needed to wrap this up soon. She spotted someone already swinging towards the scene of the disaster. She let out her breath, watching as the smoke dissipated in front of her before dragging her mask down.

"This better be fun."

With that, Araltus leaped off of the building to join the chaos.

[Duthguy]

Bob Brown/Weaver

His apartment

Bob ignored the ringtone coming from the burnerphone the Fixer had given him, he already didn't like dealing with the guy usually but he definitely wasn't going to do any jobs this close to Christmas. Of course if he needed more webfluid or repairs it would unfortunately be a different story, in that aspect the arms dealer had him in this pocket.

It was almost a relief when Bob first saw the messages about the Giant spider-monkey. "Well at least that would explain why I didn't answer." He walked to the window of his appartement and looked outside to see if there was anyone in the alley below or near the windows across the street. Convinced the coast was as clear as it was going to be he changed into his costume and climbed the outside wall of his appartement building to the roof.

Jumping from roof to roof, only using his webs when he had no other choice, Weaver made his way to Times Square. ""It would be great if I arrived after someone else dealt with everything, would save me some time being out in this cold."

Despite Weaver's wishes when he arrived at Times Square the spidermonkey wasn't down yet but it did seem like several spider themed heroes were there to try deal with it. ""Could be worse, I suppose."

Weaver watched one of the other Spider jump off of the building they were on, seemingly ready to attack the giant and briefly considered joining in. After thinking it over though he decided to instead try and sneak behind the monster from the ground and maybe find who/whatever made the portal it came through and wallcrawled down.

[King Kindred]

Otto Octavius, ESU Lab, Same Night, Around the Same Time

Otto decided to test Caty's theory about crimes, more specifically of the supervillain variety, increasing around the holidays. She believed it was due to a personal vendetta and he understood that more than anyone, but also believed hers to be more coincidental. The Hobgoblin was a lunatic after all. No, Otto believed if anything that criminals needed money just as much if not more than those with regular jobs. If it hadn't been for his bias towards Sam he was positive that he wouldn't have even empathized with criminals or villains. Especially after what Kin--, no Fisk did. He was no king. He was a pompous fool too big for the world he claimed to control. There was another reason Otto decided to humor this challenge. He wanted to catch him as a Christmas present to Anna, himself, Sam, and all of New York and he was going to use his new and improved Spider-Bots to do it.

He sat patiently in his chair as he viewed the array of monitors along the wall in front of him. He had spiders all over every borough. Who said the Arachnid or Fisk had to focus on just one area of the city? Crime didn't stop once you crossed a line. People didn't stop needing help. He even had a spider following his friends. Not all the time, just mainly at night and based on their patrol patterns. He wasn't a creepy stalker. Just a concerned friend.

He noticed through one of his spider-bots Caty talking to the Black Cat. Sam told him about him. A rather minor criminal, mostly sticks to stealing expensive or priceless items. If he wasn't so self-interested he'd be an anti-hero. Otto wasn't aware that he and Caty were close. They apparently used to date. He wasn't a threat.

An alert popped up on a number of his screens disrupting Otto's train of thought and catching his attention. He turned the alerts off and couldn't believe his eyes. She was right, but this was more than she could handle alone. More than any of them could handle alone. Fortunately they didn't have to. Thanks to his spider-bot he knew Sam was nearby and he had confidence these other spider-heroes would show up. They had a responsibility to. He called Caty and before the conversation ended The Arachnid was on his way to the scene.

"Let's see how well this eight-appendaged freak can handle someone on equal footing."

[King Kindred]

GM POST

The portal closed shortly after the large creature announced its presence. It roared while beating its chest as if calling out to an opponent or opponents out there and it wasn't going back the way it came. The Spider-Monkey scanned the streets below and caught its eye on a bus that was giving tours of the lights throughout the city. Unfortunately they picked the wrong time to be in Times Square because they were stuck while a large six-legged creature loomed over them. Those inside weren't even originally sure what was going on, but started to panic once they saw everyone outside screaming and running.

The Spider-Monkey scaled down the building and stopped before reaching its arm out to the bus and pressing down on its wrist releasing a long and thick web towards the bus, latching onto it. It pulled the bus and the remaining inhabitants away from the scurrying people blocking it in and launched them across the square about to land on an unsuspecting group of people running in the same direction.

[Crimson Flame]

As Danny swung through the city, the conversation with Harry weighed heavily on his mind. He knew he had a long road ahead of him to rebuild his reputation, but right now, duty called.

Danny couldn’t believe when he heard Caty say it on the phone. He still couldn’t believe it when he swung in and saw it in person. He saw the giant Spider Monkey throw a bus filled with people like it was nothing, and his spider-sense kicked in. Spider-Man to the rescue! He spun a pink web, and intercepted the bus midair. He redirected it to an open area, away from the fleeing crowd.

Spider-Man swung down from the web, landing gracefully in front of the bus. Spider-Man reassured the passengers, “Don’t worry, folks. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here to make sure your tour ends on a high note!” As the people on the bus got off, a few of them started muttering things about the Spider-Menace from the papers. Of course one heroic act wasn’t going to change their minds.

With a sigh, Danny swung back into action, prepared to face whatever the Spider Monkey was going to throw at him next.

[Polaris North]

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

---

^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square}

Sam wasn't exactly sure what she had expected this giant monkey spider thing to do, but it was for sure something that wanted to terrorize the people of New York City. Why exactly it wanted to do that was up for debate. She had been on the other side of the fight once before but her reasonings were pretty clear cut— a contract and a shitton of money.

Well, she shouldn't dwell on its reasoning too much because, during that time, she saw it web up a bus and shoot it straight towards other panicking civilians. Perhaps it was a bit cruel to not immediately have the instinct to swing off and save those people. But the consequences for her hesitation— or lack of instinctual heroism— would not be seen in the next few moments as Spider-Man rescued the bus and the running civilians.

Good, she supposed.

At least Sam could focus on the thing that really piqued her interest. With a wide grin underneath her mask, she swung forth and towards the monkey. Its sheer size dwarfed her completely but even annoying flies could do its damage if left to their own devices. Witty banter was something Sam did like to partake in every now and then but she doubted Mr. King Kong expy was up for it.

So, she decided to swing straight into the monkey's head, aiming to drive a kick into it before swinging away.

[Duthguy]

Bob Brown/Weaver

As Weaver was trying to make his way down, the spider-monkey proved it self to be a much bigger threat than he had assumed, by webbing up and throwing an entire bus of people. Luckily another Spider seemed to have it covered, even if Weaver was reasonably sure that he was known criminal himself, not that that really mattered at this point. Abandoning his plans to find the cause of the now closed portal and to save web-fluid he began heading back in the monster's direction, still doing his best not to be seen by it.

As Weaver got closer he noticed yet another Spider person swinging in, immediately going for a kick to the monster's head. Getting an idea on what he could do he made sure that he wouldn't accidentally hit his new ally and fired webbing from both his gloves, intending to cover the spider-monkey's eyes with it and distract it.

[GubGar]

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros.

Physically, Times Square. Emotionally, back in his bed.

---

It seemed like the Spiders of New York were coming out in full force tonight, upon his arrival, Oliver already clocked more superheroes on the scene than he'd met thus far through his whole career. A particularly sleepy, seasonal depression-y voice in his head put forward the point that with so many Spiders, maybe Oliver could just go home, Argyros probably wasn't needed on the scene. That voice, while maybe not incorrect, was also going to be ignored. Needed or not, Oliver was here, so he'd help. That was what this whole vigilante thing was about, after all.

One spider had stopped a runaway bus, two more were confronting the monster directly. He didn't know them, but he knew how to break down an issue and separate the solution into sections. It was a good way of working through something as a team, not that he'd had much practice in doing it as of late.

Combating the Spider-Monkey (If God wanted to mess with him, could it have at least been a bit more subtle?) was the right move, but it was risky when there were plenty of people nearby and in danger. They were fleeing, sure, but it was a big monster, and a lot of people. Argyros fires another web from his wrist, clinging to a lamp-post down below, and wrenching his arm back to drag him towards it. He lands on it in a perfect perch, and calls out;

"Alright folks! You're New Yorkers, you ought to know the drill by now! Please exit in an orderly fashion, your exits are here- and here- and here- and here- And just about anywhere that isn't a dead end! Oh, and happy holidays!" Oliver calls out over the den of panic, firing strands of web off towards each exit to grant visual aid, before beginning to swing himself above the crowd, landing to help any elderly, those with disabilities (physical or mental), or anyone else having trouble fleeing the scene properly- scooping them up to swing them over to what he cautiously guessed was a safe distance.

If the Spider-Monkey caused more havoc, or, more dangerously, fell down. Then Argyros was on the case to ensure nobody would be underfoot to get squashed if it came down to it. Glamorous superheroics it was not, but every person he helped get clear was a slight weight off his chest. As he swung another person to safety, he calls out to the other Spider working defensive at the moment.

"Hope you don't mind I get in on the whole 'friendly neighborhood' thing. I'm from a different neighborhood, so hopefully that clears me of gimmick infringement!"

[Crimson Flame]

The Spider Monkey brought all the Spider people out! He had heard about there being more of them. His friend Xander was one too. But where did they all come from? Did Oscorp not keep their radioactive spiders to themselves? Well it didn’t matter. They could use the help.

One of the Spiders who was redirecting the fleeing civilians away from the scene spoke to him, and Danny grinned, not that you could see it under the mask. “No problem. I’m not one of those I work alone types. There’s a lot of scum in this city, and I could use all the help I can get! By the way… Don’t believe everything you read about me… I had my edgelord phase a while ago, and I’m still paying for it. I’m trying to be The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man again.”

Another Spider tried to kick the Spider Monkey in the face, but he noticed yet another Spider shot webs in the Spider Monkey’s eyes. That wasn’t gonna be good. “Uh keep doing what your doing, I have to go check on another Spider.”

He swung over to where that Spider person was, and clung to the building nearby. “Hey buddy. Shooting web in that things eyes was a good strategy, but next time, maybe you might want to wait untill after we clear the people out of here. It might stumble, and possibly squish people. We want to avoid unnecessary collateral. They already write enough bad things about us as it is, eh?”

@GubGar@Duthguy

[King Kindred]

GM POST

Back at the Web, Anansi watched the situation intensely. He hated feeling like he had to do this, but he had to make sure they were ready and were the right ones for the job. He chose them for who they were in their previous lives, but with his interference he changed their destinies and maybe who they even were. He was glad to see how quickly they responded to the situation. He even distracted the other heroes to make sure they wouldn't interfere with this group's chosen mission. He was grateful that some of them prioritized saving lives and making sure the civilians weren't in any danger from the ensuing battle. But unfortunately things weren't going to be so easy for them. It wouldn't be a test if it was. He just hoped they could handle everything that was about to get thrown at them.

---

The Spider-Monkey wasn't just a Spider-Monkey in design. It was a totem as well, that included its own set of spider powers. Its senses alerted it to the incoming attacks from both Araltus and Weaver. With a simple motion it blocked both Araltus' kick and Weaver's webs with the head of its staff. Fortunately for Araltus, her tactic was more of a hit and run, but Weaver's web got caught on the Spider-Monkey's staff allowing him to pull him and swing him around like a lasso before swinging down with enough force to break the webs off and send Weaver hurtling towards the ground.

---

---

Caty Davis, the Spider-Woman, Arriving on the Scene

"Gotcha!" Caty barely made it in time to prevent one of the other Spider-themed heroes from becoming street decoration, catching him in one arm while she swung with the other. She took in the scene completely while in the air. Buses were apparently thrown and webbed up and this was the biggest Spider-team up in recorded history. It honestly made a surprising amount of sense that the one thing that'd bring them together is a giant Spider-themed villain that she wasn't sure they'd all be able to take on alone. If this didn't feel like a personal attack on her life and sanity she would've found this exciting.

Caty dropped down next to the bus and the other Spider-Person she didn't know about. This one had a fairly interesting look and theme to their costume, but this wasn't the time to compare costume notes. She placed the Weaver down and looked back up to the building the Spider-Monkey was looking down from. She scanned the area watching as civilians filed out of the area. They were still plenty left. They needed to get to a more open area, but how exactly were they going to lead this thing away from here? It wasn't like it was targeting them specifically. Then an idea came to her. If it didn't make him angry and follow them it'd at least help get the weapon out of the already overpowered monster's hands.

"I wish I could've met you both under better circumstances, but we can focus on pleasantries after we take Kong's ugly cousin down. I think I have a plan, but first we need to get that staff away from it."

---

Meanwhile Somewhere Else Otto Was Putting His Own Plan Into Action

The Arachnid was on his way to the scene, in fact he was pretty much already there. He was just focused on other things at the moment. He decided to redirect all of his Spider-Bots. Most were being used as a way to guide civilians out of the way and into safe areas, but the rest were in the Bronx Zoo looking for the Gorilla Tranquilizers. He didn't care how many they had. He had a feeling they were going to need all of them, if not more for this giant amalgated beast.

He knew the others would be able to hold their own while he waited for his reinforcements and guided others to safety. He wouldn't let anyone innocent die on his watch and he didn't even have the intention of killing this creature. It was clear that someone sent it here and he was going to find out who and if this simian arachnid was intelligent once it awoke from the nap he was about to force it to take.

[Duthguy]

Bob Brown/Weaver

While Weaver felt proud of his idea to try and and temporarily blind the monkey, that didn't last long. The pink-suited Spider criticized him by bringing up some good points about it accidentally causing the monster to hurt civilians, not that Weaver even got a chance to respond as the Spider-monkey incepted his webbing with its staff and sent him flying. Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!

Luckily though another Spider managed to grab him and help him safely but that also meant that she definitely just heard him scream kike Goofy. Thanks, just don't tell Disney about that. No way that I can afford a lawsuit.

After taking a second to calm down Weaver noticed that yet another Spider had taken it upon themselves to guide the civilians to safety which left him confused on what to do next. He briefly considered using his webbing so both secure himself to a building and to try and wrestle Spider-monkey's staff away but immediately rejected that idea. "You got any suggestions on how I can help?"

[GubGar]

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros.

Still Times Square, wondering if this is a bad dream, with @Duthguy and @King Kindred

---

Oliver's bit of banter was returned his way with the addition of a chunk of emotional vulnerability he had not anticipated from a total stranger, followed by the spider who delivered it hurrying away. Oliver shrugs, figuring vigilantes had to take catharsis where they could get it, even if it was from talking to strangers.

He returns to helping move people, zipping around the area, helping people escape the immediate danger zone, while retrieving abandoned belongings and reuniting them with the fleeing people who dropped them. The Spider from the Narrows looked at home with this part of the job. Before things escalated to a supervillain-y level, he was good about solving small problems. Helping people get out of a dangerous area, returning missing belongings, that sort of thing.

What he was not used to, was having to assist falling spider-people getting flung around by a gigantic spider-monkey, so he was glad another spider was on that before he could move to help, it was probably better for everyone involved. The two other spiders land, with the Spider-Woman (recognized from newspaper articles) speaking to him and the other spider she had rescued. He tilts his head to one side while taking in her words. Teamwork with two strangers, huh? Well, probably better than the three of them trying to go in uncoordinated.

"You've got a plan? That's a relief. I was just gonna send up a prayer and hope what I remembered from high school improv would do the trick."

Mid-conversation, Oliver thwips out a cord of webbing, snatching an abandoned purse before tossing it gently over to the woman he saw had left it behind in the panic.

"I've done just about all I can down here, so I'll run interference while you two go after the weapon. Then we can go with whatever your plan is. I'm pretty good at the whole hit and run thing, although my experience is with people pretty human-sized, instead of full on kaiju. But, y'know, same basic concept.. Probably."

Oliver fires two cords of webbing, one from each of his wrists, latching onto a building to his left, and one to his right. He backs away from the other two spiders, backing up while his webs go taut, and then begin to strain from the pull.. Then he releases, shooting right up into the air, and fast too. See, Oliver wasn't any faster than your standard Spider when it came to his normal speed, but his costume was made to cut through the water, it was designed around minimal resistance. Which meant much less drag from the air when moving at high speeds, and thus more speed.

Building off of his momentum, he quickly fires another line of webbing while in flight, latching onto a building and letting the momentum carry him into a swing, and that swing into another, as he starts to circle the Spider-Monkey, making sure to keep moving and keep his distance. Once he fell into a rhythm, he starts to one-arm swing, using his dominant arm to continue to follow the rhythm, and firing quick bursts of webbing from his other arm at the giant monster. He'd seen what happened when you kept your webbing connected, so he ensures none of the webs remained connected after being fired.

Against something closer to his size, he'd probably be able to restrain them with this strategy. Against something this large? Well, it'd be bothersome for sure. Maybe sting a bit with the force.. But probably not much else.

[Polaris North]

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

---

^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square}

So maybe attacking in head-on wasn't the brightest idea as catching it by surprise seemed more difficult than she had first thought. Even with the support of another spider-folk who had shot webs to its eyes, the spider-monkey had moved to intercept both attacks with just his staff. Thankfully, Sam managed to swing away directly after that to avoid any undesired punishments from their monster of an enemy.

Thankfully, a familiar figure had arrived on the scene and Sam quickly swung after them and landed closeby. Her fingers twitched to reach for the cigarette pack in her pocket but maybe that wouldn't be the most appropriate response while something was still actively terrorizing them.

"What a crew. Making me wish I just stayed back at the bar to continue drinking." Sam dryly joked as she gave a nod of acknowledgment to Spider-Woman. It really was quite a group. At most, she had only teamed up with one or two and never at the same time. Overkill, or something like that. Wouldn't want to traumatize the terrible citizens of New York with a shitton of spiders raining upon them, right?

Okay, getting off-track. "So, you want us to get that big 'ol staff away from the big 'ol spider-monkey? Easy. For sure." Despite how sarcastic the statement might appear as, there was no doubt that anyone who knew her would know she was likely grinning from ear to ear. Nothing like presenting a fresh challenge for someone whose entire life was marred with countless bounties. "Oh, by the way, I'm like... ninety-nine percent sure that fucker's like us with the whole tingly sense thing so, yeah. Should be fun."

Sam watched as the more colored spider-folk entered the fray first. "What I'd do for a rocket launcher right now..." She muttered to herself before taking a step back and giving the group a theatrical bow before turning around and running forward before sending out a web to a building to carry her up. So, sure, she didn't have much of a plan on how to remove a weapon. Disarming humans were easy— just loosen their grip and grab the offending item. Then, preferably, smack the other. However, that was the procedure for humans; not kaiju-level beasts.

But maybe it had the same concept, no?

Sam was extremely sure that even the illegal amounts of volts packed into a shock baton wouldn't phase the spider-monkey specifically but hey, it was worth a try. She reached backward to grab her shock batons as she flew through the air. She charged up the baton and, well, hit-and-run tactics worked, right? However much it could. High risk, high reward, or whatever it was.

While their aquatic-looking spider-friend kept shooting webs at the spider-monkey to distract him from above, Sam decided to come from under. At the very least, it might serve to allow other spider-folk to come from other directions. Once she was close enough, Sam would jab the activated shock baton onto the spider=monkey's hand before leaving the premises before swinging around to do it again.

[Crimson Flame]

Danny facepalmed and sighed. The moment Danny got done talking to the guy he fell. Caty saved his life just in the nick of time, but now this guy probably thought he was a jinx or something.

Anyway, Danny went to join his sister, and the various other spider people that had shown up to the scene. It was decided that we needed to get the staff away from it. Which… fair. The creature already had a size advantage, did it really need a weapon too?

The other spiders went at it from all different angles. Danny hit it head. “Hey, Spider-Monkey! That bus you took earlier, yeah that wasn’t a banana. I’mma need you to back off, k?” He spun a pink web, and used his ability to control webbing to shape it into a pink fist to punch it in the face. “I’m sure we can find a better place for you.”

[King Kindred]

Caty Davis, the Spider-Woman, Is Playing Tug of War

The others sprung into action as if they were an in-sync well oiled machine. Caty trusted Danny and Sam to work well together, but this new guy really impressed her. He doubted himself, but his skill and suit were once again impressive. After this was all over she'd definitely want to work with him again, but maybe it wasn't the best idea thinking of future team-ups in the middle of the one they were in right now. They had to survive that first and there was no guarantee that taking away the staff was really going to make taking him down any easier. But again, not the time to be pessimistic. Optimism typically won out the day against her bigger threats. And this guy? A really big threat.

Caty turned to Weaver to answer his question. "I need you with me. We're going to do what you did earlier, except this time we're going to intentionally hit his staff. Remember the game, Tug of War?" She was sure that he did and pointed her arm out to pull herself towards the Spider-Monkey. She landed on the ground within range for her webs, but not close enough to where he could fall or step on her if this all went wrong. Caty was nervous, to be honest she was kind of scared. She trusted herself and the others, but this was feeling too easy. Like something was about to go really wrong. Her chest started to feel heavy, her head was ringing like her spider-senses were going into overdrive. She couldn't breathe. Why couldn't she breathe? She was about to rip off her mask when she noticed something on her hand.

It was Jumper, her Metallic Blue Jumping Spider. Out of all the spiders she ever came in contact with, this one has never left her alone. It's been with her since she got her powers. Jumper stared into the eyes of her mask and in turn she stared back into his coming back to reality. She was okay. Nothing was wrong. Everyone was okay, but they might not be if she didn't get started. "Thanks, Jumper. I got this, buddy." Jumper climbed up the sleeve of her hoodie. Caty then planted her feet in the ground, aimed at the giant staff, and fired webs from both of her wrists beginning the biggest game of Tug of War in her life. Fortunately for her, Weaver joined her. She hoped they'd be enough.

---

---

GM POST

The Spider-Monkey was getting spider-piled. First, he was hit by a barrage of web bullets from Argyros, which both stung and annoyed him. He couldn't block or avoid every one, but he did manage to block some hits to vital areas with his staff. While he was dealing with that he felt a shock to his hand that caused him to loosen his grip on the staff, but he recovered it immediately while clenching his fist with anger. He didn't have time to think about that when a giant webbed fist came hurling towards his face. The Spider-Monkey planned to block it with his staff, but felt something, or rather someone latch onto and tug at it. He glanced down to look and see two costumed Spider-People pulling at his staff. He recognized them both from the attempt to blind him earlier. This momentary distraction however was enough to get his face punched in causing him to stumble down the building a little.

This loosened his grip once more leaving a glimpse of hope for the heroes, but in a refueled fury the Spider-Monkey gripped his staff again and roared out loud shattering the glass of the building he was latched to. To stop himself from being skewered the Spider-Monkey jumped down causing Spider-Woman and Weaver to fall from the force. Their webs were still attached however and Spider-Woman immediately stood up, guaranteed not to give up here. She planned to use his elevation and momentum to their advantage, but this could still work. It had to work. Weaver got up next to her and the game of War truly began.

The Spider-Monkey pulled against them and seemed to be winning with his overwhelming strength. When all hope seemed to be lost The Arachnid landed on the other side of Spider-Woman. "Don't worry. I'm here and I have back-up."

The Arachnid turned towards the Spider-Monkey and planted one of his mechanical arms into the ground as support while aiming the remaining three at the Spider-Monkey's staff alongside his own two hands. "Whoever created you should've given you more arms." He released his own webs and his mechanical arms opened up in the center releasing mechanical webs, all attaching to the staff and began pulling hard. It took a minute of tugging, but it seemed like Araltus' baton did more damage than they thought, because the Spider-Monkey in a moment of numbing pain released one hand from his staff allowing the trio to pull the staff away.

"Spider-Man, scoop and launch the staff at the closest building! Araltus, web it! Awesome Suit-Man, more pot shots! We're taking him down!"

---

@Crimson Flame@Polaris North@GubGar@Duthguy

[GubGar]

Oliver Raulot, AKA, Argyros.. AKA, Awesome Suit-Man, apparently.

Still in Times Square, starting to realize he had it pretty good when his idea of a big baddie was only seven feet.

---

Maybe it was immature to have power envy.. And it was definitely a bad way to sort one's priorities to experience it mid-fight, but Oliver couldn't help it. Seriously.. one of the other spiders could make giant web fists!? He even had color-coded webbing too. Ugh, Oliver knew that was awesome, and he hated it. It was a good thing Oliver had experience compartmentalizing pity parties, because it allowed him to internally gripe without accidentally swinging right into a building.

The raining shards of glass from the Spider-Monkey's roar had been exactly what Oliver was worried about at the start of the fight, terrified of civilians getting sliced. It was an immense relief that they had cleared them out before pissing off King Kong's even more mutated cousin. He moves to dive down and assist Spider-Woman and Weaver, knowing for a fact that despite their strength, trying to play tug-of-war with that thing had to suck, only to halt his descent and cling to the side of a building as he witnesses the arrival of the Arachnid.

That was probably for the best, Oliver didn't have nearly as many arms to assist with. Still, it was kinda.. off. Almost every Spider-Person there was had shown up here, and none of the other heroes that called New York their home. Oliver really wanted to call his suspicion paranoia, but a spider-themed foe versus all spider-themed heroes just felt weird. Either way, not much he could do about that right now, but what he could do, was what Spider-Woman told him to. Granted it took a minute to realize the call to action was for him. In his defense, typically he was either called 'Sea Spider' (dead wrong) or 'The Spider-Man of the Narrows' (also not true, but at least more accurate), or very rarely, his actual alias of Argyros.

"Awesome suit, huh? Shucks, I'm blushing up here. And here I thought the cut of this spandex made me look scrawny!"

Leaping off the side of the building, Argyros flips through the air, firing another bombardment of web shots. This time taking particular care to aim an extra few shots at the area Araltus tagged the Spider-Monkey with her baton. He figured if his role was to keep its focus split, he'd try and aim where it'd sting the most. It was kind of nerve-wracking, drawing this much focus to himself from an enemy this huge. He was really hoping his tentative trust in these other spiders wasn't going to bite him in the ass.

"Pot shots coming up! I seem to be pretty solid at annoying the big guy and I'll try not to read into why for the sake of my recently bolstered ego."

[Polaris North]

S A M B L Y T H E | A R A L T U S

---

^{Out in the goddamn open, New York Times Square wondering if she can get away with stealing some whiskey after}

By some miracle, the plan was actually working. Or, working as well as it could work. After all, she could only think that the weird spider-monkey thing also had super strength but multiplied by a hundred compared to them. But working together and having a bunch of people doing other things to distract the beast was beneficial to their cause. Sam had half a mind to swing away and leave this to the others now that things were going right but she didn't doubt that Caty would nag her ear out for abandoning a mission halfway.

Scratch that, now that Otto had finally graced them with his presence, she would get nagged twice as hard by people who are younger than her. The thought was a little funny but she'd rather avoid that outcome for now.

With his additional help, the staff was successfully pulled away from the spider-monkey. It hurtled towards the ground at a surprising speed and Spider-Woman's voice resonated across the area as she barked off their orders. She chuckled as she swung to one of the buildings, temporarily leaving her post as the mosquito and waiting for Spider-Man to launch the staff. The window was shattered so she swiped her hand against the shattered glass and sat down. There was a surprisingly good view around this altitude; shame that it was so dangerous that no one could observe from here. Well, that was false. If her old teammates were still around, they would likely be perched just like this, watching in clear amusement as one of them breaks their back trying to secure a mission.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back. "It for sure means that you're a great match up for him, kid! Go knock 'em dead!" She then clapped her hands like some sort of adoring audience watching the destruction of New York City Spider-Monkey version. "Doing great guys! Tens across the board!"

Once Spider-Man made his move to bring the staff up, Sam would begrudgingly leave her perch and start to web up the staff against the building, making sure to apply as much as she could to ensure it wouldn't suddenly rip off mid-fight and fall onto the pavement below. Once it was done, she observed it for a moment and nodded to herself. "Not bad as a work of art."