The Rise of Omega

All this crimefighting was really getting in the way of his education. Thomas understood that protecting people was important, but so were the thousands of dollars he and his Uncle were pouring into a college education. He'd barely been keeping up and it was getting harder and harder. Granted, it was easier to keep Uncle Matt in the dark about his activities, with the exuse of studying for exams.

Still, it was hard work, burning the candle at both ends. He knew Scarlet was helping him, and he felt like he was improving, but she could be such a drill sergeant sometimes. He wasn't sure what she did for a living, or how she lived, but she sure did have an unwavering metal in the pursuit of justice. It was a bit of a pain if he was honest. Admirable, but still a pain.

Still, he had to forget about this. Next class was an important review before the exam. If he could just take some good notes and then cram with the time he had, he should have the exam in the bag.

Then his phone rang.

He looked at the screen. You gotta be kidding me, Red...

He sighed and answered. "Good morning, Red. How's the weather treating you? Is that getup weather resistant and insulated, or what?"

There was a long since that followed his words, a void in which Scarlet Web spent thinking over his statement. Damn. It was true. She probably spent more time in her costume than out. Did she even... have a life?

She cleared her throat on the other end of the line. "Yeah it fairs just fine, thank you for your concern...

"In any regard, this is an urgent matter. I uncovered a lead to Akahoshi last night and traced it to his secret laboratory. I'm sending you a map as we speak. I need you here immediately for backup."

Fairs just fine. Sure. That's a really nice way to say she's as cold as a witch's left tit I'm pretty sure that costume is just tight cloth or spandex.

She mentioned Akahoshi and a map. She had filled him in on the warrior in the past weeks. They still had no clue what he had been up to back then. Had Thomas known what a pain in the rear the guy could be, he wouldn't have played around with him like he did.

But did she really need him now? Couldn't it wait?

"Red, I don't think you understand. I've got class and this one is really important. I can't keep skipping out. Can't this wait for, like, an hour?"

"Certainly not. Time is of the essence here, Spider Monkey." Another week of having been called that. "There's no telling how much longer I'll be able to hold my position. Each second brings greater danger.

"I await your arrival. Don't keep me waiting for long." The phone switched off.

Leave it to her to make everything more dramatic than it probably was. The woman who lived to fight crime and apparently didn't do much of anything else. Should Tom follow her orders and make his way toward her, then he would have arrived upon the abandoned grounds of a factory of some kind. Scarlet Web was awaiting him on the other side of the fence.

"Time is of the essence..." Who talks like that? Geez, that girl watches too many Saturday morning cartoons if you ask me...

Tom looked at the lecture hall. It was right there. He could go in, take his notes, and Scarlet would probably be fine. She was a big girl, she could handle herself. Then again, if something were to happen he would never forgive himself. Gah! Why does she insist on being such a hero all the time?!

Tom growled as he turned away from the lecture hall and ran off to the nearest dark corner he could find. He changed quickly into his costume, with the addition of an old bomber's jacket. It was lined with thick wool and the outside was an old, cracked leather, still dark but having lost much of its luster over the years. It had been his Grandfather's, Matt had told him. His Grandpa had flown planes in WWII and this old memento had been collecting dust from one closet to the next. "I figure it's better in the hands of someone who'll actually use it. Take it, Tom. It's yours." That's what Uncle Matt had told him a week ago when it started getting chilly. Even after how aloof Tom had been acting, Matt still cared.

What a big sap....

It didn't take long for Tom to make it to the old factory. He spotted Scarlet from above. He landed a little way's off and jogged the rest of the way over to her. "Alright, Sarge. I'm here. What's up?"

"Good, you're here." There was no form of gratitude expressed. No thanks for leaving your personal life behind, no thanks for giving me a hand. Only business. Strict business. "I had my doubts as to whether or not you showed up. But good, you didn't take as long as the last time.

"That's enough about that. The task at hand remains Akahoshi. I've not had the means to confront him on my own, but by my estimates, he has gathered quite the collection within that factory. Equipment ranging from the medical variation to whole explosives. Just what is he planning I wonder?"

She turned to him. "Either way, it's best we take a look ourselves and prevent him from stocking up on anything more. There's no need to be stealthy here; we're going to break right in."

And with that, Scarlet Web was on the move. She entered the factory by breaking through a window, and let it be known that there was a party to be crashed. She strolled hallways by the second, making haste to find anything of significance. That was when her spider-senses tingled, and she came to a sudden stop in the middle of a long hallway.

"It's right here." She put the side of her face against the wall. "He's here. And he's alone. My spider senses are only picking up on one person. It's got to be him."

Without warning, a potent venom began to ooze out of her hands, tearing through the wall like it were a sheet of paper held up to a brilliant flame. The wall was plowed through effortlessly, leaving a gaping hole large enough for the both of them to walk through.

On the opposite end was a large laboratory setting, with white tiles for flooring and various pieces of machinery scattered about. Akahoshi himself was present just as she had anticipated, standing before a long glass tube, in which a dark humanoid figure lay dormant.

Akahoshi didn't seem too suprised by the arrival of the spider duo. His grin was ever prevalent. "So you've come at last, Scarlet Web. And you too, err.." His eyes moved over Tom. "..Spider Monkey.

"By my calculations, I anticipated you a bit sooner. Perhaps by a margin of a few days. But no matter! You have allowed me with more than ample enough time to finish my project."

"Oh, thanks, Thomas! I really appreciate you dropping everything and hurrying over. You and I make such a great team. I don't know what I would do without you." Only in my freaking dreams...

He was sure that she knew what she was doing, but just busting down the door, or window, in this case, didn't feel at all like the right play here. They didn't know anything about this place. Tom didn't know how many horror movies Scarlet had watched, but he'd seen plenty, and barging in was one of the surefire ways to wake up the angry monster and start a whole mess of problems. Regardless, he didn't really have a say in the matter, so he followed her through the broken window.

The place seemed deserted enough. A little dust, but nothing dangerous. Still, Scarlet seemed to sense something. He still wasn't sure how she did that. He theorized that maybe her "Spider-Sense" differently from his. Tom had only experienced the buzzing sensation when he was in some sort of danger, or if there was a major danger somewhere nearby. Red's, on the other hand, just seemed like some sort of juiced up radar or something. He wasn't sure if she had just figured out how to tune it better, or if their two abilities really did function on a separate set of rules.

The melting wall was a bit of a surprise. She had told him about the secretions and such, but he'd never seen them at work. He was fairly certain the "venom" was voluntary on her part, but he wondered if it made it difficult for people to be close to her. He wondered if she had any love life or something close to it. She never talked about family or a partner. Maybe she was alone. Maybe that's why she spent her time doing this.

Tom wasn't sure if that was sad or not...

Sure enough, Aka was behind the wall. Whatever he was cooking up, it made Frankenstein look like a high school biology teacher. Tom had just begun to ignore the Spider Monkey comments, personally. He'd recently thought up a pretty good idea for a name and was working on a costume update to fit. He just needed time.

While Aka monologued, Tom had time to notice the figure floating in the pod. A thought occurred to him.

"Uh... Red... Didn't you say he was the only guy in here...?"

What was going on? Scarlet Web's spider-sense, even with the hard evidence in front of her very own eyes, wasn't registering that other individual. No. No, no, no. It couldn't be.

A button was pressed. The tube was lifted. Akahoshi's grin only grew in size. "Behold my greatest creation of all! A product of your very own DNA, Miss Web! Have a look at your child!" As the tube was lifted onto the ceiling, a humanoid figure stood in its place, clad in a white attire that could have only been described as a combination of Akahoshi's own ninja uniform and the spider costume both Scarlet Web and Thomas attributed themselves to.

"Feast your eyes upon Omega! The greatest webslinger of them all!" A fourth webslinger? Scarlet Web didn't know how to feel about this. An uneasy feeling overtook her stomach.
Omega walked forward, silently observing his prey for a long while until speaking at long last. "Mother, we meet at last. Oh how long I have waited for this day." His eyes moved to Thomas. "And who might this be? I didn't know I had a little brother. How adorable."

White slots narrowed into a glare. "I'm not your mother."

"But of course you are, Miss Web!" Akahoshi intervened, showing his teeth as usual. "I have steadily collected your DNA through our vast number of fights over the last years and this is the result! A ninja of my capacity who has the benefits of your ability! He is the ultimate warrior! He has no equal!"

"We'll just see about that." Scarlet Web took to her patent fighting stance: the Scarlet Fighting Method. Only it hadn't occurred to her that it was meaningless before another spider. Omega made his first move. He shuffled his feet together and his entire being flickered out of comprehension.

Tom had seen that before. It was the flash step, a technique that allowed the user to move quicker than the eye could catch. And when Omega utilized it, there was no chance for the either of them to pick up on it with their spider-senses.

He lurked undetected, appearing before Scarlet Web far sooner than she could have ever hoped to react. Her eyes widened, but it was too late. She didn't have the opportunity to so much as blink before his knee connected with her face and sent her flying back.

Akahoshi roared with laughter. "How did you like that?! That was just a small taste of what he can do! Go on, Omega, show your mother what else you're capable of!"

The elder ninja's attention was diverted to Tom. Surely he knew better than to intervene?

Well, this whole thing just went from zero to freaky in no time flat.

Tom had to give the duo one thing at least: Both their tastes in costume were absolutely tacky. Scarlet Web? Simple. Elegant. A real classic in design. These two bozos were overproduced and overthought, like something out of an angsty teenager's doodlings on the margin's of his math books. Granted, Tom's costume ideas hadn't looked much better. Thus why he decided to copy Scarlet's look until he thought of something better.

Or never. That was an option.

Speaking of Scarlet, she was currently discovering what a cloned knee tastes like.

"Red!" Tom shouted.

He immediately pounced between her and the walking crime against fashion.

"Alright, buddy. I know you just stepped out of that pod, and frankly, it's a miracle that you're speaking complete sentences right out of pod-school, so maybe somebody's got to teach you some manners. First off, it's incredibly impolite to punch a lady. Er, knee a lady, in this case. Still, bad-clone. Second, you guys really need to work on your names, because Omega is way far off. You're like only number four, so I'm gonna call you Delta, m'kay?

"And third, my aunt taught me that if I ever see a guy mistreating a lady, that any good guy should step in. So this is me cutting in, Chuckles. Let's mombo like it's number 5!"

Tom leaped at Omega, not entirely sure what he was doing, but also doing the only thing he knew how to do.

"Red, run!" He shouted behind him as he tried to tackle the big, white and red disaster. They obviously wanted her, not him. He just had to stall them for long enough, then she could get away. She'd think of something. He hoped.

Sitting with her back against the wall and a large crater resting above her from being thrown against it earlier, Scarlet Web was slow to recover. She felt... dazed. Never had a single attack had so much of an impact on her before. Her vision was blurry and as her eyes came back into focus, they did so upon the sight of Tom confronting Omega.

"You're mistaken, boy," Akahoshi intervened yet again. "While it's true that I scripted Omega's very being from the DNA of Scarlet Web, this does not at all mean that this is his first day in existence. Nay, Omega was my very own flesh and blood; my very own child! No more than 17 years in age, I have upturned him and genetically modified him into nothing short of a weapon."

Someway, somehow, Akahoshi had transformed his teenaged son into nothing short of a man. "Omega is not classified in years; his combat prowess alone far eclipses your age! His powers are that of Scarlet Web's at her very peak; that which even she has yet to acquire for herself, Omega has already long since obtained!"

Enabling his father to speak for him, Omega remained silent. His eyes watched Tom cautiously. However arrogant Akahoshi might've been, Omega wasn't one to underestimate his opponent. Not even when it was clear that he was vastly superior. He made to move, unleash an attack upon this so-called monkey of a spider. To make short work of him and dispose of him in a single move alone, much like he had with Scarlet Web.

But his kick was intercepted by his father's hand, much to his surprise. "Nay, my son. Your greatness should not be wasted on filth like him. I will deal with him. See to it that you vanquish her from the trace of this earth."
Omega nodded obediently. "Yes, father." Crossing his arms and bowing his head, the ninja spider began to walk toward the recovering Scarlet Web, as Akahoshi stood to confront Tom himself.

"Just try to intervene. I dare you. Turn your back on me just once and I'll cut you down in an instant!" He unsheathed a three pronged blade from his back pouch and faced Tom.

Wow, what a killjoy. Still, this isn't good. Come on Tom, think!

"Wow, Aka. I've heard of living vicariously through your kid, but this is just ridiculous. You gotta let him be his own man. How's he ever going to stake his own place in the world, make his own spider-themed enemies with you breathing down his neck all the time? You gotta give the kid a little space. "

Tom, not wanting to put Aka's statement to the test, slowly started backing up, trying to keep between Scarlet and Omega while also keeping his eyes on Aka. If he could just keep them distracted long enough for her to get up.

"And, you don't have to just take that from me. I have it on very good authority. I watch a lot of Dr. Phil. And I mean, if you can't trust a walking mustache, then who can you trust, am I right?"

Wait wait! If he's got Red's DNA and all of her strengths, then I wonder if that means...

"But hey, if you want to hide your whopping insecurities behind a 17 year-old, then who am I to judge? I'm ready for Round Two, Sauske. But I gotta warn you, I've been getting an awful lot of practice in! Allow me to demonstrate!"

Tom leaped towards Aka, but at the last moment, swiveled in the air and launched two webs at Omega's feet, hoping to catch him and trip him up. Anything to give Scarlet a precious few seconds. Dagger in the back or not.

Akahoshi's face tensed up. "Didn't I say you'd be fighting me?!" He leapt forward with the use of his flashstep and caught the webs with a single hand, tugging at them hard to pull Tom forward and send a fist hurling to his face.
Meanwhile, Scarlet Web slowly rose to her feet and readied herself for another go at Omega. This time would be different. This time she wouldn't let her guard down.

That was what she thought when she dove forward and unleashed a sweeping kick toward Omega's feet. But the darn ninja jumped at the right time and hammered two more kicks to her shoulders, this time causing her to fall through the wall.

Twirling backward, Scarlet Web had no other choice but to quickly stand back up. But as she got up on her knees, Omega's arm outstretched from his position on the other side of the broken wall and laced itself around her neck.
She couldn't breathe. Her hands moved to grab his arm, desperately trying to pry herself free from his grasp. He lifted her up and off the ground, her feet dangling in the air. Back and forth. Back and forth.

It looked to be over for her, when suddenly webbing was fired from the inside of her ankles in the form of a continuous machine gun fire. Shooting against his extended limb, if forces the ninja to retract his arm; in doing so he dropped her back to the ground.

But she wasn't safe yet. For just as she fell to the ground, Omega vanished into thin air and appeared behind her. She was able to at least then around and see herself be punched this time, but it made little difference. She was sent flying back through the wall, where she landed on her back, only a ways beside Tom's feet.

Many parts of her costume had been torn. A puddle of blood formed beneath her beaten body. But this was only the beginning. Omega appeared slowly through the hole in the wall, taking his sweet time to reach her.

"Do you see now why there is no fighter superior to him, boy? Omega is unlike the rest of your kind. He is the epitome of the ninja and yet the most formidal of your own kin.

"While you may be able to negate his spider-sense to a certain extent, his just so happen to be so polished that he can see brief flashes into the future! Every move you may so much as think to make... he'll already have seen. Your chances of winning are even less than zero!"

Omega was getting closer by the second. Scarlet Web reached out and touched Tom's foot with her hand, trying to establish some sort of connection with him. Trying to send some sort of message to him through her spider-sense to his own.

In the near vicinity, a large machine was present. A machine that Akahoshi had been working on for years in order to devastate the government of the United States.

Scarlet Web had attempted to stop him numerous times in the past, but to no avail. If Tom could bring himself to somehow disrupt the mechanisms within, it could potentially cause the rest of the laboratory to erupt in flame.

No matter what he said, Aka certainly did not pull his punches. As Tom landed on his back, his head was ringing. It felt like he'd just been hit by a very angry, very Japanese freight train. Which, in retrospect, probably meant it was one of those super high-tech bullet trains, which he imagined probably hurt a lot more than just your average freight locomotive.

As the world spun, he felt and then saw Scarlet fall to the ground next to him. Things were definitely not shaping up well. If it kept going like this, the two of them would be crumpled heaps at the bottom of the Hudson in no time. Scarlet grabbed his ankle and he knew that she was hurting. They had to get out of here, but Tom couldn't think of what to do. They couldn't run, and they couldn't fight. That ruled out the two options generally available.

A Machine. In Smoke. An Explosion.

Huh?

It was like a jolt of electricity had just been zapped right into Tom's skull. His headache was gone and he was able to at least focus his eyes again. He looked around and saw the big machine. What even was that? It looked like something out of a bad Frankenstein movie. Still, the unexpected vision had made a fairly good point. That thing going kablooey would make for a pretty good distraction. But how to do it?

He looked back. Omega was sauntering ever closer.

The direct route is probably the best then, Tom.

"I'll be right back, Red," he whispered.

The spider zipped out a web and tugged as hard as he could. He launched off the floor and was sent speeding towards the device. He corrected mid-flight and as he connected with the machine, his heels crumpled the metal beneath them. His teeth rattled and his headache immediately resurfaced, but it was a start.

"You know, Aka," still latched onto the machine, he began pounding it as hard as he could. "With a power like that, you guys are really misusing your resources." His knuckles were starting to sting and his gloves were being torn to shreds as the metal bent and twisted. "What you two should really think about is the lottery." An alarm began to beep somewhere on the machine and Tom felt the machine start to heat up. He figured that was his cue. Above him, he noticed a skylight. Perfect.

He leaped off the contraption and zipped out another webline. He would have to scoop Scarlet and have enough momentum to launch up and through the skylight all in one motion. No second tries at his. As he hurtled towards Scarlet he shouted, "I've heard the results can be pretty explosive!"

Akahoshi's eyes lit up at the sight of the treacherous Spider Monkey touching his beloved creation. "You! Get away from there!" he hollered immediately in protest. "No! Just what are you planning to do?!"

He made to act. But it was too late. Tom swooped in and out, taking Scarlet Web along with him as the insides of the laboratory were reshaped into the insides of a volcano. A horrific eruption ensued. Torrents of fire consumed the factory as a whole, and as the two spiders made away into the darkness of the light, the only thing left behind them was a large smog of ash in the shape of a mushroom.

Within Tom's arms, Scarlet Web struggled to remain conscious. She had been outmatched by Omega in every aspect. She couldn't even remember landing a single hit against him. But that was all in the past. It was all over now. Thanks to some fast thinking by Tom, victory was their's.