Marvel : Web Of Evolution

The battle had been raging for what felt like an eternity. There was smoke and debris everywhere. The heroes were exhausted, but the enemies just kept coming: hulking super soldiers, enhanced with cybernetics, glowing energy cores, and genetic modifications straight out of Mr. Sinister's worst experiments.

It was bad. Like, end-of-Empire-Strikes-Back bad.

***

Deadpool stood a few feet away from the Cyclops clone, who adjusted his visor like he was about to drop the most serious 'Masenko'¹ ever.

"You can't dodge my optic blasts forever, Deadpool," the clone said, voice deep and menacing.

Deadpool tilted his head. "Dodge? Bro, I live for this." He took out a hand mirror from nowhere. "Let's see if you can handle a taste of your own medicine, Scott Evil!"

The clone fired a massive red beam. Deadpool casually angled the mirror, sending the beam straight back into the clone's face².

The clone staggered, visor smoking. "That's not how physics works!"

Deadpool twirled the mirror. "Buddy, we're in a fan-fic! Physics left the chat years ago!"

The clone growled and fired again. Deadpool pulled out another mirror. Then another. Then another. The optic blast ricocheted between them like a chaotic game of laser ping-pong.

PEW-PEW-PEW

Finally, the beam hit the clone in the chest, sending him flying into a wall.

Deadpool leaned over him. "So… you wanna talk about my car's extended warranty, or are we done?"

The clone groaned. "I hate you."

Deadpool wiped a fake tear. "Aww, that means so much."

***

Meanwhile, Misty and White Tiger were having a hard time facing the Wolverine clone with adamantium skeleton.

"You sure we should keep fighting this guy head-on?" White Tiger whispered.

Misty scoffed. "It's two versus one. We got this."

The Wolverine clone lunged. In exactly 0.2 seconds, Misty was flying through furniture, and White Tiger was pinned under one very angry mutant.

"Okay, I admit it," Misty groaned, picking herself out of the broken furniture. "We do not got this."

The clone raised a clawed fist, then Deadpool's body crashed into him from above.

Deadpool stood up, dusting himself off. "Tagging in, ladies! Also, I totally meant to do that."

The Cyclops clone stomped after him, visor sparking.

White Tiger groaned. "Oh, great. Now they teamed up!"

Misty cracked her knuckles. "Guess that means we gotta work together too."

White Tiger smirked. "Wanna go high or low?"

Misty grinned. "Low. I hate heights."

Deadpool gasped. "What? You're telling me you don't wanna jump off buildings dramatically like Batman?!"

Misty sighed. "Just punch the clones, Wade."

"Fiiiine," Deadpool whined, leaping into battle.

And just like that, the most chaotic tag team in history was formed.

***

Daredevil flipped backward as a metal fist slammed into the floor, making cracks like spiderwebs. The corrupted Colossus clone loomed over him, eyes glowing like a red hot furnace.

"This guy is a force of nature." Daredevil muttered, dodging another fist coming for his head.

The clone, unimpressed with art history surrounding them, grabbed a painting and hurled it at him like a frisbee.

Daredevil ducked. I need to either regroup or retreat.

The clone charged again, lifting an entire marble statue of Wilson Fisk.

Oh, come on.

Daredevil barely rolled out of the way before the statue obliterated the ground where he stood. He was fast, but this was getting ridiculous. Colossus lifted his steel arm, intending to turn him into a human pancake.

BOOM!

A giant, yellow, stony fist crashed into Colossus's face, sending the metal giant stumbling backward.

From the new hole in the wall, The Thing stepped through, cracking his knuckles.

"Yo, DD! Mind if I take this one?" he rumbled.

Daredevil exhaled. "Be my guest."

The Thing smirked, rolling his shoulders. "Hey, Tin Can, let's see what happens when real rock meets metal."

Colossus clone roared and charged. The Thing introduced him to his other fist.

"It's Cloberrin' Time!"

***

Peter ducked under a barrage of glowing playing cards as the Gambit clone flicked them at him like a demonic Vegas dealer.

"How about a game, mon ami?" the clone sneered. "I betcha two hands you ain't walking outta here."

Spider-Man webbed two of the cards mid-air and slingshotted them back. The clone dodged, rolling smoothly to the side.

Felicia somersaulted past Peter, claws flashing. "Mind if I cut in?"

The clone spun his staff, charging it with kinetic energy. "Oh, chérie, I love a lady who plays rough."

Luke Cage stepped forward, cracking his neck. "Yeah? Well, you ain't gonna love this."

The clone tried to swing, but Luke grabbed the staff mid-air and snapped it in half like a breadstick.

The Gambit clone blinked. "That ain't fair."

"Neither is cheating at poker," Luke said, before launching a right hook straight into his face. The clone crashed into a wall, slumped over, and didn't get up.

Peter dusted off his hands. "Alright, now that Gambit's all outta luck, let's get back to.."

BOOM!

A new pair of figures strode into the room.

Madelyne Pryor. A twisted Jean Grey clone with raw, unchecked psychic power.

And an Iceman clone, his body pulsing with an eerie, unnatural cold. The temperature in the room dropped instantly.

Felicia groaned. "Oh, great. More clones."

Peter sighed. "Man, I hate clones. This is turning into the Star Wars prequels all over again."

Luke grunted. "You mean Attack of the Clones?"

Peter shuddered. "Worse. The Clone Wars. The bad episodes."

Before the two clones could attack FOOOOM!

A massive wall of flame shot through the air, blocking their path.

"Sorry we're late, but you know traffic in New York," Johnny Storm quipped as he hovered above them.

Sue Storm stepped forward, shields floating around her. "Are you guys alright?"

Peter gave a thumbs-up. "Just a little clone trauma. You?"

"I'm good," she said, eyes narrowing at Madelyne Pryor. "Seems like this clone trauma is rather serious."

Johnny grinned. "By the way, Spidey, after this whole warzone thing, we all go grab some pizza. How about it?"

Peter dodged an ice spike. "Let's not die first, and then yeah, sure."

***

Sue Storm held up her shields as Madelyne's corrupted psychic energy slammed against them.

Johnny Storm and the Iceman clone clashed. Songs of ice and fire, crashing against each other in an elemental showdown, were heard through out the floor.

Meanwhile, across the battlefield, Reed Richards had made his intro. And somehow gotten into a full WWE wrestling match with the evil Nightcrawler clone.

"You are absurdly stretchy," the clone grunted as he BAMF!-ed away.

Reed extended his limbs like a rubber band, motioning Hawkeye and Black Widow to leave. "'Fascinatingly' is the word. It's not about being stretchy, it's about the underlying molecular structure that helps me rearrange my body at will."

Hawkeye and Black Widow sprinted past them.

"Just that science class could kill these evil clones." Clint muttered.

Natasha nodded. "Agreed."

***

Meanwhile, Peter webbed up another soldier, then nudged Luke. "C'mon, we need to end this. Fisk is at the top."

Luke smirked. "Then let's break the ceiling."

****

Peter and Luke burst through the penthouse doors. Peter flipped in, landing gracefully, while Luke just punched his way through the entrance like a wrecking ball with attitude.

And there he was. Wilson Fisk. Except… this wasn't regular Fisk.

This was Mecha-Fisk.

Towering armor. Advanced weaponry. Demonic poetry scribbled on it. A face so punchable it belonged in a museum. End result? Peter's Spider-Sense screamed at him.

Something bad was coming. "Luke, wait!"

Too late. Luke had already charged and Fisk swung, sending Luke flying through the floor.

Three floors down.

Peter blinked. "Well. That happened."

Fisk rolled his massive shoulders, the hydraulics in his suit hissing like an angry pressure cooker. "You are nothing but a child playing hero, Insect. You have no idea what real power is."

Peter sighed, cracking his knuckles. "Okay, first of all, that's literally what every villain says before they get decked. Second.."

Spider-Sense!!!

He flipped sideways behind a pillar, just as a high-intensity sonic blast ripped through the air. That's new!

Fisk didn't remain waiting, he caught up with the Spider-Man, surprisingly agile for the huge armor. He sent another sonic shockwave at Peter, that shattered windows, tore up furniture, and sent Peter into a mid-air spin. His rapid adaptibility after a long period of rest, kicked in. While his UMF suit tried to compensate the shock recieved, CELESTE glitched for a moment. Creating minor distortions in his suit.

BOOM!

But another shock came, causing Peter's balance to go haywire. The Kingpin moved fast, pulling out something from his suit.

Oh crap!

Something jabbed into his arm, through the small distortions in the suit.

A sharp, unnatural pain burned through his bloodstream. His rapid adaptability went into overdrive, like a system overload. His muscles seized, his vision blurred, and suddenly everything hurt.

Peter hit the ground hard. His limbs felt sluggish. His Spider-Sense was going crazy.

A new shadow arrived. The noise of footsteps grew closer and closer.

And then a voice. "Ah, finally. The infamous Spider-Man."

Peter's head snapped up. A man stepped forward, emerging from the shadows. The dim light caught the edges of his face: red, raw, unnatural and terrifyingly grotesque. His expression was one of amusement, yet his eyes told something different.

He wasn't Johann Schmidt.

No, this Red Skull was something else entirely. Younger. Sharper. Twisted. And he was smiling.

Peter's stomach dropped. Oh, this is gonna suck.

The Red Skull gave a mock bow. "Surprised, Spider-Man?"

Peter didn't answer. His brain was too busy running a hundred calculations a second: escape routes, weak points, weapons. Except he couldn't move properly, his hand-eye coordination was lost. His body moved a lot slower and differently than he wanted to.

Red Skull took a slow step forward, savoring the moment. "I should thank you, really. You sped up my plans. A minor setback, but now I get to introduce myself properly."

His smirk widened. "No, I am not Johann Schmidt. That rotting relic is dead and buried, as he should be." He touched his own face, almost reverently. "I am more related to Captain Steve Rogers. And this? This is my own design. My own identity. I was never going to be his shadow."

His voice hardened. "I am his son³."

Peter's eyes widened. Wait. Captain America's?

Red Skull's chuckle was hollow. "Oh yes. Rogers' perfect little legacy. And yet, no one remembers me. They never knew me. I had to carve my own name into history. Quite literally, in fact."

He dragged a gloved hand down his scarred, crimson face.

"Do you know how long it takes to remove your own face? Hours. Days, even. The pain was… exquisite." He exhaled, almost as if reminiscing. "But in the end, I became something more. Something unforgettable."

Peter stared. "Y'know, most people just dye their hair when they want a fresh start, but hey, you do you."

Red Skull ignored him. "This city, your city, has been mine for years. I was its unseen ruler. I let the crime lords fight over the scraps I threw, while I prepared for something far greater. I orchestrated it all.. until you happened."

He sneered. "Every plan I laid out, every careful move I made, undone by some masked child playing hero. You weren't even a threat. I never cared about your identity. You were just a minor inconvenience. But now?"

His expression darkened.

"You're an infestation that needs to be burned out."

Peter tensed, muscles coiling on instinct.

Red Skull laughed. "Ah, that confidence. That illusion of invincibility. You must be struggling right now, aren't you? Feeling powerless?"

Peter didn't answer. The bastard was enjoying this way too much.

"How did you like my little gift?" Red Skull gestured toward Peter's sluggish movements. "It's called the Meta-Adaptive Serum. It traps your precious adaptability in an infinite loop. Making it ineffective. You must be wondering how I got my hands on your precious secret. How I obtained the serum to counter it."

Peter clenched his jaw.

Red Skull smirked. "The answer is simple: Mephisto. The price was… significant. My most valuable henchman."

He glanced at Fisk.

"But looking at you now?" His eyes gleamed. "I'd say it was worth it."

Then he grinned.

"You see, Spider-Man, I have wielded far greater power than your little adaptability." His voice turned sharp, almost reverent. "I once held the Tesseract in my hands. I touched the infinite. And now? Now, I will rebuild that power, starting with you."

Peter was so done listening to this guy. Unfortunately, Red Skull wasn't done talking.

"I will break you. I will unmake everything you stand for. And when the world forgets you, when they erase your name from history, I will be the only thing that remains."

He leaned closer. "In other words…"

He grinned. "Your life ends now."

Peter gritted his teeth. His body was fighting itself. He had all the acquired abilities, yet couldn't move. For all he felt was... just pain.

Red Skull revved up a chainsaw.

Oh, come on.

"Do you understand how insignificant you are?" he taunted, stepping forward. "I don't even know who you are. But it's more fun this way."

He raised the chainsaw. "Rest in pieces, Spider-Man!"

BANG!

The chainsaw flew out of Red Skull's hands.

A figure somersaulted through the broken door, landing in the room with a dramatic pose.

"SPIDEY! Your Romeo is here, baby!!"

Deadpool spun his pistols before holstering them, grinning. "Need a hand?"

He pulled out two severed Wolverine hands.

"The Logan clone was kind enough to lend me some helping hands!" He wiggled the fingers. "Get it? Helping hands?!"

Peter, still in pain, groaned. "Wade, shut up."

Deadpool gasped. "You wound me, Spidey! But don't worry, I have an entire monologue ready!"

Peter barely rolled as Fisk punched a support beam, bringing part of the ceiling down.

Deadpool flipped over the debris, wielding the Wolverine hands. "Alright, I call dibs on Fat Pressure Cooker over there. You take Skeletor."

He pressed on the severed hands.

SNIKT!

Wolverine's claws popped out. Deadpool dual-wielded them like a maniac.⁴

"Prepare for trouble~~."

Peter, still struggling to stand, forced himself up.

["Back online, Sir. Your rapid adaptability is trapped in a feedback loop. However, your acquired healing abilities will cleanse the serum in 5 minutes. Do not die in the meantime."]

Peter groaned. "5 minutes?!"

["Yes, sir. Or, as humans say, git gud."]

He exhaled, rolling his shoulders.

Fine. I can work with this.

"Alright, Hitlermort. Let's make this interesting."

Deadpool laughed. "And make it double~~"

========

¹- Masenko: Gohan's signature attack move.

²- Scott's Kinetic Beams: the beams are of kinetic energy, but can bounce off reflective surfaces and has been used multiple times, before in comics. Scott usually does this with the help of his secondary mutation.

³- Ultimate Marvel Universe Storyline: In Captain America got his girlfriend Gail Richards pregnant and Gail was heavily influenced by the government to keep the illegitimate birth a secret. Steve was already missing in action and considered dead, and so she put the child up for adoption. Contrary to their word, the government raised the child in a secret facility, hoping to mold him into the next Captain America. The child surpassed the Captian in every way and developed an inferiority complex. Dedicated in 'carving' out his own identity, he became the Red Skull.

⁴- The Claws: Now you guys know why some random wolverine clone had them adamantium claws. It was all for this epic moment.

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Don't forget to hit me with the power stones guys!

(⁠ ⁠´⁠◡⁠‿⁠ゝ⁠◡⁠`⁠)✧