Quentin Beck gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning bone-white. His stomach churned, acid burning the back of his throat. Yesterday, he had actually stood his ground against Wilson Fisk. He had demanded a raise, and he had demanded respect for Dmitri Snerdyakov. Good heavens, that is something the great Mysterio would say!
He took a ragged breath. "You can do this, Quentin. You stared down the Kingpin. This is just a minor field test."
Aaron Davis sat in the driver's seat, thoroughly unimpressed by the tech guy's hyperventilating. He shifted the car into park. "We're here. Mysterio. Time to clock in. Get moving."
Quentin fumbled for his glass dome helmet. "Is the operational window that tight?"
"No," Aaron said flatly. "This parking garage is five bucks an hour. Move."
Quentin locked the dome over his head. The neural interface engaged, the nausea evaporating instantly. A holographic projection of segmented green armor and a sweeping purple cape washed over him. The anxiety vanished. Mysterio didn't get stage fright.
"I shall return momentarily, Aaron."
Aaron leaned back and pulled up a comedy sketch on his phone. Mysterio triggered his active camouflage, bending the light around himself. He opened the door, entirely invisible, and stepped out into the damp garage. His target was Oscorp. Otto Octavius had provided the shopping list and was remotely slicing the security grid. Mysterio just had to walk in and take the prizes.
Inside the facility, Norman Osborn walked alongside Jonathan Drew. Drew was the current lead on the Savage Force spider research division.
"Savage Force cannot remain restricted to arthropods," Osborn said, his expensive shoes clicking against the pristine floor. "The genetic divergence between spiders and humans is the primary bottleneck."
Drew hesitated, clutching a tablet to his chest. "My expertise doesn't extend far beyond arthropods, Mr. Osborn. However, I have a former colleague. Curtis Connors. He specializes in reptilian gene integration, specifically regarding tissue regeneration. He could bridge the gap."
Osborn paused. He remembered Connors's grant proposals. The industry had written them off as science fiction. But Spider-Man had changed the math. The vigilante proved that specific genetic sequencing could create a functional superhuman. It had prompted a massive influx of military black-budget funding into Oscorp.
"Isn't Connors focused on transplantation rather than modification?" Osborn asked.
"The baseline methodology is identical," Drew countered. "And a super-soldier capable of regenerating severed limbs is an attractive prospect."
Osborn's mouth curved into a tight, engineered smile. He nodded. Drew exhaled a long breath, relieved he had secured the backing. Neither man reacted as an invisible displacement of air slid right past them.
Mysterio slipped into the containment lab. He located the first target: a radiation-modified scorpion. He had no idea why Octavius wanted a glowing arachnid, but he carefully transferred the specimen into a lead-lined transport case. Otto considered it a bonus.
Mysterio navigated to the secure sub-basement warehouse. He pressed a cloned keycard against the reader. The heavy vault door clicked open. In the center of the room sat a massive sheet of material that looked like metallic leather.
"What exactly is this?" Mysterio whispered into his comms.
"Artificial metal-polymer," Otto's synthesized voice replied in his earpiece. "An unbreakable dermal structure. It is currently far too dense for a baseline human to carry. But if worn by someone with sufficient enhanced strength then they could easily tear Spider-Man in half."
Mysterio stared at the massive sheet. "How am I supposed to lift this?"
"You aren't," Otto said. "Use the liquid nitrogen canister to freeze a corner, then shatter it. I only require a sample."
Mysterio sprayed the edge of the material, snapped off a frozen chunk, and bagged it. As he turned toward the exit, the facility's alarms finally tripped. Klaxons screamed. Red strobes painted the walls. Mysterio didn't break stride. He maintained his invisibility cloak, slipping past a squad of heavily armed security guards who ran right through the space he had just vacated.
He walked out of the building and down into the parking garage.
Aaron Davis was still chuckling at his phone screen. The passenger door opened. The air shimmered, and Mysterio deactivated his camouflage.
"The operation is complete," Beck boomed through the dome's voice modulator.
Aaron flinched, nearly dropping his phone into the footwell. He glared at the glass dome. "Can't you just open the door like a normal person?"
"Mysterio requires an entrance," Beck stated. "Drive."
Aaron rolled his eyes and put the car in gear. His burner phone vibrated. He put it to his ear. His expression hardened instantly.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Aaron barked. "NYPD is already on site? Pull out. Now."
He ended the call and slammed a fist against the steering wheel.
"Complications?" Mysterio asked.
"Dmitri's face is gone," Aaron growled. "The bio-mask. Someone broke into the federal evidence lockup and stole it. They beat Kingpin's people and S.H.I.E.L.D. to it."
Aaron shook his head, shifting the car into drive. "Whoever has that mask now has a functional replacement face. They could be anyone."