A forced class change.
A brutal, forced class change.
After the emblem embedded itself into her body, Valleta realized that while her consciousness was still her own, some strange power was now holding her in check.
And when she looked at Kamen Rider Killbus in front of her, not only did she feel no desire to fight him, she even felt strangely close to him.
That was the power of the Antihero Emblem.
Once the emblem was used, it created affinity toward antiheroes and made the target feel an unusual closeness to them.
"What did you do to me?!"
"Nothing much. I just helped you break free from Hydra's control."
"And then let you control me instead, right?!"
The armor plate over Valleta's head retracted, revealing her burned face.
Peter dropped his transformation as well, and large beads of sweat fell to the ground from his face.
It was obvious how hard he was straining.
That kind of intense backlash had left him completely exhausted. Thankfully, Spider-Man's recovery ability was top-tier. Otherwise, he would have dropped dead already.
"So tell me, do you actually feel like I'm controlling you?"
Peter's question left Valleta stunned.
She really did not feel controlled at all.
If anything, her body felt lighter, and even her mind felt clearer.
If before she had been walking around in a daze, then now she felt completely awake.
Damn it.
So she really had been brainwashed that thoroughly.
She had almost become nothing more than someone else's weapon.
"Don't you want your body restored to normal? Instead of living like this, in some twisted, deformed state? I can help you. And the only price you have to pay is this. Join my Antihero Multiverse Squad."
Peter pulled off his sweat-soaked headgear, wiped his face, and spoke seriously.
"Restored to normal? Stop joking. That's impossible..."
Valleta had dreamed of becoming normal for as long as she could remember.
Back when she became a freak-show performer, all she had really wanted was to be treated as an equal, not pointed at like some monster and humiliated.
She had been born like this.
How could she possibly control her own fate?
"Join me, and I'll make you normal again. Not only that, I'll make you stronger. But you'll have to do one thing for me. Keep working for Hydra. Whatever they tell you to do, don't worry about it. Just go along with it. All you need to remember is that you're an undercover agent now. An undercover agent for our Antihero Multiverse Squad."
Valleta was still a little dizzy from everything Peter was saying, but she could not stop herself from getting excited. Those bright, light-blue eyes locked onto him.
"If you really can make me normal... then I can agree to that."
"Not just normal. Better than normal. A perfect human with superhuman power. A true antihero who does whatever she wants."
"That... sounds pretty good."
"So you agree?"
"Honestly, I don't really see a reason to refuse."
"Congratulations. You made the right choice."
Peter smiled.
[Ding. Congratulations, Host. You have successfully recruited Valleta into the Antihero Multiverse Squad. Mission rewards have been issued.]
[Congratulations, Host. You obtained one Level 4 Chest, Perfect Genetic Restoration Serum, and Iron Spider Armor.]
As the system notification rang out, a virtual wristwatch appeared on Valleta's wrist, making her stare in shock.
"That's our squad's virtual wristwatch. You can use it to contact people and transfer items. Don't worry about anyone else noticing it. Only we can see it. As for how it works... I honestly don't know how to explain that either."
"But drink this first. The reason your body became deformed was probably some kind of genetic mutation. This is Perfect Genetic Restoration Serum. It can completely correct your genes and even strengthen them to a certain extent."
Peter casually pulled out a blue vial and handed it to her.
Valleta did not hesitate at all. She drank it immediately.
The moment the liquid went down her throat, she felt intense heat spread through her body. It felt as if the skin on her face was about to peel away.
And in fact, it was peeling away.
At the same time, her deformed frame was gradually straightening. Bone and flesh were being rebuilt from the inside out.
When the gene restoration was finally complete, even Peter froze for a moment when he looked at her.
Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue. Her hair was red with a faint golden tint. And her face was so beautiful it felt almost unreal.
It was the kind of beauty that made people unable to look away.
Valleta stared at her reflection in the armor's surface, hardly able to believe what she was seeing.
Was that really her?
Just before this, she had still been an ugly freak.
This was far too beautiful.
"This is... me?"
"If your genes had never mutated, then yes. This should have been what you really looked like."
Peter nodded.
"But if I go back looking like this, no one will believe I'm still the same person. How am I supposed to keep infiltrating them?"
That problem was easy for Peter.
He pulled out the Spider Full Bottle, gave it a couple of shakes, felt the energy inside, and then separated a small portion of Blood Tribe energy into her body.
"Now just picture the way you used to look, and you can return to your old appearance. Your body itself won't change, though. As for how to explain it, just say it's the effect of your second form. Those lunatics will believe it. Scientists like them are always absurdly confident in their own technology."
Following Peter's instructions, Valleta's appearance really did revert to that old, twisted, burned face.
"You're incredible."
"And this is for you."
Using the virtual wristwatch transfer function, Peter sent his version of the Iron Spider Armor into Valleta's watch.
"Try not to use Hydra's stuff any more than you have to. Who knows what kind of chips they've hidden in it. With this, you'll probably be even stronger. It's all spider-themed power anyway, so it shouldn't be too different. It ought to be easy enough for you to use, right?"
"Yeah. Got it."
Valleta did not refuse.
Now that she had already joined his side, and Peter had helped turn her back into a normal human, she naturally believed he had no intention of harming her.
"Elda."
"What?"
"My name is Elda Valleta."
"Peter Parker. Your captain."
Peter smiled and held out his hand.
Then he turned and looked toward the three people still fighting the mechanical spider constructs in the distance, before glancing back at Elda Valleta.
"We need to make the act convincing. Pretend I beat you, then retreat. If you need anything, contact me through the watch."
"There are other contacts in there too. They're all squad members. If you get bored, you can talk to them. Especially the one called New Goblin Harry. That guy has way too much free time."
"Okay."
The faceplate covered Elda's face again. Peter pulled his own mask back on as well, then used the Spider Energy Bottle to cancel the battle space.
In the next instant, everyone was back on the street.
"Wraith Spider, I'll remember this! Just you wait!"
Elda said through gritted teeth.
"I'll be waiting."
Then she called back all the spiders and flew off using the armor's flight function.
"Why the hell didn't you stop her?!"
Steve strode over and glared at Peter, who looked completely unconcerned.
"You think she was easy to deal with?! If she got serious, I might not even beat her! And stop talking to me like some kind of superior. Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Peter shot back without any mercy.
"Since the crisis is over, let's go back and eat. I'm starving..."
Gwen said to Peter.
Actually, she had seen everything just now. Peter had already quietly told her earlier to put on a show without actually going all out, so aside from being somewhat serious at the beginning, she had basically been coasting.
She knew perfectly well Peter was up to something.
It was probably that weird squad of his recruiting another bizarre new member.
She wanted to join too, honestly, but Peter refused to let her and kept insisting that the squad was full of lunatics and not a single one of them was normal.
Then again, that did sound plausible.
Peter himself was already a lunatic.
"Yeah. If we wait any longer, we might not even get any cake."
Peter nodded, then turned to Tony.
"Don't forget the nanotech Spider Suit you promised me. See you later, Mr. Tony."
Then he and Gwen fired out their webs and prepared to leave.
"Looks like I was right all along. That kid doesn't deserve to join the Defenders Alliance."
Steve said to Tony.
"Get lost. Like I wanted to join in the first place..."
Peter raised his middle finger, then vanished into the distance on a strand of webbing.
That left Steve standing there in complete disarray while Tony laughed so hard he could barely stop.
"Awkward, huh? He didn't even want in, and you were still trying to keep him out."
Steve felt numb.
Completely numb.
When had he ever been humiliated like this before?
"Get lost!"
"What does that have to do with me? Why are you taking it out on me? Seriously..."
Tony closed his faceplate with a helpless sigh, stopped paying attention to Steve, and took off into the sky under his own power.
(End of Chapter)
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