Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #8
Spider-Verse continues from Spider-Verse Team-Up #3….
Spider-Man 2099 and Lady Spider have retreated back to Earth-13 where the Spider-Men of the multiverse has established a Safe Zone in Central Park. Unfortunately, they have arrived just after the Inheritors have been through here, killing a number of Spider-Men in their wake. Lady Spider is so disgusted by the scene she throws up. After comforting his ally, Spider-Man sees something that attracts his interest.
In the middle of the battlefield, he spots a massive robot known as Leopardon, that has been trashed.[1] The pair consider repairing it, but they can’t return to 2099 with Daemos running around. However, Lady Spider knows where they can find a lab big enough to do the work needed.
In her civilian identity of May Reilly, Lady Spider returns to her homeworld of Earth-803, which is still in the year 1895. There she meets with her friend Harold Osborn and asks if she could use his father’s new laboratory. Nicknamed “the stadium”, Harold boasts that his father’s facility is only slightly smaller than a football field. When Harold asks why she is so interested, she says that her “friend” Lady Spider is in need of the lab.[2] Harold agrees to give her access to the facility so long as May agrees to go to dinner with him. Still, Harold has to go and get his father’s permission. Norman Osborn, who is secretly the Green Goblin, consents to allow Lady Spider to use his lab, telling his son he finds the activities of the hero most interesting.
Lady Spider then returns to Earth-13 where Spider-Man 2099 is still trying to make heads or tails of Leopardon’s broken body. She tells him that she has secured the lab space they need and assures Spider-Man that with her technical know-how they’ll be able to get Leopardon back up and running again. The pair then begin transporting Leopardon to Earth-803 piece by piece. They are unaware that they are in for some trouble as, back in that reality, Norman Osborn contacts his minions in the Six Men of Sinistry together to pay Lady Spider a visit.
Later in the lab, Spider-Man and Lady Spider are getting to work on repairing the giant robot. However, Spider-Man says they need to get their hands on something radioactive as his autopsy of Daemos’ body revealed that this was the Inheritor’s only apparent weakness. Unfortunately, in the year 1895, the material is hard to come by and its use are well-guarded secrets. That’s when Miguel is contacted by the Spider-Man from Earth-616. He tells his Earth-928 counterpart that he and the rest of the Spider-Army are on Earth-3145 and asks him to join them there. Miguel explains that he and Lady Spider are busy working on a means to give them a new weapon and says he will join up with the rest as soon as they are done.
That’s when Harold Osborn comes into the lab and is in utter awe when seeing the remains of Leopardon. Lady Spider tells Harold that he shouldn’t be here and he causes her pause when he thinks they have met before. Before Lady Spider can come up with an answer, the Green Goblin and his Six Men of Sinistry blast their way into the lab. Spider-Man 2099 has no patience for this and leaps up at the Green Goblin and uses his talons to lightly slash his throat. He bluffs the Goblin, telling him that he will bleed out in two minutes, and warns them to leave before he kills them all.
Instead, Doctor Octopus starts attacking Harold with his mechanical arms before clashing with Lady Spider. Mysterio cowardly retreats while Elector and the Vulture try to take down Spider-Man 2099. Electro blasts Miguel through a window and he crashes into the side of Kraven the Hunter’s hover ship. Kraven boasts that his ship is impenetrable, but quickly surrenders when Spider-Man proves him wrong by putting his fist through the windshield.
Back inside the Six Men of Sinistry have Lady Spider pinned down behind Leopardon’s head. Thinking they have the advantage they are unprepared when Lady Spider reactivates the giant robot. Even though he is in components all over the room, Leopardon launches one of his rocket fists, slamming Electro into the wall. A rocket boot then takes down the Vulture. As Doctor Octopus begins to panic he is shot in the back by Spider-Man who is piloting Kraven’s hover-ship. Landing the ship, Spider-Man goes to check on their foes to make sure their knocked out. When he checks on Doctor Octopus, he quickly orders Lady Spider to bring him a lead shield as the Doctor’s harness was shattered revealing that it was powered by a piece of radioactive material.
The pair quickly get to work repairing and reassembling Leopardon. When they are almost finished, Lady Spider notices that Harold Osborn took off in the confusion. Spider-Man figures he’ll be fine. However, Harold has run back to his father’s home and come barging into Norman Osborn’s den. There he discovers that his father is also the Green Goblin. Norman is not impressed with being discovered and pulls out a revolver and shoots his own son.
With Leopardon full repaired, Spider-Man and Lady Spider jump through the multiverse. As they head for their allies, Lady Spider wonders where Harold Osborn will take her for dinner, unaware that he was just shot. Spider-Man tells her that she’ll have plenty of time to figure it out once this is all over.
… Spider-Verse continues in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #14.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man 2099, Lady Spider, Leopardon, Harold Osborn, Six Men of Sinestry (Green Goblin, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus, the Vulture, Mysterio), Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
The Spider-Men have been using Earth-13 as a Safe Zone since Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #9. They were forced to abandon this Safe Zone when the Inheritors attacked. Leopardon was brought into the battle to cover everyone’s escape and was trashed in the process.
Mention is made about how Lady Spider recently saved the mayor. See Spider-Verse #1 for more details.
