Spider-Man 2099 #46 — Nick Peron

Feb 22

Feb 22 Spider-Man 2099 #46

A House Divided

After his battle with the Goblin, Spider-Man has to deal with an even larger crisis when an army of Atlantean warriors attack the Alchemax building. As he does so he finds himself divided, as Miguel O'Hara, he is the CEO of Alchemax and should be loyal to the company, while Spider-Man owes the company nothing after it hounded him all year long. Still, he leaps into the fray, helping the Public Eye to fend off the invaders. It is during the battle he learns that these Atlantean warriors are acting under orders of their leader, Attuma. He tries to talk one of the combatants into standing down, but after Spider-Man's recent battle with Roman, the Atlanteans see him as an enemy as well.[1] As Spider-Man struggles to fight off his attacker he is saved by an unlikely person, the Vulture. However, this is not an act of altruism as the Vulture intends to destroy the S-Man himself, and has Father Jennifer as a hostage.

Elsewhere in the building, Miguel's mother Conchata O'Hara leads the counter-attack against the Atlantean invaders. While in another part of the building, Tyler Stone sees the corporate empire he helps build crumbling around him. He doesn't care as he intends to make his way to a ship so he can escape to Alchemax's Mars colony. Along the way, he runs into an Atlantean warrior who thinks that Stone will be an easy kill as he is confined to a medical hoverchair. However, Stone is far from harmless and kills the warrior with a missile launcher. Back in Miguel's office, Spider-Man tries to convince the Vulture to let the Father go and take him instead. However, the Vulture intends to kill them both, revealing that he knows that Spider-Man is also Miguel O'Hara, this revelation was told to him by Miguel's own brother Gabriel, who was recently revealed to be the Goblin. Shocked by this revelation, Spider-Man is struck in the shoulder by one of the Vulture's talons. The villain then reveals that he also rigged the building with explosives and lunges at the hero. After a struggle, the Vulture realizes that a one-on-one battle will take too long and flees, vowing to get revenge at a later time.

With eight minutes until the bombs go off, Spider-Man's wounds are treated by Father Jennifer. He then orders an immediate evacuation of the Alchemax building. As he and Jennifer search the building for the bombs they run into Miguel's mother who refuses to abandon the building and joins them in their search. Meanwhile, Tyler Stone arrives at shuttle bay and is about to board a spacecraft when his hoverchair is blasted by General Dagim of Attuma's army. Although he is at the mercy of the warrior, Tyler Stone dares him to pull the trigger of his gun. They are interrupted by the arrival of Spider-Man his allies. The hero deals with Dagim, ordering his mother and Jennifer to find the bomb before it goes off. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes as they search as Conchata is shot through the chest from behind. Thinking she is dying, Conchata tells Father Jennifer to tell her children that she always loved them. Tyler Stone is also dying after being shot by General Dagim, and his final words to Miguel are that they are not alike. Ordering Jennifer to prep the ship for launch, he takes a moment to have some final words with his father. He refuses to believe that they are the same. He isn't an egomaniacal individual who thinks only of himself, at least not anymore, leaving his mask on Tyler's body, Spider-Man joins Father Jennifer on the ship.

As it takes off, Miguel looks out the window and watches as the Alchemax building explodes, ending another chapter in his life for good and is left to wonder what the next phase of his life is going to look like.

This story continues in Fantastic Four 2099 #8...