The First God: Kuzr
By Leonard "The Muhka" Rodriguez
As he traveled towards the square, he noticed that every visible working television showed the same image.
Upon arrival in Times Square, he noticed how quiet the area was. He then noticed that he had not drawn any sniper fire since he first saw the image and had started towards it. The only sound was the distant rumbles of war. A crash to his right drew his attention. A pair of looters had dropped a TV and were fleeing. Even if he gave chase, there would be nothing that could be done with them. So instead he started towards Times Square's central monitor. Normally, these monitors blazed ads for who ever had paid to use them. The central monitor did not buzz or even flicker. No sparks came from its several breaks, so it must have been without power.
As Spider-Man climbed towards the main monitor, he saw that every monitor showed the image of the same man impaled to the screen.
At least, Parker reached his fallen friend. Daredevil had blood pooled on his mouth and hands. The road sign had been punched through his chest and held the body by the bottom of the rib age. The sign had been bent upward so the message of the sign could be better read.
Yield. The single word was underlined with blood.
Peter put some webbing on the screen and on Daredevil's shoulders. He then removed the road sign from his chest. The body slumped slightly. He then dropped the sign and its clatter echoed through the empty square.
The screen glowed brightly and a searing pain ripped through Spidey. Arcs of electricity shot into him from all over the monitor.
He landed painfully on the street below. As he tried to return to his feet, he was startled by a voice near-by.
"That looked very painful."
Spider-Man looked around to find the source of this statement.
"Odd, I did not think you would be stupid enough to fall for that."
Parker leaped to his feet. He could not see who was speaking. Instead he simply tried to listen to where the voice was coming from.
His Sense spoke. He jumped right as several arrows struck beneath him. A ghastly cackle was heard. Peter landed atop a nearby car's hood. No sooner had he when the vehicle's windshield exploded sending countless glass shards ripping into his legs.
Spider-Man leaped and shot a web line to the nearest building corner, and started his swing. He was not sure who was attacking him, but that area was littered with traps. Spidey tried to put as much distance as possible between him and this foe. He landed on a roof with a wince. Looking down, he saw he had several wounds upon his legs. Using his webbing, he coated his leg's wounds. He then felt a growing heat.
Standing still and simply feeling he felt the isolated heat.
The heat felt as though it were a furnace directly to his left. With his peripheral vision, he could see no source of heat.
A voice whispered, "Fear. Fear is this game."
"Game over!" shouted Spider-Man as he sprang to his right. He turned in mid air and shot a net of webbing towards the heat.
Out of the empty air, a bright red glow flashed and spun in a beam. This beam whipped and sliced through the air cutting away at the net. Just as suddenly, the light and the heat were gone.
His Sense warned him again and he leaped away as more arrows traced his movements.
The laughter filled the air, "Good! Good! I was hoping you would not disappoint me."
"I need to trap this guy, but I cannot see him at all. But I can feel when he is near…" Peter thought to himself.
He then vaulted from the roof he was upon and swung across the street to a cluster of apartments. As he swung through a gap, he sprayed a quick line of webbing to try to slow down his pursuer. He turned his head only to see the same bright red flash sweep through the webbing.
These traps were not supposed to catch the foe, but rather to simply slow it down. More time was needed to create a trap capable of catching it.
As he continued to swing through gaps and laying webs in his wake, Peter had noticed that his follower was appearing to lose ground.
Spider-Man flung himself up above the smaller buildings. He scanned down the streets and saw all the makings for a good trap. To a creative eye, the world was filled with the means to accomplish anything. In an urban environment, this was very much the case.
Parker figured he had only a few minutes before the foe would be atop him again. Though it could not be said for certain. He swung down and snagged a large canvas from a construction site on a busted city pipeline. He then bee-lined it into an adjacent alley and threw down the tarp. After quickly coating the tarp with webbing, he opened a nearby trash can and emptied some of its contents onto the tarp.
He kept a line of webbing feed from his arm that ran to the tarp. As he leaped atop the alley's fire escape, the trap lied readied. Parker shot a separate line down to another trash can. With a jerk of the arm, the trash can flew out the alley into the street. As the can left the alley it was swatted away as bolts pierced through it. Now the bait had been taken.
Peter felt the heat grew stronger. He strained his eyes to try and see any trace of the invisible foe.
Then on the tarp, a shadow fluttered slightly. Spider-Man leaped backwards bringing the tarp along. The tarp looked as though it had enclosed over something… then two red beams again formed. Upon taking shape the twin beams hacked away at the tarp. Pieces of the fire escape also were also knocked away as the beams cut through.
The invisible foe cackled again. "You will get tired eventually…" it hissed.
Spidey leaped quickly out of the way as more bolts crashed into the ground.
"No worries," came a whisper, "I have plenty of ammo and patience until then."
This wasn't working. His Spider Sense was suited for defensive evasion and not for combating this foe. This energy blade weapon the hostile used made short work of any traps.
Parker blinked several times as sweat ran down his face. The heat was unbearable…The idea finally hit him. He leaped atop a wrecked delivery truck and scanned the street. Not more than a block down did he see one: a fire hydrant.
He latched a line to an overhead street light and swung forward. It was not the apex of his swing before his Sense warned again. Spidey extended his arm and shot a line towards the building wall to his left. He zipped to the wall just as shots cut through the air he once occupied. Parker ran along the wall in a zigzag pattern till he was within feet of the hydrant.
He pushed away from the wall just as it exploded from several hits. He quickly drew webbing within his hands, and drew his legs downward. He smashed through the hydrant. As a geyser of water erupted, Parker turned and pulled his arm away forming a large scoop made of the webbing. He hurled it across the geyser and flung a large volume of water where his foe appeared to be following from.
Peter stood there waiting for the water to strike the invisible foe, yet all the water he flung, and flung again, dissipated harmlessly.
The laughter sounded again. "Nice try. Very creative."
"Who the hell are you?" Spider-Man screamed in frustration.
"I am a spider. Just like you!" as the voice raised at the end, a storm of bolts tore through the air.
Parker leaped and put a line on a building corner and swung. He moved towards the next city district. As he maneuvered the streets, dodging the ever present arrows and laughter, he spied another hydrant. But this one was not alone. There was another directly across the street. Spidey landed on the roof of a truck and jumped onto the hood. He had formed a large dent in it and then ripped it from the vehicle. He dropped the hood to the ground and shot a line of web to the trucks front tires. He ripped them from the axel and flung them at the hydrants. The heat was growing strong... The two hydrants erupted into geysers. The heat felt as though it were right on top of him. He quickly spun and shot a line to the dropped truck hood.
He spun holding onto the hood at length and scooped the water with the hood. He spun until the two geysers were spun into a whirlwind of water filling the street. Eventually, the water pressure fell until it only flowed and not shot upwards. But there in the middle of the street stood a figure.
The figure stood in a deep puddle only feet away. It was not very tall, or only appeared so as it hunched over. The foe's entire body was covered in a sickly green and brown colored armor. The armor fit tightly to the frame of the body. Triangular diodes were placed throughout with larger ones on the shoulders, upper chest, thighs, and hands. The diodes each sparked and whined randomly. Strapped to various parts of the body were small racks that held countless arrows. The helmet was its strangest feature. It resembled an icosahedron, with no clear eye ports or any distinct features.
The foe held three weapons, one in each hand and the third fastened on its right thigh. The weapon on the thigh and left hand appeared the same. Both were heavily modified compound cross-bows with a magazine capacity and to fold up for storage. In the figure's right hand was a narrow silver cylinder just shy of two feet. From each end shone two solid beams of red light extending two and half feet each.
Suddenly, vents opened on the helmet and chest armor. With their opening, bursts of air thrust forth. The air blasted out for only a few moments and then the vents sealed back.
Then the hostile's voice came, not even above a whisper, "Now I am impressed. But also, am I content. This fun is over."
With a loud pop, the foe vanished. But the twin red blades remained visible.
Spider Sense blaring, Peter dodged as the two red beams sliced at him. The swipes were coming from random angles and also countless arrows cut through the air.
It felt like he was inside an oven as the heat returned with a greater intensity. Spider-Man back peddled and dodged every attack. The invisible foe had been toying with him before, that much was clear now.
He felt his ears ring as every sense was bombarded. His Spider Sense warning of constant attack, the air filled with ghastly laughter, his eyes straining to follow where the arrows and beams appeared from seemingly nowhere and then there was the unbearable heat…
One other sense tore through his body. Parker recoiled in pain as the webbing on his legs broke, reopening his wounds. That was all the opening needed. Another tremor of pain racked him. A single bolt had punched into the neighborhood Spider-Man's left arm.
The heat, attacks and laughter vanished.
Parker snapped the bolt in half and pulled both sections out from opposing sides. He coated the wounds on both his arm and legs with webbing. He then held still as he just noted that he was being left alone.
Then the laughter returned and the hissing whisper followed. "That dart was coated in a particularly nasty poison. You will soon feel your limbs go numb. Then your senses will blur as parts of your brain start to misfire. Finally, your lungs will simply stop, leaving you violently trying to gasp the smallest breath. Think of it as a time limit. Now you will taste true fear!"
With the "fear" shouted, a torrent of arrows and bolts filled the air. Parker leaped as high and backward as he could and flipped to face opposite. He was sure that this was a bluff. With all the shots that were fired, only one hit and it was poisoned? Fear was the game: the foe was just trying to psych him.
As Peter convinced himself of this, he swung rapidly to random spots on a new heading. Bolts riddled every spot he previously stood as the heat and laughter again filled the air. The water from the last trap did have an effect, but it needed high volume.
Then the heat felt as though it were directly atop him. Two beams formed just at the edge of his vision. Spider-Man leaped away as a flurry of red light swung at him.
The foe was now getting actively close. The crossbows were not providing enough entertainment? Parker would try to fight at this range, but with that energy weapon he was not going to chance it.
He needed to focus his Sense in a way not normally used. He still had a few more blocks until he arrived at his target location. By the time he got to the bridge, he hoped to figure out an offensive use of Spider Sense.
This same Sense blared an alarm and Peter just avoided a storm of bolts. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He was unsure how or what he was doing, or even if it would work. He felt or thought he felt an indistinct blur a few feet away. The blur appeared to be closing fast.
Spider-Man opened his eyes to see the ground quickly approaching. He tried to ready his legs to land but they felt heavy. The landing was less than graceful. As he stumbled slightly Peter saw the red beam form to his right.
The pain was severe but short. As he quickly continued moving, Parker noticed a broad stripe had been cut into his upper arm.
The laughter screeched again, "Still so quick? I hope that little scrape won't slow you down."
As Spidey swung rapidly and randomly, he again closed his eyes. When he focused, the blur appeared in his mind's eye. It was hard to describe what he thought he saw. It was like a photograph that had an area smudged. At first it was indistinct but slowly it seemed to take the shape of a humanoid. All the while, the outline moved, fluttered, and burned with heat.
But the defensive Spider Sense spoke up. A half dozen bolts cut just above his ducking head. When they went past, he thought he heard faint whispers. He dismissed it as his enemy taunting him. He quickly took a right at an intersection and then took a quick left into an alley. Every second counted and with these abrupt movements more time was hopefully being made.
The alley ended in a dead end. In order to keep his heading Parker started to scale up the dead end wall. As he quickly climbed, he again tried to expand his Sense. He felt the blur outside the alley. It slowly defined into a humanoid form. The figure was moving its left arm from his left thigh to his right hand in a repeated motion.
The foe was reloading. Peter strained to climb faster, but the many wounds racked his body. He reached the roof just as the figure drifted into the alley opening.
As he sprinted along the roof due the initial heading, Spider-Man could not help but chuckle. He had no idea shifting his Spider Sense would be so simple. While it was still a bit foggy, it was helping none the less.
The sounds and smells of water told that he was near his destination. During the initial assault on the area, the city raised the Roosevelt Bridge. The hope was that it would slow the enemy advance, while evacuations left on the other side of the island. Sadly, plans never survive contact with the enemy. The enemy forces simply bypassed the city and circled around past it. Only now, 4 hours after the enemy passed the area, did hostiles return to the city. They only sent small numbers into the city, and not even a fraction of their original combat strength.
The red color of the bridge started to show ever the buildings ahead. He had not noticed but his movements had started to slow. Even upon leaping from one building to another he did not notice his stumbling before and after the jump. As more crossbow bolts and arrows flew past, Peter could swear they whispered and laughed as they passed. The blurred form he perceived in his new Sense had become distorted. It formed into a smile of flames laughing in the shrieking way like the foe.
Spidey had made it to the bridge with no further problem. He thought that perhaps he lost the pursuer.
He still did not realize that his gait and form had deteriorated. Even as he vaulted up and scaled the raised bridge, he did not notice his growing clumsiness. As he reached the top of the closer raised section, he readied himself to jump across to the further raised side.
Parker noticed the distance between the two wavered. The far edge swayed to and away just enough to be noticed. He figured he was wasting time, so he jumped a bit further forward past the far side. He landed harshly and suddenly on the other side. He returned to his feet and turned to face the raised bridge sections.
He tried to raise his arms to shoot webbing into another trap. He could not raise his arms past his waist as each arm felt outrageously heavy.
Then it hit him. He had been poisoned. As though by prophesy he felt his chest heave violently. But this realization was not all that struck him.
Something had hit his upper chest, sprawling him to rest face down. Spider-Man strained his arms to push himself up. His diaphragm convulsed as he wheezed in gasping breaths.
A slight pinch was felt in his right shoulder. Peter turned and saw a solid red beam. It stuck through his shoulder down into the asphalt.
The beam glowed and rippled, but did not move, rather it held right in place. He reached over with his left hand to try to touch the beam. He felt nothing, but watched as his fingers dissolved away as they touched the red glow.
"How stupid of you," hissed a whisper above Spider-Man, "That poison normally needs an hour to take effect."
The whisper sounded as though right next to the ear. "All your running, all your movement… I must thank you for accelerating the process."
The signature cackle filled the senses. Peter thought he felt the moisture of an open laugh.
"The fun is over now, little spider. You were simply beaten by a better. …The law of the jungle."
With the laughter still hanging in the air, and with a solid red beam cutting from shoulder to shoulder, one spider destroyed another.