Note: Alright, I'm back with another chapter in Infinite Spider-man! Look forward to a zero issue out sometime in the next couple weeks.
Cover- Peter, in his Spider-man costume, charging forward, hands outstretched like claws. His mask is half-ripped, displaying a look of pure rage. His pupil is slit…almost like an animal…almost like a monster. Blood is splattered behind him on an all-black background.
Some Warehouse in Manhattan
Harry Osborn was currently hanging in what was possibly the most precarious position he'd ever been in in his entire life. He was strapped to a beam, overlooking a large pit of something Harry didn't want to know about.
The teenage son-of-Osborn had been kidnapped by a dangerous criminal with a lust for revenge: Adrian Toomes. The elderly man had lost his job and his home to Norman Osborn, and after stealing the VULTURE Harness and teaming up with Curt Connors, he'd begun an assault on Osborn's life-style and ultimately…life.
Harry had, for hours, struggled with his constraints. But the only thing he succeeded in doing was cutting up his wrists. He wasn't getting out of there. He was angry, alone, and desperate.
"Hey, you! Bird-guy!" Harry called out.
Toomes, who had been sitting a dozen yards away from Harry, feasting on what looked to be raw meat, looked up, "What is it, brat?"
"You know," Harry began, "That my Dad is going to find me! He's going to come to help!"
Toomes chuckled, "I plan on it."
Harry struggled on, "Well…you shouldn't, because my dad's going to bring, like, an army with him. If you let me go now, you might get out alive."
Toomes broke out into a full on maniacal laugh. The high-pitched cawing made Harry squirm.
"You…CACACA…you actually think anyone can stop me? I'm, as kids your age like to call it, super-powered! CACACACA! And you haven't even met my friend yet! I will not be denied my revenge!" Toomes laughter died out, suddenly replaced with anger, "You're father is going to die."
Harry was in full-on panic mode now. He didn't know if his father would actually come, and if he did, would he be able to save him…if not, maybe…
"Spider-man will save me!" Harry declared, "He's got superpowers! He'll stop you!"
Toomes face contorted into a look of contempt, "That petty bug? I defeated him once; I can do it again."
"You…you fought Spider-man…and won? There's no way…" Harry muttered in disbelief.
Toomes shrugged off the comment, now annoyed with Harry's incessant need to talk.
"Shut up! Or I'll gag you!" Toomes held up a piece of cloth to prove his point. Harry didn't say a word. If what Toomes had said was true…he was done for!
Suddenly, the dark, wooden doors to the warehouse crashed open and in crawled two reptilian figures: Curt Connors and his son, Billy Connors!
"I'm baaack," Curt growled, his scales shifting, "This isss my sonnn, Billyyyy."
"Welcome back, Connors," Toomes stood up, "I have captured Osborn's boy. We must prepare for the attack."
Curt stood on his hind legs, apathy flooding his eyes, "There isss no weee."
"What are you-"
"My sonnn and III are leavingggg. I am donnee with thissss…with yooouuu…" Connors rough, reptilian voice echoed through the warehouse. Toomes just stood back in shock.
"There…you can't…you can't escape this! You started it and once you join this circle it never stops! You can't leave! I won't let you!" Toomes flexed his legs, preparing to dive at the two Lizards.
Both Lizards sensed the danger and prepared to strike. Billy spoke for the first time in days, "Kiiilll…"
The doors suddenly burst open yet again. The three belligerents adjusted their gaze towards the entrance. In came four distinct figures armed with weapons that would make Tony Stark jealous. The Enforcers had arrived.
Montana grinned, the gauntlets on his hands pulsing with power, "It's time ta get this party started."
INFINITE SPIDER-MAN
Primal Part IV: No One Else Dies
Peter Parker sat alone in his room, sitting at this laptop, dressed in his costume in all but the mask, which lay next to his right hand. His door was locked, and the super-powered teenager had his iPhone plugged into his computer. He typed frantically, attempting to hack into a particular app…attempting to save his best friend.
"C'mon, Parker," Peter thought, "You're a smart kid. You can do this…"
He was hacking into "Find My iPhone" and attempting to use its tracking capabilities to find Harry's phone, which Peter hoped, wasn't dead yet. Within just another minute Peter had succeeded.
"Yes!" Peter silently cheered. His aunt didn't know he was in the house. He planned to keep it that way. Peter quickly grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with multiple shots of the cure for Billy's Lizard condition, in case he came in contact with him, and grabbed his cellphone.
Peter slipped on his mask and opened the windowsill. With a small hop, Peter was out of his room and into the world. Currently in his hand he held his phone, which displayed, using Google Maps, Harry's current whereabouts.
After quickly memorizing the address and the directions, Spider-man swung away, heading southeast towards his friend.
He was going to save Harry. He had to save Harry. No one else would die because of him. He was given powers for a reason. To save people. Known, unknown, it didn't matter. He wasn't just nerdy teenager Peter Parker. He was Spider-man, defender of New York City, and the webbed wonder who was almost hilariously trashed on by The Daily Bugle, his current employers. Which reminded Spidey, actually, to use his phone to take some pix while he was fighting Harry's kidnapper.
Before too long, Spider-man had come to the warehouse. His phone called out in a metallic female voice, "You have arrived."
Spidey chuckled, "Thanks a ton, Google."
Spider-man silently crawled to the top of the warehouse. The roof had multiple glass panels, that shined light into the dark room below. The webbed wonder could see a fight going on below. The Enforcers were fighting Toomes and…were those giant lizards? My God, Billy was there. And if there were two that meant…
"The doc changed himself. He's…he's a mindless beast, just like Billy," Spider-man realized. With just one more glance, Spidey discovered Harry tied to a pole overlooking a vat of chemicals. He had to save him.
Spider-man took a deep breath and kicked in the glass, "Cowabunga!"
As Spider-man touched the floor below, all eyes looked towards him. "What? Bad franchise reference or somethin'?"
"AAHHH!" Fancy Dan roared. He unloaded his advanced machine gun onto the hero.
"Spider-man!" Harry cried out from above.
Spidey managed to dodge the onslaught using his agility and spider-sense. As he flipped back up, he noticed the places where the bullets had impacted. Entire sections of the wall were gone.
"Yeesh! You got some upgrades, didn't ya? What does that make you now? Powerful Dan? High-tech Dan?" Spider-man joked.
"How 'bout 'Kill %^&&in' superheroes Dan'?" Dan cried out, firing again.
Spider-man dived below the bullets matrix-style. After standing back up straight, the hero shook his head, "Nah, doesn't have a nice ring to it."
The webbed wonder jumped at the criminal and sent him flying with a nasty kick to the chest. Spidey felt ribs crunch beneath his feet. He'd done a number on the guy.
Meanwhile, Toomes was engaged with Ox, who was decked out in a suit of high-tech armor. The fiendish bird-like man dodged punch after punch, all while striking Ox's face with his wings and degrading the brute.
"You pathetic excuse for a hit man. You couldn't land a punch on a child, let alone me!" Toomes cawed.
"Shuddup!" Ox growled, "Ox land one punch, you dead!"
Toomes laughed, "Cacaca! Yes! Key word being 'land' not 'one'!"
In another part of the warehouse, the two Lizards were fighting Big Man and Montana. Despite their incredible technology, the hit men had been unable to successfully hurt the mutates. Their scales were too tough, even able to withstand high-powered bullets.
"What the %^&* are these guys?" Big Man wondered out loud, firing shot after shot, not allowing the two reptiles to get close for fear of being hit in the eye, one of their only weak spots.
"Some sorta' mutated lizards, mate!" Montana replied, pushing the reptilian-humans back with a powerful blast of concussive force from his gauntlets.
Curt Connors himself had begun to lose control. It didn't matter how he had started, his own conscious was fading away, being overtaken by primal instinct…by The Lizard!
"Must killll…preyyy…" He snarled. His son, Billy, just kept on letting out a guttural growl.
"…Must…KILLLL!" Curt lunged towards Big Man, who had to reload. Montana fired a blast of energy but the reptilian mutate dodged it.
"OH NO…AAAGGHHH!" Big Man cried out as Curt gutted him with his claws. The gunman had no chance. He was dead before he could say another word.
Curt looked down at his bloody claws. Suddenly, he realized what he'd done. "No…nonononono!"
"You bastard!" Montana shouted. He blasted Curt away from the body.
Back in Spider-man's fight, the webbed wonder had just succeeded in webbing up Dan.
"One down, like a bajillion to go…" Spider-man stopped short in his tracks, "Oh my God…"
Big Man was dead. Dead.
"No…NO!" Spider-man fired a line of webbing to a crate and launched himself towards the Lizard-fight. With a flick of his wrist, Spidey webbed the mouth of the angry Montana.
After landing on the ground, he threw himself at the first Lizard in his sights: Billy! The Lizard lunged right back at him. The two collided in mid air and surprisingly landed on equal ground. Spider-man slugged the creature. It didn't even flinch.
"You're done, Billy." Spider-man felt his spider-sense activate. He rolled away from Billy's tail, which would have lopped off his head if he'd waited a moment longer. Spidey straight on tackled the reptile and, holding the beast tight to the ground, brought out a cure.
"I said…YOU'RE DONE!" Spider-man injected the roaring beast with the serum. Billy flailed, knocking Spider-man off of his chest, but after a few seconds stopped, and slowly transformed back into an innocent, naked twelve-year-old boy.
Curt Connors had watched the showdown in shock. He didn't know what to do, how to react. That is, until he saw his son change back.
"No…my sonnn…myyy kinnn!" Connors roared, "My gloryyy! My victorrryyy!"
Curt blind-sided the hero as he attempted to stand.
"AGH!" Spider-Man squirmed, "Dr. Connors, think about what you're doing! This isn't you! DR. CONNORS!"
The reptilian mutate opened his maw, his sharp teeth edging closer and closer to Spider-Man's face, "No morrreee Connorrrrsss…onlyyy Lizarrrddd…"
"In that case," Spidey kicked the Lizard in the gut, knocking him away, "I don't have to hold back!"
"Whoo! Go Spider-Man!" Harry cheered.
Spidey struggled to stand, "Really not helping."
"Sorry," Harry muttered.
The Lizard began to rise back up but Spider-Man hit him with both hand, balled into fists, which pushed him back down. But the beast wasn't done yet.
"RRAAGGHHH!" It growled, clawing Spider-Man's face. The left side of his mask ripped off.
"Ow!" Spidey punched the creature right back. It didn't really react, and attacked the webbed wonder right back. It tackled Spider-Man and tried to rip into his neck with its thick fangs.
"Don't think so, Lizzie! Not the jugulars!" Spider-Man held the beast's mouth open and away with his hands. The mouth suddenly shut and Spidey's hands slipped away. With a split second to react, Spider-Man flipped back away from the Lizard.
The superhuman fired webbing, covering the Lizard's eyes. The beast roared in response. It began to swipe blindly with its claws. It was easy pickings for Spider-Man to maneuver around the attacks. He took out and shot and edge closer to The Lizard…
WHAM!
Spider-Man was knocked to the ground, away from the Lizard. It appeared Toomes had defeated Ox, who now lay in a heap on the ground, hopefully unconscious.
"Damn…" Spidey cursed, standing up. Lizard managed to rip off the webbing from its eyes, "Damn!"
"Ok, guys, listen," Spider-Man began.
Toomes interrupted him, "Don't try bargaining, Bug. You're dead!"
Spider-Man shook his head, "I wasn't going to beg for my life or anything," Spidey shot webbing at the ceiling above, "Just warn you: head's up!"
Spider-Man pulled with all his might and the ceiling came crashing down. Unluckily, Toomes reacted quickly and avoided the rubble. Luckily, the Lizard had been caught under the falling debris.
Toomes took one glance towards Spider-Man, who suddenly seemed that much more threatening, and then took off.
"What're you doing?" Spider-Man cried out, "You're abandoning your partner!"
"Who cares?" Toomes broke through a window and soared off into the sky.
"Damn it!" Spidey cursed. First, Spider-Man looked for Montana. He was unsurprisingly gone. Then, he looked towards Harry. He couldn't very well leave him there…but Connors could be hurt! Or worse! And then there was Toomes. Spider-Man made a split-second decision and chose to free his friend. He swung up to Harry's position.
"What are you doing? You're letting him get away!" Harry shouted.
"Quiet while I free you!" Spidey ordered. He pulled apart Harry's constraints and swung him to the ground below.
"Alright, listen to me," Spider-Man took out his last vial of the cure, "Go over to the rock. Dig Godzilla's cousin out and inject him with this."
"But…but what if he's still awake," Harry protested.
"Just do it!" Spider-Man ordered and then swung after Toomes.
"And don't do anything stupid. Other than, y'know, freeing Lizard from his rocky tomb!" Spidey called back.
Harry just shook his head, "Lucky me. Saved from danger and then put back in danger. All by the same guy."
Manhattan
Spider-Man followed the surprisingly easy-to-follow trail left by Toomes. Apparently Ox had managed to get at least one hit in, because 'feathers' from the Harness were scattered around everywhere. It seemed like the suit was falling apart.
But still, it took nearly an hour. The villain was much faster than Spidey, and it appeared he wasn't willing to stop flying for a long time.
But so it was that Spider-Man finally found the criminal, and systematically discovered the real reason he had stopped. The suit had fallen apart. The wings were in pieces. Toomes forehead was cut and it appeared that he had fallen.
"I…I'm done…you win, Spider-Man…damn you…" Toomes breathed heavily.
"You are finished, Toomes. You're quest for revenge is over." Spider-man declared. He walked over to the beaten body and knelt next to the man, "And I've finally thought of a name for you. Vulture. Seems obvious enough, with the Harness' name and all, but it's much deeper than that. You prey on the weak. You betray your friends. You're an utterly despicable, disgusting creature."
Toomes spit into Spider-Man's uncovered eye. The hero gently wiped the saliva off.
"And I pity you."
"You're weak. Sad. Crazed. But none of that matters now. You've been caught. You're going to your rightful place: jail," Spider-Man finished. But this time, Toomes didn't respond. The elderly man didn't spit on him, didn't curse him. Yet still he stared into Spider-Man's eyes fiercely…blankly…
"Oh no," Spidey began, "No no no no no. You can't be…you just can't be…"
Spider-Man felt for a pulse. There was none.
"…dead."
Two Days Later
Peter Parker attended Walter Hardy's funeral. Felicia's whole grade had been invited. Harry came. So did Gwen. Even Flash did the right thing. But, surprisingly, Felicia didn't show. And that only made Peter feel worse.
Peter didn't cry. He didn't say a word. Mid-service, Gwen had run up to him and embraced him. He didn't even care about that. She sobbed on his shoulder and all he did was let her hold him.
"Oh m-m-my God. I c-c-can't believe this h-happened. To somebody we know too." Gwen whispered, "W-we should reschedule our d-date tomorrow. I think we both need a few days to recover."
Gwen didn't know the half of it. Peter wouldn't need days. He'd need weeks. Felicia's father had died because of him. Big Man had died when he could have saved him. Toomes had died as well. And Mac Gargan…just over a week before…Gargan might very well be dead because of Peter. He might have killed him. No, his recovery was going to take much longer.
Both of the Connors had survived. Both were cured. Curt was free of all charges thanks to a timely intervention by Spider-Man. Harry was saved. Two Enforcers were in custody. It…it really was a win for Peter. But that didn't matter. That didn't change what had happened. And after this, Peter couldn't suffer any more. He wouldn't be able to take it.
And so Peter made a vow on that dark, rainy day, as he embraced Gwen.
No one else would die. Not because of him. Not when he could save them.
Not ever.
Meanwhile
Felicia lay in her father's bed, silent. She'd stopped crying hours ago. Her mascara had leaked down her face and now dried into odd patterns. All that was left inside of her, the only feeling, was anger.
Her father had lied to her, left her, and now he was dead. Now she was alone…
"Damnit!" she jerked up. She hated him! She hated all he did to her! She…she…she loved him…she missed him…
Felicia turned her head. Something caught her attention. A photo framed in gold. It was a picture of her and…
"Mom and Dad…"
And suddenly the tears came again. They fell down to her lips as the sadness ripped away at her insides. She was alone, all alone…
"No!" Felicia cried. She stood up and began to punch the wall, "Nonononono!" The skin on her hands peeled away and blood began to leak down her fingers.
"NOOO!" One last punch. That's all she had left. She slammed her fist into the wall. But surprisingly, this panel didn't hurt. Had she destroyed her nerves or…no. The wall was soft. She examined it. Suddenly understanding, Felicia pushed in. The panel fell in and the wall swung away.
Now, in front of Felicia's eyes was an armory. Leather suits, high-tech gadgets, anything and everything her father had used was stored in glass cabinets and strung on a wall.
"Oh hell yes…"
And suddenly Felicia felt the anger again. And it overtook her. She observed the room in front of her, but not with the eyes of a girl. No, she had the eyes of a cat.
Note: That's it! Primal is done! I know this chapter is really short. My shortest chapter yet. But I had to separate this part from the last issue. I really did. This works so much better as its own chapter. And really, who's to say a long chapter is better than a short one? Especially when I've got a Christmas present to all of you guys!
Infinite Spider-Man's getting a zero issue! Before or on Christmas day you can expect a 1500-3000 word zero issue. And in the next month or two after that…
Title: Different Points of View I: Shocking.
Cover: Spider-Man is on the side of a building, a frontal view on the hero. Shocker's gauntlets can be seen as he charges towards Spider-Man. The villain's reflection can be seen in Spider-Man's lenses and the glass panels of the building.
Summary: A new villain is in town and his name is The Shocker! And just who is this dastardly new foe? And let me tell you, it's exactly who you think! Also, what are Felicia's plans for the future? And how will Peter and Gwen's date go? Here's a HINT—not well!
And for the zero issue…
Title: Issue Zero- TBD
Cover: Space. The Final Frontier. A silver glow bursts past the stars.
Summary: Just what happened next with Richard and Mary Parker? How did Peter end up at his Aunt and Uncle's place? And who—or what is Richard running from? All this and more will be answered. Plus a backup featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. What exactly happened to Mac Gargan after his defeat? And is he even alive? And then what about the VULTURE Harness?
Until next time,
IU10
