Disclaimer: I dont own the characters of Marvel
The Scarlet Spider
Chapter 10: Streets of Rage
Carnage was reigning across the streets of New York. It was a deadly reminder of some to the foreign invasion of the Liberators that happened months before. However the sight of the gigantic red drones had been replaced by a giant…wheel.
"That is the stupidest idea I have ever seen" Wanda Lensherr, the Scarlet Witch said as she watched the Big Wheel roll over police cars and riot crews.
She considered using her hex abilities to break the ridiculous machine apart. But her brother already had the situation well in hand. The Wheel pilot faced great shock when his vehicle literally fell apart. Pietro suddenly appeared beside Wanda, the wind from his speed waving her cloak around. He dropped a pile of screws onto the streets and wrapped his arm around his sister's waist.
"The look on their faces never stops amusing me Wanda" Quicksilver said.
Wanda smiled as Pietro kissed her cheek. She waved her hand, giving off a red light that shattered the pilot's pistol. The SWAT officers then went in and arrested the man.
"Incredible sister, that idiot Captain was foolish to send us on such meaningless tasks"
"Oh Pietro, if we're going to improve the rights of mutants then we'll need to save human lives, we can't let the city be consumed by the Kingpin's vendetta against Spider-man" Wanda said.
"Vendetta, Parker should have eliminated Fisk and taken this cities criminal element by force, he was smart and strong, he could have become the Magneto of New York" Pietro explained.
"A bit too dramatic Pietro, although it certainly is a question to ask, what if Peter Parker had killed the Kingpin?"
The two siblings held one another close. They'd been getting rid of Fisk's thugs and armoured super villains for two hours. In their eyes, they deserved a break. Fighting had broken off between the costumed and super powered throughout hell's kitchen. Danvers and squadrons of agents were clearing out the civilians and setting up a cordon. Cap and Black Panther guided Foggy Nelson to a S.H.I.E.L.D jeep and then took to the streets to clean it up. The Punisher was sniping criminals on the rooftops and the mutant designate Black Cat was pulling would be rioters off the street. She beat and scratched them within inches of their lives, giving major overtime for paramedics and ambulances.
"Let us back into our homes, why are you keeping us away?" A brown haired teenage civilian asked.
"All of you stand back, I am acting under orders from director general Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D." Agent Carter said.
"And what's that supposed to be?"
"Yeah wasn't Fury the one who brought the Liberators to America?" Another civilian asked.
They were all angry, that much Sharon didn't need her training to know. The people they kept out of hells kitchen were crowded around the quarantine zone, yelling curses and abuse at the agents. Police had broken up a few riots and volunteers were convincing some smaller less extreme street gangs to help. Sam Wilson flew over the area, landing on a rooftop where the female Vision android waited. She crossed her arms, moonlight reflecting from her gold armour.
"It never ceases to amaze me how idiotic some people can be" Wilson said.
"There assessments are correct, Fury's error in judgements did lead to an attack by a foreign power" Vision said.
Sam merely shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at the scene before them. Danvers and her men had their work cut out for them. The brown haired civilian that had spoken up to Carter skulked off into the alleyway. He slammed his fist against the wall in a show of unsuppressed anger.
"Great, just when I finally get my own apartment this crap happens" The man said as he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a red crystal and held it to his chest. Suddenly, the crystal sunk into his chest. The brown haired man grinded his teeth together as the crystal imbedded itself in his skin. Inside his body, tendrils on the crystal pierced his heart, forming roots like a plant. He put hand to his head and suppressed the urge to scream as black armour crept across his body. Grey shoulder pads appeared while clawed gauntlet latched onto his right hand. Steel wings formed underneath his armpits while a helmet covered his head. The helmet had a grey cross-shaped plate over it, with a slit for a glowing red visor.
"Time to see what's going on" The armoured man said as he flexed his fingers and flew out of the alley.
General Fury went over the report sent to him by Carter. Things weren't going well in Hells kitchen and more and more squadrons of antiriot crews were being sent out. The Triskelion only had a quarter of its staff remaining and with cutbacks to the budget that wasn't a long list of agents. But in truth there weren't a long list of enemies for the defence organisation, so an attack was unlikely. Or so Fury thought, he never expected the alarms to suddenly blare throughout the base. Downing his scotch, Fury pressed the call button for the lab.
"Stark get the public Thunderbolts out now" Fury said.
Gregory Stark drank his water and walked over to the Thunderbolt's quarters. After their failure in stopping the Scarlet Spider, Gregory took the liberty of upgrading the Thunderbolts. Jenkins now wore the faster and sleeker Mach 2 armour complete with more silver armour and a pair of stingray style wings. He'd given devices to Songbird that would allow her to better control her sound constructs as well as an amplifier for her sonic scream. Tinkerer/Fixer had been heavily upgraded, cybernetic arms and muscle enhancements and a number of more deadly gadgets. Gregory had his biologists pump Atlas with a modified super soldier serum to give him super strength to go with his size enhancement. However only Moonstone wouldn't take any upgrades.
"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve Stark so there's no need for you to screw with my body, although to be fair it'll probably the only action you'll get for a while" Moonstone said, throwing her hair back as she walked out of her shadowed cell.
Her naked body was soon covered by the white and gold costume. A figure sitting in a glass tube laughed at her comment. He turned the page of a book he was reading, one of many that had been piled up in his "room".
"What the hell is that? And why is he wearing a Spider-man costume?" Atlas asked.
"Don't talk to it, a few conversations and it'll drive you suicidal" Gregory said.
"Its not my fault your lackeys cant take a joke" The Spider said.
"Come on people, let's get going" Mach 2 said.
Suddenly an explosion ripped a hole through the lab, throwing some of the scientists back. Gregory dived for cover as a heavily mutated spider-clone leapt into the lab. It sprayed acid at the Thunderbolt's, melting a shield Fixer had made. Songbird unleashed her sonic scream, throwing the spider-creature back. Moonstone fired blasts of energy from her hands as what looked like giant spiders jumped into the lab. The spiders were of a varying shapes and sizes, but whatever their species they all had one thing in common. Their rapid nature drove them to attack anything in their way. One eyed Gregory Stark as he crawled out of his hiding place.
"Oh shit" Gregory said as the eight-legged creature stampeded towards him.
Mach 2 fired his wrist cannons, blowing two holes through the creature's side.
"Thunderbolts take these freaks out of the lab" He said.
The human spider creature let out a series of clicks and grunts, seemingly communicating with his gigantic brethren. They all reacted to his orders and fired webs from their mouths. Some scientists were caught by the webbing and pulled into the giant spider's mouths. The spider mutant then fired its own organic webbing from its wrists and mouth, wrapping Moonstone in a cocoon. Songbird created pink sound constructs, using a pair of wings and multiple arms to lift some of the spiders off of the ground. Mach 2 then flew straight towards the leader of the pack, slamming against it and flying them both out of the lab.
"Engaging mini spider slayers" Fixer said.
He threw several metal orbs at the floor and the orbs folded and shaped themselves into miniture versions of the spider slayers. They fired their arm blasters at the creatures whilst Fixer fired a cannon attacher to his shoulder. Atlas, still in his regular size ran forward and punched a creature so hard that its head burst. Then Songbird began throwing the other creatures out of the lab, bombarding others with sound spikes. Moonstone changed her body to a ghost like form as she phased out of the cocoon. As soon as she returned to flesh she began firing blasts at the other creatures.
"A bunch of giant spiders, they had to have come up with something better than this" Eric said cockily.
A pair of red and blue arms suddenly burst out of the wall, grabbing Atlas's neck. He was pulled out of the lab and thrown across the corridor, smacking his shoulder into a corner wall. Atlas got up off the floor and braced himself as a bulky red and blue man tackled him against the wall.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Atlas asked.
"Call me Spider-cide" The bruiser said, smiling as he punched Atlas out of the building.
Explosions shook the Triskelion and the bodies of agents were thrown across the floor. A lone super human in combat fatigues walked across the Triskelion's hanger bay. He had a well tone chest but blood running across it from the three vicious letters carved across it. Raising his arm, he changed his purple hand into a cannon, firing a blast into a sentry tower. As the tower came crashing down, he changed the arm into several tentacles and picked up several wounded agents. He snapped ones neck and pulled the others closer towards him.
"Whoever doesn't tell me what I want to know will be killed in action" He read the letters off his chest and awaited their answer.
When the three men hesitated he impaled them on the tentacles before walking on. He swung his constantly mutating arm forward, blowing off chunks of the wall with an incredible hammer. Then the hammer switched to a three-barrelled laser blaster as spider slayers walked towards him. Three blasts tore the robots apart before KIA resumed his rampage. Gregory Stark ran out of the labs main chamber and into the surgery unit.
"Activate him, activate Nerd Hulk now" He said to the surgeons frantically.
On the operating table was a clone of the Hulk that had just been completed. It had been given the title Nerd for a reason as it got out of bed.
"Could someone get me a suit, I don't see the point of walking around in my underwear" Nerd Hulk said.
Gregory slapped his forehead, ignoring a chunk of the wall that had blown off. Fury put on a bulletproof vest and began clipping weapons on as the base shook around him. Putting an M-16 onto his back, Fury tapped on his computer. Bringing up security footage, he watched as KIA shot a giant marine in the head and then sliced apart some of the super soldiers with a glowing purple blade.
"Why does that guy look so familiar?" Fury wondered.
He ignored the curiosity and loaded a pair of submachine guns. After strapping them to his thighs he loaded a heavy machine gun and ran towards the exit of his office. Suddenly, a cylinder slammed through the window, crashing into the wall just inches from Fury. He rolled back and aimed his gun at the cylinder as it opened. Clicking the safety off, Fury took aim at the creatures piling out of the tube. They were small metallic spiders, hundreds and thousands of tarantula-sized robots. Fury pulled the trigger and unleashed a barrage of gunfire.
"Damn it" Fury said, rushing towards the window.
He jumped and crashed through the window. Scraping his bionic arm across the wall, Fury slowed his fall before landing on the ground stories away from his office. Agents rushed to his side as the robotic spiders began crawling out of the building. They fired their guns, destroying some of the robots. But there were thousands of the machines crawling across the building. Fury fired his machine gun, but began typing in a few phone numbers. He stopped firing his guns and focused on calling some special reinforcements.
Logan had been drinking to one of the most confusing missions he had ever been on. The power that Jean had showed had been amazing. One-moment piles of mutants had been murdered to bring back a mutant warlord and then BOOM! Jean changes into this Phoenix entity and wipes the floor with Apocalypse and erases all the damage he had done. It turned out that Xavier hadn't really died; Wolverine's future counterpart Cable had abducted him to train him to fight Apocalypse. When Apocalypse returned so did Xavier. However even Xavier's increased powers were no good against the "first of the mutants". When all seemed lost Jean transformed into the living embodiment of the Phoenix, just as Lilandra had predicted. She defeated Apocalypse and reversed all the damage that had been done so that no one would remember the incident. Jean now sat with Scott and the others as if it was a normal day.
But Logan smelt the fear everyone felt, it had been one so many people had when he'd been around before. They were afraid of the possibility that Jean might turn on them, even Scott was afraid. Kitty was back at the mansion and the "Spider-man revenge squad" had been split up for good. Kitty continually asked Jean and Xavier to read Fury's mind and see if he had anything to do with Peter's death. But continually the two telepaths denied her requests. And time and time again Kitty would storm up to her room and threaten to leave. Xavier made it abundantly clear that he couldn't play god like that, but he never threatened to expel her.
"Why did you tell everyone at Midtown that you were kicked out?" Bobby always asked.
"I bet it was because she was embarrassed at saying "I left because I was scared and angry"" Angel said.
"Da, she was probably thinking of taking a cat like costume so she wouldn't be connected to the X-men all the time" Piotr said.
The table laughed while Kitty pouted. Slowly but surely she was recovering from the death of a man she had loved. Logan opened up another beer and began to down it as the phone rang. He continued to drink ignoring the ringing. Storm walked into the room, her arms linked with Beasts. It also turned out that Hank hadn't died; he'd been healed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and kept there to find a cure for a super soldier serum turned virus. Storm shook her head and picked up the phone.
"Hello, Xavier Institute how may I help you?" Ororo asked.
"Say that in a sexier voice" Hank said, kissing his girlfriend's neck.
Storm giggled, causing Fury to shake his head on the other side.
"Listen I'm probably interrupting something so could you just turn me over to the Professor" Fury said.
"Professor, Fury wants us to do him a favour"
Logan and Hank laughed while Fury huffed, they all knew he was calling to ask for help. Xavier rolled into the room, taking the phone and pressing it against his ear.
"General Fury, what did you want us to do?" Xavier asked.
"You've seen the news haven't you Xavier, there's chaos in hells kitchen, but the tabloids haven't revealed that the Triskelion is currently under attack" Fury said.
"And what does this have to do with my students?"
"We need assistance here Xavier, there are super human prisoners as well as dangerous experiments that could threaten everyone in New York if they got loose, I'm asking you for help so don't enjoy it too much" Fury explained. "And wipe the smile of your face"
"I'm not smiling General" Xavier lied.
"So what's it going to be, risk the lives of everyone in New York or going back to enjoying day time TV whilst cracking jokes about me"
"Don't worry General, the X-men are on their way" Xavier said before he hung up the phone.
He rolled into the common room, ready to deliver the news to his students before Cyclops stepped in his way.
"Professor, is going to the Triskelion really right?" Scott asked.
"Please speak your mind Scott" Xavier said.
"I'm concerned about sending Jean out, its only been a week since she returned, shouldn't we be more concerned about letting her recover"
"Whatever she experienced is best left for time to heal Scott, right now there are lives at steak and we can do something to help"
"But is it right for us to help, Fury's actions attracted the likes of the Liberators and he had that mess with Spider-man plus the time Essex escaped, now hear me out Professor I think its better for the school if we stay out of the super hero game" Scott explained.
"Well your point does have its merits, why do you think we should stay out of it?" Xavier asked.
"If we join S.H.I.E.L.D then we're putting a band influence on mutants"
"We aren't joining S.H.I.E.L.D Scott, we're helping to save lives that are in danger, now get the team together and I'll prepare the jet"
"You're coming with us?" Scott asked.
"Yes, I'll be piloting the jet and will be available for quick pick ups, though Phoenix undid the repair of my spine I can still help my X-men" Xavier explained.
"All right professor, you've made a good case, I'll get the team ready" Scott said.
Kitty looked at the report on Queens with a heavy heart. She knew that Peter's family was in danger but she also knew what had happened the last time she tried to help peter. It was something she never mentioned to her friends but she'd gone to Peter's house to find it trashed. Then she saw a sight that bought shock to her face, her boyfriend was kissing his ex. She was depressed, then angry and then the mess with Wolverine's future self happened and that was the final straw for her. But now the x-men were officially back and she was now a part of it.
"All right team, get your gear on, we're going to the Triskelion" Scott said.
Scott was a natural at military leading but Kitty agreed when everyone said he had failed when Xavier had "died". Instead of helping mutants in trouble he opted to instead turn the safe house into an official school. But now the X-men were back to their usual business, with an added member in Pyro. The young man had opted to stay at the mansion and join the X-men. Getting their uniforms on, the X-men rushed to the X-jet.
"I cant believe we're actually going to the Triskelion" Iceman said.
"Ya, far better than vhat ve planned for the night" Nightcrawler said.
Cyclops sat next to Xavier and went through the jets launch sequence. Kitty leant her head against the window, thinking of this life she had just re-entered. She knew that if Peter had still been alive then she wouldn't have rejoined the X-men. But right now she was presented with both an opportunity to save some lives and find out whether S.H.I.E.L.D had a hand in Peter's death.
Citizen V kicked Whirlwind's body to the floor and wiped the blood stained blade with his cape. Spider-woman and Hobgoblin got up and looked at the flag based hero in shock. He pointed his sword at Constrictor and Eel before he rushed forward. Radioactive man fired a blast at V, but he slid to a halt and deflected the beam with his sword. Eel gathered electricity into his left hand, eagerly marching towards Citizen V. Jessica suddenly wrapped a web line around Eel's hand, pulling his hand aside. The electrical blast flew into a neighbour's car, setting off every electrical device. The car exploded in a cloud of fire and V slammed his foot into Eel's face.
"You think you can stop me with just a sword, I'll rip you to pieces" Constrictor said.
He swung his coils around, but much to his shock he felt something tug on the wires. Harry grabbed the coils from behind Constrictor and threw him over his shoulder. Constrictor was sent flying head first onto the bonnet of a car. Citizen V twirled his cutlass with his finger as he moved towards Radioactive man.
"You know what this is, it's the moment we kick your assess" Harry said as he grabbed Constrictors head.
Constrictor wrapped his tentacles around Harry's arms, passing electricity into his body. Hobgoblin grinded his teeth together and growled as Constrictor pushed him to his knees. Harry grabbed the coils and smiled as he began to heat the coils. Constrictor widened his eyes as his coils began to melt. Harry broke the melting coils and clothes lined Constrictor, throwing him into a web Jessica made.
"Damn it, who the hell are you?" Radioactive man asked Citizen V.
His answer came in the form of a boot knocking his front teeth out. Citizen V sheathed his sword and jumped onto his flight platform. He offered a hand to Spider-woman, and the girl reluctantly looked to the Parker house. May and Mary Jane were looking out at the three super humans. Mary continued to grip her shaking hand while May nodded to Jessica. Spider-woman looked up at V and stepped back.
"Sorry, but I'm where I need to be" She said.
V simply nodded his head before hovering into the air. Harry's muscles deflated and his skin returned to normal. Ambulances began to arrive on the scene just as Citizen V left.
Iron man slammed into Shockwave, dragging him across the rooftop while Shang-Chi and Moon Knight recovered from the shock. The two armoured men flew into the air and above the city itself. Moon Knight looked at where they had once floated and huffed, fighting battles like this wasn't what he had in mind when he took up the costume. Shang-Chi was still shocked from the experience; he was just an ordinary man after all. Moon Knight grabbed the Chinese boy and swung off the rooftop.
"The ultimate test of marksmanship" Bulls eye grinned as he threw a volley of kunai at Hawkeye.
The two men ran across the rooftops, firing and throwing projectiles at one another. Hawkeye knocked back and arrow and fired it at Bulls eye. The assassin split the arrow in half with a shuriken, which brushed past Hawkeye's shoulder. Grabbing knives from his belt, Hawkeye threw the blades at Bulls eye. Ducking, Bulls eye narrowly dodged the blades and deflected another volley of knives with a kunai he held. He drew three more Kunai and threw them into the arrows Hawkeye fired. The projectiles clashed together and fell harmlessly to the ground below.
"I haven't been all out like this in ages, this'll be fun" Bulls eye said.
"Likewise" Hawkeye grinned behind his mask.
Elektra and Daredevil grabbed each other's arms and threw one another around the alleyway. They fell onto a pile of bin bags, their faces inches from touching.
"Elektra you must realise that the Kingpin's days are numbered, he can't escape from the Ultimates" Daredevil said.
"Your right Matt, at this rate I'll have to find another employer" Elektra said.
They still glared at one another but their grips weakened. Suddenly, they slammed their lips together. Daredevil ran a hand over Elektra's hair and she gripped his mask so tightly that it tore. She tore the mask from his head, scratching his head as he sniffed her neck.
"The Kingpin's time is over" Elektra said.
Daredevil stepped away from Elektra, his ears detecting snarling and his nose smelling the scent of dogs and lizards. Elektra turned to the alleyway, twirling her blades in her hand as she looked at the spliced humans waiting for them. They were humans spliced with the DNA of wolfs and lizards. Moon Knight and Shang-Chi ran into similar creatures as they landed on the streets. Dr Strange limped through the alleyways, nursing his stumps. He stopped in his tracks as he came face to face with another threat to his life.
"Oh my god, it can't be you" The Sorcerer Supreme said.
"Oh but it is dear Steven, what better time for me to strike than the moment that the city you protect is in chaos, but I think I can add a little bit more to it don't you?" The man asked.
He had white hair and wrinkles across his face, yet he was still an accomplished sorcerer. His green cloak rested on his shoulders, covering his green uniform.
"Baron Mordo" Strange said.
"Yes Strange, and I must say your father would be extremely ashamed of how far you've fallen, Furor!"
A mist seeped from his hands and flew over hells kitchen. Black Panther and Captain America were guiding people out of their homes when the mist passed over them. The eyes of the civilians suddenly changed a red colour. They put their hands to their heads and began to scream. Elektra fell to her knees, clutching her head as he eyes glowed red.
"Elektra" Daredevil said, touching her shoulder.
He smelt something different about the air, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Shang-Chi also clutched his head, yelling out as rage built up inside him. Moon Knight looked at his ally in confusion whilst fighting off the wolf mutants. Carol Danvers and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tried as hard as they could to fight the rage building up inside them. But the already frustrated crowd had no problem in letting their anger out.
"THEY'RE KEEPING US OUT OF OUR HOMES! FIRST SHIELD PROVOKES THE LIBERATORS AND NOW THEY'RE TRULY PLAYING FACISTS!" One man screamed.
Captain America pushed several angry mobsters back as they crowded around him and Black Panther. T'Challa popped out his knuckle claws while Cap stood his ground.
"Careful T'Challa we don't want to hurt them" Cap said.
If T'Challa could talk he would probably say something along the lines of "what about us"? Valkyrie watched in shock as she saw citizens attacking one another on the streets. Punisher yelled as he fired at the criminals he hunted. His eyes shined a red colour and blazed like the guns he carried. Black Cat put her hand to her head, cushioning it from the impact of a brick. She jumped on the wall, climbing up as the enraged citizens began tearing off pipes and car doors for weapons.
"What the hell is going on?" Valkyrie asked.
"There is magic at work here my love" Thor said.
The god of thunder raised his hammer, ready to unleash lightning on the brainwashed civilians if he had to. Suddenly, a black armoured man slammed into his side. Valkyrie drew her sword, slamming it into the man's glider wing. The man fired a blast from the diamond on his chest, knocking Valkyrie back.
"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY LOVE!" Thor yelled.
"WAIT!" The armoured man yelled.
"You attack us and then tell us to wait, how dare you!"
"You looked as if you were going to attack the people down there, listen to me, you said that there was magic at work here, could you locate the source of this magic somehow?" The armoured man asked.
"Verily" Thor said.
"What?"
"He says yes" Valkyrie said, slapping her forehead at her boyfriend's speech.
"Aye, I could track the source of this vile magic, but what of those mortals affected by it?" Thor asked.
"I'll keep them from killing themselves as best I can"
"Very well, warrior what is thy name?"
"Excuse me?"
"He's asking for your name" Valkyrie groaned.
"Call me…Dark hawk!"
Thor nodded his head before taking to the skies. Dark Hawk flexed his fingers and clicked his neck before diving into the chaos.
Kingpin swung his cane at Michael, whom ducked underneath the swing. Then the Scarlet Spider slammed his fist into the Kingpin's gut, digging it in until he heard his ribs crack. Fisk fell to the floor, coughing before Michael applied a kick to his face. The overweight man was sent rolling across the floor, slamming into the wall.
"That was me pulling my punches, Peter could have snapped your neck with just one punch if he didn't hold back his anger, but I'm not holding back today Fisk, you use assassins and plots because your too much of a coward to anger a man like me…so you go after my loved ones thinking that it'll break me, well guess what Fisk YOU'VE ONLY PISSED ME OFF!" Scarlet Spider yelled.
"You think that I would just let you come in here without a back up plan?" Fisk asked.
"Shut up!" Michael growled.
"I prepared for every possibility"
"Shut your mouth"
"I'm the Kingpin, I control every criminal in the…"
CRACK!
Michael slammed his fist into Fisk's jaw, pushing it out of place. Fisk groaned in agony as Michael picked him up off the floor. He slammed the fat man against the glass the window he used to look over the city. Pulling his fist back, Michael glared at Kingpin and prepared to administer the final blow.
"Gro on Dro it!" Kingpin spat, his voice obscured by his broken jaw.
The Scarlet Spider pulled his fist back further and yelled before throwing it forward.
Next Chapter 11: "My life"
Next Chapter, the Scarlet Spider finally deals with the Kingpin