Issue 8: Maximum Spider
Spider-Island, New York
Madam Web waved a hand, conjuring up a mystical web for Doctor Strange and his team. This time he brought along Shadow, Weiss, Wolverine, Fox, Scarlet Spider, Pichu, Robin, Pit, Zelda, Tails, and Mega Man. "I recall you requesting my aid, Doctor Strange," she said, remembering an earlier conversation before they arrived.
Strange nodded, "I did. Ever since the Cabal blocked us off from our worlds, it has become harder to use my magic to its full potential, even with all the magic users in our team, it's still not enough to track them or permanently break the dimensional barrier that plagues us."
Kaine crossed his arms, "So you thought the psychic spider lady could help?"
"I can see the reasoning. Madam Web possesses a psychic gift that may surpass even the Ancient One," Weiss explained, "Together maybe they can find where the Cabal are."
Shadow crossed his arms, "It's worth a shot I suppose."
Madam Web raised her palms and prepared a psychic check with Strange. She pursed her lips, and her face scrunched up a bit, clearly worried about something. "What is it?" Tails asked.
"I sense… something getting close. An army," Gwen revealed.
Strange hummed, "Hm, I detect that too. Stay on your guard, Champions."
Bursting through the windows of the Daily Bugle was an army of giant spider-like creatures, wearing unique spider-gear. Kaine revealed his stingers, "Oh great… Tarantulas…"
Pichu ran behind Tails' leg, the fox patting the small mouse's head for comfort, "It's okay little guy, you can stay back."
Weiss held out Myrtenaster and said, "Make sure it doesn't reach Strange and Web."
Shadow adjusted his ring cuffs while saying, "As if I intend to let them pass me."
Creating a glyph, Weiss dashed forward, creating an ice trail, launching a Tarantula into the air. Robin cast Elwind to propel himself upwards, striking the spider monster with a quick thunder spell, "This should hold the beast still!" he proclaimed.
Wolverine raised his claws and stabbed the monster right through the back and flung it aside with little effort, "Thanks for the openin', kid. Better keep puttin' the book to good use."
"I will, Wolverine," Robin replied.
Zelda summoned a Phantom to shield herself from an oncoming Tarantula, lowering that defense in order to use Din's Fire to burn the monster, "What are these?!" she asked in shock, striking the beast with Phantom Slash.
Driving his stingers through another monster, Scarlet Spider answered, "Tarantulas… Artificially created spider monsters. They're made by the Jackal… should've known that the bastard would exist here…"
"Oh so that's what you meant when you mentioned Tarantulas," Pit commented, using a Buster Arm to uppercut one of the monsters.
"I-It's not him…" Madame Web revealed.
Mega Man was tackled by a Tarantula, swiftly activating Guts Arm in order to throw it back before it could pierce through his metal flesh. He asked, "Then who's behind this?"
"Another force, one we the Spider-Guild have faced before…" Gwen answered, trying to keep focus on the tracking spell.
Shadow used Chaos Control to briefly hold a Tarantula down, punching it with enough force to send it flying once his move ceased, "Then whoever they are, we will put them down with ease." he assured them, getting smacked by a Tarantula's arm, causing him to slide on the floor to get his bearings, "You'll pay for that…" he skated towards the monster and gained enough energy to boost right through it, tossing the monster into the air.
Shooting a web-line at it, Kaine yanked the Tarantula down, giving Weiss a chance to forge an ice barrier around it, leaving it trapped for Zelda to appear behind it and release Din's Fire once more, burning the beast.
Another Tarantula appeared and lashed out at Tails, swiping the fox with an arm, "Ah!" Tails screamed, hitting a wall. The fox gritted his teeth and performed a Spin Jump, smacking the monster in the jaw.
"Are you alright, Tails?" Robin asked.
"I'm fine… Got hit by worse before," Tails assured his ally.
Weiss deflected a Tarantula's arm with her rapier, able to match the monster's speed with each precise movement. She spun around the monster elegantly and used more Dust to propel the Tarantula in front of her directly to Wolverine's claws, who stabbed the monster, "Got a team name for that move?" he quipped.
Weiss rolled her eyes, "Don't bet on it."
"It seems there's one more," Mega Man pointed out.
"Leave it to me," Kaine grunted, tackling the Tarantula. He pinned down the monster, and started punching it repeatedly, "Where. Is. Warren?!" he snarled, all his pent up rage coming out at that moment.
Strange's eyes widened and he ceased his spell, collapsing to his knees and holding his head, "It's really not him… it's someone else…" he muttered out, raising his head, feeling something or someone mess with his mind.
Kaine gritted his teeth, "Then who?!"
"...The Spider-Queen," Madame Web.
"Who?" Mega Man wondered.
"She's… on the roof. Confront her at once," Gwen suggested.
"Got it! What about you, Doc?" Tails asked.
Strange stood up, shaking his head, "I shall aid you, she is too much of a threat to leave alone."
Kaine shot a web-line at the ceiling and flipped to the wall outside, crawling his way up. The others followed through their own means and arrived, seeing a woman clad in black and yellow, a purple hood over her, "Ah. I see you got my signal," she darkly joked.
"The hell do you want?" Scarlet Spider asked.
The Spider-Queen smirked, "I had heard that the Spider-Totem's Champions were here. With you…" she put a finger on Kaine's chest, "I merely wish to reforge the Spider-Guild in my name, a connection to the Web of Life… with you as my mate."
"Gross…" Tails gagged.
Kaine sneered, "Spoken for, find another Spider to bother."
"Oh please, I sense your inner Spider. It's just begging to be released," Spider-Queen teased him, her finger glowing.
Fox aimed his blaster right at her, "Make one wrong move, and I won't hesitate to shoot."
"Hmph," huffed Spider-Queen, "A mere trinket? That's the best you can muster?"
"No," replied Weiss, entrapping the Spider-Queen in ice. Kaine simply stabbed her with his stingers, clearly angry.
"I don't take too kindly to anyone pulling the mating card," Kaine sneered, driving his wrist blades further into the Queen.
Tails covered Pichu's eyes, keeping him from seeing the sight, "Don't wanna see this, little guy," he told the Pokémon.
The Spider-Queen laughed and simply removed the stingers from her body, breaking free from the ice, "As I said… childish," she mocked the heroes, shooting a series of web lines at the heroes, "But… I already accounted for this, and brought in some help~"
Something tackles Kaine, surprising the Scarlet Spider. His lenses widened once he saw who attacked him, it was a red-clad Spider wearing a blue hoodie with a spider logo on it, "...Ben?" muttered Kaine in shock.
The first Scarlet Spider was silent, choosing to punch him in the face. Fox shot him in the back to get his attention, "Hey! Try fighting me instead!" the pilot ordered the brainwashed clone.
Ben lunged after Fox, but he dashed forward, going right past the original Scarlet Spider. The clone turned his head, angered. Kaine dive-kicked his brother and held him down, "The hell did she do to you?!"
"I sense a unique aura on him, she claimed control of him!" Strange revealed, creating a barrier to hold back the Spider-Queen's magic.
"Of course! Had to please the Cabal somehow!" Spider-Queen revealed.
Shadow pulled her by the hood, saying, "Another pawn to the Cabal. Pathetic," he mocked, flipping her over his shoulder.
Robin used Arc Thunder to stun the possessive Spider, causing her to shake on the floor as lightning struck her body, "All yours, Zelda!" he told the Princess.
"Thanks, Robin!" Zelda replied, summoning a Phantom to slash the Spider-Queen, using Farore's Wind to propel herself up and stomp on the Queen's stomach, making her plummet to the ground.
Tails grabbed Wolverine's wrist and the two flew in the air, the fox spinning the X-Man around, "Whirlwind Special, bub!" snarled Wolverine, getting launched down claws first and stabbed the incapacitated Spider-Queen, lifting her body with his claws and throwing her with ease, "I know that didn't kill ya," he kicked her while she rolled on the floor, catching her off guard.
"Fool…" coughed Spider-Queen, standing up and striking Wolverine, pushing him back. Tails went ahead and slammed his namesakes down, "What can a child do against me, hm?" she taunted Tails, using her palm to make him stagger as well.
Tails held his chest, "This child can do more than you can ever expect. Like so…" he charged a Spin-Dash and bounced off the Spider-Queen, flipping in the air and catching Weiss' hand, the two of them spinning around. When Weiss' rapier reached Spider-Queen, she activated the Dust inside it and sent a beam of ice her way, launching her across the roof, "Yes! I told you that would work!" the fox cheered.
Weiss grinned, "Guess you did."
"Get the hell off me, Reilly!" yelled Kaine, kicking his clone brother back, causing him to land on his back. The new Scarlet Spider kicked him while he was done and lifted him up by the hood, slamming him back on the ground face first, "For once, I actually hated doing that…" he admitted, noticing his brother come back for another hit.
Shadow gave Ben a right hook, muttering, "You're holding back. That's unlike you."
Kaine used a web ball to block the original Scarlet Spider's eyes, "Damn right. I can't hurt the guy, he's the reason why I even tolerated putting on the costume."
"He's not the man you know," Shadow reminded him, using his hover boots to strengthen a kick in his direction, "Now is not the time for hesitation."
"Grr…" Scarlet Spider growled, punching his alternate predecessor in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. He picked up Ben and threw him down, Weiss using a glyph to keep the brainwashed clone still while everyone else fought the Spider-Queen.
Spider-Queen laughed, casually swiping aside a spell from Doctor Strange, "Ha! He'll be back up soon and he will finish you-"
"PICHU!"
"Wha-" Spider-Queen stammered, suddenly taking a headbutt from a flying Pichu, who had enough of the fight. The little mouse Pokémon landed, clearly worn out and bruised from using so much power in one attack.
"Never knew the small fry had it in 'em." Wolverine commented.
Tails picked up Pichu, "Nice work, Pichu! Now rest up, it looks like that attack took a lot out of you," he suggested, earning a nod from Pichu.
Zelda and Robin combined magics in order to keep Spider-Queen dazed and weakened enough for Kaine to walk forward and drive his stingers into her again, this time the sharpened wrist blades were exposed through her back, revealing he was done holding back, "...That's for using Ben…" he muttered darkly to the Queen, dropping her body.
The Spider-Queen coughed, mumbling out a few more words, "...One last resort… Go… My Swarm…" she threw an egg down, shattering it and revealing an army of spiders instantly.
"Disgusting..." Weiss gagged at the sight.
The small spiders began to move around, taking on a humanoid form, "Swarm?!" Kaine grunted, "Of freaking course…"
"Is he a spider person…?" Mega Man wondered, trying to configure a weapon.
"He is. No idea how to beat this guy," Scarlet Spider admitted.
"...Uh… maybe I can help?" Ben muttered, back to his senses, "...Who are you supposed to be?"
"Long story," Kaine said to his brother, asking Weiss to remove the Glyph and quickly help him up, "Swarm one of your foes?"
Ben rubbed his head, "You could say that."
"Any suggestions, Reilly?" Shadow questioned.
"We can find a way to dismantle his form," the original Scarlet Spider commented, unaware Swarm took a Cosmic Emerald from Spider-Queen's body, exerting a powerful aura that surprises even Strange, "...Or he could do that… Great."
"She had an emerald with her this whole time? Weird," Pit said, shooting an arrow at Swarm, it going right past it due to his body morphing to make a hole, "...Oh crud." Pit gulped, getting grabbed by Swarm and thrown off the building.
"I'll get him!" Weiss said, using a glyph to wind boost after the angel. She grabbed his wrist and moved Myrtenaster and boosted herself back up to the roof with ease, holding Pit all the while, "Are you okay?"
Pit nodded, dusting himself off, "Yeah I'm good. Thanks for the save… Wish I could fly…" he whispered in disappointment.
Mega Man assured him, "You don't need that to be on the team, Pit. You got your weapons, shall we use them together?"
"You bet!" Pit pumped a fist.
Swarm tried to attack Pit and Mega Man, the former using Shield Orbitals while the latter used Leaf Shield. Once Swarm's attack ended, the heroes reflected their shields and hurt the spider creature, following up with a staff and Flame Sword combo that shrunk the Swarm down a tad.
"It's working… Hm…" Strange muttered.
"What is it, Doctor?" Weiss asked.
"Perhaps with just a small boost, I can conjure a rift that could hold Swarm, giving us time to end the Cabal's terror," the Sorcerer Supreme explained.
Weiss opened her palm, revealing a small glyph, "Then allow me to help."
Shadow nodded, seeing the display, saying, "Buy them time!"
"Right!" Tails nodded.
Swarm used the Cosmic Emerald in its possession to spit out a laser from its 'mouth', moving so the beam crossed the entire roof. Fox used his Spark shield to cover himself from the attack. He then dashed forward and performed a spin-kick to the Swarm, knocking out a few spiders from its merged body, "I think this is working! We just have to wear down the body!"
"Easier said than done!" Pit shouted, ducking underneath a Chaos Spear.
"Interesting, it seems to understand the power it possesses. No matter," Shadow deduced, using a Chaos Spear of his own to stun Swarm.
"Here goes!" Zelda used Din's Fire to strike the spider creatures, successfully burning more of the spiders off its form. She looked to Strange and Weiss, saying, "I have a small trick!"
"Then you may join!" Strange told her.
Swarm moved erratically, suddenly flying into the air. Ben looked at Kaine, saying, "Hey bro, wanna teach him a lesson?"
"How'd you know…?" Kaine whispered.
"I could tell by your voice, you definitely had Kaine's tone and attitude. Not like I care, I heard what you said earlier, if you're here I know you went legit," the first Scarlet Spider assured his successor.
Kaine smiled under his mask, "Appreciated, Ben. Now let's kick this spider's ass."
The Scarlet Spiders jumped after the Swarm. Ben punched the creature, knocking a few spiders off its body. Kaine stabbed the beast with his stingers, doing more damage. The clones successfully managed to kick the Swarm down together, landing on its body in unison. Unfortunately it used the Cosmic Emerald to shield itself from collapsing completely. Kaine used a web to nab the emerald from its possession, weakening it.
Using its arms, Swarm pinned down the Scarlet Spiders and took the emerald back. "Beast! Take this!" Robin yelled, using Arc Thunder to stun the Swarm.
Tails ran and started spinning his namesakes, causing more spiders to fly off the being's body due to the wind pushing the creature's form, "Come on…" the fox muttered, hoping someone would follow up.
And luckily, it happened, Shadow used his hover skates to push the monster back and burn more spiders, giving Pit an opening to take the emerald from its possession. He handed the emerald to Fox, who ran and handed it to Zelda, aware of what her plan was.
"Thanks!"
"It's time!" Weiss shouted, the three mages covered in light. Strange held down the Swarm while Weiss attacked it with her own spells and Robin used Nosferatu to drain its power.
"This is the end, Swarm!" Zelda shouted, summoning a hard light Triforce that enveloped the Swarm into a makeshift rift enhanced by the Cosmic Emerald. She closed the Triforce, leaving Swarm in a separate void of existence.
"Quick thinking on your part, Princess," Strange complimented.
"Thanks. I was surprised it still worked despite what the Cabal did," Zelda admitted.
"And we have a Cosmic Emerald. The Cabal's getting sloppy already it seems," Shadow quipped.
Wolverine shrugged, "Whatever makes our job easier."
Ben smiled, removing his mask, "You did good, bro."
"Heh, well I kinda had to," Kaine replied.
'Strange. Do you hear me?' asked Madam Web in Doctor Strange's head.
'I do Madame Web, what is the matter?' Strange asked.
'I used what we could during your conflict with the Spider-Queen. Even with our combined magic… I was unable to track the Cabal. They are invisible to even me. I am sorry.' Gwen apologized solemnly.
'Tis alright, Madame Web. Perhaps the Cabal will lead us to them eventually, we already have gained one Cosmic Emerald.' Strange explained, 'We intend to tell the others to prepare as well, as these will bring us trouble in the enemies' hands.'
Madame Web replied, 'Do as you must, Stephen.'
Strange nodded, the psychic link ceasing, "Weiss, call Spider-Man. We must warn his team that our enemies are using the emeralds."
Activating a hologram, Weiss called Peter, who answered immediately, "Oh hey, Weiss. Long time no see."
"That's my line!" Sonic said far away.
The heiress sighed at their bickering, "Look I'm gonna make this quick, the Cabal's using the Cosmic Emeralds to make themselves stronger."
"Oh we know. Bowser and King K. Rool tried it on us. It didn't work." Spider-Man revealed.
Shadow raised an eye ridge, "Another attack? Strange… The Cabal is working fast. Too fast for my liking."
"Agreed, Shadow. Though now I see why Spidey split us up." Fox agreed, "So that means we have another emerald?"
"Yep. Two down it seems." Peter said.
Ben chimed in, waving, "Hey, Pete."
"Ben?! Oh right, Battleworld." Peter gasped then realized the situation.
Ben chuckled, "Kaine and I kicked Swarm's butt, it was pretty cool," he said.
"Of course Swarm was there…" Peter shook his head, "Running into you is pretty cool. You and Kaine getting along?"
"Perfectly!" quipped Ben, putting an arm around his brother.
"Yeah yeah…" Kaine muttered.
"All that aside, Spider-Man. Is there anything else that we in particular should know?" Strange asked.
"Well we're heading to the Ancient Once. He mentioned that someone was messing with the sorcerers, the kid and I have a good guess on who's behind it. We'll let you know if we get another emerald out of it," Spider-Man explained to the others.
"Hm. Sounds like a familiar gig," Wolverine commented.
"Then best of luck Spider-Man. We shall return to the Chimera and figure a place to hide our emeralds," Strange revealed.
Peter nodded, "Sounds like a plan. See you all when we get back. And Ben? Keep being you," he said before signing off.
Weiss said, "So we have an emerald. I suppose the Cabal's going to think it'll work on us."
Mega Man shrugged, "It won't work. I'm not sure how this Cabal's supposed to work, but I just have a bad feeling we're missing something."
Shadow crossed his arms, "Whatever it is, we can discuss it back at the base."
"Right. Let us depart." Strange agreed.
Ben waved to the Champions, wishing them luck on their adventure. With the Cabal showing themselves more and more, the Champions' fight grows longer.
MJR Here: Another fight done. I probably could've done better at some points, but next chapter is looking to be a big one. not much to say here other than a Ben Reilly cameo, I considered Steel Spider, but felt the original Scarlet Spider would fit better as a nod to the original Spider-Island.
Next Time: Into the Labyrinth! The Master of Illusion!