Avenging Justice 2:

Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday

Part XII

Battleworld

Human Torch dodged an ice spear, thrown by a very angry woman with a bluish tint to her hair, and dressed in an outfit of icy blues. The next he exploded with a well placed fireball, below water sprayed down like tiny rain. Just as he is about to attack again, a wave of something hit him hard, and his flames almost went out.

He had just a second to see a scaly hand reaching out for him, and he threw a quick jab. Killer Croc howled, and swatted the now flaming man with his other hand. Though feeling the burn, the limb hit and Johnny found it hard to breathe. Coming at him was a man with four mechanical arms, one of Spidey's foes, Doctor Octopus.

Try as he might, he couldn't bring the flames, he needed to concentrate, but his mind was stuck on trying to breathe still. A frozen piece of ice came in as well, a coordinated attack to either hold him place or push him towards the other villain. He just needed a few more seconds, but it wasn't meant to be.

Both attacks hit an invisible barrier and fell away. Behind Johnny came the lumbering running stomps of the Thing. Overhead Mr. Fantastic's elongated form surged forward, arms doing that creepy stringy thing. Meanwhile the invisible barrier meant only one thing, and he didn't need to look behind him to see Sue, his sister, and known as the Invisible Woman. Finally able to take a breath, he jumped forward and flames sprouted all around him.

"It's clobberin' time!" Ben yelled as he brought his orange fists down where Dr. Octopus had been. The villain's mechanical arms, quickly moving him out of the way.

Johnny taking aim at Killer Croc, made the reptilian man thing dance, as he sent flame after flame at him. Meanwhile Killer Frost found herself stuck in an ever shrinking dome of invisible energy. King Shark took that moment to break through his hiding place, slamming into Ben Grimm. Meanwhile Reed locked up Dr. Octopus with his stretch powers.

With the Fantastic Four tied up, momentarily, Bullseye took his shot. Aiming a long range sniper rifle, he had Human Torch in his sights. The trigger pull was smooth, and the bullet left the muzzle, its velocity racing towards its intended target. With all the factors taken in, this special bullet should have ended one of the Fantastic Four, but when you have a Merc with a Mouth on the field, nothing is for sure.

"Bud, you didn't think the writer was going to kill one of those beloved characters just yet, did you?" Deadpool asked Bullseye, as the bullet entered his chest. It ricocheted off two of his ribs, instantly breaking them, and exited. "Owie, that hurt. Really, Bullseye, you know you're only here because people love seeing Daredevil beat you senseless, right? Now, how about we do this the easy way, and I won't slice and dice ya?"

In response Bullseye, shot the merc several more times, ripping holes in him, but never stopping Deadpool. Two shuriken flew from Deadpool's hands, one landed near Bullseye, the other he caught, only slicing his hand slightly. He returned it to Deadpool, right between the eyes.

"That was so Cool!" Deadpool said right as the shuriken buried into his head. "Alright buster, no more mister nice mercenary. Prepare to have a rectal exam, the hard way!"

One slash was diverted by Bullseye rifle. The stab that followed nearly took out the assassin's kidney, but instead left Bullseye with a nice little laceration. The assassin rammed his rifled into Deadpool's chest and fired point blank. Gore and costume went flying, as a massive hole erupted in the Merc with the Mouth.

Deadpool slammed his head into Bullseye's face, "I can't die moron, all you're doing is pissing me off!"

Before any more damage could be done, the two fighters were pulled apart. Two Dr. Doom's instantly went after Deadpool, while a man in yellow took Bullseye away. It didn't take Deadpool long to deal with his attackers, as two quick stabs made each one spark. Smiling, he pulled out his phone to take a selfie with his latest kills, when they exploded.

"Damnit, Doom! You owe me a new phone!" Deadpool's nearly charred beyond recognition body yelled.

Spider-Man swung in, going after the man in yellow. He shot out a strand of webbing, and then his Spider-Sense went into overdrive. Letting the strand of webbing fall away, he shot another out to change his direction. Moving just in time, a series of yellow daggers just missed him. If he had stayed on the chase, they would have impaled him. Well, this guy was no fun!

Changing direction again, Spider-Man continued the chase. Following the arc all the way down, he held out even as the primitive part of his mind said to release. As a result, just inches off the ground, he came up in just the right spot, and he fired another strand of webbing. With a thwick, the webbing latched onto the man in yellow.

Sinestro felt the pressure, turned and cut the webbing with a yellow blade. This one was persistent. A little brash, but he had taught many a young hero the folly of that character trait. Dropping Bullseye, he rocketed towards the red and blue covered hero.

"You're out of your league, but let me give you lesson," Sinestro growled.

Spider-Man laughed, "Do you know how many times someone has told me that? Like I need to be reminded that a friendly neighborhood Spider-…Hey! That's rude!"

Spider-Man had to let go of his web strand, and then pull himself towards the ground quickly. Two massive mallets smashed together where he had been. He leapt up towards the yellow clad man, only to see a massive yellow palm smack him back into the ground. He pushed as hard as he could, with the yellow hand slowly trying to crush him like a bug.

"Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words," Sinestro said, forming a giant needle to stab Spider-Man. "Fear will rob you both of your wits and willpower, I wield such power."

Spider-Man pushed with all his might, his Spider-Sense warning him of immediate danger. He managed to move the giant hand just enough, that he rolled out from underneath it. The giant needle missed him, but his costume was starting to look a little tattered. Thinking quickly, he shot out two stands of webbing, and then yanked.

The massive boulder behind Sinestro rocketed, and the villain got a shield up, but that cut his concentration for the other constructs. He turned just as Spider-Man was nearly on top of him. A pulse of pure yellow energy threw the hero back, and then a rapid succession of yellow blasts his Spider-Man. He fell to the ground, hurting, costume definitely in tatters and barely concealing his face.

"You're intelligent," Sinestro smiled. "You've got Will in you, and you're creative. You could go far, if you'd just see the world as it is. The only way to protect your world, is to be a strong leader. They must fear you, to respect you."

Spider-Man managed his feet, "You're wrong. With great power, comes great responsibility. We have a responsibility to use our power for others, not to rule them."

"Too bad, you had potential," Sinestro raised his ring.

Beneath his tattered mask, Spider-Man smiled, "By the way, say hello to my new friend, Static."

Sinestro had a millisecond to comprehend as a massive electrical charge shot through him. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, with Bullseye having beaten a retreat long ago. Left behind, Sinestro would now be captured by the heroes, or at least that was the plan. However, he disappeared as the sky cleared, and everyone found themselves back at the starting villages.

"You, okay?" Static asked as he floated down on his metal disc. "Looked like you took some hard hits."

"Just another day in the life of your…ow…Friendly…ow, Neighborhood Spider-Man," he responded. "Know where a guy can take a vacation, for a week, month?"

"Can't help you there," Static offered his hand. "I bet the healers here will get you all patched up. Now we just need to find a way off this planet."

Spider-Man agreed, and surprisingly Mr. Fantastic had also brought him in on the discussion of how to do this. He was honored, and very much overwhelmed. Then again, anyone working with Reed Richards was going to feel overwhelmed. One of the top minds on the planet, his daydreams could end up changing the world, revolutionizing it. Between him and Tony Stark, Peter really did expect war drive before he became an old man.

That would be if he reached old age. The recent battle reminded him of the other part of what he did. Thanks to his great power, he spent more time trying to balance that and a normal life. Which became hard when injuries as Spider-Man carried over into Peter Parker's life. If only he was rich, with waitstaff, living in a large building. Then he could come and go as he pleased, and maybe have what he needed for his dual life. Yeah, that would be great! Too bad reality kept smacking him back down.

"You know buddy, I saw a costume machine in the building over there," Deadpool said as he casually strolled by. Beneath his own tattered suit, newly healed flesh showed. It was heavily tumor riddled flesh, but that was normal for Deadpool.

Peter felt the day catch up to him, "Thanks, I'll check it out."

If there was a place to make new costumes, maybe there's be some chemicals to whip up some more webbing for his web shooters. So, he made his way, the grinding feel of his ribs rubbing against each other, slowly worked its way out. By the time he had reached the facility, he was almost walking normal.

Thanks to the glass like material of the facility, he could see how bad he looked. A good portion, if not most of his face was exposed. His torso was covered by mere strands of fabric, and he'd lost a bootie somewhere along the way. Any more successes like today, and he'd be incredibly nude Spider-Man. That would be no good for his public image, and Jameson would probably spin it to where he was corrupting New York's youth.

"Nope, can't let J.J. have anything else he can say bad about me," Peter said mostly to himself. "Let's see what costumes we have here."

Pressing the commands on the machine, he went through several different sets. None really piqued his interest. Most were heavily armored or came with weapons. With his powerset, he needed something sleeker, allowing him to remain agile. Though for a brief moment he wondered what Rhino would do, if he ever showed up in his own Spider-Mech, ready to throw down.

Eventually he found it. A black suit, sleek and made of material that would allow him to move around. As if reading his mind, a white spider symbol started to spread from the center chest, with the legs wrapping around his sides, to another white spider symbol on the back. In place of his webbed look, this was just inky black, and it made the white eyes stand out more. Yes, he could make it work, besides, he wasn't going to find another tailor, well wherever they were.

Punching up the commands to "release," he watched the costume come out. The translations on the machine must be a little off, as some of the other translations on this world had been. They probably meant "vend" or "craft." Either way, the new costume was soon in his hands.

The material felt wonderful, cool and yet it seemed to flow around him. There was no pinching or riding, it was as if the costume was customed ordered for him, down to the molecular level. Peter tested it out, going through a series of motions, and it was as if he wasn't wearing anything at all. Even better, webs came out, as if his web shooters had been refilled automatically.

"Now all we have to do is beat the baddies and get back home," Peter said, thinking of himself and the other heroes. "Feels like I could do that right now all by myself."