"Oh my God..."
Peter stared wide eyed at the scene in front of him. All of Coney Island was taken over by the Sandman, who was using his powers to completely cover the carnival area with his sand. Giant, sandy hands were covering the area, attacking the screaming civilians around them, as the place was falling into absolute chaos.
"No no no no..." Peter muttered to himself, as the teenager was trying to keep his balance on the shaky pier. He started to run out of sight, and when he was sure no one saw him, he started taking off his clothes, to reveal his costume underneath. He quickly put his mask on, and hooked up his web shooters, as he jumped on top of a food stand to get a better view of the situation.
Sandman was laughing maniacally, as he was high above everything else around. He paid no attention to the web head, too distracted by his own power to even care. Peter looked up at the villain, feeling completely insignificant. He needed to come up with a plan.
After a moment, Spider-Man figured out the only obvious thing he could do. He pulled out his communication card, and quickly pressed the button.
"Hello?" Cap's voice rang from the other end.
"Cap!" Spidey yelled, a little panicked. "I need backup at Coney Island! That Sandman guy is here!" He stopped talking as he noticed a boardwalk game fly over his head, and crashing to the ground behind him. "And I don't think he likes carnivals!"
"Copy that. Stark and I will be there soon."
The card turned off, and Peter put it back in his pocket.
"Ahem!"
The wall crawler looked up, to see Marko staring down at him, with malicious eyes, and a wicked smile on his face. "Ah crap..."
"Hey Spidey-Man!" Sandman mockingly bellowed, his voice slightly distorted by his newfound power.
"Marko, what are you doing?!" Peter asked.
"What do ya mean? I thought it was pretty obvious!"
"It looks like you're trying to be a desert," Peter commented.
"I'm more powerful than ever!" Sandman bragged. "You're nothing but a bug to me now! Everyone is just a bug to me now!"
"Flint, listen to me. You got too much sand in you, and it's messing with your mind. How about you just calm down before anyone gets-"
"The only person who's gonna get hurt, is you!" Marko cried, as sand tendrils started popping up around Peter, who jumped out of the way as they started whipping at him, his spider sense blaring. He kicked and punched at them, breaking them apart, but not hurting Sandman at all.
"Come on Sandy!" Peter yelled. "You can't just send tentacles after people! It makes them feel uncomfortable!"
"How bout we try somethin' else then!?" Sandman yelled, as the tendrils disappeared. The sand around Peter then started forming together in several places, as misshapen sand monsters started appearing around him. With distorted moans, they started walking towards Spidey, who stared with wide lenses at them.
"Sand zombies?" He said aloud. "Am I really about to fight sand zombies? Can my life be anymore ridiculous?"
The monsters lunged at Peter, who threw hard punches at them, trying to break them apart. A few exploded into clouds of sand, but more and more started to form. Eventually, Peter was overrun, as they started to grab him, and dog piled on top of him. Sand covered all of his senses, as he screamed out in fear.
"Sorry boys," Iron Man said, as he quickly flew through the giant pile of sand, grabbing Spider-Man and flying out with the teenager in his arms. "But this one's mine."
Peter coughed slightly, getting the sand out of his mouth. "Yours? I'm my own Spider-Man, thank you."
"My intern, my property," Tony sarcastically dismissed, as he landed on the ground, dropping Peter while he did. Spidey looked around, to see Captain America redirecting scared citizens.
After a few moments, the living legend walked up to the others, a serious look on his face. "Spider-Man, tell us everything you know about this enhanced."
Spidey nodded. "His name's Flint Marko, calls himself Sandman. It looks like he's been absorbing sand into his body, which is why he's the size of the Statue of Liberty. He's making these hands and-"
Steve threw his shield, having it hit at least two sand monsters, before the shield bounced back to Cap.
"Sand zombies," Peter finished. "It doesn't look like destroying them hurts him."
Steve nodded. "Alright, then our first order of business is civilian detail. We need to get everybody out of here now."
Iron Man looked around. "JARVIS, scan for weaknesses."
"Will do, sir," the AI said.
A light post nearby was ripped apart by a large sandy hand, before it was thrown at the trio of heroes, who had to quickly dodge it.
"Also, call in for backup," Tony ordered.
"Yes sir," JARVIS obeyed. "I must warn you, ETA is at least twenty minutes."
Tony looked at Spider-Man and Captain America. "Any chance you guys can live for another twenty minutes?"
"Is that a trick question?" Peter questioned.
The three separated, as they worked to save the lives of the people stuck at the amusement park. Peter shot a web at a light post, swinging from it, and jumping off the pole of another light post, dodging hands and monster that were reaching for him.
His eyes landed on the bumper cars, which had multiple kids in the cars, with sand zombies surrounding them, trying to reach them as their parents watched in horror as they were blocked off by hands.
"Really? You have to try and ruin the bumper cars!?" Peter quipped, as he landed inside the bumper car area, earning the monsters' attention. "It's like the best part of Coney Island! If you really need to ruin something, how about the log ride?"
The monsters growled, as they charged at Peter, who jumped over them. "I mean, it's just a little pond with a log. Nothing special about it."
The monsters, five by Peter's count, roared at the same time. Spidey shot webs at them, making them go right past them, and connecting to an empty car. The webhead pulled, making the bumper car come towards him, and smashing the monsters apart.
Peter then ran towards the kids that were stuck, seeing their scared faces. "Hey guys," Peter gently greeted, "it's ok. I got the monsters. You're safe for now."
The kids, who looked like they were about to cry, stared at the hero with wide, thankful eyes.
"Come on," Peter told them, grabbing them and jumping out of the area, getting them to their parents.
"Thank you!" One of them, a mother, said. "Thank you so much!"
"Just get to safety!" Peter told them, as they ran off. He flinched when he heard the sound of an explosion behind him. He turned, to see a plume of smoke go into the air. "Tony..." he muttered to himself, as he swung away, trying to find someone else to save.
"We have helicopters at the scene, as it seems that a man with sand powers has taken over Coney Island. The man, who is reported to be felon Flint Marko, is holding the area hostage, with an estimated five hundred people still inside. Iron Man and Captain America are at the scene, trying to control it. We'll stay with this story as it develops."
Watching the news report on his flat screen television in his office, Norman Osborn tented his fingers, lost in thought. He stared intently at the screen.
"This could be a problem..." he said to himself.
"Argh!"
Captain America held his shield over his head, trying to protect himself and a young couple as a sand monster pounded on the weapon over and over. Steve eventually was able to overpower it, by jumping forward and crushing it with his shield. He then turned around to the two civilians he was defending.
"Get out of here!" He ordered. The two obeyed, as they left.
Meanwhile, Peter was swinging above Coney Island, as he searched for his friends, who he knew were still trapped there. He looked around, only seeing sand.
After a few moments, he heard a bloodcurdling scream. One that sounded familiar to him.
"Gwen!" He cried, as he quickly swung in the direction of the scream. He landed on a lamp post, to see her, Mary Jane, and Harry being surrounded by sand monsters. The monsters moved closer to the three, as the group of friends started tightening up.
Iron Man flew by next to Spider-Man, quickly surveying the scene. "Ready for a double play?"
"I'm ready for a non-sports metaphor," Peter quipped.
"Killstreak?"
"Better."
Peter jumped on the armored avenger's back, as the two barreled towards the group of sand zombies. Tony fired multiple repulsor beams at them, while Spidey jumped off and launched a couple of powerful kicks at the rest. The monsters fell to pieces, leaving the group safe for the time being.
Iron Man landed next to them, grabbing Mary Jane and Gwen. "Ladies," he greeted, before taking off again. Spidey grabbed Harry, and swung along next to the shellhead.
"Wait!" Gwen said. "Where's Peter?"
"Peter?" Iron Man asked, interested.
"Yeah, Parker?" Harry spoke up under Peter's arm, bitterly. "Your intern?"
"Oh, right," Tony smoothly stated. "We already got him out, don't worry."
Mary Jane sighed in relief. "Good..."
The blonde of the group smiled. "Any chance you can tell him that Gwen said hi?"
Iron Man looked over at the swinging teenager next to him. "Gwen?" He asked, knowingly, as Peter inwardly screamed. "Sure, if I see him, I'll tell him Gwen said hi."
The heroes made their way to the edge of the carnival, and released the three friends. "Stay safe," Spidey told them, before the two jumped back into the fray. They saw Cap redirecting more citizens, while fighting off sand hands and monsters.
The two joined him, as they started fighting alongside him, throwing punches, kicks, laser beams, and everything in between. They were able to fight the sand creatures off, but they were slowly becoming overrun.
"When is that backup coming!?" Peter asked.
As if in answer to his question, a Quinjet flew high overhead, and started hovering above the scene. The towering Sandman saw, and tried to swipe at it, only for the jet to dodge and fire a large laser beam at him, making Marko scream in annoyance, and having him shrink slightly in size.
"I think it came," Tony quipped, as the jet's doors opened, and several people came out of it. Spider-Man recognized Hawkeye and Black Widow, but not the others that followed them. A man in a grey Iron Man suit, with a minigun on its shoulder, a woman wearing a bright red coat, and what looked like a man with red skin, wearing a green suit and a yellow cape.
"Spider-Man," Captain America started, as the group of people started coming towards them. "Meet the New Avengers."
War Machine landed next to Iron Man, having his faceplate open up. "Tony, any chance the next time we hang out, it isn't because some freak is tearing the city apart?"
Tony opened up his faceplate. "No promises. Rhodey, this is Spider-Man," Iron man introduced. "Spidey, War Machine."
"Hello," Peter greeted. "Can we get introduced to each other after we stop the living beach?"
The faceplates came down for both men. "Sure, but I want to give you the quick version, so you know who's trying to save your life at the moment. So, War Machine, my best friend who stole one of my suits."
"Borrowed," the corporal corrected.
"Scarlet Witch, a genetic weirdo with strange powers."
"I'm getting a little tired of the 'weird' comments," Scarlet Witch stated, in her European accent.
"Too bad, it's called newbie hazing. That's the Vision, a, for lack of a better term, artificial android."
"A pleasure," it calmly greeted.
"And..." Tony sighed. "Where's Scott?"
As if on cue, a man wearing a metal helmet, and a black and red body suit grew out of seemingly nowhere, making Peter jump slightly in surprise. The man then put his finger behind his helmet, opening it up to show his face.
"Spider-Man!?" Ant-Man excitedly said. "Holy crap, I think you're awesome! I saw you fight Otto Octavius on the news that one time, and-"
"Scott," Tony exasperatedly sighed. "Where were you?"
"Uh, flying on an ant," he stated, matter-of-factly. "It takes a while sometimes."
"He controls ants?" Spider-Man asked.
"He controls ants," Tony confirmed.
"It's way more useful than it sounds," Scott defended. "That being said, did you really expect me to fight a giant sand guy?"
"No," Steve said. "We're getting all civilians out of the area. We've already vacated the south. Lang, you and Black Widow take the east side."
"Can do," Scott stated, closing his helmet and shrinking. He landed on an ant, as he and Black Widow took off. "Any chance you're going to be nice to me this time?"
"Nope," the former Russian spy answered, as they left.
"Barton," Cap continued. "You and Maximoff, head to the west."
"Yes, Captain," Wanda nodded, as she and the stoic archer left.
"Stark, Rhodes, Vision, you three take to the air, see if there's any stragglers, and try to find a way to take Sandman down."
"Sure, give us the hard part," the billionaire complained, as the three launched themselves into the air, and zoomed off.
"So, what am I suppose to do?" The webhead asked.
"You, are hanging with me," Steve told him with a smile, as he started to jog away.
Peter watched after him. "Don't geek out, don't geek out, don't geek out," he told himself, as he swung after the first avenger, ready to stop the Sandman.