Chapter 5: The Shot Heard Around the World

A/N: this is it. The end of the first arc of Peter's attempt at being a Superior Spider-Man. So far, he's defeated the Sinister Six, Electro, and Vulture, but now he must deal with a being who he's only encountered once, yet it still haunts him: Massacre. A man with no regard for any form of life, and last time Peter was able to get away, mentally if not physically, unscathed. But believe me when I say this: Peter Parker will never be the same after this.

Horizon Labs

Max, Bella, Sajani, Juergen, Uatu, Chief Pratchett, and Captain Watanabe were all standing outside Peter's lab. He had called them all down here, though no one knew why. "How much longer is your boy going to be, Modell?" Pratchett asked. "I've got a press conference in one hour."

"Be patient, chief." Max said. "I've learned by now that when it comes to Peter Parker, you can't rush genius."

"Why thank you Max." Peter said as he and Grady stepped out of Peter's lab. "I'm flattered, but I think I've kept you waiting long enough. Chief, you remember that old robot Spider-Man sent over a few weeks ago?"

"Not really. I've had a lot on my plate lately." Chief Pratchett said.

'Yeah right. More like busy kissing up to the mayor.' Yuri thought. 'He's a good chief, but he lacks a backbone when it comes to the mayor.'

"Well, the day after Spider-Man defeated the Sinister Six here at Horizon, I got an idea. The Living Brain is an old, worn out robot that's attacked my old high school. Twice. So that got me thinking: if they could reprogram the Living Brain for evil, couldn't we reprogram to be helpful?"

"So Pete called me, and for the past few weeks, we've been giving it a makeover." Grady said.

"So without further ado, I introduce Living Brain 2.0!" Peter said, and out of his lab stepped the living brain, now sporting a blue paint job. "Living Brain 2.0 has one purpose and one purpose only: assist Horizon in any way it can."

"Does that include any illegal activities?" Yuri asked.

"That's one of the improvements we made in it's programming: instituting the Three Laws of Robotics." Grady said. "1. Do no harm to humans. 2. Obey any instructions given by a human unless it goes against rule one. 3. It must avoid its demise at any cost, unless it goes against the first two rules. We also added a fourth one: do not commit any illegal activities."

"If it violates any of these rules, failsafes we installed in its power core will deactivate it." Peter said. "Living Brain 2.0 will be used to transport heavy equipment, enter less than hospitable environments, handle dangerous materials, and assist the Horizon Team with their experiments should they need it. Of course, we'd need your permission, Chief and Captain."

"Well, I don't see any harm. Better it be put to use rather than collect dust in the evidence locker." Chief Pratchett said. "Captain? This is in your jurisdiction."

"Go ahead." Captain Watanabe said. "One of my best detectives trusts mr. Parker, and I trust her judgement."

"Thank you, Captain." Peter said, and Captain Watanabe and Chief Pratchett bid them farewell as they left. "What was that Chief Pratchett said about a press conference."

"You haven't heard?" Uatu asked. "It's been all over the news all day."

"I had a late night, and slept in this morning. Didn't have time to check the news." Peter explained.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear about it." Bella said. "It's all anyone on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even MySpace are talking about."

"What happened last night?" Peter asked.

"Last night, there was a power outage at Ravencroft Asylum, followed by a breakout." Max said. "But there was only one escapee, and who this escapee was has got the whole city scared."

"Who was it?" Peter asked, though he already knew the answer in his gut.

"Marcus Lyman, or as we know him, 'the Walking Massacre.'" Juergen said, confirming Peter's fears. "He killed Dr. Kafka and a guard, before making his get away and shooting up a Burger Town."

"Dead god." Peter said. One hour later, the whole team was watching Pratchett's press conference. "We need to do something to catch him." Peter said.

"Like what?" Grady asked, and Peter tapped his chin.

"Uatu, can you make a software patch for the Spider-Bots I made for Spider-Man a few weeks ago using the Suspect Identification App?" Peter asked.

"Well, yeah, but that much power in one guy's hands?" Uatu asked. "I trust Spider-Man as much as you do, but we're talking about giving him the ability to practically stalk criminals."

"This is only a temporary thing. As soon as Massacre's behind bars again, we'll remove it from the software." Peter said. 'Is this my fault? In our first encounter, I saved Massacre from being shot down by the NYPD. But because I did, he was able to break out, and now Dr. Kafka and innocent people are dead because of it.'

"Pete? You still in there?" Uatu said, snapping Peter out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, just thinking about a few things." Peter said. "We should get to work."

Phizzy Cola Offices

Miranda Pullman ignored her ringing phone, looking at the TV. According to the news, Massacre had entered a Burger Town last night, and shot up the place, killing everyone inside. Which meant that her job as Phizzy Cola's Manager just got a lot harder. "This is a damn mess…why did that nut have to pick a Burger Town?"

"Honestly? It was the closest place I could find. And I needed to send a message." A voice said, and out stepped Massacre.

"A-a m-message? T-to w-w-who?" Miranda asked.

"Spider-Man of course." Massacre said. "He broke the rules by showing up in that bulletproof suit of his. Now, I'm gonna make him pay."

"W-w-w-w-why are y-you here?" Miranda asked.

"Because I have an offer for you." Massacre said. "I understand that as manager of Phizzy Cola, part of your job is protecting Phizzy Cola's public image. So, for 12 million dollars, I'll keep killing, but I'll do it wearing your competitor's logo. You're literally buying bad press for them. Does that sound good?" Miranda looked at his cold, lifeless eyes, and then at his arm mounted minigun.

'Dear god, what the Bugle said is true! I can see it in his eyes: he'll kill me if I refuse. God forgive me.' She thought. "Alright. D-do it." Massacre nodded.

"Thank you for your business." Massacre said, before disappearing into the shadows.

The Next Day

Peter sat in class, half listening to Lamaze's lecture on how transdimensional travel works. 'Massacre is still out there, and I'm here sitting in class. I should be out there looking for that psychopath!' Peter thought. 'I've been trying to be a Superior Spider-Man, but I'm just sitting on my ass while that nut job is running around loose!'

"You ok slim?" Anna Maria whispered, noticing how Peter's fists clenched.

"Yeah, just got a lot on my plate right now." Peter whispered back.

"…and that concludes our lesson for today." Lamaze said. "Please read page 235 in your textbook by the next class." As the entire class got up, Anna Maria walked with Peter.

"So when's a good time for you to come by tomorrow?" Anna Maria asked.

"Well, I've got a little…side project going on at Horizon." Peter said. "I'll let you know when I'm available by tonight."

"Alright. See ya around, mr. P." Anna Maria said, and walked off just as Peter's phone let off a 'Thwip' sound.

'That's the ringtone for my spider-bots!' Peter thought as he took out his phone. 'They must have located Massacre. Let's see, he's-oh god no.' He quickly dialed a number. "Chief Pratchett, this is Spider-Man. I've found Massacre. Send backup to Grand Central Station ASAP!"

Grand Central Station

Spider-Man swung down next to Captain Watanabe, Carlie, Chief Pratchett, and JJJ. "What's the situation in there?" Spider-Man asked.

"At least six hostages, and there are two off-duty officers among them. We sent in a SWAT team, but…" Pratchett said, and there was a solemn moment of silence.

"Alright. Stand by, and give me a few minutes." Spider-Man said.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jameson yelled. "There are children in there!"

"So you remember what happened last time Massacre showed up Flattop?" Spider-Man said. "He had another group of hostages set to blow as insurance. If I go in there right now, he'll blow them up. And I swear to God, I'm not letting that happen." He looked around, the lenses in his mask showing him radio waves, until he found what he was looking for. He followed the signal until he arrived at a bottling plant, entering it and seeing several hostages tied to bombs.

"Spider-Man!" One of them said.

"That's my name. Don't wear it out." Spider-Man said, and quickly covered the explosives in webbing. "This is magnetic webbing designed to block out the signal for Massacre's detonator. I've already signaled the police, and they'll be here shortly with the bomb squad." Relieved breaths filed the air, and one woman even called him a godsend.

Back at Grand Central Station, Carlie, Pratchett, Yuri, and Jonah kept their eyes on the doors. "I see." Pratchett said into a radio. "Fall back, and get the press out of here." He put away his radio. "That was the bomb squad. They said Massacre wired the doors with enough explosives to level the block."

"What do we do now?" Carlie said.

"Now?" Jonah said. "We wait for Spider-Man to do whatever he can."

Spider-Man looked over the situation from a window that have him a clear view of the area. 'Six hostages, a dead SWAT team…this is a damn mess.' Spidey thought. 'I need to end this fast!' He thought, and crashed though the window, quickly covering the hostages in magnetic webbing.

"Spider-Man. Pleasant to see you again." Massacre said.

"I'd be flattered if I didn't know that was complete bull." Spider-Man said. "The crazy train stops here, Massacre."

"Indeed it does. For you." Massacre began firing his mini gun at Spider-Man, who danced around the bullets with his usual acrobatic skill.

"What's wrong Massacre? Finding I'm harder to hit than last time?" Spider-Man said as he used his webs to rip the minigun off of Massacre's arm. Massacre promptly took out his modified assault rifle, and began firing grenades at Spider-Man.

"Doesn't matter. You have to slow down eventually, and you don't have that bulletproof suit this time." Massacre said as he fired at Spider-Man.

"Don't need it this time. See, last time I didn't have my Spider Sense, so you were able to get in a lucky shot." Spider-Man said as he created a web shield around the hostages to shield them from the bullets. "But this time, I've got my spider sense, and that means you're in for a world of hurt!" Spider-Man used his webbing to jam the barrel of Massacre's gun, and he tossed it away as he took out a pistol and some sort of cylinder.

"That's what I'm counting on." Massacre said, and pressed a button on the cylinder. Instantly, Spider-Man felt like his head was vibrating like crazy, suddenly aware of every car, every explosive, every gun trained on the door, and every person who wished him harm, and he dropped to ground.

"What…did you…do?" Spider-Man groaned out, unable to think clearly. Massacre aimed the pistol and shot Spider-Man in the knee, causing the wall crawler to scream in pain as he clutched his wounded leg.

"What do you know, it really worked." Massacre said, before the device sparked, and the only thing Spider-Man could feel was the pain in his knee. Massacre shot Spider-Man in the shoulder, knocking him on his back.

"How…" Spider-Man groaned as he attempted to crawl away, and Massacre began walking over to him.

"Spider sense enhancer. Worked exactly like he said it would." Massacre said as Spider-Man continued to crawl away. Spider-Man extended his hand, and felt his fingers wrap around something cold, but he couldn't tell what through the mind-numbing pain in his leg and shoulder. Massacre stood above Spidey, his eyes showing what looked some form of excitement as a grin broke out on his face. "So this is what excitement feels like. It's so amazing! It's been so long I forgot what it felt like. All it took was killing you." Massacre said, and began to raise his gun.

Peter saw the events that unfolded next in slow motion. Massacre began to raise his gun, and Spider-Man closed his hands around the object, turned to face Massacre, brought it around, aimed at his head, and pulled the trigger. Massacre' face was one of shock, blood running down his face from the bullet hole in his head, before he collapsed. The next few hours were a blur: the NYPD coming in, Carlie asking if he was alright, paramedics loading him in an ambulance, the drive to the hospital, the resident surgeon telling everyone that his mask stays on as they began operating on Slider-Man. It was only when Captain Watanabe arrived to take his statement when Peter spoke, only saying one thing, one people never thought they'd hear from him: "I killed him."

Next Time: Troubled Mind Part 1: No Laughing Matter