The armored burning man slams his fists together as he growls. His hands erupts into flames, making Spider-Man back away a little. The agents take each side of the wide room and open fire at Molten Man. Molten Man glares as the bullets bounce off of his armor. Shane coughs before he gulps another lungful of air and fires several rounds from his sniper rifle at Molten Man's chest. Spider-Man calls Faye Lau through his mask as the agents shoot at Molten Man's armored suit.
"Are you seeing this, Commander?"
"Yes, who is that guy and what is he wearing?"
"Not sure if it's a new player or one of the Cleaners." Spider-Man replies. "
"You're saying he isn't one of your enemies?" Faye pauses on the coms. "Anyway, we cannot let it get near our agents or our work at the department store would have been for nothing."
"Yeah, I'm going to find a way to hurt him without burning myself." Spider-Man cuts the coms and glares back at Molten Man. "Hey, are you a Cleaner?"
"What kind of question is that?" Molten Man growls. "Anyways, it's good to see you Spider-Man."
"Wait, why me?" Spider-Man asks.
The armored fire man doesn't retort and lifts a jewelry display case before tossing it at the wall crawler. Spider-Man jumps to the side and slings the jewelry case back. It smacks Molten Man, making him wince and snarl. He quickly charges at Spider-Man and grabs him with one hand and slams him onto ground. Spider-Man coughs as Molten Man presses his foot down on his chest. His foot makes Spider-Man cry out in pain as he feels the heat rising from his boot.
"Seriously? You can light yourself on fire?" Spider-Man asks as he cries out. "Does it even hurt you?"
"No, but I'll cook you really quick." The armored fireman growls as he presses his burning foot down.
John quickly fires at Molten Man, hoping to bring him down. Shane switches to his sticky bomb launcher and fires a single round onto Molten Man's head before pressing the trigger, stunning him with a bright flash. Molten Man wobbles and steps off of Spider-Man in the blinding light.
"What is this stuff!?" Molten Man roars.
Spider-Man backs away before John shoots him with a first aid stimulus. He then back to shooting at Molten Man. Spider-Man fires a series of webs at the man on fire, however, the intense heat burns away the webs slowly. He snaps his arms free and stomps over to Spider-Man.
"Oh, come on! That usually works." Spider-Man says as he dodges another fireball. "Note to self, make my webs have a fireproof compound. Possibly the suit too."
"Doc, bullets aren't doing anything to the hot head over there." Shane shouts over to John before ducking down and retreating to a nearby store. The Doctor SHD agent turns around and glances at Shane searching through the store.
"Wait, where are you going?" John asks.
"This place has to have something that can slow him down." Shane shouts as he ducks behind the store.
John snaps his head around as Spidey is knocked back several feet by the burning man in the chrome suit. He clenches his fists and erupts into a blast of heat and flame. Then, he points his arm out at Spider-Man and shoots a streak of fire. John quickly throws a support station near Spider-Man's position as the flames reach to him. The support station heals Spider-Man of his wounds and protect him from the fire screaming over him.
Well, this isn't going well. Spider-Man coughs. Get up, Peter.
Spider-Man struggles to get up, making John run over to him as he points his weapon at Molten Man.
"Hey! Get away from him, freak!" He fires a few rounds at the monster.
Molten Man turns around and shoots a streak of scorching fire at John. John slides under the flames and ducks behind a turned table. He drops his attention from Spider-Man and focuses on the doctor. Spidey tries to shoot a web at Molten Man, but he slumps to the ground. He manages to mutter some words.
"Doctor Oxton… don't…" Spider-Man gets to his knees as the support station slowly heals his wounds. "I have to get the doctor out of here."
"You think your fancy box is going to save him?" Molten Man stomps to the Doctor. "I don't know who or what you are, but you should have left and saved yourself."
His thoughts are interrupted as something hits his head. He looks at the ground and sees its a fire extinguisher. Molten Man looks up at Shane aiming his rifle at his direction from the second floor. Then, he realizes what was going to happen. He tries to run out of the way, but it was too late as Shane squeezes the trigger as he aims for the canister. The fire extinguisher explodes, dampening the flames around him. Molten Man thrashes around in the white cloud.
"Ok, this is starting to piss me off!" Molten Man roars while coughing.
"You can take him on now, Spidey." John says as the doctor's healing box seals up his wounds and reenergizes the Spider.
Spider-Man picks himself up as Molten Man turns around and pulls his arm back, preparing to toss another fireball. However, nothing comes out. Molten Man tries again and again before he backs away as he tries to shake off the white foam. Spider-Man webs up the armored man before landing several punches to the stomach. Then, he fires a string of web to his feet and lands a running kick to the face. Molten Man rolls back to the wall. Spider-Man punches the face mask several times until it comes off. Mark breathes harshly and coughs as Spider-Man dangles him up in the air with his arms webbed to his back.
John and Shane step closer with their guns drawn as Spider-Man studies the man's face. Suddenly, he is hit with a flashback bringing him back to Midtown High. He recognizes the same pretty young face now all flaring in burning orange magma as Mark Allen.
Wait, Mark Allan? Spider-Man gasps quietly. What on earth happened to you?
"Well, we got him." Says Shane. "Commander Lau, what are we going to do with him?"
"No need to take him down. We need to know who this guy is and what are his intentions." Faye replies from the coms. "A SHIELD and JTF dispatch are on their way to collect him for the Raft."
"We can wait for them to arrive." John says on the coms out loud. "Hopefully SHIELD can hurry up so they can put him in a cell and throw away the key."
"No…" Molten Man growls as his body starts to heat up like a baking oven. "You're not locking me up!"
Suddenly, Molten Man's hands flare up and melts the webbing off of him. He drops down onto his feet with a thump. Shane quickly taps his watch as Molten Man stomps his way to Spider-Man. Suddenly, the alarms go off before water rains down from the water sprinklers onto Molten Man. Steam emits from Molten Man as he loses heat. The armored fireman makes a dash for the exit. Spider-Man slings himself over him and lands in front the store.
"Hey, where you are going?" Spider-Man sneers. "I just want to talk."
"Don't make this difficult for me." Molten Man punches Spider-Man to the side of the street and walks out into the cold. Spider-Man coughs and picks himself up.
"You're right, we don't even have to do this if you want." Spider-Man coughs a little as a black fist scorch mark is imprinted on his suit. "Why are you after me, anyway?"
"This isn't personal, Spider-Man. I have to do this, or my sister will die!"
"Well, I think it is personal considering you're trying to kill me." Spider-Man jumps up to the top a light post. "Mark, listen. If you give up right now, we can help you. The JTF has some doctors, even a group of people who can help."
"No! The JTF can't help me. They couldn't keep the city safe." Mark snaps as he melts the steel beam with his hand, making the light pole collapse. "No one but them can save my sister."
"Wait, them? The people who are suppling the Cleaners. Who is helping you?" Spider-Man leaps off and lands on the cold ground. "Otherwise, I'm going to beat it out of you."
"Enough of your questions! It's obvious I can't do what I must, yet..." Mark clenches his fist, building up more heat as parts of his suit melt away.
Then, he erupts into flame and magma before a black smoke surrounds him. Spider-Man leaps into the smoke but finds Mark has disappeared from the area. Shane and John step out into the open air with the tainted dollar bills intact. Spider-Man sighs as his target has left the area. He calls Faye Lau through his mask while coughing.
"Hate to inform you, Commander Lau, but he got away." Spider-Man says.
"This isn't good. We've got a dangerous super powered hostile on the loose." Faye replies with panic on the coms. Then, her tone shifts down to a calm state. "Sorry, getting myself worked up. We can track him down when we have the chance. What about the evidence Shane and John collected?"
"They are fine, in fact they helped me slow him down and the evidence is intact."
"Good. Get them back to base as soon as you can. Doctor Kandel will be happy that you have found samples of the dollar flu." Faye says before cutting of the coms.
Spider-Man turns around to John and Shane dusting themselves off of the ash. Shane wipes away the smog fogging up his sniper's lenses.
"It's a damn shame he got away." Shane turns his head to Spider-Man. "But it sure was intense. What do we do now? Want us to help you with capturing that hot head?"
"Doctor Kandel wants those samples back to the base." Spider-Man points out while raising his index finger up. "I'll see what I can do about Ma- I mean that man in the magma suit."
"Hmm, I agree." John pats Shane's back before turning to head down the street. "We'll see you later, hopefully.
John and Shane head down the street to return to base. Spider-Man checks the scorch mark on the sidewalk for any clues of where he disappeared off to. There wasn't a trace of Mark left on the sidewalk, not even footprints. Then, he gets a phone call from a random number. He presses a button on the side of his mask to answer it.
"Spider-Man, this is Benitez."
Spider-Man smiles under his mask, happy to hear from the former narcotics officer. It brought him back to better moments in life before the epidemic began. He lands on top of a light pole and quickly springs himself forward like a frog before continuing the conversation.
"What can I do for you, Captain?" Spider-Man leaps up into the air and starts swinging around, hoping to find Mark Allan.
"I need you to check the convoy carrying the bomb." Benitez replies. "We got a distress call before the coms went out."
"I'll hurry and check it out."
"Thank you, Spider-Man." The commander of the JTF cuts the coms, leaving Spider-Man swinging for the convoy.
-Minutes later-
Spider-Man reaches out to the place where the JTF were last seen transporting the defused bomb. He sees a horrific sight on the road. Two jeeps and a truck in the middle took heavy damage in scorch marks and a small group of JTF soldiers sprawled onto the ground. Spider-Man lands onto the cold pavement and reaches over to the truck. The flatbed is empty, making Spider-Man pacing around in a panic.
"Damn it!" Spider-Man curses to himself. "The bomb is gone. I need to report this to Faye Lau and Benitez."
He then hears footsteps approaching. Spider-Man snaps his head around to see a familiar agent wearing the black hoodie, grey and black camo snowpants, and a black scarf covering his face, Mars. He cradles an assault rifle before stopping in front of the truck. He bends down and checks on the vitals of the JTF. He looks back at Spider-Man and shook his head.
"Did the Cleaners carry out an ambush on the convoy to take the bomb back?" Spider-Man asks Mars.
"I feel that's unlikely. The Cleaners are crafty and have plenty of other ways to set the city on fire." Mars says while he crouches down to inspect the truck. "They would do just fine without a bomb, I've seen them in action."
"If that's the case, then I think we have made whoever is behind the bomb nervous." Spider-Man nods, accepting Mars's theory. Then, he starts talking out loud to himself "Does it connect with the fireman?"
"The fireman?" Mars repeats with a bit of confusion as he stops inspecting the truck.
"Right…" Spider-Man scratches the back of his head. "See, there was a man wearing some magma suit and shoots flames out of his hands like a flamethrower. I don't where he came from. I'm sure whoever he is, he's working for the same people who are suppling the Cleaners."
"You know where he ran off to?" Mars asks.
"No clue. He manage to disappear when I turned the tables on him."
"Don't worry. He'll be found before you know it." Mars gets up onto his feet and dusts the dirt off. "I have a theory they sent this living weapon after you while they took the bomb back. Now it's just a matter of finding this fireman in the middle of the city."
"It won't be hard, knowing he's after me." Spider-Man says.
"Well, you go find this fireman. Just remember not to get anyone else involved. We can't have our investigation get messy." Mars says before moving to leave. "I'll be seeing you."
"Hold on…" Spider-Man turns to face Mars. Spider-Man scratches the back of his head and coughs a little. "I get it that you're busy and can handle things alone, but this city is dangerous for anyone. What's your story? What's making you operate like a lone wolf."
"First off, I'm not alone. I've got people in high and low places." Spider-Man expects Mars to elaborate on that. Instead, Mars raises a finger before a second goes up. "Second, I'm doing this because, like you, this city needs help and we got to stick with each other in order to get through this. I may not be a superhero, but it's why I signed up to join the division. I was just a future trades broker up on Wall Street before I was activated as the first wave."
"Wait, your part of the first wave?" Spider-Man gasps. "Is that why you're acting alone?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I'm what's left of my team of three when we operated in the Dark Zone. I lost them when we tried to evacuate a group of civilians out of the Dark Zone when a group of Rikers ambushed us and set the civilians on fire. My team went down shortly after, leaving me as the sole survivor." Mars clenches his fists before Spider-Man rests a hand on his shoulder. Mars nodded, calming himself down, and finished his story. "Since that day, I operate from the shadows, helping anyone I can and making sure that day like that doesn't happen again. And seeing you back in action gave me hope on my mission."
"I'm sorry to hear about your team." Spider-Man looks away in silence. "Is there anyone in the first wave left?"
"Not that I know of." Mars replies before turning around to leave. "Anyways, it's been good catching up with you. I have places to be, people to rescue, and a city to save."
"I won't stop you." Spider-Man nods and lets Mars go on his separate way, disappearing into the nearby alley. He felt weird for prying into the man's past. However, he also feel a bond with Mars, a man who wants to keep fighting the good fight while losing his team and civilians in the process. It's like as if the man looked up to him. Spider-Man smiles under his mask and swings away in search of Molten Man.
-AIM-
Molten Man stands in the middle of the rooftop keeping an eye out for Spider-Man as he presses a button to signal AIM his location. It didn't take much to enter rooftop of apartment, just barge through the barricade with his newfound super strength. A few seconds later, a sound of thunder cracks before a blue portal opens up. Molten Man looks around before stepping through the portal back inside. Molten Man steps to the chamber in the R&D room and takes off the grey magma suit. As he takes it off, he can see not only his hands have changed, but his whole body. His heartbeat picks up before he lets out a scream.
Monica walks in in her lab coat with an eyebrow raised as Molten Man throws his magma suit to the side and stomps over to Monica. She reaches to her holster for her gun, a chemical crossbow to subdue any of her creations. She had thought of everything in advance.
"Mark, stop where you are and go back to the chamber!" Monica exclaims. "What are you doing out of your suit?"
"You better explain what you've done to me!" Mark snaps and steps back into the chamber. "How am I able to see my sister like this?"
"We changed your molecules into Magma, simple is that." Monica raises her hands. "We'll cross that bridge later. Did you kill Spider-Man?"
"No! I didn't!" Molten Man snapped. "He wasn't alone, exactly. He had people with him and used fancy gadgets to help Spider-Man and slow me down. They both had fancy watches."
"Fancy watches? Weird gadgets?" Monica raises a brow. "Tell me more."
Before Mark could say a word, the magma surrounding Mark's body disappears. Mark gasps as he looks at his hands, coming back to normal. Monica gently taps Mark's body a couple of times before scratching her head. Mark's body temperature has cooled down back to normal. Then, she groans and shakes her head.
"The effects of the serum were temporarily." Monica notes to herself. "We'll create a stronger and more potent version of the Molten Man serum. Now, tell me more about Spider-Man's friends with their weird tech."
-The Bar with No Name-
At the bar with no name, Tombstone kicks his feet up as he takes a sip of some cheap beer. The foul taste lingers in his mouth as he quickly swallows it. Then, he slams his cup down and looks at a man in a tailored suit and one wearing a weird rubber suit. The three of them were alone in their side of the bar. There were Rikers playing pool or enjoying some pinball. Electro and Hammerhead didn't look back at Tombstone with warmth in their eyes and kept their eyes on the table. Tombstone shrugs, not sure what to say.
"I don't know about you." Lincoln says. "But we're living like kings in our own kingdom. What's with the sour faces?"
Hammerhead looks up from his seat and scans the room before dropping his voice to a hush. "If you haven't noticed, but I'm not exactly ruling my city."
"It's our city." Electro snaps as he emphasized 'our' in his sentence. "The JTF can't touch us, even with Spider-Man around."
"That maybe. But I rather run with the crew in the Maggia than with a bunch of convicts. It's not my style."
Hammerhead closes his eyes as rage builds up. The Maggia aren't around taking control of New York as it is now, and he didn't join Rikers by choice. All it took to convince him to join the convict club was a box that contained photos of all the Maggia head bosses killed in various gruesome ways. Hammerhead may have an impenetrable skull, but there's more of Rikers than there is of Hammerhead and the boys in the Maggia crime family. At that moment, a Riker's shot caller turns his head.
"A great leader adapts to their team. Not the other way around." A convict by the name of Bullet King chimes in.
Hammerhead stands up from his seat. He was tempted to slam Bullet King's head against his steel armored skull. However, Electro's hands lets out some sparks as Tombstone grabs his bottle and smashes it into a sharp object. Hammerhead breathes once to calm himself down, realizing his situation. "Oh, shut up! You're just a convict with a lame gimmick!"
"The hammer is right." Tombstone nodded in agreement and puts the bottle down on the table. "You're an embarrassment to be prancing around as some king."
"Says you!" The Bullet King flashes a 18th century regal cape draped on his back. "Spider-Man has kicked your asses many times. But he won't know what to do when he faces me, I'm going to whoop his ass."
"Yeah, I have fought Spider-Man many times." Hammerhead points out. "You haven't. You're not going to last ten seconds against Spider-Man, not even with your entourage you managed to gather."
Just then, the doors open. The villains turn their heads to a black woman with scars running across her face, had a crooked jaw, and wore a black bullet proof vest that had a white X in the middle. Larae chuckles a little as she heads for the bar. Electro pours her a glass, a shot of bourbon. She grins and takes a sip.
"You boys behaving?" Larae turns around with a glass in her hand.
"Of course." Electro says with a nod.
Larae nods back and places her empty glass down before glancing back at Tombstone and Electro. "Spider-Man was spotted in the Garment district with some of those damn JTF. Can you take care of him, so he won't be in our way?"
"I know how to get his attention." Electro grins before leaving the bar.
Tombstone motions his hand. A group of Rikers enter the room as he pulls out a box of inhalers. Tombstone gives the inhalers to the group of Rikers. They rub their hands together as they take an inhaler and exit the bar. Hammerhead looks away but speaks to Larae in a quiet tone.
"What about me?"
"I need you to hunt down Spider-Man and kill him. Smash him against your skull if you want to."
Hammerhead nods, only to get on Larae's good side. In truth, he wanted to smash her head against his skull until hers breaks. The humiliation of having to be her yes man was going on for too long. For now, he was just playing a game to see how long she would last in a world of superpowered people and high-tech weaponry. With any luck, she could die and the command of Rikers could be his. The only thing that is on his mind is how and when.