Post by Stardrifter on Apr 17, 2015 22:11:29 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
PREVIOUSLY IN THE SPECTACULAR SCARLET SPIDER!
Two Peter Parkers clash. After fighting until the one previously called Ben is knocked unconscious helping to save some innocents, the black suited Spider-Man takes him to a lab for testing. While there, he receives an anonymous call that in order to find answers, they should seeks out one Dr. Anton Sevarius.
They find the good doctor only to be told that the Peter Parker who has been out and about these last six months is the true Peter Parker, and the one who woke up in the sewers under NYC is a clone. And the orchestrator of these events, Norman Osborn.
#5 - Secret Identities Part 2: Truth and Consequences
"Aaaaaah!" Dr. Sevarius screams as he swings over the New York City skyline in the arms of Spider-Man. The original Spider-Man. He didn't think it was a very good idea to let his clone carry the doctor in his current emotional state.
As it was he was barely able to keep his clone from beating Sevarius to a pulp. In the end he only managed it by redirecting his rage toward Norman Osborn, the man who ordered his creation. The fact that Sevarius was the only one who could take them to the lab was a plus.
"Oh God," Sevarius whimpers. The sound of retching comes from over Spider-Man's shoulder. He quickly looks back to see his clone do some fancy acrobatics to avoid the flying vomit.
After landing on a nearby roof, Spider-Man puts a trembling Sevarius down. His black suit ripples slightly behind his shoulder, flinging off some remaining vomit. "All right, take a breather."
"I-I don't understand why we couldn't take a taxi," Sevarius mumbles.
"Because we are going to break into a heavily guarded secret lab!" the clone shouts as he lands in front of Sevarius. "You don't bring an eyewitness to a crime, you stupid f-"
"All right," Spider-Man says, stepping in between them and holding a hand up in front of his clone. "He gets it. Besides, we only have so much night left. This way is faster."
Smacking his hand away, the clone storms off to look over the edge of the rooftop. Spider-Man sighs, not sure what to do. He wants to say something to him, but what? His clone is so full of rage, he can hardly believe he's essentially the same person, down to the memories. Then again, had he found out he was the clone and his entire life was a lie, who knows how he'd react. That he could be capable of such rage scares him.
"How much farther?" Spider-Man turns back toward Sevarius. He wishes he could have gotten a simple address out of the doctor, but Sevarius insisted on taking them there himself. Probably for the best that they didn't leave the doctor alone to conveniently disappear anyway.
"I'm not...where are we now?"
"88th and 80," Peter says.
"Then we're close," Sevarius says as he struggles to his feet. "About two blocks."
"All right, hang tight a sec," Spider-Man tells him. He walks over to where his clone is pacing. "Hey, you uh...wanna talk?"
"No," he says sharply, refusing to look at Spider-Man. "No I want to get going and make Osborn pay. I want to go home and see Aunt May. I want to do my homework and apply to colleges. I want my life!" He finally looks at Spider-Man. "I want your life."
Spider-Man reflexively takes a step back. The clone sees that and holds his hands up. "No no, not like that! I don't want to kill you! I..." He lets out a heavy sigh and sits down on the edge of the rooftop. "I want the life I have in my head, but it's not mine. It's yours. It...I can't expect you to give everything up for some soulless copy."
"Hey, don't talk like that!" Spider-Man says, kneeling down next to his clone. "You're a scientist! And you're alive, clone or no. You're no better or worse than me, and have as much right to live as me."
The clone reaches up under his hood and scratches his hair. "I just...I wish I didn't get these memories. I wouldn't want what I can't have. When I didn't know who I was, it sucked. But it was better than being a copy of someone, all the way to the memories."
"So make new ones," Spider-Man says, placing a hand on the clones shoulder. "I mean let's face it. We're already different. I have the last six months of my memories. I have a bit more experience at the Spider-Man gig, which makes me more cautious. You still kinda go off half cocked and..."
Spider-Man stops when the clone looks up. Despite the mask and goggles, Spider-Man knows exactly what face his clone is making. "No offense! I mean I was that way back then. But that's my point! Six months and we are already a bit different. And you have your memories from your time since waking up in the sewers. I don't have those. We're already becoming different people."
"Yeah. I-I guess," the clone says, uncertain but still feeling a bit better.
"So who were you?" Spider-Man asks.
"Huh?"
"When you first woke up. When you had no memories of being Peter Parker. When you were just you, who were you?"
The clone thinks about it for a moment. He thinks about the choices he made, his interactions, and all the things that were different when he was with the Morlocks. Finally he says simply, "I was Ben."
"Ben?" Spider-Man asks, taken by surprise.
"Ben. It was the name that came to me first. When they needed something to call me. I was Ben."
Spider-Man thinks about it for a minute. Finally, he holds out his hand. "Well it's nice to meet you, Ben. I'm Peter."
After looking at the outstretched hand for a moment, Ben reaches out for it. "Thanks," is all he's able to say.
"If the two of you are done with the touchy feely nonsense," Sevarius interrupts, "I'd like to get this over with."
"All right, Doc," Spider-Man sighs. "How about we try this without the projectile vomit this time."
After grabbing Sevarius, the three swing off into the night.
****
When they finally reach their destination, Ben looks down in confusion. The run down warehouse below them looks like it was build in the '20s and hasn't been taken care of since. "This is the billion dollar high tech cloning lab? It's a piece of junk!"
"It may not look like much, but I'm sure she's got it where it counts," Spider-Man quips.
"Yeah well it ain't making point five past light speed, that's for sure," Ben replies. The two share a small snicker before Sevarius audibly groans.
"It's a front," Sevarius says as he holds his face in his hand. "It's such a shame we weren't able to wipe your childish personality and replace it with something more dignified."
Spider-Man doesn't need his Spider Sense to tell him to hold Ben back. "Keep talkin' and I'll wipe your face with my personality!"
"Really?" Spider-Man asks.
"What?" Ben asks, feigning hurt. "It was off the top of my head. I'm out of practice."
Spider-Man just shakes his head. "Mmm hmm."
"I don't have to take this," Ben says, turning and firing a web to swing down to the warehouse. "Let's go."
The trio swing down to the roof of the warehouse. Ben begins searching the rooftop. "Gotta be a way in somewhere."
"Yes, it's called the front door!" Sevarius snaps. "I work here. There's no need to skulk about like common thieves."
"Uh uh," Spider-Man says, shaking his head. "Front door? Even if we trusted you not to trick us, security here has to be tighter than the White House. No way we just stroll in."
"I didn't say we would just 'stroll in.' But even if we could find a way to sneak in, I'm not as...limber as you two." Sevarius runs a hand through his graying hair, frustrated. "Look, I can get us through the doors and electronic security. Do you really think that the night shift security guards are going to be a match for TWO Spider-Men?"
Ben and Spider-Man look at each other. They don't even speak, all the same arguments for and against run through both their minds. Finally, Ben shrugs. "I'm ready when you are."
Spider-Man shakes his head, but grabs Sevarius and moves to leap down to the street below anyway. "We're gonna regret this."
After Sevarius uses a normal, everyday key to open the door, he strolls in the building without a care in the world. Spider-Man and Ben follow, both looking around with a growing sense of paranoia.
"Aren't we like, on camera?" Spider-Man asks, staring up in the corners of the room. "Won't they see us coming?"
"How many abandoned warehouses do you know that have camera systems in them?" Sevarius asks, derision in his tone. "There's no need for security up here. Only down below."
The doctor leads them across the center of the warehouse until he stops next to a structural beam. He reaches through the gaps in the metal and down until his fingers find the hidden button.
A small green light, barely visible, blinks next to the doctor's face. "Sevarius, Anton. Password: How like a God."
The floor beside them, previously a smooth solid piece of concrete, now slides apart. A set of stairs leading to an elevator door is revealed beneath.
"The elevator leads to the lab," Sevarius explains. "There is a camera inside the elevator and a weight sensor. Even if you try to hide yourself from the camera or ride on the ceiling you will set it off. You'll have to climb down the elevator shaft after I begin the descent."
"I don't like this," Ben tells Spider-Man. "He could be leading us into a trap."
"There will be three guards at the bottom," Sevarius raises his voice. "Two armed by the entrance and one in a booth behind bullet proof glass. If my calculations on your strength are correct, you can shatter the glass and take out the guard. You'll have to be fast or he'll set off the alarm."
"We've gone this far," Spider-Man says to Ben. "I don't like it either, but either we do this or we go home."
"All right," Ben sighs in agreement, accepting it's now or never.
Sevarius enters the elevator and offers both a retinal and voice scan to activate it. As the doors close, the look on his face is empty and cold.
"Off we go, to Hell itself," Spider-Man mumbles, forcing the elevator shaft doors open. The pair avoid the cables and instead climb down the sides of the shaft.
"Doctor Sevarius?" they hear a voice ask as they get close to the bottom. "What are you doing here? Something wrong?"
"No, nothing wrong," Sevarius answers quickly. "I simply had an epiphany that could not wait till morning."
"All right, you take out the two by the door," Spider-Man whispers to Ben. "I'll take out the one in the booth."
"Wait, why do you get the booth?" Ben objects. "I want the booth!"
"I have six months more muscle mass. I have a better chance t-"
"Muscle mass?" Ben scoffs. "In your head maybe. I'm the one he tested and said could do it. He-"
"And we're the same on the genetic level, so if you can do it than so can I so-"
"Are you sure nothing's wrong Doc?" they hear one of the guards ask.
"No, no, no. Of course not. I'm just...waiting....a moment. I...uh...."
"Crap," Ben says, jumping down onto the elevator and opening the maintenance hatch. "Have it your way." He jumps in and kneels down in front of the door, preparing to open it. "Ready?"
Spider-Man lands behind him and readies himself. "Go!"
Ben throws the doors open and ducks down, allowing Spider-Man to leap over without a moments hesitation. Mid leap he sees the booth with the guard and fires a web line at it, pulling himself in the right direction. He smacks into the bullet proof glass, only cracking it slightly. The guard moves to activate the alarm when Spider-Man punches through the glass, grabs the guard's collar, and pulls him into his other fist.
At the same time, Ben leaps from his knees just outside the elevator door. He crosses his arms, fires a webline at each guard, then yanks each line hard, slamming the guards into each other.
"Piece of cake," Spider-Man says as he wipes shards of glass off his arm.
"I could have done it faster," Ben mumbles before walking up to Sevarius. "Where to now?"
"And how many guards between here and there?" Spider-Man adds.
"And are they seeing us on camera now?" Ben throws in as well.
Sevarius groans. "The lab is not far. I do not know how many guards we'll encounter, they patrol randomly. We'll know when they see us on camera when the alarm goes off. But frankly we've never had a security issue before, so I doubt the guards in the camera room are paying close attention."
"Then let's hurry," Spider-Man motions for the doctor to lead on.
The trio head through the compound, their guards up. Sevarius begins to stumble a bit, the events of tonight clearly beginning to take their toll. Ben considers offering him a hand, but decides against it. Sevarius is too proud and stubborn for that.
They meet two guards along the way but they're dealt with easily. Eventually Sevarius leads them to a hallway with three sets of doors, one after the other. Each set has it's own pair of guards. Each requires Sevarius to offer different passwords and either his thumb, hand, or eye for scan.
"Damn," Ben whistles at the third set of doors. "I guess it's nice to know how important I was. How the Hell did I ever escape from here?" A thought occurs to Ben and he starts to ask Sevarius, "wait Doc, you said there's never-"
"All right, we're in!" Sevarius announces as the final doors open. "Brace yourselves, boys. You're not going to like what you see."
Both Spider-Man and Ben are left speechless at the sight before their eyes. The room is large and filled with all manner of equipment. There are chalkboards throughout the room covered in equations and charts. Among them they see pictures of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Some of the pictures appear to be Ben as well, sleeping naked on a table or suspended in a tank of liquid.
The far back of the room quickly gathers their attention. Seven large, tall tanks line the wall. Five contain a sickly looking yellow-green liquid. The last two are empty.
As they slowly walk closer, they begin to make out the shape of bodies floating in the liquid. Sevarius walks past them and heads for a panel on the wall. He flips a number of switches, lighting the insides of the tanks.
Both Spider-Man and Ben start to wretch. They both have to pull their masks off their mouths in order to vomit. Sevarius offers a cold, half-hearted chuckle. "I told you you wouldn't like it."
The being in the first tank looks like a cross between Peter and a spider. Half it's face is stretched out into a mandible. It has three arms, two of which look like a spider.
The being in the second tank has a breather mask over it's face. It's upper body looks relatively human, but it's lower body has a small spider abdomen and six legs, varying between human and spider.
The third tank and fifth tank are equally as horrific mutations. The fourth tank has the most whole looking being. It too has a breather unit on it's face. The best way to describe it would be a Man-Spider. It's entire body is spider like, but it is human shaped with two legs and six arms. A small spider abdomen sticks out from the buttocks area.
"T-This is...this," Ben tries to speak but is unable to find the words.
"Marvelous, I know," Sevarius smiles. He walks over to the tanks and points as he speaks. "The problem with the cloning process was that Peter Parker's DNA is no longer, strictly speaking, human. The spider DNA that gives you your amazing powers is mingled in there, and keeping the correct balance during cloning proved to be...problematic. Three of the first five subjects died within moments of the being awakened. The second subject we were able to stabilize but will have to remain on life support to survive. And the fourth...well..."
Sevarius stares up at the Man-Spider in the fourth tank. His eyes glaze over for a moment as he looks back into his memory. "The fourth subject proved to be...volatile."
"This is," Spider-Man says, spitting up the last of his vomit. "Horrific. Disgusting. How can you-"
"How?" Sevarius shouts with outrage. "To advance mankind! And science! The population is already beginning to become overrun with genetic mutations. The so called X-Gene, some say is the next stage of human evolution. For homo sapiens to survive, we have to be able fight fire with fire! This cloning process is the beginning! With 'Ben' here, we were finally able to perfect the process. Soon we'll be able to isolate the DNA that gives you your powers and transfer that to others!"
"NO!" Ben shouts, grabbing Sevarius and throwing him into a nearby table. "No this has to stop!"
"Ben, calm down!" Spider-Man shouts, stepping between Sevarius and Ben.
"Calm down? Look at this! Listen to him! They're using our DNA to create these...these..." Ben points at the tanks, unable to look at them. "They don't even care that they're alive! They're just keeping them in there to study! Like lab rats!"
"So what do you want to do? Kill them?"
Ben grabs the sides of his head, overwhelmed. "I don't know! I mean, maybe."
"We don't kill!" Spider-Man shouts, grabbing Ben by the hoodie. "We don't! Great power, great responsibility! You remember those words."
"Look at them! They're suffering! That's our DNA. Our responsibility! We have to-"
They both stop as their Spider-Senses go off. Soon after the alarms start blaring. Sevarius stumbles to his feet. "We have to get out, now! There's only one way out of the room! They'll cut us off if-"
Too late. The doors burst open and a half dozen guards rush in with automatic weapons. Spider-Man pushes Ben back, tackles Sevarius, and flips the table on it's side as the gunfire starts. Ben runs along the back wall, avoiding the gunfire before diving behind a desk.
"What happened to 'put your hands up?'" Spider-Man shouts. His answer is more gunfire when he looks up over the table.
"They're orders are to shoot first," Sevarius explains. "No prisoners. They can't afford anyone getting out of here with knowledge of this place."
"Well isn't that just-"
Spider-Sense. The sound of clanking metal draws Spider-Man's attention. A flash grenade lands next to them. He quickly hits it with a web and swings it up into the air, where it explodes and fills the room with blinding light.
Seizing the opportunity, Ben leaps out of hiding and swings across the room, taking down two of the guards. A third guard turns and fires at Ben, still half blind. He reaches out and grabs the barrel of the gun, yanking it out of the guard's hands, and punches him straight in the face. The final three guards finally gather their wits and turn to open fire on Ben, forcing him to retreat.
Their attention diverted, Spider-Man jumps up and fires webs at two of the guard's weapons. He's able to rip one from the guard's hands, but the other manages to hold on. He continues firing even as his weapon is pulled toward Spider-Man. Spider-Man ducks down behind the table as the spray of bullets slam into the tanks behind him.
A deafening roar fills the lab as three of the tanks break open. The yellow-green liquid rushes out, pushing Spider-Man and Sevarius into the the table they're using for cover. Spider-Man grabs Sevarius by the collar and fights to keep his head above the liquid.
Ben uses the distraction to leap to the ceiling and crawl along until he's above two of the remaining guards. He fires webs onto their backs and pulls them up, hanging them from the ceiling. As he jumps down he disarms the guard with a gun.
The last guard rushes toward where Spider-Man and Sevarius are hiding. He keeps his rifle ready for the slightest sign of movement. He walks a wide circle around the overturned table, keeping himself back about ten feet. When Spider-Man comes into view, he's kneeling on the floor, his hands ready to open fire with webbing.
Neither Spider-Man nor the guard are able to open fire, however. Both freeze as they hear a strange noise. Almost like a low growl mixed with a strange chittering. Before either can react, the Man-Spider leaps out of his tank and crashes into the guard.
"No!" Spider-Man shouts as he leaps at the beast. The Man-Spider swats him away with one of his six arms with ease. He crashes into Sevarius, who was just getting to his feet, and knocks him into one of the tanks.
"Watch out y...AAAAYYYYIIIIIIE!"
A live wire is knocked loose from the tank when Sevarius hits it and falls into the liquid. Spider-Man's Spider Sense warns him soon enough to leap to the ceiling, but he's unable to reach Sevarius. The doctor falls to the ground, twitching.
"What the fuck!" Ben shouts, drawing Spider-Man's attention. He turns to see the Man-Spider bite into the one of the guards. The guard goes limp and the beast lowers him down and begins spinning a web around him.
Ben fires a web at the beast, attempting to pull it off its victim. Instead the Man-Spider uses three of its arms to pull the webline and Ben toward it. Ben is able to right himself in the air, hitting the beast feet first, but the attack barely phases it. The Man-Spider slams its arms down on Ben, knocking the wind out of him.
Spider-Man leaps to his defense, landing on the massive creatures shoulder and slamming his fist into it's face. It gives off the most horrifying scream of pain they've ever heard before thrashing about, trying to shake Spider-Man off.
Recovering himself, Ben gets to his feet and leaps onto the back of the beast. He punches as hard as he can directly into the Man-Spider's spine. It stumbles forward, spinning wildly as it falls to its knees. Spider-Man and Ben are both thrown off.
The Man-Spider takes a moment to look at the two heroes, it's arachnid eyes so alien to them and yet somehow they both feel a connection to it. Suddenly the beast gets to its feet and runs out the door.
"We gotta stop that thing," Ben states the obvious, rubbing his side as he gets to his feet.
"Yeah," Spider-Man nods, still shocked over the encounter. "But...we have to help these people. Doctor Sevarius! Doctor?"
Spider-Man heads back toward the tank and finds the body of Sevarius, lying motionless in the pool of water. The live wire continues to spark.
"Peter, we don't have time for this!" Ben shouts, walking over to grab Spider-Man's shoulder.
"We have time to get them help! Some need medical attention!"
"You don't get it!" Ben shouts, moving into Spider-Man's face. "You saw it in...its...eyes. It knew we were...related, or whatever. It might even have our memories."
"Maybe, I guess. What does-"
"When I first started to remember I was in a daze. I only knew one thing for certain, I had to go home. Home, Peter."
Realization dawns on Spider-Man, like the sun shining through the clouds. The shock fades from his mind, replaced with determination and terror. "Aunt May..."
No other words are said. The pair rush out of the building after the Man-Spider. It's path is easy to follow at first. The door to the warehouse front above ground is torn off its hinges. Outside, they quickly spot the side of a nearby building with claw marks and shattered window.
Both men follow the trail in silence, too panicked to speak. It only gets worse when it becomes clear the path the beast is taking is headed straight for Aunt May's house. After two minutes that seem like an eternity, they finally catch sight of the Man-Spider.
The beast crawls across the rooftops in a chaotic storm of limbs, as if it's unsure whether it should be running on its hind legs or crawling on all eight, so instead it constantly changes its pattern. Every leap from building to building ends with a crash and property damage.
Despite its unorthodox running style, the Man-Spider is incredibly fast. It's only thanks to Spider-Man and Ben's web swinging that they're able to finally catch up to it. Without a word, almost as if they could read each other's thoughts, the two both swing out to opposite sides of the creature. They crash into both sides of the beast feet first at the same time. Frightened and in pain, it lashes out blindly with its six arms, knocking both men away.
"Listen to me!" Ben shouts at the beast, trying to get its attention. "Peter! Listen to me!"
The beast stops moving at the sound of the name. It turns toward Ben, falling down to all eights, and cocks its head to the side. Ben sees Spider-Man getting ready to come up behind it, but Ben holds his hand out.
"Peter, it's all right," Ben says in a gentle tone. "I know you're confused. We can help. You just need to trust us." He slowly begins inching his way toward the Man-Spider.
For a moment, Ben believes he's getting through to it. However, once he's within arms reach, the Man-Spider reaches out for him and tries to pull him in to his mandibles. It only catches one of his arms, so Ben punches it in the throat as hard as he can. It's enough to stun the creature momentarily.
"Peter go!" Ben yells to Spider-Man. "I'll slow it down!"
Spider-Man jumps on the Man-Spider's back and tries to pin as many of its arms as he can. "I'm not just gonna-" he starts to say before being thrown off.
"Get Aunt May to safety!" Ben shouts, dodging a three armed swipe by the beast by running up onto its shoulder. He fires webbing right into the Man-Spider's face, causing it to shriek an ear-splittingly shrill cry. "That's all that matters. You can help once she's safe."
Spider-Man stands as still as a statue, unsure what to do. He knows Ben's right, that if the Man-Spider gets past them there's no saving Aunt May. Once she's out of harms way, the ticking clock is gone. Still, he watches as the Man-Spider grabs Ben and slams him onto the rooftop and can't pull himself away.
"Just...go!" Ben shouts as he kicks up at the beast's face, keeping its mandibles at bay.
Finally, Spider-Man tears himself away. He leaps off the roof and swings through the air with a desperation he's never known. On the horizon, the very beginning hints of sunlight begins to creep up. He tries to focus on speed, but the isolation and time it takes to reach Aunt May's house gives his thoughts time to spin out of control.
If they get Aunt May to safety, what are they going to do with the Man-Spider? Even if they stop it, dead or alive it will be studied. Will any connection be made to Peter Parker? How do they explain why a giant Man-Spider and two Spider-Men are fighting at May Parker's house? What if they can't stop it?
Spider-Man continues swinging on autopilot, his mind racing, until he suddenly finds himself at Aunt May's house. He's unsure how long he's been travelling. Looking back, he can't see or hear any signs of Ben or the Man-Spider.
He wills the black suit to change back to his regular clothes. Peter walks up to the door and uses his key to enter the home. It's a struggle to maintain the balance between his terror and an outward sense of calm, hoping he won't scare Aunt May.
She doesn't appear to be awake yet, so Peter runs up the stairs to her room. "Aunt May," he calls out, warning her of his presensce. "Aunt May? You awake?"
"Peter?" a sleepy eyed Aunt May says as she exits her room. She ties her bathrobe and does her best to focus her eyes on him. "Peter what are you doing here so early?"
"Aunt May," Peter begins, at a complete loss for what to say. He puts his hands on her shoulders. "I don't have time to explain but I need you to come with me right now. We have to go."
"Go?" Aunt May repeats, still half asleep. "Peter I don't-"
"Please, Aunt May. There's no time. Just come with me right now."
"Peter, I'm not dressed I-"
"Do you trust me?" Peter asks, looking her right in the eyes. His tone is deadly serious.
"O-Of course," Aunt May whispers, her eyes darting back and forth between his.
"Then we have to go, now." He takes her by the hand and leads her downstairs. She doesn't resist, her trust in her nephew stronger than her trepidation.
As they descend down the stairs, the telltale ringing of Peter's Spider-Sense causes him to exlaim, "Goddamn it!"
Suddenly the front door and wall come crashing down. Peter grabs Aunt May and shields her from the flying debris. He looks up to see Ben and the Man-Spider rolling around in the rubble, each trying to gain dominance. Ben's costume is torn and blood stained. His face mask is gone and the right side of his goggles are shattered.
"Aunt May, go!" Peter shouts, pushing her down the steps. They run down and hug the corner to avoid the carnage.
A deafening squeal causes them to cover their ears. The Man-Spider, having caught sight of Aunt May, suddenly ignores Ben and scrambles wildly with every limb, trying to reach for her. Ben struggles in vain against the eight flailing limbs and is finally kicked aside.
Despite the Man-Spider not setting off his Spider-Sense, Peter turns in time to slam his fist into it's face, causing the beast to reel back momentarily. "Run! Run Aunt May!" Aunt May, already overcome by fear, is running before he even speaks the words.
The Man-Spider makes a desperate leap at Peter, knocking him over. Instinct kicks in and Peter rolls with the attack, kicking the beast over his head and in the direction of Aunt May.
"Fuck!"
Before he can react, Ben leaps over him, walking along the hallway wall, and wraps his arm around the Man-Spider. He holds the headlock tight, but the Man-Spider simply charges forward and crashes through the kitchen and out into the backyard.
"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God," Aunt May keeps repeating, having stumbled in the garden. She tries to crawl backward away from the brawl.
The Man-Spider struggles to get back up, giving Peter time to run up behind it. He lands on it's back and grabs two of it's arms. Ben gets up and, after tearing the goggles and hood off his head so he can see better, rushes over and grabs three more of it's arms. It's a struggle, but the two manage to keep the Man-Spider down.
"What is...what's...oh," Aunt May stutters.
Peter spares a glance at his aunt, only to see her clutching her chest with her right hand. She slowly falls back onto the grass. "No! Aunt May!"
Ben looks over and sees her lying on the ground. The distraction allows the Man-Spider to get an arm free, but it only serves to fuel Ben's now overflowing rage. Keeping hold of two of it's arms with his right arm, Ben starts punching the Man-Spider in the top of it's head as hard as he can in a steady, deadly rhythm.
Eventually the Man-Spider stops struggling. Peter lets go and leaves Ben to it, leaping over to Aunt May. "No, no, no, no! Aunt May! Aunt May!"
"Peter," she whispers. She starts to go limp in his arms and her eyes close. "Peter don't...I love..."
-To Be Concluded in The Amazing Spider-Man #9-