Post by Stardrifter on Aug 23, 2015 21:52:05 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
PREVIOUSLY IN THE SPECTACULAR SCARLET SPIDER!
Having finally finished helping the injured Morlocks the best she can, Dr. Cecilia Reyes is returned home by Ben. After foiling a petty theft, with some difficulty, Ben decides to take David Xanatos, billionaire businessman, up on his offer of help. After revealing some information about Ben's creation to him, Xanatos offers him a no strings attached payment to help get him on his feet. But when Ben goes to share some of that wealth with the Morlocks who helped him, he finds himself attacked by the television stars, the Pack!
#8 - Murderworld: Part One
Twenty hours ago...
"Thank you all for coming and remember to keep tuning in to The Pack!"
The crowd in the convention hall erupts in cheer as the five actors stand to leave. They take a few moments to wave down at the crowd, smiling and trying not to blink under the assault of flash photography.
While they finally file off the stage and into the hallways behind the convention hall, the fans chant, "Pack!" over and over. The actors walk briskly through the hall, smiling and shaking a couple hands with staff members before finally shutting the door to their green room.
"God damn I'll be glad when this is over," Clarence "Wolf" Danziger says as he practically tears open a beer can. The large man's voice is deep and gravelly. He stands over six and a half feet tall and is covered in muscles. His gray hair and goatee give him a somewhat distinguished, if wild, look despite only being thirty-five.
"You and me both," Max "Jackal" Winter says in an oily voice as he falls back into a recliner. He's a tall and wiry man, with lean muscles and sharp, angular facial features. His long brown hair is pulled back, revealing the sides and back of his head to be shaved. "If I never have to play up to the 'fans' again it'll be too soon."
"Aw c'mon mate," Harry "Dingo" Monmouth says in a thick Australian accent, slapping a hand onto Jackal's shoulder. A big man as well, though slightly smaller than Wolf, his skin is deeply tanned. A short brown mohawk covers the middle of his head and a brown handlebar mustache hangs over his mouth. "We wouldn't be where we are if it weren't for the fans."
"Indeed," Jackal replies, shrugging off Dingo's hand. "We'd be back in LA, enjoying ourselves."
"I'm with you, bro," Cree Winter says with the same hyperactive intensity that earned her the nickname Hyena. She looks tiny, curled up in another recliner, and is just a wiry as her brother Jackal. Her short brown hair is spiked up in all directions. "I'm sick of this bullshit. I'm sick of fans and tour dates and directors and hitting my mark and all this TV shit. I just want to live."
"The lifestyle you desire requires an awful lot of money," Fox Renard says in a dark, silky voice. Her skin is milky white and covered with a small sampling of freckles. She pulls her long red hair back into a ponytail and turns to the others. Every move of her body is fluid and precise, like she's performing her own private ballet. "Money the show provides you. You want to walk, fine. There are people lined up to take your place."
"Bravo!" Arthur Cadenski says, giving a small clap from his lounging place on a small couch. The creator/writer/producer of the Pack, he smiles and leaps to his feet. He smooths out his white suit and straightens the open collar of his green shirt. The short man runs a hand through his perfectly coiffed red hair and says, "Very well said, Fox. We all owe everything to these fans. We wouldn't be able to live our lifestyle or enjoy the...finer things we do, without the success of The Pack. And I know you all enjoy those finer things."
He pauses and looks about at the other's faces. No one says a word in denial, so he continues. "Good, because if someone did decide to leave, it would compromise our little arrangement. Alone, without your Pack, you might end up as prey yourself." He smiles a wide, sickening grin at the last remark. His beady eyes dart from each person to the others. His point is made clear to all parties involved.
"Believe me, I get it," Jackal sighs in acquiescence. "Life is good, despite these annoyances. But it's been months since..."
"What my brother is trying to say," Hyena interrupts, leaping to her feet and pointing a finger in Arthur's face. "Is we need some action! We can't take this anymore."
"Birds gotta fly. Fish gotta swim. Wolves gotta hunt," Wolf says in what almost sounds like a growl before chugging the rest of his beer.
"Believe me," Arthur says in a calm voice, raising his hands up. "I know how you feel. And something interesting came today you might want to see."
Arthur opens his suit jacket and pulls out a small manila envelope. It's addressed to The Pack at their hotel. Arcade tips it over and a seven inch tablet slides out. The group gather around Arcade, standing shoulder to shoulder, as he turns it on.
It has a custom operating system, only allowing them to view a number of photos and some videos. They show images of a young man clad in red and blue, leaping across city rooftops, swinging through the skyline, and finally a video of his fight with the Shocker.
"This looks promising," Fox smiles as they watch.
"Indeed," Jackal agrees.
"Can you set up a place out here?" Dingo asks Arcade. "On such short notice?"
"Already in progress," he assures them. "And with the info on here, it should be easy to locate our prey."
Wolf turns from the group crushes the empty beer can in his large fist. "Then let the hunt begin!"
****
Now
"Kill him."
They attack the instant Fox's command leaves her lips. Jackal and Hyena, the fastest of the group, move in first. Their golden gloved fingers end in razor sharp claws that arc out toward Ben. He leaps up, landing on the side of the building behind him.
"What's the dealio?" Ben asks, unprepared to fight with the cast of America's hottest TV show. "Is this about fast forwarding over the commercials? If it makes you that upset, I promise I'll watch them from now on."
Ben's Spider-Sense goes off and he leaps away from the wall as Dingo throws a grenade at him. The Aussie is faster than Ben expects though, tossing a bola at him as he leaps through the air. It wraps around Ben's outstretched hands, causing him to miss the wall of the opposite building with his hands. His feet stick to the wall, but with his hands tied he ends up leaning back, standing out horizontally like a flagpole.
Before Ben can rip the bola apart, Wolf leaps into the air and wraps a meaty arm around Ben's neck. Like a professional wrestling move, Ben is pulled off the wall by the man's weight and is slammed down into the ground.
"Hold him!" Fox orders as she walks up. She unsheathes a foot long dagger from behind her back. "Too easy."
"Don't talk about Wolf's mom like that!" Ben mumbles out his quip from beneath the large muscle covering half his face. He then kicks up with his feet, knocking Fox's hands aside, and wraps his legs around Wolf's head. With all his strength he then rolls forward, pulling Wolf along with his legs, ripping the arm off Ben's neck.
Rolling backward, Ben gets to his feet and pulls his hands apart, snapping the bola holding them. Just in time he reaches up to block Hyena's attack on his right by grabbing her wrist, ducking down, and kicking to his left, hitting Jackal square in the chest.
Twirling her around like a dancer, Ben pulls Hyena in and grabs her other wrist. "Don't make me smack you in the nose with a rolled up newspaper."
Hyena doesn't respond. The look in her eyes is wild, feral. Her wrists held tight, she leans in toward Ben's neck and bites down.
"Jesus, lady!" Ben screams, pushing her back and kicking her in the chest to knock her across the alley. He reaches up to his neck and feels the blood running down. "Now I'm gonna have to get shots!"
Wolf and Fox charge toward Ben, while Dingo pulls out two tasers and fires. Ben leaps into the air and fires a web at the top of the nearest building, pulling himself up to the rooftop.
"This ain't worth it," Ben grumbles. They're only after him. He can just get away. But why are they after him? Why is the Pack trying to kill him? How'd they know to find him here?
He doesn't have much time to consider when he hears a buzzing sound. Rising up from the side of the building is a small golden drone. It flies toward him, firing liquid filled darts.
Ben dodges the darts with ease but hears another drone coming up from behind him. Firing a web, he grabs the second drone and pulls it down into the rooftop. He moves to grab the first drone and sees Jackal climbing up onto the rooftop.
"You guys aren't gonna quit, are you?"
Licking his lips, Jackal smiles a wicked grin and says, "We never give up our prey!"
"Creepy much?"
Taking a moment to consider, Ben decides to draw the Pack after him. He could defeat them here and now, he's confident, maybe, but then what? He's can't testify against them. No, he needs to lead them somewhere. Find some police officers or a security camera. Something that will resolve this long term.
Hyena crawls up onto the rooftop to his left. Ben ignores her and races along. The buildings are rather short in this neighborhood, making web slinging impossible, forcing him to leap from building to building.
More drones rise up in Ben's path. He quickly leaps to avoid the darts, twisting in the air to land facing right, and runs off toward the next building. As he races along the edge of the rooftop he sees Wolf down in an alley, running along with him.
More drones rise up, causing Ben to alter his course again. He looks back and sees Jackal and Hyena one rooftop back. Not bad, they're keeping up better than he expected.
It occurs to Ben that they might be herding him toward something just before his Spider-Sense goes off. He leaps over to the next building, an abandoned high school scheduled to be torn down soon. When his feet hit the rooftop, electricity courses through his body.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Ben leaps up without direction. He looks around quickly but finds nothing nearby to web to. His feet hit the rooftop and another jolt runs through his body. He sees a skylight about ten feet away and dives for it. He crashes through the glass, his entire body tingling. He tries to stop his fall by firing a web to the ceiling. The web snaps taught, jerking him to a stop, but his hand is unable to hold on and he falls the last couple feet into a pile of broken glass.
A loud clang sounds above him as Ben struggles to his feet. When he looks up he sees a metal door has closed shut over the broken skylight. Most of the lights are out except for the occasional flickering florescent light. It's enough to reveal he is in the gymnasium.
"Good evening and welcome to MURDERWORLD!"
The voice reverberates all around Ben. His Spider-Sense isn't going off, so he assumes for the moment he's safe. They brought him here for a reason. "Murderworld? Why couldn't it be Icecreamworld? Snuggleworld? Or Sleepinonasaturdayworld?"
"I am your gracious host, Arcade." The voice is grandiose and venomous at the same time. "I would like to thank you for your participation in the games Mister..."
"Donkey Kong," Ben says flatly. "I'm afraid I don't have any quarters, so if you wouldn't mind letting me go?"
"Oh Mr. Kong, you're not the player. You're the end boss. Our players tonight! You know them as the warriors for justice, fighting the good fight against the eeevil V.I.P.E.R., the Pack!"
A spotlight turns on to reveal a large promotional poster of the Pack against the wall of the gymnasium.
"With one point we have the Thunder from Down Under, Dingo! With three points, the Lovely Leader herself, Fox! Tied with four points each we have the Terrible Twins themselves, Jackal and Hyena! And finally, with a massive six points, the current champion, Wolf!
"You now have a five minute head start, Mr. Kong. Then the players will be let in from entrances all across the playing field."
Ben didn't wait for Arcade to finish. He had five minutes to try and find a way out. This entire thing was obviously meticulously planned. If the points mean what he assumes then they've done this at least eighteen times before. He's not likely to find any unlocked windows or other obvious exits. His best bet is to find one of these entrances the Pack will be let in through and try to escape when it opens.
"It is every one for themselves as they begin the hunt!"
Arcade's voice booms through the hallway as Ben runs. As he nears a corner, his Spider-Sense goes off, causing him to slide to a stop. From around the corner comes a machine, about four feet tall. It's base is wide with wheels, but it's body is thin as a flagpole save for the large blades sticking out in all directions. It spins with a soft whirring sound.
"Oh and do watch out for some surprises! After all, we have to make the hunt interesting!"
The whirling death machine turns the corner toward Ben. Despite it's lethality, it's rather simple to deal with. Ben fires a web at the base of the machine and yanks it hard, knocking it over with a clatter as the blades try in vain to spin against the floor.
Ben smiles to himself, but only for a moment. Another machine turns from the other corner. Followed by a second from the other direction. They fill up the entire width of the hallway. Ben leaps to the ceiling and crawls over them, only for the machines to start extending up, their swirling blades reaching the ceiling.
"You've done your homework," Ben says as he leaps down to avoid the blades. As he goes he backhands the extended poles of the machines, toppling them down behind him. "I'll give you that."
"I do pride myself on thoroughness, Mr. Kong. Anything worth doing is worth doing well."
Ben runs out into the next hallway and hears more wheels screeching along the floor. He turns to see more machines, this time with some sort of gun attachment instead. Three of them roll toward him, so Ben turns to run the other way. As he goes, his Spider-Sense warns him to leap up, narrowly avoiding arcing blasts of electricity.
Continuing to flee, Ben finds a set of doors leading outside. He slams into one, but it doesn't budge, the metal lever handle doing nothing. He tries slamming his shoulder into it with little success. Anger rising up, he starts kicking it.
Ben feels like he's making some headway when the lightning blasters roll around the corner. He leaps to avoid a blast and moves to web them, but they're too fast, the blasters tracking his movements. It's all he can do to keep avoiding their blasts, so he gives up on the door and flees again.
"Time's up! Heeeeeeeeeeeere's the Pack!"
Ben curses to himself. He rushes through the halls, narrowly avoiding one area with the floor covered in barbed wire, until he comes to a large intersection with doors leading outside and stairs leading up.
"God!" Ben shouts as he slams his shoulder into one of the doors. "Dammit!" The door doesn't budge. He slams into it again, the only result being a small dent in the metal door. They must know of his super strength and have reinforced all the doors.
More drones roll down the hallway toward him. Rather than stay and fight, Ben leaps toward the stairwell, making his way to the second floor. At least the drones can't roll upstairs, he thinks to himself.
The upstairs hallway is pitch black save for small specks of light shinning through the haphazardly barricaded windows. Ben begins to walk slowly, his guard up, certain danger lurks all around him.
"Very good, Mr. Kong. It's such a waste when the prey falls victim to the drones, ending the hunt before it even begins. Such a waste of points."
Ben ignores the voice, instead he strains to listen for any of the Pack near him. He walks up to a window and inspects the metal sheets and bars welded to it. It was crappy work, done swiftly and sloppily. Grabbing onto one of the bars with both hands, Ben gives it a sharp tug, and he can feel it give way slightly.
Placing both feet on the wall, Ben braces himself before pulling back with all his might. There's a sharp crack and the bar snaps off on one side. Only Ben's spider powers keep him from flying off the wall.
Before Ben can congratulate himself, his Spider-Sense goes wild. He turns down the hall and sees Dingo standing in the corner and three boomerangs flying through the air. Ben leaps off the wall, twisting in the air to avoid all three projectiles. As he goes, he notices a blinking light on one of the boomerangs. He has no time to consider it, as the boomerangs slam into the wall behind him and explode, sending him flying down the hall.
"Looks like the spider is mine," Dingo says in his thick Australian accent. He walks toward Ben, drawing a large Bowie knife from behind his back.
A groan escapes Ben's lips as he rolls onto his back, his body aching. He looks up in time to see Dingo reaching down for him and fires both his web shooters. One line shoots up over Dingo's left shoulder, but the other snags the crossguard of the Bowie knife. Ben yanks down, throwing Dingo off balance. The large man stumbles forward and Ben grabs him, flipping him over.
"Maybe you should stick to Vegemite," Ben says as he scrambles on top of Dingo. He grabs the man's thick wrist, trying to pry the knife from his hand.
"Can't stand the stuff myself." Dingo reaches up with his free hand toward Ben. Ben grabs Dingo's wrist, but not before his palm touches Ben's chest. When it does a surge of electricity shoots through Ben's entire body. He falls over, shaking violently.
Dingo gets up on his knees and raises his Bowie knife. Before he can bring it down, a golden boot slams into the side of his head.
"Uh uh uh!" Jackal scolds in a low, almost whisper. "This one is mine!"
Jackal reaches over, grabbing Ben by the t-shirt mask, and slashes his claws toward Ben's neck. The extra seconds Jackal gave Ben are enough for him to recover somewhat, and he reaches up to block the swipe. Planting an elbow into Jackal's neck, Ben turns to crawl away as the man gasps for air behind him.
"Oooooh that was a close one! Mr. Kong has some fight left in him!"
Dingo leaps forward, driving his knife down toward Ben. Rolling over quickly, Ben dodges the strike and grabs Dingo's forearm, helping to drive the knife deep into the floor. He then kicks the Aussie in the head and scrambles to his feet.
"This...is...getting old!" Ben shouts, his chest heaving from the exertion. He runs down the hallway, the now recovered Jackal bounding after him. He comes to a T intersection and, rather than turn left of right, Ben flips forward, twisting his body so he hits the wall facing up and hands first. He pulls his body in tight and then kicks off like a spring, slamming both feet into the unsuspecting Jackal. He lands hard on the man's chest, then reaches down and slams to heavy punches into his face. Jackal doesn't get up.
"What is this? The Jackal is down! Is he down for good? I can't say for sure, but I know one thing! The Pack looks after their own!"
Looking up from the unconscious Jackal, Ben sees Dingo down the hallway scream with rage. He reaches behind his back and pulls out two automatic pistols. Ben barely leaps back around the corner as the bullets slam into the wall behind him.
Running down the hall, Ben's Spider-Sense kicks in and he ducks down under the whirling blades of a drone that rolls out of a classroom. He swats at the drone, knocking it over, but is suddenly hit hard from behind.
Leaping from the classroom on the opposite side of the hallway, Hyena lets out an earsplittingly shrill shriek as she lands on top of Ben. She slashes wildly with her claws, cutting into Ben's forearms as he protects his face.
Reacting instinctively, Ben knees her in the crotch and pushes her off him. It barely slows her down. Still shrieking, she leaps after him again, spittle flying from her mouth. Ben leaps back, pushing down on her head and knocking her down. She recovers again and swipes wildly at his legs, causing Ben to continue backing up defensively.
So overcome with Hyena's wild fury, Ben doesn't see the stairs behind him and he tumbles down them onto the midway landing. Hyena leaps from the top of the stairs toward him. Ben reaches out and fires webbing right at Hyena's extended hands. Her hands and claws encased in webbing, they strike uselessly into Ben's chest. Using more force than he intends, Ben uppercuts the woman in the face. Teeth fly out onto Ben as she falls down onto the stairs, unconscious.
Rising to his feet, Ben grabs both of his forearms in his hands, gritting his teeth against the stinging pain from the cuts.
"First blood to Hyena, but Mr. Kong puts her down for the trouble! Those cuts look bad, I hope they don't get infected!"
"Infect this," Ben mumbles as he checks his arms. The cuts aren't deep and they are mostly superficial. Dingo's footsteps echo from the hallway above, so Ben quickly rushes back down the stairs.
Tired and hurt, Ben's Spider-Sense warns him too late as Wolf tackles him out of nowhere. Ben hits the floor hard, the wind knocked out of him. Wolf smiles and slams a fist hard into Ben's face.
Ben's vision goes dark for a moment. When he recovers he sees Wolf's blurry fist heading for his face again. He raises his forearms over his head to block the attack, only to cry out in agony as the punch lands on his cuts.
Kicking the big man away, Ben rolls onto his hands and knees, coughing. Before he can react, Wolf is on him, wrapping one of his beefy arms around his throat and under his chin, the other pushing down hard on the back of Ben's head. Unable to breathe, Ben smacks uselessly at the muscled arm of Wolf.
The world begins to go dark again. Sounds begin to fade away, as if he's falling down a bottomless pit. Somewhere in the distance, he can barely make out the infuriating voice of Arcade.
"The Champion himself has him! It looks like the end! Oh my God, the suspense is killing me!"
-To Be Concluded-