Post by Stardrifter on Oct 8, 2015 21:13:48 GMT -5
by
Stardrifter
PREVIOUSLY IN THE SPECTACULAR SCARLET SPIDER!
The actors behind the popular television series, The Pack, and their creator/producer receive a package with information about Ben and his abilities. They find and attack him, leading him into an abandoned high school set up as a deathtrap named MURDERWORLD. Arcade and the Pack begin to hunt Ben through the halls of the school until finally Wolf gets the upper hand.
#9 - Murderworld: Part Two
Darkness creeps in around Ben's vision as Wolf closes his windpipe in a choke hold. The feeling in his hands begins to fade, yet Ben continues to futilely smack and pull at Wolf's arm.
"You're not so tough!" Wolf growls, his voice in Ben's ear sounds like it's coming from a mile away. "Ha ha ha! You're nothing but easy prey!"
Suddenly an idea pops into Ben's sluggish mind. He doesn't know where or how he even finds the will to think it and when considering it later he would only be able to conclude it was simply instinct for survival running through him.
Reaching back behind him, he searches around with his hand until he finds Wolf's mouth. Wolf ignores the hand, concerned only with the kill. Once he has Wolf's mouth located, Ben pushes down with his two middle fingers on his webshooter, spraying webbing directly into Wolf's mouth.
Wolf reacts instantly, jumping back to avoid the danger and reaching up to claw uselessly at the webbing in his mouth.
Ben rolls onto his hands and knees, coughing and sucking in breath as best he can. He looks over at Wolf, his vision clear, and laughs slightly at the sight. Like a kid who shoved too much gum in his mouth at once, Wolf struggles in vain to remove the webbing. So much is in his mouth, in fact, that he's unable to close it.
"Didn't your Mom ever tell you," Ben whispers, his throat raw, "not to bite off more than you can chew?" Ben winces at the comment as soon as he says it. Even for him, that was bad. He chalks it up to exhaustion.
Wolf screams as best he can and charges. Ben spins, like an expert breakdancer, from his hands and knees onto his back, swinging his legs around and slamming them into the back of Wolf's knees. He goes down, hard, onto his back. When he tries to get up Ben leaps forward and, mustering as much strength as he can without caving the man's skull in, slams his fist down onto the side of Wolf's head.
"Well done! Well done!" Arcade's voice rings out through the hallway. "I've never seen someone take Wolf down so handily! This prey has some fight, that's for sure!"
Rising to his feet, Ben's entire body aches. He clutches at his cut up forearms, blood still oozing out. Wolf, Jackal, and Hyena are down for the moment, but Dingo is still coming for him and he's yet to see their leader Fox. Then there are Arcade's traps to consider.
If things keep going the way they are he won't survive much longer. The Pack aren't a match for him individually, but they'll win just by wearing Ben down. His only hope is to go on the offensive and find a way out of here. To find...
"Arcade," Ben mutters to himself.
"Yes?" the man's voice echoes through the hallway. "Do you wish to surrender? I hope not. It's never fun that way."
Ben doesn't answer. Instead he considers the situation. Arcade is obviously narcissistic and arrogant. He'd never do all this from off site. He's here somewhere, controlling everything. The heart of this Murderworld. Or the brain. The leader.
The principal's office, Ben thinks to himself, the sudden realization clearing his mind and bringing a second wind to his aching body. Turning away from the unconscious Wolf, Ben rushes off down the hall, the hunted now the hunter.
****
"Three cheers for William Harrington!"
"Hip hip hooray!" the crowd chants back in response.
David Xanatos, dressed in his finest tuxedo, chants along with the crowd. When the chanting stops David sips his champagne and checks his watch. Twenty more minutes should do it. Long enough to wish William a happy birthday, pose for a photo op or two, then sneak out.
Gentle string music plays from the balcony above the ballroom of the Harrington family home. The dress is formal and the conversation even more so. It is hardly David's kind of party, but such is the price of the social circles he keeps.
William is the thirty-two year old layabout son of Francis Harrington, a wealthy philanthropist living off the riches of his own father. Such people disgust David. Generations whose only achievement in life is to inherit the wealth of their hard working forebears.
Ten years ago Francis, in an attempt to distract from and make up for a particularly nasty divorce that leaked some embarrassing facts about himself, started the Warm and Helpful Hearts Foundation. After dumping over fifty millions dollars of his own money, as well as raising funds from his billionaire peers, into helping poor families across the country, the media eventually forgot about those embarrassing facts and the world moved on.
Always looking for good PR, Xanatos Enterprises donated five million dollars into the Foundation as well. A simple, calculated act that resulted in numerous automated invites to events such as this.
David downs the last of his champagne and walks toward William and his father. A normally easy enough prospect that takes almost ten minutes due to the constant stream of fellow guests looking to exchange pleasantries and shake hands. David takes it in stride, smiling wide and politely laughing at vapid jokes before excusing himself.
When he finally reaches the birthday boy, he offers his hand to William. He wishes the disheveled man in a tuxedo one size too small a happy birthday and congratulates Francis on a wonderful son, all while ignoring the fact that William's eyes are blood red and his hands shaky.
Finally, blissfully, David turns to leave. He makes it to the front door after only being stopped by three other guests. He sees Owen waiting patiently with the car, having expertly anticipated David's timing.
Just then a black stretched limo pulls up behind David's car. The windows are tinted, leaving David unable to see who is inside. An uneasy feeling wells up in the pit of David's stomach. Then the door opens to reveal Norman Osborn.
Norman sees David and his face turns hard as stone. He walks toward David, who mutters under his breath, "I don't have time for this."
"Xanatos," Norman spits out like the name leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
"Norman! So nice to see you," David smiles warmly. He extends his hand and Norman stares at it. Seeing other guests strolling in and out, Norman squares his jaw and takes David's hand in his. His strength surprises David, but David doesn't let it show. He just returns it in kind. "How's business?"
"Business is business," Norman says as he lets go of David's hand. "It speaks for itself."
"Too true. Things must be really picking up now that Oscorp has it's own super-mascot." David smiles. Norman continues to show no emotion. "Quite the get, Spider-Man. How did you manage that?"
Out of the bottom of his eyes, David can just see Norman flexing his fists. "I can be very persuasive."
"Indeed you can," David agrees, playfully slapping Norman on the shoulder. "It's a shame there's only one of him. Spider-Man, that is. I mean just imagine what Oscorp could do with two Spider-Men. Or three!"
David sees the break in Norman's eyes an instant before he lunges forward. Norman puts his face less than an inch from David's. David doesn't flinch. "You are going down, Xanatos! I swear to you, I won't take over your company. I'll destroy it! I'll see you begging for change on the street!"
The rage inside Norman's eyes is unlike anything David has seen before. He has to fight to stay put, pushing his fight or flight instinct as far back in his mind as he can. When he finally tears his eyes from Norman's, he sees other guests staring at them.
"I was just making friendly conversation," David says, his tone hard but flat. "I'm sorry if I hit a nerve. Would you like to talk about it?"
Norman stares at him for another few seconds. Finally he growls and walks away, pushing David slightly with his shoulder as he walks past.
"Is it wise to instigate him, sir?" Owen asks in his dry voice when David reaches the car.
"It was certainly more of a reaction than I expected," David explains as he gets into the back seat. Owen gets in and starts driving. "But unwise? Anger leads to mistakes."
"Or it can focus the mind. Drive one to action," Owen retorts, his intense eyes reflected in the rear view mirror.
"It's the risk of the game. You roll the dice and take your chances. But for Norman? Rage has always been his weakness. He's a brilliant businessman and can be a cunning opponent, but the rage. The rage is his Achilles's heel."
Owen lets it lay where it is, instead changing the subject. "Our people sent word. He's in."
"Any news?"
"Nothing yet. He could be dead for all we know."
David looks out the window, watching the lights of the city go by. "Roll the dice."
****
It doesn't take long for Ben to find the principal's office. If you've been to one high school you've been to them all. He's on edge the entire way, constantly looking over his shoulder for Dingo or Fox. Yet neither make an appearance.
Ben considers the door to the office as he walks up, quickly deciding it's a mistake. Arcade wouldn't be that careless. Rather than tip his hand, Ben continues on past the door without pause, looking intently toward the lobby down the hall and the exit there.
The whirring sound of motors tips Ben off to the drones rolling down the hallway toward him. He quickly leaps onto the wall, avoiding the darts and arcs of electricity that fire toward him.
Deciding this is the moment, Ben leaps back and forth from wall to wall, dodging more attacks, until finally he swings up, kicking in one of the ceiling tiles and crawling inside.
"Fox!" Arcade shouts over the speakers, sudden panic in his voice. "Dingo! Anyone! Get down here now!"
Ben quickly crawls toward where he believes the principal's office is. Before he can jump down, his Spider-Sense goes off, warning him right before gunfire erupts from below. Ben rolls from side to side to avoid the bullets tearing through the ceiling tiles, until finally one of the tiles gives out and he crashes down into the office.
Ben lands on the other side of the principal's desk. Arcade leaps up out of the chair, his white suit covered in dust, and aims down at Ben.
"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Arcade shouts, his eyes wide in panic, the hand holding the pistol shaking.
Before Arcade can fire, Ben rolls over into the front of the desk and puts his shoulder into it. Pushing up hard, he flips the solid wood desk up and over onto Arcade. The small, redhaired man shrieks as he tumbles backward.
"Game over, Arcade," Ben says as he leaps on top of the overturned desk. He can hear the wind being knocked out of the little man. Ben spies the pistol lying next to the wall and webs it, slinging it to the other side of the room and out of Arcade's reach.
Ben gets down and lifts the desk off of Arcade. The remnants of three computers and the intercom microphone are scattered on the floor around him. Ben crouches down over Arcade and starts going through his pockets.
"Y-You're gonna pay for this!" Arcade mumbles. He tries to sit up but Ben smacks his forehead, knocking him back down.
"I'm afraid I'm out of quarters," Ben replies. "Aha!"
Ben pulls an iPhone out of Arcade's inside coat pocket. It's locked, so Ben pushes the Emergency option and dials 911.
"911. What is your emergency?"
"Oh thank God! I'm at the old Lieber Memorial High School! They're trying to kill me! They're animals! Help-" Ben stops suddenly and chucks the phone at the wall, shattering it. "Jigs up, Arcade. Police are on their way."
Arcade lets out a stream of expletives but doesn't try to get up. Ben sits on the floor and starts picking through the computers. He turns one laptop over and sees a custom program controlling the drones. A second laptop has a map of the school.
"Hmm, let's see what this does." Ben moves the mouse over to one of the red lights that appears to be a door. A menu pops up offering the option to open it. "Yahtzee!" Ben starts going through and opening all of the doors.
Before he can finish, Ben's Spider-Sense goes off. He looks up at the door, which he notes is covered with plastic explosives that suddenly go off. The explosion is directed outward, the booby trap meant to stop whoever tried to enter from the outside. Through the flames and the now open door rolls a small grenade.
"You won't be gettin' away this time, mate!" Dingo shouts.
Ben leaps straight up and into the ceiling when the stun grenade explodes. He dodges most of it, but the light blinds him, his vision blurred with colors. More gunfire erupts, forcing Ben to roll blindly away.
Eventually the ceiling tile gives way, dropping Ben down into the main office of the school. His body aches as he lifts himself up, white dust covering him from head to toe. He doesn't have much time before Dingo catches up. Ben's eyesight is still blurry, but he manages to make out the open door leading outside. He makes a break for it.
Ben is within ten feet of the door when his Spider-Sense goes off again. He leaps into the air just as Fox steps out of the darkness and sweeps her leg in front of his feet. Faster than he could ever imagine a normal human moving, she rises up and slams the palm of her hand into Ben's face. The impact knocks him backward and onto the floor with a thud.
"You're good," Fox says without a hint of concern in her silky voice. "This is the most trouble prey has ever given us."
"You're not so bad yourself," Ben says as he reaches up to feel the blood trickling out his nose and into the shirt covering his face. Not only was she fast, but he was almost certain her sweep kick was a feint. She knew he'd dodge it and used that against him.
"You have no idea," Fox croons.
Despite being bloody, beaten, and exhausted, Ben can't stop the stirrings inside him at the pure sexuality emanating from his enemy. It's more distracting than the pain or the blurred vision.
"You forget I have one advantage," Ben says as he pushes himself up to his feet.
Fox immediately snaps into a defensive stance but doesn't attack. Curious, she tilts her head slightly and says, "Oh?"
"Yeah. Dingo."
Just then Dingo kicks in the door and opens fire with twin uzis. Ben leaps to the ceiling. Fox, eyes wide and mouth agape, ducks behind a desk to her right. She's not fast enough to avoid the bullets that graze her leg.
Dingo's raises his uzis to follow Ben. Ben leaps down from the ceiling, grabs the arm of a waiting room chair, and slings it at the Aussie. He raises his arm and turns his shoulder into the projectile, which bounces off him with little affect, but it gives Ben the time to close the distance.
A fist hits Dingo in the chin, hard. He instinctively moves his guns toward Ben, but he chops down on Dingo's left wrist and with a sharp snap of a broken bone, the uzi falls to the floor. Ben grabs Dingo's right wrist in his hand and pulls Dingo over his shoulder, slamming him on the floor.
"Let him go!"
Ben turns toward the voice and sees a cop with his gun out. In front of him stands Fox, leaning heavily on one leg, holding another cop in front of her. The cop's own gun is in her hand, pointed at his temple. Blue and red lights flash through the doorway and Ben can hear the sound of more sirens in the distance.
"Back the fuck off!" Fox shouts through gritted teeth.
"Stand down!" the other cop screams, obviously overwhelmed and unequipped to handle the situation.
Ben fires a webline at the cop's gun and yanks it out of his hand. Fox jerks back in surprise and turns to put her back against the wall, looking back and forth between Ben and the other cop.
"I'm getting out of here!" Fox shouts. "Now back away or he gets it!"
Tires screech as more police cars pull up outside. Ben can see Fox's eyes go wild, darting back and forth like a cornered animal. Tensions are too high. This isn't going to end well.
"You'll never get away with this!" the disarmed cop in the doorway shouts. "I'll hunt you down you-" A shot of webbing covers the man's mouth suddenly.
"You're not helping, pal," Ben says. He raises his hands and slowly walks forward. "And you aren't either, Fox. You'll never get out of here. Not like this."
"Shut up!" Fox shouts, moving the gun from her hostage's temple to point it at Ben. "Just shut up! Arms up and walk out! Now!"
Ben does as he's told. The other cop, struggling to uncover his mouth, walks out first. Two police cruisers sit outside, doors open and cops armed behind them.
"What is this going to accomplish?" Ben asks in an even voice. "They're surrounding the school. You have no way out. If you hole up in the school you're just delaying the inevitable."
"You don't think Arcade plans for everything?" Fox asks, her voice calmer now that she feels in charge. "We have a way out. Now move."
Ben stands in the doorway, considering everything in the blink of an eye. If it's true and they have a way out, they'll just use the hostage to buy the time to escape. The police won't go in for a while when there's a hostage situation. Arcade and the Pack will escape and the hostage will likely end up dead anyway.
Deciding it's better to act than not, Ben makes his move. In a flash he flips forward, kicking Fox's gun with his heel as he flips. It fires harmlessly as her hand rises up. When Ben lands on his back, he reaches up and fires a web at the gun, sticking it to the top of the doorway.
The hostage cop makes his move as well, elbowing Fox in the side and reaching out to try and take her down. Despite her surprise, Fox is able to fend off the cop with a well placed punch and a knee to his groin, but with the gun out of the picture the rest of the officers rush in.
Ben rolls to the side to avoid being trampled. Most of the officers simply ignore him, but one turns to level his gun at Ben and orders him to stop. Ben doesn't. Ben rolls onto his feet and leaps onto the wall of the school, climbing up toward the roof. The cop fires a single shot, but it's not even close.
Ben swings away as even more cruisers pull up. The pain of web swinging is almost unbearable due to the cuts on his forearms, but he manages. The police can handle Arcade and the Pack. He made it through the gauntlet, that's all that matters.
****
David hears the gentle pad of Owen's footsteps behind him. He waits for David to acknowledge him. David takes a deep breath. The night air is cold up here on the parapet of his castle. Nothing helps him think better than watching the city below.
"Yes, Owen?" David asks without turning around.
"The police have taken Fox, Dingo, and Wolf into custody," Owen explains, his hands behind his back. "They are in pursuit of Jackal and Hyena but the trail is rather cold."
David nods. "And Arcade?"
"Cadenski involvement is still unknown to the police. Whether it remains that way is uncertain, but the man is careful."
"Until now," David muses. Finally he turns around to face Owen, leaning slightly against the waist high wall. "And Ben?"
"Injured but alive. And free from police custody."
"Good." David runs his hand over his goatee. "Have our people on the force make sure any of his blood that's recovered from the scene is lost or corrupted."
"Already done," Owen replies without any hint of self satisfaction. "Anything else you require, sir?"
"Not tonight, Owen. Go home." David turns back and looks down at New York City. "Tomorrow we start phase two. The board is laid out. The pieces are in place. Now we play to win."
-The End-