Chapter 35: And Then There Were Six Part III

Chapter Thirty Five: And Then There Were Six Part III

A loud burst of green smoke filled the air around the web slinger and Spider-Man stepped back, to gag on the smoke, before a very familiar form appeared.

“Mysterio?” asked Spider-Man in confusion, he was completely thrown off, having expected the Vulture.

“In the flesh, Spider-Man!” triumphed Mysterio that boomed all over the city. “No doubt you are stunned by the amazing and one of the kind entrance of the mystic master of might, Mysterio!”

“No, I was kind of expecting someone who’s head I didn’t automatically want to put on the fireplace for the holiday season,” dead panned Spider-Man as he looked at the villain, his focus completely on Mysterio. He still felt weaker than he should and he doubted that his spider powers, even if they returned, were at full strength.

“A pity, as you will soon be dazzled and dismantled by the awesome might of Mysterio!” bellowed the villain in a boisterous voice, as a loud crack and a bright light had blocked Spider-Man’s line of sight, as it was difficult to see where Mysterio had gone. With a few steps, Spider-Man felt around but Mysterio was no longer in front of him.

Then again, with Mysterio, it was hard telling if the master of illusion was even anywhere where Spider-Man thought he was.

“Stay alert,” thought Spider-Man but a loud barreling sound of a truck jerked him out of his senses. A semi truck began careening right towards him. “Got to jump!”

Spider-Man jumped over the truck but when he tried to land on top of it, he fell right through it, proving that it was a hologram. He had only seconds to react.

“The thing is Spider-Man, even with your powers, you will never be able to tell fantasy from reality!” declared Mysterio in his loud voice, as Spider-Man shot webbing with his one working web shooter towards where he thought Mysterio was but it splattered against the ground.

“Help, someone help!” shouted a little girl who was playing in the snow nearby but had slipped and a section of the building was beginning to crack, to drop a ledge right on top of her. Spider-Man paused for a brief second before he shot his webbing up. With great effort, he swung over to grip her, but the girl burst into dust, as Spider-Man dropped to the ground.

“Face me Mysterio!” shouted Spider-Man losing his patience, but several flaming knives appeared from thin air. Spider-Man just stood there, the knives passing through him, holograms. “Your holographic games will no longer fool…owww!”

Spider-Man was caught off guard by the fact that a very real flaming knife had caught him across the shoulder. It barely caught him but it was still enough to give him pain on top of anything else. He dodged several more that were real but others were still holographic illusions.

“How are you throwing real knives?” demanded Spider-Man catching one with his webbing before, he swung it around, knocking them out of place one by one.

“A true artist never reveals his secrets, Spider-Man!” bellowed Mysterio, as a miniature avalanche of snow appeared, apparently driven by a snowplow. Spider-Man looked on, the plow as moving but no one was driving it.

“You slipped up in your story telling, Mysterio!” shouted Spider-Man but suddenly his spider sense went off very faintly, before he was buried under several feet of snow. Spider-Man’s head barely stuck out of the snow as the laughing form of Mysterio appeared in the driver’s seat.

“This has been a glorious production Spider-Man but sadly, it is time to cut this scene!” shouted Mysterio as he walked over. “Time for the grand climax, the third act, the unmasking of Spider-Man!”

Spider-Man managed to free his arm enough to shoot a line of webbing, to wrap around a stone gargoyle. It was covered in ice but with a tug, he pulled it, before he sent the stone stature flying at Mysterio. Mysterio had to dodge and was knocked off balance, which allowed Spider-Man sufficient time to pull himself out of the snow.

Spider-Man sprung up but Mysterio threw a pellet in the air, releasing a green fog that caused Spider-Man’s vision to be obscured. He swung around but he found nothing. He heard foot steps but the fog made him rather light headed.

It began to slowly clear and once again, Mysterio had vanished but his insidious laugh echoed throughout the city. Spider-Man looked around side to side.

“Great, beaten up, frozen, burned, electrocuted, sore, and with powers that could very well go back out at any time and haven’t completely turned and I have to play a game of hide and seek with the demented man with the fishbowl on his head, not to mention that I have at least two other villains that I have to worry about and my girlfriend’s in danger,” thought Spider-Man as he tried to clear his head. “I try to stay positive but really, can this night honestly get any worse?”

“SPIDER-MAN!” shouted Mysterio in a boisterous voice that echoed all over the city, and Spider-Man looked over, to see the villain standing in the street. With all the strength he could muster, he aimed a kick, fully intent to knock the helmet off but Mysterio disappeared. “You haven’t got me Spider-Man but here I am!”

Spider-Man moved forward, and swung a punch, but that Mysterio proved to be a hologram as well.

“Or I am over here!” bellowed Mysterio and Spider-Man swung his fist, but the other Mysterio disappeared, with another one appearing across the way. Spider-Man rushed forward. “Or maybe I’m over here!”

Spider-Man swung his punch right at Mysterio but it ducked. Another appeared right from the same side of street, just several steps over.

“Or maybe I’m over here!” called Mysterio in a taunting voice and Spider-Man shot his webbing, which wrapped around thin air. “That’s right, Spider-Man, I could be anywhere!”

Another Mysterio appeared, and Spider-Man fought it.

“STOP WITH THESE GAMES, BECK!” shouted Spider-Man. “If you’re going to try and kill me, get it over with!”

“But it’s no fun without drama, Spider-Man,” taunted Mysterio, as Spider-Man aimed a kick, but the master of illusion proved to be yet another illusion. “So close yet so far, I could be anywhere, in fact I could be over here!”

Spider-Man paused, before he stopped and spun around, where another Mysterio had appeared and he aimed a fist but a loud crack had caught Spider-Man right in the back where the Mysterio appeared.

“That one was real,” grumbled Spider-Man, as he turned, where Mysterio appeared to be levitating off of the ground. “No, not going to get away that easily.”

Spider-Man shot a line of webbing but a loud burst of light echoed and four different Mysterios appeared in mid air.

“Great!” shouted Spider-Man as he shot his webbing at one of them but it vanished in mid air. “He’s playing games with my head.”

“Calm down,” thought Spider-Man. “Try and focus, use your spider sense…or try to, to find the threat.”

Spider-Man screwed his eyes in concentrating, the flashing holograms continued to change position and there was no indication if any of them were even the real Mysterio. Spider-Man continued to attempt to use his webbing to grab onto something, while shooting at mid air.

“Come on Spider-Man, surely you can defeat me!” shouted Mysterio. “Or are you finally willing to acknowledge the superiority of the master of mysticism Mysterio!”

“Not by a long shot,” said Spider-Man, breathing heavily but he steadied himself and he saw only one Mysterio. Quickly, he shot a line of webbing and with great difficulty, he pulled himself up. Spiraling through the air, very nearly losing his grip on a couple of occasions, Spider-Man made his way towards the levitated Mysterio.

“Got to find out the trick, then I should be able to defeat me,” thought Spider-Man but suddenly, as he blinked, there was no more Mysterio. “What the…no, he has to have found someway to create the illusion of invisibility.”

Spider-Man swung forward and a twinge of spider sense indicated that he was on the right track.

CRACK!

Spider-Man hit something hard and he slid down something, before a building appeared. He tried to grab on, but it was difficult to gain a foothold. Quickly, he braced himself and landed on the ground. He skidded several feet and managed to scrape up his elbow.

A loud booming laughter and Spider-Man looked. He was not sure whether it was because he may have hit his head or it was another Mysterio trick, but he was surrounded by a dozen Mysterios.

“That’s right Spider-Man, no matter where you look, I’m everywhere!” bellowed several voices in unison. “One of them is the real Mysterio, the question is which one! And can you find out before the final curtain is dropped on you?”

Spider-Man dove right at the holographic duplicates one by one but stopped when his spider sense registered nothing. He continued to move around, mindful of the fact that Mysterio was likely not somewhere close and the holograms kept appearing, with the possibility that the real one was among them growing slimmer.

“I can’t keep this up for ever,” thought Spider-Man, as he seemed to have swung at about a hundred holographic duplicates and there seemed to be no end in sight. “I could be at this all day and all night, until I collapse in a dead exhaustion. There’s only one thing I can do right now.”

Spider-Man stopped, before he dropped down, breathing heavily.

“That’s it Beck, no more,” said Spider-Man using what little strength he could muster to throw his hands into the air. “That’s it, I’m done.”

“I beg your pardon!” bellowed Mysterio.

“Done, finished, you’ve won, congratulations,” said Spider-Man. “I just can’t keep up with it anymore, you’ve beaten me, I should have never tried to challenge you.”

“Yes, Spider-Man, it is so pleasing to find out that you have finally acknowledged that I am in fact superior!” yelled Mysterio triumphantly. “The defeat of Spider-Man is masterminded by Mysterio, such a glorious occasion. The final monumental victory and finally, to see you on the ground where you belong!”

“Yes, Mysterio, you’ve done what no one else has ever done,” remarked Spider-Man. “Not the Green Goblin, not Doom, not Magneto, not the Kingpin, not even Doctor Octopus, you’ve broken me. Congratulations but I do have one final question.”

“Ah yes, Spider-Man, I believe I can offer you the courtesy of one final question before I orchestrate your death scene!” boomed Mysterio.

“Why are you working for Doctor Octopus?” asked Spider-Man. “Ock talks about how he’s a great criminal mastermind, but that’s a lot of hot air. To me, you’re the real criminal mastermind and Doc Ock’s nothing but a petulant little nobody compared to you.”

-

Doctor Octopus sat, eyes widened in shock. He had never expected Spider-Man to fall and to Mysterio of all people. A frown appeared on his face, Spider-Man needed to be worn down by the others but the final defeat should be orchestrated by Doctor Octopus. He reached over, to the computer.

“To find the right frequency of the holographic equipment and then I’ll cancel your production, Beck,” said Doctor Octopus coldly. “Try and upstage the might of Doctor Octopus, well I’m not going to allow this to happen.”

It was not difficult to find with all of the electricity being put out in the city.

-

“There will be plenty of time to establish the fact that I’ve defeated Spider-Man, I will be known and finally respected the world over!” yelled Mysterio boldly. “Farewell web head, now its time to bring this scheme into post production!”

A loud crackle was heard before Mysterio could finish the job on Spider-Man and suddenly, the holographic duplicates of Mysterio disappeared one by one with a loud pop. Mysterio looked around, before he suddenly became visible, several feet right to the right of Spider-Man. The master of illusion was caught off guard, wondering how his tech could have failed and Spider-Man sprang up to his feet, before he shot webbing around Mysterio. The villain was trapped and one vicious punch knocked the glass helmet off of his head, before Spider-Man ripped off the gloves, causing wires to rip from a collar around Mysterio’s neck.

“Now wait, Spider-Man, I thought we had an understand…that I am superior,” said Mysterio in a shaky voice but Spider-Man ripped off the sleeves of Mysterio’s outfit, to reveal a remote control device, before it ripped it out and stomped on it and then one uppercut punch caught Mysterio right in the face. Mysterio was staggered, before Spider-Man wrapped more webbing around, before he strung the demasked and de-teched Mysterio upside down by a light post. He struggled but without his tech, it was useless.

“Yeah, I knew I could always count on your vanity, Ock and your ego wouldn’t allow another villain to steal your victory over that meddlesome arachnid,” thought Spider-Man as he walked away, leaving Mysterio. “Sandman…Electro…Mysterio was a surprise, the Vulture’s still flapping his wings somewhere and I still have to deal with Octopus.”

“Gwen, please hang on,” muttered Spider-Man. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, although in what condition, I have no clue.”

Spider-Man turned, he kept his eyes to the sky but he also looked towards the streets, because the last thing he wanted was to get caught off guard by some surprise on the ground.

-

“Kraven, go,” said Doctor Octopus, after a few minutes, when he had verified that Spider-Man had secured Mysterio.

-

A cold snap of wind had caused Spider-Man to shiver and be knocked off balance, as he slipped and slid in the snow but given all of the other aches and pains on his body from the battles with Sandman, Electro, and Mysterio, the unbearable cold of December in New York was not too bad. He felt underneath his mask, his vision was blurry. This could easily be accounted by the swelling.

“Yeah, having one of my eyes swell shut just the thing I need,” thought Spider-Man bitterly. “And I’m still not…whoa spider sense…”

Spider-Man was taken out just a split second after he was alerted and he had no time to reaction. He was thrown to the ground and slowly pulling himself to his feet, he came face to face with the snarling form of Kraven the Hunter. Kraven went for a punch but Spider-Man slid underneath it and attempted to regain his footing.

“Listen, Kraven, I don’t have time for this!” shouted Spider-Man but the hunter was not in the mood to listen to reason. A dagger flew right towards Spider-Man but the web slinger ducked. The dagger cracked the side of the building.

“You’ll make time Spider-Man, I still have my honor to restore,” said Kraven. “Doctor Octopus has given me a chance to hunt you one more time and I’m not going to pass up the opportunity. Kraven sees you, Spider-Man, you’ve grown weary. The bait for the trap that Doctor Octopus has set, you’ve taken it, it will be your demise. It matters little to Kraven what happens to the girl, all that matters is that I take you as a trophy.”

“You’re not going to get me that easy,” said Spider-Man as he shot out a line of webbing, before he tugged at Kraven’s mustache but the hunter grabbed the webbing. A sharp tug and Spider-Man spiraled right towards Kraven. He slid underneath the attack of the hunter and Kraven turned around, right with a kick.

It barely made Kraven flinch and the hunter grabbed Spider-Man’s ankle as he tried another kick. With a throw, the web slinger just barely avoided a dangerous fall. The hunter rushed Spider-Man but the web slinger ducked, before he swung right towards Kraven. Reaching down, Spider-Man grabbed Kraven, before pulling him up with what little strength he could manage. His arms began to buckle, before the webbing could no longer hold him. Spider-Man flew to the ground, with Kraven crashing down as well.

To his feet but not for long, as Kraven withdraw a large wooden staff and swung it. Spider-Man just barely avoided the attack. With a leap, Spider-Man jumped from side to side, but Kraven grabbed him in mid move, before he swung the staff but Spider-Man shot the webbing around it and pulled it from Kraven’s hand, but the hunter was back on his feet. A punch swung but a back flip put Spider-Man back on his feet.

“I see your abilities waning Spider-Man, you’re not your full power,” said Kraven. “Such a shame, truthfully, Kraven had hoped to fight you first so he could get the full satisfaction of finally collaring his prey.”

A big punch from Kraven knocked Spider-Man to the side and a net was thrown at Spider-Man but the web head wrapped webbing around it before he flung it back towards Kraven. Kraven caught the net and ripped through it with ease, but Spider-Man threw two punches, before the hunter blocked and rammed his head right into the chest of Spider-Man, before he flipped the web head to the ground and grabbed the back of his head, forcing his face into the frozen ground.

“But the luck of the draw is a harsh mistress, almost as if it is the law of the jungle,” said Kraven as he hoisted Spider-Man off the ground, but Spider-Man was not done. He carefully aimed a kick right into the side of the head of Kraven, before he leapt up. Kraven charged Spider-Man but the hunter was sent flying right into a road sign. The sign was dented and knocked off the pole, before Spider-Man looked towards an icy hill, as he dodged a second attack from Kraven, before he leapt up and shot more webbing, wrapping around the feet of Kraven and before he pulled the hunter off of his feet.

“Well here goes the new most stupidest thing I’ve tried all day,” thought Spider-Man as he slid the road sign and caused it to spiral down the hill, with Spider-Man on top, barely able to maintain his balance and Kraven being dragged behind him. The hunter struggled, before he removed a knife from his belt and sliced right through the webbing. Spider-Man somersaulted to give himself some room, before the sign crashed on the button of the hill, before he shot his webbing, wrapping around a light post and swung around, but Kraven was nowhere to see. “He can’t have gone too far.”

No longer had those thoughts echoed throughout the mind of the web slinger, when Kraven leapt right at him. Spider-Man tried to deflect the attack but Kraven wrestled him to the ground. With all the strength he could muster, the web slinger stuck his feet underneath the chest of Kraven and flipped him but Kraven landed right on his feet and swung a punch, to soften up Spider-Man. The web slinger was staggered and Kraven picked him up, before tossing him down to the ground.

Kraven stalked his prey. The web head looked up, groggily, and noticed that Kraven was a bit more sluggish than normally. With a quick somersault, Spider-Man spiraled himself behind Kraven and forced the hunter to move, before he spotted several items in his belt.

“You’ve run out of room my friend and you’ve weakened,” said Kraven triumphantly and he jumped Spider-Man, before he hoisted the hero off the ground. “I have you now. You have been worthy prey but Kraven has finally triumphed.”

“Who has who?” asked Spider-Man as he yanked a dart from Kraven’s belt before he jammed it right onto the side of Kraven’s neck. The hunter’s legs buckled, with Spider-Man able to land on his feet. The extreme cold had already weakened him enough and Spider-Man took a deep breath, before he leapt up and caught Kraven with a kick. The hunter crashed to the ground, the effects of the tranquilizer dart having defeated him.

Without another word, Kraven was down for the count. Staggering slightly, Spider-Man slumped over, before he looked down at Kraven. The web head picks Kraven up off the ground and aimed his web shooting, but only a few small bits of webbing splattered out, as he let Kraven drop in frustration.

“No webbing, no problem, always have a couple of spares,” thought Spider-Man as he pulled out the cartridges, which crumbled into dust as he removed them. He hastily dug around but he found no more web cartridges. “Okay, a bit of a problem.”

Spider-Man stood around, looking at Kraven but given the tranquilizer dart being put in his neck, he would be out of the count. Bending down, Spider-Man grabbed several more darts off of Kraven, before he stepped over the prone, unconscious hunter. As he walked around, he kept his eyes pealed for any other surprises.

“This is not going my way,” thought Spider-Man. “No closer to Gwen and who knows how many villains Doctor Octopus will send after me. I could be doing this until I drop dead.”

-

Gwen sat in the cage, not moving, not blinking, her heart thumping against her ribcage. She had dreaded the moment she would be released, if that would happen. That would mean only one thing, that Doctor Octopus had finally succeeded in doing what he had set out to do.

“The only reason Peter’s doing this is for you,” thought Gwen. “The only reason Peter’s in this mess to begin with is you. You just had to suggest you had to go to that science exhibit, didn’t you? And Peter’s life was ruined and now he’s fighting for his life against those villains, because of me. If I get out of this, what type of relief will it be? How can I face his aunt? How can I face anyone?”

Yet there was another nagging thought in the back of her mind, that popped up.

“Of course, Peter’s still out there, somehow,” thought Gwen, suddenly thoughtful. “He shouldn’t have lasted for this long. Even sheer determination couldn’t have gotten him this far. Could they have returned? And if they did, how?”

Scientific curiosity was an interesting thing and the very nature of how Peter got those powers remained a mystery. Gwen remembered that he let slip one time that anyone else who got bitten by that spider would have died and that just amplified her guilt. Despite the fact he recovered, Peter did nearly die that day, more than she would like to admit it.

And he was still out there, fighting for her, with villains that would like to kill him, because of powers that she felt partially responsible.

Yet powers that he needed if he wanted to survive.

-

Doctor Octopus was very grudgingly impressed with Spider-Man’s tenacity, in fighting all of the super villains that he sent his way but also it just underlined the distance that the web slinging fool would go to save an innocent life.

“Vulture!” ordered Doctor Octopus. “This is your chance.”

With that, the final villain other himself had taken off and Doctor Octopus made preparations. After fighting five other villains, there was no way Spider-Man could beat him this time and he eagerly awaited proving his superiority.

-

Spider-Man scaled the side of a building, as he kept a sharp eye out for the Vulture.

“Not going to rely on my spider sense, because it’s been off and on about how soon it warns me,” thought Spider-Man. “Just got to trust my instincts…hopefully I get no nasty surprises. I mean Mysterio, Sandman, Electro, Kraven, Vulture, and Ock, six villains in one night, with reduced powers and…”

Spider-Man was cut off in mid thought by a buzzing and he spotted the Vulture gliding right towards him. Instinctively, Spider-Man lifted an arm but he remembered that without any webbing, he would have to do this the hard way. Vulture dove right at Spider-Man but the web slinger avoided the attack before he turned again, as the Vulture turned around. The cagey old bird circled Spider-Man in the air, with the web slinger moving to the side of the building.

“Have to time this right,” thought Spider-Man, in deep concentration as he propelled himself off of the building. He very nearly missed the jump but he grabbed onto the Vulture’s right wing.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU FOOL!” shouted the Vulture, as Spider-Man attempted to climb on the bird’s back, in an attempt to disable his tech and bring him down to the ground but the villain had other ideas. “You’ve made a big mistake, Spider-Man!”

Spider-Man moved onto the back but the Vulture did a death defying spin in mid air and thus Spider-Man lost his balance. Another spin and Spider-Man was propelled off right in the middle of two buildings. He reached out helplessly but there was no options, as he continued to spiral down towards the ground below.

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