SIX WAYS TO DIE

Part I

By Wesley Overhults

Earth-32, Two Years Ago

He dreaded this moment ever since his former best friend walked back into his life. Peter Parker could take many things. He could take the pressure that came with being a husband. He could handle the stress of economic hardship and he could manage the strain that being a superhero put on all the other aspects of his life. Peter wasn’t the type to complain nor was he the type to continuously wallow in self-pity. Such actions were irresponsible. There were some things he couldn’t take though, some sins he couldn’t forgive.

Harry Osborn, once one of Peter’s closest friends, had crossed all of those lines tonight. The Green Goblin and his villainous colleagues were intent on driving Spider-Man to the brink of insanity and then laughing as he fell off that precipice. Peter intended to wipe the smiles off their faces because tonight was the night that he would drag all of them to Hell with him.

“I broke your toys, Harry.” The words dripped from Peter’s mouth with as much disdain and venom as humanly possible. “Tonight’s the night I break you too.”

Harry Osborn was already gone. There was nothing left of the man Peter once knew, nothing left of him but memories of better days long gone. Harry was just a warm body in a costume, another giggling and sadistic lunatic who thought he could take away everything Peter had worked so hard to build. Harry was gone and only the Goblin remained, the Goblin that Peter had wanted to murder ever since that day years ago when another man wearing the same face took Gwen from him.

“I’ve waited for this moment ever since I discovered it was you behind that mask, Pete,” snarled the Green Goblin as he hovered in the air on his glider and looked down at Spider-Man. “I’ve waited a long time to finish what my father started that day on the bridge.”

“She was your friend too!” snapped Peter. “That doesn’t matter to you anymore, does it?”

“None of you were ever my friends,” retorted Harry, pulling some pumpkin bombs out of his bag of tricks and readying to strike.

“Fine then,” said Peter. “If you don’t care then I don’t care anymore. You hear that, Harry? After what you’ve done tonight, I swear to God I’m going to end you and I won’t even lose a second of sleep over it!”

Colorado, One Week Ago

They called the prison “The Vault” because the designers wanted it to be impenetrable. Though it didn’t completely live up to that expectation, it was still the best place aside from Ravencroft to keep incarcerated super-villains. The Vault’s list of inmates contained some of the worst human beings on the planet. From the likes of Dr. Octopus to the Juggernaut, the Vault took in criminals of all colors, creeds, sizes, and shapes. Few had managed to break out of the Vault and no one dared to break in.

Carmilla Black, better known as Scorpion, studied the Vault with impassive eyes. Its high-tech security didn’t impress her the way it did a normal person. She was born and raised in places like the one below her in the valley. Ever since going rogue, Scorpion vowed to herself that she would never enter another place like this again. Tonight, she would break that promise.

“You know what I want,” said the voice into Scorpion’s earpiece. “Don’t disappoint.”

Scorpion nodded though her leader couldn’t see it and patted one of the pockets on her belt. Almost soundlessly, she slid down the embankment and then pressed herself against the prison’s concrete perimeter wall. The color of the costume she wore helped her blend in with the night, making sure that she could strike unseen. She pulled a vial of liquid from her belt and quickly drank it. She felt the poison seep into her bloodstream and her enhanced lymphatic system diverted the poison into her left arm to warm up her sting. She stilled herself and waited for the guard to stop at the corner. She knew the Vault only employed the Guardsmen for internal security, not perimeter security. It didn’t particularly matter to her. The Guardsmen were just men in giant tin cans. She had powerful friends now, friends that were more than a match for whatever the Vault could throw at them.

“Perimeter clear,” said the guard into the radio before turning and heading back. Scorpion turned the corner and grabbed him from behind. She reached around to grab his neck with her left hand. The poison from her touch went straight into his throat on contact. The man was dead in seconds.

Scorpion wasted little time in stripping the dead guard of his uniform and putting it on, taking off the mask she wore and tucking it away for safe keeping. She checked her new pockets to make sure she had the right key card and then made her way towards the front gate. She tucked her hair under the cap and pulled the bill down to obscure her face before swiping her stolen card through the reader and walking inside the compound.

Carmilla made it inside the actual prison but she knew the uniform wouldn’t do her any good inside the building. The security cameras were everywhere inside and the second one of them caught her on tape, she would have the Guardsmen all over her. Fortunately, Carmilla didn’t come to the Vault alone.

“I’m inside,” informed Scorpion before ducking into a janitor’s closet and shucking off the guard’s uniform. “The cameras will have spotted me by now.

“You’re in good company,” reminded the mysterious voice on her radio. “You know what to do.”

Scorpion nodded and pulled something else out of her belt. She turned on the light in the closet to give her some visibility and then looked for an electrical outlet. After finding one, she plugged in the nightlight from her belt and turned it on. The air in the closet crackled with electricity as a human-shaped mass of lightning suddenly burst forth from the outlet.

“It’s about damn time!” exclaimed Electro, finally allowing himself to return to his human form. “I’ve been hiding in that thing forever.”

“Do your job,” ordered Scorpion.

Electro nodded before turning back into pure electricity and zapping himself into the Vault’s electrical grid via the outlet. Scorpion waited and watched the light in the closet begin to flicker. She cracked open the door and noted that Electro had blacked out most of the building. Everything was running on schedule.

“Keep their eyes shut,” she ordered before creeping out of the closet and moving through the prison. “I’ll take care of the guards.” As she spoke, Carmilla opened another vial of poison and ingested it to keep her sting ready.

“I know.” Electro’s voice was barely audible over the static his powers created.

Scorpion moved through the darkened halls of the Vault. She heard the panic in the voices of the guards and the rest of the staff as they tried to figure out what was going on. With the color of her bodysuit blending in with the shadows, Carmilla found it easy to maneuver through the chaotic scene inside the prison. Though she didn’t actively employ her sting, those that were unlucky enough to make skin-to-skin contact with her bare left hand suddenly felt violently ill.

“Light the way,” commanded Scorpion and she saw one of the lights begin to flicker. She followed the lights to the right cellblock, hearing the panic and the eagerness in the voices of the inmates once they noticed her presence. There were catcalls when they saw her form illuminated in the low light, and she resisted the urge to give all of them a taste of the poison running through her veins. Her left hand twitched unconsciously but she held the urge in check until she arrived at the right cell.

“I was reading,” stated Alyosha Kravinoff, looking up from the book that was still open in his lap to his unusual visitor. “Few people come between me and my Tolstoy.”

“Can you find your pet?” inquired Scorpion.

“I know his scent,” confirmed Kravinoff.

“I need a deactivation for cell 10D,” ordered Scorpion.

The coded lock on the cell malfunctioned before the door swung open and Kraven the Hunter found himself free once more.

“I would not have expected him to go this far,” admitted Kraven.

“Go find your animal and meet in the yard,” said Scorpion, “I will get the woman.”

Electro watched from his vantage point in the security control center. The air still smelled of burnt flesh after he electrocuted the staff and took over the room. He heard the hiss as the cutting laser continued its attempt to break through the steel-reinforced door that kept Electro in and the security staff out. With a single thought, he fried the laser’s power supply and its operator.

“Your stuff’s in the effects locker,” he said to Kraven, his voice carrying through the intercom system. “The wolf is in cell 5C. Scorpion, you want A-block.” He watched the two criminals move to their designated locations. Max Dillon had to admit he didn’t think this was going to work. It made him wonder what else his employer had up his sleeve.

“I need backup,” said Scorpion. “The Guardsmen have armor that my sting can’t penetrate.”

Electro nodded before he turned into lightning and zapped through the control board. He zipped through the electrical lines until he suddenly appeared next to Scorpion over in A-block. He turned his attention to the Guardsmen and disabled their armored suits with his powers.

“You’d think these morons would figure out a different power source,” said Electro. “Save some electricity and go green, losers.” He blasted the helpless Guardsmen aside before blowing open the cell’s door.

Scorpion studied the sight in front of her. Carolyn Trainer, better known as Lady Octopus, sat in a metal chair with her mechanical tentacles pulled to all four corners of the room and held there by magnets. She wore a halo-shaped device around her head that scrambled her synapses, keeping her from forming coherent thought and employing her deadly appendages.

“Make sure you don’t fry her brain,” said Scorpion as Electro stepped towards Lady Octopus and sent a tiny charge of electricity into the device on her head. He shut the machine down in seconds and Trainer slowly opened her eyes.

“I knew he’d come,” mumbled Lady Octopus, trying to think clearly once more. “I knew.”

“Better hope she gets it in gear,” said Electro. “I’m not doing all the work here.” He zapped the magnets holding Lady Octopus’s tentacles. The tentacles hung limp after the magnets let them go. Trainer reached out to them with a simple mental command and they sprang to life. The lower two of them clamped the floor and lifted Lady Octopus from her seat.

“We have other allies,” reminded Scorpion. “They know to meet in the yard.”

“Helicopter will be here soon,” added Electro.

“Of course,” said Lady Octopus before walking on her tentacles to the door and moving into the hall. Her top tentacles lashed out at any unlucky guards or Guardsmen who were in range. Inwardly, she seethed with rage that these fools managed to trap her like an animal in a cage.

The trio of villains continued to move through the Vault towards the exit, cutting down anyone who got in their way. Electro and Lady Octopus struck from afar while Scorpion stung any stragglers who survived their initial volley. They continued on their way until they made their way into the yard. They noticed that Kraven had joined them and he had brought a friend.

“You always did have a thing for wolves, Kravinoff,” commented Electro as he noticed that Kraven’s “pet” was actually the tortured soul known as Man-Wolf. “I’m not surprised.”

“John is a loyal companion,” said Kraven, the chain connected to Man-Wolf’s collar coiled around his arm to keep the man who was once John Jameson at bay.

“We need that helicopter,” reminded Lady Octopus, the guards surrounding the five of them.

“It’s coming,” promised Electro before looking up into the sky and watching the helicopter land in front of them.

What was left of the Vault’s security staff opened fire but Electro shielded them with a barrier of electrostatic energy. The shield kept them safe as they got into the helicopter and it took off into the night sky.

New York City, Now

The crackle of the teleportation faded away and the group of time-tossed heroes found themselves standing on very familiar ground. None of them enjoyed their current situation, but all of them knew the consequences if they went against the Timebroker.

“Where the hell are we and what the hell do we have to do?” asked Sandman once everything had settled.

Everyone looked to Sister Grimm, or more accurately the Tallus that was on her wrist. Nico stared at the charm bracelet, perhaps noting for the first time that there were cracks in the blue marbles that dangled from it. Six cracked marbles for six cracked realities. The universe really did have a sick sense of humor.

“It says that we have to help Peter Parker,” said Sister Grimm after listening to it for a moment.

“That’s it?” asked Daredevil skeptically. “I thought this thing was supposed to be some inter-dimensional GPS. If I wanted a riddle, I would’ve gotten some fortune cookies.”

“That’s all it says,” confirmed Sister Grimm. “You guys get on that while I figure out how to get some new clothes. I don’t plan on wearing my pajamas while we’re reality-jumping.”

“I missed the part where we voted you as leader,” said Daredevil.

“If you want the job, you can have it,” she countered. “I’m not the type for leadership.”

“Someone’s gotta do it,” admitted Husk, “Can’t have a team without a leader.”

“We can worry about that later,” spoke up Sandman, “In a way, Nico’s right. We need to blend in until we learn more about this reality. Osborn, you’re tight with Parker, aren’t you?”

“In my world, yes,” answered Goblin.

“Then you’re going to have to take point on the manhunt,” explained Sandman. “The quicker we find Parker and help him . . . do whatever it is he’s supposed to do, the quicker we move on to the next mission.”

“MONEY FOR NOTHING!”

Sister Grimm’s hand glowed with magical energy before a wad of cash appeared in it out of nowhere. Internalizing the Staff of One’s power wasn’t an easy feat but she managed it with the help of Dr. Strange. Though she didn’t need the Staff to cast her spells, and she thankfully didn’t need make herself bleed again, Nico found herself still bound by its limitations. It was called the Staff of One for a reason it seemed. She counted the stack of hundreds now clutched in her hand and nodded with satisfaction at the sum before she looked to Husk. Her blond teammate gave her a look of disapproval.

“Ah don’t think it’s right ta just magic up money,” explained Husk.

“We can’t get it any other way and I can only do it once,” countered Sister Grimm before going towards the clothing store. “You want me to pick something up for you? I already have to get something for Johnny because God knows he can’t wear that silly costume everywhere. That thing must be murder to wash.”

“Miss Frost said this was unstable molahcules,” said Husk, gesturing to her Hellions uniform. “She said it was better than real clothes ‘cause of mah powers.”

“Suit yourself,” said Sister Grimm with a shrug. “I’ll be out in a little bit. See if the others are having any luck looking up Peter Parker on the internet.”

Husk nodded and moved towards the alley where Wasp and Daredevil were. Sandman and Goblin had slipped into normal clothes and then gone down the street to find a public library or some other place with a free internet connection. Harry seemed positive that he could find Peter Parker after only a few minutes on a computer. Husk decided the sooner they got this mission over with, the closer they would get to going home.

“Nico said she’d pick ya somethin’ up,” promised Husk.

“That doesn’t give me confidence,” admitted Daredevil, “Hopefully Osborn and Sandman will get back soon and we’ll plan our next move.”

“Ya ever heard o’ this guy?” asked Husk. “Can’t say his name rings any bells.”

“You’re joking, right?” asked Daredevil in return. “Peter Parker is the guy behind the Spider-Man mask. You can’t tell me you’ve never heard of Spider-Man.”

“Not really,” admitted Husk.

Daredevil sadly shook his head and was about to say something when he noticed that Sandman and Goblin were returning from their mission. He didn’t exactly know if he could trust them or any of his teammates for that matter. He trusted them enough to know that they would do their best but being on a team was more than that. Then again, he hadn’t been on a team in a long time. He liked depending on himself and his own abilities rather than depending on others.

“We couldn’t find him,” admitted Goblin with a shake of his head. “It’s like he dropped off the face of the Earth.”

“What about Spider-Man?” questioned Wasp.

“Nobody’s seen Spider-Man in a couple of years,” explained Goblin. “We found out something interesting though. There was a breakout at the Vault last week. Scorpion and Electro somehow got in and they left with Kraven, Man-Wolf, and Lady Octopus.”

“We think this is the making of a Sinister Six team,” added Sandman. “If the Six are getting back together, there’s a good chance that Parker will come out of hiding to fight them.”

“If he’s still alive,” reminded Daredevil.

“He’s not dead,” stated Goblin. “Where’s the witch? We need to start tracking down these Six members before they strike.”

“Speak of the devil,” said Daredevil as Sister Grimm returned wearing a pair of black jeans belted around her slender waist, a black fishnet top, and a purple t-shirt with the word “Witch” in midnight-black lettering on the chest over the fishnet. She clutched a shopping bag in each hand before setting both of them on the ground.

“Did I miss anything?” she inquired.

“Nothing much,” replied Daredevil, “So exactly how much of our wardrobe did you steal from the set of a David Lynch movie?”

“I only got something for me, you, and a couple other things for some of us,” countered Sister Grimm while handing him one of the bags. “I happen to have excellent fashion sense, by the way. Now, what’re we doing next?”

“We’re going hunting,” said Sandman. “If these guys are anything like they are in my world, then I know where they’ll be.”

“Kravinoff, I swear to God the next time that dog sheds in my room I’ll set him on fire!”

The low growl emanating from Man-Wolf’s throat filled the common room of the penthouse. The beast strained against his leash and Kraven had a hard time restraining the urge to let Man-Wolf go and watch him sink his teeth into Electro’s flesh. The five criminals were on edge ever since last week when they left the Vault. Only Scorpion seemed calm though she stayed that way by not leaving her room and not associating with the others.

“John goes where he pleases,” replied Kraven. “I for one am tired of waiting around. When will our benefactor grace us with his presence?”

“He’ll show himself,” promised Lady Octopus. “I know him.”

“In the Biblical sense,” cracked Electro.

One of Lady Octopus’s tentacles shot across the room and wrapped its claw around Electro’s throat. All of them were ready to rip each other’s throats out until the door opened and Scorpion stepped into the room.

“I thought you were still in your room,” said Kraven. “I did not even hear you leave.”

“He’s here,” confirmed Scorpion before stepping aside and letting someone else enter the room.

All the members of the group looked at the new arrival with little surprise in their expression. There was only one man in the world that could coordinate something like this and only one man in the world who knew all five of them so well.

“All of you know who I am,” said the man clad in a costume resembling Spider-Man’s outfit though it was black with blood-like splatters of red on it. “These days, I call myself ‘Scarlet Spider’. I’ve been flying under the radar but now it’s time to come back into the spotlight. I don’t plan on doing it alone.”

“What do you require of us?” asked Kraven.

Scarlet Spider pulled the coffee table out from under Electro’s feet and unfurled something that looked like a blueprint. The rest of the criminals gathered around him to see what he was looking at. The logo on the blueprint said it all.

“Stark Industries?” questioned Lady Octopus. “Peter, I know that . . .”

“Don’t call me that name,” ordered Scarlet Spider, his words layered in thick sheets of ice. Once upon a time, he was Peter Parker but those days were over now. He had given himself to the void, to the black abyss he had fought against ever since that fateful day when a radioactive spider bit him.

“What are we looking for?” asked Kraven.

“I’m the one picking up the package,” confirmed Scarlet Spider. “You five just make sure no one gets in my way.”

Apparently, no matter what reality you called home The Bar With No Name still didn’t have an official name. Sandman remembered visiting The Bar often in his criminal career. He just hoped it was where he remembered it being back in his reality.

“Never thought I’d have to go in here again,” admitted Sandman as he looked at what he hoped was The Bar.

“I don’t think I’ve even heard of this place before,” said Goblin.

“Not surprised,” said Sandman. “You and your old man were always too important to come down here and be seen with this kind of crowd.”

Clad in their street clothes, both Sandman and Goblin stepped through the door and looked around. It was a sparse crowd for the moment and Sandman wondered exactly where all the usual patrons were. He did, however, see one very familiar face.

“Another round,” ordered Quentin Beck and the bartender obliged him. Beck wasn’t clad in his usual garish attire that marked him as the criminal Mysterio but Sandman recognized him instantly.

“Long time and no see, Beck,” said Sandman before taking a seat next to him at the bar. He almost laughed at the comical nature of Beck’s reaction. It was clear that Beck’s current drink wasn’t his first of the day. Sandman hoped that would make things easier on both of them.

“Marko?” asked Beck, trying not to spit out his drink upon his initial shock. “I thought you were dead.”

“You and everybody else,” said Sandman, playing along with Beck’s assumption that he was the Sandman of this reality. “How’s the old gang lately? I haven’t been in the loop.”

“Not very bright to try and trick a magician,” warned Beck darkly. “I know you’re not the real Flint Marko ‘cause I watched him die. I heard he got you too, Osborn. This another one of your crazy schemes?”

“Who killed me then?” inquired Sandman.

“The Scarlet Spider,” muttered Beck. “Sure, he didn’t go by that name yet but it’s the same guy. You got us together for a job, Osborn, and we screwed with him till we pushed him too far. He killed the Sandman, crippled Toomes, put the rest of us in the hospital for weeks, and then killed you. Nobody’s actually seen him since then.”

“You’ve heard rumors though,” realized Sandman. “He’s out there contracting for a job, isn’t he? Did he try to contact you?”

“Word was that he and the Octopus girl were tight and that they pulled a couple o’ smash-and-grabs on Stark before. He won’t do business with any of us though. Me, Toomes, Marko, Osborn, Gargan, and Rhino were the ones involved. He’s made all of us pay for it. I’m surprised he hasn’t killed the rest of us yet. I’ve spent two years looking over my shoulder for him, two years of hiding in every dark hole I could think of. Now you’re gonna tell me something. Who the hell are you two?”

Sandman hesitated before answering. He’d done a few jobs with Mysterio back in his day but he was far from home and he knew he couldn’t risk screwing up this world any more than it had already been screwed up. He looked to his teammate and he could tell that Harry felt the same way though the news of Peter’s mental instability had him noticeably shocked. Will had to admit he was a little surprised too. From what he could tell, Peter was always the type of kid that had a good head on his shoulders.

“You can just call us ghosts, Beck,” said Sandman, his eyes absently moving to the television screen bracketed to the wall. “We’re just ghosts who . . .”

He stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the special report. A group of villains had attacked a research and development center belonging to Stark Industries.

“Turn that up!” ordered Goblin once he realized what Sandman was looking at.

“Though reports are sketchy at best due to the large amount of electrical interference, we can confirm that there are six attackers,” said the reporter. “It’s been said that their leader bears a strong resemblance to Spider-Man though the costumed hero hasn’t been seen in two years. It’s also unknown if this attack is in connection with other attacks on Stark-related facilities during the past few weeks. We’ll have more as the story develops.”

“Get the team,” said Sandman.

“That can’t be Peter,” murmured Goblin as he saw a shot of the Scarlet Spider on the news report. “That can’t be him.”

“Get the team!” snapped Sandman.

Two years ago, Peter Parker was the amazing Spider-Man. He saved many lives, brought many villains to justice, and made the world a generally better place to live in. That was then and this was now. Two years ago, Harry Osborn assumed the guise of the Green Goblin once more. Osborn gathered together five of Spider-Man’s deadliest enemies and sought to make Parker’s life a living hell. They pushed things too far. Peter pushed back by shattering the bones in Vulture’s arms, killing the Sandman, and gravely injuring the other three villains before finally confronting the Green Goblin. It was a battle only Spider-Man would walk away from but really both of them died that night. Spider-Man disappeared after that. Peter Parker’s wife Mary Jane filed for divorce only a few days later. She faded away like a ghost and Peter had truly lost everything. Now was the time for him to take it back.

“Don’t damage the equipment,” ordered Scarlet Spider. “That’s my only rule for this job. If you break it, I promise I’ll break you.”

The rest of the Sinister Six heard the order and heeded it. Lightning crackled around the room as Electro took out the mechanical defenses. Man-Wolf and Kraven struck in tandem to take out the human defenses. The adamantium blades of Kravinoff’s hunting knives and the fangs of his pet were stained with the blood of the security personnel. Scorpion and Lady Octopus, the only female members of the group, hung back to protect their leader.

The group finished cutting their path of destruction through the facility when they arrived at a large room that resembled a bank vault. Scarlet Spider simply nodded to Lady Octopus. Her tentacles latched onto the vault’s door and strained as they tried to rip it from its hinges. After a great amount of effort, they succeeded in their task and the door came loose. Lady Octopus wasted little time in tossing the door aside while Scarlet Spider strolled into the vault with Scorpion at his side.

“This is the answer to all my problems,” said Scarlet Spider. “This is going to fix everything.” He suddenly felt a very familiar tingling in the back of his brain. Something was about to go wrong.

“Boss, we got a problem,” said Electro.

Scarlet Spider turned around and saw the rest of his team backing towards him and away from something. He exited the vault and blinked in surprise. If his mouth was visible, his enemies would see him smiling though there was no joy in that smile.

“Who the hell are you people?” he asked.

“We don’t really have a name yet,” admitted Sandman as he and the other members of his team stood in opposition to the Sinister Six. “Let’s just say for now, we’re the ones who are gonna kick your asses.”

Next Issue: The team collides with the Sinister Six as their mission becomes even more complicated and the Scarlet Spider’s plan comes closer to fruition.