Three Days Later

The cherry red corvette pulled up to the apartment complex where Flash Thompson lived. Peter was sleeping in the passenger seat as Flash nudged him awake.

“Wake up, Parker, we’re home,” Flash said as Peter opened his eyes and yawned.

“Well, I’m home. You can take the car from here. I still can’t believe Felicia ditched us back in California.”

“Well, she left us the car and said we could do what we wanted with it,” Peter said as Flash started unloading his bags from the trunk. “I’ll take it to a parking garage in the meantime. At least we’ve still got a solid twelve hours before school starts again. Plenty of time to check in with Aunt May and get a few hours sleep. Tell the kids I said hi.”

Flash waved goodbye as Peter drove away. Peter mentioning A.J. and Drew reminded Flash that he had two house guests living with him. Hopefully the two hadn’t completely trashed his apartment. As Flash picked up the Sunday paper laying on his doorstep, he walked into the apartment, he turned on the lights, expecting to see one or both of the boys in the living room.

“A.J.? Drew?” asked Flash as he tossed his bags on the couch. “You guys home?”

Flash glanced down at the paper and saw Drew’s picture under the news story of his turn for the worse at the hospital. “No…”

WELCOME HOME, SPIDER-MAN…NOW DIE!

By Tobias Christopher

It feels good to be home after spending two weeks on the road. I had fun, got to spend time with my best friend, and Mary Jane and I started making our way back to each other. The next time we see each other will be the first major step towards getting back together. At least I hope.

Peter pulled the car into a parking garage not too far from his apartment. Reaching into his travel bag, he pulled out his Spider-Man costume.

Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been web-slinging through the city. That’s what I missed most about this town. I’ll drop my stuff off at home, then I’ll go see Aunt May and make sure everything’s been going okay.

As Spider-Man started web-slinging through the city, his spider sense started tingling as he sighed to himself. So much for a peaceful return home.

Flash raced to the hospital as fast as he could, cursing himself for letting Peter leave with the car. He was about to head to the nurse’s desk when he saw A.J. coming from the cafeteria. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, their stares saying all that needed to be said as Flash pulled A.J. into a tight embrace.

A.J. had managed to stay strong since he’d first arrived at the hospital the night he’d learned Drew had been shot, but as Flash pulled him close, A.J. lost it as the tears started falling.

“I’m so sorry,” Flash told him. “I should have been here. Is he really—”

“Braindead,” A.J. told him as he wiped the tears away. “They’re unplugging him at midnight. I signed the papers this afternoon.”

“Are you sure?”

“Drew wouldn’t want to spend his life as a vegetable,” A.J. said as he tried to stop the tears. “I won’t watch him waste away like this. I have to let him go.”

Flash looked at him, trying not to cry himself. “Whatever you need, A.J., I’m here for you.”

“I need you to pray,” A.J. told him. “For Drew.”

Spider-Man was following his spider sense when he saw a glowing sphere on the street below, knocking down the front doors of a scientific building.

“Will O’ the Wisp,” Spider-Man said as he headed toward the villain. “Always did like the villains who could double as a night-light.”

Spider-Man landed in front of the glowing villain, who stopped glowing up as he started slowing down.

“Hello, Spider-Man,” Will O’ the Wisp said as he went intangible and flew right through the hero. “Sorry I can’t stay, but I’ve got plans I can’t break.”

“Oh, you can’t spend five minutes staying to fight me?” Spider-Man asked as he shot a strand of webbing at the bag the villain was holding, pulling it back. “And I thought I meant something to you.”

“You want a fight?” asked Will O’ the Wisp as he turned back around and reversed his density, turning rock solid. “Your funeral, webhead!”

It was ten minutes to midnight, and A.J. was sitting next to Drew’s bedside, holding his brother’s hand.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive without you,” A.J. said, unsure of whether or not Drew could hear him. “You’re a real bastard for leaving me alone.You’ve been looking out for me ever since our parents got together. Hell, you’ve been more of a role model to me than anyone else in my life. You got me through some pretty dark times,” A.J.’s voice started trembling as he squeezed Drew’s hand. “Why can’t you stay? You’re all I have! You’ve been by my side for all these years, and now you want to just up and abandon me like everyone else? What am I going to do without you?”

Flash walked in and put a hand on A.J.’s shoulde.r. “You’re not alone, A.J. If you want, you can stay with me for a while.”

“You’d do that?” asked A.J. as he looked up at the man.

“For a friend, I would,” Flash told him as he looked at the clock on the wall. “Do you want me to stay for this?”

“No,” A.J. told him. “I just want to be alone with Drew until it happens.”

“I’ll be outside when you’re ready,” Flash told him as he headed for the door. “You’re not going through this alone, kid, just remember that.”

“See? This is what I missed about New York,” Spider-Man said as Will O’ the Wisp came charging at him. “The night life. The sights of New York. The people constantly trying to kill me.”

The villain’s rock-hard fist flew at Spider-Man, who ducked as a hole was punched through the concrete wall behind him. Spider-Man returned with an uppercut to his opponent’s face, which barely phased him.

“You’re going to be missing New York a lot more when I put you under the ground!” Will O’ the Wisp shouted as he put his hands on the ground, changing the density of the sidewalk, causing it to crumble under Spider-Man’s feet. Before he could fall through the hole, Spider-Man shot a strand of webbing at the villain, pulling him down into the sewer with him.

The two fell into the water below as the two continued trading punches. As the two fell into the sewers, someone else was watching.

“He’s distracted,” the Rhino said as he looked over at the Shocker. “Let’s do this.”

Flash sat in the waiting room as he saw the clock was getting closer to midnight. He felt bad for what A.J. was going through, and hated that the young man had gone through this alone for the last few days.

“You can save him, you know,” a dark, echoing voice said as Flash looked around. He was all alone in the waiting room as the lights went out all around. The only light in the room was the one directly over Flash.

“What’s going on?” Flash asked as he realized someone was behind him. He turned around, but there was no one there.

“Hello, Flash. Have I got a deal for you,” Mephisto said as Flash turned back to see an evil figure sitting right next to him.

Spider-Man and Will O’ the Wisp were still in the sewers, fighting in the water as Spider-Man punched the villain up on the concrete.

“Do you have any idea how much dry-cleaning costs?” Spider-Man asked as he got out of the water. “Not to mention that sewer smell is almost impossible to get out!”

“Stop your whining, arachnid,” Will O’ the Wisp told him as he looked at his watch. “You’re lucky I’m giving you the time of day.”

“Speaking of time, I’ve got to wrap this up,” Spider-Man said as he started shooting webbing at the villain, pinning him to the wall. “I’ve got things to do before sunrise.”

“You and me both,” Will O’ the Wisp said. He broke free, just as he received a text. “And that’s my cue to exit. See you again real soon, Spider-Man!”

And with that, Will O’ the Wisp turned intangible and went through the wall before Spider-Man could catch him.

“So rude,” Spider-Man said as he picked up the bag that Will O’ the Wisp had stolen. He opened it and found it was filled with nothing but confetti. “What the-”

Rhino and Shocker were waiting for Will O’ the Wisp to return at the designated meeting area after midnight. After a few minutes of waiting, Will O’ the Wisp finally arrived.

“Jeez, Jackson, you smell like raw sewage!” Shocker said as he smelled the air.

“Hey, you said to distract the Spider, so I distracted him!” Will O’ the Wisp replied. “Did you get the job done?”

“It’s done,” Rhino replied. “Spider-Man’s going to have his hands so full these next few weeks that he’s not going to realize what’s going down until it happens.”

“And our new member is going to meet up with us in an hour,” Will O’ the Wisp said. “He’s a bit green, but he’s bested Spider-Man several times already, so we know he’s good.”

“Good, now we just wait,” Shocker told him. “Then we move to the phase of the plan. By the time we’re done, Spider-Man’s going to fall before the SINISTER SIX!”

“Who are you?” Flash asked as Mephisto stood in front of him.

“Someone who can help your little friend,” Mephisto said, his voice still echoing as he circled Flash.

“Drew’s braindead, the doctors said—”

“The doctors are human,” Mephisto told him as he whispered into Flash’s ear. “I can fix Drew. I can make him whole again, like he was before this unfortunate turn of events.”

“At what cost, my soul?” asked Flash with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, no, dear boy,” Mephisto laughed as he patted Flash on the back. “I’ll get that soon enough, and for different reasons. Right now I’m just here to help you.”

“But at what cost?”

Mephisto sighed. “Fine, you see through me. I’ll fix your friend, for a price. In exchange for Drew’s life, all I ask is that you a small, teensy favor for me.”

“What kind of favor?” asked Flash, unsure of what he was doing. Mephisto pulled out a red card and handed it to him.

“All you have to do is make a simple phone call,” Mephisto said with a devilish grin. “Just call the number on the back of that card a few weeks from now and read the message on the other side.”

“But the card’s blank,” Flash said as he flipped the card over.

“When you see the text show up on the card, call the number and read the message,” Mephisto told him. “That’s all. And in return, Drew will live.”

“That’s it?” asked Flash as he put the card in his pocket. “No strings attached?”

“Just one,” Mephisto told him. “You have one year to tell Drew how you saved his life. You must tell him all about our deal, down to the last detail, including the phone call that you’re going to make for me. It’s up to your discretion when you do this, but it must be done before midnight on this date next year.”

“Or what?” asked Flash nervously.

“Or Drew will drop dead at the stroke of midnight, dead from the bullet that was supposed to kill him this time,” Mephisto said as he pulled out a contract. “Do all of this, and Drew will live a long, full life.”

Flash hesitated as he was handed the pen. He wasn’t sure if a deal with a devil was a good thing, but he was promised that Drew would live, and it wouldn’t cost him a soul. He put the pen to the paper and signed his name. The second he finished, the pen and the parchment evaporated in a burst of flame as Flash jumped back.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Mephisto smirked as the lights came back on. When the room was lit up again, Mephisto was gone as Flash looked around. Was that all a dream, or did he really just barter for Drew’s life?

After several showers to get the sewer smell off of him, Peter headed to Aunt May’s house. It was getting late, but May had a habit of getting up for a late night cup of tea, anyway. Knocking on the door, he waited as he saw that the day’s paper was still on the porch. He picked it up and saw the news story about Drew.

“Oh my God,” Peter said as his face went pale.

The doctor walked into the room as A.J. backed away, the tears falling down his face as the machines keeping Drew alive were shut down. As the brain monitor was about to be shut off, it started beeping.

“Impossible,” the doctor said. Exactly as the time hit midnight, Drew’s fingers started twitching as he let out a small moan from his bed. “It’s a miracle.”

A.J. pushed his way through as he saw Drew slightly open his eyes, giving the sign that he was alive. A.J. said no words as he hugged his brother tightly, the tears continuing to fall. Only this time, they were tears of joy.

“I take it that things went well?” asked Norman Osborn, pouring himself a drink as the Hobgoblin entered the room.

“Better than expected,” Rhett said as he pulled off his goblin mask. “They let me in, just like you said. I’m officially the sixth member of the Sinister Six.”

“Excellent,” Norman told him as he took a drink of scotch. “The second I heard rumblings of a new Sinister Six on the rise, I knew I had to get you on that team.”

“But why?” asked Rhett. “I know you hate Spider-Man, but you always have me back off just when I’m getting the upper hand. You won’t be able to stop the Sinister Six from killing him.”

“You underestimate me,” Norman told him. “I’m not having you join so you can help kill Spider-Man. I’m having you join so you cansave Spider-Man. No one kills Spider-Man but me. You’re going to make sure he survives his encounter, because I’m not ready for him to die just yet.

Peter ran into the hospital, just in time to see Flash sitting there, smiling.

“What’s going on? Where’s Drew and A.J.?” asked Peter.

“He’s fine, Pete, he woke up,” Flash told him with a laugh. “The kid’s going to be alright. His brother’s by his side. Never seen A.J. so happy as when he came running through those doors with the news.”

“But he was braindead, how did—” Peter said as a chill went down his spine. No, something was wrong here, and he could feel it. The feeling of something dark was still lingering in the hospital, and his spider sense couldn’t place it.

“Breaking into the holding facility at ESU to bust out the Lizard was easy,” Rhino said as he talked to a holographic image of Mysterio, who was still sitting in a jail cell. “But why not have us bust out you and the Vulture?”

“Because if the two of us broke out now, Spider-Man would be on top of us instantly,” Mysterio said as he talked to a bird sitting on the window sill of his cell, which was one of his devices to contact the outside world. “When the Lizard decides to make his move, Spider-Man will be too distracted with his rampage to care about us. Then you can come for us. But this has to be done delicately. The next time we fight Spider-Man, he will die.”

In the sewers, under the darkness of the city streets, a pair of glowing yellow eyes lit up in the darkness. The Lizard was ready to both kill and feed it’s hunger…