Ultimate Spiders and Magic: Episode VII "Sting of the Scorpion"

Chapter Two “Arachnophobia”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement. I can safely say that I have accomplished the impossible,” Jameson stated, pausing while allowing his grizzled features to settle into a stern expression. “Spider-Man has run amok in New York and Canterlot for far too long. His recklessness and lack of accountability has led to several cases of assault, public humiliation, property damage, and injury.”

Diamond Tiara cleared her throat, prompting the camera to shift its focus to her position. “Don’t believe us? We keep receipts!” Pulling out a sheet of paper, the girl readied herself to read its scrolls of text, but the camera tilted briefly, causing her image to fall out of view. Tiara growled under her breath, as a vein pulsated over her temple. As if on cue, the camera straightened itself immediately, and Diamond exhaled, before brushing a hand through her colorful hair and straightening her posture. “Destruction of Midtown High in New York City. Now, imagine if that happened during school hours! We were very lucky.”

Jameson scoffed, shaking his head defiantly. "Indeed! Then, after that, the menace destroys one of my billboards in an effort to silence his critics! Little does he know that we live in a country that promotes free speech, and we won’t be silenced!”

Nodding, Diamond Tiara tapped the back of her hand against the paper in her grasp. “It only gets worse, Uncle Jameson! He hijacked the Battle of the Bands concert and terrorized us with that hideous voice of his!” A shiver coursed through her being, causing the girl to involuntarily gag. She soon cleared her throat, exhaling. “Spider-Man clearly has a grudge against my uncle and ripped the door off of his car before running off! Then, he fights that musclebound oaf, Juggernaut, in public and deals major damage to the city and field at Canterlot High. We were fortunate that donors covered the costs and repaired the damages before the Annual Friendship Games!”

Shooting up from his seat, Jameson slammed his open palm onto the desk, before pointing a finger at the camera. “What’s with this freak and attacking children?! Are you finally beginning to understand where we’re coming from? No? Well, we aren’t “Just the Facts” for nothing!” Leaning forward in his seat, the man’s face took up the entire screen of the camera, until he was mere inches from it. “Speaking of the Friendship Games, we have good word from my niece and several witnesses that Spider-Man showed up and caused more damage to the school grounds! It just seems that Captain America was able to run him off, but he has since denied such claims.”

Shaking her head, Diamond Tiara huffed and waved a hand dismissively. “I believe he was just being modest and wanted to distance himself as far away from that webbed freak as possible. I don’t blame him, personally.” Her eyes widened as a photo appeared at the center of the screen, revealing a silhouette of a six-armed figure cast in the shadows. “Then, it gets freaky. A pair of eyewitnesses spotted Spider-Man terrorizing the neighborhood and attacking our local law enforcement! We are told that Officer Jefferson Davis is still hospitalized from the incident, but he is on the road to recovery.”

“Unfortunately, it took such an extreme incident for police to finally issue a warrant out for Spider-Man’s arrest. I have complaints, but I am glad to see that justice is finally settling in,” Jameson declared, folding his arms. “Plus, we find out that Jackpot, also known as the Great and Powerful Mysterio, was in cahoots with Spider-Man all along, and they managed to hoodwink the entire city for publicity and false advertisement!” He paused, glancing to the side with an arched brow. “What’s that, Jared? You’re saying Mysterio confessed and said the entire scheme was his idea alone? Bah! Corny dogs, Jared! He’s obviously covering for his accomplice! You need someone on the outside to maintain that publicity!”

The voice mumbled off camera, and Jameson’s eye twitched involuntarily. “You’re saying I’m reaching and coming up with conspiracies? What do I pay you for, Jared?! Get your head out of your hindquarters and start looking at the facts!” Slow to respond, Jameson inhaled deeply before letting out a sigh. Somehow against his face’s usual muscle structure, the corner of his lips cracked into a smile. “Well, we won’t have to worry about that webbed menace for much longer. Using my resources, I have recruited a willing and trustworthy participant to become an officially licensed hero that this city needs to combat the vigilantism of Spider-Man.”

Diamond Tiara grinned mischievously, nodding. “That’s right! We can’t give any secrets away just yet, but let’s just say Spider-Man’s days are numbered when he finally picks on someone his own size!” Her line of sight returned to the sheet, and the girl’s disposition soured, evident as she rolled her eyes. “Speaking of vigilantes, the Rainbooms, otherwise known as the girls who have saved Canterlot High a number of times, have returned with superpowers based on videos and several eyewitness reports,” She scoffed, while frowning deeply, “Let’s clear the air right now. Us here at “Just the Facts” absolutely do not condone vigilantism. We firmly believe in allowing our local law enforcement to handle any situations, on a fair and official basis.”

Jameson removed the thick cigar from his mouth, before tapping its end against the coaster on his desk, until the cinders dissipated. “However, to aid the police in the capture, I am willing to come to a compromise. As of now, I am offering a one-hundred thousand dollar bounty to anyone who can take down Spider-Man and bring him to the police!” The smug expression on his face only widened, allowing a toothy grin to surface. “But be warned. I have a feeling that my volunteer will work fast and reign that punk in before any of you can cash out on the reward! This is “Just the Facts”, with J. Jonah Jameson!”

Along the outskirts of Canterlot City, there stood a farm, and within the barnhouse, the girls sat in a huddle group. Pinkie hummed in place along the top of a haystack, while Fluttershy gently petted a cow’s muzzle, whispering into its ear. The others sat with narrowed gazes around an open laptop, grimacing as Jameson’s podcast had finished its presentation for the day. Twilight closed the window and pulled the device back onto her lap, before pecking away at its keyboard.

Rainbow raised a hand and shifted her head, sharing a brief glance with everyone in the vicinity. “So? What do you all think?”

Furrowing her brow, Twilight scowled, while never averting her gaze away from the computer’s screen. “I think it’s irresponsible. So much power and potential, only for him to do this.” She straightened her large glasses with a hand, before sighing, “If I’m able to acquire a genetic sample, maybe I can figure out the depth of his abilities and actually use that knowledge to better benefit mankind. I think that’s what Doctor Octavious would desire.” She glanced to the side, her eyes softening. “After what I did at the Friendship Games and Camp Everfree, I… I have to make amends, somehow.”

Rarity shuddered involuntarily, brushing the goosebumps free from her arms. “I’d rather avoid confronting that man again. I’m still having nightmares from that previous ordeal!” Whining, the girl dramatically held the back of her hand against her forehead. “I never want to see another spider in my life!”

Slow to respond, Applejack sat with her arms crossed with a skeptical expression. “Ah don’t know. Twilight from the other world told us that we should trust him, but it’s gettin’ harder by the day to do so. He’s hurt an officer, and now, the police wanna bring him in.”

Fluttershy paused before stepping away from the cow, approaching the group with a softened gaze. “Um… I told you that he wasn’t himself during that time. It was an accident. Spider-Man would never willingly hurt someone innocent like that.”

Sunset pulled her knees to her chest and sighed. “That may be the case, Fluttershy, but what if he’s doing more harm than good? I mean, there’s obviously good intentions, but what happens if the negatives outweigh the positives?” She held out a hand as her eyes softened, “Look at what happened at the Friendship Games. Twilight had good intentions, but we had to stop her before she lost her way. This could be a similar situation.”

Poking her head out from the haystack, Pinkie furrowed her brow. “Ooh! Maybe you can read his mind and find out?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she shook her head, but Sunset hummed at the thought, placing a hand over her chin. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll be able to read his thoughts and sense his feelings. We can finally get an idea from his perspective and see just what he’s trying to do.”

Rainbow folded her arms and nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Plus, you heard about the bounty! We can use that to help Camp Everfree!”

Exhaling, Rarity brushed a hand through her hair and straightened her posture. “In that case, I suppose I can stomach an attempt to bring in the spider. The campsite is lovely, and we should support it the best we can.” She eyed her hands before wiggling her fingers, “Plus, it’s not like I actually have to touch him with my new power.”

Bemused, Applejack narrowed her gaze. “Is that the only reason you wanna go after him, Rainbow?”

Glaring at the blonde from the corner of her eye, Rainbow huffed, while throwing a fist into her own open palm. “Of course! It just happens to be a bonus that I get a rematch with him.” She jumped to her feet, raising both hands high overhead. “Besides, you heard the crowd! We’re famous, and we’ll be even bigger heroes after we help take Spider-Man down!” Sobering, the girl raised a finger. “Also, Twilight may have told us that he’s not a bad guy, but what if that’s just in her case? I mean, she’s from a different world. It’s not like she and our Twilight are the same. They couldn’t be any more different from each other! What’s to say that’s not the case with Spider-Man?”

Tilting her head to the side, as if considering the thought, Twilight hummed. “Multiverse theory. That’s surprisingly rational and objective, Rainbow.” The girl closed her laptop and nodded, “I still have the spectrometer. Maybe with the announcement of the bounty and issued warrant for his arrest, he’ll either lay low or increase his efforts to avoid detection. In either case, it will make it easier for us to track his movements.”

Sunset pursed her lips, while tapping a finger against her forearm. After a brief duration, the girl simply nodded. “Okay. It’s agreed. We’ll go after Spider-Man and try to talk to him. If that doesn’t work, we’ll apprehend him long enough for me to read his feelings and thoughts. We can decide what to do after that.”

Everyone in the room seemingly agreed, placing a hand over the geodes around their necks respectively while sharing a nod. However, Fluttershy turned away from her friends and knelt down next to Spike. The girl and dog held concerned gazes, stealing a glance at the group, before collectively sighing.

“What are you going to do?” Spike whispered, his ears lowering.

Fluttershy blinked, before closing her eyes momentarily. “I’ll try to talk to Spider-Man before we reach him.” The girl daintily brushed a strand of her pink locks behind her ear, before glancing to the side. “I just hope he’s okay.”

Shaking the cobwebs from his head, Spider-Man managed to duck underneath one of the assailing bots as it dove towards him with its metallic claws extended. Instantly, a pair attempted the same, but Peter reached out, capturing both in his grasp, before slamming their bodies together. A visceral crunch echoed throughout the vicinity, as shards of metal and circuitry scattered from the point of impact.

Groaning, Spider-Man rubbed the pain searing through his cranium out with his hand. “Spider-Sense is still too potent. I’ll have to tune it out somewhat, just to see straight.” Eyeing the large man near his position with a blank gaze, the boy turned with his hands extended and unleashed an array of webbing onto one of the metallic arachnids, until the entirety of its body was cocooned. “So, what’s your story? Were you bitten by a radioactive scorpion or something?”

Just behind his position, Scorpion didn’t utter a response. With bated breaths and sweat dripping from his face, he shifted his wild gaze about at the arachnid army. Gargan snapped back and punched one of the steelspiders, driving his fist through the outer shell. It twitched momentarily, before finally falling limp. A trio of the assailants approached the armored man from the side, releasing high-pitched screeches while firing small beams of light from their mouths.

Scorpion raised his arms instinctively, shielding his face as the lasers deflected from the smooth surface of his padding. “Get off me! GET OFF ME!” he exclaimed, lowering his body. Suddenly, the massive tail on his back stretched out, before lashing out in a violet blur. Each metallic spider vanished in an eruption of dismantled steel and parts, before the razor-sharp end of the tail sliced another at the end of its path cleanly in half. The tail lowered back into place, hovering inches away from Gargan’s face, and his complexion only paled further as he screamed. “I hate this suit! I HATE IT!”

Faster than he could react, a mob of the spiders swarmed the man and managed to knock him off balance. Scorpion staggered, while flailing his arms about in a desperate attempt to shake the twitching subjects free. However, it was to no avail, as he eventually collapsed onto his back. Every spider clawed madly at every inch of his body, scratching away at the armor, and Gargan unleashed a horrified scream from deep within his chest, the sound echoing across the junkyard.

“No! N-NOOOOO—!” he cried out, yielding to the clutches of his fears.

Fortunately, a pair of strands of webbing latched onto two of the spiders, before they were yanked away, and Spider-Man spun in midair, delivering a kick to each robot as they neared. “Hey, pal! Why are these things after you?” he questioned, yelping once a pair tackled him to the ground. Using one hand to keep a spider at bay as it clawed at his head, while doing the same with his foot on the other, Peter stammered as his thoughts and words became interchangeable in a frenzy. “Better yet, why are they after me? I just got here! I don’t even know these guys, or what they are, or who built them?! As a matter of fact…”

Lifting his foot, Spider-Man flipped in place before slamming a kick right onto the center of one of the assailants. Its body folded under the force of the strike, fizzling out in a set of electrical bursts. Quickly turning his attention to the side, Peter’s masked eyes furrowed, as he tightened his grip on the remaining spider. Rearing back, the boy opened his palm and slammed his hand onto the abdomen. Tremors rushed through the spider’s being for what seemed like an eternity. Once its shaking ceased, the machine’s eyes faded to black, and its body remained intact, before harmlessly collapsing to the side.

“Always wanted a souvenir!’ Spider-Man hummed, hopping back to his feet.

The world slowed as Peter’s cranium ignited within, prompting the boy to turn his gaze towards the source. The remaining dozen of spiders marched towards Scorpion, with their jaws chomping in anticipation. However, the man’s vision glowed, as his tail steadily lowered. Particles of green and blue energy spiraled into the tip, surging while gusts of wind spun around his body.

Light illuminated from the center, enveloping everything in sight. A whirring sound violently churned, and Peter’s masked eyes widened as his senses erupted. Spider-Man jumped to the side, managing to hurl himself over a pile of wreckage. That same moment, the energy that had gathered through Scorpion shot out and generated a shockwave.

The ground and surrounding junk shattered from the force, and a large beam of light sped out from the tip of his tail. The blast tore the land asunder, sending shards of earth scattering violently about. Every spider was launched from the shockwave, leaving some mangled from the force of release alone, but the others were immediately swallowed by the wave of vortexing energy. The remaining forms disintegrated from sight, their ashes joining the cloud of smoke and dust that spread from underneath Scorpion.

A crackle of electricity sparked throughout the area, while the vapor cloud steadily cleared. After what seemed like an eternity, a vehicle rustled in place, before its frame flipped to the side. Spider-Man emerged from where the car previously sat, coughing while brushing remnants of dirt from his costume. Yet, the boy paused, with his masked lenses widening upon glancing at what matched a barren wasteland for several yards, with Scorpion standing at the center.

Peter steadily approached the man, scratching the back of his head once they were a few feet apart. “Good job, pal. A little overkill, but we’re safe, thanks to you.” Ignoring Scorpion’s hunched posture and increasingly erratic breathing, Spider-Man shifted his gaze to the side. After a brief duration, the boy let out a sigh of relief upon spotting the lone metallic spider he had incapacitated by a burned vehicle, still intact. “Ah, good news. We didn’t completely trash all of them. I can pick that one apart, and–”

“Get away from me!” Scorpion exclaimed, lunging out in a flash, with his arms fully extended.

He tackled Spider-Man from behind, driving his body into the ground, until it ruptured under their combined weight. Roaring, Gargan spun around with his hand gripping Spider-Man’s wrist, and he flung the smaller male with all of his might, launching him with the force of a missile. Peter flew for several meters, before crashing into a pile of broken steel. A loud crash pierced the airwaves, and a shockwave erupted from the center, causing a pair of crushed vehicles to fall onto the boy, leaving his frame buried.

Scorpion panted through gritted teeth, eyeing the destruction with a crazed glare. “Will I destroy you?! Y-Yes! I WILL! Next time!” He snapped back, clawing at the center of his forehead, “Make the voices stop!”

Suddenly, Scorpion broke off in a dash, and his silhouette dissipated from sight, as he vanished into the cover the nearest forest provided. Groaning, Spider-Man pried himself free from the mangled steel he was embedded within. Slowly, but surely, the boy managed to crawl out of the wreckage. Once freed, Peter shook his head and stretched in place, until his muscles and joints released a crunch, as if snapping back into place.

“Now that was just plain rude. I’d like to leave him alone, but that guy’s so unhinged that I’m afraid he’ll hurt somebody just for looking at him sideways,” he grumbled, rubbing a hand over the pain coursing through his shoulder. He glanced in the direction Gargan ran off towards, shaking his head in defeat. “It’s no use. He’s gone, and I don’t know where he’ll turn up next. If only there was a way to track him.” As if a thought came into mind, Spider-Man’s eyes widened at a realization. He ran across the yard, skidding to a halt upon reaching his captured drone. Lifting its lifeless shell from the ground, Peter nodded inwardly and hummed. “Time to work on a little science project. Just hope Doc can spare the space.”

To be continued…