Xander and Spider-Woman and Spider-Woman and …Who the—!
Listening to them catch up, Alexander nodded where appropriate. Of course Danny survived and was with MJ, or at least the male twin apparently. Clearly Liz seemed unsure about, but wouldn’t have to wait for, Caty’s response. She was real cool about it. Better than Xander, that much was for sure…Although when it came to the existence of this Peter Parker, something told him that the name would be important to remember. Which, again, was followed by the universe’s swift answer.
Xander’s senses were highly attuned as a spider-mutant, and honed by his uncle, the master of kung fu. It was very difficult to sneak up on him, which made it rather shocking when it was his spider-sense that alerted him to the other’s presence. This other, that seemed to be a version of Peter Parker, left no doubt as being an enemy spider-totem. He exhaled, tempering his spirit for battle.
Grimacing somewhat as eight claws extended from his balled fists, the Tarantula stared him down.
“Well well, looks like Anansi sent one after my own heart. Never got to kill a Spiderine before.” Were his sneered words as he flipped into a three-point landing before the trio.
”I’ll hang your claws on my wall.”The martial artist kept his composure in the face of such a threat, and was careful not to take an eye off of him. At the same time though, his peripheral focus kept on Caty and Liz to see how they wanted to handle this. While he never backed down from a fight, he had no idea what this guy was capable of. And if his spider-sense was anything to go by, the wrong move could have devastating consequences.
Liz was frozen in shock. This wasn't the Peter she knew. She couldn't imagine any version of Peter turning out like this. Just what happened to him? Every time she thought about making a move her spider-senses activated letting her know that the move she was going to make would end in certain death for her. Just what kind of monster was he?
Caty's experience as both a martial artist and hero let her know that the Spider-Man in front of them wasn't something to mess with, but she couldn't imagine they'd be able to escape without at least putting up some kind of fight. She trusted her and Xander's skills as martial artists, but wasn't sure how skilled Spider-Liz was.
“I'm sorry, but your trophy hunting days are over.” Caty said confidently, putting Liz at ease. She charged forward as if she were foolishly aiming for a straightforward punch, but before she was close enough to connect she extended her fingers a little more to press down on her web-shooters releasing a string of web at his face.
Without hesitation he grabbed the web and wagged his finger disappointingly at her.
“Seriously?” He asked while pulling the web and her towards him and punching her with his free fist.
Caty was sent flying backwards but was caught by Spider-Liz.
“Are you okay?”“Yeah…” Caty said, getting to her feet.
“But now I know what it's like getting hit by me.”The Assassin stepped forwards, turning his gaze to Xander.
“I hope you're better than your friends over there or this will get boring fast.”Xander looked over at Caty to make sure she wasn’t rocked too badly by that punch. Clearly this opposing spider knew the talking tricks that Caty and Danny employed often…Perhaps that was a main aspect of Spider-folk…As well as the use of spider-sense. In which case, they’d have to rely on their limited experience fighting other spiders, namely their training sessions and, for Xander, that scuffle he had with symbiote Danny.
This first attempt was to throw off the spider sense’s direction. So, Xan lifted a table from a nearby restaurant and threw the topside first directly at this Assassin Spider-Man. Throwing it this way limited visibility for a second, and Xan took the opportunity to run after it. Although he was fully prepared to kick through the table if he had to, the wooden table exploded into splinters after what sounded like a gunshot.
When visual contact returned, the Assassin had two fingers pointed at where the table was, almost as if— Xander’s own spider-sense warned him, but instead of dodging, he used a more precise kick to his opponent’s arm. It was just in time to knock the aim away from his friends as a second shot went off. So instead of web-shooters, they were bullet-slingers…That was concerning.
A small close quarters exchange of blows and blocks ensued, with neither quite getting the upper hand.
It ended with the Assassin going for a punch that Xander caught at the wrist to stop another shot from firing. At the same time, Xander threw a faked head kick that the Assassin still caught at the ankle, locking them in place for a moment. While there was a moment or two of struggle, Xander grit his teeth. From out of his ankle, spikes shot out and through the Assassin spider’s hand. After a grunt of pain, the Assassin threw a kick at Xander’s chest to make some space.
Just about to go on the offensive, his hand, shortly followed by his kicking foot were met with a disorienting tingling. A sort of numbness seemed to take them over momentarily as they’d come into contact with Spiderine’s tarantula spines. The Assassin shook his hand to wake it up.
“So you got some tricks up your sleeve…I like that.”“And he's not the only one.” Caty said, attempting to distract him.
Assassin Spider turned his attention to Spider-Woman, but noticed that Liz was nowhere to be found. It was then that his spider-senses alerted him to a presence behind him, but it was too late. Liz's camouflaged arms wrapped around his neck to hold him in a chokehold before she revealed herself.
He aimed his fingers at her and attempted to shoot his bullet-slingers, but found they were jammed by something. Several spiders exited his devices giving him the answer to his query.
He laughed.
“Invisibility and control of spiders. Anansi really doesn't play fair. He really does hate us Peters.”Liz pressed down harder on his throat attempting to cut off his air. She knew with someone like him you couldn't take chances. He already showed he was willing to kill them. But it felt strange. She didn't want to do this. This was Peter after all. Not her Peter, but a Peter. She didn't know what happened that turned him into this, but she still felt for him.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Caty said, approaching him.
“Anansi doesn't hate you. He's trying to stop you, but he never told us to kill you. If you're a spider-totem it means you're a hero, too. And if you think you're the only one who's lost someone or killed someone, get in line. I lost my dad and my girlfriend.” She looked at Liz as she said this.
“I killed my father's killer and wanted to kill hers. But I didn't. I realized these powers were meant for more. That I couldn't let them or my anger, guilt or grief control me. You don't have to either. You can stop this.”Assassin Spider-Man laughed horsely. Liz loosened her grip just a bit for him to talk.
“You really drank that fool's kool-aid. Don't you see? Why is it that we have to suffer? So others don't? It stops nothing. We're targeted. Time and time again when we get close to people they get caught in the crossfire of this war that'll never end. Because we're all just playthings!” He flipped Liz over slamming her back to the ground. He then lifted his foot to stomp down on her.
“No. Not again. I won't lose her again!” Caty shot a web from both of her wrists. One latched onto Assassin Spider's numbed leg, allowing her to sweep him off his feet and onto his back. The other was caught by Liz, allowing her to be pulled towards Caty and Xander.
Caty then shot another web towards a nearby lamppost attaching it to the one she shot at the Assassin. She yelled up to the skies,
“Anansi get us out of here now!”“What about your brother and Peter?” Liz asked.
Assassin Spider-Man started to recover and was beginning to tear away at the web.
“They'll be fine.” She hoped.
“He wants us, not them.”Suddenly a portal opened underneath Caty, Xander, and Liz dropping them back into the Web of Life and Destiny where Anansi greeted them with a smile.
“The first ones back! I see it was a success!”Xander had been ready to get back into the fray but the portal came and whisked them away. So…wait, all they had to do was ask and at a minute’s notice, Anansi could snatch them up?
“What the hell? If you can do that, couldn’t you just grab up these other spider-folks whenever you wanted? What’s the point of sending us in there then…? What stops you from snatching up the bad spiders and keepin them here? It’s not like you got a door to this place.”Anansi frowned at the series of questions.
“Look at how you all handled being randomly snatched up in a portal and told your lives were in danger. The people you're recruiting or warning don't want to leave their homes, like you didn't. But the message would be better coming from one of them, than the god that's responsible for it all. And would you invite the people who want to kill you to your home? Imprisoning them would only justify their anger and they're way too smart to stay trapped forever. Any more questions?”“Yeah, just one. Who the Hell is Peter Parker?” Caty asked.
Anansi looked down with a hint of sadness before looking up ready to answer.
“He's the best of the best. The true Spider-Man. He's iconic. Most totems are alternate versions of him. That's how heroic he is. Or at least how heroic he's supposed to be. But the ones you're facing, they hate me and the lives of trials and tribulations they've been forced to live. They blame me, but I don't control everything. I'm not The One Above All.”“Who?” Spider-Liz asked. This was her first time dealing with any of this. She couldn't believe she was in the middle of a giant web that connected different universes.
“The True Supreme Being of the Multiverse. On a comparative scale that you humans would understand. I'm basically middle management.” Anansi answered a bit annoyed at his low ranking.
Xander was lost in the middle of all this multiverse stuff. So in this whole thing, this Peter Parker guy, who didn’t even exist in his and Caty’s universe, was the “True Spider-Man”. So if he’s where the idea came from, why didn’t their universe have a Parker? Then there was this One Above All stuff…which sounded like a bible description? So if that guy was ‘
actual god’ then what was— Anansi answered that much. Middle management, so he wasn’t as powerful as his fancy title made it out to be. Instead of the spider-god, he was more like the spider bus driver.
“Fine. What’s the next move…?”“We wait.” Anansi answered, simply.
