The team escaped the dock compound, with only Recluse taking any injury. They fled to a now abandoned part of Brooklyn, Jackson carrying the captive guard, while Vaiden guided the team to a place he called ‘The Nest’. A tall, derelict apartment complex marked their destination. “What the hell is this place,” Carter groaned upon viewing the wretched building. Vaiden swung up to a window on the top floor to one of the only intact windows on the building and opened it. As he let the team in he gestured around and sang, “Nature, nurture, heaven, and home.” He laughed to himself, “This is The Nest! Where Mr Brute and I get all our spiderwork done, and uh this is where I live. Sometimes Mr Brute has a sleepover, too.” Vaiden walked across the room to another window. This one had a small arm with a panel hanging out of it. “I’ve, uh, borrowed a few things to get power in here, can’t do running water though.” Max, The Arachnomancer, inspected one of the makeshift solar systems attached to a window. Electricity began to spark from his fingers as he cast a minor electrifying spell. Vaiden reacted sharply, “H-hey, man! These are delicate systems! You can’t look at them wrong witho-” but was abruptly cut off. A small bit of energy jumped from Max’s spell into the system. For the first time ever, the lights in the building stabilized as the power draw equalized. “A trivial matter, my friend,” Max smiled and patted Vaiden’s shoulder, “I was trained by the best!”

“Why don’t you just contact Strange and have him help us locate the Brimstone heads?”

“He doesn’t answer my phone calls anymore,” sighed Max. Their casual conversation was interrupted by maddened yelling. “Where am I? You kidnapped me!” Their captive had awoken, blindfolded and bound to a rusting foldable chair. “For the record, I don’t agree with this. Take off her blindfold and let her go,” Vaiden chimed in before anyone else could answer. “And let her report us to the National Police? The time to protest this decision was at the docks,” Jackson growled in reply. Without another word he tipped the woman’s chair back, catching it just before she hit the ground. “Tell us what you know of the operations at the dock. We’re after your bosses, not you,” the gargantuan size of the man was evident in his voice alone, and she picked up that maybe he had done this before. “Who the hell do you think I am? I was working a job! Does your boss tell you everything about the company you work at?” The woman fumed, rage and desperation wrestling for control of her tone.

“Look.” Vaiden squeezed in between Goliath and the woman, pulling the chair back upwards with his toe. “This isn’t right, let’s end this Guantanamo stuff before it starts, let her go, and-”

“We need answers,” Jackson interrupted.

“She has something, I know her employer. Even a half wit could gleam something from the inside. I know I did.” The mountainous man’s contorted brow sneered down at the woman. “Fine,” she sighed in defeat. “I picked up a name, Vincent, thats all I know. This was the only job I could get,” she looked up, towards Vaiden, “you know what its like trying to live with a criminal background in this country.” Vaiden shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “We’ve got enough here. I’ll take her to a street far from here. When I get back we’ll analyze that data I got from the warehouse along with the documents you both recovered.” Vaiden’s tone dropped its familiar playfulness completely. He put the blind fold back on her and untied her legs from the chair, “I’m leaving your arms tied so you can’t remove the blindfold. If the police found me here, it could be very bad.” She made no acknowledgement at all.

Before long, the blindfold was off again, and the moon glinted in her vision once more. They were on a pothole laden street in the middle of what once was Chinatown. “I’m sorry to leave you here, but from experience, I know you can handle yourself. I’m sorry about the other guys. We may all have the same goal, but they have people they deeply care about on the line. I,-” he paused for a moment as his hand nervously rubbed the back of his masked hood, “-don’t really have that.” The woman’s face still bore a scowl, but it had softened somewhat, “I get that,” her voice was sharp, “but so does everyone else out here.”

“I know, I know. Thats why we do whag we do. If you feel like we do,” he handed her a folded slip of paper, “this will get you in contact with me.” With a thwip of his wrist, he was slinging away before she could look back up, “Oh! And leave that Tyranodude out of it! He seemed like a twat!” The spider yelled as he swung further and further away. The woman looked back at the paper, “Fucken idiot didn’t even get my name,” she chuckled to herself as she placed it in her pocket.
Back at The Nest, the rest of the spiders were busy analyzing the documents they had recovered. They found an address to match with the name they were given, one that Jackson vaguely recognized from his time with the mafia. As Vaiden returned, he poured over the data he copied onto the USB with his trusty old thinkpad lovingly referred to has the SpiderPad. The data he recovered brought a complete picture of their next objective. First, some electronic documents with some physical ones helped patch together the contents of a specific shipping container. Flicker read it off the screen over Vaiden’s shoulder. “Four undisclosed religious artifacts, two boxes of something called a Null Collar, various other items, and… Holy shit… One superhuman specimen?” The young boy’s mind raced, piecing together information like it is used to doing. “People disappearing off the street, the expansion of the war fronts in Europe, the event that gave you (Vaiden) and Jackson your powers? This is all connected, somehow.” His team stared blankly at him for a second. Jackson slammed his fist on the table, “Hell yeah, what the kid said. What are we waiting for?” Into the night, the team took flight once more.

A lone compound outside the edge of the city stood before them. It was an eccentric house, yet the midnight air bathed it in a sinister darkness. Not a single sign of life touched the place. “I’m going in,” Max placed his hands together to prepare his mind to leave his body. He shouted a chant, his teams returning muffled protests of its volume, but Max had already slipped away from his body. Over the fence he floated, the house had an impressive backyard, with great oaken double doors that guarded anyone from entering. no way this isn’t protected, Max thought as he passed right through the large guardians. OK, dispute the suspicion, he pressed on into a luxurious modern interior. There was but a single light on down a hallway at the other end of the living room he was standing in. Once again, nothing impeded his astral form. The room revealed a frightening scene; a shrouded man, who could hardly be described as a mafia boss, was kneeling before a flaming figure clad in a white suit. His head was but a skull exuding flames, and his teeth were outright vampiric. “Vincent, your recklessness is beginning to outweigh your usefulness. Attacking my labs for your own gain? Now these endless security breaches? I think you have forgotten who holds the leash.”

“My Lord, I-”

The mob boss never finished his sentence. The hellfire man had locked eyes with him, and as he did Vincent’s own turned to cinders, transmuted to ash in a glance. He slumped to the floor, and silence fell for a few seconds. Max nervously floated near, instinct keeping him to the shadows still. The monstrous man lumbered over to a box of collar shaped objects, he seemed to count them over, and then turned to a long box perched upon a wall. Max braved himself and floated closer. He can’t see me, nobody can, he reassured himself as he moved ever closer to the burning man in white. Outside, Vaiden was getting impatient. “What’s taking so long? He should be in and out, his invisible and intangible basically,” he began to pace as he spoke.

“Maybe he’s just getting a good look around, relax,” Carter said lazily, as he lay on the ground. Vaiden stopped suddenly, and looked at both his allies, “No, they had some unknown artifact shit on that container. What if its a trap?”

“Wait, Vaiden,” Jackson growled.

“Fuck that. Something is wrong,” he was gone with a thwip before his sentence ended. Jackson ripped behind him enraged, “What do you think you’ll do? Just open the backdoor?” Vaiden put his hands on each twisted iron ring and pulled, and the doors weren’t even locked. They flung open, Vaiden held on in surprise and one of the doors carried him out of the Goliath’s way. The mountain of a man was stopped dead in his tracks, “It was unlocked… Did Max-” the baritone voice was interrupted by choking sounds followed by a thud. Their spidersenses flaired, t came from the other end of the living room. Back in the room with the man in white, Max had advanced closely to the right. He peered at the pine box, one fiery hand ripped the lid clean off, while the other snapped like a viper around the neck of Max. “It would appear that we have an unexpected guest to your Ascension, Peter”. The other hand rose from the box, firmly grasping a bruised and broken man in a red and blue uniform with spider motifs. Max was thrashing between the hellish grip that should not have been, before pausing in utter shock. In this moment, Goliath and Vaiden exploded through the door, while Carter phased in through the wall the door used to be attached to.

“Spider-Man!?” Vaiden and Goliath reacted immediately, pouncing in a strike formation at the demon defiling their idol. Both men were swatted aside with the effort of a child tossing a toy that had lost its interest. “Not now, gentlemen. It is blasphemous to interrupt a priest delivering blessings from the Lord,” the man in white’s jaw nearly unhinged. His needle fangs seemed to extend amid the horrid scene. Peter’s eyes opened slightly and a weakened voice escaped from his bleeding lips, “Run.”

The fangs sank into his neck, igniting the area of entry with eerie flames. They danced unnaturally across Peter’s body, removing flesh and revealing bone, and flame. The same horrible, screaming flames of the Man In White. The agony of Peter’s face was soon replaced with the glintless stare of an empty skull consumed by hellfire. His red and blue suit melted to black and burned red while the spider insignia warped to reveal a skull on its thorax. The Man In White chuckled, and seemed to fade from view. “You are all,” Peter’s voice was joined by a chorus of demonic copies and reverberations, “GUILTY!” As the chorus sang, the hellfire spider thwiped his wrist, and fiery hooked chains erupted from twisted and warped web slingers. The two spiders felt the attack before it came, Vaiden somersaulted gracefully over. Jackson, the towering brute, slapped the chain targeting him and deflected it upwards. Carter was already doing his thing, and the hellfire chains passed right through him. Then there was, Max. He was just entering the room again, “You left my body outsi-” a chained wrapped around his arm, slicing his side. Consequently, he was also pulled towards the Hell Spider.

“Peter! This isn’t you, man!” The struggling form of Max appeared in his peripheral vision. He slung a web to the wall behind the Hell Spider, pulled quickly with all his might, and connected a fist to the side of the flaming skull. Goliath followed from the other side with meteoric force behind his boulder hand. The Hell Spider took both shiners with minimal reaction, but The Arachnomancer was about to tip the balance. With both web amulets he stuck webs to a high point on the corner of the room. Like a slingshot he pulled himself from the ground where the chain had pulled him and toppled the Hell Spider at his legs. The thing squeeled in anger, frustrated with the skill of his foes. Carter added insult to injury, phasing his form into the flaming skeleton. His mind focused on the individual atoms of his body, unphasing and phasing them fast enough to not be burned. He picked at the atoms of what seemed to posses Peter, hoping to find a separation between the two. Oh, no- the thought stung his mind, this thing is Spiderman. His meddling was not just for inquiry, the abrasive proding also interfered with the Hell Spider’s movements. Another soul piercing scream erupted from the fiery demon and a chain quickly followed. It bolted to the ceiling, pulling the Hell Spider to his feet. During the movement he returned the favor to Max, knocking the Arachnomancer’s legs from beneath him in revenge.

Another chain targeted Goliath, but the gargantuan spider was ready this time, and caught the flaming chain. It burned and bit at him, but he did not let go. Instead, he gave it a mighty tug, sending the Hell Spider tumbling towards him and into his hulking knee. Seeing this, Vaiden turned the attack into a pinch as he drop kicked the Hell Spider’s back. All the demon did in return was cackle. He grabbed onto Jackson, stating right into his eyes. “YOU WILL BE PUNSIHED,” The hellfire holes of eyes reached for the brown irises hiding beneath a mask. “Not today!” An icicle shot through the arms of the Hell Spider, and pinned him to the wall. Two more followed, pinning his legs. Max made a risky shot, and it seemed to pay off. Vaiden barked orders on instinct, “Max, cast that thingy you did on that weird bugcat thing you summoned at the sanctum!”

“I said not to talk about that!”, the Arachnomancer’s hands worked as his mouth protested. Strange sigils flickered around him with a ghastly wind. The sigils wrapped around the Hell Spider. Dagger words stabbed from the sorcerer’s mouth at the creature, “Sicut déficit fumus defíciant; sicut fluit cera a fácie ígnis, sic péreant peccatóres a fácie Dei.”
The spell reached its peak with a blinding emission of light. As quickly as it came it faded, leaving behind the haunting immolated cackling of the Hell Spider. “What? That should have worked. The only way that wouldn’t work is if he’s not…” Max trailed off.

“Possessed,” Carter solemnly replied, “this isn’t a Spirit of Vengeance we are dealing with. That’s Spider-Man,” his voice trembled with fear, and a touch of awe. “ENOUGH,” the Hell Spider had enough, flames erupted around him along with a flurry of chains whipping in all directions. Metal links collapsed Flicker’s legs, Arachnomancer was knocked back by a multitude of chain and flame, but Goliath caught the massive chain addressed to him, and bore only the heat of the flames with a stern grit. Vaiden suffered the most, his light frame was thrown back by the force of the flames. In mid flight a hooked chain buried itself into the left side of his abdomen, and forcefully pulled him back towards the Hell Spider. “YOUR SOULS ARE TAINTED. YOU WILL ALL BE PURGED IN HOLY FLAME,” the chorus shrieked at the group as Vaiden slid to its feet. It picked him up by his neck, struggled as he might, he was too injured to break free.

This moment of opportunity is what Goliath had been waiting for. He grasped the chains hard enough to dent the paranormal metal yanked, Vaiden still in hand, the Hell Spider propelled towards Goliath. Another massive fist met a boney cheek and the tables had been turned. Recluse managed to sling to the ceiling during the action and painfully held on. The room had caught fire from the Hell Spiders powerful rebuke and the flames began to eat at the infrastructure. With their assailant vulnerable, Flicker again played with his atomic makeup by phasing, the burn from the supernatural fire burned hotter this time, but he persevered. His strange abilities locked up the Hell Spiders movements long enough for his team to take action. Max had noticed the fires, and the box of collars on the table. While Goliath had heaved the Demon Peter, Max grabbed a collar from the box. Carter made his move at the perfect moment, Max slapped the collar on the Hell Spider. He had hoped for it to mimic the effects it had on him when he was Peter Parker, instead it melted away like a tin can. Up on the ceiling, Vaiden was watching, and calculating. If this twisted Spider Man was victorious here, he could easily wreck mass destruction with impunity. Whatever Max’s plan was just now, did not work, they had run out of options this time.

Vaiden swallowed the race thoughts overtaking his mind and let go of the ceiling. He twisted his leg into powerful weapon directed at the Hell Spider, delivering eight tons of force to his eye socket. The flames on the Hell Spider sputtered, “You were the one who taught me anyone could wear this mask!” Vaiden screamed, holding back tears behind his own spider mask. The flames on the Hell Spider reduced to smoke, its eye sockets staring at Vaiden. A stray tear fell from the edge of the socket before evaporating rapidly, then the smoke begin to spark again as the flames kicked back up. Vaiden clinched his fist, and delivered it to the same point he had just kicked. Cracks ran through the entire skull, and the indomitable Hell Spider collapsed to his side. The smoking skull lost its paranormal qualities and as Peter fell his flesh returned to him. Vaiden caught him before he hit the ground.

“Recluse, my name is Peter Parker,” the webslinger’s voice whenced with each word. “They’re hunting everyone and turning them into these things. Everyone is gone or in hiding. You all have to stop them.” Vaiden’s heart heaved at the weight of what he’d done. "Hold on, we can get you to a hospital! Or maybe the Strange will know what to do! Just- "

“Hey,” Peter cut him off, “You’re wearing the mask now, Spider-Man.”

His eyes closed, and he went limp. The team stood there in silence. Most of them had looked up to the man they now knew as Peter Parker. Vaiden slowly rose, with Peter in his arms. “You heard him,” his voice was uncharacteristically dark. They slung out of the building, and didn’t stop until they arrived in a bkur at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They left Peter inside laying in front of the altar. As they were leaving everyone but Vaiden mulled over what to do next. “We need answers, again,” Jackson growled. “We should go to the Sanctum. Strange will know what to do.” Max chirped in reply.

“I thought he didn’t answer your calls,” Carter’s keen memory couldn’t resist the jab.

“He doesn’t have to, I live there! Remember?” Max clapped back. The chatter was cut short, as the team approached the block containing the New York Sanctum they were greeted with disaster. Where the Sanctum once sat was an empty lot. The street and neighboring buildings featured serious burn marks. Police lined the area and treated it like a crime scene. “What happened,” Max exclaimed, “I’m going to ask those cops!” He began to take off when Jackson stopped him, “Don’t be ridiculous, you talk to them and you’ll have the state hounds after us. Its fucking illegal to be like us. Strange was lucky he was, well, strange.” Again in the span of just a few hours they were directionless. “I’m going back to the nest.” It was the first thing Vaiden had said in hours. He sulked away towards the ruined encampment. Without any leads, everyone else followed. They arrived to the rooftops, still debating what to do next. As the rest of the team climbed the ruined stairwell to the nest, Vaiden sat on the rooftop. Jackson noticed, and stopped to sit next to him. The smaller spider took his mask off and just stared at it, tears falling onto the eye panels. Jackson rested his mountainous hand on Vaiden’s shoulder. “I killed Peter Parker,” he gripped his mask and sobbed as the sun began to rise.