When a Spider comes calling

When a Spider comes calling.

Ch. 9 Shocker

            The Shocker was terrified.  It had seemed like a good idea at the time to join in on the torture and killing of the women associated with Spiderman.  Nothing else had ever seemed to stop that damned wall crawling freak!  Hell he had even had him completely helpless once and allowed him to live and he still constantly showed up to get in his way.  For a while it had seemed to work this time.  Then the people who had been there had started dying.  Not only that, they were dying badly.  Considering Peter Parker had not been seen publicly since the women’s funeral the Shocker, Herman Schultz, had a pretty good idea who was doing the killing.  Whether he was right or wrong the Shocker wasn’t hanging around to find out.  He was headed to the docks and planned on stowing away on the first ship heading out of port.  He didn’t even care where it went so long as it took him away from here!  He was in the middle of the warehouse district surrounding the ports when a disembodied voice called out.

            “Where you going Herman?” it asked.  Shocker yelped in fear and spun around searching for the owner of the voice, aiming his shock gauntlets at the shadows as he peered into them.  “You seem a little jumpy.  Were you expecting me?”  With shivers running up and down his spine the Shocker realized he still couldn’t tell where the soft emotionless and cold voice was coming from.

            “Back off Spiderman!  I’ve left you alive before.  If you mess with me tonight I won’t”

            “Too bad Herman.  Any goodwill you might have earned by that got wiped away when you helped make sure my Wife and Aunt suffered before they died.  But don’t worry you will be shown the same mercy you showed them.”  This cold pronouncement of his fate broke the Shockers nerve and he started firing random blasts from his shock gauntlets hoping to hit or at least slow his nemesis down as he started to flee.  He knocked down a few walls but had no idea if he had even hit Spiderman or not until a bit of rubble came winging out of the shadows to clip him on an ankle tripping him and sending him sprawling.  He got back up quickly and tried to start running but his now badly injured ankle wouldn’t support him and he fell heavily again.  He rolled to his back and triggered a wide area blast back the way he had come but realized a moment later as another piece of rubble  flew in from the side and shattered his elbow that he was in deep trouble.  This wasn’t the same Spiderman he had beaten before.  He didn’t try to close the distance and pummel Shocker this time.  He was staying distant and out of sight using the rubble from the Shocker's own blasts against him.  He found himself wishing another hero would show up to save him from this one.  In short order his legs were useless and the pain of firing his gauntlets with shattered elbows had him screaming in agony.  His padded combat suit, designed to absorb the jolts of his own equipment proved totally useless against these bits of heavy debris that were being hurled with such speed and accuracy.  Finally a final shard came in and clipped him on the temple and the darkness jumped up and swallowed him.

            Herman Schultz regained consciousness hoping he had been saved.  He quickly realized that on the contrary his situation had gone from bad to worse, much much worse!  First he was suspended by webbing in midair.  Second he was completely naked.  Third he was suspended over a very nasty metal pole that had a semi blunt end and many barbs and other rough surfaces that looked as if it had come from the darkest nightmare of Vlad the Impaler himself.

            “What the Hell is going on man?” Herman cried out.

            “I figured it was pretty self-explanatory Herman.”  Spider said in that cold voice from behind him.  Craning his neck as far as he could, he managed to see out of the corner of his eyes a black clad figure with vivid blood red eyes in his mask and a large spider emblem on chest and back in the same hue.

            “Spiderman?  Is that you?  What are you doing?  This is hardly your style.”

            “It’s just Spider now.  As for what I’m doing, I’m repaying the kindness you showed my Aunt and Wife.  The style was picked by you when you used your gauntlets on them to bruise and damage their internal organs and then when you tired of that you climbed on and raped them!”

            “Aw come on man!  I didn’t want to do that!  It was either join in or they would have killed me!  Believe me!”

            “I might but the video of the proceedings clearly shows you laughing every single time they screamed or begged you to stop.  If that truly was an act to save your life you can call me a bad critic who just didn’t understand your performance.  Either way it won’t stop whats about to happen.”

            “Look I’ll do anything you want.  I’ll quit crime.  I’ll turn evidence!  I’ll do anything just don’t drop me on that thing!”

            “I want…you to scream and eventually die.”  Spider let go of the web line holding Herman up and he fell onto the spike and screamed as it pierced him through the groin area and impaled him on about six inches of the end of it.  The webbing binding his shattered arms and legs prevented him from trying to use his shattered limbs to free himself.  It also prevented him from falling over sideways.  When the initial flare of pain subsided enough for him to be aware of his surroundings again he noticed Spider setting one of Herman’s gauntlets so it was aimed at the base of the spike he was impaled on.  Spider didn’t touch the gauntlet again but it fired suddenly.  The pain flared up worse than ever as the vibrations of it caused him to sink another fraction of an inch on the spike impaling him.

            “How?” Herman groaned out unable to complete his question.

            “How am I using your own weapon against you?” Spider finished his question for him.  Herman nodded as another wave of pain ripped through him.  “It really wasn’t hard.  Your tech is inspired but simplistic.  I easily rigged a device to it while you were out that will trigger it at whatever interval I desire.”  Conversation stopped as the gauntlet fired again and Herman screamed until his voice shattered as he sank another fraction of an inch.  No more words were spoken as Spider watched Herman sink farther and farther down on the spike.  Eventually something vital was irrevocably damaged and his body started convulsing and finally stilled with a gargled sigh as the invading spike pushed the air out of a lung.  Spider, who had born silent witness to all of it, looked into Herman Schultz’s dead eyes and then turned and walked away.

 

 

DAILY BUGLE HEADLINE

THE SHOCKER FOUND DEAD IMPALED ON HUGE SPIKE.

Do more than villains have reason to fear this serial killer?

 

To be continued.  Next chapter Mysterio