Miguel O'Hara is caught upon a memory from not so many years ago. It was late, and Miguel and Xina were up doing what couples do in those wee hours of the morning. The video screen was on, and while channel surfing past raunchy videos and informathons, Miguel paused on a documentary on twencen "television".
"Hold on, what's this?" Xina stopped kissing Miggy in that ticklish spot just behind and below his ear to notice the vid discussing her favorite era of American history.
"I don't know, just some useless programming before the late, late showing of 'Buxom Androids from Andromeda'."
"Oh, good. I'll bet you'll want Lyla to record that, won't you?" A playful smile lit Xina's eyes as she attacked Miguel's ear lobe with her teeth. "I should have programmed her to be jealous and more discriminating with those recordings you--"
"Aw, jammit, Xina, you know I blanked out those things after I met you!" He reached over to kiss her, and slyly slipped his hand around her neck and down her...
"Hold that thought. This looks pretty good."
The documentary was discussing early commercials, an advertising gimmick that was banned after the government uncovered grand scale subliminization and hypnotism in order to persuade viewers to buy the product or service being shown. Now, pure advertising is strictly monitored and only done on certain stations at odd hours of the day. The documentary showed clips of old commercials, but one in particular caught his eye. This old woman, who looked like a real glitch in her old age, was sitting on the floor in her house. She didn't look comfortable. She then pressed a button on a small device hanging around her neck, which was apparently supposed to contact emergency personnel in times of crisis. It must have had two-way communication capability within it, because she spoke while depressing this button. In a nasty, or perhaps fearful, old woman's voice she stated, "I've fallen and I can't get up!"
The acting by this woman was just so poor that both Miguel and Xina burst out laughing. This was supposed to scare them into buying this device? Sure, they'd take it, just in case they hyperventilate from laughing too hard!
"I've fallen and I can't get up."
I've fallen and I can't get up.
Fallen. Falling.
Get up. Wake up.
The air rushes past his face, and it feels very cold, as if his skin were flushed or burned. His arms were very sore, and he had a hard time flexing his fingers. There was the coppery taste of dried blood in his mouth, and instinctively he spit it out. That's when Miguel O'Hara realized he was wearing a mask. That's when Miguel O'Hara realized he is still Spider-Man. That's when he remembers everything from the past 65-70 minutes. There's his odorous arch-nemesis, the Vulture, draped over him, unconscious. They are plummeting to New York, the old New York, Downtown. They are falling from what used to be Alchemax Tower, which is now nothing more than rubble and twisted metal, with a whole new ventilation system. They are falling, and unless Spider-Man does something about it, they will never get up.
**********************************************************
Yup, you guessed it. It's the third installment (sort of) of
"THE FALL OF ALCHEMAX"
Spider-Man 2099 UG #4 AD, part a
Written by a Drillnot
Edited by the Fantastic Four: PeteReilly, Cpartin232, Aguerra601, and Slagas (I'm not making any judgment calls as to who is the token Invisible Woman)
All characters used by permission of their respective writers of the Ugverse.
You should have read SM2099UG#3AD already. That's your warning.
Expect the unexpected.
**********************************************************
Interlude 1.
Somewhere, a fat man laughs.
End Interlude 1.
**********************************************************
Interlude 2.
"Where's Miguel? Where's my son?!?"
Conchata O'Hara is not to be confused with the rational intelligencia of modern society. Her maglev car has been running with one less magnet than most. She is quite a few cigarettes short of a pack. That's because she has smoked most of them.
"Calm down, Mrs. O'Hara," says SHIELD Captain Duncan, "we'll find Mr. O'Hara."
"If Spider-Man didn't make it out alive, how do you expect Miguel to?" She stared into the Captain's eyes, her lower eyelids and chin quivering as if she were ready to cry. She bursts out laughing. She slumps to the ground in front of the harmonic barrier between her and what's remains of Alchemax, laughing. The Captain looks down on her, shakes his head, and gets on his communicator to ask for assistance from Wellvale Hospital.
Still laughing, Conchata looks up at the rubble, and sees some rocks shift.
Conchata has stopped laughing. "Miguel?"
End Interlude 2 (to be continued in MORBIUS 2099 #5).
**********************************************************
Interlude 3.
Gabriel O'Hara is in search of answers. He desperately seeks answers to questions that trouble his very soul. He has not been seen by nor heard from his family in several weeks.
That's not true: he's seen Spider-Man a few times since he let Venom kill Dana D'Angelo. Damn him.
Gabe has wandered through Downtown looking for someone to talk to. He is somewhat afraid of going back into the 'Net ever since Discord nearly scattered his archetype data to the ends of cyberspace. He has tried to locate Kasey Nash, but she has not been at her usual hangouts with the Throwbacks. Who needs her, anyway? Ever since Spider-Man came on the scene, that was all she ever talked about, and she really only gave him any attention when she thought he was Spider-Man. There's a good one. Gabriel O'Hara, the amazing Spider-Man of 2099! No, that honor was given to his brother. Seems like life took a nosedive ever since then.
Gabriel now finds himself at the last bastion of his hope and salvation. How appropriate is it that Father Jennifer D'Angelo could be the one who can clear his troubled mind?
"Father?"
No response.
"Jennifer? Jenny? It's me, Gabe. I want to talk to you."
Nothing.
"Yeah. Whatever. To Hel with it all."
Gabriel walks up to the altar, steps behind the dais, turns, looks at the depressing emptiness of the church, raises his hands and shouts, "To Hel with you all! Thor, or whatever god graces this holy ground by deigning to flatulate in this direction--to Hel with you!"
His voice echoes well through the hall. No one cares.
"Yeah. Might as well plug in and be done with it."
Disheveled, in need of a bath and a good meal, and most of all in need of a friend, Gabriel O'Hara leaves St. Patrick's; he's coming home.
End Interlude 3?
**********************************************************
Interlude Last.
Somewhere, a fat man laughs harder.
End Interlude Last
**********************************************************
"Come on, Vulch, wake up!" Spider-Man screams at the Vulture as they continue to plummet. The Vulture does nothing but continue to fall. "You know something? This is just another reason why I'm not inviting you to my funeral."
Having taken this trip before, Spider-Man knows his own web-foils are not going to be enough to help him. He's pretty sure there's not going to be any Thorite hanggliding to fall into, but he has the next best thing. He grabs the Vulture and rolls himself on top of his counterpart.
"This vid's corrupted."
With each hand, he grabs the Vulture by the wrists. He spreads the Vulture's wings out and tries to glide down to the ground. They still have a way to go, and using the Vulture as a marionette is exhausting to the already battle-fatigued Spider-Man. Nevertheless, it's working; their descent is slowing just a little, and at least Spider-Man has control.
"Tk, tk, tk, look at you two! You're lucky the Vulture is unconscious, or he might be upset that you mounted him like that. He doesn't like when his prey takes him for a ride."
Spider-Man almost ignores the words spoken next to him. He's fought Halloween Jack, Thanatos, Morbius, the Specialists, and the Vulture already this morning. How can it possibly get any worse? That couldn't be someone else coming to pick a fight with him, could it?
Spider-Man made his first mistake of the day by answering the videophone this morning. He makes his second mistake by looking over his shoulder just to see if there actually is someone there.
The Goblin smiles back. "Boo!"
Miguel has gone from top of the world to Downtown in an hour. There's just not much left now. There's pride, there's disbelief, but all that matters right now is anger.
"Shock you! Who the Hel are you, anyway? You attacked me out of nowhere, claiming that I was corrupting Downtown! You claimed I was just a corporate stooge for Alchemax and even Hikaru at Stark/Fujikawa! Well, let me tell you something, Goblin, I don't know how you know so much about me--why, I'm sure you probably know my secret identity like almost all of my enemies are learning this morning, but I am not the heavy for a Machiavellian megacorp! O'Hara and I were trying to change things, and that meant helping Downtown! How dare you accuse me of turning my back on the people! I put my life on the line every single day when I put this mask on! I'm cleaning up this city, uptown and downtown, of trash like the Vulture and YOU!"
With that, Spider-Man leaps from the Vulture's back, finding yet another untapped reservoir of energy. The Goblin, taken off guard, tries to put up his hands to blind Spider-Man with his finger blasters. Spider-Man, having felt those blasts and their hallucinatory effects before (see SM2099 #40) grabs his hands.
"Oh, no! Not again! One Goblin is plenty, in fact, I think you are one too many!"
Fighting back the pain and fatigue, Spider-Man wrenches the Goblin's arms back and gives the Goblin a bear hug using all the strength he can muster. The Goblin was completely caught off guard, not ready for this attack. He came here to tease this man and was not completely ready to go to war. Beginning to black out from the pressure, the Goblin...whistles?
"What's that for? Goblin, you really do scare me!"
Suddenly, with the force of a small battering ram, Spider-Man feels something slam into the small of his back. The unexpected blow causes Spider-Man to release his grip, allowing the Goblin to fly away. Getting his bearings once more, Spider-Man looks to find the Goblin flying to and then standing on a strange hovering platform in the shape of a giant bat.
"Spider-Man, I don't know what that was all about, but I swear you'll pay for that and all you've done to me and to this city, my city, and my people who you've beguiled into believing you were the savior and harbinger of better things to come."
The Goblin, still hurting from this small portion of Spider-Man's rage, flies off on his new glider, stopping to pick up the Vulture, who still seems to be knocked out cold. Spider-Man watches as they fly down to land somewhere beyond his vision's range.
<>, thinks Miguel. <>
By now, Spider-Man has about ten seconds before he hits the ground. He thinks about shooting out a web line, but his wrists are still in pain, and the flexing of his arms just wakes him up more to his impending death. <>
A rush of air, and all Spider-Man knows is that he has stopped falling, and is now just drifting down to Earth.
"Wow! Who thought I would have come all the way down to New York City to find Alchemax already in ruins and the great transnat savior Spider-Man falling to his death?"
<> Spider-Man, held by his arms by this new player, swings up, delivering a nasty kick to the face of Northstar 2099. He lets go, and Spider-Man falls, ungracefully but still alive, to the ground.
"You ungrateful--! What was that for? Shock you, eh?" Northstar leaves Spider-Man on the ground and flies back Uptown, back to his mission.
Spider-Man, in a lot of pain and maybe not quite so thankful that he is alive, takes the opportunity to enjoy the quiet and rest.
"Okay, buddy, don't move."
Spider-Man looks up and sees a big white skull emblem behind a very big gun.
"Don't worry."
Spider-Man sighs and slumps back to the ground.
******************************************************************************
Epilogue:
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
******************************************************************************
End Spider-Man 2099 UG #4, part a. To be continued in PUNISHER 2099 #9.
******************************************************************************
Here's what one faithful reader had to say about Spider-Man 2099 UG #3 AD (edited for content):
>I just read SMan UG#3 and the action just keeps coming! I thought that Spidey
>was getting a little carried away when he was beating up on the Specialist tied to
>the wall tho' . . . Oh, well, I guess he's not Peter Parker now, is he?
>
>I also liked the bit about how using all the webbing at once hurt his arm. There's
>bound to be some physiological response to losing all of that fluid, something that
>Parker/Reilly never had to worry about having mechanical webs. Maybe he'll be
>really hungry . . . if he survives that fall, that is.
>
>And the return of the Vulture! Again the UG has beat WoT to the punch (the
>Vulture appears at the end of the latest WoT) How's he going to get out of this
>one??? There are now TWO UG issues with Spideys falling out of the sky . . .
>
>keep up the good work, and thanks again for the comments!
>DS
I'm glad this came thorugh. Miguel O'Hara is not Peter Parker, nor does he claim to be (nor does he wish to be). He is Spider-Man, and for all his experience and morality, he still has the raging blood of a Mexican/Irishman. He has killed before, he'll no doubt kill again.
As far as the webbing goes, like Miguel said, it's a good thing he didn't grow web spinnerets from his butt! There was a twofold point to the heat generated when Spidey and the Vulture crossed thorugh the shield, but you are right, this great loss of a body fluid should have some impact upon him.
And now that you've read Spidey #4, how about using the Goblin, huh? But don't you worry, taht's not the last we've seen of the Goblin or the Vulture for that matter. Check out PUNISHER 2099 UG #9 for the further mind-numbing adventures of Spider-Man and his ally (?) the Punisher! Anyone who thinks John daSilva is a second-rate Punisher better reexamine their evaluations when this is all said and done!
After Punisher 2099 #9 steamrolls through, catch Spider-Man 2099 UG #4, part b! This little chapter is not done yet! We'll have a huge cast of characters between Spidey, the Punisher, the Vulture, the Goblin, Combustion, and (without giving away too many surprises), a certain cyborg who is not all that Spider-friendly! And just who is that fat man laughing? What's he laughing at? What exactly is his problem? Read on!
By the way, don't forget to catch MORBIUS 2099 UG #5 coming soon which will feature our favorite vampire of the future, along with some more special guests, and an answer to that brainteaser: "How are they going to shut off that rotational harmonic shield around Alchemax?"
Drillnot
12/15/96
Spider-Man 2099 UG #4B AD
"The Fall of Alchemax", penultimate chapter: "F is for..."
June 22, 1997
Thomas M. Imboden II (Drillnot@aol.com)
"Hello, Spidey, fancy meeting you here! What took you so long?"
"Well, I heard reports of Spider-Man fighting a whole slew of kung-fu movie refugees at the old Alchemax building. 'Alchemax? But that's where I work!' I thought to myself so I thwipped web to get over there and all I saw were a few stories of the Tower covered and surrounded by rubble. I overheard someone saying they thought they saw a couple men fly out through a window right before the explosion, and I thought, 'If I were Spider-Man, which I am, I'd probably be one of the guys lucky enough to be falling out of Alchemax Tower before the whole thing exploded.' It took a little bit of searching, but when I heard another big explosion down here, I just followed the crowds and then I found you!"
"Glad you did, Spidey, because I'm in pretty bad sha--"
Spider-Man just realized that he was talking to someone else and calling him Spider-Man.
"What the shock is going on here! I'm Spider-Man! Let go of me!" Spidey frantically twists and struggles to break free as he realizes that this imposter has just webbed his hands together and is holding them above his head as the other hand reaches for his throat!
"Yeah, sure you are! And so is that guy over there! And so is he! And so is he, he, he, she, he, he, she and he!"
Spider-Man twists Spider-Man's head around so that he can look at the crowd that has gathered about this little drama. Surrounding the entire block of Downtown are all the cliques and cults and dregs of humanity that "civilized people" Uptown have turned their backs on: Spiderites, Thorites, Freakers, Throwbacks, Fenris--even a few clearly marked bands of lowlifes he has never seen before. He also sees the other poor players strutting and fretting their hours upon this stage: there's that new Punisher, the Goblin crouching over what appears to be an unconscious Vulture, and the remains of that flame-throwing guy, whoever he was (his name was Combustion, as readers of PUNISHER 2099 UG #10 should recall!--Tom). Spider-Man also sees some Watchdogs, Public Eye soldiers, even a couple SHIELD agents who have come out to partake of the festivities. <>
"But now Spider-Man, you have been very naughty while I was away, so I'm going to have to make an example of you to all these people watching. I don't know how you destroyed Alchemax, but you are going to pay, and everyone else here will learn not to mess with Spider-Man!"
The new Spider-Man raises his left arm and pops his talons with deliberate hesitation for everyone to bear witness.
KA-BLAM!!!
The noise startles both Spider-Men as they turn and stare at the Punisher. John daSilva is still new to this super-hero/super-villain lifestyle and he is a little confused, very sweaty and dirty, and just a little edgy after all the action that has just gone down. And his SHIELD-issue SOS-52 (sawed-off shotgun) is just raring for a workout.
"I don't know what's going on, but I do know that I just helped the S-Man, the one on his knees collapsing from exhaustion, take out these known SOGs ("Sons of Glitches, of course!--Keep-it-clean-for-the kiddies Tom). Until I get the whole story, I'm not letting either one of you make an example of anybody, is that clear?" DaSilva may not be the original Punisher, but no one there could tell the difference from his commanding voice and "Go ahead, make my day" stance.
The Punisher cautiously walks to the center of the square where the new Spider-Man is standing over the old one, but is cut off from the two of them by a grenade thrown in front of him, which gives off a firecracker explosion and then emits a thick cloud of smoke.
"That's far enough, Pop-Gun Pete. If you know what's good for you, you'll just back away, let the two Spider-Fools fight themselves. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll kill each other so that God can sort them out. Oh, and don't breathe in too much of that gas, it might be hazardous to your health and even cause birth defects in pregnant women." The Goblin smiles at daSilva while he glares right back at him (this takes place before both MORBIUS 2099 UG #6 and THOR 2099 UG #1 - chronologically-critical Tom). The Punisher has no choice but to back away and let the smoke clear.
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, where was I? Oh yes, I was about to slit your throat for your bad behavior. Are you ready, 'Spider-Man'?"
Cocking his hand back one more time, Spider-Man is prepared, spinning his right leg out, tripping the bogus Spider-Man and knocking him flat on his back. Spider-Man, the man known as Miguel O'Hara under the mask, rolls backward, putting one taloned foot up to his webbed hands, shredding the rope-like material. <> he thinks as he rolls onto his feet ready for the imposter's attack.
"Oooh, very good! I would have done the same thing myself, naturally, because I'm Spidey, too!" He jumps back onto his feet and the two webbed wonders slowly sidestep in a circle, measuring up their opponent (themselves?), looking for the right opportunity to spring.
<> Spider-Man leaps at him, but Miguel ducked underneath. He whirls around to see the other Spider-Man is just laughing at him and the dance goes on.
<>
The other Spider-Man leaps at him again. Again Miguel ducks, every muscle, ligament and tendon screaming from overexertion and/or injury. This time, Spider-Man webs Miguel's back at he flies over, somersaulting in mid-air, flinging Miguel by the webbing over his head and into the side of an old Downtown New York bank. Miguel smacks the brick wall, pushing bricks through and making an impression big enough to sit in.
Spider-Man leaps at him, and the real Spider-Man brings up his arms to spit out some of his own homemade webbing, but the electric pain shooting up his arms reminds him that he overdid that trick a little while back at Alchemax on those Specialists and the Vulture (see SM2099UG #3 -- that had to hurt). Instead, the self-proclaimed world's greatest genius bails out from his wall niche as Spider-Man plows head-first through the bank wall.
Spectators run over to inspect the building where this second Spider-Man just crashed through. Miguel tumbles onto the ground, rolling to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, thanks to his accelerated vision, he sees the Punisher reaching for something off his back. He looks over at daSilva and visibly tilts his head in puzzlement as the Punisher kneels on the ground snapping together a couple pieces of big metal tubing together to form a --
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR SHOCKING MIND!"
John daSilva looks up at Spider-Man and a barely perceptible curl of his lip on the right side of his mouth tells Spider-Man that, yes, perhaps he is, but this solution could be what we all need right now.
Realizing that he is not in shape enough to reach the Punisher to stop him, Spider-Man yells, "GET THE FREAK OUT OF THE WAY!" He gets up and runs toward the ogling crowd by the bank, picking up people one at a time and thowing them some twenty meters away into the streets. <> he thinks, so he gathers a couple onlookers in his arms and makes the best impression of a bull-dozer he can muster, pushing twenty to thirty people back into the streets.
The crowd start screaming at the masked man. "What the shock are you doing!" "Let go of me!" "I'll sue you for this, Spider-Man!" "I think you broke my ribs!" "You really smell, don't you bathe?"
The Punisher stands up and puts the long metal cylinder over his shoulder. All eyes inexplicably turn toward him, somehow knowing that the next performance was going to come from the guy with the big white skull on his chest.
"You see now? That's a bazoo--!"
BLAMMMM!
SHREEEEEEE--
KAA-POWWW!
There's no longer a bank standing on that corner of Downtown New York. Whatever was inside that place, or standing too close to it, has been punished.
The Punisher looks upon what he has done, and he is pleased with himself. But before he can get Spider-Man's undying gratitude, or enmity depending upon which wall-crawler you refer to, he takes a pumpkin bomb right into his back, the detonation of which sends him flying through the air and landing not so gracefully on his chin. If it weren't for the body armor, he'd have been severely hurt, if not killed. John daSilva learned this day to never revel in your accomplishments when your enemies are still breathing. That, however, is a situation he wishes to rectify.
"Your interference has given Spider-Man yet another day to live. That was not what I wanted. If you ever get in my way to disrupt my plans again, Punisher, I promise you will not live to do so ever again. You have been warned." The Goblin points an accusatory finger at the Punisher and then turns to look at Spider-Man, just now getting to his feet after saving the Downtowners. The Goblin scowls at his enemy, and reaches into his bag to pull out another incendiary device. Noticing that the Punisher is already up on one knee aiming his model-kit shoulder cannon right at his head, the Goblin puts his hands up. Mumbling something imperceptible to anyone but the Vulture, who missed all the excitement while unconscious, the Goblin opens his hands, dropping a tiny vial. Before either hero can react, the vial breaks open on the ground at the feet of the Goblin, creating a thick cloud of green smoke.
Expectedly, the smoke clears and both the Goblin and the Vulture are nowhere in site.
"Come back here, cowards! I'm not finished with you yet!" The Punisher stands up and runs to where the villains had stood seconds before, and he too disappears among the tall buildings and dark filthy alleys of Downtown.
<> Miguel thinks as he turns to the people in the audience. They all just stare right back at him, not quite sure of what the masked man will do next.
"Is there a Doc-in-a-Box?"
He expected someone to say something, anything to break this silence. Then Miguel notices they are no longer staring at him, but through him. No, not through--BEHIND HIM! <> is all he can think as he turns around slowly to gather it all in. All the people, all the filth of Downtown, all the destruction their fight has caused, and--
"Oh come now: I'm Spider-Man! Certainly dropping a building on my head isn't going to finish me off; I just never know when to quit!"
Rising from the pile of bricks and cement that was formerly know as Chase-Manhattan comes the bogus Spider-Man!
Swatting away bricks as he comes up from the pile of debris, he continues to talk: "You know, maybe I've underestimated you, Spidey, old pal. After all you've been through today, I have to admire your fortitude. But you needed the Punisher to whip out his "Uranium-236 Space Modulator" to try to finish the job, because for all your powers and all your cunning, you couldn't do it alone. Then it occurs to me that maybe, since I'm Spider-Man, just maybe I need some help, too, you know? I would be Spider-Man of course, and you could be my sidekick and best buddy, the Spectacular Spider-Kid! Yeah, sounds derivative, I know, like a bad comic book, but you get the idea, huh? What do you say?"
Spider-Man climbs off the pile of rubble and walks toward Spider-Man, hand outstretched.
The crowd that was around the original Spider-Man begin to back away nice and slow.
"Go frag yourself."
Spider-Man stops ten paces short of Miguel O'Hara. "Is that anyway to talk to me? All I ever wanted was to be your friend, but I'll kill you if I have to."
<<"Old pal"? "Sidekick"? "Best buddy"? "Friend"?>> Miguel's mind never stops, and maybe he's finally put this one together. Too exhausted to go any more rounds with any other villains, Miguel takes the chance that he can unnerve this one and gain an edge.
"Flipside?!?"
"Uh-uh, wrong answer. That program was retired. I'm Spider-Man. But I'm afraid you guessed the mystery word, and for that, your reward is your own head on a platter! Good night, sweet Spider-Man!"
Flipsde takes one more step and Spider-Man tenses his straining muscles for whatever he's got left.
Then the asphault between them is blown away by a new energy discharge.
"Punisher, stay out of this!" demands Flipside. "You'll get your turn!"
"I'm not the Punisher, freak, but I'm definitely taking my turn right now."
The man and the machine turn to look at the new challenger.
Tall.
Mean.
Chaps.
Red handkerchief.
Cowboy hat.
Cyborg.
"Venture?"
EPILOGUE:
Somewhere, that fat man is still laughing.
"I have you, Spider-Man! I have you now!"
More laughter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Took long enough to get this to you, didn't it? Sorry about that, but it's here now, and isn't that all that matters? Isn't it enough to promise that Spider-Man #5 should be out within another week? Can you forgive me if I tell you that it wil be the end to "The Fall of Alchemax" and will be so exciting that you'll get goosebumps? Well, I can't promise goosebumps, but I think it will be pretty neat. So tell your friends! Drillnot wrote another Spider-Man story! All hail! XLCR!
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