Issue 57: Secret Wars Part VII

Meanwhile back with Peter, he was staring down 8 Heralds of the Elder Gods, the Octessence.

Juggernaut herald of Cyttorak the Rage Father.

Herald of Ikonn, master of illusions, Mysterio.

Raggadorr, the god of technology's herald, Stonecutter.

Styxx, follower of the cult of Entropy, herald of Valtorr, god of toxins and decay.

Gorgon leader of the Hand, and the herald of Krakkan, the god of prisons and the jailer of all those who oppose him.

Next was the Herald of Balthakk, the god of energies and unknown forces, Inferno.

Modred the Mystic as the herald of Watoomb, the god of magic and spellcraft.

And lastly was Kraven the Hunter, the herald of Farallah the god of beasts and the hunt.

Mysterio waved his hands at the Anti-Hero/Hero duo, and suddenly Spider-Man and Deadpool found themselves outside the earth's atmosphere and started falling without control. They could feel the heat of re-entry, the Gs of falling hundreds of miles per hour, and couldn't breathe properly either. Peter was in disbelief that an illusion could grab hold of him since the suit was supposed to give him psionic resistances, yet the force of Ikonn's godly might was able to burst through its defenses with ease.

Spider-Man closed his eyes and only used his Spider-Sense to focus in on reality. After waking himself back up, he noticed that his suit was piping hot, and Deadpool was burning up as if the illusion were real. 

"It looks like I'll have to go looking for more materials, the purity levels of the metal in my suit and the effects of my organic webbing are too low to stand up against something godlike."

His Spider-Sense went off like nothing he's ever felt before as he saw Styx reaching out towards him with a visible black colored energy of decay radiating from his fingertips. Jumping back while pulling Deadpool with him, the hero landed on the wall then quickly webbed up a circlet of organic webbing for Deadpool to wear. For good measure, he then enchanted with a few dozen mental resistance spells onto it.

Seeing that he was still in the illusion Peter started to slap Deadpool, "Ohh! Hit me harder daddy!" Deadpool shouted, making Peter almost puke. Seeing that it still till no effect, he then decided to hard boot him by snapping his neck.

"What happened?" Deadpool jumped up, 

"You got hit with an illusion, I reset your brain."

Deadpool laughed, "Oh, you killed me, like an on and off button for a frozen computer, neat! You can turn me on whenever you want webs."

Peter gave him a deadpan stare before saying, "I think I just threw up a little." He then pointed to the webbing around his head and said, "That will give you some resistance against Psionics, try not to fall into it again. If you suspect you're in an illusion, then just kill yourself to get out."

Peter turned to them to try and use his telepathy to knock them out. However, not all of them shared Juggernauts weakness, they all wore magical suits that granted them incredible resistances against just about everything, 

Peter gritted his teeth and said, "So Deadpool, any advice?"

"Don't die, and do team-ups with me more often," Deadpool shouted as he started shooting his pistols at them, the entire island turned into a scene of pure mayhem that shook the whole building several times.

Peter and Deadpool were doing everything they could to dodge the onslaught of their attacks. Magic, tech, and many mystical energies assaulted them in waves. It was taking everything they had just to stay alive. 

Juggernaut and Kraven teamed up using their powerful strength to and speed to collapse half of the building structure while Peter tried to web out and create support pillars out of his webbing. 

He managed to keep the whole place from coming down, but Kraven suddenly leapt through the air, cutting them with a strange energy that surrounded his claws. 

Reacting instantly, Spider-Man webbed his back and sent the villain flying towards Juggernaut. The two hit each other and tumbled over, surprising Peter that such a thing was even possible. 

Like a light bulb illuminating the darkness, Peter came to the realization of something that just might work.

"Deadpool! Web of Spider-Man issue number 91!" Peter shouted as he watched him trying to tango with the rest of the Octessence heralds. 

Wade dodged their attacks and managed to cut the surface of their armor before saying, "You mean that time when you used a bad guy to defeat another...Ohh! I get it!"

Deadpool pulled down his pants and showed his cancer ridden ass and started spanking his butt at Inferno, "Hey honey, how about a full moon pie, all you can eat." 

Inferno charged up a powerful beam of energy and shot it like a Gatling -gun at Deadpool, who in turn started jumping around until he stood directly in front of Gorgon. The Anti-hero then hugged his opponent before saying, "I love you, Gorgon! I won't let her hurt you!"

The blast shot through him, leaving several holes in the merc with a mouth while the beams continued on, knocking Gorgon into the wall. 

"Darn it, I couldn't save you! Can you forgive me for being so weak, snookims," Deadpool laughed.

The herald jumped back out looking a little exhausted and shouted, "I will seal you in a hell for all eternity for that, Deadpool."

Spider-Man saw how damage Deadpool managed make the Herald inflict upon on Gorgon started to self-heal, along with his armor. He also noticed that the clamps he was he had thrown to the ground earlier were moving back towards Juggernaut. In response to such events, the hero thought quickly and pulled them into his bag of infinite space before he was force dodge the attacks of multiple Heralds. 

Once again, the Juggernaut and the Hunter charged him.

Kraven was fast and carried a wild aura around him as he swiped his claws that could cut through adamantium with ease. The hunter unleashed a flurry of swipes and moved around the room like a wild animal, leaping at him whenever given the chance.

Peter dodged them all with barely any room to maneuver while Styx tried to sneak up on Peter and touch his back. 

However, Spider-Man was at the top of his game. Seconds before the creepy hand touched him, Peter webbed Styx's body and tossed him towards the charging Juggernaut. 

"Here's a present for ya, Jugs!" Peter shouted as Kraven dashed out of the way avoiding Styx's claw-like hands, and much to the hero's surprise, Juggernaut actually ducked under him and slid towards Peter in an attempt dodge him.

Peter jumped over Juggernaut and webbed up Styx's body again and started to use him as a weapon against the other two. 

Juggernaut and Kraven were now dodging Peter's attacks as he swung Styx like a wrecking ball of instant decay. The only thing that managed to resist the Herald's power was his webbing. However, he had to constantly add more whenever he felt the atomic bonds in them weakening.

"Hey, Styxy, you ever think about working for a demolition company? You'd make a fortune!"

"Ahhhhh!" Styx screamed as the ground and materials around wherever he touched turned to dust. 

The two Exemplars dodged with everything they had and avoided the Herald of Degeneration like he was the plague. Styx had had enough and chose to decay the part where the webbing line was rather than the mass surrounding his body. The end result was the Herald sending himself flying on to the ground, mere feet away from Deadpool. 

The Merc with the Mouth was surprised by the decaying wreaking ball move Spider-Man pulled off, lost track of Inferno because he wasn't paying attention, and was hit by a powerful blast of energy. He was sent flying back into the distance while Peter swung by and caught him. 

As they landed on the half-destroyed second floor, Stonecutter began using scraps and other technology lying around to start building some kind of massive arena, when suddenly, the whole building broke down and reformed into the massive flat platform that started floating up into the sky. 

"Let the God Machine be built and let the war over mankind begin." Stonecutter said before laughing.

Peter saw the Hydra Council members and a few remaining victims standing off in the distance. 

Thankfully, Webster appeared and wrapped up the remaining captives before leaping off the ledge and safely landed alongside the remaining victims. 

Peter raised his hand and felt the Symbiote return to his body in an instant. As this happened, the Hydra council members tried to run. However, Peter's earlier mental commands held them still, 

Kraven, like an apex predator, had smelled at the feast set before him. The weakness radiating from them triggered his animal instincts and he attacked as if he were in a trance. Before Peter could do anything to save them, all of the Hydra agents had been carved up into chunks.

Kraven started to laugh, "The more I kill the stronger I become!"

Peter didn't have any remorse about letting them die, they were going to be executed by the state after all. However, he didn't want them to die by the hands of a villain, especially when that makes his opponent stronger.

Spider-Man gripped his fists before webbed Kraven's hands up as he began to pull him over towards the bottom of his foot. Kraven bit through the webbing with his fangs and landed on the ground on all fours before he started to charge at Peter like an animal.

When all of the sudden Stonecutter shouted, "Stop at once mortal. Your efforts are futile! Once the God Machine is complete all of humankind will be divided amongst us 8 as our troops, and the whole of humanity will lose all free will throughout the duration of our war. Only until one remains as the victor, the war will continue, and I would rather not waste any good soldiers. They may end up on my side. So, if you would stop any unproductive struggling, I would greatly appreciate it."

Peter frowned, he could stop this and start destroying the building, but Stonecutter could always rebuild it however he saw fit. He growled and racked his brain to try and think of a way to put an end to all this madness when Strange appeared from out of a teleportation circle. 

"Challenge them, Peter!" Doctor Strange shouted, "You are the Champion Totem of a God, a Herald just like them, and if you challenged them to combat you can state the terms."

The Herald for Watoomb suddenly shouted, "Doctor Strange! It has been too long, you really shouldn't have turned down Watoomb's offer. If you had, at least one eight of humanity would have been spared from combat and would have had a chance of avoiding extinction as a race, but because of your actions, Humanity is destined to perish." Mordred started to laugh menacingly.

"Bastard offspring of Morgan and Arthur!" Strange looked absolutely livid. It appeared there was some harsh history between the two. It became more apparent as Strange continued to berate him, "You betrayed the Ancient One's trust, and are a heretic to all spellcasters! You dare to accept Watoomb's power? I should have killed you all those years ago!"

"But you didn't. You failed to match my power and trapped me in the dark realm like some coward. Though, if not for that stupid Asgardian fumbling about the realms like a blind child, I may never have found my way back. I'll have to pay them a visit and thank them after this is over."

Peter gulped, "Challenge them all by myself, even If I use the gems I understand, you know I know jack squat on to use the Reality, or Soul Merlin Gems, right? Let's not forget that I only have less than one minute of the power from Merlin stone I can use! I don't suppose you know of any other Totems that can help, because in case you haven't noticed, I'm up against 8 elder god heralds and can't exactly fight them all by myself!"

The Octessence members started laughing. 

"Puny Mortal wishes to challenge the great Octessence!" Juggernaut shouted with a voice that wasn't his own. 

All of the sudden, a bright light beamed out from the 8 artifacts their powers originated from the Ivory Idol of Ikonn, the Fearsome Fist of Farallah, the Kestrel Key of Krakkan, Verdant Vial of Valtorr, the Blinding Brazier of Balthakk, the Crimson Crystal of Cyttorak, the Ringed Ruby of Raggadorr, and a miniature model of the Waterfall of Watoomb.

The eight god-like beings appeared in a transparent form that only showed the top half of their bodies, "A Totem from Kokyangwuti spawn dares to challenge us!"

Something suddenly clicked insider Peter, "Kokyangwuti, Spider Grandmother! The Native American Goddess of Spiders, In Hopi mythology, 'Spider Grandmother' (Hopi Kokyangwuti) is the creator of humans, identified with Earth Goddesses and other Sky-Mothers, such as Hera, or Freyja, and Gaia."

Peter grabbed his chin and thought back to the history he read in Navajo mythology, "Spider-Woman (Na'ashjé'íí Asdzáá) is the constant helper and protector of humans. The Diné Bahaneʼ creation narrative of the Navajo (recorded 1928) includes a mention of both a Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, who introduced the spindle and the loom. According to the Zuni, string games were given to them by Grandmother Spider."

Peter's foot started tapping against the ground, "Master Weaver, Totems…they're Focal Points in the Web of Life! I already suspected but now, to hear it firsthand, it all makes sense! Strange was right, those dead languages and gods were worth all the time spent learning."

A large image of a younger Madam Web appeared behind Peter, "I do think that my Totem is far stronger than yours, he's just outnumbered!"

"What are you proposing, what are the stakes?" Ikonn spoke out, "I will summon 6 Totems from the web of life, my Champion shall select them as his allies, and you shall fight. If my Totems win, you will have to find another planet to choose to do battle on, and with a primitive species only, you gods of chaos are always saying that chaos can breed progress, how about you put your words to the test." The Spider-Grandmother responded.

All of them grumbled, "It could take hundreds or thousands of years for a new planet to start gaining the worship of us, what if we win?" Krakkan, the most human looking out of all the elder gods said as he crossed his arms.

"If you win, I will designate one entire universe to your Octessence to rule." The Spider Goddess smiled as she stared them down.

"Tempting, but what if we refuse?" Balthakk questioned.

"I don't think you will, not unless you want me to go around spreading to every other Pantheon, that not only are you weak but cowardly as well!" Kokyangwuti said grinning.

"You dare insult us, Kokyangwuti?" Cyttorak slammed his hand down on his throne he was sitting on as the rest of the elder gods began to shout in complaints.

Peter scratched his head and thought, "Maybe our ability to insult is the reason the Spider-Men and Women get picked. I mean, I barely know of any Spider-Heroes that don't smack talk like champs."

"We accept your challenge, Kokyangwuti!" The elder gods shouted, making the Spider-Goddess laugh. 

She then turned to Totem and said, "Well other than the Guardian, who is your choice for the remaining 6?"

Peter gulped as he started to think, "My girlfriend is kind of busy right now, can we hold off on this battle for now, and there are a lot of universes to choose from can you give me a few days to decided?"

"We will give you three hours to decided!" The Elder Gods shouted.

Peter grunted before sending out a message to MJ, "MJ I could use your help on this one, how are things on your end?"