Jake Adkins carefully rubbed peppermint oil underneath his nose.  He took a deep breath and looked down the open manhole and chewed his bottom lip for a moment, then placed a hard hat on his head.  The structural engineer glanced down again.

“You worried about those giant albino crocodiles?” one of the sewer workers by the name of Wil asked him, slapping a grungy hand on his shoulder.  “That’s a New York thing.”

“I’m worried about smelling like sewage for a week,” Jake said.  “Thanks for the lovely image though.”  Wil grinned and began climbing down the slimy ladder.  He took several deep breaths and followed.  There were several tunnels under LA that needed checking, and being the new guy at the city planning office, Jake was it.  Slipping leather gloves over his hands, he carefully followed.  When in the tunnel he looked around for a moment before finding Wil about twenty feet down the walkway, holding a steel flashlight high.

“It’s about twenty yards down this branch,” he said, motioning with the beam of light.  “Follow me.”  The two men began walking.  Jake focused on the back of Wil’s head.  He didn’t want to look down at all.  The rats that scurried over his boots were bad enough.  He took a couple breaths and realized all the mint oil did was make the sewage smell like it was mixed with mouthwash.  He gagged and turned his head slightly.  He jumped backwards into the wall.  Something was moving through the water.  Something big.

“What the hell was that?” he squeaked.

“What?” Wil turned and focused the beam of light on the sewage.  Something moved under the water again, following the first shape.  Wil jumped back against the wall next to Jake.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed.  “What the hell was that?!”

“Get your radio!  Call for back-up!!”

“Back-up?!  I’m a utility worker!”

“Call for somebo-“  The shape in the sewage slid back towards them, then rose out of the water.  Both Jake and Wil screamed.

Ben Reilly carefully measured the sulfuric acid and set the large beaker down.  He picked up another beaker, this time of just water, and carefully poured it into the acid, diluting it.

“Ben?”  He startled slightly, thankfully not spilling any acid.  He took a deep breath, turned and slid the tube into a holder.  He turned and pressed the button next to the intercom at the edge of his desk.

“That you Jules?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Julia Carpenter replied.  “How was your date?”  Ben rolled his eyes.           

“Which one?” he grumbled.  “Two exes show up the same week…”

“Damn,” she muttered.  “That’s just rough.”

“You don’t need to tell me,” he replied.  “What’s up?”

“We just had two utility workers disappear under the city,” she said.

“Wouldn’t that be a police matter?” Ben asked.  He rubbed his eyes.  He suddenly realized his spider-sense was buzzing ever so slightly.  “It’s not a police matter, is it?”

“No,” she muttered.  He heard the click of an audio tape player and a man’s voice started over the speaker.

“HELP US!” the panicked voice screamed.  “HEL-!”  There was an inhuman roar, and a gurgling scream.  Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He heard a familiar hiss before the tape stopped.

“You recognize it, don’t you?” she said.  “It’s something you’ve had to deal with before.”

“Curt Connors,” Ben said.  “It sounds like Curt Connors…”  His spider-sense was buzzing more keenly.  “Dammit.”

“Connors?” Julia asked.

“The Lizard.  Call the Ravencroft Institute in New York.  Ask Ashley Kafka or Doc Samson about the last time they heard from Connors.  Get Ollie to the control room.”  He sighed.  “This is going to be gross.”

“Holy shit,” Ben grumbled.

“That was the worst pun I’ve heard in about a decade,” said Ollie Osnick on the other side of Ben’s radio.  The Scarlet Spider leaned over the open manhole cover.  Even through the filters in his mask, he could smell the sewage.  His lenses started to adjust to the dim light in the tunnel.

“I’ve heard worse,” Ben replied.  “I’ve told worse.”

“Comes with the Spider legacy,” Ollie replied.  “I told some bad ones wearing my exoskeleton.  You ready for this?”

“Have to be,” Ben said.  “Let Julia know I want to hear about Connors as soon as she knows.”  He looked up.  Several city workers stood nearby.  “Hey!”  A pair of them looked up and crossed over to him.

“Is this where they entered?” he asked.

“Oh yeah,” one of them replied.

“And where we recovered what was le-“  Scarlet Spider held up his hand, cutting the second worker off.

“TMI,” he said.  “Don’t need to hear that going in here.”  His spider-sense was already buzzing again.  He took several deep breaths of fresher air.

“I’m glad I’m here and you’re there,” Ollie said.

“Nobody likes a wise-ass,” Ben said.  “Unless he’s wearing a spider costume.”  Ollie laughed.

“Have fun down there.”  Ben rolled his eyes and began climbing down the ladder.  Once inside, he glanced around.

“Walk through the slime or crawl on the ceiling,” he muttered to himself.  “Yeah… ceiling’s a lot less gross.”  He leaned out and gripped the ceiling, then pulled himself up.  He slowly began crawling.

“This stuff will come out of my costume, won’t it?”

“Hope so,” Ollie replied.  “We’ve only got the one.  It’d suck to have to rename you the Smelly Spider.”

“That was just as lame as my line a few minutes ago.”  Ben grinned and continued on.  He hadn’t interacted much with him, but he liked Ollie.  The engineer was sharp and almost as quick witted as he himself was.  He fit in pretty well.

The Scarlet Spider continued down the tunnel, trying to clear mind of everything but the buzz of his spider-sense.  It was something he completely neglected at times as he’d grown so accustomed to it.  He tried to take as many deep breaths as possible, limiting the amount of sewer air he’d have to breathe.  His senses buzzed.  There was something down here, but it wasn’t close or coming this way.

“Ollie is my night vision turned all the way up?” he asked.  “Is this the best they can do?”

“Yeah,” the engineer replied.  “Not doing much?”

“Nope,” Ben replied.  “Infrared?”

“I was playing with it this morning and didn’t get it ready again unfortunately,” Ollie replied sheepishly.  “If I knew you’d be sewer diving…”

“No worries man.”  Ben crawled down the wall to the narrow walkway.  He stepped onto it and reached down to his belt line.  He clicked on a light built into his belt and began walking, opening up his senses as much as possible.  He saw a strange lump of debris on the concrete.  He stopped and leaned over, then stood straight up, holding a hand to his mouth.

“Let the police know I just found a little bit more of the victims,” he said, holding back his gag reflex.

“You okay?” Ollie asked.

“Hrm… yeah.  Just trying to keep from tasting my breakfast again.”  His spider-sense suddenly flared.  “Shit.  He’s close Ollie.  He’s coming my way.”  Ben pressed against the wall, suppressing the panic welling up in his stomach.  He heard the water rippling nearby.  He turned off the light, his spider-sense was practically screaming at him now.

“Ben, it’s Julia,” she suddenly said in his earpiece.

“Can’t talk,” he muttered.  “Trying not to be eaten.”

“It’s not Connors Ben,” she said.  “He’s still normal and in New York.  There was however a break-in last week.  It was the Sandman, Ben, and he stole a computer with a boatload of Connors’ research.”

“Oh hell,” he muttered.  “A new Lizard.”  The figure in the water slowly emerged, its dark eyes glittering in the sparse light of the tunnel.

“Ssspiderrrr…”

His spider-sense suddenly felt like sitting in front of a bass speaker at a rap concert.

“Oh shit.”

The Lizard leapt out of the water with a primal roar.  Ben dodged the glistening teeth and claws.  He gripped the ceiling and flipped, lashing out with his arm.  His fist caught the creature in the jaw, spinning it around.  He landed on his feet about twenty feet from his opponent, while the Lizard landed and spun.  The creature wore simple street clothes, not much different than Connors.  The appearance of the creature itself though was very different.

“Holy crap you’re ugly,” he muttered.  The creature’s head was longer, more raptor-like, with long rows of fangs barely hidden behind leathery lips.  The ridge of its spine bulged beneath its shirt, while massive arms flexed, ending in long, sharp claws.  Its legs reminded Ben again of a velociraptor, knees drawn close to its chest. It hissed at him, and moved carefully back and forth, measuring him up.

“Hope you’re not hungry,” Ben said.  “I’m bringing you in.”

“Hungry… feassst…”

“You wish.”  Ben jumped at the opposite wall, shoved off it, and held one arm out, firing a thick strand of webbing.  The Lizard spun, grabbed the line and yanked it hard.  Ben lost control of his jump, and flailed helplessly until he hit the sewage.  He came up just in time to see a massive reptilian arm grabbing for him.  He kicked away from it, but his opponent was faster than he was, grabbing his arm and pulling him free of the sludge.  It spun him around and slammed him into a wall, making brick and mortar crumble.  He fell to the ground, gasping for air.  His vision was starting to go black.

“Ben?!  Ben, are you okay?!” Ollie cried in his ear.  He didn’t respond.  He could feel a sharp pain in his side, probably a broken rib or three, and a hot breeze played across his skin.  The suit was torn open.  Over the ringing already there, hissing filled his ears again, impossibly close to his head.  He felt hot breath on his shoulder.  He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline and pushed himself up and away from the Lizard.

“Not today!” he growled.  It rushed at him, jaws hanging open.  Ben leapt up and over it, bringing his fists down hard on its head.  It crashed to the ground.  It started to push itself up, but Ben sprayed it with webbing, holding it in place.  It struggled and roared at him, then stopped as it realized the action was futile.

“Not alone,” it growled through its inhuman mouth.

“Wh-?”  His spider sense flared and a jolt of electricity sizzled through the air.  He dodged, but was still hit, avoiding the brunt of the blast.  He spun and blinked stars out of his eyes.  The Eel stood behind him, his black suit sparking with energy.

“Thought it was an isolated incident Spider?” Eel asked.  “Former leader of the Sinister Six happens to steal research for the Lizard Formula?  We’re here to kill you Spider.  But not today.  Our pet just got away.  A happy coincidence.”  He blasted Ben again.  This time, his reflexes were already dulled and he took the full blast.  “Consider today a warning shot…”

Ben fell to his knees then to his stomach.  As the blackness took him he saw two other pairs of feet and thin tendril arms join the Eel’s.

“…en?  Ben, you’re going to be okay.  Dammit Julia, we need an ambulance…”

“..Get the suit off him.  He’s suffered some third degree burns…”

“…be fine Mister Sims.  He took a pretty big shock.  They kept his mask on until we came on-scene, so he hasn’t been compromised…”

Ben woke up to the flushing of a toilet.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes with his left hand.  He felt an IV in the back of his hand and glanced around.

“Hospital…” he muttered.  “Damn.”

“It’s only been about six or seven hours,” said a female voice.  Jessica Carradine walked out of the bathroom.  She grinned at him and crossed the room to his bedside.  “Doctors said it was just the electrical shock.  He promised to release you as soon as you woke up.”

“Just the electrical shock?” Ben grumbled.  “My skin’s on fire.”  Jessica shrugged.

“Okay,” she said.  “I over simplified it.  You’ll be okay though.”  He nodded and looked around.  His mouth was incredibly dry.

“Water?” he asked.

“I’ll grab you some,” she said.  “Your boss is nearby too.  He wanted to see you when you woke up…”  She disappeared into the hallway.  Ben leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the headache he’d just began to notice.

“This is a very bad thing, isn’t it?” Ezekiel said.  Ben opened his eyes and looked at him employer.  “The Sinister Six in LA.”

“They’re here for me,” he said.  “And it was probably Wilder that brought them here.”  Ezekiel shook his head and handed Ben a bottle of water.  He unscrewed the lid and gulped it down eagerly.

“Damn, that tastes good,” he said with a small cough.  He wiped a little water away from his lips.  “They want a war Zeke.  They always do.”

“They made a damn scary first shot,” Ezekiel replied.  “The new Lizard ruined your suit.  You’re going to have to wear your old one for a few weeks until Ollie can get it operating again.”

“Great,” he grumbled, “the one edge I might have had over Peter in the situation.”

“Yep… the doctor wants you to get some food in your stomach and then you should be free to go.”  Ben nodded and shut his eyes again.

“I’d rather face the Six right now than eat hospital food but bring it on.”

Elizabeth Tyne watched her son in their hotel room, glancing between him and the door.  It had been five years since she’d seen Ben, and she had hoped it would have been under better circumstances.  The three year old looked up at her.

“What’s wrong mommy?” Reilly said.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she muttered, glancing again at the door.  “Don’t you worry.”  She leaned over to him and pursed her lips.  He scooted over to her and kissed her lips.

“Wuv you.”

“You too, hon,” she replied.  A gust of smoke suddenly puffed from under the door.  It filled the entire room quickly.

“And I love you both,” a disembodied voice said.  “Honey… I’m home.”

Liz screamed.

Ben stood atop the SimsCorp building, admiring the fit of his newly tailored suit.  It was much lighter than the tech-heavy suit.  He hadn’t realized it until he put the old suit on.  Of course, it was laced with whatever micro-circuitry Ollie and Julia were able to get in quickly, but it was still as familiar as an old pair of jeans.  Ben’s spider-sense flared an instant before a voice startled him.

“Haven’t seen that get-up since that bad-“

“Do not bring up that reality show,” Ben said and turned to Living Lightning.  The former Avenger had landed behind him soundlessly.  “I made demands, they ignored them, they lost a high rated super-hero reality show.”

“That you wanted to die a horrible death?”

“Definitely,” he said.  “Cancellation with extreme prejudice.  What did you want?”

“There’s something brewing out there,” Miguel said.  “Talk about a war.”

“I know,” he said.  “The Sinister Six.”

“It’s not just the Six, Spider.”  He looked over the horizon.  “They’re not working alone.”

“How do you know?” Ben asked, suddenly suspicious of his ally.  Miguel gave Ben a sly smile.

“I wasn’t a Thunderbolt for nothing.”  The air crackled and suddenly Lightning was gone.  Ben frowned.  That was a strange encounter.  His spider-sense continued to tingle.  He looked around, hoping to see something out of the ordinary.  He saw nothing.

“Yes my lord.  The Spider is still quite active.  He will be a hindrance.  He is not the only one.  The Pride will not be a problem once the Hayes girl is in custody.  Yes my lord.  I’ll report again soon.”

Agent Hans Maher hung up his cellular phone and walked away from the edge of the building.

The time was drawing close.

In Web of Scarlet Spider #8:  Who are the other members of the Sinister Six?  When will they strike?  And what does Generation X’s pursuer have to do with the Scarlet Spider?