The Sensational Spider-Man (Marvel;Re)/Issue 5

The fifth issue of Marvel;Re's The Sensational Spider-Man comic and the second part of "The Devil At Work" arc.

Synopsis
After discovering that Mysterio is behind the sudden outbreak of "sin" in New York, Peter battles against his old enemy. Unfortunately, things get off the rails very fast.

Plot
Quentin Beck stares wide-eyed at nothing in particular. He is quite clearly tense, gripping his knees and breathing heavily. A wide-shot reveals he's sitting on an empty train. Mysterio stars at his reflection in the train's window. Mysterio is suddenly standing in a bathroom in front of a mirror, which he punches, shattering it and causing his hand to become bloodied. Mysterio looks up, revealing the mirror is suddenly completely okay, though his fist remains bloody. The reflection just goes back to mirroring Mysterio and not speaking. However, the strangeness isn't over, as Mysterio is suddenly sitting on top of a roof, staring off at the sunset. A hand reaches out to him, offering him a cigarette. Mysterio looks to his side, revealing a somewhat handsome man sitting beside him, smoking. He puts the cigarette back in its box. Mysterio goes quiet. All of the lights go out around Mysterio. When they come back on he's standing inside of a prison hall while wearing his supervillain costume. Mysterio starts walking down the hall of the prison, passing by many different cells until he reaches his own. Mysterio stands in silence at the cell door, which slowly opens. A hanging silhouette of Quentin himself is behind the door, revealing that Quentin is dead. Mysterio drops to his knees upon seeing this and the Devil, still in his humanoid form, placing a hand on Quentin's shoulder. Marduk gestures upwards towards "the other guy". Mysterio just turns around and looks at his corpse for a moment. Marduk offers Mysterio a handshake to seal their deal. Mysterio stares at Marduk's hand before letting out a massive laugh. Mysterio looks at Marduk with a mix of malice and madness in his eyes. Mysterio shakes Marduk's hand and fire erupts from below their feet as both men smile at each other. We then pick up in the present with Captain America and his C-list heroes fighting off a small army of angry civilians. The heroes hold off the army while also stopping the civilians from hurting each other. They do fairly okay against them and some of them even seem like they're starting to enjoy it. The heroes all turn around and see Iron Man hovering above them. Both of Tony's palms start glowing brighter. Tony brings his hands together and unleashes a massive beam of energy against the heroes. Luckily, Captain America shows up and protects the heroes with his shield, deflecting the beam. Tony starts loading another massive beam. Cut to Spider-Man, who's fighting off a small army of purple demons. The demons luckily all die with one hit but there are so many that when he finally defeats all of them he's panting for hair on his knees. Mysterio's hands erupt into flames and he grabs Peter's face. Peter screams in pain and manages to punch Mysterio in the dome, allowing Peter to escape. There are no burns on Peter's face. Mysterio starts shooting fire from his hands, which Peter dodges. Whatever the fire hits is frozen solid. Mysterio raises his hands in the air and black spikes start erupting from the ground. Peter just starts out-running the spikes until Mysterio claps his hands together, causing spikes to come out of the walls. Peter manages to dodge these ones too but just barely. Mysterio once again raises his hands. The spikes disappear and tendrils burst out of the ground, grabbing Peter's wrists and legs. The tendrils force Peter to his knees and a black hand also comes from the ground, pulling Peter's head back. Peter attempts to escape but the tendrils turn to liquid and grow around his arms and legs before solidifying, trapping him. Mysterio reaches for Peter, ready to put his thumb on Peter's head. Mysterio places his thumb on Peter's head. His thumb starts blowing with a black light and Peter screams as the black light engulfs the area. Peter stands in the center of New York, though it's completely empty. Peter suddenly transforms into his regular self without his costume. He turns to face someone, smiling. Mysterio looks at different scenes of Peter just talking to his friends. Peter once again stands in the middle of New York with a blank look on his face, though this time without his costume. Mysterio walks up behind him and examines Peter. Harry and Mary Jane appear in front of Mysterio. Mysterio waves his hand and time starts rewinding, Peter de-aging as it does. When it stops, Peter looks up, revealing he is back to being a 16-year-old high schooler in a sweater and glasses. Mysterio pulls up different flashes of Peter's early life. These include Norman Osborn accidentally killing himself, Gwen Stacy falling off the bridge, Uncle Ben being shot, and more. Mysterio finds the memory of Peter being bitten by the radioactive spider. Everything goes black. Uncle Ben is shown shaking Peter, who is lying in bed. Peter puts on his glasses and walks downstairs. He sits down in the living room and Aunt May puts a plate of food on the table in front of Peter. The three all share a laugh. Later at Midtown High, Peter and a group of other students (including Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn) exit the school and go on to a bus. Peter seems oddly excited about something. The students get on the bus and it drives them to General Techtronic. They head inside the building and gather around a strange machine. Their teacher stands in front of the machine while a woman hands out goggles. Miles waves. The students do as their told and Miles activates the machine, which blasts a large beam of radiation. The students gasp slightly at seeing it. However, unbeknownst to anyone, a single spider crawls into the beam of radiation and is bombarded by it. The irradiated spider crawls on the floor through the crowd of students. The spider crawls up a table. Peter rests his hand on the same table. The spider crawls on to Peter's hand and gets ready to bite. Harry slaps Peter's hand. Peter looks down and sees the dead spider lying on the ground. The three walk away from the spider's corpse, ignoring the fact that it ever even existed.
 * Mysterio (thinking): Where am I...? You are on a train. Who am I? You are Quentin Beck. What's happening? You already know the answer to that question.
 * Mysterio (thinking): Who are you? I am Quentin Beck. But I am Quentin Beck. I am the true Quentin Beck. I am the you that you didn't realize existed. What are you? I am you. You're making me agitated. Good.
 * Mysterio: What the hell is going on...?
 * ???: You know what's going on.
 * Mysterio's Reflection: You've known what this is since the beginning.
 * Mysterio: No, I haven't.
 * Mysterio's Reflection: If that's true then why were you so scared on the train?
 * Mysterio: Who are you?
 * Mysterio's Reflection: I'm you.
 * Mysterio: No, not you. The you behind you. The you behind all this! Who are you!?
 * Well-Dressed Man: Care for one?
 * Mysterio: No, I haven't smoked in a very long time.
 * Well-Dressed Man: Suit yourself.
 * Well-Dressed Man: I gotta admit, you're stronger willed than you seem. Most other people would go crazy directly after the train. After that, I convince them that they need to be punished and they just go along with it because of their madness.
 * Mysterio: Who are you?
 * Well-Dressed Man: Come on, don't play dumb. You know who I am, Quentin...
 * Mysterio: I do... I just didn't want to admit it...
 * Well-Dressed Man: Well, go on... say my name.
 * Mysterio: Which one?
 * Well-Dressed Man: Whichever one you prefer.
 * Mysterio: You're Luci--
 * Disembodied Voice: This is the part where you confront the truth, Quentin. This is the part that everyone like you has to face eventually.
 * Mysterio: I don't think I want to see this part...
 * Disembodied Voice: You know you have to though, don't you?
 * Mysterio: I do...
 * Marduk Kurios: I know. This is never the easiest part for anybody. Sorry that you had to see this.
 * Mysterio: No you're not...
 * Marduk Kurios: Hm?
 * Mysterio: You're the Devil himself. You made me look at my own corpse so that it would break my will and make me more susceptible to going to Hell and being tortured for all my days. And now that this plan didn't work, you're going to show me all of the people I hurt to make me feel like I deserve my punishment. I'm not going to fall for it. And you can go to hell!
 * Marduk Kurios: Well... I mean...
 * Mysterio: Yes, I realized the moment I said it... Listen.
 * Marduk Kurios: Hm?
 * Mysterio: I'm still angry at you but... I just want to know... why did I do it?
 * Marduk Kurios: I don't know. I'm the Devil, it's not my job to know why they died. That's the other guy.
 * Marduk Kurios: You know...
 * Mysterio: Hm?
 * Marduk Kurios: You managed to stay sane even after all of the stuff I showed you and you even had the gall to stand up against me. If I'm being honest, I respect that a little. So, I'm gonna make you an offer. Real magic...
 * Mysterio: Real...?
 * Marduk Kurios: Ever since you got the idea of being the fake wizard Mysterio, you've been wanting to get your hands on real magic, right? Well, I can give you real magic... at a price, of course.
 * Mysterio: What do you want? My soul?
 * Marduk Kurios: Oh, no, definitely not. You can keep your soul. All I want in return... is a follower.
 * Mysterio: Hm?
 * Marduk Kurios: Not a lot of people give you credit because of the fishbowl helmet but you're actually a really big threat in your own right, Beck. So, if you join me and become my follower, I'll allow you to go on in the mortal world with real, demonic magic. You can even fight Spider-Man as much as you want. All I ask in return is that you spread as much sin as a human possibly could... Deal?
 * Mysterio: So I get to keep my soul... I get to still try and kill Spider-Man... and all I have to do is spread sin and act sinfully...?
 * Marduk Kurios: That's the idea, yes.
 * Mysterio: You know, for the supposed "Devil" you're not very smart...
 * Marduk Kurios: Excuse me?
 * Mysterio: That's what I was doing anyway...
 * Captain America: Remember soldiers, none of these people are in control of their actions! Bruises are okay but don't leave any injuries that'll take weeks to heal!
 * Doorman, Demolition Man, and 3-D Man: Right!!
 * Demolition Man: You know, I gotta admit... when the bad guys you're fighting aren't all that powerful and you don't need to use your full strength against them... it's oddly relaxing!
 * 3-D Man: I know exactly what you mean!
 * Doorman: Yeah, fun fights like this never happen in the Great Lakes Avengers.
 * ???: You know...
 * Iron Man: I gotta admit... I'm not usually an angry guy... but something about your faces is really pissing me off...
 * 3-D Man: Well, it was fun while it lasted...
 * Captain America: Woof... that was a big beam. Thank God that probably drained a lot of the suit's energy...
 * Captain America: Then again, I have been wrong before.
 * Doorman: Hopefully Spidey's doing a lot better than us right now...
 * Mysterio: Getting tired, Spider-Man?
 * Peter: Huh...?
 * Mysterio: Well, unfortunately for you, my magic doesn't work like a muscle. It doesn't strain me at all to use it. So I've still got a good fight left in me...
 * Peter: W-what the hell? That fire... was freezing cold...
 * Mysterio: Cold enough to freeze your very soul.
 * Peter (thinking): Fire that can freeze things. Mysterio has real magic. And all of New York is being brainwashed by a spell made by the Devil... This is definitely one of my weirder days...
 * Peter: I gotta admit, I sorta expected more from this power-up, considering it's meant to be--
 * Mysterio: Even against the forces of Hell you still fight to escape. You're a stubborn one, I'll give you that much.
 * Peter: We've known each other for so long, I'm surprised you didn't know that about me already.
 * Mysterio: You're even still making jokes to me. Incredible. Sometimes I really want to know what makes you tick...
 * Peter: Huh? What're you--
 * Mysterio's Voice: Hm... so this is your mind, is it? Interesting that it depicts itself as a city. The surface area is quite interesting but, let's be honest, you and I both know what I'm looking for.
 * Peter: Nice to meet you! My name is █████ █████!
 * Mysterio's Voice: What...?
 * Peter: I'm █████ █████. How are ya?
 * Mary Jane: █████ █████, huh? Cool name!
 * Harry: Hey, ███! It's been a while!
 * Aunt May: My nephew's name is █████.
 * Mysterio: Interesting... It seems your mind is so strong that you're able to protect your true identity even from demonic magic. You're quite the impressive gentleman, aren't you? I wonder why you aren't hiding your face, though... Well, to be fair, I don't recognize you and you don't have any facial features that jump out to me, so I'll most likely forget what you look like after this...
 * Mysterio: You were friends with the Alchemax CEO and that one model when you were younger? Maybe I could track down your real name using them? Mm... No, nevermind, I'm not here for your identity. I'm here to find out what makes you... well, you. Your mind is strong enough to protect your name but it doesn't seem strong enough to protect actual events you've experienced. So... let us begin, ay?
 * Mysterio's Voice: A kid? All of this started when... I was getting beaten by a kid?! Ugh... You know, as angry as I am to find that out, it's... quite impressive. Now, what happened to this kid that made him into the man he is today...?
 * Mysterio's Voice: Hm... it seems that your life has been shaped by constant tragedy. But what made that tragedy begin? What can it all be traced back to?
 * Mysterio's Voice: Ah... so this is where it all began. This is when your entire life changed forever. And to think... all of this could be different with one. Simple. Change.
 * ???: Peter...? Pete...? Peeeeter...
 * Uncle Ben: Peter, you're not fooling me. Get up.
 * Peter: But I don't wanna...
 * Uncle Ben: Time for school, up and at 'em. Come on Peter, rise, and shine.
 * Peter: Okay, fine, I'm up. Just stop shaking me! I swear, Uncle Ben, you're worse than, like, a thousand alarm clocks...
 * Uncle Ben: That's not saying much considering you'd definitely be able to sleep through a thousand alarm clocks.
 * Peter: ha, ha, very funny...
 * Aunt May (from down the stairs): Peter! You up yet?
 * Uncle Ben: He's up, May! He'll come down in a minute!
 * Peter: Woo! wheat cakes!
 * Aunt May: I thought I'd make your favorite for you since you've been having a bit of a hard time at school with that Thompson boy and all.
 * Uncle Ben: Speaking of which, is he still picking on you?
 * Peter: I think the day he stops will be the day hell freezes over...
 * Aunt May: Oh, forget about him. He's probably only picking on you because he knows you're smarter than him.
 * Uncle Ben: Kid makes me angry, you know that? He's so strong and yet he's picking on the little guy.
 * Aunt May: Don't go on one of your rants again.
 * Uncle Ben: I'm sorry, it's just... he could be protecting people. He's the biggest, toughest guy at that school and yet he uses it to be a part of the problem. It's like he--
 * Aunt May: Yeah, yeah, we all know where this is going. "With great power, there must also come great responsibility."
 * Uncle Ben: Hey, don't steal my thunder like that.
 * Harry: You okay, man?
 * Gwen: Yeah, you're practically bouncing up and down with joy.
 * Peter: Can you blame me? We're going to General Techtronic! They're, like, the smartest guys ever!
 * Harry: Really? What do they do?
 * Peter: Oh, tons of stuff! Right now they're experimenting with radiation and how to control it.
 * Gwen: Yeah, I can think of another guy who experimented with radiation. Didn't end well.
 * Peter: Oh come on, how could an accident like Banner's happen again?
 * Harry: Still though, controlling radiation. Sounds pretty rad, right Gwen?
 * Gwen: Oh, hell yeah, it's rad as hell! Just, you know... calm the excitement, Pete. I don't wanna sit beside you and have you rock the seat with how much you're bouncing up and down.
 * Peter: Oh, ha-ha!
 * Mr. Warren: This machine is known as the Radiation Warper. It has a scientific name but, honestly, I just can't be bothered saying it. It's kind of a mouth-full. But the importance of this machine cannot be understated. It is able to bend the waves of radiation and warp them all together. Now, you'll be witnessing a live demonstration today. Make sure to wear your goggles and stay behind the red line. This is radiation after all and it can still kill cells or make cells cancerous at worst.
 * Gwen: What about that guy? He's standing pretty close.
 * Mr. Warren: That's my brother, Miles. He works here so he knows how to handle the machine without getting affected by it.
 * Mr. Warren: Now, behind the red line and goggles up as I side.
 * Gwen: Whoa, that looks so cool!
 * Peter: I know, right?!
 * Harry: Damn, not even my dad's found out how to do that yet...
 * Peter: Man...
 * Peter: This is a great day...
 * Gwen: Aah, Peter!
 * Peter: Agh! What the hell!?
 * Harry: Sorry man, you had a spider on you!
 * Peter: What?
 * Peter: Oh God, it's gigantic! How did I not feel that? Good thing you killed it when you did.
 * Gwen: Did it bite you?
 * Peter: No, I don't think so. Good thing too. It could've been venomous for all I know.
 * Mysterio's Voice: One. Simple. Change...

Author's Note
''First time I've made one of these but I think it's important. I'm aware that it's established Mysterio can't hear Peter's name in his memories and then after that Peter's name is uncensored. That was intentional. It's blurred for Mysterio but I decided to still let the reader see it since it'd be slightly confusing otherwise.''