“Man, we scored big time!” cheered a thug, as he ran with his partner in crime from a store, having pillaged a store of all the cash from the register.
“Yeah but let’s get back to the hideout, so we can split the take,” said the second thug, but a figure dropped down from right in front of them.
“Or you can just split to jail,” said Spider-Man as he dropped down, causing the thugs to look scared.
“Spider-Man?” gasped one of the thugs.
“I thought he was a myth,” responded the second thug.
“Oh, I’m real, very real,” said Spider-Man. “And you, my thieving friends, are in real trouble.”
“And you, Spider-Man are real dead,” said one of the thugs, as he moved forward, pulling out a switch blade but Spider-Man dodged the attack.
“Really now, didn’t your mother tell you not to play with knives?” asked Spider-Man as ripped the knife from the thief’s hand with a strand of webbing from his web shooters. The thief went for Spider-Man with his bare hands but he slid underneath the attack, before a kick to the back, knocked him off guard. The thief was spun around and wrapped against a light post with webbing.
“Man, I’m out of here!” shouted the second thief running, dropping his money in the panic. He turned around, scrambling to pick up his money but Spider-Man was on the job. The thief found his hands stuck to the ground with the webbing. He tried to move but his hands were completely stuck to the ground.
“The police can take it from here,” thought Spider-Man as he heard the sirens. The two thieves were webbed up, not able to move from their positions.
Swinging away to an alley way to change, Peter thought about the last couple of weeks, his life had been like a roller coaster. On the bright side, he really enjoyed being Spider-Man right now. Sure it was nothing but a bunch of petty thieves and thugs looking to make a quick buck, but at least he was taking them off the street one at a time. His newly created mechanical web shooters had made the process either, shooting webbing stored in cartridge that could easily immobilize criminals, holding them for up to an hour before the webbing dissolved. Also, his relationship with Gwen was great, she was a comfort to him in this dark time, having lost her mother a few years ago, she understood what he was going through.
On the other end, Peter felt guilt over what happened to his uncle and every day, he wondered if he would wake up, for this being one horrific nightmare but it was all too real. Then there were the financial problems that the Parker family was going through. Aunt May let it slip to him that they were going through some tough times, but she also told Peter that he should not really worry himself. The thing is Peter did worry and wondered what he could do for money. The problem was jobs were not too forthcoming for fifteen year old high school students with no previous work experience these days.
He made his way to school at a sprint, not wanting to be late again. His Spider-Man related activities had made him cut it way too close too many times and had made him late a couple of times.
-
“Wow, Peter you actually made it today on time,” said Gwen with a smile, as she watched her boyfriend rush down the hallway, barely avoiding knocking some unsuspecting students into the locker room. “Sure with ninety seconds to spare, but on time’s on time.”
“Sorry, Gwen, I’m running late,” said Peter in an apologetic voice. “Everything’s thrown off balance, after what happened.”
“Peter, it’s okay, you lost your uncle, that type of thing’s not easy to get over, it’s a void in your life,” said Gwen, as she grabbed Peter’s hand in an comforting manner, before she steered him into the classroom and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. “I’m here for you if you need me, just like you were for me. Besides I’m your girlfriend now, your problems are my problems, now more than ever. We can get through this together.”
“Thanks Gwen, I appreciate that,” said Peter as the two teenagers walked into the classroom, with a bit of time to spare before they were counted tardy.
-
“Hello Miles,” said Norman lightly which caused Miles Warren to look up from his calculations at his desk, quickly shoving them out of sight, before he turned to face Norman.
“Mr. Osborn, this is a surprise, I didn’t expect you to stop by,” said Warren in a false cheerful tone.
“That much is obvious,” replied Norman. “I can assure you I didn’t pay you a visit to offer your old job back but there was an accident that came to my attention a couple weeks ago that requires me to make this little visit.”
“Accident, what do you mean?” asked Warren, the people at ESU had pulled a lot of strings to keep news of the accident out of the press and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was going to be no charges pressed against him.
“Please, Miles, don’t play dumb with me, I know you’re brilliant, even with your unique quirks,” said Norman coolly. “The young man who involved in the accident was a friend of my son’s and has quite the gifted mind. I don’t know all the particulars of this accident and quite frankly, there not my concern, but thanks to your negligence the world nearly lost a bright young mind, one that I have plans for. And I could bring you down, Warren, making sure you never touch so much as another beaker again.”
“What do you want, Osborn?” asked Warren sitting rigid.
“I may call upon you for a favor at any time, in exchange for my silence and you will comply at that time,” said Norman. “Any favor I see fit, no matter how much it conflicts with your other work.”
“If you wish, Mr. Osborn,” said Warren slowly as he reached inside his desk drawer, before he slowly began to pull out a gun but Norman caught onto to this immediately.
“I wouldn’t. If I’m found dead, I’ve made arrangements where news of your misgivings gets plastered in every major paper in New York,” said Norman and Warren quickly shoved the gun back into his desk drawer, before he shut it. “Good man.”
Without another word, Norman excused himself, just as quickly as he invited himself in.
-
Gwen waited, biting her lip in frustration, as she sat on a bench at the ice cream shop across from the school. Peter said he would meet her in an hour after school. She knew he would never intentionally be late, as she watched with two little kids play in a sand box, a boy and a girl, without a care in the world.
An alarm next door jerked Gwen out of her thoughts and suddenly, she looked around, from side to side, as she watched a trio of masked thugs rush out the door, two of them carrying a rather heavy looking piece of equipment, as the third lead the way, holding what appeared to be an explosive device of some sort in his hand. Out of morbid curiosity, Gwen got to her feet, to take a closer look, as a pair of security guards chased after them, yelling frantically.
“Move it you mooks, the big boss wants this component back right now,” ordered the thug who was carrying the explosive device.
“Easy for you to say, this thing ways a ton,” grunted one of the thugs. “And those guards are gong to catch up with us before they reach us.”
“Luckily, I came prepared,” responded the leader of the group, as he set the explosive device, before he recklessly threw it over his shoulder, right on top of a ledge above where the two children were playing. Gwen watched in horror, as the explosive detonated. The little girl managed to get out of the way but the boy stood, paralyzed, as the ledge threatened to crumble out from underneath him, promptly Gwen to do something that in hindsight seemed to be incredibly reckless. She rushed forward and pulled the boy just out of the way but she had her own problem, as the debris prepared to crush her.
Suddenly, she felt someone scoop her up just at the very last second and her savior swung through the air, with her underneath his arm. She looked at her savior, her eyes widening when she saw who it was.
“Spider-Man,” managed Gwen in half awe, half surprised.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” said Spider-Man as he swung upwards, before he placed Gwen safely on a building. “Stay right there, I’ll be back in a couple minutes, you’ll be safe up here, trust me.”
“I do,” responded Gwen softly as she watched, something quickly clicking her head. When she heard rumors of the mysterious spider themed hero, she had her suspicions, but seeing him in action had her convinced.
“Man, Gwen, you do have guts, girl,” thought Spider-Man to himself. “Still, glad I got there on time, I don’t know if I could have taken it if I lost you so close after losing Uncle Ben but no time to worry about what might have been now, got to get these thugs before they make a clean getaway.”
With that Spider-Man leapt on top of the component that the thugs had stolen. The weight of a hundred and thirty pound super hero proved to be too much for them and they collapsed underneath the weight.
“Willie, help us,” grumbled one of the criminals.
“Forget it, you two are on your own now,” said the thug, Willie, as he panicked, as the two thugs were quickly webbed up and the component retrieved, as the two security guards.
“I believe this is yours,” said Spider-Man to the guards, who nodded but he looked down the street, the third thug had made a clean get away. “Right, no need to thank me, all in a days work.”
Spider-Man swung up to where Gwen as she sat waiting for him a bit shaken up from her ordeal but otherwise calm.
“Are you okay?” asked Spider-Man.
“Fine,” replied Gwen. “How about you?”
“Can’t complain, although I wish that other thief wouldn’t have gotten away,” said Spider-Man.
“Sorry,” replied Gwen.
“No, not your fault, making sure the civilians are safe is priority number one,” answered Spider-Man and there was a second’s pause.
“So Spider-Man,” remarked Gwen in a calm voice, a small smile appearing before she stepped over, so only the two of them could only hear the conversation. “Nice costume by the way. I guess that sewing elective I talked you into taking last year did pay off after all, right Peter?”
“Yeah, I guess so even if Flash and his friends gave me…ah hell Gwen,” responded Spider-Man as Gwen started to laugh when she saw that Peter realized that she knew. “How did you…I mean…I was careful…”
“Peter, really now, I was with you when you got bitten by the spider and when you started exhibiting those death defying acrobatics,” responded Gwen with a smile. “Besides, don’t you think I wouldn’t know my own boyfriend? You’re not mad are you?”
“No, actually I’m relieved,” said Peter with a sigh. “At least now I won’t have to make lame excuses whenever I have to leave to be Spider-Man.”
“Yes, thankfully for you, because you’re a bad liar,” responded Gwen as both laughed at this.
“So you’re okay with this, right?” asked Peter.
“I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t have my concerns,” said Gwen delicately. “But I trust your judgment Peter, you have your reasons.”
“Yes, I do,” responded Peter darkly but Gwen just stopped, as if sensing what he was going to make.
“And please, for God’s sake, don’t pull that, because I’m a super hero, it’s too dangerous to be together, crap,” said Gwen with narrowed eyes. “Just because I know you’re Spider-Man, doesn’t change anything.”
“I could put you in danger,” said Peter slowly.
“My father’s job could put me in danger as well,” countered Gwen. “Every day, there could be some lunatic out there who could use me to get to him.”
“Well, I find it hard to argue with that,” said Peter with a shrug but he looked downtrodden. “The problem is there’s the money situation…”
“I know, Peter, you’ll figure out something,” whispered Gwen before she thought of something and Peter looked over, with a copy of the Daily Bugle that had blown on the roof. On the front it had a brief article, detailing Spider-Man. He did not really read it but he noticed the lack of pictures and a thought popped into his head.
“I might have already had,” said Peter before he went right into Spider-Man mode. “I better swing you back down.”
Gwen nodded, before she wrapped her arms around, Peter. She smiled, as the two swung down.
“I’m kind of jealous,” muttered Gwen as Spider-Man gave her a skeptical look as they swung around. “I mean you do this all of the time and it’s kind of fun.”
“Yeah it can be,” agreed Spider-Man as they dropped down to the ground, Gwen landing on her feet firmly. “I’ll take one more swing around the city to see if I can catch up with that escaped thug.”
“Right, stay safe,” muttered Gwen as she watched Spider-Man swing off.
“Always do, Gwen,” thought Spider-Man mentally. “Besides, nothing too dangerous has ever happened to me as Spider-Man. Just a bunch of thugs and punks, I’ve never really had to deal with a really big time criminal yet.”
-
“So let me understand this, you lost the final and most vital component for my plan because Spider-Man interfered,” said a cold, unforgiving voice.
“It wasn’t my fault, boss,” responded Willie the thug in an apologetic voice. “We would have gotten away with it had it not been for that interfering insect.”
“First of all, spiders are not insects, they are classified as arachnids, you Kindergarten drop out,” said the figure in a disparaging tone. “Second of all, I don’t tolerate excuses, no matter what. I expect my employees to not be defeated by some miscreant playing dress up.”
“But, boss what’s so special about this machine you’re creating?” asked one of the other henchmen.
“It is a seismic wave disrupter,” responded the figure but he paused. “In your common, uneducated vernacular, it’s a machine that can create earthquakes but now, the most vital component has gone missing. I require ample capital if I should attempt to dethrone the Kingpin of Crime and take my rightful place as ruler of the New York criminal underworld. Without the Seismic Wave Disrupter, my plans cannot move into this next phase. Now, security will be tight and I shall have to personally secure the component.”
“What about Spider-Man, boss?” asked one of the henchmen.
“Much like any other pest, should he get in my way, he will be squashed under my foot,” responded the figure, before a spiked tentacle rose up. “And an example as to what happens to those who fail me.”
With a swift motion, the tentacle shot out, the spiked end catching Willie the thug right in the chest. He screamed in pain before blood began to spurt everywhere as he began to fade, dying a moment later.
“Ms. Trainer?” asked the figure.
“Yes, Dr. Octavius?” asked Carolyn Trainer, his assistant and most prized pupil.
“Please get a mop and clean up this awful mess,” said the figure, before he stepped out of the shadows, so all could see him, revealing a stocky brown haired man dressed in a yellow track suit, a grey trench coat, and wearing glasses. The most peculiar thing was he had a harness, with four tentacles, two on either side, that were razor sharp and also served the duel purpose of being able to manipulate objects from a distance. “My colleagues may have laughed at and spurned Otto Octavius, calling his experiments lunacy but now all will learn to tremble before the might of Dr. Octopus!”
-
“Okay Pete, here comes nothing,” thought Peter to himself. “I’m sure if you can explain that you can get photos of Spider-Man, this J. Jonah Jameson will hear you out. I mean, he’s the publisher of the biggest newspaper in the city, he’s got to be a reasonable man.”
With a deep breath, he walked towards the front entrance of the Daily Bugle building and he pushed the door open, before he walked inside, into the lobby. It was a chaotic scene, loud and boisterous, with people running around in a hurried, absent minded manner. It was exactly how Peter imagined the headquarters for a newspaper would look like.
“Excuse me, may I help you?” asked a young girl behind a desk, she looked a few years older than Peter, maybe twenty at the very most. The name plate on her desk indicated that her name was Betty Brant.
“Yeah, I was wondering if I could have a few minutes to speak with your boss, Mr. Jameson,” said Peter as Betty looked at him with a skeptical expression. “I think I might be able to get him pictures of Spider-Man in action.”
Betty’s eyes widened in surprise, her boss would definitely be interested in this, if it was a legitimate offer.
“Just one moment,” said Betty as she reached over, pressing a button to activate an intercom. “Mr. Jameson, there’s someone here who has an offer you might find interesting.”
“This better be good, Miss Brant,” said a gruff voice from the other end of the intercom and Peter looked towards an office door, where a middle aged man dressed in a suit, with a mustache that would make Hitler envious walked out to face him. “Well?”
“Hello, Mr. Jameson, I’m Peter Parker, I’m a photographer,” said Peter which was only a slight extortion of the truth. He did dabble in photography as part of the journalism club during his freshman year. “I think, I can get you photos of Spider-Man.”
Jameson just looked at him, before he burst out into a round of laughter, which left Peter confused.
“Get me photos of Spider-Man, as if, some of the best photographers in the city haven’t gotten one picture of that wall crawling nuisance, so why am I supposed to think that some no nothing kid can catch that vigilante in action?” bellowed Jameson. “Some punk kid isn’t going to get photos of Spider-Man, the only person who’s going to do that is going to be a professional. In fact…BROCK!”
“Yes, JJ,” said a young blonde haired man in his mid twenties named Eddie Brock. He was one of the top photographers in the Bugle.
“You’re main assignment is Spider-Man,” responded Jameson. “You’re to get photos of him, I don’t care how long it takes. You’re going to eat, drink, and breathe Spider-Man until you get me results. Scour the deepest, darkest, most filthy parts of this city, there’s where that menace will be.”
“Wait a minute, menace, I thought Spider-Man was a hero,” said Peter, trying not to let his response seem too angry or personal towards Jameson’s response.
“Shows how much you know, a hero is someone like my son, the astronaut, Colonel John Jameson!” bellowed Jameson, his boisterous response taking Peter aback. “Spider-Man is worse than a vigilante. He’s a vigilante who wears a mask. If he was a hero, he’d take off that mask and put on a police uniform. Until then, he’s as bad as those criminals he allegedly brings to justice.”
Jameson looked red in the face, before he turned to Brock.
“Brock, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation!” boomed Jameson. “Spider-Man’s out there right now and you’re standing here like a slack jawed yokel. Get going, now and bring me photos.”
“Yes, JJ, of course,” responded Eddie as he moved out, with a gleeful smile, realizing that he could make a fortune if he snapped the first photos of Spider-Man, providing he could get Jameson to unclench his fist.
“And you, stop cluttering up my office, Parker, unless you actually have photos of Spider-Man,” said Jameson.
“No sir,” said Peter in a forced calm voice.
“Then scat kid, why are you still here?” demanded Jameson as Peter turned and walked off.
“What a charming individual with a wonderful personality,” thought Peter sarcastically. “Maybe I should have actually gotten a photo but given that guy, I doubt he’d be satisfied with Spidey taking down thieves and hoodlums. What I need is a real battle and pictures of it.”
Peter prepared to walk home but a loud alarm had put a stop to his plans. He looked, walking down the street, walking around the corner, before he spotted the source of the alarm.
“That’s the company those hoods tried to steal that scientific component from earlier,” thought Peter. “And it looks like I have to stop them.”
Peter Parker ducked into an alley and a moment later, Spider-Man swung out, leaping from building to building, before he cautiously entered the building.
“Hello, anyone home?” asked Spider-Man tentatively but suddenly, his spider sense, as he had come to call it, went crazy. He instinctively dodged, as a large tentacle like robotic arm just barely missed taking his head completely off. Instead, it smashed right across a wooden box, shattering it into toothpicks. Another attack was narrowly dodged, as Spider-Man climbed up the wall, to face his attacker, before he leapt as quickly as he could at his opponent, but he was knocked right out the air by the tentacle smashing into him. He dropped with a thud.
“So you’re the infamous Spider-Man,” said Doctor Octopus with disdain as he moved forward, before he raised one of his robotic arms. The spiked part of the tentacle rammed down but Spider-Man dodged the attack, barely avoiding getting impaled. Another attack was narrowly avoided as Octopus looked at his wall crawling opponent with a bored expression. “I find myself quite underwhelmed.”
Dr. Octopus swung forward, but his opponent dodged the attack, before Spider-Man jumped at his opponent again but a swipe of the good doctor’s tentacle knocked Spider-Man right on his face.
“Alright, let’s try that again, shall me,” muttered Spider-Man, as he felt his face. It was quite lucky he was not even cut. “Just who are you anyway?”
“You may call me Doctor Octopus!” cried the criminal in as Spider-Man somersaulted and spun out of the way, avoiding nearly impalement on the metal tentacles of the doctor. “Know the name well arachnid, for it will be the name of executor!”
“Really now, Dr. Octopus, you have four extra arms and you still can’t get one shot in on me,” said Spider-Man, before he blasted webbing, tying two of the tentacles together. Before he could wrap up the other two, one rose, its end spinning into a buzzsaw like motion, cutting through Spider-Man’s webbing like a hot knife through butter. Dr. Octopus blasted all four robotic arms forward, latching onto Spider-Man’s arms and legs.
“Now to rip you to shreds,” said Dr. Octopus but Spider-Man managed to web the good doctor’s glasses, causing him be caught off guard. With a swift motion, Spider-Man ripped himself free, before he landed on the ground.
“Got something on your glasses, Doctor Octopus!” taunted Spider-Man as he dodged the attacks, the arms destroying the ground beneath him but Dr. Octopus took a moment to pull the webbing off his glasses. “Come on, Doc, step on a Spidey, win a prize!”
“You will regret your flippant attitude towards me, arachnid!” cried Octopus as more attacks were narrowly dodged.
“I’m thinking you’re regretting that ugly tracksuit or at least you should be,” retorted Spider-Man as he continued to move around, but Doctor. Octopus raised one of his robotic arms, before he smashed a support beam, causing the ceiling right above Spider-Man to collapse and he struggled to hold it on, as he saw several downed scientists who were unable to move. Spider-Man moved to hold up the building.
“As much as I would like nothing better to reduce you to a smear of blood, I do have a time table to keep, another time perhaps hero,” taunted Doctor Octopus as he walked off on his tentacles, his needed component in hand, as Spider-Man struggled to hold up the building, watching in desperation as his enemy had gotten away but he had more pressing problems on his hand.
“Got to time this perfectly, one wrong move and I take all of us all out,” thought Spider-Man as he raised his arm towards the fractured support beam, shooting his webbing around it. “Looks like it will hold for the mean time…got to move quickly and carefully or it’s concrete casket time for everyone.”
As quickly as he could manage, Spider-Man swung the downed scientists out of harm’s way as quickly as possible. Just when he got the last one to safety he watched as that section of the building collapsed. Dropping to his knees, breathing a sight of relief but that relief turned to frustration when Doctor Octopus had made a clean escape, without even a hint of what this threat had stolen but to be honest, he did not need his spider sense to know whatever it was it was not going to be good.
A desperation swing around the city had yielded no luck, not even one glimpse of Doctor Octopus.
“And you’d think a man with four robotic arms wearing an ugly tracksuit would be easy to find,” thought Spider-Man. “Oh well, I better get home, it’s getting late, I wouldn’t want to worry Aunt May, she has more than enough to worry about as it is.”
-
“Hey, Aunt May, I’m home!” called Peter as he watched his aunt who had just finished setting the table for dinner. “Need any help with that?”
“It’s sweet of you to offer Peter, but I’m fine,” said Aunt May as she looked at Peter with a warm smile. “I was worried that I wouldn’t get it done in time for you to come home but the fact you’re running a little late helped me.”
“Sorry about that Aunt May,” said Peter.
“No, I know how you young people get, never keeping track of the time, but at least you’re not out too late, the sun’s just barely down in fact,” said May. “Still, you must be starving, so sit down and have some dinner, young man.”
“Right, Aunt May,” replied Peter as he averted his face slightly, hiding a wince. One of Doctor Octopus’s tentacles must have bruised a rib or something but all things considered, he was lucky. Not lucky in the fact that his enemy got away or there was not too many clues pointing to exactly what his motives were.
-
“Spider-Man!” said Harry in a loud voice which caused Peter to spin around in panic.
“I beg your pardon?” asked Peter defensively, wondering if Harry had figured out his secret.
“Spider-Man, you know, the new mysterious protector, there was some scientist on the news talking about how he saved them from being killed by some lunatic with mechanical arms,” said Harry. “So what do you think about this Spider-Man?”
“Oh, well, I don’t know, he’s interesting, I suppose and I’m sure he’s alright,” said Peter carefully. “Besides he did save Gwen yesterday.”
“He did?” asked Harry in a confused voice. This was news to him.
“Yes, Harry, he did,” said Gwen who had just showed up. “Really swung in at the last second, saved me, after I had to save some kid after some nutcase threw a bomb right at a ledge.”
“Man, some people have nothing better to do,” said Harry, shaking his head before he turned to Peter. “And did you have to be the damsel in distress to Spider-Man as well, Pete?”
“Actually, Peter was running a little late, he showed up after the all the chaos ended,” said Gwen with a small wink towards Peter.
“Just like you then,” said Harry before he cleared his throat. “I just wonder what Spider-Man’s really about, I mean it’s not like we know that much about him. He’s all mysterious and…”
“Osborn, I would think that even someone as dense like you would know exactly who Spider-Man is,” said Flash as he walked up with a grin on his face.
‘And what exactly is he, Flash?” asked Gwen.
“A hero of course, man he’s so cool, about time we had someone like that cleaning up the streets,” said Flash before he turned to Peter. “Shame you aren’t like Spidey, Parker.”
“Well, he’s definitely one of a kind,” said Peter.
“Right Parker, glad to see you see things by way,” said Flash. “He’s probably busting some bad guy tail right now, too bad the Bugle can’t seem to get a picture of Spidey but he’s that good, you know too quick for any photographers to take a shot.”
Peter and Gwen exchanged an amused look. It was very hard not to laugh at the irony of the entire situation.
“Flash, stop obsessing about Spider-Man, you promised to walk me to class,” said Liz Allan, as she fluttered her eyelashes about Flash.
“Liz, I’m not obsessing about Spider-Man,” said Flash, as he looked at his girlfriend.
“Sure you aren’t Flash,” said Liz as she rolled her eyes. “Now come on, you promised you walk me to class.”
“Yes, Liz,” said Flash looking completely hen pecked.
“So, Flash and Liz are dating this week,” said Gwen. “And he’s wrapped around her little finger, it almost makes me feel sorry for the guy.”
“Feel sorry for him, more like I feel sorry for her,” said Harry with a grin. “I mean, a hot girl like her, being stuck with a jerk jock like Flash.”
Peter laughed but he slightly clutched his side, his ribs were still tender from last night but he winced even more when Gwen caught on.
“Peter, could I talk to you a moment before class?” asked Gwen. “Privately?”
Peter looked towards Harry who nodded.
“Got you get off to Trig anyway,” said Harry.
“Don’t way to delay your nap, huh?” inquired Peter.
“You know it, Pete,” said Harry with a grin. “Besides, when the final comes, I’ll just pick your brain anyway.”
With that Gwen grabbed Peter by the hand and lured him into a hallway where there was hardly any activity. With a quick look around, she made sure the coast was clear.
“What happened?” asked Gwen.
“Oh, it’s nothing Gwen, my ribs are a little sore; I was fighting someone who’s calling himself Doctor Octopus, he had robotic arms and he smacked me around quite a bit with them,” said Peter. “Here’s the weird thing, he was after the same component that I had to stop those hoods from stealing earlier that day.”
“Dad mentioned that wasn’t the other piece of equipment, I couldn’t really hear more before I had me out the door,” said Gwen as she put a hand to her forehead. “This Doctor Octopus has to be building something, and it can’t be good.”
“The same conclusion I came to,” agreed Peter in a barely audible whisper. “But the problem was what? I suppose a closer look on exactly who Doctor Octopus is might give us a clue on his motivation. I mean, Doctor Octopus can’t be the guy’s real name.”
“I’ll be in the computer lab next hour, I’ll see what I can dig up,” said Gwen and with that the warning bell.
“Really?” asked Peter and Gwen nodded slowly, wondering exactly why she was encouraging Peter to risk his life against a dangerous menace. “Thanks, you’re the best.”
A kiss and the two teenagers parted ways to their separate classes for this period.
-
Doctor Octopus watched with a grin, as his Seismic Wave Disrupter was nearly completion. It would be fully operational within the next three hours or so. His instructions were clear and concise enough so that even a toddler would be able to build and operate the object. Given the quality of his employees, that was what he could expect for. After a test run with his weapon, he would use an underground tunnel that he located after several weeks of intense research and use the Seismic Wave Disrupter to break open a few bank vaults, getting the ample capital he would need to challenge and inevitably take down the Kingpin of Crime.
Yet the Kingpin was responsible for his condition in a way or rather one of his stooges. Naturally the true Kingpin rarely showed his face and when he did, the people who saw him rarely lived to tell the tale.
At one time Otto Octavius was a mild mannered scientist, shy and rather withdrawn but devoted and an expert in many fields of science. His life’s work was to create a cleaner, more renewable source of energy but after many experiments, he hit dead end after dead end and even with help of his prized invention, his robotic arms, he was unable to have any success and the funding began to dry up. Many had laughed at his efforts and the scientific community was not all that receptive of his work. So in a moment of weakness, he turned to less ethical help but Otto quickly found this to be a mistake. The Kingpin had wanted him to turn his science towards more sinister purposes. Otto had reluctantly agreed, caving under threats but secretly worked on his experiments regardless.
All was going well, until one of his experiments was sabotaged. Apparently, the Kingpin could not be deceived for too long and thus Otto was the misfortune to be caught in an explosion. The result caused his harness holding his mechanical arms to melt onto him, fusing into his spine. The control chip floated up and melted into his brain, allowing Otto to control his arms with a mere thought. He was driven completely mad but his genius remained. From that day forward, Doctor Otto Octavius became Doctor Octopus and he spent years planning for his hostile takeover against the Kingpin of Crime.
-
“So this Doctor Octopus guy has to be Otto Octavius,” concluded Peter in a whisper later that day.
“Yeah it all fits, the article I found said Octavius was in an accident that drove him mad,” said Gwen. “Given what details the article had, it would fit with the mechanical arms but the scariest part is what he’s putting together.”
“Seismic Wave Disrupter, I know, he could level the entire city if he’s not careful,” said Peter carefully. “I sure hope You-Know-Who can stop him.”
“Yes,” agreed Gwen who realized that Peter putting himself in danger would be a moot point of Doctor Octopus destroyed everything around him but the two straightened up, acting natural when they saw Harry rush by. “You’re in a hurry.”
“Tutors, remember, Dad said that I need to work twice as hard,” replied Harry who looked very unhappy about the entire situation. No matter how hard he worked, his father was never pleased with anything he did, which tended to be part of the reason why he did not put much effort into schoolwork to begin with.
“You know all of this could be avoided if you actually tried harder in school,” said Peter.
“Maybe,” agreed Harry grudgingly. “But I think my disinterest in school will outlast Dad’s interest in my life. Don’t worry, as much as I’d like to hang out with my two best friends, I have to ride this one out. Besides, I’m sure you two don’t need me as the third wheel.”
“See you around Harry, don’t worry, I’m sure your dad what’s best for you,” said Peter which caused Harry to snort in a disbelieving manner.
“Bye, Harry,” said Gwen before she turned to Peter. “So, about Doctor Octopus…”
“I still owe you a date after what happened, so maybe he can hold off his evil plan until later,” said Peter hopefully but the ground shaking below him caused him and his spider sense going off indicated that happy reality was not going to happen. “Or maybe not.”
“Blast you Doc Ock,” thought Peter.
“Good luck, Peter,” whispered Gwen as she leaned forward and kissing him and Peter nodded, before he made his way, carefully up the stairs to make a quick change into his web slinging alter ego.
-
Norman Osborn sat in the back seat of the limo, with his son beside him but suddenly his attention was caught by a figure swinging through the sky. He looked at it, following it with his eyes, there was no mistaking who it was.
“So there is a Spider-Man,” remarked Norman coolly as he looked at his son, who had followed the figure, eyes wide open, mouth a gap. “Harry, compose yourself! What’s the matter with you?”
-
Spider-Man swung through the air. More vibrations rocked the city and it seemed that his spider sense could be used to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. While he was not an expert in completely utilizing this gift, it was better than nothing and he swung, with a group of uniformed offers, lead by Captain George Stacy gathered around.
“Seal off the area, we need to find out the source of the disturbances, our scientist contact in the force doesn’t think they’re of natural origin,” said George. “In fact, they are completely man mad.”
“Made my a madman who seems to be intent on leveling the entire city, in fact,” said Spider-Man as he dropped down on a web line, with several officers pointing their guns but Captain Stacy held up his hand to stop them.
“Spider-Man,” muttered George. “I’m Captain George Stacy, but I do wish we were meeting for the first time under better circumstances. You seem to have a clue as to who’s behind these disruptions.”
“A new criminal, he calls himself Doctor Octopus, I fought him last night and he seems intent using a device for some reason that could level everything around us if he’s not stopped,” said Spider-Man, carefully masking his voice so the good Captain did not pick up on the fact who he really was. “And if my hunch is correct, Doc Ock brought his little toy down there.”
“Through the subway,” muttered one of the officers. “That tunnel’s been out of use for many years, hardly anyone goes down there.”
“Make perfect sense,” agreed George as he looked at Spider-Man. He could not help but see there was something rather familiar about the young web slinger but this was no time for suspicions. “Close off the area for any civilians, make sure no one passes, as much as I hate to admit this, Spider-Man is our best change in dealing with this Doctor Octopus.”
“You mean we’re going to have to entrust police business to some masked vigilante?” asked a female officer.
“Officer DeWolff I have given my orders,” said George patiently. “Please follow them, time is of the essence and there is no room for argument.”
Spider-Man swung down before the final police barrier was in place.
-
The figure of Eddie Brock spotted Spider-Man from behind the bushes. He had gone to the source of the disturbances, hoping to find Spider-Man and he struck pay dirt. He would have his pictures soon enough. Quickly, the photographer moved out, slipping past the barriers and walked down the subway after Spider-Man. Spider-Man would be his ticket out of this crummy profession and onto bigger and better things.
-
“Getting closer, got to be careful, one wrong move and I’m toast,” thought Spider-Man as he carefully crawled on the ceilings of the tunnel, while straining to listen. “That one sounded close, not too far away now.”
Carefully Spider-Man webbed a camera in place, hoping this trick would work, before he dropped down carefully. He saw a pair of armed goons standing guard over an entry way of some sort. Carefully walking around, he put his hand over the mouth of one of the goons, before he spun him around and knocked him down with one punch. The other goon turned, seeing Spider-Man but before he could open his mouth to make a sound, Spider-Man webbed his mouth shut. He dropped down but there several foot steps. A small group of armed goons charged Spider-Man but he carefully dodged each assault, taking them down one by one without breaking a sweat.
“Well that was easy,” remarked Spider-Man but suddenly his spider sense alerted him to an incoming attack. He dodged as a robotic arm swung out from around him, forcing him to duck the assault. He came face to face with Doctor Octopus before he dodged another attack.
“I had anticipated your interference, Spider-Man!” bellowed Doctor Octopus as he shot another robotic arm. “Once I eliminate you, there will be no one left to oppose my plans. The city will be mine!”
“Over my dead body!” shouted Spider-Man as he dodged underneath an attack before he bounced off the walls and shot some webbing but Doc Ock quickly sliced through it like a hot knife through butter, before Spider-Man bounced off, dodging and moving around the attacks.
“If you insist,” said Doctor Octopus in a bored voice as his arm shot out before the end clamped around Spider-Man. The hero struggled but Doctor Octopus swung Spider-Man around, before he smashed the wall crawler against the wall. Spider-Man winced as he was smashed against the wall once again before the mad scientist attempted to impale the downed Spider-Man but he slid out of the way. Bouncing off the wall, Spidey slid underneath the attacks. “Stand still and I may offer you a demise with dignity, arachnid”
“Sorry, I’ve never been one to have much dignity,” answered Spider-Man as he attempted to web Octopus’s glasses again but the criminal was ready for this trick this time. He shredded the webbing before Spider-Man looked over his shoulder, seeing a machine in the distance. It was silent.
“It must be the thing that’s causing this,” thought Spider-Man as he avoided the attacks. “Now, if I can only find a way to destroy it.”
“You will find that you have run out of room, Spider-Man,” taunted Doctor Octopus as he attempted to swing his tentacles, with Spider-Man just barely dodging the attack and he bounced off the walls, before he jumped off, just before the sharp end of the robotic arm would have sliced him to ribbons.
“We’re in such an enclosed space, yet you can’t smash me to bits,” said Spider-Man as he just barely avoided another attack. “What’s the matter? I mean for such a criminal genius, you’re pretty lousy at hitting a target. Come on Ock? Insanity getting the better for you or are you the laughing stock the scientific community painted you as Octavius!”
“You will pay for that!” yelled Doctor Octopus
“Will you take an IOU?” quipped Spider-Man as he dodged the attack.
“Your little remarks are not amusing, rather annoying!” snapped Doctor Octopus as he swung his tentacles but he stopped, eyes widened, before a twisted smile appeared on his face. “Very clever Spider-Man, you thought you could trick me into smashing up my own machine. It might have worked against a lesser mind but Doctor Octopus is not so easily deceived.”
Spider-Man winced but an idea came into his mind and suddenly, one of the mechanical arms was webbed to the wall. Doctor Octopus attempted to yank it off the wall, but Spider-Man got into position, webbing the second robotic arm to the wall. In little time, Doctor Octopus was pinned by the wall with his robotic arms and Spider-Man looked at a blinking disc.
“Must be the power source to those robotic arms,” thought Spider-Man. “Well, once I pull the plug, he won’t be able to smack me around with those arms.”
Unfortunately while Spider-Man had his focus on Doc Ock’s robotic arms, perhaps he should have been keeping his eye on his regular arm, as he whipped out a remote control device and slammed his hand right on a button. In another instant, he smashed the device.
“What did you do?” demanded Spider-Man.
“I activated my device and I disabled to the easiest way to disable it,” said Doctor Octopus as he laughed like a complete madman. “You can apprehend me or manually disable it. It is your choice, Spider-Man.”
Spider-Man quickly rushed over and ripped the back panel of the device off. If he could find what was powering it, he could stop it. Judging by what he saw, not only did Doctor Octopus activate the machine, but he activated some kind of overload sequence that threatened to sink the entire city into the ground.
“Great, more problems,” thought Spider-Man, fully aware that Doctor Octopus had begun to pull himself free. “Not that great with computers, and I have to figure out how to stop this thing. One wrong move and New York becomes New Atlantis.”
Doctor Octopus ripped himself free but luckily for Spider-Man, his power source had run low on energy
“Another time, Spider-Man, we will meet again!” bellowed Doctor Octopus, as he smashed an exit through the top of the tunnel, further compounding the issue as he pulled himself out, ignoring his downed henchmen. They failed, they would suffer the consequences.
Looking at the wires, Spidey felt dust falling on his shoulder and he studied it intently, before closing his eyes.
“Spider sense don’t fail me now,” thought Spider-Man desperately as he moved around. “This has to be the component, carefully now, don’t want to cause an explosion.”
In an instant, Spider-Man removed the component from the device and breathed a sigh of relief when the machine stopped rocking. He moved around, reaching up, before he retrieved his camera and for a second, he thought everything was okay. Climbing over, Spider-Man retrieved his camera.
As he removed it, the tunnel began to crumble.
“Great,” thought Spider-Man sarcastically. “Just great and I’m going to have to save all of these henchmen I knocked out before this subway tunnel collapses.”
Carefully storing his camera away, Spider-Man dropped down, creating a large net of webbing, before he hoisted up the criminals, one by one, dumping them inside. He struggled to lift them up, before Spider-Man swung around, the captured criminals carefully held in place. He moved forward, as more dust and rubble began to fall. Spider-Man looked up, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, before he swung out, depositing the henchmen carefully. He winced, when he heard a scream of frustration from deep inside the subway tunnel.
“Missed one,” muttered Spider-Man in frustration as he swung back into the tunnel, before he saw the tunnel beginning collapse and he spotted the form of Eddie Brock, on the ground, ankle trapped under a large piece of rubble. “What are you doing here?”
“Photographer for the Daily Bugle,” grumbled Brock. “Had to get pictures of you, it’s going to be a gold mine.”
Quickly, Spider-Man managed to pry the piece of rubble off of Brock’s ankle, before he held up the dubious photographer, the camera slipping from Brock’s hand.
“Wait, I need to pick up my camera!” shouted Brock desperately eyes widened in horror.
“No time,” responded Spider-Man firmly, as he swung out, with Brock kicking and trying to desperately reach for his camera.
“No, there’s a lot of good shots, even I’ll get Jonah to unclench his fist and pay up with some of those!” yelled Brock desperately, but he watched in horror as they exited the tunnel, but not before Brock saw his camera smashed to bits. It was almost like he was watching money burst into flames. “NO! My camera, my pictures, MY MONEY! You did that on purpose, Spider-Man!”
“That’s a fine thanks for saving your life,” muttered Spider-Man under his breath as he dropped Brock, a bit more roughly than he would have normally had he not been so annoyed. He collapsed to his knees for a brief second before he looked at George. “Got all the henchmen, saved the reckless photographer, nice meeting you Captain, but I’ve got to swing, see if I can find Doc Ock.”
George nodded as he watched Spider-Man swing off. Had Spider-Man not been here on this day, this could have ended in a tragedy. He was a bit apprehensive about the mask thing but he was sure the hero had his reasons for what he did. If nothing else, Spider-Man made his job a bit easier.
-
“Twice around the city and nothing, not even one hint of one measly robotic arm,” thought Spider-Man in frustration. “Oh well, better pack it in for tonight, not going to find anything. Doc Ock’s gone underground for now but he can’t hide forever. He’ll be brought to justice but I can’t obsess over him. Other criminals, other crime, that sort of thing, and I just have a feeling that he’ll be back to plague me and the city again all too soon but I don’t think I need my spider sense to figure that out.”
Spider-Man looked and saw the Daily Bugle building. He looked at his camera, hoping that actual photographic evidence would change his standing in that place. Of course, there was only one way to find out.
-
“Brock, what do you mean you don’t have any photos?” demanded Jameson as he angrily stared down at Eddie Brock, who looked slightly uncomfortable as the other staff at the Daily Bugle looked at him.
“But, boss, Spider-Man…” started Brock but Jameson would hear none of it.
“The only butt you should be worrying about is yours when I toss you out on it for not doing your job, Brock!” shouted Jameson, who looked almost rabid. “A news story involving that wall crawling nuisance, getting into a battle with someone calling himself Doctor Octopus and I don’t have pictures to go along with it. It’s an outrage I tell you!”
“Did someone mention wanting photos of Spider-Man?” asked Peter as he waved around the photos.
“You, how dare you walk in here!” bellowed Jameson.
“Fine then, I guess some other newspaper will have to make all that money by being the first to have exclusive photos of Spider-Man,” responded Peter as he held up the photos before Jameson’s eyes went wide and he moved forward, before he grabbed the photos.
“Not bad for a first effort, Parker,” admitted Jameson grudgingly. “Garbage compared to our usual quality of work but I suppose it’s better than bringing me nothing like certain photographers around here.”
“Wait a minute, I was down there the entire time and I didn’t see you so how did you get photos of Spider-Man?” demanded Brock.
“Who cares, Brock, at least him brought me something, tell you what kid, I’ll give you two hundred dollars for all the pictures,” said Jameson.
“Two hundred dollars?” asked Peter in an incredulous tone of voice. “With all due respect, Mr. Jameson, I did kind of risk my life to get these photos.”
“Kid, it’s just my way of nurturing a love for the art and not for the money but I’ll tell you what, two hundred and fifty, best I can do and because I’m in a such a good mood,” said Jameson to Peter. “Do we have a deal? Of course we have a deal. ROBBIE! Get Leeds, and tell him to put the finishing touches on that article and we’ll integrate Parker’s photos into it and we’ll scoop all of the other papers. Our headline is Spider-Man: Vigilante at Large.”
The entire newsroom was silent.
“What are you waiting for a ticker tape parade?” demanded Jameson. “Go, get going, all of you!”
Peter stood awkwardly.
“As for you, Parker, you can pick your check up on the way out from Miss Brant and get right back out there now, get more pictures of Spider-Man, I want to see that wall crawler from every angle and see what his deviant game is!” shouted Jameson and Peter moved. While not as much as he wanted, the two hundred and fifty dollars would help Aunt May for sure.
-
Doctor Octopus reached his hideout, plans ruined, for now. Another opportunity would present itself, as he recharged the power source for his arms. He would not rest until Spider-Man was destroyed, now the wall crawler had the doctor’s full and undivided attention. The next plan would result in Spider-Man’s complete and utter demise. The Kingpin would get taken care of soon enough but his end would have to wait for now.
-
Wilson Fisk sat in the arm chair early the next morning, reading the Daily Bugle with indifference but one thing did catch his interest. That of Spider-Man, he had heard quite a bit about the web slinger, in fact, Spider-Man had unknowingly brought down several petty thugs in his employee on more than a few occasions. Now, as Fisk read the paper, he could not help but be curious at what exactly drove this Spider-Man to foolishly throw himself into these heroics.
Fisk remained still for a moment, the wheels of thought turning in his head. Perhaps given time, he could find a way to benefit from the presence of Spider-Man. He would have to keep an eye on the wall crawler and learn as much as he could. Then he could determine whether he could use Spider-Man’s presence in a way that benefits him or have the hero eliminated. Fisk vowed to keep a close eye on every business opportunity as he put his paper away. He had a full day ahead of him but he would have to set aside some time and resources to analyze the Spider-Man situation fully.
-
“Dad said Spider-Man helped avert quite the disaster yesterday, there could have been thousands dead, but only a collapsed tunnel that no one uses,” said Gwen to Peter casually the next morning. “He’s grateful for the help, even if others are uneasy about Spider-Man.”
“He has to wear a mask not to hide but to protect those close to him,” said Peter.
“A selfless hero to the very end, too bad the Bugle decided to hint that Spider-Man was behind the collapse of the tunnel,” said Gwen with a sigh. “Some people don’t get what they can’t understand.”
“Some people aren’t meant to understand Spidey, but he’ll keep doing it and I’ll be there to cover his exploits for better or for worse,” said Peter with a sigh. Jameson had a chip on his shoulder regarding Spider-Man although Peter could not for the life of him figure out why. “So we never did get around to having the date.”
“Third time lucky?” asked Gwen.
“Any time with you is lucky, Gwen,” replied Peter with a cheesy smile.
“You can be so sappy sometimes, Peter,” said Gwen with a laugh, before she kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t ever change.”
“Don’t plan on it,” said Peter as he wondered what the future would bring. Now the world knew that Spider-Man was not just some myth with photographic proof available, he had the strangest feeling that life was going to get both interesting and complicated.
-
A plane landed at the airport and a man dressed in a trench coat and wearing a fedora on his head stepped out of the plane. His face was a ghostly white and he was bald underneath the hat. He looked around, with a disdainful look.
“So this is New York,” said the mystery man as he looked around. “A dump but a job is a job, especially one that pays so handsomely. I must change into something less conspicuous, as even in this city, my appearance could raise some questions.”
The man looked from side to side, before he stepped to the side and seconds later, a figure wearing a business suit with a short hair cut and a neatly trimmed beard walked out, a briefcase in hand as he walked into New York, ready to receive further instruction for the job he had been hired to carry out.
