The Vulture Takes Flight:

“Peter I swear you have the worst luck in the world when it comes to these sort of things,” said Gwen with half amusement, and half despair as Peter had just concluded telling her about his misadventures at Science Camp involving the uninvited and unwanted Doctor Octopus.

“No kidding, I do,” said Peter who felt the entire situation was becoming rather tiring. “All I wanted to do was have a nice vacation for two weeks, without any trouble and any super villains, but unfortunately there’s someone who decided that we can’t have that. Still, Octopus has finally been put off the streets, so I guess that was a bonus and I got some good pictures out of the deal, so Jameson is tolerable, I guess.”

“And you made a new friend, the Spider-Man fanatic,” said Gwen who was highly amused. “She seemed rather horrified when she realized it was you.”

“Yes, she was,” said Peter, who was glad that Gwen was so amused about this and not gone into a slight fit of jealously like most girlfriends might. “Still, I think she’ll get over it pretty quickly, I told her about you and how great you are, and Kitty seems like she’s not the type to try anything underhanded, even if she is a bit quirky, I guess.”

“And another super powered ally,” said Gwen. “Good, I have a feeling you might need all the help you can get.”

“The number of super villains are multiplying,” said Peter with a shrug as they had turned the corner, walking towards the Osborn Manor. “I suppose one could draw the connection of who’s fault it is, but as long as they keep popping up, Spider-Man will keep knocking them down or something like that.”

Peter and Gwen remained quiet as they walked up towards the gates of the mansion. The truth was that the Green Goblin had been the worse and a part of Peter hoped that Norman would get the treatment he needed, before returning on what passed as normal for him. And certainly he hoped that he had seen the last of the Green Goblin.

“May I ask who’s arriving?” asked a voice on the intercom.

“Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy,” announced Gwen and there was a pause, but only for the briefest second.

“Ah yes, young Master Osborn said to be expecting you, in his in the east wing with Miss Allan right now,” said the voice over the intercom as the gates opened to admit Gwen and Peter inside the mansion.

“So Liz finally decided to talk to Harry,” remarked Peter.

“Guess that’s what happened,” said Gwen with a shrug, she had no idea, other than a brief conversation during the time Peter was gone, she had not really gotten in touch with Harry. He had been busy with Oscorp business and that tended to monopolize most, if not all of his time. Quickly, the two friends walked inside, when they saw two figures darting. Peter stiffened, but relaxed when his spider sense did not go off. It would be difficult to change in such an open area.

“Pete, Gwen, is that you?” asked Harry, who was walking in a hurry, with Liz behind him, looking slightly amused.

“Yes, that’s us, I thought you knew we were coming, Harry,” said Peter.

“I did, but my advisors are driving me up a wall, how my father put up with their advice I would never know, well actually I do know, he threatened them and they backed off because they actually feared him,” said Harry without taking a breath. “Two foreign countries pulled their orders, when they found out that some teenager was the head of the company and we’re going to lose about twenty percent of our profits, it’s all very frustrating you know.”

“I don’t have an idea, but I believe you, if you say it is,” said Peter.

“Well, we’ve decided since Harry’s stressed out, we sneak away for a couple hours, maybe hit the mall downtown, do something that normal teenagers do for a change, instead of being all serious,” said Liz. “You two are welcomed to join us of course.”

“So does that mean you two are…” started Gwen and Harry nodded.

“We’d figure we would give it a shot,” said Harry as he looked at his two friends. “I mean, if it doesn’t work out, at least it tried.”

“It will work out Harry, have faith,” said Gwen in an encouraging voice, before she pulled Liz off to the side. “Harry has some…self esteem issues because…”

“I know his father, he told me about them, and given the fact that his father was who he was, I can’t say I really can fault him too much,” said Liz as she looked at Gwen. “We’ll find a way to make it work.”

Meanwhile, Peter and Harry were having a conversation off to the side.

“So Pete what do I do?” asked Harry and his friend looked at him with a confused look. “You know….on a date and all that, exactly how do I keep from embarrassing myself.”

“You do realize who you’re asking for advice don’t you,” said Peter with a grin but Harry was not in the mood to be humored. “Relax, be yourself, any piece of advice I can give you, don’t try to be something that you’re not.”

“Right, relax, be myself,” said Harry, before he muttered to himself. “I’m so screwed.”

-

Adrian Toomes looked at his design for his tech flight wings with glee. He was an old man, in his early seventies, bald, with a beak like nose and a nasty look on his face. He was the type to yell at children to get off his lawn but he was very pleased with the design. Capable of flight even in the roughest of conditions and weapon systems, not to mention razor sharp wings to slice his prey into nothingness. He put the harness on, before he prepared to take flight. He would find Osborn, wherever he was and make him pay for ruining his life.

-

Liz, Harry, Gwen, and Peter were downtown, Harry’s limo driver having taken them down. Conveniently, Harry had his cell phone disabled, so he did not get any calls from his ever annoying advisors. The four walked downtown, having a good time just hanging out but unfortunately for them, that was all to change.

“Did you hear that?” asked Liz just as Peter’s spider sense went off. He heard a whirling sound from up above, as there was a figure flying around. He squinted, the sun had caused him to be unable to see exactly what was going on up above.

“Maybe it’s an aircraft of some sort,” suggested Harry with a shrug.

“No too narrow, it looks like a man with wings,” said Gwen frowning, as she tried to get a better look at it.

“Oh come on, that’s absurd, someone flying around with wings,” argued Harry.

“And this is in a city with a guy with robotic tentacle like arms, a guy who wears a fishbowl on his head, and a guy flying on a glider dressed as a goblin,” said Peter and Harry just nodded, it was hard to argue with that point, even though he winced as it regarded to the unintentional reminder of his father.

Adrian Toomes circled from above, eyes narrowed, as he searched. He had flew by the Osborn Manor, having seen a limo exit. It would have to be Osborn. Toomes looked down at the crowd outside the mall, before his eyes widened and a twisted smile appeared on his face. He would recognize that hair anywhere. It was Osborn, no doubt about it and now Toomes prepared to take flight, pointing the miniature rocket blasters from underneath his wings towards the ground.

“OSBORN!” bellowed Toomes as he dived down, pointing his rockets down below and blasting in the crowd, forcing them to scatter or be blown to bits. Peter quickly pulled Liz and Gwen out of the way, as Harry moved out of the way, but the super villain would not be denied. He dove right towards Harry, hands outstretched, sending a rocket right towards the ground where Harry stood. Harry managed to leap out of the way, but Toomes grabbed him. “At last, you’re going to pay for what you’ve done to me.”

Harry gave a plea for help as several shouts as Liz, Gwen, and Peter looked horrified at what just happened, as Toomes had carried off Harry, with a crazed look on his face.

“Oh my, what do we do?” asked Liz in a horrified voice, as she watched her date be carried off by an old man with wings. It was a traumatic experience to say the least.

“Sit down and calm down Liz, I’ll call the police and Peter see if you can get help,” said Gwen and Peter caught her message right away, before he ran off, ready to make a change. Liz’s legs trembled, as she watched Peter and Gwen go their separate ways. She hoped Harry would be alright, they had barely dated and now this had happened.

-

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done to be, Norman Osborn!” shouted Toomes in a loud angry tone that carried.

“I’m not Norman, I’m his son, Harry,” replied Harry in a terrified voice but a part of him wondered what his father had done to piss off this old man.

“Where is he then?” demanded Toomes, if that brat would not give him answers, then he would pay rather quickly.

“He’s indisposed,” said Harry. “Locked up tight, in a mental institution.”

“Then you’ll going to have to do for my vengeance for now,” said Toomes as he flew off with Harry and dropped him, causing Harry to fall down, screaming in horror, but Toomes drove down, before the cagey old bird caught Harry and pulled him back up higher. “A fall that low is too good for the spawn of Norman Osborn, when I make a mess with you on the pavement, I will make a mess.”

Harry looked down, realizing that he was going to die for his father’s underhanded business practices which was actually the way he had assumed.

“Norman Osborn will pay!” cried Toomes, but a figure swung up from the highest buildings he could manage. Harry thrashed, unable to do anything else, but he saw Spider-Man was on the way, but he could not manage to get to Toomes’s height. The Vulture released Harry who screamed but before he hit the ground, Spider-Man swooped in and caught him, before swinging him to the ground.

“Who is that guy?” asked Spider-Man to Harry once he caught his breath.

“Don’t know, but my father seemed to have pissed him off something fierce, now he wants revenge,” said Harry and Spider-Man saw the figure from above, diving down, wings bent. Spider-Man shot a strand of webbing, wrapping around Toomes, before he was pulled up into the air. Spider-Man struggled.

“Just who are you anyway?” demanded Toomes as Spider-Man was dragged higher into the air. He spotted some kind of propulsion device on the harness, he had to disable it somehow to bring the Vulture down to earth.

“Don’t you watch the news?” asked Spider-Man as he shot another line of webbing to grab onto the pack.

“I have no use for television!” cried Toomes as he flew higher, which caused Spider-Man to get light headed.

“I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man of course,” said Spider-Man as he shot two more lines of webbing onto each wing but the villain turned, slicing right through them. “And judging by the costume, your super villain name might be Bird Brain, right?”

“You may call me Vulture!” shouted Toomes, now the Vulture, as he spun around, flying madly with Spider-Man struggling to hang on. The lines of webbing snapped, but Spider-Man shot down onto a post from a building above, grabbing on. The Vulture dove down, smashing into the post and causing it to bent. Spider-Man dove off and swung down fro another building. “And Norman Osborn will pay once I destroy you.”

“News flash pal, you grabbed the wrong guy,” said Spider-Man as he dodged an attempted dive by Vulture. “Guess the Alzheimer’s is beginning to kick in! Old Normiekins bought a one way trip to the funny farm in case you’ve been living under a rock.”

“His son will have to do for now but you’ll pay first!” shouted Vulture as he dove right towards Spider-Man, sending a missile from his weapon system right at him. A laser blast struck Spider-Man in the chest and caused him to free fall to the ground. He was only by sheer luck that Spider-Man summoned enough strength to web onto a flagpole to keep himself from suffering a fatal free fall. The Vulture swooped down. “And farewell you insufferable insect!”

Vulture dove down and sliced the flagpole where Spider-Man was standing. Spider-Man held his arm up but the villain knocked him out of the air, causing him to fly down, right towards a metal dumpster. He braced himself for impact, but thankfully he managed to land mostly on a slightly soiled mattress that was on the side of the dumpster. He winced from the impact, his web shooter having bent slightly and his right wrist sprained. Spider-Man rolled over, taking his web shooter off to relieve the pressure around his wrist, as he saw the Vulture fly off in the distance.

“Guess he decided to fly the coop,” thought Spider-Man. “Better get back as Peter Parker, won’t be able to get at him now.

The Vulture flew before he looked down, where the younger Osborn was surrounded by several police officers and they were armed.

“Blast, I’m going to have to regroup my strategy, but rest assure, that brat will pay,” said the Vulture as he turned, flying off, with a sadistic glint in his eyes as visions of his revenge on Harry Osborn danced in his head.

-

“Good thing you managed to see Spider-Man swinging around the city,” said Liz when Peter had explained what happened or at least a slightly altered version of the events that happened after he had ran off.

“No kidding, I was about to become pizza pavement,” said Harry.

“Yes, I’m sure we’re all glad that Spider-Man was able to save the day once again, but we have a far more pressing issue to deal with,” said Captain Stacy. “For whatever reason, it appears that this man will continue to go after Harry and won’t rest until he finds him. One failed attempt won’t be enough. As it is, young Harry will have go to under police protection until we bring this man to justice. Your description of him should point us in the right direction.”

“Maybe it was someone who Mr. Osborn decided to forced out of business,” said Gwen as the other members of the police force looked at her but Peter nodded in support.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Peter.

“I really think that much is obvious,” replied Harry calmly, as Liz stood right beside him, giving him an encouraging smile, as if trying to tell him that everything was going to be right.

“A profitable line of investigation, yes DeWolff, dig up what you can about all the businesses that have been absorbed into Oscorp, especially those dealing with tech flight, because I believe we can find our man that way,” said Captain Stacy. “Harry, to the van, you will be brought to a safe house until this blows over and we bring this attacker to justice.”

Harry nodded, he had little do with agree, leaving Liz, Gwen, and Peter alone.

“Peter, your aunt is home, correct?” questioned Captain Stacy.

“Yes, sir,” answered Peter promptly.

“Good, Gwen I want you to go with Peter, it was likely that you might have been recognized by him and I don’t want to be home alone, I’ll call you when it’s safe to go home,” said Captain Stacy. “Miss Allan, your parents are home right?”

“Yes, Captain, I can go straight home right away,” said Liz. “It isn’t much of a walk from here.”

“Very well then, Peter, Gwen, I’ll make sure you get there safe, into the car if you please,” said Captain Stacy and the two teenagers nodded, before they entered the back of The Captain’s car and they drove off. “I hate to admit this, but Spider-Man might be the best hope we have in beating whoever this guy is. The rest of the force is leaning on me to do something about him but technically he hasn’t broken any laws and most the villains he fights is way outside anything we’ll capable of.”

“I’m sure Spider-Man’s thankful for the support, Dad,” said Gwen.

“Yeah, his job isn’t the easiest in the world,” added Peter, trying to not favor his wrist too much because that would lead to questions that he might not be able to answer as easily. Still he hoped he was able to stop the Vulture, for Harry’s sake more then anything else.

-

Toomes arrived home, looking at his harness, relieved that none of it had been damaged too much during the battle earlier that day. This Spider-Man whoever he was, was a thorn in his side but one that the Vulture took out. If he had survived his fall, the next time they fought, the result of the battle would be fatal for the hero.

Still, he looked with a grin, see the police van going down the street. He knew the young Osborn brat was on the back of the vehicle, being taken away for his safety. He would catch the police by surprise and take his revenge, one way or another.

-

“I wonder about this city sometimes,” said Aunt May in a fretful voice. “It’s where you can’t even go outside your house anymore without running into some horrible person.”

“Yeah, it is like that more often than not,” said Gwen as she sat down on the couch, right beside Peter.

“I’ll get you two something to eat, you look practically shaken, Peter what happened with your wrist?” asked Aunt May looking at her nephew.

“He tripped when that guy went after Harry, he must have sprained it,” said Gwen promptly and May did not even disbelieve this story for a second.

“I’m going to get you some ice, it should reduce the swelling, it doesn’t look broken, just sprained thankfully,” said May as she went to the freezer to do that. “Honestly, Peter you should be more careful where you go. You’ve always been a bit clumsy but that’s no need to be careless.”

“I’ll try harder to be careful, Aunt May,” said Peter.

“That’s all I ask for, Peter, dear,” replied Aunt May as she handed the ice pack along with a plate of sandwiches. Peter put the ice pack on his injured risk, feeling relief, counting his blessings that the fall could have been worse.

-

“Right in here, nothing gets past us, you’ll be completely safe, young Mr. Osborn,” said one of the officers, as they lead Harry in. Three stood behind him, dressed in riot squad gear as Harry looked up, before he heard a familiar and quite unwelcome humming noise from above, as the Vulture swooped in towards him.

“You won’t get away from me that easily, you brat!” shouted the Vulture in a crazed voice, as he dove down. Harry turned, as the Vulture knocked over two of the riot cops with one move. Another one turned to shoot the Vulture out of the sky, but he grabbed the cop by the throat and threw him down to the ground. The cop crashed with a thud and the Vulture grabbed Harry, before pulling him up into the air. Harry struggled, but the Vulture gained further height.

“Help me, someone get me down from here now!” shouted Harry as he kicked and squirmed, as the Vulture held him, threatening to impale the clawed spikes of his gloves into the back of his neck.

“One more movement, Osborn, and you’ll be flattened faster than any of your father’s business rivals,” said the Vulture.

“Just what did my father do to you anyway?” protested Harry, as he began to get dizzy as the Vulture flew, dodging the attempts from the police to shoot his wings to slow his descent.

“Your father decided to ruin my life’s work, framing me and throwing me in jail for fifteen years while taking my designs for tech flight, and then he had the gall to claim them as his own!” shouted the Vulture, as he turned, before he disarmed the police, while still keeping a tight grip on Harry. “He’s messed with the wrong man now and if he isn’t around to pay, then I’m going to have to settle for you.”

“Listen to me, no one knows that my father is an underhanded person better than me but I had nothing to do with this, if you want the money made from your designs, you can have it, every cent of it!” shouted Harry, as he tried to free himself, even though that might not be the greatest idea.

“You really think this is about money?” demanded the Vulture. “No, this isn’t about money, this is about revenge, my revenge, on the man who caused me to lose several years of my life in jail, to line his pockets with ill gotten gains. I won’t let that go ever but I can let you go…”

One of the police helicopters above had flew by, clipping at the Vulture’s wings. The Vulture turned in surprise, as he was forced to dive several hundred feet from he was, but he decided to release Harry anyway from where he was. Harry screamed in terror, as the police on the ground rushed to get the net in place, only partially catching Harry but he was enough to save him from a grisly fate. The Vulture dove down, ready to finish Harry off but several gun blasts had caused him to rethink his strategy. He was narrowly missed and a gunshot at his age could kill him.

“I’ll be back for your later,” said the Vulture loudly, as he blasted two miniature missiles to the ground, blowing up the ground. He watched as the young Osborn was on the ground, several injured, blood dripping from his mouth but not enough for his liking. It looked like that Harry would live and the Vulture flew off, to plot his next move. A more direct attack on Oscorp itself, he would destroy the building and leave Norman Osborn in ruins or die trying.

-

“What, Harry, is he going to be okay?” asked Gwen in terror, as Peter made a movement go upstairs. “Cracked collar bone, some other internal injuries, but he’s getting the medical attention he needs, good to hear, what hospital room? Okay, I’ll be sure to tell Peter, thanks, bye.”

Gwen followed Peter, as May was in the kitchen making dinner. They quickly made there way up the stairs, as Peter walked up to his room.

“I know Gwen, this isn’t my fault, but I’m going to take responsibility for it, if Spider-Man had stopped the Vulture the first time, Harry would not be in the hospital,” said Peter. “Fortunately, I’ve been working on something to meet the Vulture on his own turf.”

“Does this have anything to do with that thing you’ve been working on over the past couple of hours?” asked Gwen and Peter responded with a nod, before he walked over. He had several spare parts lying around his room, from past science projects but now he could put them to good use.

“It’s not as sophisticated as what the Vulture has up his sleeve but it should to the trick, at least I hope it will,” said Peter has he made a few minor adjustments, before he turned the makeshift harness and wings towards Gwen. Gwen looked at the makeshift flying device, biting her lip, before she began laughing. She could not help herself, it looked like the most absurd thing ever.

“Sorry, Peter, I really am but that thing, it just looks so ridiculous,” said Gwen as she looked at it, trying to catch her breath and look rather serious. “But, I think the question is, will it work?”

“I’m pretty sure it will, maybe, I hope,” said Peter and Gwen looked at him, amusement having faded, worry slightly setting in. “I don’t need it to work long enough, only long enough to get to the Vulture and disable his little flight system myself. It will take time and a little luck, a whole lot of luck, but it has to be done that way.”

“Okay, Peter, you know what you’re doing,” said Gwen but Peter’s phone rang. He knew exactly who that was.

“Parker!” shouted Jameson which caused Peter to recoil slightly. That was right in his ear and he winced from what he had just heard. “Some lunatic with wings is terrorizing Oscorp. I want your lazy backside over there and get some pictures right away.”

“Why me?” asked Peter.

“Because, Spider-Man’s likely to show up obviously and with those two freaks, we can sell some papers,” replied Jameson in a gleeful tone of voice.

“I’ll be over there as soon as I can, Mr. Jameson,” said Peter.

“Do me a favor, Parker and make it soon,” said Jameson as Peter sighed, before he hung up the phone and he walked over, to grab his bag containing his Spider-Man costume, along with his camera.

“Duty calls?” asked Gwen.

“Afraid so, tell Aunt May that I need to take care for something at the Bugle,” said Peter. “I should be back by supper and hopefully the Vulture will be put in his cage by then.”

“Okay, Peter, see you later then,” said Gwen as she embraced him, before they kissed good bye and Peter moved, his wrist still a little sore, but remembering his battle with the Green Goblin, he had fought with obviously worse injuries.

-

“Defenses are disabled,” said the Vulture in a triumphant voice, as he rose up, stabbing his wings right into the security camera, causing a miniature explosion. “Now to take out Oscorp and everyone inside. Osborn will return to find nothing left and I will have my glorious, revenge.”

The Vulture swooped down but he turned, hearing a pained panting and he looked on, seeing Spider-Man, barely able to hold himself up, as his crudely created harness and wings flew through the air, with Spider-Man flapping his arms in an attempt to propel him.

“Note to self,” thought Spider-Man, as the old fan motor in the harness was beginning to sputter. “Never try something this stupid again, ever, period, what was I thinking? Oh that’s right, absolutely nothing.”

“You!” shouted the Vulture, his anger towards Spider-Man trying to step into the way of his plans. “Why do you protect Osborn? Surely even a fool like you could see what he truly is.”

“Oh believe me, I know,” said Spider-Man as he could barely hold up, ready to shoot the lines of webbing to ease himself down in case of a disaster. It slowly dawned on him that this crudely made flying device was not one of his better judgment calls. “But despite what old Norm did or did not do, you’ll breaking the law too and I’m going to have to cut your wings for that.”

“Fool, the sky belongs to me!” shouted the Vulture in a crazed voice as he dove towards Spider-Man. “You must have thought I was some senile old fool but I have true power. I will destroy Norman Osborn and everything he has ever made, but you’ll fall as well.”

Spider-Man spun, but the Vulture’s own wings slammed into his harness. Spider-Man kicked up, just evacuating in time, as the makeshift flying device was torn to shreds. He shot a line of webbing onto the tower and swung up, but the Vulture turned, shooting a laser blast. Spider-Man swung off to the side.

“Why won’t you stay still you impudent pest?” shouted the Vulture as he prepared to slice Spider-Man’s webbing, which was exactly what the web head wanted. It allowed him to get underneath the cagey bird and shoot webbing, latching onto the hover pack on his back.

“Are you sure your aim is not off?” taunted Spider-Man as he attempted to pin the Vulture’s wings but there was still some fight left in the crazy old bird. “The cataracts aren’t acting up, are they?”

“You will pay for mocking me Spider-Man!” shouted the Vulture, as he attempted to dive into a tower, but Spider-Man managed to pry the hover pack from the harness. The Vulture gave a pained shriek when he realized he had been disabled. “What have you done you young fool? Now, we’ll both crash.”

“Sorry to give you a heart attack, but that’s not going to happen,” said Spider-Man as he shot several lines of webbing, before hanging onto the Vulture between his legs and guided him to the ground. The bird attempted to fight back, but he was done, as Spider-Man removed his harness, before he webbed him up. The Vulture struggled in the webbing, but without the tech flight gear, he was just a bitter, crazed old man, cursing under his breath towards Spider-Man.

“You may have won this round Spider-Man, but I will be back, I’ll get you and any Osborn I can find!” shouted the Vulture. “You’ll pay for ruining my plans!”

“Yeah that threat never gets old, ever,” remarked Spider-Man in a dry voice as he hoisted up the webbed up bird, before he turned, checking his watch, the police sirens blaring. He had just enough time to get his photos developed, drop them off at the Bugle, before heading home for dinner. He turned, watching as the police had nabbed Vulture, ignoring the warnings from the crazed old bird.

-

“Out in a few days, really I just cracked my collar bone, nothing major,” argued Harry. “And suffered a few other injuries, I’ll be on pain medication for a few weeks but at least I don’t have to have any major surgery.”

“Still think you got lucky,” said Peter, as he had visited the hospital along with Gwen and Liz.

“Well who would have expected a crazy old man dressed as a vulture to attack you in the middle of day light?” asked Liz and it took every bit of self control that Peter had not to make a witty retort.

“She’s got you there, Pete,” said Gwen as Harry just gave a weak smile. Still he had a funny feeling that Toomes was just the beginning of the problems he inherited due to his father. There might be many more to come in the not so distant future.

-

“Mr. Beck, I am impressed, you’re a model prisoner,” said the prison director to the prison inmate who was also known as Mysterio.

“I do what I can, I’ve learned my lesson, paid my debt to society,” said Beck with a smile. “And now I’m going to do something with my life.”

“Indeed Mr. Beck, you qualified for the prison’s work release program and you’ve passed with flying colors,” responded the director as he reached forward, shaking hands with Beck. “Your next production will be something more in tune with the law.”

“Indeed it will be, but I daresay that the drama might still be present,” said Beck with a slight smirk that the prison director did not pick up on. The final curtain would come crushing down on Spider-Man this time when his masterful scheme completely unfolded. The genius of Mysterio would finally be realized before the entire world.