The Shadow of

Spider-Man

By

Homel001

Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man. Marvel does. The story is my idea and I hope you enjoy it. This is a side project of mine while I work on "Mounting the Darkness" with Shadow-Factor. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

The Way Life Is

Night time had descended over Manhattan Island as the rain clouds rolled over, blocking the stars. As the rush our came to an end, the city's dark and dangerous street life sprung into action. Outside the Oscorp tower, Norman Osborn was waiting patiently for his limo to arrive. It had become cold and the rain began to fall on him. He didn't notice it much as he was tired from a long twelve hour meeting which he had held with his military contractors. His plans were to sell his new glider technology to the military so he could use the funding to expand his company across the country. So far, he was having the time of his life. As his limo pulled up into the drive way, Norman entered the passenger seat and ordered his driver to take him home. He wanted a silent drive.

It seemed like a peaceful trip as they approached the intersection, but Norman could tell that something was wrong as his ears picked up a strange ticking sound which was coming from below. Realising what it was he ordered his driver to bail from the car.

"GET OUT!" he yelled as he barrelled from the car just as it exploded in a million pieces.

He sat there in the street, covered in dirt and rain water as he watched the burning wreck of his limo. Someone had planted a bomb and he wanted to know who. He had made a lot of enemies over the last few years from rival corporations, but someone was definitely out to see that he was killed.

A few moments later, the police arrived along with the fire fighters and closed off the street. The paramedics also arrived to check the business tycoon over. He was unharmed, just badly shaken and angry.

"What the hell happened, Mr Osborn?" A cop asked as he tried to fill in his report. "We could hear that explosion a mile away."

"Somebody planted a bomb you idiot!" Norman barked as he brushed the cop to one side. "Somebody tried to kill me! Somebody who obviously wants to take Oscorp down."

"Somebody's trying to kill him Robbie!" Barked J. Jonah Jameson as he held a newspaper that covered the incident the night before. "You want to know who I think it was. Spider-Man that's who!"

"Spider-Man planting bombs under cars. Really Jonah?" Robbie Robertson replied as he raised a brow in disbelief. "Sounds far-fetched to me considering the amount of times the web head has saved the man. Why would he want to kill him?"

"Because he was trying to fool us into thinking he was a hero, hiding his true intentions." Jameson rambled on as he stood up and paced his office. "It's been done before. The web headed menace has gone too far this time and I want to be the one who brings him down!"

"You've got to be kidding me?" Robbie replied as he rolled his eyes up at the ceiling. "What are you going to, have the entire police force out there looking for him?"

"I'll do even better than that." Jameson snarled. "I'll get the army on his red and blue ass!"

Robbie tried not to laugh at the man as he thought it was a joke. Unbeknownst to them both, Peter Parker has listened to the entire conversation from the other side of the door. As always, he was not impressed at Jameson's attitude towards the whole situation. However, he knew that the important thing to do was to check on the Osborn's following Norman's ordeal. Receiving his pay check from Betty Brant, he left the Bugle and headed towards the bus stop. He felt fed up with it all already. He had been Spider-Man for three years and he felt like he was being treated as public enemy number one. He wanted to be viewed as a super hero. It wasn't going to happen.

Changing into his costume, Peter took to the webs as Spider-Man as he swung through town to get home quicker. He preferred web-swinging as opposed to taking the bus or the subway. He liked the clean air as it would clear his head of all the stress that he would endure during the day. As he approached the docks, his spider-sense tingled. A police chase was occurring below him as the car thief rammed other vehicles off the road, endangering other pedestrians. Spider-Man dived downwards, landing on top the car hood and smashed his hand through the glass.

"Wow the AA are going to love you." He said as he gripped the steering wheel and sent the car hurtling into a tree.

The thief crawled out of the immobilized car and tried to make a run for it, but he was stopped by a sheet of webbing that wrapped itself around his legs. He looked up to see Spider-Man perched on top of a street light looking down at him.

"And that concludes another episode of crash test dummies." He quipped as he webbed the thief to the wall before swinging off out of sight.

"D-damn you!" the thief muttered as he wriggled around at his web bonds. "I'll get even with you some day, Spider-Man!"

As Peter returned home, he noticed that his Aunt May had company in the kitchen. He recognised the other voice as a smile appeared on his face. Racing into the kitchen, he was thrilled to see the beautiful, blonde hair blue eyed Gwen Stacy sitting in his chair. He hadn't seen her in months since she left for London to stay with her aunt and uncle. He missed her so much and thought of her as much as he could.

"Gwen!" he said as he hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Whoa, slow down Peter, you blow a fuse." May joked. "Let's sit down and have some tea shall we?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Mat, but seeing Gwen is the first good thing to have happened to me this week." Peter explained as he sat down and helped himself to some toast.

"Well I'm glad I came back then." Gwen smiled. "I've missed you too Peter. I've been longing to come back but my uncle has been very sick. Luckily he's feeling better so I booked the first flight I could find. I arrived here this morning."

"It's good to have you back dear." May replied as she looked at Peter. "How was the Bugle today?"

"It sucked as usual." Peter replied as he stared down at his plate. "Either, Jameson is a once minded person, or he's just a re-incarnation of Hitler himself."

"He's not still out to get Spider-Man is he?" Gwen asked.

"He sure is." Peter answered. "At first it was a little grudge against masked men but now it seems to have grown into an obsession of his. It's all he ever talks about."

"What you've got to remember dear is that Mr Jameson is a bitter old man whose only friend in the world is money." May pointed out. "He picks on Spider-Man because he seeks a challenge. Don't let it bother you so much."

"Yeah maybe." Peter mumbled. "It just gets hard sometimes because I'm in between the two. I have to defend Spider-Man because I'm there when he does what he does. Yet I've got to show my loyalty to the skin flint because he is my boss."

"That's life I'm afraid." Gwen said as she stroked Peter's hand. "Now if it's ok with your Aunt May, I'd like to borrow you for an hour or two."

"It's fine with me." May smiled as she picked up the dishes. "Run along you two."

Peter and Gwen headed down the street towards Gwen's apartment. The air was warm and the sun began to set providing a peaceful setting. As Gwen tried to help Peter relax, she could see that he was really struggling with his lifestyle.

"Don't look so tense Pete." She said as she put her arm around him. "Look the reason why I wanted you now is because I knew you were feeling like this so I've decided to help you."

"Help me?" Peter replied as he stopped in his tracks. "What are you going to do, rip my muscles out?"

"Don't be so morbid." Gwen chucked as she kissed Peter softly on the cheek. "I love you as I always have done since high school so I'm going to help you whether you like it or not."

"Alright." Peter smirked as he took Gwen's hand and escorted her down the road. "Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" Gwen asked clueless.

"I'm worried about Harry." Peter explained. "Someone tried to blow up Norman Osborn last night. It was a car bomb. The poor man must be a nervous wreck right now."

"If I know Norman Osborn, he'll be fine." Gwen assured him. "But if you want to see Harry then let's go and see him."

"Ok." Peter agreed as he pulled out his cell phone and dialled Harry's number. "Hey Harry..It's Peter. Hey man we've heard what happened and….yes we, Gwen's home… yeah that's right. listen if you want to talk about it then why don't you meet us at the coffee bean in an hour…yes….it's up to you…..cool see you then….alright then…..bye."

With that, they headed to Gwen's apartment where they had a few minutes to themselves. If Peter was ever going to feel better, it was being supportive towards his best friend.

"Better now?" Gwen asked him.

"Much better." Peter smiled.

Meanwhile at Oscorp, Norman Osborn had locked himself in his office and wished not to be disturbed unless otherwise. He was only expecting one person. A former business associate and close friend who offered to help him out regarding the car bomb incident the night before. As he stood there, gazing out of the window, his secretary buzzed through.

"Mister Larson is here to see you, Mister Osborn."

"Send him in." Norman replied as he sat down behind his desk and poured himself a drink.

Just then, a smart younger gentleman entered the room wearing a fine grey plaid suit and designer glasses. As he took a seat, Norman started the conversation.

"So Mister Larson, what did you find from the wreckage?"

"You won't believe it, Norman." Larson replied. "It was a K-2 plastic explosive. Only one organisation makes them. Fisk Enterprises."

"But Fisk Enterprises went bankrupt months ago." Norman replied as he didn't buy the explanation. "Somebody else is behind all this. You know what, Mister Larson, there's something here that doesn't meet the eye."