Author's Note: Wow, I've gotten so many followers and favorites in such a short amount of time. Thank you all, it means so much to me. And the reviews mean just as much as well. So, in this chapter, I introduced the first of my many villains that I thought of myself. They're not A listers, for they wont come in for a little while longer. Think of these guys as a C or B villain. Anyway, some more background about me. I've been into super heroes all my life, especially those like Spider-Man who have a life outside of the mask. Peter Parker has always been an influence to because of how human he actually is. He has relationship troubles, family troubles, school troubles, and then there's the Spidey aspect of it where he has to choose between his loved ones and the people he vowed to protect. He is my all time favorite superhero.
Again, thank you all for reading. Please leave a review on any tips, tricks, advise, things you would like to see, or even just to say "Hello!" or even better... "Excelsior!". Without anymore delay, let's see what our favorite web slinging, wall crawling hero has gotten himself into this time!
Chapter Three: Brothers in Arms
::Rykers Island::
Rykers Island was an island secluded from the rest of New York City that harbored the most dangerous people that society has ever known. Not only were they dangerous, but most of them also we past the brink of insanity. This was a maximum security jail, no way in and sure as hell no way out without the proper paperwork and escorts. The officers at Rykers took their job seriously, and the inmates… well… the inmates were something special.
"Ah, I'm glad to see t-t-t-that you're all here. Alice. Ariel. Cinderella. Snow. My, you've all grown so… s-s-s-s-so much." Echoed the voice in cell 259-P. There was little light in the room due to the fact that whenever the lights were on, he started screaming, demanding for the watchers to shut them off. If not, he proceeded to bash his head in on the walls. Luckily, the warden made sure to move him to the padded cells.
"Y-y-y-y-y-you're not drinking your t-t-t-tea Alice. What's wrong? It's your favorite tea, my special tea, my special tea…" He whispered. The guards watched from the small, windowed holes where the door was. Sitting in the center was the inmate, his arms crossed tightly in the straitjacket. Around him was nothing but darkness and padding. No people to talk to, yet he still spoke every day and every night, to the girls he thought were around him.
"Ah of course. You've not eaten your bread and butter. But you must eat your bread and butter. Bread and butter s-s-s-s-settles the stomach, makes the TEA go down smoother. Aliiiiiiiiiice… finish your bread and… b-b-b-butter, please." He whispered. Then he started to giggle lightly to himself. That giggle turned into a maniacal laugh.
"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA, OH SNOW YOU DO SO CHEER ME UP! AAAAHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA, DO TELL IT AGAIN!"
The guards looked in again, not sure what to think of the inmate. But it was time for dinner to be served so they had to go through the complicated process of getting him to step back all the way to the far wall and facing the other way. Once they did that, they would have to quickly open the tiny flap that allowed just enough space for the tray of food to get through and then he could eat in peace… with his friends that he thought were inside with him. But today was different. Something was off with his behavior when the guards asked him to back off.
"For the last time I WILL NOT BACK AWAY! YOU ARE INTERUPTING M-M-M-M-MY TEA PARTY! GUARDS! REMOVE THESE GUARDS FROM MY DOOR!"
"If you don't back against the wall, you know what I'll have to do!" the guard shouted. The inmate stood up, growling as if he were an animal, but standing in front of his imaginary friends as if he were a father figure.
"You will not hurt my girls, you will not harm my g-g-g-g-g-girls! I WILL NOT LET YOU HARM MY BABIES!" he shouted. He twisted and turned in his straitjacket and at the point the guard had enough.
"Screw that, I'm whooping his ass! Open the cell!" he said to the guard beside him.
"You know that's against protocol. What if you got hurt, what if he gets hurt, or worse, escapes?"
"Then you'll be here to kick him right back in! Open the cell!" he shouted. The guard sighed and brought the key into the lock. The cell door opened with a loud beep and the ticked off guard walked in, removing his gloves.
"Oh, I've wanted to do this for a long… what the?" The inmate was nowhere to be seen. The guard looked left and right but didn't see him. His mistake was not looking in the corner behind him. An instant later, he was met by razor sharp teeth to his hand, ripping the flesh off. Before he could react, the inmate jumped and kicked him in the chest.
"GAH! ARNOLD! CLOSE THE DOOR, NOW!" the guard shouted, but it was too late. The inmate had already dashed out of the cell and killed the other guard with nothing but his legs and teeth. He then slammed the cell door shut, locking in the guard that attacked him.
"Tee hee hee, come, come. T-t-t-time to find your uncle, tee hee."
The senior class of Midtown High was having an assembly today. It was the usual type of gathering where the teachers and administrators got all the graduating seniors together, told then the amount of hours and credits they needed as well as talk about plans for college. Peter was all set of course, so he just sat back and relaxed. Gwen was equally, if not more, prepared as Pete, and she earned herself a breather to. She leaned her head on Peter's shoulder as the teachers talked.
"Hey baby, how's the shoulder?" Gwen asked. Peter moved his left shoulder, still feeling a good deal of pain. Gwen giggled.
"They amazing Spider-Man out of a job because of a little boo boo." She teased. Peter smiled and shoved her playfully, but put his arm back around her immediately.
"Can you keep it down? I don't need Flash following me like the little fan boy he is." Peter said, looking over to Flash Thomson who was wearing a Spider-Man shirt. Gwen laughed and then took out her phone. After searching through the news, she came across a headline.
"Brother in arms escape from Rykers Island." She read. This definitely caught Peter's attention. Anyone who was in Rykers Island's jail was bad news. Anyone who could escape from there, they were worse news.
"What?"
"Yeah. It says that after a brutal attack on the guards, the prisoner known as Nathanial Cross had escaped with his brother, Daniel Cross. Six guards were found dead, another five were severely injured. Pete, these guys seem dangerous." Gwen said nervously. Peter already knew why she was saying it.
"Gwen… I'll be fine."
"Peter, these guys escaped from a maximum security prison. I don't want you to get hurt. First it's a sprain, next your whole arm might be torn off."
"I know what I'm doing Gwen. I've can handle it-"
"Yeah, like you handled Connors? He damn near broke your shoulder Peter." Gwen said, moving off of Peter's shoulder and giving him the serious look. Peter sighed and held her hands.
"I promise that I'll be careful. I can't just let these guys run around New York. Look, I won't go searching for them, but if I hear anything about them… I've got to try." Peter said. Gwen sighed and then walked off.
Look. I understand where she's coming from, but this is my job. My duty. I can't help it if I get a few bumps and scratches. Peter thought to himself. He sighed and leaned back in his seat. After school, he didn't hear from Gwen at all, so he decided just to suit up and automatically go on patrol.
Yeah, I know I told her that I wouldn't go searching, but what else am I supposed to do? I can't just sit around and WAIT for someone to get hurt. That's not what I do. That's not what Spider-Man does. Peter thought to himself as he placed his school clothes into his bag. He climbed to the top of his school and opened up the side vent where he webbed up the top and stuck his bag for safe keeping. Then he swung off to the big city, looking for any sign of trouble.
Manhattan was a big place, filled with towers and traffic. Peter had lived in New York all his life, and knew it like the back of his hand, which was a good thing. If Spider-Man had to carry around a map and GPS every time he went swinging around the city, it would make for a pretty lame hero. Spidey laughed at the thought as he landed on the side of a building. He took out his phone and checked for any called. None.
"Ugh, looks like she's more mad than I thought. She usually starts texting me immediately after school." He said. He sighed and put his phone back in the makeshift pocket side of his tights. He looked up and saw the huge amounts of advertisement for the various companies that made New York their homes. Oscorp, Stark Enterprises, Coke. And then there was the Daily Bugle. And what do you know, he had arrived just in time to see good old J.J. rant about how he, the friendly neighborhood wall crawler, was a menace.
~~Spider-Man. Friend… or foe? WHY, OF COARSE HE'S A FOE! This 'Spider-Man' is a menace to this great city. Unlike REAL heroes like Iron Man or the great Fantastic Four, the abominable Spider-Man causes more destruction than good! Take a look at this footage from yesterday captured by none other than our reporter Eddie Brock~~
The footage showed Spidey's fight with The Scorpion when he had attacked Oscorp. Of course, the reporter only caught the part where Spider-Man kicked the Scorpion out of one of the highest floors of the Oscorp building, and then repeatedly beating on him as they fell. Then finally got a close up of how he shrouded Scorpion on webbing simply left him hanging in the middle of two buildings. Glass and small bits of debris were all over the floor, and the people below were scared for their lives.
"Oh come on. That's a bit unfair don't you think?" Spidey asked. He looked around and saw that no one was there with him towering over the city and felt very… very stupid.
"Oh…"
~~ We can clearly see that the Oscorp building has sustained heavy damages because of Spider-Man! Why couldn't he have taken this guy down without all of the unnecessary destruction? ~~
"I would hardly call broken glass destruction!" Spidey shouted, throwing his hand out to the screen in disbelief.
~~ Now id the time to act, people of New York. The Bugle is looking for people who can bring in photos of this menace in the act! We need to prove to the police and other heroes that Spider-Man is not a hero, but is a masked vigilante who is taking advantage of this city! I mean just imagine how our workers in the cleaning department feel about having to clean his disgusting swinging excretions from the sides of our buildings! ~~
"Hello! Problem already solved with my degenerating web fluid! Get your facts straight Jamison! Fine, you want pictures of Spidey in the act, you'll get them!" Spider-Man shouted, hopping off the building and making a quick trip back to his bag. He pulled out his HD camera that Uncle Ben got him for Christmas last year and strapped it around his shoulder like a messenger bag.
"Time for this city to see just how friendly neighborhood Spidey really is." He said, swinging off to fight some crime and look good doing it.
Nathaniel and his brute of a brother Daniel popped their heads out of the alleyway they were hiding out in. Nathaniel was still in his straitjacket, but he had gotten his brother to break the belts to let his arms free. They hung low as if they were broken or weak, and the nails on his fingertips were anything but well groomed. In fact, they looked a lot more like deteriorating claws. You could see some of Nathaniel's brown hair coming out of the wrap bandage that was around his entire head. You could also see parts of his cheeks, one of his bloodshot eyes, and his razor sharp teeth and oddly long tongue. He looked like an insane and dangerous man trying to copy a snake.
The brother, Daniel, was a whole nother story. He was almost as tall as the Hulk himself, and had the muscles of a body builder. His hair was long and brown and he only had one bandage wrap around his forehead. It was clear that there was some sort of mental disability that kept him from really talking or thinking for himself. The only thing that was clear was that he loved his brother, and would do anything to help him and protect him.
In his large hands was a giant makeshift mallet. Some would even call it a sort of war hammer. It was almost as big as him, yet he carried it as if it were as light as a feather. That was his weapon of choice, and he treated it as if it were a pet. He slid his hand across the long hilt, smiling and giggling to himself while Nathaniel watched the people walked right by the alleyway.
"S-s-s-so many… Daniel there are SO MANY! AAAHAHAHAAA… tee hee…" Nathaniel said. Suddenly… he caught a glimpse of a beautiful blonde haired girl walking with books in her hands. She was on the phone and seemed to be upset.
"I know Peter… It's just that you know I've always been worried about you. And now with my dad gone… and you still out there fighting people… I don't know…" It was Gwen Stacy. But in Nathaniel's eyes she was nothing more than…
"ALICE! Look Daniel, it's ALICE! She's r-r-returned to me! At last! At last!" Nathaniel shouted. He dashed out and grabbed Gwen from behind, making sure that both his arms were around her face. She screamed, but no one saw him drag her in the alley in the second that it took. Gwen fell unconscious after a while of struggling, and Daniel threw her on his back.
"Gwen! GWEN!" Spider-Man shouted. There was no answer. He zipped off of the wall and went towards the route that she usually took to get home. Once he got there, he looked around drastically, looking for any sign that something happened to her. He went down to street level where a woman was standing near an alleyway, peeking inside.
"What happened? Did you see what happened here?" Spider-Man asked. The woman nodded her head and held out Gwen's blue call phone. Peter's heart skipped a beat… and the same feeling of anger and regret that he felt when Uncle Ben died manifested itself inside. He grabbed the phone and looked down the alleyway.
"I only caught a glimpse of it, the streets weren't so crowded today. But I did see a man grab that young lady and pull her into the alleyway. I already called the police, but I'm glad you're here too, Spider-Man. Please, find her!" the woman said. Spidey nodded and then sprinted down the alleyway. It was longer than he expected, but he found a chained gate leading to a basement type area.
"Gwen…" he whispered. He kicked the gate off smashed through the door leading to the basement. It was a dark place, the only light being from the small cracks in the wall and a few candles. It smelled like… tea and blood. Spidey could hear the sounds of glasses and muffled talking in the far back.
"Gwen. Gwen where are you?" Spider-Man whispered. He jumped to the ceiling and wall crawled the rest of the way towards the noise. He reached a door with light behind it, and the talking was clearer now.
"Oh ho ho ho ho, oh Snow you are a doll. But please d-d-d-don't be rude to your sister Cinderella. She is much too sensitive for that. Daniel, come here please. Daniel?" Spider-Man's senses started tingling, and before he could even clarify that they were, a door was kicked onto him and he went flying towards the opposite wall. Standing there was the brute of a man, Daniel.
"Jeez… you sure know how to make a guy feel welcome." Spider-Man said, jumping up. Nathaniel appeared beside his brother and he didn't like that there was an uninvited guest.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my house, this is not your house, get out of my house, get out of here now. Get out, Get out, GET OUT NOW! HAMMER! KILL HIM DANIEL, K-K-K-K-KILL HIM!" Nathaniel shouted. Daniel ran forward with his large hammer in hand and swung it at Spidey, who expertly dodged it and kicked him back.
"Talk about of mice and men. My guess is that you're Lenny?" Spidey joked. Before the brute could attack, Spidey shot a web into his face and then one right below his feet. When he stagger forward, he fell hard to the ground. His skinny, quicker brother appeared beside Spider-Man now… and demonic scowl on his face.
"Y-y-y-you will not take Alice from me. She is mine! MINE! ALL MINE!" Nathaniel shouted. He swung at Spidey, but he jumped up and kicked Nathaniel in the face. It didn't seem to affect him though, and he came attacking with a barrage of super-fast swipes.
"You. Will. Not. Take. My. BABIES!" his nails were like claws and he got a few good scratches on Spider-Man. Then he got a real good one when Spidey backed into the now standing and very angry 'mouse'. He raised him hammer and smashed it into the ground. Luckily, Spidey dashed to the side and wall ran to the ceiling and jumped behind him.
"Hold on, Gwen!" he shouted. He spun a thick web on the back of the brute's head, then pulled him hard to the ground. Before Nathaniel could react, he was met with a web ball to the face that knocked him back.
"You're down for the count, big man." Spidey said as he flipped into the air, shot two webs to fling himself hard to Daniel's face, and then launched a harder kick to it. He was out cold now, but Nathaniel was still attacking even though he couldn't see. Spidey moved from one side of the room to the other, forcing the swift Nathaniel to hit the walls around him before laying down the final punch that forced him to the ground.
"Gwen! I'm here!" Spidey shouted as he ran into the room she was kept in. She was tied to a chair at a dining room table. On the table was bread with butter as well as small cups of tea. Peter could already smell the chemicals inside of it. He hoped to god that Gwen hadn't taken any of it. When he looked at her, he saw that her mouth and eyes were covered, but he could tell she was crying. He took them off of her, and the look of relief on her face was unlike any other.
"Oh thank god…" he whispered. He cradled her head on his arms.
"Oh, Peter… I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry." She said, crying in his arms.
"Sh, sh, sh, it's okay. There's nothing to be sory about. I'm here now. I'm here…"
The cops had taken both Nathaniel and Daniel back to Rykers Island. Gwen was still very shaken up; she had never really been in a situation like that before. But she was glad that Spider-Man was there to save her. That Peter… was there to save her.
"Peter…" Gwen said. She looked up at him. He still had on his Spidey suit and was looking out at the city below them. New York sure was a sight to see from the top of the skyscrapers. Gwen wrapped her arms around Peter's neck and lifted the mask just enough so that his lips were set free, and then she kissed them.
"I'm sorry Gwen. I should have been there for you…" Peter said. He shook her head and then let it rest on his chest.
"You were there for me Pete, and you still are. You're my hero… and I owe you my life."
"This is exactly why I promised your father that I would stop seeing you. I just… I don't know if…"
"Peter, this didn't happen because you're Spider-Man. This happened because those crazy guys escaped from Rykers and started looking for a girl like me to try and kill or… whatever they wanted. The reason I'm alive… well… that's all thanks to you." She said. Peter smiled and then kissed her again.
The next day, the details on Nathaniel and Daniel were out on the news and on every newspaper. Nathaniel was a paranoid schizophrenic who once had spent his time imagining daughters based on princesses in story books. Eventually, he had enough of dreaming and decided he wanted daughters of his own. He and his brother kidnapped four girls. Two were blonde, the one had red hair, and another had short brown hair. He called them Cinderella, Alice, Ariel, and Snow White.
Peter winced as he heard of how he drugged them with drinks and food, raped them, and then killed them brutally. He looked down at Gwen and sighed.
That could have been you. I could have lost you yesterday. Uncle Ben, you were right. With great power, comes great responsibility. I will be a better hero. I will be a better man. Peter thought to himself. He wrapped him arms around Gwen and embraced her, cherishing her more than ever now.