A/N: Hey everyone that alerted this story when it was originally posted. I know, it's been four years, but I won't bore you with the details about where I've been. Hope you enjoy this chapter. :) Assuming you decided to read it that is. Lol.
"Thankfully, Spider-Man thwarted the robbery."
"Spider-Man saved them from the fire."
"If Spider-Man hadn't been there-"
"Spider-Man."
"Spider-Man."
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does anyone have anything else to talk about besides him?" Felicia's friend, Deborah Whitman, asked as she flipped to another channel that was also covering Spider-Man's latest act of heroics.
"Does that answer your question?" Felicia mildly laughs as she takes a seat beside Deborah on the couch.
"Ha. Ha. I get that he's a hero and all that jazz. I just don't need to be reminded of it every second of every day. It's not like me or anyone in the city is going to forget that."
"You never know with The Daily Bugle's constant smear campaign against the Wall Crawler. I don't understand what their problem with him is. The man has practically dedicated his life to bringing hope to those that don't have any. After everything that's happened over these past several months, The Lizard, Electro, Harry, the city needs all the hope it can get." Deborah notices how intensely Felicia is watching the news footage of Spider-Man as she says this and smirks.
"I think someone has a crush," she sings.
"He's the Amazing Spider-Man, Deborah. Who wouldn't have a crush on or admire him?"
"The people working at The Daily Bugle for starters," she reminds her.
"Who cares what that yellow journalism tabloid thinks," Felicia criticizes. "The day I announced my takeover of Oscorp, there was this one photographer from the Bugle that kept laughing during almost the entire press conference as if the idea of Oscorp going legit is a foreign concept."
"Wow, what a jerk."
"Mhm."
"Speaking of Oscorp, if you don't mind me asking, what do you plan to do with all the weapons you have locked up?" Deborah asks.
"Sorry, but that's classified information for now," Felicia replies.
"Come on, don't you trust me?"
Sort of, Felicia thinks.
"Of course I do," she lies instead. "But you never can be too careful when you're running a major corporation."
"I suppose you're right. You know, there's a lot of things I envy about you, but running Oscorp at your age definitely isn't one of them. I'm still surprised you managed to pull that off without the other Board Members objecting."
"Oh, I have my ways," Felicia chuckles while Deborah checks the time on her cell phone.
"Oh crap. Is it that time already? Sorry, I gotta run and get ready for my first class tomorrow."
"No problem. I gotta get ready for tomorrow myself. Can I walk you to your car?"
"Sure."
The two ladies get up, leave Felicia's apartment, and head for where Deborah parked her car. Partially because Felicia wanted to be polite, but also because she wanted to make sure Deborah got in her car and left. She felt ashamed thinking that one of her few close friends might be spying on her, but she had to be smart about this.
"It was fun hanging out with you tonight. Let's do it again soon," Deborah says when they reach her car.
"You can count on it. Wouldn't want my whole life to be dedicated to Oscorp," Felicia laughs. She gives Deborah a hug before watching her drive off then heads back to her apartment. As she walks, a thought starts to cross her mind about her paranoia. She enters her room and immediately walks towards the couch where she left her cell phone.
I guess this is one way to determine if Fiers bugged my place, she thinks and begins to dial her own number. She pretends to wait for someone on the other end to pick up and then begins to speak.
"Deborah, it's Felica," she says hoping she doesn't sound fake with this pretend call. "Regarding your question about what I plan to do with the weapons locked up in Oscorp…I know I said it's classified, but I can't let my paranoia eat me alive like this. So just between us, I'm planning on having them destroyed at some point. I haven't decided when. A clean slate like this should definitely improve Oscorp's image with the public. Again, this is just between us, so no leaking this story to the Bugle especially since you know how I feel about them. Alright, thanks Deborah. Love you too. Bye." Felicia hangs up on the fake call and slumps down into her couch.
Well, if nothing happens, then Fiers didn't bug my place. Or maybe he did and he won't do anything. Time will tell, I suppose.
The next two days proceeded like any other. All Felicia experienced were the typical disapproving looks and sneers from the Board Members regarding some of the various charity work Felicia scheduled for the company. Admittedly Oscorp itself would need charity soon, but if the latest project Felicia put Smythe on works out, Oscorp wouldn't have anything to worry about for a good long while.
The third day also began like normal. Felicia woke up, went about her morning routine, got in her car, and then headed off to work. While waiting at a red light she notices a few people cheering outside and pointing up. A few seconds later, she spots Spider-Man swinging overhead towards a nearby building as a few onlookers shout out 'YEAH SPIDER-MAN'.
It made her smile that so many people admired Spider-Man; maybe even love him. It makes her wonder. People love Spider-Man, but is there someone in the city that loves him and that he loves back? Someone who's waiting for him to come back everyday. Someone that makes his duty protecting the city worth it.
A car horn behind her snaps her out of her train of thought and she realizes the light has turned green. Felicia resumes her drive and looks back up at the building Spider-Man swung to. He's still up there and for a moment, Felicia almost thinks he's watching her car.
In your dreams, Ms. Hardy, she laughs in her head and continues her drive along the same route she always took to work.
As Felicia drives through an intersection less than a block away from Oscorp, she suddenly hears the sound of screeching tires. Her head darts to the right and she barely has time to gasp as a small van smashes into the side of her car.
Shards of glass fly across the car and cut Felicia's face as her vehicle spins uncontrollably and smashes into another car that was starting to make a turn. Her face crashes against her airbags, which knocks her head back into the headrest of her seat before her car finally comes to a merciful stop. Everything is spinning for Felicia and she can barely register the chaos ensuing outside.
Focus Felicia. Check for any surface level damage, she thinks and runs her hand across her forehead.
She brings her hand back down and sees her fingers covered with blood, but her gaze tears away from the blood to focus on the scene just outside her car. A group of armed men are exiting the van that hit her. The man leading the armed assailants looks so ridiculous however, that Felicia thinks the wreck is making her delirious. But as things quickly start coming back into focus, she realizes that silly or not, that man is very much real and is heading her way. Felicia scrambles to unbuckle her seat belt, but the crash jammed it.
"Damn it!" She curses just as the driver side door gets violently ripped off and tossed aside.
"I believe this is your stop, Ms. Hardy," the lead assailant says. Felicia's eyes widen at the man. He's dressed in a red and yellow costume with two strange gauntlets on his arm.
"Who-who are you?" Felicia asks. She wonders if he was sent by Fiers, but the man's gauntlets don't look like any Oscorp design she's ever seen.
"You can call me, The Shocker," he replies and tears away Felicia's seat belt and drags her out of the car. Felicia can feel her arm vibrating almost down to the bone from whatever energy is surging through Shocker's gauntlets. "Let's go, boys!" He calls out to his men and starts half dragging Felicia towards the Oscorp building.
"W-what do you want from me?" Felicia asks trying to break free, but still feels too dizzy to put up much of a fight.
"You really have to ask?" The Shocker says back.
"INCOMING!" Someone shouts.
"What the?" Shocker turns around just in time to see Spider-Man swinging straight at him.
Oh, you are so screwed! Felicia exclaims in her mind, except Shocker raises up his right arm and something fires out of one of his gauntlets.
The blast connects with Spider-Man less than a couple of feet from Shocker and blasts him backwards onto the roof of someone's car.
"Oh shit," Felicia curses.
"Shut up and come on!" Shocker orders her. Felicia has no choice and moves with him as he fires another blast at the main doors of the Oscorp building sending glass and debris flying everywhere. "Everybody down!" Shocker orders the panicked and fleeing staff. Some of the security team rushes at him, but Shocker fires a blast at the ceiling bringing debris down on some of the guards, wounding some and killing others, while his men open fire taking down a few more of the guards.
"I think we're all clear boss," one of them says to Shocker.
"Good. Alright, Ms. Hardy. You're gonna take my boys and I down to your weapons vault. Any surprises and I level this place," he threatens, but instead of appearing scared, a grin breaks out across Felicia's face. "What are you smiling about?"
"Hey Quilt-Man!" Spider-Man shouts swinging into the building and lands on a wall a good distance away from Shocker. "Didn't your mom ever tell you it's impolite to just leave a superhero fight once it starts? You didn't even acknowledge me as you left. I gotta say, that really hurts though not quite as much as what you hit me with."
"I'm The Shocker and my apologies Web-Head. You want a super fight?" Shocker shoves Felicia into the arms of one of his men. "Then let's go!" Shocker turns and fires a blast at another wall sending debris falling towards innocent civilians.
Spidey quickly fires several web lines at the civilians and pulls them out of harms way as Shocker aims another blast at one of the injured security guards. Spider-Man jumps off the wall and swings towards the man, grabbing and pulling him out of the way right as Shocker fires missing them by inches.
"Waste him!" Shocker commands his goons.
They open fire, but Spider-Man dodges the bullets with swift gracefulness and rushes up a wall while firing a web line that splits up and snares and pulls away two of the armed men's guns.
The man holding Felicia lets go of her and aims his machine gun, but Felicia grabs it and hits him in the face with it and, with him caught off guard, she takes hold of the gun again and swings it against his face a second time making him fall down. Felicia turns and makes a run for it, but Shocker sees her and fires a shock blast in her direction. Spidey, however, swings at and catches her just in time.
"Don't worry, I've got you," he assures Felicia, who's too in shock to do anything, but hold on as Spider-Man let's go of the web he's swinging from to dodge another blast from Shocker and shoots another one to allow them both to swing back behind the front desk. "Stay here," he says and leaps back into action.
He runs across a wall and launches himself at one of the armed men. He unloads every bullet from his gun, but Spider-Man spins and dodges the attack with an inhuman precision before slugging the guy launching him into one of his cohorts. He webs them to the floor, but feels his spider sense tingle, turns to his left, and fires a web into the eyes of another of Shocker's men blinding him. He swears and drops his gun trying to pull the stuff out of his eyes. Spider-Man just casually walks up to him and pushes him down before webbing him to the floor.
He then casually throws a punch behind him without looking knocking out one of the men approaching him a knife and snares the last guy trying to make a run for it by his arms with his webs, pulls him to the floor, and webs him down too.
"And that just leaves," Spidey starts and turns to see Shocker rushing right at him with his fist pulled back for a punch. Spidey throws a punch just as Shocker does and their fists connect. "AHHH!" Spidey cries out from the impact of Shocker's punch and stumbles back holding his hand. It's almost gone completely numb from the blow.
"Aw, is the big shot hero hurt?" Shocker mocks and throws out another punch sending the hero flying again and crashing into the front desk.
"Oh…man," Spider-Man groans pulling himself up. "I gotta say, you pack quite a punch, Padded Pete."
"IT'S SHOCKER!" Shocker yells and readies for another blast when Spidey fires two webs at both of his gauntlets and in one motion, Spider-Man swings Shocker straight at the elevator doors. Shocker crashes through them and makes a hard impact against the elevator wall.
Spider-Man slightly stumbles towards the elevator, webs up Shocker by his legs and pulls him over to his position. He turns Shocker onto his back and webs him down to the floor before pulling off both of his gauntlets.
"Wow, I can't believe you're still conscious," Spider-Man observes as Shocker tries in vain to free himself from the webs. "I mean, I put way more effort into that swing than I intended, so I'm glad you aren't seriously injured, though are injured enough that this fight still isn't in progress."
"Do you ever shut up?" Shocker sighs.
"Sorry, my adoring public loves the quips, so I'm obliged to keep them coming. Speaking of which, is everyone alright?" He asks observing the wreckage from the fight. A few members of the Oscorp Staff still in the lobby poke their heads out from where they were hiding and uneasily nod while some check on the injured security guards. When Spidey notices that some of the guards are dead his demeanor and body language changes and he bends down to Shocker's level.
"Why did you do this?" He questions Shocker.
"This is Oscorp Web-Head. They've got hundreds of enemies just waiting to get their hands on the previous loot they've got stashed here. They needed someone to break in, so they hired me."
"Well, I hope went bankrupt paying you, so I don't have to deal with anymore of you jerks attacking this place again."
"Trust me when I say that no one would care if something bad happened to this shit hole of a corporation," Shocker says. Spidey replies by lifting up part of Shocker's mask and webs his mouth shut.
"Spider-Man." Spider-Man looks up and sees Felicia supporting herself against the wrecked front desk. "Are…are you alright?" She asks as Spider-Man shakes the hand that Shocker punched.
"Yeah…getting there anyway," he asks taking in the damage done to the lobby once more. "Are you ok?"
"Getting there," she says back with a mild laugh.
"Sorry about the mess. You know, sometimes I wonder if I wasn't around, then neither would these other destructive super dudes."
"No, don't you put this on yourself. It's all on this company."
"It sure has a knack for attracting trouble."
"Why do you think I'm trying to legitimize it? By the way, how did you know to show up at just the right moment anyway?" Felicia asks thinking back to when she thought she saw Spider-Man watching her.
"I-uh, I happened to be in the neighborhood," he stammers and Felicia just laughs.
"Fine, don't tell me. I'm still grateful though."
"Hey, I'm just doing what anyone with Spider powers would," he replies, but Felicia shakes her head.
"I wish I shared your optimism, but I doubt that." As Felicia says this, she hears sirens off in the distance. "Guess that's your cue to leave and be a hero for someone else. Don't worry, I'll make sure that anyone from The Daily Bugle who shows up knows what you did for us."
Spider-Man's posture perks up when she says this. "You can't tell, but I'm smiling under this mask. Take care, Ms. Hardy." And with a friendly wave, he stumbles towards the wrecked front entrance, then takes a running start and swings out of the building and up above the citizens of New York. A smile tugs at and then forms on Felicia's lips as she watches him disappear into the skyline.