All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.
Note: this story is continued from the end of "The Laws of Terror and Joy" and will run parallel to my Avengers story, "Initiative". If you wish to know the exact plot of that story, you will need to read my story in the Avengers section titled, "Initiative", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.
Also Note: This is not OMD. It may be how OMD should have gone, but it isn't OMD.
Consequences
By TVfan
Chapter 6: Cheaters Never Prosper
Avengers Tower
The revelation that the charges that the police had accused him of were made up was no surprise. As the meeting broke up, Peter wanted very much to grumble at the fact that people would take their hatred of him so far. It distracted the police from the work they were supposed to do and would only serve to make his own job harder. However, he knew things had changed. The whole crisis over the registration act had removed the one thing that had enabled him to avoid this sort of thing in the past, his secret identity. The act may be gone, but the world knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man and that Mary Jane Watson was Arachne. He and his wife had a lot to work through, regardless the false charges being brought against him. People to apologize to and make explanations to others.
"Do all female heroes expose themselves that much?" came the slightly irritated voice of the only adult walking with him besides Mary Jane.
Peter blinked and turned to see Gayle Watson, Mary Jane's older sister walking on the other side of his wife with her sons being ushered along in front of her.
"Uh… not all, no," Peter said slowly, somewhat at a loss for words as he had never really stopped to analyze the costumes of the various superheroines in New York, "and even if they did… MJ has always been in their league with regard to beauty… or is that they were in her league?"
"They're not even close to my league," Mary Jane gave a chuckle, "though most heroines wear either a costume that covers everything… like mine does… or they wear something that is a variant of a one piece swimsuit, like Ms. Marvel's. Black Cat… well… she's…"
"She's a bit more provocative than most," Peter said weakly, "and there are some heroines that are that way. Wolverine has said that Emma Frost has at times fought crime in lingerie."
"I'd like to see that…" Kevin gave a smirk.
"No you don't," Gayle said firmly before Tommy could say anything, and then turned to Peter and MJ, "I can get the things that Mr. Fantastic has put up in articles on wind resistance and adapting to the powers super heroes have… but you don't need to be getting people aroused in the process."
"I try not to," Peter answered, "though as far as I know… I've had the opposite reaction for the most part. MJ's the only one who actually came to have an interest in me because I was Spider-Man."
"Really?" Tommy asked up, looking between his aunt and uncle.
"What about that Black Cat woman?" Gayle asked.
"She was attracted to Spider-Man but not Peter Parker," Peter answered, "she liked part of my life but felt the rest of it was too boring… and Gwen… Gwen never knew about Spider-Man. I'd never gotten about to telling her…"
Gayle paused for a moment. She remembered a letter or two from Mary Jane on what had happened when Gwen Stacy was killed, and knew that was a rough topic. The two of them may have loved Peter, but she got the real sense that Mary Jane was also very much Gwen's friend and would have stepped aside had Gwen not been killed.
"Well… then I'd think you both had some good fortune in the end," Gayle commented, "You truly found each other and can share everything…"
As they walked back into the apartment area of Avengers Tower a cry came echoing out of Peter and Mary Jane's room.
"And we have beautiful twin children," Mary Jane gave a smile and moved to answer the cries of Ben and little May.
Luigi's Garage
"And this is your witness?" Detective Lamont said to the other NYPD detective assigned to the 'Spider-Tracer Killer' case.
"This is one of the chief associates of Hi-Vick," Detective Ferris answered, "If we're going to go by the book and figure out why he was in that alley when Spider-Man killed him… we'd need to talk with him."
Lamont gave a heavy sigh. Thanks to Officer Cooper's tip to him earlier in the day he had some reason to believe that Spider-Man wasn't involved and that a New York Police Department Officer was, but for the moment he had no proof other than the fact that the spider-tracer was likely one from the NYPD's evidence lockers and that the ones in his precinct were missing. Talking with this Luigi would have the potential of solving the murder, but given that Detective Ferris had gone so hard to make Spider-Man the chief suspect in the case, solving the murder was likely out.
The garage looked like just about any garage in New York where one could get their car fixed, especially if one didn't want to draw too much attention, but Detective Lamont knew the place just as well as Detective Ferris did, and thus had some idea on what other businesses ran in and out of the building. The two entered the office to the garage to find Luigi casually seated at the counter desk drinking from a mug.
"Afternoon, officers," Luigi spoke, "what can I do you for? A tune up?"
"No," Detective Lamont said slowly, "we have a few questions concerning the death of Victor Hile, alias Hi-Vick."
"He's dead?" Luigi asked.
"Yes," Detective Lamont answered while Detective Ferris stood by, "he was found dead with a spider-tracer in his mouth…"
"Sounds like the wall crawler's finally showed his true colors if you ask me," Luigi answered, "though that isn't surprising to me."
"That isn't the question," Detective Lamont scowled, "what we want to know is why he was in the alley he was found in. Some witnesses give the indication that he had been involved in some sort of drug deal before he was murdered."
"Can't say for sure what he was doing," Luigi shrugged.
"Were you in the area? Or had you SENT him there?" Detective Lamont asked.
"No, I didn't send him," Luigi gave a fake and almost forced smile, "I was only in the area briefly… walking home. I think I saw Spider-Man come out of the alley as I walked by… I didn't get involved… 'cause… well, what am I going to do against someone with superpowers."
"So you saw Spider-Man kill him?" Detective Ferris asked.
"I saw him come out of the alley," Luigi answered, "I can't say for certain as to whether or not he killed Hi-Vick, but I'd bet my garage that he did."
"I see," Detective Lamont said slowly, "and would there be any other person who MIGHT be there? For any reason at all?"
"If there was, I'm sure he was probably too small to have been a threat to Hi-Vick in anyway," Luigi answered, "Spider-Man is your guy…"
Detective Lamont only scowled and then turned. He'd gotten all that would be needed, and with a lack of major evidence, he couldn't really do anything more with Luigi. For the moment, he'd just have to let it go and then see what Officer Cooper found out back at the station. His unease was only made worse by Detective Ferris as they walked back to the car.
"Okay, next stop, Avengers Tower and we finally put that wall crawling menace behind bars forever," Ferris said confidently.
"In what way?" Lamont answered, "He didn't see Spider-Man do it, and the battle between the Avengers and Dormammu would still mean that Spider-Man could not have been there to commit the murder."
"That's just an illusion," Ferris argued, losing some confidence, "probably cast by Doctor Strange. It's surely within his power…"
Lamont only sighed and hoped that Officer Cooper was making real progress.
"Then we'll check with Doctor Strange," Lamont sighed, "see if he cast the spell or if someone could have…"
Ferris only sighed as Lamont climbed into the car. He hated Spider-Man and would do everything possible to give Vin Gonzalez's little scheme as much help that it could get in order to succeed, but there were some things that gave him reason to be uneasy. In past when the NYPD had launched their manhunts on Spider-Man, they'd thankfully gotten support from all of the major leading officers. Detectives and officers that supported him were largely forced to follow the orders to try and arrest Spider-Man. But he and Lamont were assigned to follow the case and actually investigate it. And Lamont was not only a good detective but one who had developed somewhat of a working relationship with Spider-Man. This meant that simply using flimsy evidence wouldn't be enough and they would have to rely on the possibility of a conspiracy just to get the NYPD to honestly hunt Peter Parker down.
"But only to cover all the bases," Lamont said to Ferris as he sat down, "we aren't looking for a way to make Spider-Man look guilty. That isn't police work, that's being a politician and attacking enemies."
"And Spider-Man isn't a criminal?" Detective Ferris asked, "Need I remind you that Spider-Man has had more cases of property damage being the result of his actions than ANY other hero. He does more damage to this city against non-super powered bank robbers than the Avengers ever did with super-powered world conquerors. He KILLED George Stacy and then KILLED his daughter…"
"Electro isn't super powered? Digger isn't super powered?" Detective Lamont said after a few moments, "one throws around electricity like he's a living electrical generator and the other was a gamma powered Franken-zombie."
Ferris only snorted, "what about the Stacys?"
"Their deaths while tragic and possibly avoidable aren't directly Spider-Man's fault," Lamont answered as he pulled out into traffic, "he certainly could have done better to save them or handle the threats… but if it weren't for Doctor Octopus or the Green Goblin those threats wouldn't have existed in the first place. And they are the past. All we can do now is move forward."
Ferris didn't have an answer for that.
Elsewhere in New York
"Why aren't we interrogating that Luigi?" Luke Cage asked as he and Jessica Jones made their way through a rather seedy apartment building, "we know that whatever he tells to the police is a lie. That guy against Peter has assured that."
"Yes, but Black Cat's evidence still wouldn't be admissible, and while S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority will allow us to investigate the murder, unless I have reasons that can be legally admissible, I can't generate anything that would create either a 'he said she said' argument, or make it look like we're shaking down people to get what we want to hear."
They walked along as a couple of young men walked by, but they looked at the Avengers: Blue Team member and hustled by. Jessica ignored them and Luke only glanced to make sure they continued to wherever they were going.
"It's the same sort of atmosphere that Cap fought against with the Registration Act," Jessica spoke, "The NYPD may be looking to frame Spider-Man… but if we solve the murder, their entire effort is flat and they are embarrassed for it. And Giuseppe "Big Boy" Marci is a known hitman in the Kingpin's employ who has worked for Luigi. He'd be the only other one who could answer any questions on Hi-Vick's death… and likely hasn't been told about the deal to frame Spider-Man yet."
"And he's hiding to let the heat that should be on him die down," Luke Cage commented, which made Jessica nod.
Luke understood the concept, and he did agree with his wife that her action would potentially solve their problem completely. He was still, however, of the mind to take the most direct route to solving the problem. Instead they were going around seeing if a hitman 'might' have been in the area. He hoped that Jessica's hunch was right and tried to imagine the Detective Ferris' face when his whole scheme to arrest Spider-Man failed.
Jessica only moved up the door at the end of the hallway and knocked on the door. She ignored the fact that it was long overdue for a new coat of paint and waited for a response from within.
"Who is it?" came a deep voice.
"Jessica Jones, with the Daily Bugle," Jessica spoke, deciding to use her role as the Bugle's superhuman correspondent as a bit of a cover. If she said she was there as part of Alias Investigations, Big Boy might either flee or do something that would complicate matters. For now, she'd keep him comfortable and that her husband's presence was only for her personal security, even though she still had her powers as Jewel and didn't NEED Luke to protect her. "I just have a few questions concerning the present accusations being made against Spider-Man."
There was a quiet for a few moments, but the door did eventually open. It opened to reveal a big bruiser of a man. He wasn't as big as Ox from the Enforcers, or as big as Luke, but he did stand tall and very well-muscled. He was certainly big enough strangle a man with his bare hands if he wanted to, but then looks weren't everything.
"You want my commentary on the webhead bein' chased by the cops?" Big Boy answered, "The cops have chased him as much as they have folks like me…"
"I'm getting commentary from all points of the compass," Jessica Jones answered, "tells the whole story that way."
Big Boy took a look at Luke Cage and then looked back to Jessica Jones.
"My husband is only here for my personal safety," Jessica Jones acknowledged the unasked question and hoping that Big Boy didn't know about her identity as Jewel.
"Okay," Big Boy answered and stepped back slightly, "Come on in."
Jessica paid close attention as she entered. While she could very well use this for the Bugle, her present mission was for Alias Investigations to find out who murdered Hi-Vick. The apartment stank of some kind of liquor, though Jessica couldn't say for sure what kind. It was enough, though, to make it clear that Big Boy was not the cleanliest of men, especially when drunk. Dirty clothes and what looked like a large pair of leather gloves lying stashed under a milk-crate. The milk-crate was filled with beer bottles.
"I must say I'm a bit surprised that they are goin' after him," Big Boy spoke as Jessica and Luke stepped into and stopped in the man's living room, "I expected them to come and knock on my door."
"On your door?" Jessica repeated as a question.
"Cops all seem to get the opinion that I'm a hitman and I know Hi-Vick," Big Boy explained, "so I figured they would come here. Coulda knocked me over with a feather when they flat out said that 'Spider-Man' was the main suspect."
"You do associate with known mobsters," Luke Cage commented sternly.
"Hey… we all got to earn a living, and what I do is legit, I assure you," Big Boy answered.
Luke rolled his eyes, but Jessica remained cool.
"Do you think Spider-Man could have committed the crime?" Jessica asked.
"No," Big Boy answered, "I was with Hi-Vick last night… uh… before he got killed. Spider-Man wasn't there. I figured he was with the Avengers with all the stuff about demons invading and so on."
"You were with him?" Luke asked.
"Yeah," Big Boy said hesitantly, "but… I… uh… I left before… before he bought it."
"I see," Jessica answered, "would you venture any guess as to who might have wanted him dead, if not Spider-Man?"
"Well…" Big Boy said slowly, "the Ortegas for one. Hi-Vick had a bit of a habit… sellin' stuff he shouldn'ta."
"So you would think that the entire murder was done by the Ortega syndicate to off a rival?" Jessica asked, "but Hi-Vick's had supposed connections to the Kingpin… Wilson Fisk. The Ortegas are a small group and wouldn't risk a direct confrontation with the Kingpin."
Big Boy looked around the room nervously. When he answered he didn't make eye contact with either Jessica Jones or Luke Cage.
"Maybe they got bolder with Fisk back in jail," Big Boy answered, "anyway… they are who I would think would have most likely killed Hi-Vick."
"What about the spider tracers?" Jessica asked, "They're being used as the main piece of evidence against Spider-Man?"
"I honestly don't know where they came from," Big Boy answered, "I don't have them and… and… no one that I could think off would have them, besides Spider-Man, but I already said I figured he was with the Avengers last night."
"He was, as was Arachne as well," Luke spoke, "she was with Red Team."
Jessica listened calmly but could tell through the questions she asked that Big Boy had had some involvement in Hi-Vick's death, based by how often he paused or looked away in giving his answers. His attempt to blame the Ortega syndicate for Hi-Vick's death struck her as trying to get the police to break a different crime family for the crime committed. It would be enough to make any cop ask Big Boy more questions.
"See… I got no idea on how the spider-tracer got there," Big Boy answered him with a weak smile.
"I actually believe you there," Jessica commented with a sigh, "that you don't know how Hi-Vick got the spider-tracer in his mouth."
Big Boy blinked for a moment and then clinched his fists and then unclenched them, "what about the rest?"
"That's where the truth is a bit hazy," Jessica Jones said calmly, "Hi-Vick may have crossed paths with the Ortegas, but I don't think they were the ones who killed him. If anything… it was one some order from the Kingpin or someone in his organization. Hi-Vick started working for the Ortegas and the Kingpin had him killed as punishment."
"Heh-heh," Big Boy gave a slow laugh and began to perspire heavily, "funny theory."
"Is it though?" Jessica asked calmly, "you even said that you expected to be interrogated by the police for the murder and was surprised by the fact that the police officially charged Spider-Man with the crime."
"And you DO work for the Kingpin," Luke Cage added, "let's not beat around that bush anymore, shall we…"
"My work is legit!" Big Boy protested.
"Then why have your answers been so shifty," Jessica said with a frown, "much of it has sound as though you're trying to come up with a story and not saying what actually happened. I can't print that."
"But he could arrest…" Big Boy protested and then caught himself and looked down, "aww… shoot…"
"Start at the beginning and start with the truth," Jessica spoke, "Luke can talk with the Avengers and see that you're protected from anything that Fisk might try to do to you."
NYPD Security Offices
While Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were getting the confession that would solve Hi-Vick's murder and Detective Ferris desperately tried to generate enough of a conspiracy case to keep Spider-Man as the prime suspect, Carlie Cooper was going through security camera footage to try and find out who stole the station's spider-tracers out from under the noses of the NYPD. She was a younger officer and really only an assistant with Lamont's specific precinct's crime lab, but she was highly intelligent and had figured out that the spider-tracer found on Hi-Vick belonged to the NYPD as evidence. She reported her findings to Detective Lamont, and he now had her going through the security camera footage to figure out who stole them. So far, nothing had come up.
"Hey, Carlie, I'm going off shift in a bit, wanna do something?" came a voice from behind her.
Carlie actually jumped in surprise and turned to see Vincent Gonzalez standing in the doorway. He wasn't necessarily a bad officer, and on some level she did like him, but he seemed to carry a personal hatred of Spider-Man that he never let go of. It had only gotten worse after a pregnant Mary Jane Watson announced that she was Arachne and that Peter Parker was Spider-Man.
"I'd love to do something," Carlie answered, "but for the moment, I have work to do."
"I've been by the lab," Vin answered, "they said you didn't have any assignment. I figured we could go out… celebrate the end of Spider-Man. You know a real victory over crime."
"My work right now isn't with the lab," Carlie answered as she resumed staring at the images on the screen, "I have reason to believe that the spider-tracer…"
"Was put there by Spider-Man? Of course it was," Vin cut her off, "NEVER forget that. Every crime, everything WRONG in this city has Spider-Man… has Peter Parker's hands ALL OVER IT!"
Carlie pressed the pause button and turned to face the Hispanic officer. It was true that she liked him at times, and it was true that they had both graduated from the Police Academy together, but Vin had gone straight into patrol and Carlie got an extra year or two in order to work in the crime lab. Now, while Carlie wasn't a detective, and technically Vin outranked her based on experience in the field, but she could clearly tell his position. And at times, his single mindedness on the issue did irritate her.
"This obsession has to stop," Carlie said simply.
"Obsession?" Vin stepped back, the friendly look on his face gone.
"Yes," Carlie said clearly, "obsession. When someone dwells and brings up an issue or subject to the point where it becomes unhealthy."
"Protecting the people of New York is unhealthy?" Vin asked.
"It is when you're blaming a guy for everything that is wrong in the city," Carlie answered, "which gets odd when you think about it. You've said flat out that the Registration Act never should have been cancelled and that the Supreme Court was stupid for striking down the law… yet you're blaming one of the heroes who DID register for all the city's…"
"Spider-Man DIDN'T REGISTER," Vin answered, "he hid in his pregnant wife's panties!"
Carlie let that go, and answered, "according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own data files, Spider-Man and Arachne registered almost immediately. Why their names were never put out for all the world to see then is an unknown. Stark claims that Maria Hill had some plan for them and the US government representing Maria Hill stated that they had the intention of treating Spider-Man as a teenager due to lack of training or competence, but failed to say what their 'training program' was. And Hill got herself in trouble by violating S.H.I.E.L.D.'s charter and UN sanctioned ruled. After that, Stark's posting was that Hill had Spider-Man on a mission from which he had not returned."
Vin didn't answer and Carlie only continued.
"And in the present case the spider-tracer found wasn't Spider-Man's," Carlie continued, "he may have built it and used it at some point, but he hasn't used it in a while. The tracer that was recovered came from OUR evidence locker."
"Spider-Man stole it," Vin said quickly, "the only real explanation."
"He'd be caught on camera," Carlie answered, "in almost every case where Spider-Man has bent the rules to take down some bad guy… or some other bad guy, if you really think he's a bad guy… he's been caught on camera up until he's either webbed it or moved to an area that has no cameras. He's not fast enough to avoid being seen. If he stole them, I'll see it… but then why would Spider-Man steal his spider-tracers back from us? He could make more."
"Covering his tracks," Vin answered, "maybe he's run out of the supplies and needs his old material back…"
"If that were the case, he'd show up with Iron Man and a warrant and we'd have to hand them over," Carlie answered.
Vin only scowled.
"What did he ever do to you?" Carlie asked, "You're carrying this like its personal."
"It IS personal," Vin growled, "More than nine months ago… my dad was working at this bank. It was right before all the machines in this city went nuts. This guy Tracer knocked off the bank my dad worked in. Now… in these cases, our policy if we can catch them in the area, we establish a standoff and await negotiators in order to get the guy to give up and will only fight if he attacks us. That's protocol and the right thing to. Spider-Man in his absolutely unthinking stupidity rushed in. Tracer drove him off without batting an eye and then shot my dad in the back as punishment for Spider-Man's interference. My dad is paralyzed from the waist down because Spider-Man doesn't know that you don't attack bank robbers when they have hostages to play with."
"I'm sorry for your dad, but if I remember correctly, Tracer claimed to be a sort of god," Carlie answered, "do you honestly think normal human cops using normal procedure could have defeated him?"
"Of course," Vin answered, "WE are the law and people respect that. He'd realize that we weren't going to put people in danger, which Spider-Man does and that we weren't going to let him get away, which Spider-Man ALSO does."
Carlie sighed, "against a god? We would have had to LEVEL the building with heavy weapons just to have a chance, and that would have killed your father. Could Spider-Man have better trained? Sure, but you're deluding yourself if you think that normal human police officers could have taken on a superhuman criminal with standard equipment and not do more damage. And that is where we need people like Spider-Man… the Avengers… superheroes."
Vin only scowled and looked away. He wanted to say something, but couldn't and just walked out. Once they'd made sure that everyone felt Peter Parker was the Spider-Tracer-Killer, Spider-Man would be arrested and all the bad guys would respect proper law and order again. All he needed was to come across another dead body. Carlie returned to watching the security camera footage to see the man who had identified himself to Vin and a few other individuals as 'Memphis' walk calmly into the evidence locker, pick up the bag that contained the spider-tracers that the NYPD had collected over the years and then walked out with them.
"How did we miss that?" Carlie wondered, and began flipping through the screens to follow him, but what became the odder instance is that when Memphis was about to go through an open passageway that had no door into the main office area he just vanished from view with the bag.
"Sorcery," Carlie said in a low voice, "and likely trying to frame Spider-Man…"
Sanctum Sanctorum
Detective Ferris was creeped out by everything in Doctor Strange's home. There were eerie noises and various flashing lights that illuminated strange objects. He was further creeped out by the Chinese/Tibetan manservant, Wong, who remained close as he lead them through the town house and only spoke when it was to say, "don't touch that."
"Doctor Strange," Wong announced as he lead Detective Ferris and Detective Lamont into an interior room in which they found the doctor in the midst of some form of meditation, his cape floating behind him. "You have visitors who wish to discuss an investigation of a crime with you."
Doctor Strange slowly turned around and extended his legs, so that as he descended to the ground his feet would be the first to land. He nodded to Wong and then gave both police detectives a passing glance.
"Good afternoon, detectives," Doctor Strange spoke calmly, "If this is about Dormammu's invasion of Earth, I assure you that I have taken steps to make sure it does not happen again."
"No, I'm afraid that will go a bit beyond my understanding of the universe," Detective Lamont answered, "We actually trying to tie up any and all loose ends concerning the Hi-Vick case."
"Ah," Doctor Strange said slowly and began to rub his chin while looking at Detective Ferris, "the plot by the NYPD to arrest Spider-Man for a crime committed by a dumb thug of the Kingpin's."
Lamont didn't answer. On some level he figured that the NYPD was involved in it, given the misgivings that the lab officer had regarding the spider-tracer and the forcefulness with which Detective Ferris had pushed the 'Spider-Man is guilty' agenda. Though, he hadn't expected the police to be truly behind the plot. Detective Ferris, however, was livid and almost looked embarrassed.
"That's a lie!" Ferris jumped, his voice cracking slightly, "you provided cover for Spider-Man with your magic to let him get away with Hi-Vick's murder! You creeps always cover for each other!"
Ferris cringed when he watched what looked like an eye on the pendent holding Doctor Strange's cape to him seemed to turn toward him.
"If your question is can I have cast an illusion that would make Spider-Man have appeared to be with the Avengers, then yes that is well within my powers," Doctor Strange answered, "but I have no reason to do so no and had no reason to do so then. Spider-Man was needed to fight Dormammu and the Hood, and an illusion would not do well against either."
Doctor Strange came even closer to Detective Ferris, making the man step back, nervously.
"And the Eye of Agamotto can see duplicity in YOUR actions," Doctor Strange answered, "in reality… it can probably see more if I channel the right spell through it… but for the moment, your duplicity is all that I need to come to my conclusions. The rest is simple logic. It is you and your organization that is trying to frame an innocent man to suit your personal biases."
"That eye can see the truth?" Lamont asked.
"Among other things," Doctor Strange answered, "and fooling it would quite a bit of effort."
Detective Lamont sighed and shook his head at Detective Ferris. Once the side to side movement of his head stopped, he gave the other detective a serious scowl.
"Were you involved in this?" Detective Lamont asked, "I know you hate Spider-Man, but I had thought that you would be smart enough not to try and frame people… to let the law and justice handle things."
"I…" Detective Ferris began but then shuddered as he saw the Eye of Agamotto blink and then mentally cursed how things had fallen apart.
Vin's plan had included the whole city jumping up in arms against Spider-Man, as it had done countless times before whenever the Bugle leveled the accusation or offered a reward for his identity. But none of that really happened this time. The Bugle's response had been rather reserved and didn't rant about Spider-Man's evils in a front page editorial and the statements from the Avengers had seemed to put many of the people at ease. He'd tried to tell Vin that such a plan wouldn't work, but he was insistent that it would work thanks to the help that he'd gotten from some stranger. As it was, he couldn't keep it up anymore.
"It's more than just me," Detective Ferris admitted, "we got five other officers in on it. Some stranger gave Vin a bag of spider-tracers and gave him the idea. I figured it'd make things better…"
"Instead you've made things worse," Lamont sighed, "other than Vincent Gonzalez, who are the others in this little game?"
Avengers Tower
The day had gone rather nervously for Peter and Mary Jane. It was true things like this had happened before for Peter, but in the past he could always hide behind his secret identity and solve the crime or crisis on his own. Now he couldn't, and to top off matters the period of house arrest was preventing him from putting together the sort of portable shielding technology that a good many people would need, particularly those that were relatives of superheroes and didn't have powers of their own. Peter had even made a mental list for his own family and in-laws: Little May and Ben, Aunt May, Aunt Anna, Gayle Watson, Kevin and Tommy Byrnes, Spenser Watson, Lou, Lorraine, and Kristy Watson, and Frank Brown who was a cousin of MJ's mother. All of them would need the new device, which he couldn't even get a prototype ready until he could get into Horizon Labs.
"Well… if you two can stay on as Avengers, I must say you'll live quite well," Gayle commented from her spot on the couch that she, MJ, and Peter were seated at while her sons half watched television and half watched little May and Ben sleep in a portable cradle on the floor near the corner of the couch.
"Within the tower… yeah… but it really doesn't pay much," Peter answered, "Blue Team is largely on a volunteer basis…"
"And Red Team will get pay from S.H.I.E.L.D. but it won't be any different from a standard police officer or army private," Mary Jane answered, "if the cops don't bust Peter in their little scam, he'll actually be the bread winner when he can get to work at Horizon."
Peter nodded, "and hopefully get the portable shields ready that will make it safer for a lot of people so that villains don't go after the families of heroes."
"You're really going all in on that?" Gayle wondered.
"We can't be everywhere… and in my experience, bad guys like to come back again and again and again and again," Peter answered, "and in a way… it could work for the common man as well. Even if you're not related to me and/or MJ. No one wants to get hit by debris when Doctor Doom tries to level New York."
"It's good to see that you care," Gayle commented with a weak smile, still a little bit guilty over her reasons for the visit concerning her jealousy toward her younger sister, "despite everything."
"Power and responsibility," Peter said with a sigh, "I'll admit that battling bad guys can be a messy affair… it's only fair that I use my greatest power to give people something that will help them."
"Your greatest power?" Tommy asked as he turned around.
Peter gave a slight chuckle, took Mary Jane's hand with one hand and then pointed to his head with his other head, "my mind, Tommy. Being Spider-Man gives me the power to take on bad guys head to head… but my greatest power has always been my mind and that has actually helped me more than many of my spider-powers have."
"All the more reason to stay in school then," Gayle said to her sons.
There were a couple of groans from Kevin and Tommy, which got worse when little May gave a soft coo from the portable cradle that she and her twin brother were in. Even Gayle had to stifle a bit of a chuckle. The twins were adorable, and while they wouldn't have a 'normal' childhood with two superheroes for parents, she was certain they'd be loved. In the end, she supposed that was really what made a family.
"Well, hopefully…" Gayle began only to have a nearby phone start to ring.
Peter turned to look to it as it rang. He was tempted to let it ring and let the answering machine get it or let one of the other Avengers present in the Tower get it, but the number displayed on the caller ID soon put that to rest. Little May's and Ben's startled cries made it imperative. While Mary Jane rushed to pick up and assure her infants, Peter stood up and answered the phone.
"Hello?" Peter said into the phone while bringing his other hand up to his other ear and tied to move away to give MJ and the twins space.
"Just the man I wanted to talk to," came Lamont's voice from the other end of the 'line.'
"Detective Lamont!?" Peter said in a voice that betrayed genuine surprise.
"Yes, it's me," Lamont answered, "I'm not sure if you know this yet… but I figured it'd be best to hear it from me first. It would appear the murder was all a set to try and get you…"
"I do know that," Peter answered, though not saying that it was because Black Cat spied on Detective Ferris, "and even if I didn't… I'd suspect it. This sort of thing has happened to me a lot."
"And how'd you like to be there when the group that concocted this entire mess is arrested and lose their badges goes down?" Lamont asked.
"Sure," Peter gave a chuckle, "A good part of me would like to point and laugh at Ferris… wait… you said badges?"
"Yep," Lamont answered, "badges. Detective Ferris was in on it… but the leader is a patrol officer. Vincent "Vin" Gonzalez. Doesn't surprise me, the guy has blamed you for just about everything, including the local laundromat being closed due to poor plumbing."
"Well… at least you got to the bottom of this," Peter said to him.
"I've only gotten to the bottom of the conspiracy against you," Lamont answered, "I'm going to still have to carry out a normal investigation, which will now be impossible thanks to the fact that a bunch of crooked cops thought it was a good idea to mess with a crime scene to target one guy they personally hated."
"Talk with Alias Investigations," Peter advised quickly, "S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned them to run a parallel investigation into the murder. They may have come across something…"
"Normally… normally I'd challenge that they had no right to interfere in a small time case such as this," Lamont spoke, "but since the NYPD decided to act like a bunch of police state thugs… we probably need their help. Anyway… you still want in on the arrest of a bunch of crooked cops?"
"Sure," Peter said with a smile, "Just tell me were to meet."
"Just at my precinct house in about an hour," Lamont answered.
"Thanks," Peter answered and hung up the phone to find all eyes fixed on him. Each set of eyes belonged to very curious faces, which made Peter give a rather confident grin, "Good news…"
NYPD Station, Lamont's Precinct
Detective Lamont was beyond frustrated when he returned to his precinct. The scheme Detective Ferris had involved himself in would embarrass the NYPD as a whole as it would establish the organization as nothing more than a petty organization that cared more about personal enemies than the law. It was a sure fire way to get the media to criticize law enforcement agencies across the board even more. Not to mention that since the conspiracy against Spider-Man had been pushed so hard that finding the real killer would be impossible. Gangsters and street criminals would probably want Spider-Man gone as much as Vin Gonzalez did. They would surely press the same conspiracy simply because the police themselves played it first.
"You do realize the full consequences of what you've done?" Lamont asked to Ferris in the back seat, "Right?"
"I understood the risk, yes," Ferris answered, somewhat weakly, "but we figured we'd get the real culprit on something else sometime later… and that it'd be better to get Spider-Man off the streets first."
There was a silence for a few moments as Lamont brought his car around to the garage area at the precinct house. As he waited for the doors to open, Lamont sighed and finally answered.
"It's more than just one criminal getting away," Lamont said firmly, "or even two… it's the image of the NYPD being tarnished and compared to any secret police around the globe… That we don't care about the law or whether or not we can prove suspicion. We just suspect whoever we choose and arrest them for the flimsiest of reasons. And to make matters worse is that you PLANTED evidence to fit your conclusion. Hating Spider-Man is one thing. What you and your compatriots have done is another."
Detective Ferris only looked down, and looked somewhat embarrassed, "I wasn't that eager to go through with it… but…"
"You let Vin, who's got enough hate to float the helicarrier, talk you into it," Lamont answered, "and everyone is going to pay the price for it now."
He finally brought his car to a stop and climbed out. Detective Ferris didn't fight or even struggle as Lamont lead him out of the back seat and began to move him into the station, as if he were a common criminal. Ferris kept his face down and didn't say anything. As he was lead into the main precinct area after the garage, both detectives were treated to a rather large surprise. Just inside the door there was a large and slightly heavyset man standing with the larger and dramatically more muscular form of Luke Cage behind him. To the side of these two was the brown haired woman once called 'Jewel' and presently known as Jessica Jones.
"I'm afraid I don't have time for an interview," Detective Lamont said to them, knowing Jessica Jones' present work for the Bugle, "this is police business."
"I'm here in connection with Alias Investigations, not the Bugle," Jessica Jones answered and gestured to the man that stood nervously in front of Luke Cage, "this is Giuseppe "Big Boy" Marci, the man who really murdered Hi-Vick."
"You tracked him down?" Ferris blurted.
"As per S.H.I.E.L.D.'s order in the sense of making sure that the case being brought against Spider-Man was not a rehashing of old projects that had little to no factual basis behind them."
"I'm afraid that it was a rehashing," Lamont grumbled, irritated that the top global law enforcement and anti-terrorist organization had trusted a private investigator/journalist over the NYPD, but at the same time was somewhat grateful that the tougher part of finding Hi-Vick's murder had been done."
The look Luke Cage had gave Lamont the indication that he already knew it. Lamont figured that was nothing more than suspicion on the African American Avenger's part.
"Then we've done you a favor," Luke Cage said in a low voice.
"Yes," Lamont gave a sigh, "and you do have my thanks for that. Especially since the corruption on this case is not limited to one."
Lamont then ushered Ferris forward with the intention of moving the man to a jail cell. He'd give Ferris the 'privilege' of a lone cell, but that still did not make his job any easier in the sense that he was arresting a fellow officer on corruption charges. As he moved the arrested detective past big boy, Lamont looked directly to Luke Cage to give the man his own instructions.
"If you can move him along behind me, we'll put him in another of the cells, and I will formally carry through the formal process of arresting him once we get him to a cell," Lamont instructed.
"I ain't fighting," Big Boy said nervously, "but you gotta make sure no one comes after me."
"Relax, you'll be fine," Lamont answered, "We won't let anyone hurt you if we can help it."
Big Boy breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't seem like much. Luke figured he was probably right to be nervous. If the Kingpin had his organization kill one of its own drug dealers as punishment for something, he'd certainly be willing to kill the killer if he betrayed the organization. However, Luke still moved Big Boy along to follow Lamont and Ferris.
"How did you find out that Ferris was behind the attempt to frame Spider-Man?" Jessica Jones asked to Detective Lamont.
"He isn't behind it, merely part of it," Lamont answered, "but the next meeting with the man who is behind isn't until later. I'll need Ferris to take me there at that time… but until then, he'll need to stay here. We can then see to the real killer's protection in the meantime."
They walked along fairly quietly as Lamont ushered Ferris toward the precinct's cells while Luke did the same with Big Boy. Jessica moved somewhat carefully between the two pairs of officer/hero and criminal. She couldn't post anything from this on the Bugle as her work and assignment had been done as a private eye as part of the Alias Investigations, which legally was separate from the Daily Bugle. However, that didn't change any interest she had in the case as a whole. She remembered going to high school with Peter and seeing him grow up from the shy and picked on nerd into the confident and athletic hero that was Spider-Man and letting free the humor that Peter Parker had kept to his family and the confidence that he had kept to himself.
She had some jealousy that he ended up with Gwen Stacy and then Mary Jane Watson instead of her, but she had recovered and she personally felt her own life had turned out right. She had married Luke Cage, after all. However, even with her marriage to one of Peter's Blue Team teammates, she still wanted Peter to do well and not be caught in some sort of criminal web. He was her friend, and he was also Luke's teammate.
"So, how many are in this conspiracy?" Jessica asked to Detective Lamont, "and how will you be dealing with them?"
"The officers involved will be arrested on corruption charges," Detective Lamont answered, "they will lose their badges on that, I assure you. And I figured that since they decided to throw mud at the NYPD's good name over Spider-Man that it should be Spider-Man who makes the arrest."
Luke and Jessica both watched as Detective Ferris looked down and had a rather depressed frown on his face. That struck Jessica as that the decision to have Spider-Man… to have Peter… play a role in the arrest of the conspirators was deliberate on Lamont's part. On some level it made sense. They were trying to make Spider-Man appear guilty when they were the ones committing the crime, and as an Avenger, even of Blue Team, Spider-Man did technically count as legal law enforcement under Stark's 'Initiative' program.
"You asked Spider-Man to help you?" Luke asked.
"Yes," Lamont replied, "the idea to get rid of him is a mistake that is beyond stupid… might as well make sure the consequences of the mistake be the worst possible. It might be the only thing that will teach some people."
Ferris only gave a depressed sigh and Jessica and Luke both gave a smile, knowing that their work was done and their friend was essentially cleared of all charges.
Avengers Tower
"This all strikes me as rather petty," Mary Jane commented as she watched Peter change into his Spider-Man costume, "I mean, sure, they tried to make your life miserable and yes what they did was wrong… but is this really the right thing to do?"
"Hey, I didn't ask to do it," Peter answered, "Lamont did."
"And you couldn't have said that you'd prefer to let the police handle it?" Mary Jane asked, putting her hands on her hips, "It's their internal problem and you being there isn't going to help things any."
He turned to see Mary Jane standing there with her sister standing close beside her. Kevin and Tommy had stayed in the living room to watch television with Aunt May and Aunt Anna watching them. Both women had near identical frowns.
"I have to agree with Mary Jane, here," Gayle commented, "granted all this superhero stuff is new to me… but if their hatred of you is personal, your presence there isn't going make them like you. And my sons do look up to you… this isn't the behavior of a good role model."
"It isn't responsible, either, Tiger," Mary Jane added.
Peter sighed heavily and looked down for a moment. It probably was petty on his part to agree to be there. And if Lamont could handle the arrest on his own, he'd get the same result as if he did go. He'd be free to patrol the city and deal with whatever odd threat that may come out of the woodwork. He didn't need to be there face to face for it. They were right, but he had already agreed, and he couldn't get out of that. He eventually looked back up to his wife and sister-in-law.
"I've already agreed to go," Peter said slowly, "I can't get out of it that way… but I can talk with Lamont… I'd be in a sort of backup position. If these crooked cops fight and Lamont and whatever other honest officers can't deal with them, I'll move in to help them out. If not, I'll let him handle the arrest."
Mary Jane gave a soft smile and nodded to her sister. She then moved forward and kissed Peter on the cheek before he could pull his webbed mask down, "there's the man I know and love. Be safe and remember to stay out of sight."
"Yes, dear," Spider-Man answered with a chuckle and was soon slipping out through one of the windows to the apartment that Peter and Mary Jane shared.
That sort of left Gayle to look over at Mary Jane with a bit of puzzlement.
"No doors?" Gayle asked her younger sister.
"In most cases… I suppose with our ability to stick to walls and squeeze through tight spaces being able to go in and out of windows isn't a bad thing," Mary Jane answered.
0-0-0
Spider-Man did feel good as he swung away from Avengers Tower. Sure he wouldn't get to rub the failure in the face of the officers that had tried to frame him, but it did feel good to be webslinging again. Feeling the wind through his costume as he swung between buildings and being active was the sort of thrill that he'd really grown accustomed to over the years. While there had always been plenty of things that made him wish he wasn't Spider-Man from time to time, he still enjoyed the sensation of swinging through city. It gave him a great thrill that he had enjoyed particularly when something good came along.
He had the same thrill after his encounter with 'the Other' and the feeling of being alive again. Now he got the thrill after being cleared of murder and with the knowledge that he and Mary Jane would have many happy years together, as individual heroes, as members of the Avengers, and even as parents. Life was good for the moment as he swung, leaped, and twisted in mid-air as he made his way to Lamont's precinct. He arrived to find the detective leaning out a window to attract his attention.
"So… what's up doc?" Spider-Man asked in a voice intended to be somewhat humorous, "where you expecting me to swing here or…?"
"Sort of," Lamont answered, "Mostly I know that you and your wife appear to prefer using windows to doors."
"Well… it does save on that annoying elevator music," Spider-Man joked, "You said you have proof of the guys who were trying to frame me?"
"Yeah," Lamont nodded, "it's a small group of officers that have put their own personal grudges in front of their responsibility to the city. Their leader would find a way to blame you for anything bad that's ever happened to him…"
Spider-Man nodded and crouched to the side of the window and leaned over to look to Detective Lamont.
"Yeah… that's the story of my life," Spider-Man quipped, "save the city and the boys in blue accuse me of destroying it. Nothing I can do about that… and my showing up at his door to arrest him for being corrupt won't help matters in the long term."
Lamont raised an eyebrow and looked back at the white eyepieces of Spider-Man's mask, "are you saying you don't want to be there?"
"Oh… I'd personally WANT to be there, but I know that it won't help anything," Spider-Man answered, "I'll tail along and play backup if you need it. But I'm sure you have officers that can handle them easily enough. You don't need me making this scenario worse for you."
At this, Lamont actually gave a smile.
"Thanks, Spider-Man… thanks… Peter," Lamont said with a smile, "You can follow my car to the spot. It may take a while to get some extra officers for close in backup… but if things do get out of hand, I'm sure you'll hear the commotion."
Spider-Man only nodded.
Vin's Apartment
The meeting was running a little bit late, as apparently Detective Ferris had some trouble concluding his business for the day with Detective Lamont, but had also indicated that he had not made enough progress in creating enough of a conspiracy to make Spider-Man appear guilty or at least raise enough doubt in suspecting anyone besides Spider-Man. That meant they would have to keep the pressure and plant another spider-tracer in the hopes another 'spider-tracer killing' raising the heat on the Avengers to finally put an end to their experiment with Spider-Man.
"I still think we should have recruited more," one of the other officers there grumbled, "Spider-Man ain't exactly popular with the NYPD."
"We don't have time for that at the moment," Vin grumbled, "and besides… there are also a lot of officers like Lamont who will go by the book. They may hate Spider-Man, but they won't go after him without real evidence…"
"Which we don't have," the officer gave a defeated sigh.
"So we'll just have to settle for the numbers we have," Vin answered, "once Ferris gets here, we'll draw straws. The man with the short straw gets to plant the spider-tracer. The city won't take too much more spider themed mayhem."
There was a quiet moment for a little while after Vin gave that commentary as they were waiting for Detective Ferris to arrive. It didn't last too terribly long as a knock came out on Vin's door. Vin immediately began to walk toward the door.
"Are you there?" came Ferris's voice from the other side, "it's me."
"Yeah, I'm here," Vin answered, "I'm on my way."
"Is everyone else there?" Ferris asked through the door as Vin approached it, "or was someone else besides me late?"
Vin continued to make his way through the other officers that were there to take part in the vote in order to get to the door. They parted and let him by easily as he approached the portal.
"We're all here," Vin began, "we were just waiting for…"
Vin then opened the door and barely got out the last word of his sentence as he saw that Detective Ferris was there, but in handcuffs and with Detective Lamont and at least six armed officers with him.
"…you," Vin finished, his voice trailing off as he saw Detective Lamont's face.
"Vincent Gonzalez, you and your compatriots are under arrest for criminal conspiracy, falsifying evidence, and criminal corruption," Lamont said carefully.
0-0-0
On the roof Spider-Man stood quietly as Lamont ushered Vin and his compatriots out. He stayed in a location where they couldn't easily see him, if at all, and where his vantage point enabled him to look down on them. The arrested officers didn't seem to struggle, which gave him some relief. They deserved everything they would be getting, but he couldn't bring himself to truly want a fight. Lamont was a good and honest officer and in the end, many that put on police uniforms were trying to protect the city.
Spider-Man watched as Lamont ushered the corrupt officers to the cars they would be carried with back to the station and then look up toward the roof. Spider-Man stepped back, if only to make sure that no one saw him, not even Lamont. As the cars drove off, he slowly brushed his hands, as if cleaning up from the whole mess. He was about to head off when his spider-sense flared and he turned to see a lone man standing behind and to the right of him.
"Who are you?" Spider-Man gasped, pondering how the man could have gotten there as there was no one on the roof when he arrived and he didn't hear a door open.
"They call me Memphis," the man answered with a slight grin and ran his hand through his dark red hair. In some places it almost looked black, but Spider-Man couldn't be sure. Parts of his face seemed rather gaunt to a certain degree, but his voice sounded quite strong, so it was figured that these were just the facial features of the man. He then continued after identifying himself, "And I'm just a man about town… looking to see what's up."
Spider-Man could still feel his spider-sense buzzing, but he couldn't see any direct threat that the man posed to him and he wasn't carrying himself in any threatening way. He figured the man might have some means of personal protection and had it concealed.
"Nothing much is up," Spider-Man told him, "other than a bunch of crooked cops getting arrested."
"And you have interest in watching them be arrested?" Memphis asked, "I assume to get some pleasure out of knowing their scheme can't hurt you?"
"No… I was only here to make sure that they didn't give Detective Lamont any trouble," Spider-Man answered, "a part of me would certainly like to… but that isn't the right thing to do."
"Of course," Memphis nodded, "You have a family now, Mr. Parker. I saw the announcement the Avengers made on your children's birth… you must be proud."
"I am," Spider-Man answered, "but please… while I'm dressed like this… call me Spider-Man."
"Of course," Memphis nodded again, "so what will you do now?"
"For the moment?" Spider-Man answered as he smiled beneath his mask and fired out a webline, "enjoy life."
With that he swung away, leaving Memphis on the rooftop watching his departure. Memphis, the human disguise of Mephisto, only watched him swing away.
"Enjoy your time, Spider-Man," Memphis said under his breath, "because crooked cops are not the only ones after you!"
To Be Continued…