Norman Osborn's Journal Day 3

I swore that I would never be helpless again. And I planed to make this a reality by augmenting my natural abilities and conquering the New York criminal empire, an idea that might have been considered science fiction if it weren't for the surprise appearance of the Spider-man and the Vulture. However, if I wanted this dream to be a reality, I needed money. One might think that this wasn't a problem for a man as wealthy as I, but I didn't want it to be traceable to me. If I were to use my corporate profits or my personal savings, my plans could be traced back to Norman Osborn and I could end up imprisoned. And that would be unacceptable for a man like me.

Just when I thought I would have to take a risk, two men approached me with an opportunity. One was called Hammerhead, a lieutenant in the largest criminal empire in the city. The other was his employer, who introduced himself as the Big Man of Crime. His real name was Lonnie Thompson Lincoln, but he preferred the name Tombstone. Like me, he was a prominent businessman and philanthropist with an interest in criminal activities. And he had sent Hammerhead to offer me an interesting proposal.

The Spider-man had been scaring Tombstone's men off the street, severely cutting into his profits. After assassination attempts had failed, Tombstone came to me with this proposal: create superpowered criminals to distract the Spider-man, similar to the super criminals he had already faced such as the Vulture and the Lizard, allowing for his empire to flourish. In exchange, I would be paid several million dollars in cash for each specimen. This allowed me to gain the untraceable funding I needed, as well as a parade of test subjects to prepare for my own future augmentations. The stage was set, and my genius would soon come to fruition. And it almost came crashing down when I was struck by betrayal.

Okay, I've been web-slinging across the city for about three hours now. I'm starting to freak out a little. Where the heck is Gwen? How could I not have noticed she was missing? I've got to figure out something soon or I'll never be able to forgive myself.

Let's think, Harry said Gwen was going into police protection and that she hasn't answered her phone since then. And her dad has been very quiet about the whole thing. But if the protection was only because of Venom, then she should be free to go like I am. So, either Venom wasn't the reason for the protection or somebody got to her. Or maybe both. Regardless, just checking out Gwen's usual hangouts and swinging around aimlessly definitely hasn't helped. It's time to change my strategy. Or maybe, I can get a certain someone to help me.

Gwen was used to the dark at this point. She had been blindfolded, gagged, and chained to the wall for the last three days. At least, she thought it was three days. It was kind of hard to keep track of time with no visual or audio stimulation. She neither saw nor heard any signs of life outside of her little cell, and she was too distracted by her hunger to think about it.

In order to keep from going crazy, Gwen had taken to reciting as many elements and mentally solving as many math problems as she could remember. It was maddeningly boring, but at least it was better than trying to figure out how she got captured or how to escape. Whoever had chained her up had allowed for just enough wiggle room to create an illusion of autonomy, and after two days of struggling, she realized it was done on purpose to break her spirit. And her capture had happened so quickly that all she remembered was that it involved tear gas and that the police officers her father had assigned to guard her were probably captured as well. Or dead.

Light started shining through her blindfold as she heard a creak. Did the door just open? Is somebody coming in? Gwen tried to get her visitor's attention, but the blindfold and the chains kept her from making a lot of noise. Whatever hope she had of being rescued by this newcomer was dashed when she heard a deep, gravelly voice say, "Easy, princess, as long as you are a good hostage, nobody's going to hurt you. I just need to take a few photos of your current condition to send to your father. If you stay still and cooperate, maybe we'll see about getting you some food." Gwen wanted to defy the man, but the thought of food was too tempting. She stayed limp and unmoving as she saw flashes of light through the blindfold.

"Ah, Spider-man," Captain Stacy said as I was thinking of the best way to surprise him, "fancy seeing you on my ceiling."

I dropped down from the ceiling and landed on top of his desk. Stacy didn't even react. Just kept typing away at his computer. "You know, I was hoping to surprise you. Do you have spider sense now, too?"

Stacy laughed. "Let's just say that you don't become a police captain without picking up a few things. I learned a long time ago that it pays to be aware of your surroundings at all times." He slid his chair back and looked away from his computer monitor. "So, what can I do for you?"

I flipped off the desk and landed on one of his office chairs. I leaned back and said, "Well, I've been a little bored since you guys stole my thunder on the whole Eddie Brock thing. Didn't even know he escaped until I saw that you locked him up. Nice work, by the way."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you. Anyway, I got a little embarrassed and thought to myself, 'I better find a new heroic deed before Jolly Jameson starts ranting about how unnecessary I am. Again.' So, I've had my ear to the ground, and wouldn't you know it, I hear that a girl has gone missing."

Stacy narrowed his eyes and frowned. "Gwen. My daughter. I've been looking for her for three days now. The officers I've assigned to protect her after Brock broke out of Ravencroft haven't reported in either. I currently have Lee and Gonzalez, my two best detectives, investigating this as a kidnapping."

"Have they found anything?" I asked, trying not to sound as desperate as I felt.

"They acquired the remains of a gas grenade from the safehouse we planned for Gwen." he said, pulling up a report on his computer and sliding the monitor around to show me. "Forensic analysis shows that it is..."

"Tear gas," I finished, leaning forward. "A potent mixture at that."

"That's right," Stacy answered. "It's the same mixture that we used to use for our riot police before Mayor Hollister discontinued that policy for being too inhumane. Either someone stole our old grenades as we were destroying our supply or our old supplier is connected to this."

"Maybe I'll go pay this supplier a visit," I said, getting excited again. Talking to Captain Stacy was the right move after all. He's always been on top of things, even when the rest of the cops got duped when the Chameleon impersonated me.

"Already tried that, Spidey," Stacy responded, pulling up a photograph of an old man with scraggly, shoulder-length gray hair. "This is Spencer Smythe, our former supplier, and he has also vanished. Lee and Gonzalez visited his last known residence to find it abandoned. We talked to all his known associates, and they haven't seen him for over a month."

"Dammit," I muttered. "Well, maybe I can try talking to these associates. See if they're more willing to talk to me than to a few cops."

"Worth a shot," Stacy said pleasantly. He turned the monitor back to face him and printed out a list of names and handed it to me. I looked it over and saw at the top of the list:

"L. Thompson Lincoln?" I asked, shocked. "This guy worked for Tombstone?"

"Yes, but a lot of people worked for Lincoln," Stacy answered. "It doesn't necessarily mean that Smythe was working for Tombstone. Though we are keeping that possibility open."

"Well, if I don't find anything, at least I'll get to mess with Tomby," I said, standing up. "I'll keep in touch, Captain."

"All right," Stacy said, turning to his computer as I walked toward the window. "And thank yo-" He stopped. His jaw dropped. "Spider-man, you might want to see this," he said, sounding both furious and scared. I turned around, and my heart sank. On the monitor was a photograph of a blond girl slumped over, blindfolded and chained to the wall. It was Gwen.

"Eugene, can you get the door? I've got my hands full with dinner!"

"Don't call me that, Mom!" Flash shouted as he walked down the stairs.

"What's wrong with Eugene?" his mother called as Flash walked over to the door.

"That's a geek name!" Flash shouted back. "It lumps me in with guys like Parker!"

"Peter's your best friend!" his mother replied as Flash pulled open the door. A shady-looking man wearing a trenchcoat and fedora stood on the doorstep. Flash gaped at him.

"Good evening," the man said, tipping his hat. "Name's Mac Gargan, private investigator. I'm looking for a Mr. Flash Thompson."

"That's me," Flash said. "Uh, not to be rude, but has anybody ever told you you look like you just walked out of a bad detective movie?"

Gargan chuckled. "Yes, actually, your classmate Peter Parker told me the same thing a few days ago. Yes, I talked to Parker. Now I wanted to ask you a few questions about your encounters with a certain Spider-man."

Mark Allen wasn't an unruly prisoner. After getting captured by Spider-man, he stayed quiet and docile, trying to keep his Molten Man powers under control. He briefly tried to kill Spider-man again when the Green Goblin coerced him by remotely activating his armor during a prison break, but other than that, he was a model inmate.

So, when he heard shouting and the sounds of a struggle outside his specially made cell in the Vault, he didn't move. But he did look up when he saw the door open. "Up and at 'em, Mark," said a silhouette standing in the doorway. "Rocket Racer is here to bust you out."

I swung over to Ryker's Island as quickly as I could. The photo that was sent to Captain Stacy was from a guy calling himself the Kingpin, and it came with a message saying that in order to ensure Gwen's safety, Stacy was to wipe the arrest records for several of Tombstone and Silvermane's lieutenants who were locked up in Rykers and arrange for their release. So while Stacy worked on tracing the computer that sent the message, I decided to talk to a few of these guys to see if they knew who this kidnapper is.

When I landed on the roof of the prison, my spider sense started going off like crazy. Half a second later alarms started blaring from inside. Oh, good. As if there wasn't enough going on today. I'm never gonna make my curfew.

By the time I got inside, I saw a depressingly familiar sight. Most of the guards were on the ground, either unconscious or dead, and those that weren't were vastly outnumbered. "Hang on, hang on, didn't I see this episode already?" I called out webbing up the closest group of prisoners. "I'm pretty sure it ended with you guys getting your butts kicked. So maybe you guys should just give up and get back in your cells if you don't want me to embarrass you again."

A few of the thugs backed down, but a deep voice laughed defiantly and a wall collapsed a second later. "Bring it on, webhead," Rhino growled, as he strode over toward me through the crowd of crooks. "I've been itching for a rematch."

"They make a special cream for that, you know," I quipped as he charged toward me. I jumped over his horn and shot a web around it. I shot a second web up toward the ceiling and pulled the two webs together. As I tried to tie the webs together, Rhino reached up, grabbed the web on his horn, and threw me face first to the ground. Ouch. I think that broke a rib. Or six.

"Okay, that was just rude," I said, flipping myself upright. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to put you back into solitary."

"I don't think so, Spider-man," Silvio "Silvermane" Manfredi said stepping over a dead guard. "We have spent enough time in this hellhole, I think. But first, I think I should take up extermination." I looked around and saw that all of the guards were on the floor. It was just me against the entire prison. Again. Why wasn't the lockdown kicking in? Did someone hack the security? Again? Several of the crooks were heading for the bridge connecting to the mainland, though Rhino, Silvermane, and a few other crooks had decided to try and fight me first. I had to move fast.

"Sorry, Silvy," I said, jumping back to the bridge and webbing the crooks at the front of the pack and pulling them into the guys behind them, "but the exterminators are on strike. And no scabs around to show you the ropes. You should just give up that dream." I made a spiderweb in front of the bridge to hold the prisoners back.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with," Silvermane growled, twirling a nightstick he must have picked up from a guard's corpse.

"Uh, Miss Striped Jumpsuit?" I joked, glancing about at the matching prison uniforms. Rhino howled and threw a chunk of wall at me from the left. I ran at the wall and slid underneath it, shooting webs behind me to catch the wall and bounce it safely into the harbor. I kept sliding underneath Rhino's legs, and jumped forward, sending a flurry of punches and kicks at the various thugs trying to attack me.

"So, Silvy, I gotta know," I asked, dodging his nightstick and throwing a punch in response. "Who won the Vault talent show?" Man, Silvermane is just as agile and strong as ever. It always amazes me how this old man is able to keep up with my spider speed. "I mean, I know you were all set to wow the guards with your stand up," I said, trying to sweep his legs, "but then I saw Rhino practicing his tapdance routine and the competition was suddenly to close to call."

Silvermane jumped over my kick and kicked down at my shoulder. I caught his leg and threw him into some thugs on my right. My spider sense blared, and I used a web to fling myself out of the way of Rhino's massive fist. "Do you ever shut up?" he yelled.

"Oh, come on, Rhino," I said, exasperated, "don't you know me better than that? Did my Christmas card mean nothing to you?" I shot a web around his legs and ran around him, winding it around his legs. I ducked and weaved through his blows as I circled him, and then I pulled. Rhino started to lose his balance, but then he took a step forward and shattered the webs.

"Oh, man!" I complained, nonchalantly backhanding a thug trying to sneak up on me. "That's the last time I take a battle strategy from Star Wars!"

"I have you now!" Silvermane shouted, tackling me from behind. Was that reference on purpose? Whatever. I shot a web into his eyes, rolled him off my back, and webbed the crime boss to the floor. At this point, only Rhino was still conscious. Huh, that's weird. Only Rhino and Silvermane came to fight me? What about the Enforcers? Or Molten Man? Did they just decide not to break out, or did they somehow sneak out while I was otherwise distracted.

Whoa, that's a horn that nearly impaled me. Gotta stay focused, or I'm gonna die. "Come on, Rhino," I taunted, "is that the best you got? Tinkerer punches harder than you!" Rhino roared in anger and charged at me again. I dodged his attacks and shot webs in every direction except directly at him.

"Come on, webhead," Rhino yelled. "How do you keep missing me?"

"Not aiming at you genius," I replied, "just setting a little trap for ya!" Rhino grunted in surprise as he realized he was trapped in a giant spiderweb, bigger and thicker than the one I used to trap Kraven a few months ago. As he thrashed and struggled, I hung from a web next to him and whispered soothingly, "Shh, shh, shh, it'll all be over soon, Alexander."

"Don't...call...me...Alexander," Rhino grumbled as he passed out. I breathed a sigh of relief and moved to check on the guards. Thankfully, most of them were still alive, and just wounded, and DeWolff and Carter arrived soon afterward with a team of cops to secure the prison. I made myself scarce as soon as I saw them coming, and swung for home. I might not have found Gwen yet, but after a fight like that, I needed some sleep.

Author's Note: I know, I know, it's been a while. Long story short: my computer broke and I needed to replace it. Also, this was just a bitch of a chapter to write. My original draft had more for Rocket Racer to do, even had him tangling with Spidey for a bit, but things were getting long and a bit crowded already with this chapter, so that fight's gonna wait for another chapter. It's a shame, I always liked Rocket Racer. Blame the Mac Gargan and Gwen Stacy plotlines getting in the way. Maybe next time. Don't forget to review, and I'll see you next time.