"My name is Peter Parker, and after being bitten by a strange spider, my life changed forever. I was no longer an ordinary person. I gained power . . . and the responsibility to use that power to help make the world a better place. When I failed to uphold that responsibility, my Uncle Ben paid the price with his life. Now, to honor his memory, I can't be the selfish child I once was. I must be someone better than that. Someone amazing. Someone spectacular. I am...Spidey..."
"...or I was at least... not anymore..."
A figure dressed in a dark purple cloak with a high collar and dark green bodysuit and on his head he was wearing a giant circular dome (which was completely silver) was in a dark room as he was marvelling at a red sceptre he had stolen. "With the power of this sceptre, crafted by the mighty Zeus himself, I Mysterio shall take my rightful as the supreme master of the world!" the one known as Mysterio yelled lifting the sceptre up in the air with his voice sounding like a thousand echoes.
Then came flying in was a man in a yellow bodysuit, dark blue cape, dark blue mask with holes for his eyes and mouth, dark blue belt with a white "S" on it, dark blue shorts, dark blue gloves and dark blue boots. "So many men thought they would conquer the world Mysterio only to be defeated by me and you will be no exception." The man calling himself Sentry told Mysterio with a glare as he then charged to face Mysterio as the villain began activating the powers of his sceptre...
Peter and Hobie where sitting in Aunt May's apartment, on the couch watching a channel showing a rerun of an old live action superhero show called Age of the Sentry. "You know the role of the Sentry was Simon Williams' first acting job? And to think he gets to play a real life superhero in Tony Stark. Plus you know Mysterio's actor Quentin Beck has been in a lot of movies and shows where he does his own stunts and special effects." Hobie told Peter trying to lift his spirits up but he still looked a bit down from what happened last week and true to what he told Colonel Jameson, he had not even touched his Spider-Man stuff after putting them away in a secret hiding spot in his room and was focusing on his schoolwork as well as hanging out with Hobie. Jonah had proudly boasted that the absence of Spider-Man was probably because he was scared off due to New York having a real superhero now.
Peter had told Hobie what happened and he didn't look to happy but decided to give Peter some space about it, give him a while to think about it and give Peter a good prep talk about it when he was feeling better. Because he certainly had a feeling that Spider-Man might be needed soon.
*S*
Colonel John Jameson waved to the people around as he was walking to the Daily Bugle building, greeting all the people that came up to him and even signing autographs. Over the past week he helped out in accidents and robberies in the city, pulling people from cars and taking care of a hostage situation or two. It was a lot of work especially since Spider-Man was not around anymore, but it was for the best as John shuddered to think that the kid could have gotten killed from just one wrong move. Better to leave this life until he was older and wiser.
Still he had to admit ever since waking up from the coma he felt weird at how big he was and his new found strength, well as his father said it would be best to put it to good use. Things worked out well after all.
"Your father is already waiting for you in his office Colonel Jameson." Said a short brown haired woman at a desk wearing a business suit, she was Jonah's secretary, Betty Brant. John thanked her and walked up the stairs to the top floor continuing to greet the various employees in the building as well as try and make sure not to break anything with his size and strength. He got to the top floor and went in waving to the reporters working at their desks.
However he saw Ben Urich looking shocked at a man he was talking to at the desk next to him, this middle aged man had blonde balding hair and a black business suit. "I am serious about this Urich, for all his moaning about Spider-Man and superheroes Jonah is a pot calling the kettle black as he is focusing his attention on the exploits of that son of his doing the same things that the webhead had done before he gone and disappeared..." the man told Ben who looked confused when he pointed to John. The man then noticed John and gave a big smile and said "look who it is, New York's fusion of both Captain America and the Hulk."
John looked at the man's nameplate and it said that the man's name is Carl Brock, "Mr Brock." John greeted with a small wave which Carl returned mockingly. Carl had worked at the Daily Bugle for a long time, having pursued journalism since he read an article about Watergate in college.
"Your old man has made you the mascot of this paper, I have covered on this paper the Carnage Killer Massacre but now I have to cover it every single &*%$ time you save a kitten from a tree or something." Carl shouted at him a bit bitterly making John take a step back in shock. "What's it like knowing that you're a pawn in your old man's scheme to one up Spider-Man, you get into a coma and because daddy thinks Spider-Man is to blame you should be a better hero than the webhead." Carl told him as he leaned back into his chair.
"I am doing this to help protect the people of the city and my father said I can be a hero who does not need to hide under a mask and can be a proper public figure." John told Carl but his face showed he was not convinced at all by what he was saying. "Well nice to meet your Mr Brock and I guess I will see you around." John said leaving to his father's office.
Ben now faced Carl again with a big look of disbelief and disapproval on his face. "Nice going Carl, should Jonah hear what you just said then you might as well start packing up your desk." Urich told him sternly but Carl did not look that concerned.
"Urich I bet you a hundred grand that I am not alone in that, that a lot of people here was thinking the same thing I was and I was just brave enough not to be quiet about it." Carl told him as he went back to work writing up an article on his computer. "Besides should Jonah fire me I will just go to the Daily Globe, at least there I can do some proper journalism again." Carl told him making Ben shaking his head but he nonetheless went back to his own work.
After John entered his father's office he saw Jonah grinning at his desk but John was surprised to see Curt and Martha Connors sitting at seats next to the desk. "Nice to see you again Mr and Mrs Connors, pops you wanted to see me?" John asked as Jonah got off from his seat to greet his son with a handshake.
"Proud of you John, you pretty much scared the wall crawling menace out of the city! He was smart enough to know that New York has a real hero now. I will be getting in touch with Police Chief Morales and the Mayor about having you officially deputized." Jonah told him in a jovial tone of voice. "The Connors' wanted to see you." Jonah told him pointing to them who stand up and looked very concerned.
"Colonel Jameson, while monitoring footage of you in action and the printed readings generated from the suit, we belief that the spores in your system can accelerate during times where you emit great stress or anger, only a small amount if it is just mild anger as in disapproval but the more extreme the emotion the worse that they get." Martha told John and Jonah making them wince wondering where this is going. "We recommend that you cease going out until we can run further tests." Martha told them but before John could respond Jonah went up to them in anger.
"What, my boy is out there protecting the people's interests and trust and yet you want him to stop? Listen that freak Spider-Man caused all sorts of new freaks to come out of hiding and my boy is the one scaring them away or dealing with them should they come out of hiding!" Jonah ranted as John tried to calm his father down and he turned his attention to them.
"Look if you really insist you want to do this Colonel Jameson then I recommend taking it easy for a while, we don't know how great stress will affect the spores in your system as we don't know a lot about these spores." Curt told him gently and Jonah still did not look too happy and Martha gave her husband a look.
"I will, don't you worry. Thanks for telling me Mr and Mrs Connors." John told them both and he told his father he wanted to go home to rest for a while and Jonah told him to go for it. John then left the building thinking that he might not have to worry about over stressing himself since it seemed he was able to handle being Colonel Jupiter very well.
*S*
That next day Clayton excited ran up to Peter and Hobie after school had ended for the day, it was Friday night and he had plans for what he was going to do for this weekend and he wanted them to share with the surprise. He thought it would cheer Peter up as something must have gotten to him as he seemed to be down and mostly focusing on his schoolwork for the past week but Clayton was too concentrated on his plan that he didn't pay it much need. "Guys, I think I can figure out how to pull this superhero thing off..." Clayton told them but then Peter seemed to snap at it.
"Look Clayton I have had enough of this talk from you, you want to get into trouble with a dangerous scheme then I don't care, leave me out of this." Peter told him harshly before leaving Clayton shocked as Hobie ran up to meet with Peter again.
"Well who needs you! I will find a sidekick or ally somewhere else!" Clayton shouted angrily at Peter's direction, well Peter could forget it if he tries to leech of his upcoming fame. Clayton ignored the stupid jerk and then focused on waiting by the school gate for someone and then smiled as he spotted a boy in the upper year by the name of Jake. "Did you make it just fine?" Clayton asked excitedly as Jake took out from his backpack a knitted together black and white suit and a white full face mask with cut off lenses covering the eyeholes in the mask.
"I had it made to your design Clayton but I wonder why you want it, are you going to a party or something as I think Halloween is a little while from now." Jake told him in a tone which showed he did not really care. "So we are even from the tutoring you gave me last year?" Jake asked and Clayton nodded dismissively as he put the suit in his own backpack.
"You will see soon enough Jake." Clayton told him excitedly as he walked back home.
*S*
That night at Empire State University, an African American man with glasses and a scientist's coat was studying a corked up bottle filled with black ooze like liquid that seemed to be moving and trying to escape, "I don't suppose the project yielded any luck Conrad." said a voice as Doctor Otto Octavius walked into the lab to greet the deputy head scientist at ESU, Doctor Conrad Marcus. The project Otto had given to him was to experiment on the leftover alien spores all scooped out from the rock and combine it with blood from the spider specimens from their Cross-Species Genetics experiment.
"Unfortunately no Doctor Octavius, the spores seemed to be reacting very badly and it has created what could only be called a venomous atrocity, until we can find a way to calm it down. I am sorry to say we had a few bodies that I had to hide away..." Conrad told his boss, "I still don't understand why you specifically wanted the Spider research connected to it." Conrad told him picking up the bottle. Octavius was disappointed by this result, the combination of the strength that the spores gave Colonel Jameson and the power of Spider-Man would create the ultimate specimen.
"I believe it is my research that created the Spider-Man out there, if only the dead spider responsible did not go missing." Octavius grunted to which Conrad batted an unconvinced sceptical eye at it. "Put the specimen in Locker 14 until I can think of a way to use it." Octavius told him and he nodded leaving with the bottle to store it away. Octavius then opened up a laptop and set up a video conference with Hammerhead. "So I understand that Mr Mason has left your service and you are asking for my service?" Octavius asked politely to the crime boss.
"Mason did not stay to get arrested when Mace ratted out the location of the lab I set up for him so it was empty when the police came to raid it." Hammerhead told him through the screen and grunted. "So I understand that you turned Deacon into that fly monster?" Hammerhead asked and Octavius smiled with a nod.
"An experiment to test my Cross-Species Genetics research months ago, I would believe this could start a most wonderful partnership..."
*S*
The next morning Fred Myers in his suit and using the improved boomerangs that Mason had given him after Hammerhead helped him to escape, ran out of a bank with two bags filled with stolen money through the hole he made using one of his boomerangs. As the alarm sounded he shouted at the man that was his getaway driver "hurry to our truck, any luck we can get out of here before the police or Jameson gets here, hopefully Jameson is tied up with some press interview at the moment and that masked webhead is not around anymore..."
Then everyone nearby plus Myers and his getaway driver heard loud music with a lot of 'boom' coming from the air and they all looked up to see Clayton Cole in his new outfit along with the gloves and boots with the sonic waves generators attached to them (which was using to hover in the sky) plus backpack with an enhanced boombox playing his new theme music. Myers and his getaway driver groaned as Myers muttered "oh great, another masked loony to worry about!"
Clayton was excited that he was going to deal with his first adventure as a superhero, Myers from what he recalled was technically the first villain that Spider-Man had defeated after he gone public so it should be fitting that he should be the first villain that he defeats. "Ladies and Gentlemen, never fear for it is I your newest protector of New York City!" Clayton shouted with an action pose as he landed not too roughly on the ground but managed to retain his pose. "You can refer to me as the Spectacular Sultan of Sound, Clash and please hold your applause while I deal with these menaces!" Clayton shouted to the people around him who were pointing to behind him, he then turned around and had to dodge one of Myers' hi tech boomerangs as it exploded after passing him. But then noticed Myers and his henchman were running to their getaway truck.
Clayton then used the generators on his gloves to send sonic waves at Myers and his henchman sending them crashing into their truck and the truck crashing into the wall of a nearby building. There were mutterings as Clayton took a bow as the police arrived, "Nice job you idiot!" shouted a police officer at him causing Clayton to be taken aback. "You could have murdered them with that!" the officer told him causing Clayton to think that maybe he could set the power of his generators down a notch so he turned down the notches of his gloves.
Clayton then felt a slight tap on his shoulder and turned around to see John standing there with a glare to him. "Oh awesome Colonel Jupiter, I am sorry to say you are a bit late for a team up as I already took care of the bad guys here..." Clayton said but paused when he saw the glare that John was giving him. "Something the matter?" Clayton asked a bit concerned as John gave a slight sigh.
"That was tremendously reckless, not only could you have gotten them killed but you could have gotten bystanders killed as well." John told him sternly as Clayton took a step back. "While I am impressed with the gadgets you have there, I think using them here is a tad irresponsible so I think you might want to give this up..." John told him with a shake of his head to Clayton's disbelief.
"Hey I don't think anyone made you the authority of if someone could be a superhero or not, I am just getting started." Clayton told him dismissively as he was about to take off with the sonic generators on his boots only to be caught by John with the device on his suit starting to red.
"Please, not only am I doing this for your benefit but for the saftey of everyone around you.." John said before Clayton aimed his glove at John and sent a sonic wave at him managing to send him back which was getting him mad. "Look I don't want to play games here..." John told him getting even angrier but Clayton used a sonic wave to send him crashing into a wall.
John then looked angry as he charged Clayton which he panicked and began to try flying away but was just able to dodge a car that John picked up to throw at him. "Hey who's endangering civilians now!" Clayton shouted at him while sending another sonic wave at him which caused him to go red in the face as the device on his suit was now began glowing a bright red flash.
John then screamed in rage and then used a running jump to leap away to get away from Clash, "Uh... what just happened?" Clayton asked looking at the damage around him and the glares sending this way, this was not supposed to happen! "Be calm Clayton, I can fix this, I will find Colonel Jupiter another time when he is calm and we can talk this out and then you can I will do some damage control with the people... tell them I will be more careful so they can trust me more..." Clayton said as he then began flying away as the police officers were getting their guns out to point at them.
He was going to this old shack he found in an abandoned park that he decided to use as the new secret headquarters of Clash, there he can keep his Clash stuff so that no one will be able to find them at his house. he may have to contact Jake again to make sure he will be quiet if he sees the news and recognises the outfit. He knew he could fix this...
*S*
Peter and Hobie were this time at Hobie's that afternoon, Hobie's father worked as a window washer and part time mechanic so he was quite busy most of the time and Hobie's mum was downstairs signing some paperwork for her job as a real estate agent. Both of them were watching the news of the fallout of Clash V Colonel Jupiter as Whitney Chang's voice narrated the footage "The battle between the self styled Clash and Colonel John Jameson operating under Colonel Jupiter has caused quite a bit of collateral damage, police have yet to find the whereabouts of the out of control Colonel Jameson or the mysterious individual under the mask of Clash..."
As the TV now showed footage of employees of the construction and insurance company Damage Control showing up, Peter furiously got out his phone and ran Clayton's number, he impatiently waited until Clayton answered with a hello but he did not give him any time after that before shouting "I am watching the news showing some guy called Clash!"
"Oh yeah I heard of that story too Peter..." Clayton's voice told him nervously and Peter was waiting for his excuse. "...I think his stuff, music and costume is awesome but I think he just needs practice..." Clayton told him but Peter was not in any mood for any games.
"Clayton you have been telling me and Hobie for weeks about how you were going to build gadgets to try and be a superhero, you showed the sketch of the exact same costume and the phone footage you had of yourself testing the gadgets!" Peter yelled into the phone furiously. "Clayton, you have a chance to own up for this and do the responsible thing, turn yourself in and deal with the consequences!" Peter told him a little less harshly.
"I decided to give it all up Peter so whoever is in that awesome Clash suit must not be me." Clayton told him and Peter could not believe his nerve. Before he could continue Clayton told him "I may have accidentally deleted my video and may have also accidentally ripped up all of my costume design ideas. Plus I think Clash might have his own secret headquarters where he keeps his stuff so even if anyone searched his bag or house they would not find his superhero stuff. So even if I was Clash, you would be accusing me without any evidence and I doubt anyone would take you seriously if you told them. I am sure Clash will be a better hero from now on." Clayton said before hanging up making Peter froze before he turned his phone off.
He then looked down and told him that Clayton covered his tracks so they don't have any evidence to accuse Clayton with. "Now I guess it is up to someone else in a mask to stop Clayton before he gets more reckless." Hobie told Peter with a smile and he was silent. Hobie had enough and shouted at Peter saying "Pete this is gone on for far enough, you told me you became Spider-Man because you were guilty that you doing nothing meant that your uncle got killed. You are good at this Pete and you know what your responsibility is, you know what you have to do and if Colonel Jameson outs you then we will think of someone then." Hobie shouted at him before taking a deep breath.
Hobie knew his best friend needed this encourage so he put his arm over Peter's shoulder and said "great power comes with great responsibility, if Clayton wants to be reckless then it's your responsibility to catch him and stop him before more people gets hurt. Plus I think with the state Colonel Jameson is in, I think he needs to stopped as well. You may be young Pete but you know you have these powers for a reason." Hobie told him softly before sitting down with his arms crossed.
Peter sighed when he thought it over, Hobie was right he was sulking for far too long. "Well it's a good thing I still have my Spidey stuff in my room and maybe we can talk to Professor Connors about what to do with Colonel Jameson." Peter told him with a grin and Hobie returned the grin.
Hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter and if you like or dislike the fact that in this universe Mysterio is jsut a fictional villain and Beck his actor as I believe there was something similar in the Ultimate Comics. I also want to know what you think of this arc I started.