The Darkness Within

A Shadow/Spider-Man Crossover Novella by Stephensmat and Scarlet

Chapter Ten: Plans Gone Awry

The Story So Far: With Sandman dead, Stephen begins questioning the wisdom of urging Peter to embrace the feelings of Vendetta, and a consultation with The Marpa Tulku on the true nature of the dark evil Stephen can now feel but cannot place leaves him further confused and conflicted. Still upset at Peter's disregard for her feelings from the Spidey Day festival, Mary Jane Watson throws herself into the mission of watching Harry Osborn for signs that The Shadow's mind wipe to block out the Goblin's own vendetta may be failing, only to realize she is unfairly manipulating Harry's former feelings for her…as well as uncomfortably reviving her own unresolved issues with him. As MJ flees the discomfort, Harry's memories of his father's demise at the hands of Spider-Man's suddenly return, and his descent into madness returns full force as well…

Stephen Cranston had just bid farewell to The Tulku at Grand Central and was on his way back to Cranston Manor when his cell phone rang. He grumbled when he saw it was Chloe calling him. "I'm fairly sure I told you to cancel all of my appointments for the rest of the day," he warned the caller upon answering, "so there'd better be…"

"Tony Stark's missing," Chloe cut him off. "And may be dead."

And with that, Stephen's entire anger rant stopped in its tracks. "What?"

"Bailey just called. He was on a conference call with Stark's people when he overheard somebody telling Obadiah Stane something in the background right about the time the first rumors started flying on the net about a major roadside ambush in Afghanistan and that Tony Stark was in that convoy. Bailey says he's already put a call into his own contacts at DoD trying to get a confirmation on the story …"

Stephen glanced out the window of his cab at the news tickers in Times Square. "DoD just confirmed it," he updated his secretary.

He barely heard Chloe gasp as he tried to digest the headline himself:

"BREAKING: STARK INDUSTRIES CEO TONY STARK, MILITARY CONVOY, AMBUSHED IN AFGHANISTAN…SEVEN U.S. SOLDIERS DEAD…STARK'S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN…"

For some strange reason, his overactive psyche kept replaying his earlier conversation with Sam Bailey as audio while the words streamed by. The strange combination of audio and visual cues made him wonder if it was mere coincidence that Obadiah Stane seemed to be so eager to get their joint venture with Cranston Industries started.

Then he wondered if he was simply getting paranoid about way too much lately.

Then he reminded himself that it was his job to be this paranoid and that, in his not-inconsiderable experience, very little in life happened by mere coincidence.

Whatever was going on, he could swear he heard yet another dragon roaring somewhere.

Sarah opened the door. MJ was there, with tears in her eyes.

"MJ?" Sarah said in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Me," MJ cried. "I screwed it all up."

Sarah pulled her friend inside and gave her a tight hug.

"How the Hell did we not know about this before CNN?" Stephen demanded first-thing as he came off the elevator; speed-walking through the hall toward his boardroom.

Chloe was right with him, handing over stacks of printouts as she did. "The DoD had the whole thing hushed up-nobody was supposed to know Stark was going over there in the first place, much less that he'd be in a roadside convoy getting ambushed. But then it came out that one of the soldiers in his escort tweeted about who was in his Humvee, and then tweeted that they'd been hit. Those are summaries of what's been published by the bloggers already, which is probably the best source of info we're going to get for a while…"

"…and these also force DoD to at least put on a public show of trying to find Stark, and Stark should be eternally grateful for that, because it potentially increases his chances for a successful rescue-if, indeed, he's just missing and not dead." Stephen frowned. "But if Stark was over there covertly, then the publicity might just make it harder for him to be found alive-the people who ambushed his motorcade may not have known there was anybody of such strategic importance in it until the bloggers, CNN, FOX, etc., all blew his cover." He tried not to let his own feelings about identities and cover stories being blown show on his face. "Chloe, there'll be about a thousand stockholders who want to know how this affects us. I don't have an answer for them yet. Some of them may have my number."

"I'll take care of it boss." Chloe promised. "Can I call LA?"

"Who do you know in LA?"

"Pepper Potts."

Stephen smirked. "Pepper's probably gonna be pretty pissed."

"Say that fast three times." Chloe quipped.

"We send flowers?"

"And a fruit basket big enough to feed his staff through the winter."

"Good girl." Stephen and Chloe broke company as Stephen reached his boardroom. Most everyone was on the phone.

"Have they suspended trading on the market yet?" Stephen asked by way of introduction.

"About two minutes before news broke about Afghanistan." Bailey reported. "Nobody's taken a hit yet, because nobody can buy or sell."

"Australia's up in less than six hours," one board member noted. "SEC's trying to avoid panic here, but that won't help halfway around the world, and everybody will be watching ASX for the first world financial indicators. Sellers will outnumber buyers in seconds. With the economy the way it is..."

"What about us?" Stephen demanded.

"The joint venture Stane was after hadn't been co-signed yet. We aren't involved."

"Maybe not, but Stark Industries is connected to a bunch of non-military projects around the world; based on military funding. All those people who get grants won't know what to do. Most of those people come to us as well. Don't think for a second that this won't come to our door eventually."

"Stane's been on the phone to everyone, trying to convince them that the factories are still running."

"They are." Stephen agreed. "Stark never had much interest in his own company. Stane's the one running things, and he's right here." He checked his watch. "O.K. people, the U.S. markets close in three minutes; so we can be sure trading won't begin again until at least tomorrow. Go home, say hello to your loved ones, and grab a meal, a shower and a night's sleep. If they haven't found him by tomorrow, odds are they never will. Once the market opens again, we find out how this will play." He picked up his jacket. "See you in the morning."

Bailey followed Cranston out. "I don't think there'll be as much chaos as people seem to think. The loss of a billionaire isn't what it used to be."

"A fact I noticed when Victor died." Stephen said coldly. "But what worries me is Stane."

"Obadiah? What about him?"

"He's worked for that family for two generations. He's got more of himself invested in that family than Tony Stark ever did. What will he do now?"

Sam gave it some thought. "Stark Industries will be bleeding money the second trading is restarted tomorrow. Stane will have to do something." He shook his head. "Frankly, I doubt it'll drop the stock more than ten points. Fifteen max. Stark has always been the designer, but the company gets run from Stane's desk; always has been. He and Stark's PA have been running that company in all but name for years. Making Stark Industries into Stane Industries won't take too long."

"And there won't be much for us to do until Stane makes a move." Stephen nodded. "Sam, does the timing seem at all strange to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stane was trying to get us to co-sign huge deals and loans. If we had gone through with it, that would be a blessing to Stark Industries right now. The offer was out of the blue…"

"Not really. He made similar offers to other players too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The last six months, Stark Industries has been reaching out to all the top Muscle on Wall Street."

"Does that seem at all odd to you?"

"No, it seems like they're trying to make allies. And who on Wall Street isn't right now?"

Stephen took that in and nodded.

Bailey was not dissuaded. "What? You think there was more to it?"

Stephen thought about it again and shook his head. "Nah. I'm just being paranoid."

Sam grinned. "Your uncle had the same quality about some of his Wall Street rivals. I told him that you don't have to be paranoid just because everyone's out to get you."

Stephen smirked. "Good advice. Go home Sam."

"See you in the morning."

After finally calming down to mild sobs, MJ had managed to get out the whole story.

"You think Peter's gonna be angry?" Sarah asked her.

MJ drew another tissue out of the box Sarah had placed between them and wiped tears from her eyes and mascara from her cheeks. "Of course he will. After I flat out accused him of something going on with Gwen…"

"Well, every time you turn around there's another photo of Spider-Man making out with Gwen Stacy!" The last two words spat with venom, and then Sarah calmed down. "But frankly, the worst he's done is help her with her homework."

MJ whined and buried her face in another tissue.

Sarah sighed. "Listen...MJ..."

"Yeah?" MJ's muffled voice replied from behind the tissue.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Put that down, honey. Just because I can see your face with my brain if I want to doesn't mean I'd not see it with my eyes. Now, come on, sweetie. Do you trust Peter?"

MJ put the tissue down. "Of course I do, I was just..."

"I know. Orders."

MJ wiped away more tears. "Orders."

"But that's not why you're slipping off with Stephen every night."

MJ wondered it odd that she hadn't noticed the invisible rope Sarah had just pulled to lower the proverbial boom onto her.

"Relax. Booms aren't my style."

Now MJ caught that one. "Neither is mind-reading. Where is he?"

"Why are you slipping off with Stephen anyway?" Sarah pressed.

This had to be a test, and unlike Sarah, MJ knew how to pass one of Stephen's tests the first time. "You know I can't tell you that."

"Look, I'm not going to tell Peter, and I'm not mad or jealous or anything like that!"

MJ raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you are."

"Yes, I'm going to tell Peter?"

"Yes, you're mad and jealous and everything like that."

"All right, fine. I'm mad. I'm jealous. I'm also really annoyed that I've known for months that something was going on, but Stephen first wouldn't tell me anything, and now he's blocking my sight! You have no idea how annoying that is!"

"I'm beginning to figure it out." MJ was smiling deviously now. "You're good, you know? You've added 'deliberately misleading' to the ditzy act. You seriously had me thinking Stephen was feeding you mind-reads as some kind of test."

Sarah looked away. "Truthful answer for truthful answer?"

MJ gave it some serious consideration. "I can't tell you the truth you want to know, Sarah. And you already know that."

"Truthful answer." She looked away. "That wasn't a mind-read-at least, not in the sense you know it. That was my response to the picture your brain created of me lowering the boom on you."

"Is that how clairvoyants read minds?"

She threw up her hands. "Who knows?"

Truthful answer. "Things O.K. between you two?"

"Getting better," Sarah admitted. "Things were rough after Victor, but the ice is thawing. I've been trying to get him to teach me how to use this brain of mine."

"He wouldn't want to. The more you know, the more involved you are."

"I know, that's why I haven't pushed it. But I wish he'd warned me about that sort of thing. I've been doing it for a week now without really understanding what it was."

Now MJ was curious. "When did you finally figure it out?"

"Just now, because I figured the one person who could tell me what kind of psychic behavior I was experiencing was the one non-psychic I can trust."

That did it. Now MJ was no longer even considering crying as she burst into laughter. "Happy to be of service. So, what other psychic parlor tricks have you picked up lately?"

"Well," Sarah began as she shut her eyes. "I can see him from here."

MJ looked intrigued. "Really?"

"Well, not always, but if I try real hard, I can actually see him." She blushed bright red. "He's in the shower right now."

MJ laughed. Sarah didn't.

"You peeping Tom!" MJ laughed.

"Just, trying to get the picture clearer." Beat. And then a huge smile spread across Sarah's face.

MJ hid her face in the tissue again. "Sarah!"

Stephen stepped out of the shower, started drying himself off, then paused before taking the towel and wiping the mirror clear.

"That's weird," Sarah commented. "I'm looking through his eyes. I can see his face in the mirror."

Stephen spun and glared at his reflection. "Get out of my head!"

Sarah yelped and her eyes flew open. "He caught me!"

MJ fell back on the couch laughing.

"Oh, boy, am I gonna get it!" Sarah wailed. "He's getting much better and sensing when I watch."

MJ grinned. "Do you watch him in the shower often?"

"MJ!"

"I was just asking."

"Well, I don't do that sort of thing." Sarah snapped. Beat. "Besides. He's always keeping people out these days. Especially after that thing with Brackett."

MJ grinned eagerly. "Now do Peter."

Sarah laughed and shut her eyes. "Peter's tougher. Stephen's much easier to notice telepathically, but I think Peter's at NYU. I think in the science labs." Her grin slipped a bit.

MJ noticed. "Is he working there alone?" She asked pointedly.

"Yes." Sarah said without hesitation.

MJ started to call her on the lie when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"So, you enjoying the show?" Stephen snapped.

MJ sighed. "Sarah's enjoying it more than I am," she mumbled. "Stephen, we need to talk."

"Nothing good ever followed those words."

"I know."

"Tell Sarah to check her voice mail, because I imagine Marsh is the call she's been ignoring while the two of you are gossiping. Then, as soon as she realizes she's back on the clock tonight, get over here."

MJ looked over at Sarah. "Boss says check your voice mail."

"It's just Marsh," Sarah responded.

MJ held out the phone. "Do you want to tell him that, or were you under the impression I was relaying a suggestion?"

Sarah drew back. Amazing how a conversation could shift around so quickly. She drew her cell phone out of her purse and dialed voicemail without ever taking her eyes off MJ.

And then as soon as she realized what Marsh was desperately trying to reach her about, MJ was totally forgotten.

The sewer was the most organized chaos on the island. Somehow, it all flowed to the same place, even though it came from every building and drain, some of it a century newer than the rest.

But eventually, enough of Flint Marko had flowed into the Hudson River that he was able to summon himself to the shore.

Even then, days had passed since he'd finally reached solid ground again. The water continually worked against him, and there was so much grit in the water itself that finding new sand was hard.

And then the water had him glued, keeping the miniscule particles from moving as he told them to.

Days passed. Many days. The sun rose and baked some of the sand dry. Enough that he could force himself further up the beach, disembodied and helpless.

More days passed, and the sand gathered, until he could raise a formless shape further down the shore, to where there was actual sand.

But late one night, then the air around him was silent, and Marko was sure it was safe….

…Sandman rose from the waters, ready for battle, and was now on the march.

It was more than keeping him from money now. The Spider had cold-bloodedly killed him. Or tried to at least. Some fluke of what he was now had spared him.

Get pushed, push back, or be shoved aside again and again. Standard prison rule applied.

So, the Spider had to go.

The Spider had to go or Marko would spend more weeks helpless somewhere, disembodied in a living death.

The Spider had to go.

It wouldn't be easy, and with the city still hanging banners proclaiming their love for Spider-Man, he would be the most hated man in New York history, but the Spider had to go.

He thought of Penny.

The rest was simple.

"Seldom do I hear a cry for help so well-rehearsed," Stephen responded.

MJ sighed and sat down. "Stephen… I want out. Playing Harry's amnesia so that he'll fall back in love with me, on the off chance he's still a bad guy is…what's the word I'm looking for? Damned cold blooded."

"You're saying that because you think I don't know that's what it is? Or because you think that somehow I don't know that you're even capable of such a thing?"

"I'm saying that because I'm not like you. Using people actually bothers me."

Beat. Stephen's gaze had actually lowered the temperature in the room. "And yet you do it so well, my dear."

"But I don't want to!"

This time the temperature held steady. But so did Stephen's gaze.

"I'm sorry." MJ said quietly. "Been a rough day."

"That it has," Stephen muttered. "MJ, it wasn't a good thing to do, even if you do do it so well. But we all do what we have to do to survive. I'd order you to do it again. And you'd do it again, and again, and again if I ordered you to, because you're beginning to understand that it isn't just an order. Who else could do it? Who else is there?"

"Kit Ramirez was in a hold up yesterday."

Kit Ramirez. MJ's first assignment in her new role as Network Coordinator, placing an agent in the middle of the college drug scene as a store clerk. "I heard. Some junkie who needed money."

"And he picked her store to rob. He was a regular there."

"She wasn't hurt."

"She could have been." MJ looked up at him. "I put her there, Stephen. If she got killed, it would have been my fault."

"My fault," Stephen corrected. "My agents. My network. My fault."

"I picked the place."

"And I gave the order," Stephen said sharply. "Every order I give, everything that happens to the people under my charge, comes back to me eventually. You can tell yourself that you did wrong by Harry, but the buck stops here." He slammed his fist down on his desk, atop a photo spread he'd done for charity that was in Vanity Fair. "This guy? He's a façade. But that shadow behind him? That's the real deal. That's the face of a Cranston. The true face."

MJ looked at him. "They both are. But which one others perceive as true is entirely under your control."

Stephen almost startled under MJ's choice of words, then remembered the need for self-control. "Good answer." And then he let MJ see which face was in control at that moment. "So, forgive me?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "I still don't like you, though."

Stephen shrugged. "I can live with that."

MJ sighed. "I ran out of the Osborn house, and the first person I wanted to talk to was Peter. Except I couldn't go to him, could I? Because I'm keeping secrets from him now. About Harry, about… about you…"

"It is your job to keep those secrets. And your duty." The face in control never changed to a casual onlooker, but the look in Stephen's eyes was hard, dark, and cold as frozen lava, and there was absolutely no doubt which façade was now in control. "Because I make those decisions on whose secrets you have to keep. I keep more secrets than you will ever know. Because that is who I am. I make the decisions. I make the choices. I take all the credit." He looked at her a bit softer now. "And I take all the blame."

MJ sighed. "I had to dance around Sarah's questions today too. I don't like that I'm hiding things from my own team too. I want… I want to be honest with Sarah and Peter at least."

After-class tutoring with Gwen had been diverting, and more than a little amusing for Peter to see the Bugle picture of her and him kissing taped into the front of her notebooks.

But the picture of the old costume brought back the new one, and all that came with it. Including killing Marko.

He was dying inside. The man had killed his uncle Ben! The man had ruined his family. The man had started this endless guilt trip to make him throw away his life night after night fighting an endless war he couldn't win.

Why should he have spared Marko?

Because he was Spider-Man.

But was he supposed to do nothing?

No, he wasn't supposed to do nothing. Even Uncle Ben had been clear on that point.

And that gave Peter pause. Yes. Uncle Ben had been clear on that point. Amazing how his brain never seemed to want to replay that part of their final conversation-when Peter asked if he was just supposed to have run away from Flash Thompson during their school fight, Ben had been very clear. No, he wasn't supposed to have just run away.

So he wasn't supposed to have just done nothing and keep running away from the feelings he really had about Marko. He had to do something. He was Spider-Man, dammit, and if Spider-Man wasn't supposed to do something about this, who the Hell was?

Peter hadn't really realized at what point he'd started walking toward Cranston Manor, nor why, but before long he'd come all the way across town and was now standing in front of Stephen's door.

Andrew opened it. "Mr. Parker?" the majordomo queried.

For whatever reason, Peter was now here and it was time to make use of the best resource he had to answer all of these dark conflicting questions. "Is Stephen in?"

"Yes, sir, but he's busy at the moment."

"Yeah. O.K., I'll wait."

Heading into the study, he paced again. Flint Marko was the man who had ruined his family. This was the man who had made the words 'power' and 'responsibility' a curse on his life. He was not supposed to just run away from that. He was Spider-Man, dammit!

"I know you're not comfortable lying to Peter."

The words snapped Peter out of his pacing.

So did the voice. That was Stephen's voice. Stephen's voice, telling someone that he knew they weren't comfortable about lying to Peter.

Peter barely even processed the hint of amazement he felt at how sharp his hearing had become as he followed that voice through the halls to the library.

"It's O.K."

Now that was MJ's voice. MJ's voice telling Stephen's voice that it was O.K. O.K. About what, exactly? Surely she wasn't just being polite…

"We didn't know it was going to go on so long," she continued, as if answering his unspoken question. "Still..."

"You want to tell him now?"

"I do. But I know you don't. And… I am an agent. Even if what we're doing doesn't count as Agent work…"

"MJ...I know you love Peter, and I know I have no right to ask you to keep this up, but if he or Sarah found out what was going on between us..."

"What happened to honesty is the best policy?"

"Have I ever been completely honest about anything personal?"

"No. Y'know, you haven't actually been on a date with Sarah yet, why do you have to be so sneaky? Everything the team has gone through lately, we're all a little gun-shy around each other. They'd understand."

"If you're so sure of that, why are you so tense every night? Don't think I didn't notice."

"Look, you are the most socially misfit high maintenance mess I've ever met."

"Stop sweet talking me, baby." Stephen voice was nonplussed.

"Be serious for a minute." There was a pause in the conversation that Peter wasn't sure he wanted to know about, then MJ continued. "I know that even going as far as we have…no matter how it started…was a huge deal for you, and it's kind of flattering that you picked me."

Peter turned on his heel and calmly walked out.

After all, killing Stephen wouldn't be nearly as hard as killing Marko, but MJ was present.

Such a thing needed planning before execution.

Execution. Good word. Stephen's gonna die.

MJ left at some point, soon after dark.

She did not notice a coil of black emerging from the gargoyles above Cranston Manor.

Peter wasn't sure exactly when he had put his costume back on. It was just… there again.

As it should be.

Inwardly, Peter had to admit a certain respect for Stephen's chutzpa. He was actually crossing Spider-Man, his partner. The man who could break him in half one handed. The man who had taken on super villains single-handedly. The man who had set up all the pressure sensors on the Manor rooftop.

Spider-Man dropped into the Manor, ready to kill. He could feel his new costume bunching around his chest, making his heart race again. That heavy bass beating noise was pounding through his brain like a war drum.

Remember this feeling Parker, this is the force of Vendetta.

Peter could feel it in his knuckles. He was going to smash Stephen straight under the chin, and bye-bye chin! He would squish so easily…

Spider-Man stalked into Stephen's study. No lights were on, except for the roaring fireplace, which somehow gave off no heat. The windows were dark as the night deepened.

Spider-Man took in the room. The ceilings were high enough for him to wait invisibly…

A shadow fell over him, and Peter turned.

Stephen was framed in the door, looking borderline violent. "So, does the fact that you're here in your ninja black uniform mean you know?" The Shadow's voice intoned.

Spider-Man felt a shudder go through him. He had forgotten for a second that Stephen was no mere mortal. Mere mortals did not cast shadows in the dark. "I've heard a few things I don't like."

"You told me you finished it."

Peter blinked under his new mask. What conversation was Stephen having? "What?"

The Shadow gave a scornful laugh. "Here I thought that Marko of all people…Harry couldn't make you do it, his father couldn't, Octavius couldn't…I would have thought, of all people to let go, Marko would be the one you finally finished."

Beat. Peter ripped off his mask and forgot all about Stephen and MJ, forgot all about Harry, and forgot all about Aunt May. "Marko's ALIVE?"

AN: I know what you're thinking. We can only put off the explosion for so long. Big BIG things coming in the next few chapters. Read and Review!