XIV. Frustration

"Not a 'devil-man', Jonah. A 'daredevil'."

"Like Evel Knievel?" J. Jonah Jameson quirked a skeptical eyebrow at his top reporter.

"Uh, yes," said Ben Urich, checking his notes, "except for the part where he dresses up in a red suit. With horns."

Jameson stared at Urich for several seconds. "And?"

"And, he's running around Hell's Kitchen, beating up criminals and leaving them tied up for the police."

"Fantastic!" said Jameson sarcastically. "Another masked loon taking the law into his own hands! Think this might be related to the red-suited Spider-Man copycat we've been hearing about?"

Jameson and Urich were yet again having one of their famously argumentative discussions on the floor of the Daily Bugle office. Peter Parker and Joe "Robbie" Robertson stood nearby, watching the back-and-forth.

"Uh, not that I've heard, but—"

"Never mind!" snapped Jameson. "Without photos, neither one of them is news! Is Parker here? Parker!"

Peter said, "I've been right here the whole—"

"Parker, you always manage to find these wackos. I want pix of Ben's devil-man for page eight; and I want Spider-Woman, page one—"

"You mean Scarlet Spider," said Peter without thinking. Wait—oh crap—how am I supposed to know that?

Urich and Robertson both shot Peter funny looks. Peter scratched the back of his head nervously and said, "I, uh, I heard that's what she's called. Scarlet Spider. Not Spider-Woman."

Jameson rubbed his chin. "Hm. It's not bad. But the Bugle gets the trademark; after all, we're printing this garbage. You can have a bonus for coming up with the name, though." He rifled through his pockets and came up with a cigar. "Uh… do you smoke?"

"Jonah," said Robbie, "the kid's a kid."

"Oh. Right. Well, I'll come up with something else then. Ben!" He turned his attention back to Urich. "What happened to the Doc Ock story? I sent Leeds out to Oscorp, and he came back with Green Goblin gold! You've delivered bupkis!"

"I'm close to breaking it wide open, Jonah!" exclaimed Ben. "I can just tell, there's a huge lead, as soon as I figure out the connection with Frederick Foswell—"

"Foswell!" shouted Jonah, who put his hands on his hips and started to storm around the office. "That ungrateful crook! After everything I did for him—gave him a job here at the Bugle, ran the story that made his career—and now he doesn't even have the decency to stay crooked and make more news!"

Urich looked over his notes again. "He turned himself into the feds on Monday. Said he was willing to turn state's evidence against the crime-lords. Jonah, this could be our first solid proof since Silvermane that there really are still crime-lords!"

"You mean like the Kingpin?" offered Peter, hoping to steer the discussion away all things Spidey-related.

"The kid makes a point," said Uirch. "There are rumors flying around now that Wilson Fisk of all people is connected to the Kingpin! Jonah—"

"Forget it!" snapped Jameson.

"Jonah, you know that where there's smoke, there's usually fire!" countered Urich. "Recognizing a story before it breaks is eighty percent of my job, and I get the feeling—"

"I will not libel the name of another upstanding citizen! The reputation of this paper—"

"You were wrong about Lincoln; who's to say you're not wrong about Fisk!?"

Jameson, meanwhile, had noticed that the desk-phone in his office was ringing. He made his way back over to his desk while he spoke, but he wasn't about to drop the argument with Urich. "He's a philanthropist! Gives millions to charity!"

"So did Lincoln," Urich shot back. "Doesn't mean he wasn't also a crime-boss called Tombstone!"

Jameson held up one finger, putting the discussion on pause, while he picked up the phone and listened to the call. Then he put the phone back down on its cradle and clapped his hands. "Okay, people, listen up. I just got a tip—the Spider-Wo—uh, Scarlet Spider was just seen robbing a bank on Madison Ave. Ben, do you want this one or do I have to give it to Leeds?"

"I'm on it, J.J." said Urich, already packing his things.

"Parker, go with him—where's Parker?"

But Peter had already run off on his own.

• • •

Spider-Man was on the scene mere minutes later. When he arrived, he was astonished to discover that the bank was surrounded by NYPD officers, most of whom had already been webbed up en masse. He landed on the ground next a group of about half a dozen officers (who had been covered in sticky webs along with almost an entire police-car) and started snapping the webbing with his hands, freeing the cops. "Hang on," he said, as pulled a fourth one free.

"Never mind us, Spidey," said the officer. "The copycat is still inside the bank. Go get her!"

"Wait!" shouted a woman in an NYPD ball-cap, jacket, and tactical vest. She was carrying a megaphone in one hand; with the other, she flashed her captain's badge. She marched up to Spider-Man and said, "Hold on just a minute! Are you here to help us, or her?"

"I think you know the answer to that, chief," said Spidey glibly.

"That's Captain to you," came the response. "The name's Jean DeWolff. I'm George Stacy's replacement."

That gave Spidey pause. "You're the new captain in his precinct?"

"In Queens? God, no!" said DeWolff. "But the Commissioner did give me his old job, heading up investigations involving super-powered criminals. I'm willing to let you go in there, Spider-Man, but before I do, I want to know: can you tell me anything at all about this copycat, where she comes from?"

"I know she works for the Green Goblin," he said. "Beyond that, I know what you know." After that, he didn't wait any further. Before Captain DeWolff could utter another word, Spidey was jumping over the webbed-up police car and swinging for the bank entrance.

Just as he reached the front doors, they burst open, and out came Scarlet Spider, swinging on a web-line of her own and carrying several sacks of cash slung over her back. She landed on the bank's flagstone-paved façade in a spider crouch, one hand to the ground.

"We just have to stop meeting like this," said Spidey. "People are starting to talk." He fired a couple of web-funnels, which Scarlet Spider easily dodged by springing into the air and turning a flip right over Spider-Man's head.

Landing on the other side of him, she blew a kiss and said, "Catch me if you can, lover-boy." Then she shot a web-line at a nearby building and sailed off, with Spidey doing likewise a second later, hoping to stay hot on her heels.

A shot rang out and a bullet whizzed by the two of them; down on the ground, Captain DeWolff switched on her megaphone and started chewing out the officer who had shot without her permission, while a friendly was still in the line of fire.

From this part of Lower Manhattan, Scarlet Spider struck an easterly course, heading in the direction of the East River. Spider-Man stayed close behind, right up until the moment when he heard a loud whistle on one of the rooftops. There was Black Cat, sitting on the edge of the roof in a thoughtful pose. Spidey allowed himself to slow down in mid-chase, just long enough to swing by Black Cat and ask, "A little help?"

"I thought you'd never ask," answered Cat, firing her grappling line and joining Spidey in the pursuit.

Meanwhile, that momentary diversion had allowed Scarlet Spider just enough of a head start that she was able to reach into a web-bag and pull out a cell phone. She hit the one number it had on speed-dial. "He's following, as planned."

"Good," answered the Jackal. "You know what to do."

• • •

At that very moment, within the Oscorp R&D facility, Dr. Miles Warren hung up his phone. He was dressed in the Jackal's furry green suit, but with the mask and clawed gloves removed. A look of pure, psychotic glee shone on his face.

Norman Osborn, likewise wearing his costume but minus the mask, walked into the laboratory and greeted his partner-in-crime. "How goes it, Miles?"

"It's incredible!" answered Warren. "The transformation that's come over me… it's not just the enhanced genetics." He held up the Jackal mask and said, "I swear, when I put on this mask, it's like… I become an entirely different person. I've never felt quite so… so very alive! Now I realize why you do what you do!"

Osborn threw his head back and let out a full, throaty laugh. "It's quite liberating, isn't it? A secret identity… a mask between you and the world, freeing you to do anything you want." Osborn looked down at his own green-gloved hands, curled his fingers, and flexed his muscles. "Of course, a few enhancements do help."

"Indeed," said Warren. "What you've accomplished with your 00Z formula, Norman, is nothing short of revolutionary! I'll admit that I'm not nearly as powerful as you. Still, I wouldn't have done things differently. I have a certain fondness for the new genes that I've added to my own."

"What exactly have you done to yourself?" asked Osborn.

"Oh, it's very similar to what I did for Kraven," said Warren. "Except that instead of feline DNA, I've used canine on myself. With a little more care and precision, so that my human appearance wouldn't change."

"You've literally made yourself part-jackal?" Osborn laughed again. "I don't know why, but I feel that it fits you. In any case, Miles, welcome to upper echelon of mankind. You're a superior being now, my friend; revel in it."

"Believe me, Norman, I do."

"Do we have a status update on our pretty little Miss Scarlet?"

"She's already on her way to Riker's," said Warren. "Spider-Man is following, as planned."

"Excellent!"

"I must ask, Norman: why this? Why now?"

"Because it's time we turned all of our attention to eliminating the Kingpin," answered Osborn. "That means keeping Spider-Man distracted. And a little bit of chaos can be a world-class distraction!"

• • •

Scarlet Spider landed on top of a warehouse overlooking a pier on the East River. Spinning two webs, she pulled them tight and stepped back, back, and further back still, until the webs reached their maximum tension. Then she kicked off the ground and fired herself like a slingshot, high into the sky.

Moments later, Spider-Man and Black Cat landed in the same spot. "I can't believe it," said Spidey. "She's headed for Riker's Island!"

"Okay, now this is pathetic," said Cat. "First she robs a bank in broad daylight; now she's sending herself to prison. As a professional thief, I'm just plain offended!"

"We have to find out what she's up to." Now Spidey spun a couple of webs and prepared to undergo the very same slingshot maneuver that Scarlet Spider had just performed.

"I'm honestly not all that keen on zipping over to an island full of jail-bars and prison-guards…" said Cat.

"Well, I'm going," said Spidey. "If you want to come along, grab on and hold tight."

Cat smiled and purred, "Oh, well when you put it that way…" She crept up behind Spider-Man and held him tightly from behind, molding her body against his. Spidey's webs were far stronger than Scarlet Spider's, so they could take a great deal more tension before snapping. That provided enough spring action to send both Spidey and Cat flying over the river together.

• • •

Scarlet Spider punched, kicked, and webbed her way through the surprised guards of the Raft, the extra-maximum-security super-villain wing of Riker's. Having essentially all of Spider-Man's powers (albeit in different proportions; she was much stronger, but not quite as fast or hyper-aware) meant that she was a formidable force indeed, a veritable one-woman army. She'd studied the layout provided by Goblin and Jackal; she knew precisely where she was going. It was a special cell, for a special prisoner.

Once she found a guard with the proper clearance, she wasted no time in snatching him up with a web-line, pulling him towards her, and snapping his neck in one clean motion. She would need his keycard, his handprint, and his retina; so the corpse would be coming with her in its entirety.

At last, she found the cell that she was looking for. She swiped the card, revealing a panel and a scanner. With the dead guard's hand on the panel, she put the head up to the scope and pried the eyelid open. "Access granted," said a pleasant computerized voice.

The room beyond was layered with insulating plastic. Strapped to a vertical slab, with power-draining cables attached to the restraints, was a man with glowing, greenish-yellow skin, wearing part of a rubber insulating suit.

"Max Dillon," said Scarlet Spider.

Dillon gritted his teeth. "I'll only tell you this once, bitch! I really don't like being called 'Max'!"

"Electro, then. I have a message from the Big Man."

"Hold it. That getup makes you look like Spider-Man! What makes you think I'll believe anything you have to say?"

Scarlet Spider tossed the dead guard at Electro's feet. "How about if I set you free?"

Dillon's eyes widened. "You're gonna get me outta here? In that case, I'll do anything you say!"

"Then listen up: the Green Goblin is the new Big Man of Crime. And he has a job for you." Scarlet Spider started unplugging the cables and loosening the restraints. "I let you out. You go do the job. Then you're free to join us… or not. Your choice."

An eager grin appeared on Electro's glowing face. "Lady, you've got yourself a deal."

"Well," said Scarlet, smiling under her mask, "there is one other little catch…"

• • •

Spider-Man and Black Cat followed the trail of bodies, most of them unconscious or webbed up, some of them having been killed outright by Scarlet Spider's immense strength. Then they turned a corner into a deserted hallway, and the lights started to flicker ominously. Arcs of electricity jumped along the ceiling from light-bulb to light-bulb, shorting them out and causing them to shatter, one at a time—each explosive burst getting nearer and nearer to the Spider and the Cat.

"Oh, no," groaned Spider-Man. "Please, don't tell me that she—"

The miniature lightning-bolts arcing from the ceiling came together in the hallway and coalesced into a humanoid form. "Hello, Bug," spat Electro. "Time to get zapped!"

Electro threw a couple of plasma-bolts at Spidey, who bounced off the wall and ceiling to dodge them. Black Cat was just about to rush at Electro (as foolhardy as that move would have been), when she was clobbered by a huge ball of money-sacks all webbed together. Scarlet Spider appeared behind them in the hallway, having just thrown her heist-loot at Cat.

"You really need to stop what you're doing, Scarlet," said Spidey. "You're giving Arachnoid Americans everywhere a bad reputation. And as for you, Maxie," he taunted, "you really oughtta—"

"AAAUUGGHHH! FRY!" shouted Electro, blasting at Spidey again and cutting off his quip.

Black Cat, meanwhile, had recovered her wits and now sat up. Realizing that she had four huge sacks of cash in her lap, she gathered them up and said, "Hey, Spider, just so you know, I'll make sure these get where they need to go once we're done here."

Spider-Man was now dodging both electric bolts and webs. "Do not even think about it," he deadpanned at Cat.

"Oh well," she said, dropping the cash with a sigh. "You can't blame a girl for trying." Then she leapt into the fight, turning a few agile handsprings and launching a kick at Scarlet Spider.

Scarlet responded by spraying a wide mass of webs all over Black Cat, effectively knocking her out of the brawl for the moment. But she didn't stop there. With Black Cat immobilized, she knelt down over her victim, balled a fist, and prepared to deliver a fatal coup de grâce.

That was when a pair of web-lines struck Scarlet Spider in the back—spack, spack!—and Spidey, clinging to the ceiling, pulled hard. Scarlet Spider went flying in Electro's direction. "No, wait!" cried Electro. "Don't touch me, you'll—" But it was too late. In mid-air, Scarlet righted herself and turned her uncontrolled flight into a kick, meaning to bounce off of Electro. She struck him in the chest, which now sent him flying, while she herself received the mother of all electric shocks. She screamed and fell to the ground.

"And that, kids, is why genuine Spidey-brand webbing is preferred by four out of five spider-people over your generic brand-X," said Spider-Man. "Thirty-seven percent webbier than the competition." He fired a mass of webs that pasted Scarlet Spider to the floor.

Electro was by no means done in, though. He now rose up with an angry roar and levitated off the ground, uncontrolled energies crackling off the walls. Spidey realized that he and Cat needed to be somewhere else, and pronto; so he tore the webs off Black Cat and picked her up, preparing to dodge a massive wave of electricity.

Electro was all ready to fire off such a wave, too, but he was stopped by the voice of Scarlet Spider. "Electro!" she said sharply. "Fry the Spider after I get out of the way."

Dillon stopped what he was doing, and the buildup of charge died down. "Oh… yeah, right." He let himself float back down to the ground and started firing tiny bolts of electricity around the edges of the webbing that held Scarlet Spider fast, cooking it away bit by bit.

Back around the corner of the hallway, Spidey and Cat crouched, waiting for a blast that never came. "Okay," said Spidey, "this is bad. We'll never stop Scarlet Spider unless we can take Electro out first. Do you have anything flammable?"

"Flammable?" asked Cat. She reached into a pouch at her belt and pulled out a small device. "Uh… will this do? It's a micro-detonator, used for setting off plastic explosive."

"Perfect," said Spider-Man. He took the detonator, leapt to the ceiling, and crawled around until he found a smoke-detector. Then he squirted a ball of web fluid onto the ceiling, next to the smoke-detector, and set the blast-cap into the webbing, shaping it so that the cap was pointed right at the detector. "Is this remote activated?" he asked.

Cat answered by pulling out the remote control. "Get clear."

Spidey turned away and covered his ears. Just as Electro and Scarlet Spider were coming around the corner, Cat activated the remote. The blast-cap went off; a small burst of flame and smoke exploded on the ceiling, setting off the smoke detector… and the fire alarm… and the sprinkler system.

Electro screamed in terror. Sprinklers all up and down the hallway were dousing everything in sight. Wherever the water struck Electro, sparks flew and he shouted in agony. Now thoroughly confused, frightened, and wracked with pain, he started stumbling down another random hallway, looking for the safety of a dry spot.

Scarlet Spider realized that the jig was up. She covered Electro with webbing to insulate him from the water, grabbed him, and started web-slinging down the hallway.

"After them!" shouted Spider-Man.

"We really shouldn't leave all that money just sitting there," said Black Cat. "Anyone could come by and take it."

"CAT!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming…"

• • •

They chased Scarlet Spider through the labyrinthine halls of the Raft, but she was the one who had studied the layout of the place. She knew the fastest way out of there. Once outside, Electro would be free to travel anywhere in an instant, using the city's power-grid as his own private transportation network. "Do the job," said Scarlet to Electro, freeing him from the web-cocoon. "After that, if you want in on bigger plans, stick around New York. The Green Goblin will find you."

"Understood," said Dillon. He reached for the nearest power-conduit, tore it free of the wall, and disappeared in a shower of sparks and bolts.

Scarlet Spider now made all haste for the Riker's Island Bridge, fleeing the scene as quickly as she could, minutes ahead of Spider-Man and Black Cat.