The Marvelous Spider-Man

Chapter Forty Eight

By

Jason Richard

Quentin Beck, in his lab coat, stood in front of the enforcers and Felicia in the warehouse. Quentin looked quite pleased with himself for some reason, while the enforcers and Felicia looked indifferent. Behind Quentin was a holographic image depicting the Oscorp botanical gardens. Their next plan to frame Spiderman was going to start soon. Very soon.

"As you can see," said Beck jovially. "Our masked ball will take place here." he pointed to the image and waved his hands, changing the hologram to the outside of the facility. "Spiderman will no doubt be there. At that moment Felicia, our Spiderman imposter, will lure Spiderman into this area. Naturally he will want to capture his doppelganger to prove his innocence, so she makes the perfect bait." He pointed and the area was marked with a red dot. "From there we will trap him in this room while Felicia escapes and comes to attack me. Once done, we can release Spiderman and attack him on the grounds of self defense."

"Why don't you have the enforcers distract him again while I frame Spiderman?" asked Felicia.

"This time," said Beck. "I will need them with me. It would look suspicious if Mysterio's three mysterious bodyguards were to suddenly disappear. I'm afraid you'll be on your own Felicia."

"Perfect," said Felicia sarcastically, though the ability to talk with Spiderman alone was actually just the opportunity she was looking for.

"Finally," said Fancy Dan. "I was hoping for some real action. I hated holding back the last time we fought that jerk."

Felicia was caught off guard. "Holding back?"

"Of course," said Montana. "We had to let Spiderman think he'd won when it was time to make the switch. Do you really think those projectile webs of his would really hurt Ox in that suit?"

"Indeed," said Quentin. "Not to mention the solvent I've developed. After collecting sample's of Spiderman's webbing for this long to make my own copy, I should know how to counteract it. Give Mr. Dan's sword a rub in the stuff and He'll cut right through Spiderman's strands."

"Looking forward to it," said Dan. "Pay him back for making fun of me in that stupid Native American costume you made me wear." he glared at Montana.

"Oh let it go," said Montana.

"So," said Felicia. "That move where Spiderman gave himself extra line to get his projectile past your whip and into your face. You let that happen on purpose.?

Montana just glared, and Felicia just smirked, as that just confirmed her suspicion. In her head she was thinking she felt a little better about her decision not to fight the enforcers alone, since they were holding back. She had inherited good instincts from her father. On the other hand it was nice to see Spiderman get the drop on at least one of the enforcers. That made her feel better about her own chances of getting out of this predicament.

"Please," said Beck. "Please. Let's not fight amongst ourselves. We all have our roles to play in all this, so let's do what we must. Agreed?"

Everyone nodded. The meeting was over so they started going their separate ways, until Felicia noticed Quentin working on a new hologram. It was just a bundle of blurry light, so Felicia didn't know what it was going to be, but she became curious.

"This for the plan?" she asked. "Or are you working on something for arts sake?"

"Oh," said Beck. "When I and the city's only hero I will have plenty of time to work on art for arts sake. I have so many ideas for new illusions. I can't wait to get started! But no, sadly I'm working on a backup plan now. My current plan is in place, but I won't underestimate Spiderman. I suspect He knows I will probably frame him for something else, so in case my current plan goes awry, I have another way of...destroying him."

He chuckled, and Felicia didn't like the sound of it.

"Thank you for asking," said Quentin with his usual jovial attitude. "I appreciate it whenever someone takes interest in my work."

Felicia smiled pleasantly, but inside she was thinking that Quentin's jovial face wasn't the real him. As she turned to leave she realized the current plan couldn't get started soon enough. There was something...not quite right about Beck, and she wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

...

Peter found himself in the hospital, sitting by Aunt May's bedside and watching her sleep. How could this have happened? Of course he knew the answer. Aunt May had been showing signs of old age for longer than Peter cared to admit. Part of him knew this kind of thing had to happen sooner or later. So why...why did it catch him off guard so much?

Of course Gwen and Harry had stopped by to offer their support. Fortunately they weren't fighting now. They probably knew this wasn't the right time, as Peter knew it wasn't the right time to ask what their problem was.

Peter found himself wondering if Mrs. Harding was right about something. Was Peter really too young for this? Could Peter be the man of the house and be Spiderman? Even now he knew he had a job to do. Mysterio's masked ball was tomorrow, and if Spiderman didn't show up he'd just get framed again. He might just forget about what people thought about him, but if the police were on his tale it would just make it harder to deal with Osborn and whatever he was planning.

What was Peter to do? Just abandon his Aunt? Just abandon being Spiderman? How could he weigh both responsibilities together?

Peter remembered his Uncle Ben sleeping at the kitchen table, using a pile of bills as a pillow. Peter had accidently woken him up by knocking over a chair. After a rushed apology, his Uncle Ben had sighed.

"You know Peter," said Uncle Ben. "There are times I envy you."

"What?" asked Peter, little more than twelve at the time.

"Being an adult is...not fun," said Uncle Ben.

Peter got a sour face.

"You don't believe me," said Uncle Ben.

"You always say I'm not old enough to do fun stuff," said Peter.

"Well," said Uncle Ben. "Rollercoasters not withstanding, being old enough to do your, 'fun stuff,' comes with a price." he looked at the bills. "That's another thing you'll understand when you're older."

Peter just grunted irritably and stormed off to his room. Back in in present day Peter was sighing. I get it now, he thought. Trying to be man of the house isn't fun. Funny. I always wanted to grow up faster than I could. Now that I am grown up I just wish I could go back to the way it was. How am I supposed to do this?

It was more doubt than he could bear. Even so, as he took his sleeping Aunt's hand in his own he knew one thing. He wasn't going to give up. Not on Aunt May, and not on Spiderman. He was not ready to quite yet. Not by a long shot.