The Extraordinary Spider-Man - Vol 1

Chapter 24: Fractured

"Thank God for spring break," Harry sighed as he, Peter, and Gwen walked through the hallway.

"No kidding. After how much this semester threw at me, I could really use a break," Peter agreed.

"Wanna walk to that frozen yogurt place nearby?" Gwen asked.

"Sure," Peter responded.

"Totally," Harry agreed.

"So, did anything new happen in my period of self-isolation?" Peter jokingly asked.

Harry chuckled. "Well, I've been talking a bit more with Valeria since the dance. Hopefully, things'll work out."

"You mean a relationship?" Gwen asked.

"Yep," Harry confirmed.

"I wish I could say the same. I haven't been going to chem club anymore, and it's 'cause Charlie's been acting like a total creep," Gwen admitted.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"Well, I told you some of this, but he just started acting all creepy at our last meeting. Like, I hate to be that person, but I think he's got some weird stalkerish crush on me," Gwen explained.

"Yikes," Harry commented.

"Seriously, that's rough," Peter said.

"Tell me about it. He's been texting me a lot recently, and I haven't responded. I don't even know what to say," Gwen sighed.

The three friends walked out of the school.

"This is a tough situation," Harry admitted. "You want to let him down, but at the same time, you don't want to be a complete jerk about it."

"Exactly. And with how creepy he's been acting-" Gwen started.

"Hey, Gwen!"

The three turned around to see Charlie walking over.

"Oh, shit," Gwen muttered as she turned back around.

"Gwen. I just want to talk. Please," Charlie pleaded.

"Please just leave me alone," Gwen requested.

"Come on, don't be like that. I just want to talk things over," Charlie said, persistent. "I can sense there's something between us, and-"

Harry turned around. "Dude, there's nothing between you guys. I'm sorry, but you just gotta move on."

"Yo, mind your business man. Gwen, come on. Let's just talk."

Peter turned around. "She said to leave her alone."

"Back off, bro. Gwen, please."

Charlie placed his hand on Gwen's shoulder, only for Peter to pull it off.

"The fuck, man? Mind your own business!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Stay away from her, Charlie. Stop acting like a freakin' creep and just move on," Peter demanded.

"This is between me and her. I'm the one that's been bonding with her and-" Charlie tried to protest.

"And you're gonna act like some sort of stalker to her! When you get the message, you lay off. You understand?" Peter responded.

Charlie glared at Peter, and looked at Harry.

"You gonna piss off the guy that beat up Flash Thompson?" Harry asked.

Scoffing, Charlie walked away.

"Good riddance," Peter declared. "Look, Gwen. I'm sorry if I got too aggressive-"

"Don't you dare apologize, Peter. Thank you so much for doing that. You too, Harry. That really meant a lot," Gwen thanked.

"Oh, uh, no prob!" Peter said. "I just wanted to make sure that guy was leaving you alone."

"Same. We'll always have your back," Harry assured.

Gwen smiled. "I really appreciate that. It's great to know I'll always have you by my side. Shall we get that frozen yogurt now?"

Peter and Harry both laughed.

"Let's," Peter agreed.

In her mother's house, Carmilla was cooking chicken noodle soup in the kitchen. She was listening to really loud heavy metal music. However, she started some faint screams and crashes. Once she took her earbuds out, the dreadful sounds only got louder. She ran over to a drawer and pulled out the new glock she had bought a month prior.

"Who the hell is there?!" Carmilla shouted.

Carmilla walked around the house a little, checking the rooms and every corner. The sounds only started getting louder, prompting Carmilla to run into the living room and duck behind the couch. The sounds faded momentarily, and Carmilla slowly got back up.

"Wha-what the hell is going on?" Carmilla asked herself.

The answer to that question was soon provided as the wall to Carmilla's mom's house was blown apart behind her, with the impact knocking her down and demolishing most of the room. Carmilla grabbed her gun and shot at the attacker, which was the infamous rhinoceros brute.

"Your bullets won't do squat, lady!" Rhino shouted as he reached down and grabbed Carmilla.

Carmilla screamed as Rhino took her and ran out of the house.

"Batman v Superman comes out in a year. I literally can't wait that long," Harry excitedly said as he took a bite out of his chocolate frozen yogurt.

"You're such a nerd," Gwen chuckled. "Like my brothers."

"Dude, they haven't even shown us any footage yet. Of course I'm getting anxious," Harry justified.

"Hopefully, it won't totally suck and let us down," Peter prayed.

"I doubt it. How've classes been with you guys?" Harry asked.

"Boring," Peter answered. "I mean, home ec is still one of the better ones, but-"

"Holy shit! Guys, look at this!" Gwen exclaimed as she showed Peter and Harry the news on her phone.

Harry's eyes widened. "My God, it's that Rhino from a few days ago! He's literally got some woman hostage like he's King Kong."

Gwen and Peter both exchanged a look.

"Uhh, shit! I forgot, I have to go help May get the groceries home. Sorry, guys!" Peter excused as he ran out of the store.

Bemused, Harry chuckled. "Okay?"

Rhino ran into an abandoned hospital, smashing the wall open. He put Carmilla in one of the rooms.

"What the hell do you want me for?" Carmilla asked.

Rhino smiled. "Wait for it."

"Rhino!"

Rhino turned around to see Mac in the Scorpion armor.

"You came!" Rhino chuckled. "Looks like this lil doll of yours was enough incentive!"

"You better let her go or I swear I'll rip out every fucking limb in your body!" Scorpion growled.

"How? Five times your size and much bigger! Titanium armor! You're dead!" Rhino laughed.

Raging, Scorpion lunged at Rhino, who smacked him through a wall, sending him into a room. Rhino rampaged through the room, though Scorpion quickly jumped up to the ceiling. Scorpion then leaped onto Rhino's face, trying to claw it.

"Get off, you bug!" Rhino yelled as he grabbed Scorpion and threw him to the ground.

Rhino proceeded to smash two of his fists into Scorpion before throwing him into a sink, smashing it. Scorpion dodged Rhino's incoming stomps and punches. Scorpion then threw two punches and a kick to Rhino's chest. Rhino then headbutted Scorpion to the ground, and proceeded to grab him, smashing him repeatedly against the ground. Scorpion quickly shot some copelemia at Rhino's arm, causing him to groan in pain.

"That's some of the last of my supply. It better not go to waste with you!" Scorpion raged as he lunged at Rhino.

Scorpion grabbed onto Rhino's arm and managed to pin him to the ground. Scorpion started delivering punches to Rhino's chest and face, though Rhino threw him off. Rhino then ripped out a chunk of the wall and threw it at Scorpion, who punched through it. Rhino then spotted Carmilla trying to flee the building. He ran after her, only for Scorpion to angrily pursue. However, a bunch of webs started entrapping Rhino, and Peter, in his Spider-Man suit, swung in and grabbed Carmilla.

"Don't worry, you're safe now!" Peter assured as he swung out of the building.

Carmilla held on to Peter as much as she could. "Thank you, thank you!"

Peter placed Carmilla on the ground outside. "Now, run!"

Peter swung back into the building, where Rhino was beating up Scorpion. Spider-Man swung into Rhino, knocking him back, and webbed his face.

"Carmilla! Is she safe?" Scorpion frantically asked.

"Yeah," Peter confirmed.

"Good. Now, let's take this fucker down," Scorpion said.

At that point, Rhino smacked Scorpion out of the way. Rhino then lunged at Peter, who jumped over Rhino and shot two webs at his back. Peter used the webs to lunge at Rhino's back, kicking him. He then slid between Rhino's legs and proceeded to punch him in the chest a few times. Rhino threw a punch, only for Peter to jump over it. Peter then shot a web at Rhino's face and swung at it, kicking him.

"Stupid bug!" Rhino growled as he charged at Peter.

Peter jumped out of the way, causing Rhino to crash through another room. Peter shot a web at some of the ceiling above Rhino, pulling it down to hit him. Peter then ran over and started assaulting Rhino's back, only for Rhino to quickly turn around and grab him by the head. Rhino then slammed Peter against two walls before throwing him against a mirror, shattering it. Scorpion then jumped in and kicked Rhino in the chest.

"Piece of shit!" Scorpion yelled as he whipped Rhino across the chest with his tail.

Rhino threw his fists at Scorpion, only for the latter to jump over and dodge them. Scorpion punched Rhino's leg twice, and grabbed Rhino's fist. As Scorpion struggled, Rhino slammed his other hand on the fist, knocking Scorpion down. Spider-Man then swung in with a fist, only for Rhino to punch him in the face, knocking him down.

"The Rhino's gonna squash ya two bugs!" Rhino declared as he raised his fists.

Rhino plunged his fists into the ground, only for Peter and Scorpion to jump out of the way. Peter shot a web at Rhino's face, distracting him. That gave Peter and Scorpion the chance to jump in and start attacking Rhino. Rhino soon ripped off the webbing and punched Scorpion into a wall, though Scorpion leaped off and returned with a clawed attack. Scorpion scratched Rhino across the face while Peter kicked Rhino in the chest.

"Come on! Try and keep up, Rhino!" Peter challenged as he ducked underneath Rhino's kick.

Scorpion grabbed onto Rhino from behind, only for Rhino to grab and throw him aside. Peter quickly shot a web at a broken sink and threw it at Rhino, smashing it. Raging, Rhino ran and grabbed Peter, slamming him through a few walls of the hospital before throwing him outside. Conveniently, Peter's camera was webbed to a pole nearby in case the fight would go outside.

"God, that sucked!" Peter groaned as he clenched his chest.

Rhino laughed. "Not as much as-"

Scorpion then jumped in and punched Rhino across the face. As Peter struggled to get back up, Scorpion did his best to hold off Rhino. Eventually, Scorpion shot the last of his copelemia in a stream at Rhino.

"GAHHHHHHH!" Rhino roared as he fell to his knees, with the copelemia stinging him.

"That better have been worth it," Scorpion mused.

Peter slowly started to get back up. "It wasn't. Been there, done that."

Scorpion menacingly walked over to Peter with his claws extended, only for sirens to be heard. Peter and Scorpion looked to see cruisers and police helicopters coming in. A few cops got out of their cars and aimed their guns at Peter and Scorpion. Luckily, Scorpion spotted a few cops rescuing Carmilla.

"We'll finish this another time, Spider-Man," Scorpion growled before fleeing.

Scorpion easily fought his way through the cops and ran off. Peter quickly retrieved his camera from the pole and swung off.

Walking into the mansion, Scorpion faced Tombstone and Hammerhead in the dining room.

"I see your dear wife was enough incentive to go and expose yourself like that," Tombstone observed.

"I'm done, Lincoln. Done with your fucking rules and all this crime rivalry bullshit. Whatever I choose to do with my vengeance from this moment forward is completely up to me," Scorpion affirmed.

"Now, hold up. You don't just leave the Tombstone when you want to," Hammerhead protested.

"Well, he certainly could. However, that opens the risk of telling anyone about what he's seen here and what we're capable of. Now, I can't necessarily risk that," Tombstone pointed out.

Scorpion scoffed and tried to walk off, only for Hammerhead to approach him.

"Sorry, boss. But we can't exactly let you leave this place," Hammerhead said, putting on his brass knuckles.

Hammerhead threw a punch, which Scorpion dodged. Scorpion returned with a fist to Hammerhead's face, only for it to do no damage due to Hammerhead's reinforced steel skull. Hammerhead then punched Scorpion across the face, only for Scorpion to smack him aside with his tail. Tombstone then ran across the dining table and lunged at Scorpion with a punch to the face, knocking him down. Tombstone then kicked Scorpion in the face and planted his foot on Scorpion's chest.

"So, smart guy. You decide to take up my offer and then walk out on me when things get worse? Pathetic. What are you gonna do without me? It's not like you can just walk up to your wife's doorstep and fix things. Unless you plan on coming out dead, your life is going to crumble to shit if you really kill Norman Osborn and Spider-Man," Tombstone mocked.

Yelling, Scorpion wrapped his tail around Tombstone's leg and pulled him down. Scorpion punched Tombstone in the face to no effect, causing the latter to smirk. Frustrated, Scorpion ran out of the dining room and jumped through one of the windows, escaping. Tombstone ran over to the window, only to see no sight of Scorpion.

"Let me guess. The plan failed. Again," Norman guessed as he sat in his office, talking to Fisk on the phone.

"They took Aleksei in. Remind me to never trust that brute for anything ever again. Impeccable concept of a superhuman. Lackluster execution," Fisk admitted.

"Well, at this point, I know what I have to do now. I've eliminated all traces of any evidence to my interference with Hammer's experiment. Thus, there's only the next step."

"Well, in that case, have fun."

Norman hung up, and activated a voice modulator on his phone as he called the NYPD.

"Hello? Is this the NYPD? Hi, I'm a highly concerned citizen, and I've discovered some unsettling ties to the Scorpion by Justin Hammer…"

In the testing room at Hammer Industries, Justin was furiously looking over Mac's data.

"Goddamn son of a bitch. Has the nerve to steal my suit and join that fight, and now, he's left me severely empty-handed!" Justin grumbled.

At that point, Justin received a test from Jack.

JACK GRAVES: Cops on their way!

"Shit," Justin muttered.

Captain Stacy and a few other cops burst into the room at that point.

"NYPD! Hands up!" Captain Stacy yelled.

Justin complied. "What the hell's this for? Do you even have a warrant?"

"We do. And this is for your ties to supplying MacDonald Gargan with the copelemia, as well as further aiding him in criminal plans," Captain Stacy explained as he handcuffed Justin and hauled him out, with the other cops searching for evidence.

"I was not the orchestrator of any of this!" Justin protested. "Go investigate Lonnie Thompson Lincoln!"

"We already checked his place. He's clean. No clue what the hell you're talking about," Captain Stacy responded.

Justin yelled in frustration as the cops took him away.

Carmilla sat in her room at her own house, looking at a picture of her and Mac at their wedding. Sighing, she allowed her tears to stain the picture.

"Carmilla."

Carmilla screamed for a second as she turned and saw Mac at the door.

"I figured you'd be here. Now don't alert anyone. After tonight, it's the end," Mac declared.

"I swear to God, the fucking cops will come. You're just lucky my mom was still at work when that monster attacked. There's literally a cruiser parked outside for me after the shit I endured today," Carmilla raged.

"Yeah, I know. Wasn't hard to sneak around it. Now hear me out."

"I swear to God, if you came here to just apologize again-"

"I truly am sorry, Carmilla. Not only for not listening to you about the experiment, but for all the different ways I hurt you since."

"Don't forget, I filed a restraining order against you. You're lucky I'm even letting you stay right now," Carmilla coldly responded.

"You just never want to accept my apologies, do you?" Mac groaned.

"You act as if that's an unreasonable response."

"Despite what you may think, I love you, Carmilla. I always have, and I always will. Everything that happens next, it's all for you."

"And what exactly are you planning?"

"Doesn't concern you. Hell, go ahead and tell the cops if you want. Either way, I know I'm gonna get what I want. Just remember that in the end, it won't hurt you."

Carmilla scoffed. "It won't hurt me? Do you even fucking realize what it does to me everytime I see you going out there murdering and causing rampage to the streets?"

"So you do care."

"Shut up."

"At least tell me this. What do you plan on doing after this?" Mac questioned.

"I'm moving. I'm not telling you where, because it's about time I escape from all this," Carmilla answered.

"Fair. I'm gonna go, but please just tell me. Do you still love me?"

Carmilla hesitated for a few seconds, before answering, "No."

Mac sighed heavily. "Goodbye, Carmilla."

Mac left the room, and Carmilla collapsed in her bed. Reflecting on everything that had changed since the experiment, Carmilla continued to cry.

Disclaimer: Spider-Man and any other Marvel characters are created and owned by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics. I do not have any ownership over them.

I'm here with the newest entry. Hope you guys had a great week! After this, there's only three chapters left! Again, thank you all for sticking with the story as long as you did. It really means a lot. Also, I managed to beat the Riddler in Arkham City, and I started Arkham Origins on PS Now. What have you guys been up to?

I said goodbye to all my friends recently, and it really just hit me that I leave for college on the 17th. Having spent the first two years at a community college, it's finally time for me to be living the dorm life. Hopefully, covid won't cut the year short. Man, this really was an awesome summer. I've said this before, but my advice is to always embrace and have fun with your loved ones, both family and friends, while you still can.

Like I said above, three more chapters and it's the official end of Vol 1. Vol 2 will be out sometime after, but I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking potentially Dec-Feb as the premiere? As always, favs, follows, and reviews are always appreciated, and stay safe and healthy! I'll try and even get the next chapter out for you guys earlier.

highlander348 - Lol I won't spoil any potential plans I have for Gwen, but either way, she has and will continue to be a strong ally to Peter! I really have been doing my best to develop her as a strong character, and I'm glad you're really liking her so far! I hope you love their chemistry!

ShadowStrike234 - Thank you! The fact that you love Peter and Gwen's chemistry really does mean a lot to me, because that's been one of the aspects of this volume that I've been strongly focused on getting right! Lol you actually gave me the idea for Peter and Charlie's confrontation, so props for that! I've been continuing to read your story (The Invincible Spider-Man), and it's still great! And I do have huge plans for DeWolff, but no spoilers…

Fate-Be Changed - Lol you called it!

Marvel Nerd - Lol he definitely loves his alter ego!

Teller-Story - For now, this is his permanent suit, but you never know!

Guest - The conflict with Peter and Scorpion will reach an explosive point in the end…

Rollerparty - Arkham City really does have a disgusting amount of Riddler trophies. Though I did manage to beat Riddler with 400/440 riddles. Ironically, Origins is the only game where I haven't beaten him (Or Enigma) yet. And sorry if it breaks your heart that the volume is ending, it really flatters me that you care though! Stay tuned for exciting things!

-redbird12