The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 49: Deception
"The Spot? He's back at Ryker's, at least the undamaged part. Why?" asked Jean, in response.
"I need his help to fight the Sinister Six," replied Peter, massaging his bruised knuckles.
"Are you sure? Last I checked, he was put in jail specifically for being an accomplice to Mysterio's crimes. Someone part of the Sinister Six," inquired Jean.
"And he helped me defeat him. The point is, he's not completely evil. I think I can trust him," said Peter.
"Whatever you say. Also, you might find this interesting. Forensics did a sweep of the place where Doctor Octopus attacked Ryker's, near the maximum security door, and they found a strange white powder present," informed Jean.
"Can you send some of it to me? I could analyze it," said Peter.
"You're some kind of science genius?" asked Jean.
"You'd be surprised," smirked Peter.
"Alright. You can come collect it in the morning," said Jean, cutting the call.
Peter was just about to swing back to ESU, when he got a call from MJ.
"Hey MJ, what's up?" he asked.
"Peter! May got injured, you gotta get here!" said MJ, frantically.
"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Peter, swinging as fast as he could towards Queens, not bothering to put on his mask.
Peter landed in a nearby alleyway and quickly changed into his normal outfit, before sprinting towards May's house at a speed that would've dusted Usain Bolt. He arrived at the door and opened it, only to see balloons lining the walls.
"HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY!" shouted everyone, as they huddled around Peter.
"What?!" laughed Peter, as Liz gave him a party hat. On the kitchen table, there was a laptop, which displayed Harry and Flash's faces, as they were part of a video conference.
"No way, Harry! Flash!" said Peter, as the two of them waved back at Peter.
"Good to see you man!" said Harry. Flash took off his cap, revealing his shaved head.
"Didn't know crewcuts were in style!" commented Hobie.
"Eh, it's necessary at military academy. And it's really comfortable, you should try it sometime dude," suggested Flash.
"I might!" joked Peter. As Peter looked around, he noticed that Gwen was nowhere to be seen. A look of sadness crossed his face for a while, but then he turned back to May, who walked up to him holding an envelope.
"This came in the mail a few hours back, addressed to you," said May, handing him the envelope. It was a happy birthday card, with an image of a black cat at the bottom. Peter chuckled to himself.
"Friend from ESU," he explained.
All of them walked to the kitchen table, and out of the kitchen, Eddie Brock and Betty Brant showed up, holding trays of mini-sandwiches.
"Parker! Happy Birthday!" he said, high-fiving him.
"Eddie! Didn't know you knew how to cook. You gotta teach me sometime," replied Peter.
"Sorry that Ned couldn't come. Jameson has him working double time on an assignment. Oh, and speaking of which, from Jameson," said Betty, reaching into her purse and taking out an envelope, handing it to Peter.
"A thousand dollars?" he exclaimed.
"Jameson sure knows how to treat his employees," laughed MJ.
"Ayo what's going on, I can't see!" joked Harry, as they adjusted the laptop towards Peter and the cake.
Eventually, the cake had been completely devoured, as everyone left the Parker household, leaving only him and Aunt May.
"Happy birthday again, Peter!" said May, giving him a hug.
"Thanks May. For everything. After mom and dad died, you and Ben were all I had. I wouldn't be here without you," said Peter, as May got a little teary-eyed.
"Ben wanted to give you this on your eighteenth birthday," said May, as she handed him a pair of keys.
"The keys to Ben's car?" asked Peter, sentimentally.
"Well, before we had to sell it, at least. But there was something else," she said, handing him a briefcase with the initials: R.P.
Peter opened the briefcase, and inside there were notes on a variety of different projects and experiments.
"It belonged to your father. He was an excellent scientist. Ben wanted you to have his research when you turned old enough, so you could continue his legacy," said May. Peter gasped.
"Aunt May…I don't know what to say," said Peter, smiling uncontrollably.
"You're made up of stars. Use this to light up the world," said May.
As Peter left the house, he couldn't help but think about Gwen. Especially about how she missed his birthday completely. He quickly called her up.
"Hey Gwen," he said.
"Hey. Sorry I missed your birthday, I was just researching on some stuff," explained Gwen.
"Yeah, I get it," said Peter.
"Also, Peter, listen. I think we should…take a break," said Gwen, a little morosely.
"Wait…are we breaking up?" asked Peter, stopping dead in his tracks.
"Ever since you came back that day, on Felicia's couch, unable to move, I've literally been living in worry. Peter, I can't keep doing this. You being Spider-Man just seems like more of thrill-seeking behavior rather than responsibility. I'm honestly really sorry to do this. I don't want to break up, but, maybe we should take a bit of a break," she explained.
Peter gulped slightly. "I understand, sorry," he replied.
"Yeah," said Gwen, as she cut the call. Peter just stood there, contemplating what just happened.
Instinctively, he dialed up Felicia.
"Hey, Spider," she said.
"Listen, I need to vent. Can I come over?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied.
Peter entered through her window, and Felicia was sitting in her room.
"Felicia?" asked Peter.
"Yeah, come in," she said, as Peter walked into her room.
"What happened?" she asked, and Peter narrated everything that happened that night.
"And so, over the phone, she said we should "take a break"," finished Peter.
Felicia sighed. "Normally, that's code for "we shouldn't be together,"" she said, as Peter nodded.
"It just sucks though. But, maybe it was the right thing? I mean I know I have to be Spider-Man, no matter what. So maybe this was for the best? Like a sign from the universe?" suggested Peter.
"Yeah maybe," said Felicia. She moved closer to Peter.
"So, did you get my birthday gift?" she asked.
"How did you know it was my birthday, by the way?" asked Peter.
Felicia smirked, a mischievous smile curling up on her face. "I have my ways. Also, you didn't think that was your only birthday gift, did you?" she asked, putting her hand on Peter's.
"Uh…Felicia," chuckled Peter, nervously. Felicia put a finger on his lips.
"Sometimes, Spider, it's best to keep your mouth shut," she said, as she leaned in and kissed him. Peter didn't fight back.
Felicia stood up and pushed Peter towards the wall, and just then Peter pulled away.
"I don't think we should be doing this. On a technicality, we're just coworkers. And Gwen-"
"On a technicality, you and blondie aren't together. Not now at least," she chuckled.
"Fair enough," chuckled Peter, as he continued to kiss her.
"Okay…I did it," said Phineas, shivering, as he finished Electro's new armour at the Sinister Six base, when Doc Ock walked in, his tentacles out.
"Beck and Toomes! You blithering idiots!" he yelled, aiming his tentacles and them, and stopping just a centimeter away from their faces.
"Look, we messed up, we're sorry. Next time we're gonna be more careful, especially with this new armour," said Quentin, pointing at the new equipment Tinkerer had written. Otto retracted his tentacles and walked towards Phineas' designs.
"Interesting…but I do seem to recall…" said Otto, discreetly wrapping a tentacle around Phineas and lifting him up.
"You made Spider-Man's gear too, didn't you?" asked Otto.
"I did…but I don't wanna die! I swear I haven't told him anything, I swear!" pleaded Phineas. After a while, Otto let Phineas down, gesturing for him to go back to work.
"Now, I'm dividing each of you into teams. Electro and Vulture will take over Midtown and Central Park. Sandman will take Uptown and Harlem, and Scorpion and Mysterio will take over Downtown and the Financial District. Each of you will do so after your new armours are made," explained Otto.
"What about you?" asked Mac, a little skeptical.
"I have a plan for all of us in the long run," said Otto, walking away. As the Six of them walked off, Mac gestured to Flint.
"What is it?" asked Flint.
"Something ain't right. I think Otto's hiding something," said Mac.
"Like what?" asked Flint further.
"Like Spider-Man's identity. I confronted him yesterday, and he gave me some bullshit excuse," explained Mac.
Flint looked around, and then back to Mac. "How are you so sure?" he asked him.
Mac took a breath. "Osborn told me, back in prison. Apparently him and Otto both know,"
"Damn. You believe him?" asked Flint.
"He does seem very antagonistic towards us, but I still believe him a little bit," said Mac. "We need to keep our eyes and ears open. Since you can turn into…you know…small grains of sand-"
"Micromolecular silicates," interrupted Flint. Mac had a stunned expression on his face.
"I read some of Octavius' work," explained Flint, as Mac rolled his eyes.
"Whatever it is, can you keep an eye on him? And don't tell anyone," said Mac.
"Got it," said Flint.
Peter woke up, with the Sun beating down on him, and his phone ringing. The call was from Jean DeWolff.
Peter sat up, and noticed Felicia sleeping soundly beside him. Running a hand through her white hair, he picked up the call.
"Captain?" asked Peter.
"I've got the evidence here. Rooftop of Precinct 62," said Jean.
"I'll be there in a while," said Peter, as he got out of bed and put on his clothes. Felicia woke up.
"Going already?" she asked. "Normally they stay till the next night," joked Felicia, as Peter chuckled.
"That was just a one-time thing," said Peter, chuckling as he put on his suit.
"That's what they all say," said Felicia, laughing to herself.
Peter put on his mask and leaped out of the window, swinging towards the location.
Spider-Man swung to Precinct 62, where Jean was waiting, with a sealed bag of the white powder.
"Is this it?" asked Peter.
"Yeah. Forensics is super understaffed, especially with rumours of a lockdown," said Jean.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Okay, I'll analyze this and let you know," said Spider-Man. He was still limping slightly as he walked away. He shot a web and pulled himself up, swinging past a large skyscraper, and towards ESU.
He swung over to his room window, and quickly swung in, only to get a call from Carlie.
"Carlie, what's up?" he asked.
"Haven't seen you since yesterday. You good? Heard it was your birthday," said Carlie.
"Yeah. It was a pretty great birthday," said Peter, thinking about the events of the previous night. He packed his suit away and walked out of his room, towards the chemistry lab.
"Just wanted to check up on you. Also, we have a Biochemistry test in 2 days. You weren't present at class, so just wanted to give you a heads-up on that," informed Carlie.
"Thanks!" said Peter.
Carlie chuckled. "Anytime,"
Peter hung up and entered the lab, which was way larger than the lab at Midtown. Peter walked up to one of the digital microscopes. He put the powder on his slide, and started to examine it.
"Looks like…no that can't be right!" said Peter, as he took some grains of the powder and put it on a separate glass slide.
"Iodine...iodine, there!" thought Peter, as he took the bottle of Iodine solution, and took a few drops of it, placing it on the white powder. As suspected, the powder turned blue-black.
"Starch? With traces of amylase? Wait…this is White Dextrin!" said Peter, as he quickly looked up the uses of White Dextrin on the computer.
"A binding agent…in full masks? Why would this be there at Ryker's?" asked Peter to himself. As he pondered the idea, he got a call from Felicia. Peter cleared his throat and picked up.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked.
"I might have a lead on The Altruist," she said.
"Who is it?" asked Felicia.
"Let me get back to you on it tonight. But I'm pretty sure I'm onto something," she reassured him.
"Sure. Hey, and uh, thanks for yesterday," said Peter.
"Like you said, one time thing. Besides, thought I'd cheer you up," replied Felicia, stifling a giggle.
Peter sarcastically chuckled and hung up, and started to focus more on the powder.
"Used in making masks…who the Hell- wait," said Peter, as his brain started going a mile a minute.
"Shit!" he said, rushing out of the lab, and out of campus. He quickly called up Jean.
"Jean, no time to explain! Get Norman Osborn in the interrogation room quick!" he said, rushing into an alleyway to change.
Spider-Man entered Ryker's again, and walked up to the interrogation room. There were two guards outside of the cell, and Spider-Man walked in. Norman was handcuffed to the metal table.
"Spider-Man! Great to see you again," said Norman.
"Unfortunately…I can't say the same for you," said Spider-Man, shooting a web at Norman's face, and pulling his face off, revealing another face, covered with a white mask.
"Chameleon." Said Spider-Man.
Well, what a plot twist! Wonder what's gonna happen to Norman, and The Sinister Six, and The Altruist, who could be Sylvio Manfredi possibly? Read on to find out!
In other news, I have decided to go prom, which will be on April 3rd, although I'll be going alone lol. Still, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Also, this chapter marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVINCIBLE SPIDER-MAN! I can't stress enough how grateful I am to each of you, every single person reading this right now. How grateful I am that you all stuck with me on this so far. The past year and a half have more or less been full of downs for me, but this story is one thing that kept me going. Honestly, I am so grateful to each and every one of you, so I thought I'd do something special today, and thank each and every person who has followed/favorited this story.
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Special Thanks to redbirds12, Shawna1999 and Rollerparty, for always being there every step of the way! Couldn't have reached this milestone without y'all!
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.