Hours later MJ showed up at the offices of the Daily Bugle and found her date huddled over his desk. "What happened to you, you disappeared after the Goblin showed. Spider-man did the big rescue thing and I don't know if you got any pictures of it."
"Believe me MJ I got it all on film"
"You can say that again" MJ turned and saw a handsome older black man with rolled up sleeves and white hair.
"MJ meet Joe Robertson the only guy who stands up to J. Jonah Jameson" Peter smiled at J. Jonah's editor and chief
"So Pete got the fight on film?" The MJ asked
"On film, he got some shots that look like he was right on the back of the goblin's glider." The man was obviously ecstatic. "The shots of the rescue of Felicia Hardy …kid even JJ was impressed, but I wouldn't recommend telling him I said that."
"Trust me Robbie I don't believe he said that" Peter said doubtfully
"So is Spiderman a hero now or what? I mean saving the party guests and Felicia Hardy. That has to count for something." Mary Jane interjected
"Don't bet on it Pete" Robbie held up a test page that bore the image of that days headline-to-be.
" Freak Fight threatens Socialite" Peter read, with the headline was a picture of Felicia plunging to the street, Spider-man reaching for her.
"I guess this means no humanitarian award for the Web Head" Mary Jan deadpanned remorsefully
"Danm" Peter cursed "What is J.J thinking, swinging out to save a girls life on a thread, oh big social threat there."
"It's the lack of accountability" a new voice broke into the conversation. Peter turned with the rest of the group to survey his boss the gruff and abrasive J. Jonah Jameson publisher of the Daily Bugle and the man who some said hated Spiderman more then anything else.
"Your Spider-man does these heroic things, but he wears a mask. What is he hiding? Who does he have to fear if his only thought is the public good? Firemen, Policemen, they put their lives on the line everyday and they don't need masks or fancy gimmicks. The Fantastic 4 live their lives publicly, the Avengers are sanctioned by the government."
"So since the web-head isn't running around with a badge he gets the tar and feather treatment from your paper." MJ asked
"I don't expect an actress to understand the need for the public to have faith in its symbols." JJ shot back.
"We aren't all decadent orgy loving pleasure seekers Mr. Jameson."
"No but you don't get in front of the camera because you want to live the quiet life you and Spider-Man are all the same in my book. Glory hungry narcissists, the only difference is that I don't expect that you are going to save me if I get in trouble. People are starting to believe that this Spider-Man is going to be there if they need him. I want people to know the truth, that he has his own agenda and if he isn't going to admit it publicly, then it's the job of this paper to expose him for who and what he is."
***
The Kingpin was in a mood and wasn't shy about showing it. "Arranger what the hell happened tonight?"
"I am trying to find out Mr. Fisk." The Arranger said helplessly from the snakes nest of telephone receivers he was attached to."
"It's been hours; normally you have every detail on the lives of someone in that amount of time."
"The fact is no one knows where this…Green Goblin came from."
"He attacked me. No one strikes at the Kingpin and gets away with it."
"His focus seemed to be on the Osborne Boy."
"And this has significance how? Arranger, if I wanted the boy dead I would have had it done by now. Some costumed freak tries to do him in and the Norman and the Board will panic. I want the situation controlled."
Bullseye reclined in the office casually pruning a rose he had cut from the batch in the hall. "I say you let me track this Goblin and I'll use him for target practice. Him and the Spider if it comes to that."
"No, I have a better plan we will use the one to destroy the other. You said that Parker has a connection with Osborne," the Kingpin asked speculatively.
"Yes they're old school friends." The Arranger confirmed.
"That would explain his appearance at the party and Spider-man showing up later" Bullseye pointed out.
"You think they are working together." The Arranger guess where his boss was going.
"We will find out soon enough, Arranger insure that Anastasia Hardy's next garden party is held at the Osborne condo."
"That could prove a challenge." The Arranger put down all but one of the telephones in his hands
"You frequently tell me I have more money then God, make it work for me. "
"And when the site has been changed."
"Insure that Parker's name is added to the guest list…" The Kingpin sat back and outlined his plan.
***
It was a day or so after the party incident and the papers were filled with speculation on the identity of the Green Goblin. Peter secretly began scouring the city day and night both in costume and out to find a clue as to the renegades location. Mary Jane retreated to the safety of her hotel. She claimed to be in negotiations with her agent about a big deal. On her TV Show, her character hovered near death.
Harry continued to try to find out who was behind the pilfering of the company accounts. The trail was getting cold and Harry was losing hope that he could solve the mystery. Worse, his father was more distant then ever. He was barely making time to see him to speak of business matters anymore.
It was for this reason that he was going over the monthly shipping receipts and noticed something. There was stuff missing from Warehouse House #23 on the West Side of town. It listed the containers and everything. Harry picked up the telephone and called Don Rafferty, the warehouse manager.
"Mr. Osborne I'm not sure what you mean there is nothing missing from this warehouse."
"Rafferty I am looking at the forms, container #24601 is missing. It has high tech stuff from the prototype boys."
"Mr. Osborne I am looking at that container right now and I can tell you that no matter what the little paper in front of you says that the thing is right here in storage"
Harry hung up and looked at the paper again. Then he began checking back through the system archives. There was the loss forms and the insurance claims and the inventory filings all in place and all saying that #24601 was not supposed to be in the warehouse. Then he saw that the name on the loss report was his own which was funny since he had not needed to fill out a loss report in the last six months. He then checked and found that he had been filling out loss reports for sites all over the city. Then he reached for the telephone.
***
Spider-man swung over the cornice of a building and grabbed on to a guy wire strung between the building and the warehouse across the street. He pulled himself up into a low crouch. He stared down at the loading dock. Harry's call had shocked him and he had checked with Ben Urich. Ben had confirmed that some businesses filed theft reports early if someone on the inside was overseeing the inventory. Reports where a pain in the ass. No doubt, someone was not counting on Harry going over the files.
"So someone is stealing from Oscorp and making it look like an inside job and Harry's inside job at that." The web head muttered as his eyes searched the night for activity on the loading dock.
Ben had suggested that if the reports were filled out now, but that the box was still in the warehouse; whoever had set up the theft would be removing it in days if not in hours, thus the sting operation. Spidey hoped that by grabbing whoever was stealing the box he could get the facts behind the traitor at Oscorp.
He noticed a panel truck pulling up to the loading dock and four men disembark. He watched carefully as the men approached the dock master. "This part is normal, guy in charge of the crew shows the delivery order the dock master, who checks it on his handy dandy computer thingy and the then …whoops something's wrong, some kind of screw up. Well Mr. Dock master sir we will just come back in the morning and get things cleared up like honest up standing citizen types."
One of the four men pulled a gun from his jacket and chambered a round with a loud sound the reached the web head high above the street.
"Oops no Instead we are going to pull guns now and compensate for our small genitalia." Spider-man muttered and sprang off the wire and flipped down onto the roof of the truck and then forward on the dock.
The group of men froze for moment. Then shotgun boy laughed nervously. "Who are you supposed to be. Kung-fu Guy?"
"No, Kung Fu Guy is off having cream-of-some-young-guy so the part of official ass kicker will be played by your friendly neighborhood Spiderman." The web head replied urbanely
He sprang forward fast. He rabbit punched the thug in the stomach grabbing his shotgun in the process. Then he swung the gun around and hit the second guy in the side of the head with it. Catching sight of a third miscreant drawing a bead on him with a pistol he threw the gun at him hard and it smacked the side of the mans face. His spider-sense screeched a warning and Spiderman leapt into the air as a shot rang out and the wind of a bullet whizzing by underneath him split the air.
Time slowed and the web slinger turned in the air spinning around and thrusting out his arm in the direction of the shooter. A web-line streaked out and fastened on the gun in the thief's tightened grip. Spiderman hauled back hard on the web-line and the man was propelled forward Spiderman landed on the ground and sprang forward. His arm connected with the criminals chin causing his whole body to flip upward then crash to the ground. The man was out cold.
The dock manager climbed to his feet and as Spiderman began gathering the thieves together in a group and webbing them up.
"What about the guy in the cab of the truck." The man asked fearfully
Spiderman looked up and saw the idling truck rev to life and scream away from the curb and down the street
"Call the police and tell them the number on the truck and that the rest of the gang is here." He said quickly.
"What are you going to do." The man replied.
"Catch up to that driver."
"The odds against you catching him are astronomical."
" Never tell me the odds." Spiderman muttered as he finished tying up the thieves and ran down the street.
The truck took a corner on two wheels and disappeared. Spiderman leapt up and grabbed a lamppost. He fired a web-line and swung around the corner. He began swinging through the streets moving fast. The buildings flew by in a blur the web-slinger couldn't see as his focus was completely on the fleeing truck. A car made an illegal turn in front of the truck and cutting it off causing the driver to slow for a second.
A patrol car saw the erratically driving truck and began a pursuit though the downtown streets.
Spiderman flew through the air and aimed for the roof of the truck. It shot forward at the last second as he reached out and grasped the edge of the roof with one hand. It stuck fast and his body was dangling in the air behind the speeding truck. As he hung on 1-handed, Spider-man looked down and spotted the ground whizzing by less than a foot away. Bracing his feet on the back of the truck he started to crawl toward the top of the truck when it swerved to avoid an obstacle up front. The wall crawler was surprised when the combination of the erratic movements of the truck and his weight caused the truck doors to fly open. The door he was clinging to swung around and bashed him against the side of the truck.
"Where did this idiot get his license to drive, Hazzard county?"
He hauled his body onto the roof and crawled along the roof. Swinging down on the passenger side he yanked open the door and slid inside the moving vehicle. The driver pulled out a crowbar and flailed at the hero who fought back. Spiderman grabbed at the crowbar and the driver let it go and reaching behind Spiderman's head, grabbed him and thrust him forward through the windshield. Spiderman sprawled forward on the hood of the truck and felt himself slipping when he grabbed onto the truck and spun his body around. Perched securely on the hood of the truck Spiderman fired a web ball at the drivers eyes.
The man screamed and began tearing at the covering trying to get his eyes free. Spiderman was smiling and about to give one of his pithy remarks when his spider sense went from the low hum it had been producing and started screeching again. He swung his head around and saw the truck headed full speed toward a cul-de-sac. He saw a police car behind the truck and he only hesitated for a second. Then he reached through the broken windscreen and hauled the blinded driver out of his seat throwing him over his shoulder. He leapt to a wall and let the mass of the truck pass underneath him. There was a massive crash and the truck came to rest, the front cab crumpled beyond recognition. Spiderman tied up the still struggling man and lowered him to the roof of the truck.
Turning he crawled up the side of the building. He could feel bruises forming that refused to wait until morning to start torturing him. He reached the roof and as he pulled himself over the lip he felt a screeching pain in his arms. Apparently, being dragged behind a truck was bad for them. He mused about his pain threshold as he started web slinging through the gathering shadows of night.