A/N: Hey hey! It's getting to crunch time for our hero! Those who both have and have not reviewed, I sincerely hope you're enjoying and that I've been keeping your interest!
Appreciative Reader: Kudos! It's always nice to try and get the "common man" perspective into a story at some point. Can't always have the superhero leading the narration, can you?
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She had a smug glint in her eyes, and she wasn't hiding it from any of them... least of all the cops. Spider-Man wasn't pleased to see that glimmer. It usually meant that there was even bigger trouble coming, and he really didn't want to deal with bigger trouble.
But on the other hand, finding out the nature of the bigger trouble was the entire point of bringing her in.
She glared at the three of them, each one in turn, but her glare softened when her gaze met Spider-Man's. "You defeated me. I will speak to no other."
Spider-Man knew the underlying meaning of that statement... she wanted the cops out and the recording devices deactivated. He turned to the two policemen who were in the interrogation cell with him, a lieutenant named Wilson and a deputy named Garcia. Neither of them looked very happy about the entire situation, but one could expect that.
Her words had apparently held the same meaning for them as they had for him, because he saw their frowns deepen upon her statement. The three men exchanged looks for a few moments, and then Spider-Man said, "Can you leave, as a favor to me? She won't say anything otherwise, and you'll have no case. And turn off your recorders, too." He pointed at the camera hanging in one corner of the room. "You boys don't do a very good job of hiding them."
Wilson grunted in acknowledgment. He really didn't like this situation... turning over the interrogation to a vigilante? But they all knew it had to be done if she was going to say anything at all. He nodded reluctantly, and motioned for Garcia to follow him.
Garcia glared at Mystique on his way out. She sneered at him in response.
Spider-Man waited a few moments, wanting to make sure that nobody was listening to them. He stared at the camera until the glaring red light winked out. Good thing there's no two-way mirror here...
He took a seat opposite Mystique and laced his fingers together, setting his hands atop the table. "Start talking."
Her hands were secured behind her back, and the box cuffs were securely attached to a belt cinched tightly around her waist. The belt had a picture identification on it, showing exactly who she was. There was no chance that she could even try to get out without someone seeing who she really was, no matter what form she took. "Where shall we start?"
"The beginning. Why did Lehnsherr--"
"His name is Magneto. Learn it. And learn to fear it, while you're at it. Then you can begin to grasp what power he has."
"There's as much power in a name as there is knowledge of the name. I won't fear it."
"Foolish."
"Perhaps. Why did he get so sore about me saying no to his offer?"
"Paranoia, plain and simple. He believed you would find out about his plan, and he didn't want you interfering. He would have rathered you stay indoors and therefore guarantee your own ignorance, than come outdoors and run the risk of discovering it from one of his own brothers."
"And what, precisely, is his plan?"
She sneered. "You're sure you want me to tell you?"
"Every last detail."
"Fine. He, and other brilliant minds, have developed a new type of radioactive isotope. It's completely unique, and in small concentrations, it's harmless to anybody. But when it reaches critical mass, it produces a type of radiation that is mutative to human cells. Mutants are unaffected because the mutantcy already exists in us. It operates the same way an A-bomb would... when plutonium reaches critical mass, it can't help but explode.
"So it is with this 'M-bomb' that when the isotope reaches critical mass, the radiation is produced in doses large enough to take a mutative effect on humans."
Spider-Man sat back, trying to take this information in. "How much of this isotope does he have?"
"He created enough to test one prototype, and then eventually enough for the real thing."
"Who did her perform the test on?"
"Illegal Mexican immigrants." She allowed herself a small smile. "As if California and Texas haven't been overrun by mutants already."
Spider-Man ignored the comment. "Was the test successful?"
"It was."
"And now?"
"Magneto possesses an M-bomb with ten times the radius of effect."
"What was the original radius?"
"Fifteen hundred feet."
Now nearly three miles in every direction... "Where is it?"
"Somewhere in the New York City area. I don't know where it is beyond that. I've not even seen the device, and well that I didn't. I don't even know the size of the device... for all I know, it's the size of a suitcase meant to go off in someone's hand, and no one would realize before it was too late. It's not equipped with any explosives... only a mechanism to bring the two concentrations of the isotope together. And since there would be no direct danger to you," she added, "your detection ability would be significantly hampered."
Damn! She's got me there! Spider-Man was suddenly grateful for the mask that hid his expression. "Maybe. Maybe not. If he's got it, I think it's a pretty much given fact that he plans to use it. Correct?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Tomorrow, during the Thanksgiving Day Parade."
My God... all those people... they'll be sitting ducks no matter where he sets off the bomb!
She grinned at him. "Think of it... over a million people will finally realize our struggle, our cause. We'll finally have a voice!"
He tried to ignore her bizarre bliss for this plotted tragedy. "Where's Black Cat, in the middle of all this?"
"She's being kept in the sewers under 6th and Main."
He frowned. "Kept? I thought she was one of you."
She scoffed. "You fool, that was me. I imitated her, the same way I imitated you."
"Why?"
"What I told you was partially true... Magneto did offer her a place in the Brotherhood, the same as he offered you one. And she performed right up to your expectations, too, unfortunately... she did her homework before giving him a very firm 'no'. But then she insulted and challenged him. It was a grievous error."
Spider-Man slowly rose to his feet, and his teeth ground against each other. "If she's been hurt..."
"Oh, she's most definitely been hurt. But she is not dead. And even if she were, your unspoken threats mean nothing to me, especially here." A small smile flitted across her blue lips. "My brothers do not check up on her very often. Only as often as is required to keep her alive. We did not wish to kill her... only to make her learn a lesson."
"How long has she been down there?"
"No more than three days. You have a high chance of finding her when she is not being attended to by my brothers. Not that she will be able to help you, should you choose to defy Magneto further. She will need expert care. If you go against him, you will be alone."
"I've been alone all this time... why should it be any different now?"
"You won't be alone for long... soon, you will have an entire city of mutants to contend with. What will you do then, Spider-Man?"
He stepped out from in front of his seat. "I'll stop him. You can count on that."
He stalked out of the interrogation room, noting that Wilson and Garcia had kept a respectful distance from the door. They hadn't been listening in.
"You guys keep two eyes on her," he said as he made his way out of the station.
***
Black Cat ached all over. It had been that way ever since she'd found herself in this sewer, her wrists chained tightly behind her and around an iron pipe. It didn't help that the pipe was rusting, further adding to her pain... the sharp, rusted edges had been cutting into her perfect white gloves, staining them brown and black. Now they were cutting into her skin and flesh, staining her gloves further with her own dark blood, tinting them pink and then red.
She wasn't sure what ached more... her shoulders or her feet. The pipe was rising sticking out of a concrete pillar, and the bottom elbow of the pipe was just below her butt. Whenever she tried to sit down, her restrained wrists were held fast by that pipe and the chain circling it, and her arms would crank up behind her back painfully. The first time she'd tried, the pain had been almost unbearable, and she'd gotten back to her feet rather quickly.
Now, though, there was much less pain. She figured that by now, surely she must have wrenched her arms out of their sockets. She'd stopped shouting for help long ago, after her throat had gone so raw from crying and screaming that she couldn't utter another word even if she wanted to.
Her platinum blond hair was flecked with crusted blood, blood that had flowed from her temple after a particularly sharp chunk of metal had been flung at her by that Lehnsherr character. Her dirty face was stained with tears... what if she were doomed to stay here forever, serviced by some random mutant who shoveled food into her mouth and upended a cup of cold water over the food three times a day? What if she never saw her mother again, or Peter? What if...?
She sighed. She had cried those tears out already. There was no use in shedding them again. She had struggled against the chain for three days, and to no avail. Not even rapping it against the rusted area of the pipe was helping... all that served to do was to have the rust cut deeper into her arms.
Time to face the facts, she thought. There's no way I can get out of this by myself. I can only pray that someone -- somehow -- finds me down here. If only I could keep shouting!
Splashing could be heard not too far away, and she attributed that to another one of those mutants coming down here to check up on her and feed her, just as they had been doing for three days now.
Just like they might be doing for weeks... months...
She sagged down to the ground. Dammit, where's a Spider when I need one?
And then she heard the shout. "Cat! Are you down here?!"
She perked up... she didn't know how, but she knew at that moment that he'd found some way to get to her. She opened her mouth and tried to shout back, but it was nothing coherent, and her throat was so raw at that point that she couldn't maintain a shout for more than half a second.
The splashing came closer and closer, and she tried to keep her head up long enough to see him when he came around the corner.
"Cat!"
She could barely keep her eyes open. I'm so tired...
The splashing stopped and was replaced by the sound of wet boots running on pavement. He only had another few feet or so to go. Just stay awake long enough to see him, you big dope... then you can rest...
And around the corner came the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, garbed in red and blue, his concern obvious even through his mask. "Cat! Oh, my God! Hang on, I'm gonna get you out of here!"
She smiled faintly. I knew he could come through...
She let her head bob down... let herself rest.
***
Spider-Man was shocked that Lehnsherr -- no, Magneto -- would stoop this low. Abandoning her here to her own pain and misery? What sort of lesson teaching is this? Is he just of the mindset that people don't say "no" to him?
He raced up to her and pulled her up into a standing position. He stared at the chain that tightly encircled her wrists and the iron pipe for a moment, wondering how to best disengage her from it. The pipe's probably hollow, and if so...
He grabbed the pipe firmly and pulled with all his might. The pipe tore straight from its mooring, and he slipped it out from among the chain's circle. He threw Black Cat over his shoulder and took off to the nearest hospital.
She's strong... she'll make it... but not in time to help me. Mystique was right. I'm in this alone.
***
"He found her."
"It doesn't matter anymore. She can't help him. And now that the device is finished, all that's left to do is place it."
"Too many cops snooping around the area right now. We'll have to wait until the parade to place it... then there'll be so many people that the cops won't be able to keep track of them all."
"Very well."
***
Spider-Man returned to the Parker residence after leaving Black Cat in the expert care of the local hospital. They understood that they were not to go snooping after her real identity, as per their policy with other superheroes who did not wish to be discovered.
He sighed as he climbed through the window and shut it behind him. It was very late by now, and the cops' graveyard shift was starting. Young-blooded cops who wouldn't allow themselves to be caught off-guard so easily... Spider-Man admired those kids' enthusiasm for the job, as compared to their elders and superiors who sat around in donut shops.
He pulled off his sweat-stained mask and slammed it on the bed in frustration. By myself on this one, and each member of the Brotherhood is tearing away at me a bit more. How much more do I have left to give? Who else will I have to fight? What'll happen by the time I get to Magneto? He'll try to scrap me like he did Black Cat, I know he will.
He pulled off his costume and changed into night clothes. I won't be able to sleep much tonight, but on the other hand, I shouldn't have to stink up the place just because of that. And especially with a ripped costume. He snorted ruefully at the rips and tears in the back of the costume from when Mystique had thrown him through the cop car windshield.
Peter removed his extra web cartridges and tracers from his belt, threw the costume into a plastic bag and tied it off, then left it next to the washing machine. MJ was always much better about fixing things like that than I ever was. He made his way out to the kitchen and made himself several sandwiches, suddenly realizing how hungry he was. In the midst of all this fighting, he'd almost completely forgotten that he needed to eat to survive.
He settled himself in front of the television and took to watching the stupid infomercials, the only thing that came on the air at this hour of the night. So, who wants to see this baby make melon juice while it predicts the future?! Oooo-OOOO-ooooh! he thought.
He found his eyelids drooping, and he knew that if he didn't stop watching the infomercials, he would most definitely fall asleep... and remain that way possibly through the entire parade. Wouldn't that be something, to sleep my way through a bomb? What a way to spend my Thanksgiving. Being here without MJ is bad enough... I don't need this...
He set the alarm clock on the nightstand next to his chair. If I do drop off, at least I'll wake up and be an hour early for the parade... and sleep right about now wouldn't be so bad, would it? After all, if I'm gonna fight bad guys, I need it...
He didn't think any more on the subject.
He slept.
***
The next morning found Spider-Man taking to his webs in thirty-six degree weather. Jeez, first a heat wave, and now this... I hate El Nino.
A crowd estimated at about a million had already gathered at Rockefeller Plaza to gaze and gape at the floats and displays and balloons passing by. Spider-Man gorund his teeth at the continued massing of people... if only he could have told the police something about all this...
But he couldn't. To call off the Thanksgiving Day Parade would be to clue Magneto in that his plan had been discovered. He'd take the bomb to some random location of the New York City area and set it off there... at least here, Spider-Man had a chance of finding it.
Of course, there's no guarantee that he hasn't set the bomb already. If it's suitcase-sized, he could just hold it in his hand and set it off from there.
He sighed. Too many uncertainties, but he's not going to set it off until the parade starts. So I guess I'll just wait here for the moment.
***
"He's up there."
"You're certain?"
"Positive. Want me to take care of him? You can move this thing yourself, I think."
"Wait until the parade begins, then draw him away from the area. If he's here, he'll be expecting us to do something during the parade, not before. Make sure he doesn't get in the way."
"You got it."
***
Spider-Man didn't get the chills that easily. He had built up a tolerance to cold weather, but right now, it was almost driving him crazy. Let's get some action going before I have to go to the store and buy a coat, like every other sane person here today...
Having been relatively motionless for an hour was not only making him cold, it was also making him uneasy. The closer the parade gets, the worse I feel about all this. Guess the problem is that I've got all this time to think about what's going to happen, and meanwhile there's no action. At least the action is head-clearing.
He saw the floats beginning their long procession through the streets of New York City. He sighed. Finally.
The floats wound their way through the streets. Their drivers knew the path well, and even if they didn't, it was rather well-marked by thousands of people standing along the streets and corners. Even if they didn't know precisely where their turns were, just from the people they would know where they were expected to go.
How convenient, was Spider-Man's opinion. I could be down there right now, driving one of those things for an undoubtedly outrageous amount of money to live on for weeks. Instead, I'm way up here, freezing my digits off, waiting for the bad guys to come out and reveal the red button.
Soon enough, however, the first float made its way to the street directly below. He stared down at it, spying the boy band standing next to the railing and waving at the crowd. And the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is ignored. Oh, well... he's got pressing business.
The background music for the band started playing, and the float stopped moving just a few yards beyond the building Spider-Man was on.
His spider-sense flared. He whirled around and held his web-shooters at the ready.
A man had just landed on the other side of the roof. He was short, though it was somewhat hard to tell by the way he was hunching. He was crouched in a form similar to Spider-Man's, sitting on his heels and using his hands for balance. His skin had a slight green tinge to it, and his short black hair didn't look as if it had seen water in years. His eyes were almost unnaturally large, and the overall effect was making him look like a human frog.
He grinned at Spider-Man with small teeth, and he licked his lips hungrily with a long green tongue, almost reminiscent of Venom. "A spider. One of my favorite meals."
His long tongue suddenly shot forward, fast as a snake... but Spider-Man was faster, leaping out of the way. He fired a line of web at the roof surface to ensure he didn't fall over the edge, and he pulled himself back down.
"Contrary to popular belief," Spider-Man retorted, "I am not food. The first song is starting... so let's dance."
"And the Toad agrees." The mutant called Toad let loose his tongue once again and jabbed even faster than before. It struck Spider-Man as a vicious uppercut, and he was thrown over the edge of the building.
He quickly sprayed a stream of web at the roof's ledge, then turned his fall into a long, arcing swing that brought him back up on another side of the building. He released the web at the top of his swing and let himself fall back down to the roof.
Toad hadn't moved. When he saw Spider-Man land on another section of the roof, he snorted. "Good."
"So glad you approve," said Spider-Man. He took a running leap at the mutant, only to see Toad's tongue coming up to meet him. He caught it in one hand and took it with him on his way down. When he landed, he grabbed the tongue with his other hand and began spinning around. Toad cried out as he was pulled off his feet and into the air from the force of Spider-Man's spinning.
Spider-Man finally released the tongue and sent Toad flying over the edge of the building, and away from the crowds. He then chased after the mutant. I have to find out where Magneto is and take him out before he sets off that bomb.
They both landed on the next building to the west; Toad on his back, Spider-Man on his feet. Spider-Man leapt on top of Toad and grabbed him by the leather jacket he wore.
"Where's Magneto?" he hissed.
Toad's response was to glare menacingly, and then to spit in Spider-Man's mask. Spider-Man jumped back in surprise... whatever Toad had just expelled from his mouth, it wasn't spit of any type he'd encountered... it was a thick fluid that seemed to cement to his mask the instant it hit, and it had been aimed at the lenses.
Toad threw Spider-Man off of him, then leapt up high and came down to stomp on the wall crawler. Spider-Man had only a spit-second's time, provided to him by his spider-sense, to roll blindly out of the way. He pried away at the cemented saliva with one hand while using the other to stagger to his feet.
He heard Toad's boots crushing the gravel in a straight line towards him, and he was doing it at running speed... whatever he was planning on doing next, it was going to hurt. Spider-Man stumbled to his left while pulling away at the hardened material even harder. He finally managed to tear a chunk off his right lens, and he found himself just in time to see Toad execute a drop-kick.
The kick lifted Spider-Man off his feet and sent him flying over to the next roof to the south. He landed on his butt, skidded, and came to a stop against an air vent. He ignored the stinging pain and pulled off another chunk, this time over his left lens. He was sure there was more material on his mask, but at this point, he didn't care much. He'd suffered worse damage.
Spider-Man got to his feet and watched as Toad leapt from building to building. As the mutant was in transit from his roof to the one Spider-Man was atop, the wall crawler aimed and fired two streams of webbing. Toad tried to avoid the strands, but it was understandably difficult for him to change direction in midair.
The two lines caught Toad's ankles, and Spider-Man pulled hard on them as Toad soared overhead. The mutant cried out and his tongue flailed about, looking for a way to stop him before he performed a lethal belly flop onto the roof. At the last instant, it wrapped around a flagpole, and he pulled himself away from Spider-Man. The webslinger was violently dragged into the air behind Toad by his weblines, and he became the one soaring past.
As Toad steadied himself, Spider-Man flew past the edge of the building and fell six stories. He barely managed to fire off another line in time, this one securing itself a street lamp next to a grocery store. He swung hard and low, but he couldn't stop his momentum, and when he released the line, he crashed through the front window of the store.
Thank God no one's working here today, he thought, as he struggled to his feet. He saw a speck rising from the building he's just vacated, and that speck turned into Toad as it got closer. He landed in the parking lot, then made another prodigious leap through the destroyed window and tackled Spider-Man.
Spider-Man rolled back, brought his feet up between himself and Toad, and shoved off. Toad went flying into a display of green bean cans. Good lord, we're playing a huge game of leapfrog... rather appropriate for a toad.
The webslinger rolled to his feet and held true to his nickname, firing off another pair of webs at Toad. They stuck to the mutant's chest and arm, and in response, Toad opened his mouth and lashed out with his tongue, wrapping it around Spider-Man's ankle. Spider-Man was pulled off his feet and thrown into the ceiling, and then the next aisle.
Toad jumped straight through the groceries separating the two aisles to face his foe. Spider-Man was still trying to recover from hitting the tiled floor so hard, and Toad took advantage of that.
"Time for the kill!" he crowed, and with that, he released his tongue once more and wrapped it around Spider-Man's head, depriving him of desperately needed air.
Spider-Man didn't even have time to think about it... it was reflexive. He yanked his head out from the tightening circle of Toad's tongue. It took him a moment to realize that he'd left a rather vital item behind in his haste to put air into his lungs, and he realized it as soon as Toad unraveled his tongue and let that item drop to the floor, sopping wet one instant and totally enclosed in cemented fluid the next.
His mask.
He glanced up at Toad, his eyes filling with horror.
Toad grinned. "Well, well. We see the face of the enemy at last."
He had only an instant to think about what he was going to do now.
Now what? Am I Peter Parker, or am I Spider-Man? Without the mask, I'd be recognized as Peter Parker everywhere... but with the costume, I'd also be recognized as Spider-Man.
What makes a hero?
Toad took advantage of his enemy's sudden stupor by leaping forward, ready to take him out.
And he was surprised and pained when he found himself lying on the floor next to the frozen groceries a moment later, his nose leaking blood.
It's not the costume. It's the action taken.
The man clenched his hands in determination, and aloud, he said, "I'm Spider-Man."
He jumped forward and tackled Toad, driving him through the glass of the frozen products door. The cart behind that door was knocked backward from the force of the hit, and Toad tried to struggle to his feet again, to take the offensive.
Spider-Man didn't let him have the opportunity. He drove another fist into Toad's face, slamming it across the mutant's jaw, then whipped out a leg and caught the mutant in the abdomen. Toad flew back and crashed into the cart again, then sagged to the floor.
The wall crawler sent out webs that caught the mutant in the chest, then yanked back on them, causing Toad to soar straight at him. He threw a flurry of punches: right hook, left hook, roundhouse, jab, right hook, and another right hook. Toad staggered under the power of the blows, and his tongue lolled out and trailed along the floor.
Spider-Man leapt to the side and landed near one of the refrigeration units. Toad's tongue lashed out in desperation, but Spider-Man rolled to the right and batted the tongue away. It whipped out again, this time trying to ram his directly in the abdomen.
The webslinger jumped up, attached his hands to the ceiling, and flipped his feet up to secure himself as much as avoid the vicious extremity. The tongue struck against the refrigeration unit, and when he tried to pull it back, Toad cried out in pain.
Spider-Man grinned and got down from the ceiling. "Didn't your mother every tell you not to lick frost?"
He tackled Toad, and the mutant's tongue was violently ripped from the unit. Toad screamed, his tongue now dripping dark fluids, and he retracted it into his mouth.
Spider-Man saw the opportunity and took it, spraying web over Toad's mouth and sealing it shut. Then he threw one last punch, and Toad's head banged against the floor.
The mutant slumped back, unconscious.
Spider-Man shakily rose to his feet, his breath shuddering. He ached all over from the exertions of the past few days, and he was almost ready to just quit.
But I can't. Not yet. Magneto's going to set off that bomb... no matter how tired I am, I have to stop him.
He returned to the aisle where his mask had been dropped, and he stomped on it several times. The hardened slime came off in chunks, as it had before, and soon, he had it almost completely cleaned off. I hope this stuff washes off... otherwise I'm going to need a new mask after this...
Spider-Man donned his mask, exited the grocery store, and ran back out into the streets.
Now to find Magneto.
I hope I'm not too late.
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...as do we all! Please review!