Spider-Man: TAS
Season 6: The Final Chapter
Episode 1: Welcome Home
Spider-Man stood upon the rooftop looking over the city he knew so well and had grown to love. He contemplated what had happened over the past few minutes. Mary Jane was still alive, Spider-Man was told. Madam Web promised to find Mary Jane for him, yet Madam Web had just left and now Spider-Man stood overlooking the city a bit confused. He had just saved the universe, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep next to his beautiful wife, despite the fact the woman he married was a clone.
"Welcome home, Spider-Man," Madam Web had said when they appeared on the typical New York building. "I made sure Mary Jane made her way home safely, although her return has come with sacrifice. It's one I'm sure you would have made had I told you about it."
Then the woman was gone. The woman who had confused, helped, and simultaneously intensely annoyed the webbed wonder was gone, out of his life to never return.
Spider-Man looked down at the street just below. He smiled as he watched people busily carry on their everyday lives, and Peter had to wonder what it must be like to be so innocent and oblivious to the truly complex universe around him. Not that he had all the answers. Peter had never pretended he really knew what was going on, but he had certainly been through a lot more than the average person. That's the conclusion he came to, at any rate.
It didn't take long for people to realize whom the figure was standing above them. A faint ecstatic cry calling, "Spidey!" reached Spider-Man's ears. Peter smiled beneath his mask as he thought how great it feels to be welcomed home.
"Time to find my wife," Spider-Man said to himself. "Although, I might have a though time explaining that fact to her… I hope she's okay with it… I think I'm in for a long day."
Spider-Man leaped off the building and shot out a web. Nothing had changed. The pure exhilaration of web-swinging across the New York skyline remained the same as it was before Spidey had been across the universe and back again.
As Spider-Man began to relax, despite the polluted air he had to acclimate to once more, a sharp warning via spider-sense sent a jolt through Spidey's brain. Not now, Spider-Man complained with a thought. For the love of God, not now.
Spidey glance back as a green blur sped overhead and snapped Spider-Man's web-line.
"It seems that it's impossible to be rid of you," whined the unmistakable voice. Of course, the voices of all Spider-Man's mainstream villains were now unmistakable to him. He could identify the voice of any villain he's fought more than once, and this voice distinctly belonged to…
"Vulture! You realize that I'm not going away, yet you're so persistent." Spider-Man had done an summersault through the air and now stuck to the side of a building, which drew the attention from onlookers not only from below, but also from nearby windows.
"I'm not going to get into a quarrel with you. Not now, anyway," Vulture explained. He was standing on a roof and now spread his wings to begin flight.
"You're the one who snapped my web. I'm afraid I can't let that slide. That's disturbing the peace. And I was beginning to get very comfortable."
"I don't care what you were doing, but you should know that I'm out of the crime business. I'm going about my own ways now. I have my youth, I'm no longer interested in anything else?"
"Then what's with the flying? Do you really need those wings anymore?" Spidey wisely inquired.
"There's a small matter I need to take care of," Vulture replied. "But I'm done with crime!"
"Then you won't mind if I take those big bulky wings off your hands. Literally!" Spider-Man propelled himself off the wall with as a threatening advance on his greed garbed opponent.
"Why do you continue to peruse me?" the vulture wailed as he soared off.
"Superhero duties. I can't neglect those, although I doubt it'd affect my salary if I did. Besides, just because you stopped committing crimes, doesn't mean you get off for the ones you committed earlier."
"I don't' have time for this!" the vulture continued to complained.
"Neither do I. So let's make this quick." Spidey made another leap at his adversary, but was greeted with an unexpected attack.
His spider-sense blared, but there was nothing the wall-crawler could do as his chin collided with the Vulture's foot. Spider-Man groaned and began to fall. The flying super villain didn't give his wily adversary a chance to recover. Vulture scooped Spidey up and raced to the top of the building where a water tower lay. Vulture smiled as he ensured he had a good grip on the hero's leg, and then he spun Spider-Man around before releasing the leg to let Spidey soar through the top of the water tower. Vulture flew away cackling while Spider-Man was left to debate how to escape his new predicament.
"Why water? I hate it when my suit gets wet. By the end of the day it starts to smell and grow mold… Eck! For once, I'd like a villain that respects my preferred way of getting smacked around."
Spider-Man swam over to the side and tried to stick.
"Great. The sides are too wet. I can't stick." Spidey let out a sigh followed by a reluctant decision. "I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way."
Spider-Man swam to the bottom of the tower. He turned upright so his feet were touching the water-covered floor, then he propelled himself upward, through the hole made by his initial impact. Spidey perched himself on the side of the building top wile he whipped out the yellow handheld device used to trace his spider-tracers. Glad I stuck one of my trusty tracers on that birdbrain. He should be easy to track now! Then he shot a web and swung away.
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can," Spider-Man sang. "That sure was a catchy tune I heard in that Stan Lee guy's world. I should copyright it in this world as Peter Parker and make millions. Nah, I wouldn't even know what to do with that kind of money. Besides, I'd feel guilty. Remember, kids, plagiarism is a crime! Who am I talking to? I really need to get my own TV show."
The Vulture swooped down to the ground once he reached his destination. He looked up and smiled at the large letters that spelled out OSCORP.
"Before I leave this wretched city, I want you to fall before the might of your true superior, Osborn." With that, Vulture burst through the doors yelling at the top of his lungs for Osborn to come out and play.
Workers started to scatter about, mostly making for various exits. Eventually Harry Osborn, the new owner since his father's disappearance, came out of his office to see what the commotion was all about.
"Osborn!" the Vulture cried as he swooped down to meet his loathed enemy. Then he realized who he was looking at. "No! You're not the Osborn I want! Where's your father? Where's that scumbag, Norman?"
"My father is gone. I am now the owner of Oscorp," Harry explained.
"Very well then," Vulture said followed by a sigh. "I'll have to settle for you."
An expression of horror quickly crossed Harry's face as the Vulture advanced.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man was swinging as fast as he could across the Big Apple skyline. He didn't want to waste any more time than he had to. There was one crucial stop he had to make. He neared the ESU science building and smiled with glee.
It feels to good to be home, Spider-Man thought. He landed outside the window belonging to Doctor Connor's office. I hope the good doctor still has what I need.
Spider-Man crawled in through the window. The lights were off and no one was around.
Oh well. Good thing I know where he keeps the thing. Spider-Man proceeded over to the light switches and flicked them on. He moved to a cabinet that happened to be locked. Ah! Now this is getting annoying. He broke the lock and opened the two flimsy metal doors. I'll pay him back…sometime…maybe…if I ever get my hand on some money.
Once the cabinet was open, Spidey searched through the different shelves until he found the device he was looking for.
Excellent, he thought. It's still like I remember it. Though I don't know how I expected something like this to change.
Within a few seconds, the lights were off, the window was closed, and Spider-Man was quickly making his way in the direction of the Vulture.
The Vulture made a dive at Harry Osborn. Harry ducked and barely made it out of harms way.
"If I can't have your father's head on a platter I'm going to make sure you can't carry on the plague that is the Osborn gene," Vulture ranted.
"Can't we all just get along?" called a voice from behind.
The Vulture stopped his attack on the young business owner, but not willingly. There was a strand of webbing stuck to his back.
"You again?" cried Vulture.
"An astute observation," Spidey retorted as he jumped down from the window so to allow his foot to meet Vulture's jaw. The Vulture let out an "umph" before stumbling back then taking the air again.
"Sorry, Vulture. But I've decided to take away your flying privileges." Spider-Man reached for his utility belt he wore under his costume shirt. He whipped out a gray handheld device with a clearly marked red button. Spidey's webbed finger hit the button and the Vulture fell wailing to the ground.
"What have you done?!" the vulture whimpered.
"That's simple, you cringing carnivorous dolt!" Spider-Man said, proud of his new discovery. "This thing is an anti-magnetic inverter. I always had a hunch that your flying had something to do with magnetism; it just took me a while to put that knowledge to use."
Spider-Man slipped the wings off the Vulture's arms and snapped them over his knee. Then he said, "There we go. Don't plan on flying any time soon."
Harry was looking on with a confused look.
"You okay, Osborn?" Spider-Man asked.
"Peter?" Harry said. "Is that you?"
"Uh, no. I think you have me confused with a photographer," Spider-Man said before taking off out the window. Harry had called after him with no response.
I'm sorry, Harry, Spider-Man thought while swinging once again. You may never make sense of some of the things in your past. At least, I hope you don't. Otherwise, you'll know who I am and that could be dangerous information.
Suddenly, a figure in the distance could be seen waving to him. Spider-Man prayed it wasn't another adversary, because he just wanted to go home. However, once he was close enough, the figure started to take a feminine form, and Spidey immediately guessed whom it was.
"Hello, Spider," the so familiar voice greeted as Spider-Man landed beside the black leather clad woman.
"Hey, Cat," Spidey greeted back. "How are things with you? Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere with Morbious and Blade."
The Black Cat sighed as she brushed back her platinum blonde hair. "Vampire hunting gets old so quick." Then her eyes met the blank stare coming from Spider-Man's expressionless mask. "Do you ever miss me, Spider? I mean all that we shared?"
"It wasn't much, Cat. I…"
"Spider, I love you. I've always loved you." She lifted the bottom of Spidey's mask and kissed him. Spidey let her, just as he let her do the same thing during the Secret Wars. He wished he could have resisted, but he still had feelings for her. They weren't as strong as his feelings for Mary Jane, though. He had to remind himself of this constantly and he did so now.
Spider-Man pulled away and said, "Cat, I care for you a lot. I really do. It's just that… There are weird things going on in my life now. I…"
"We never did get around to taking our masks off, Spider," Cat interrupted.
"Stop interrupting me. I have to…"
"It's okay if you don't want to show me your face, Spider. I respect that. But I want you to know who I am." Before Spider-Man could object, Black Cat's mask was off and she morphed back to her common alias. She now had normal blonde hair and Spider-Man was stunned.
"Felicia! How… What?" Spider-Man was too stunned to say anything more.
"You must know how much I love you, now. I've loved for so long and…"
"I can't do this. I can't get involved with you," Spidey broke in. "I… I'm sorry, I have to go."
Felicia's sigh let Spider-Man know she was hoping for more, but there was nothing he could do about it. Spidey flipped into the air calling back, "We'll talk later." It was time to go home.
Peter made it back home and changed back into his normal, everyday clothes. His "civvies," he often referred to them as, which was short for civilian clothes. Not knowing how long he had been gone, or if according to this world he had been gone at all, Peter decided it would be wise to not walk downstairs calling, "Hi, I'm home!"
So he crawled back out the window and walked around front. Just before his hand reached the doorknob that he had turned so many times before since he had lived there in Queens, he turned his head left to see the woman he loved standing there.
"Mary Jane," Peter breathed. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Perhaps he never really expected to have her back. But there she was. Peter knew it was she. For some reason, a feeling deep inside assured him that the woman standing no more than ten yards away was not a clone.
"Mary Jane!" Peter said once more, with clear ecstasy this time. He left the doorstep and ran up to the beautiful redhead and kissed her. It was a long kiss, and one Peter dreamt about every night since the clone evaporated and Mary Jane disappeared for the second time in his life.
"Peter," Mary Jane said as she pushed away with her hands to Peter's chest. "I'm happy to see you, but where have I been. I don't know what's going on. I just appeared at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the last place I remembered before…"
"Mary Jane, I think we need to have a talk," Peter said. He put his arm around MJ's shoulders and they went for a walk together.
To be continued…
Spider-Man: TAS
Season 6: The Final Chapter
Episode 2: The Boys Are Back In Town
Peter Parker and Mary Jane sat inside their apartment. The apartment Mary Jane doesn't recollect ever being in, much less sharing it with someone. As far as anyone other than Peter knew, Mary Jane was still missing after being kidnapped by Hydroman. However, that Mary Jane was merely a clone. A clone married Peter Parker, a clone found out Peter was secretly the masked adventurer known as Spider-Man, and a clone would probably have had Peter's babies if she hadn't evaporated. Now, the real Mary Jane Watson (Parker?) must discover everything she's missed.
"We're married?!" Mary Jane was too startled to say anything else for a few moments. Peter had answered with an assuring "yes," but MJ hadn't heard. She couldn't believe what happened. She not only had a clone, but for the brief time it had existed, it had completely bungled up her life. Not that she didn't want to marry Peter, lord knows she did. She just wanted to marry the man she loved herself.
"MJ" Peter snapped his fingers a few times. "Are you okay?"
"Uhh… Well, no. No, I'm not fine. I might never get to marry you, now."
"We are married," Peter explained.
"No we're not!" Mary Jane snapped. "You're married to my dead clone. I love you Peter and I want to be at our wedding."
"Ah…" Peter understood now. He had no idea how to explain this to MJ's Aunt Anna or to Aunt May. "I have no idea how to explain this to people when we throw another wedding."
"Did the first one suck?" Mary Jane asked enthusiastically.
"No, I don't think…" Then Peter thought back on the wedding. Memories of the Green Goblin, the Scorpion, Fisk and his robot, and the exceptionally flirtatious Black Cat flooded Peter's mind. "Yeah, it sucked."
"Great! As long as it was a disaster we can have another wedding. What happened last time?"
"Well… Remember before I started to tell you this story that there were a couple mind-boggling things I had to tell you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, the marriage was only the first one," Peter explained. "What happened at the wedding is tied into the other thing I have to tell you."
"Which is?" MJ asked, eager to know what Peter was circumventing.
Peter sighed and decided it was best to get the news off his shoulder now. He didn't want to keep Mary Jane guessing where he disappeared to all the time if they were to live as a married couple.
"I'm Spider-Man," Peter said quickly. He felt relieved and sick at the same time. He had no clue how Mary Jane would react or if she believed him. Her quick smile made Peter decide the latter definitely had something to do with what was going to happen.
"I know that," Mary Jane said after choking down a laugh. She didn't want to make Peter feel stupid.
"You what?!" It was Peter's turn to be astonished. "What do you mean you… What?!"
"Come on, Peter. You don't honestly think that the whole time we dated I put up with your constant disappearing act without knowing the reason, do you?"
"Well the thought had crossed my mind," Peter told her.
"I've known since Harry and I were dating. I never wanted to get close to you because you always put your life on the line. I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't want to love a man who had a high risk of dying every day. But I did love you and I love you now. So we dated and now… I guess we're married."
Peter stared out the window contemplatively. She knew? She knew… Huh. He scratched his head. "You knew?"
Mary Jane laughed, which provoked a smile from Peter. They shared another kiss.
"So how did your aunt take the news that you're home?" Peter asked.
"I haven't been home, Peter. I saw you when I was about to walk in."
"You haven't been home?"
"Yes, I cleared that up."
"Madam Web said…"
"I've heard enough about this Madam Web character. As well as that Black Cat woman. How many women have you been with as Spider-Man?"
"What? No, it's not like that. I…"
MJ let out another laugh.
"Peter, relax. I'm just kidding." They smiled as they gazed into each other's eyes. They were both genuinely happy, something neither of them had felt in quite some time. "Let's go home, Peter."
As they walked out the door, Mary Jane said, "So what happened at the wedding?"
"Well, remember the Green Goblin?" Peter asked, realizing it was a dumb question.
"Do you expect me to forget with out Alzheimer's?"
"I suppose not. Well his son took up the mantel afterwards and decided to ruin Spidey's big day."
The two reached the stairs. There was a long pause.
"Well," Mary Jane said. "Who was Green Goblin to begin with?"
"Heh…" Peter felt a little nervous. "Walk with me."
They continued walking and talking.
Peter had pretty much finished explaining the Osborn/goblin legacy when they reached the house of Mary Jane's Aunt Anna. Mary Jane was shocked but managed to save all the questions for later.
MJ rang the doorbell and when the door opened, Anna nearly passed out in joy. Instead of passing out, however, she gave her niece a big hug and actually went as far as to invite Peter in. Perhaps it was because Peter's Aunt May was over there as well, though.
"May, look. Mary Jane is back and well," Anna exclaimed.
May smiled and asked, "What happened to you two?"
"Well," Peter began, "It's a long story, but Spider-Man ended up saving both of us from Morris Bench in the end."
"Well, it's wonderful to have you both back," Anna said.
Peter was shocked. Perhaps his wife's aunt was finally beginning warm up to him now that she notices how much he and MJ love each other. The last time he had talked to Anna Watson was during an argument about putting MJ's life in danger. Anna had blamed Peter for the kidnapping, but apparently her ideals have changed since Peter's outburst on how much he loved Mary Jane and would do anything to keep her out of harm's way.
They all sat down in the living room and talked for a while before switching on the tube. There on the news was live footage of the Rhino and Shocker tearing up Manhattan. Peter leaped to his feet.
"I… I have to get down there. Mr. Jameson will have my hide if I don't bring him some news photos. Especially since he hasn't seen me in a while." Peter ran out the door before anyone could voice questions or objections.
Within ten minutes Spider-Man was ready for another slugfest with his good old-fashioned villain duo.
Spider-Man landed in front of the two criminals before they blew anything else up. There were already buildings and automobiles on fire. Not to mention all of the glass and broken concrete that now covered the ground.
"It's nice to see a long lasting relationship these days. They say those celebrity relationships never work out," Spidey mocked.
"Very funny, wall-crawler," Shocker hissed. "I heard you were back in town, punk. That's not going to make the Kingpin happy, though. Hopefully I can rectify that problem right now. Charge 'im, Rhino."
Rhino bent forward and prepared to run before being interrupted.
"Wait a minute. Hold up. Shocker says he's going to get rid of me before demanding that you, Rhino, charge me. Does that make any sense? I mean, you both work for Kingpin, right? I assume you both have the same wages."
"He gets paid a little more," Rhino pointed out, gesturing towards Shocker.
"Does that give him the right to tell you what to do?" Spidey asked the question Rhino found quite perplexing. Nevertheless, Rhino came up with an answer he liked.
"No… I don't think it does." Rhino turned towards Shocker.
"What are you doing, you idiot. He's trying to turn us against each other," Shocker yelled. "Rhino, don't…!"
Before Shocker had a chance to do anything, Rhino had punched him out.
"Now I'm going to wipe the floor with you, bug."
"Arachnid, buddy. A spider is an arachnid," Spider-Man astutely pointed out.
"Don't try any of that wise-guy stuff on me, Spider-Man. I ain't gonna listen. Lucky for you, I didn't like Shocker, anyway."
Rhino charged. Spidey dodged, naturally, and that was how it went for the next ten minutes before Spider-Man decided that this course of action was ludicrous and going nowhere. Then Shocker woke up.
"Okay. Now you're both going to fry," Shocker screamed in angst.
"Take your time Shocker" Spider-Man said as he back flipped onto a wall. Rhino hit that wall hard and Spidey fell but managed to shoot off a web before he was within his adversary's grasp.
Spider-Man landed between Shocker and Rhino so when his spider-sense blared, jumping up was a natural move for Spidey.
Shocker's blast had set off the spider-sense and that blast hit Rhino and stunned him for a movement. But only for a moment. Shocker went berserk and started blasting this way and that but hit everything except for his opponent. To keep out of the way, Spider-Man was doing flips on the ground, jumping off walls, and swinging around streetlights. Suddenly the blasting stopped.
Spider-Man glanced down from his perch at the top of a streetlight. Down below was a vigilante entirely garbed in red with Shocker lying at his feet.
"Horn head!" Spidey exclaimed. "Long time no see."
"I heard these guys are working for Kingpin," Daredevil called up. "I think it's about time we finished what we started the last time we met."
"I think you're right," Spider-Man agreed. Then the streetlight fell after Rhino had hit it.
Spider-Man leaped to safety then quickly said, "Daredevil! Do you think you can keep these clowns occupied for a little bit? I have an idea, but I need to take off for a few minutes."
"Make it quick web-head," Daredevil said as he jumped out of Rhino's way. "Don't forget I'm not quite as strong as you."
"Don't worry, horn head. Strength doesn't do much against Rhino, anyway." With that, Spider-Man took off.
Spider-Man raced once again to the ESU science lab. He knew what he had to do and produced a new batch of webbing in fifteen minutes. Daredevil had been alone with the two villains for twenty-five minutes now. He hoped they guy was holding out okay. There was no time to check the news. Once the webbing was finished, he took off and arrived in time to keep Daredevil from having to be alone with the two rogues for a thirty-eighth minute.
Daredevil was on the ground about to be blasted away by Shocker when Spidey arrived. Spider-Man kicked Shocker to the ground and helped Daredevil up.
"Thanks for making it quick," snapped Daredevil.
"No problem," Spider-Man retorted. "Take care of Shocker. I hit him pretty hard so you shouldn't have too much work left to do. I'll take care of Rhino."
The Rhino charged once more. "I'm not going back to jail, Spider-Man," Rhino wailed. "I won't be arrested again!"
"I'm afraid you will be," Spider-Man said, unconcerned about the threatening advance being made by Rhino. Spidey lifted his arms and covered Rhino head to toe in webbing. The Rhino slowed down.
"What's happenin' to me. What'd you do?" Rhino cried. His costume was disintegrating before his eyes.
"I just concocted a highly caustic web-fluid to get rid of that suit of yours. I guess that takes care of your strength, eh?"
With one punch, the once powerful Rhino fell. Spider-Man changed web-cartridges and webbed the near naked man (Rhino still had boxers on) from a streetlight. Then Spider-Man turned to see Daredevil punch Shocker down to the ground. Spidey leaped over and delivered a forceful kick before Shocker could stand up.
"And that's a wrap," Spider-Man said as he webbed up Shocker next to Rhino.
"Pun intended?" Daredevil asked.
"Of course. You feeling okay?"
"I'll be alright. I did do most of the fighting, though."
"Uhh… Yeah, sorry about that."
"Once I catch my breath, we go after that vermin, Kingpin. He's not going to be ruler of the mob for much longer." Daredevil clenched his fists and jaw with the thought of the large powerful figure sitting at his desk without any worry.
"Take your time, Daredevil. I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of energy for the upcoming fight." Spider-Man took a deep breath and exhaled. "I can't wait to see that scum bag go down."
Sitting in his inherited mansion, Harry Osborn watched the evening news and squinted when he saw the image of Spider-Man appear. The red and blue hero was fighting the Rhino and Shocker.
"I know that's you, Peter," Harry whispered to himself. "I know you've been lying to me. You've been deceiving me. Why, Peter? I thought we were best friends? I need to think. I need help. The Green Goblin will help me! He's helped me before. Maybe he can help me again. He can bring MJ back to me. MJ and my father!"
Harry got up from his chair and left the living room. It was time for him to find the Green Goblin again.
Next: Empire's End Part I
Season 6: The Final Chapter
Episode 1: Welcome Home
Spider-Man stood upon the rooftop looking over the city he knew so well and had grown to love. He contemplated what had happened over the past few minutes. Mary Jane was still alive, Spider-Man was told. Madam Web promised to find Mary Jane for him, yet Madam Web had just left and now Spider-Man stood overlooking the city a bit confused. He had just saved the universe, and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep next to his beautiful wife, despite the fact the woman he married was a clone.
"Welcome home, Spider-Man," Madam Web had said when they appeared on the typical New York building. "I made sure Mary Jane made her way home safely, although her return has come with sacrifice. It's one I'm sure you would have made had I told you about it."
Then the woman was gone. The woman who had confused, helped, and simultaneously intensely annoyed the webbed wonder was gone, out of his life to never return.
Spider-Man looked down at the street just below. He smiled as he watched people busily carry on their everyday lives, and Peter had to wonder what it must be like to be so innocent and oblivious to the truly complex universe around him. Not that he had all the answers. Peter had never pretended he really knew what was going on, but he had certainly been through a lot more than the average person. That's the conclusion he came to, at any rate.
It didn't take long for people to realize whom the figure was standing above them. A faint ecstatic cry calling, "Spidey!" reached Spider-Man's ears. Peter smiled beneath his mask as he thought how great it feels to be welcomed home.
"Time to find my wife," Spider-Man said to himself. "Although, I might have a though time explaining that fact to her… I hope she's okay with it… I think I'm in for a long day."
Spider-Man leaped off the building and shot out a web. Nothing had changed. The pure exhilaration of web-swinging across the New York skyline remained the same as it was before Spidey had been across the universe and back again.
As Spider-Man began to relax, despite the polluted air he had to acclimate to once more, a sharp warning via spider-sense sent a jolt through Spidey's brain. Not now, Spider-Man complained with a thought. For the love of God, not now.
Spidey glance back as a green blur sped overhead and snapped Spider-Man's web-line.
"It seems that it's impossible to be rid of you," whined the unmistakable voice. Of course, the voices of all Spider-Man's mainstream villains were now unmistakable to him. He could identify the voice of any villain he's fought more than once, and this voice distinctly belonged to…
"Vulture! You realize that I'm not going away, yet you're so persistent." Spider-Man had done an summersault through the air and now stuck to the side of a building, which drew the attention from onlookers not only from below, but also from nearby windows.
"I'm not going to get into a quarrel with you. Not now, anyway," Vulture explained. He was standing on a roof and now spread his wings to begin flight.
"You're the one who snapped my web. I'm afraid I can't let that slide. That's disturbing the peace. And I was beginning to get very comfortable."
"I don't care what you were doing, but you should know that I'm out of the crime business. I'm going about my own ways now. I have my youth, I'm no longer interested in anything else?"
"Then what's with the flying? Do you really need those wings anymore?" Spidey wisely inquired.
"There's a small matter I need to take care of," Vulture replied. "But I'm done with crime!"
"Then you won't mind if I take those big bulky wings off your hands. Literally!" Spider-Man propelled himself off the wall with as a threatening advance on his greed garbed opponent.
"Why do you continue to peruse me?" the vulture wailed as he soared off.
"Superhero duties. I can't neglect those, although I doubt it'd affect my salary if I did. Besides, just because you stopped committing crimes, doesn't mean you get off for the ones you committed earlier."
"I don't' have time for this!" the vulture continued to complained.
"Neither do I. So let's make this quick." Spidey made another leap at his adversary, but was greeted with an unexpected attack.
His spider-sense blared, but there was nothing the wall-crawler could do as his chin collided with the Vulture's foot. Spider-Man groaned and began to fall. The flying super villain didn't give his wily adversary a chance to recover. Vulture scooped Spidey up and raced to the top of the building where a water tower lay. Vulture smiled as he ensured he had a good grip on the hero's leg, and then he spun Spider-Man around before releasing the leg to let Spidey soar through the top of the water tower. Vulture flew away cackling while Spider-Man was left to debate how to escape his new predicament.
"Why water? I hate it when my suit gets wet. By the end of the day it starts to smell and grow mold… Eck! For once, I'd like a villain that respects my preferred way of getting smacked around."
Spider-Man swam over to the side and tried to stick.
"Great. The sides are too wet. I can't stick." Spidey let out a sigh followed by a reluctant decision. "I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way."
Spider-Man swam to the bottom of the tower. He turned upright so his feet were touching the water-covered floor, then he propelled himself upward, through the hole made by his initial impact. Spidey perched himself on the side of the building top wile he whipped out the yellow handheld device used to trace his spider-tracers. Glad I stuck one of my trusty tracers on that birdbrain. He should be easy to track now! Then he shot a web and swung away.
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man. Does whatever a spider can," Spider-Man sang. "That sure was a catchy tune I heard in that Stan Lee guy's world. I should copyright it in this world as Peter Parker and make millions. Nah, I wouldn't even know what to do with that kind of money. Besides, I'd feel guilty. Remember, kids, plagiarism is a crime! Who am I talking to? I really need to get my own TV show."
The Vulture swooped down to the ground once he reached his destination. He looked up and smiled at the large letters that spelled out OSCORP.
"Before I leave this wretched city, I want you to fall before the might of your true superior, Osborn." With that, Vulture burst through the doors yelling at the top of his lungs for Osborn to come out and play.
Workers started to scatter about, mostly making for various exits. Eventually Harry Osborn, the new owner since his father's disappearance, came out of his office to see what the commotion was all about.
"Osborn!" the Vulture cried as he swooped down to meet his loathed enemy. Then he realized who he was looking at. "No! You're not the Osborn I want! Where's your father? Where's that scumbag, Norman?"
"My father is gone. I am now the owner of Oscorp," Harry explained.
"Very well then," Vulture said followed by a sigh. "I'll have to settle for you."
An expression of horror quickly crossed Harry's face as the Vulture advanced.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man was swinging as fast as he could across the Big Apple skyline. He didn't want to waste any more time than he had to. There was one crucial stop he had to make. He neared the ESU science building and smiled with glee.
It feels to good to be home, Spider-Man thought. He landed outside the window belonging to Doctor Connor's office. I hope the good doctor still has what I need.
Spider-Man crawled in through the window. The lights were off and no one was around.
Oh well. Good thing I know where he keeps the thing. Spider-Man proceeded over to the light switches and flicked them on. He moved to a cabinet that happened to be locked. Ah! Now this is getting annoying. He broke the lock and opened the two flimsy metal doors. I'll pay him back…sometime…maybe…if I ever get my hand on some money.
Once the cabinet was open, Spidey searched through the different shelves until he found the device he was looking for.
Excellent, he thought. It's still like I remember it. Though I don't know how I expected something like this to change.
Within a few seconds, the lights were off, the window was closed, and Spider-Man was quickly making his way in the direction of the Vulture.
The Vulture made a dive at Harry Osborn. Harry ducked and barely made it out of harms way.
"If I can't have your father's head on a platter I'm going to make sure you can't carry on the plague that is the Osborn gene," Vulture ranted.
"Can't we all just get along?" called a voice from behind.
The Vulture stopped his attack on the young business owner, but not willingly. There was a strand of webbing stuck to his back.
"You again?" cried Vulture.
"An astute observation," Spidey retorted as he jumped down from the window so to allow his foot to meet Vulture's jaw. The Vulture let out an "umph" before stumbling back then taking the air again.
"Sorry, Vulture. But I've decided to take away your flying privileges." Spider-Man reached for his utility belt he wore under his costume shirt. He whipped out a gray handheld device with a clearly marked red button. Spidey's webbed finger hit the button and the Vulture fell wailing to the ground.
"What have you done?!" the vulture whimpered.
"That's simple, you cringing carnivorous dolt!" Spider-Man said, proud of his new discovery. "This thing is an anti-magnetic inverter. I always had a hunch that your flying had something to do with magnetism; it just took me a while to put that knowledge to use."
Spider-Man slipped the wings off the Vulture's arms and snapped them over his knee. Then he said, "There we go. Don't plan on flying any time soon."
Harry was looking on with a confused look.
"You okay, Osborn?" Spider-Man asked.
"Peter?" Harry said. "Is that you?"
"Uh, no. I think you have me confused with a photographer," Spider-Man said before taking off out the window. Harry had called after him with no response.
I'm sorry, Harry, Spider-Man thought while swinging once again. You may never make sense of some of the things in your past. At least, I hope you don't. Otherwise, you'll know who I am and that could be dangerous information.
Suddenly, a figure in the distance could be seen waving to him. Spider-Man prayed it wasn't another adversary, because he just wanted to go home. However, once he was close enough, the figure started to take a feminine form, and Spidey immediately guessed whom it was.
"Hello, Spider," the so familiar voice greeted as Spider-Man landed beside the black leather clad woman.
"Hey, Cat," Spidey greeted back. "How are things with you? Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere with Morbious and Blade."
The Black Cat sighed as she brushed back her platinum blonde hair. "Vampire hunting gets old so quick." Then her eyes met the blank stare coming from Spider-Man's expressionless mask. "Do you ever miss me, Spider? I mean all that we shared?"
"It wasn't much, Cat. I…"
"Spider, I love you. I've always loved you." She lifted the bottom of Spidey's mask and kissed him. Spidey let her, just as he let her do the same thing during the Secret Wars. He wished he could have resisted, but he still had feelings for her. They weren't as strong as his feelings for Mary Jane, though. He had to remind himself of this constantly and he did so now.
Spider-Man pulled away and said, "Cat, I care for you a lot. I really do. It's just that… There are weird things going on in my life now. I…"
"We never did get around to taking our masks off, Spider," Cat interrupted.
"Stop interrupting me. I have to…"
"It's okay if you don't want to show me your face, Spider. I respect that. But I want you to know who I am." Before Spider-Man could object, Black Cat's mask was off and she morphed back to her common alias. She now had normal blonde hair and Spider-Man was stunned.
"Felicia! How… What?" Spider-Man was too stunned to say anything more.
"You must know how much I love you, now. I've loved for so long and…"
"I can't do this. I can't get involved with you," Spidey broke in. "I… I'm sorry, I have to go."
Felicia's sigh let Spider-Man know she was hoping for more, but there was nothing he could do about it. Spidey flipped into the air calling back, "We'll talk later." It was time to go home.
Peter made it back home and changed back into his normal, everyday clothes. His "civvies," he often referred to them as, which was short for civilian clothes. Not knowing how long he had been gone, or if according to this world he had been gone at all, Peter decided it would be wise to not walk downstairs calling, "Hi, I'm home!"
So he crawled back out the window and walked around front. Just before his hand reached the doorknob that he had turned so many times before since he had lived there in Queens, he turned his head left to see the woman he loved standing there.
"Mary Jane," Peter breathed. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Perhaps he never really expected to have her back. But there she was. Peter knew it was she. For some reason, a feeling deep inside assured him that the woman standing no more than ten yards away was not a clone.
"Mary Jane!" Peter said once more, with clear ecstasy this time. He left the doorstep and ran up to the beautiful redhead and kissed her. It was a long kiss, and one Peter dreamt about every night since the clone evaporated and Mary Jane disappeared for the second time in his life.
"Peter," Mary Jane said as she pushed away with her hands to Peter's chest. "I'm happy to see you, but where have I been. I don't know what's going on. I just appeared at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the last place I remembered before…"
"Mary Jane, I think we need to have a talk," Peter said. He put his arm around MJ's shoulders and they went for a walk together.
To be continued…
Spider-Man: TAS
Season 6: The Final Chapter
Episode 2: The Boys Are Back In Town
Peter Parker and Mary Jane sat inside their apartment. The apartment Mary Jane doesn't recollect ever being in, much less sharing it with someone. As far as anyone other than Peter knew, Mary Jane was still missing after being kidnapped by Hydroman. However, that Mary Jane was merely a clone. A clone married Peter Parker, a clone found out Peter was secretly the masked adventurer known as Spider-Man, and a clone would probably have had Peter's babies if she hadn't evaporated. Now, the real Mary Jane Watson (Parker?) must discover everything she's missed.
"We're married?!" Mary Jane was too startled to say anything else for a few moments. Peter had answered with an assuring "yes," but MJ hadn't heard. She couldn't believe what happened. She not only had a clone, but for the brief time it had existed, it had completely bungled up her life. Not that she didn't want to marry Peter, lord knows she did. She just wanted to marry the man she loved herself.
"MJ" Peter snapped his fingers a few times. "Are you okay?"
"Uhh… Well, no. No, I'm not fine. I might never get to marry you, now."
"We are married," Peter explained.
"No we're not!" Mary Jane snapped. "You're married to my dead clone. I love you Peter and I want to be at our wedding."
"Ah…" Peter understood now. He had no idea how to explain this to MJ's Aunt Anna or to Aunt May. "I have no idea how to explain this to people when we throw another wedding."
"Did the first one suck?" Mary Jane asked enthusiastically.
"No, I don't think…" Then Peter thought back on the wedding. Memories of the Green Goblin, the Scorpion, Fisk and his robot, and the exceptionally flirtatious Black Cat flooded Peter's mind. "Yeah, it sucked."
"Great! As long as it was a disaster we can have another wedding. What happened last time?"
"Well… Remember before I started to tell you this story that there were a couple mind-boggling things I had to tell you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, the marriage was only the first one," Peter explained. "What happened at the wedding is tied into the other thing I have to tell you."
"Which is?" MJ asked, eager to know what Peter was circumventing.
Peter sighed and decided it was best to get the news off his shoulder now. He didn't want to keep Mary Jane guessing where he disappeared to all the time if they were to live as a married couple.
"I'm Spider-Man," Peter said quickly. He felt relieved and sick at the same time. He had no clue how Mary Jane would react or if she believed him. Her quick smile made Peter decide the latter definitely had something to do with what was going to happen.
"I know that," Mary Jane said after choking down a laugh. She didn't want to make Peter feel stupid.
"You what?!" It was Peter's turn to be astonished. "What do you mean you… What?!"
"Come on, Peter. You don't honestly think that the whole time we dated I put up with your constant disappearing act without knowing the reason, do you?"
"Well the thought had crossed my mind," Peter told her.
"I've known since Harry and I were dating. I never wanted to get close to you because you always put your life on the line. I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't want to love a man who had a high risk of dying every day. But I did love you and I love you now. So we dated and now… I guess we're married."
Peter stared out the window contemplatively. She knew? She knew… Huh. He scratched his head. "You knew?"
Mary Jane laughed, which provoked a smile from Peter. They shared another kiss.
"So how did your aunt take the news that you're home?" Peter asked.
"I haven't been home, Peter. I saw you when I was about to walk in."
"You haven't been home?"
"Yes, I cleared that up."
"Madam Web said…"
"I've heard enough about this Madam Web character. As well as that Black Cat woman. How many women have you been with as Spider-Man?"
"What? No, it's not like that. I…"
MJ let out another laugh.
"Peter, relax. I'm just kidding." They smiled as they gazed into each other's eyes. They were both genuinely happy, something neither of them had felt in quite some time. "Let's go home, Peter."
As they walked out the door, Mary Jane said, "So what happened at the wedding?"
"Well, remember the Green Goblin?" Peter asked, realizing it was a dumb question.
"Do you expect me to forget with out Alzheimer's?"
"I suppose not. Well his son took up the mantel afterwards and decided to ruin Spidey's big day."
The two reached the stairs. There was a long pause.
"Well," Mary Jane said. "Who was Green Goblin to begin with?"
"Heh…" Peter felt a little nervous. "Walk with me."
They continued walking and talking.
Peter had pretty much finished explaining the Osborn/goblin legacy when they reached the house of Mary Jane's Aunt Anna. Mary Jane was shocked but managed to save all the questions for later.
MJ rang the doorbell and when the door opened, Anna nearly passed out in joy. Instead of passing out, however, she gave her niece a big hug and actually went as far as to invite Peter in. Perhaps it was because Peter's Aunt May was over there as well, though.
"May, look. Mary Jane is back and well," Anna exclaimed.
May smiled and asked, "What happened to you two?"
"Well," Peter began, "It's a long story, but Spider-Man ended up saving both of us from Morris Bench in the end."
"Well, it's wonderful to have you both back," Anna said.
Peter was shocked. Perhaps his wife's aunt was finally beginning warm up to him now that she notices how much he and MJ love each other. The last time he had talked to Anna Watson was during an argument about putting MJ's life in danger. Anna had blamed Peter for the kidnapping, but apparently her ideals have changed since Peter's outburst on how much he loved Mary Jane and would do anything to keep her out of harm's way.
They all sat down in the living room and talked for a while before switching on the tube. There on the news was live footage of the Rhino and Shocker tearing up Manhattan. Peter leaped to his feet.
"I… I have to get down there. Mr. Jameson will have my hide if I don't bring him some news photos. Especially since he hasn't seen me in a while." Peter ran out the door before anyone could voice questions or objections.
Within ten minutes Spider-Man was ready for another slugfest with his good old-fashioned villain duo.
Spider-Man landed in front of the two criminals before they blew anything else up. There were already buildings and automobiles on fire. Not to mention all of the glass and broken concrete that now covered the ground.
"It's nice to see a long lasting relationship these days. They say those celebrity relationships never work out," Spidey mocked.
"Very funny, wall-crawler," Shocker hissed. "I heard you were back in town, punk. That's not going to make the Kingpin happy, though. Hopefully I can rectify that problem right now. Charge 'im, Rhino."
Rhino bent forward and prepared to run before being interrupted.
"Wait a minute. Hold up. Shocker says he's going to get rid of me before demanding that you, Rhino, charge me. Does that make any sense? I mean, you both work for Kingpin, right? I assume you both have the same wages."
"He gets paid a little more," Rhino pointed out, gesturing towards Shocker.
"Does that give him the right to tell you what to do?" Spidey asked the question Rhino found quite perplexing. Nevertheless, Rhino came up with an answer he liked.
"No… I don't think it does." Rhino turned towards Shocker.
"What are you doing, you idiot. He's trying to turn us against each other," Shocker yelled. "Rhino, don't…!"
Before Shocker had a chance to do anything, Rhino had punched him out.
"Now I'm going to wipe the floor with you, bug."
"Arachnid, buddy. A spider is an arachnid," Spider-Man astutely pointed out.
"Don't try any of that wise-guy stuff on me, Spider-Man. I ain't gonna listen. Lucky for you, I didn't like Shocker, anyway."
Rhino charged. Spidey dodged, naturally, and that was how it went for the next ten minutes before Spider-Man decided that this course of action was ludicrous and going nowhere. Then Shocker woke up.
"Okay. Now you're both going to fry," Shocker screamed in angst.
"Take your time Shocker" Spider-Man said as he back flipped onto a wall. Rhino hit that wall hard and Spidey fell but managed to shoot off a web before he was within his adversary's grasp.
Spider-Man landed between Shocker and Rhino so when his spider-sense blared, jumping up was a natural move for Spidey.
Shocker's blast had set off the spider-sense and that blast hit Rhino and stunned him for a movement. But only for a moment. Shocker went berserk and started blasting this way and that but hit everything except for his opponent. To keep out of the way, Spider-Man was doing flips on the ground, jumping off walls, and swinging around streetlights. Suddenly the blasting stopped.
Spider-Man glanced down from his perch at the top of a streetlight. Down below was a vigilante entirely garbed in red with Shocker lying at his feet.
"Horn head!" Spidey exclaimed. "Long time no see."
"I heard these guys are working for Kingpin," Daredevil called up. "I think it's about time we finished what we started the last time we met."
"I think you're right," Spider-Man agreed. Then the streetlight fell after Rhino had hit it.
Spider-Man leaped to safety then quickly said, "Daredevil! Do you think you can keep these clowns occupied for a little bit? I have an idea, but I need to take off for a few minutes."
"Make it quick web-head," Daredevil said as he jumped out of Rhino's way. "Don't forget I'm not quite as strong as you."
"Don't worry, horn head. Strength doesn't do much against Rhino, anyway." With that, Spider-Man took off.
Spider-Man raced once again to the ESU science lab. He knew what he had to do and produced a new batch of webbing in fifteen minutes. Daredevil had been alone with the two villains for twenty-five minutes now. He hoped they guy was holding out okay. There was no time to check the news. Once the webbing was finished, he took off and arrived in time to keep Daredevil from having to be alone with the two rogues for a thirty-eighth minute.
Daredevil was on the ground about to be blasted away by Shocker when Spidey arrived. Spider-Man kicked Shocker to the ground and helped Daredevil up.
"Thanks for making it quick," snapped Daredevil.
"No problem," Spider-Man retorted. "Take care of Shocker. I hit him pretty hard so you shouldn't have too much work left to do. I'll take care of Rhino."
The Rhino charged once more. "I'm not going back to jail, Spider-Man," Rhino wailed. "I won't be arrested again!"
"I'm afraid you will be," Spider-Man said, unconcerned about the threatening advance being made by Rhino. Spidey lifted his arms and covered Rhino head to toe in webbing. The Rhino slowed down.
"What's happenin' to me. What'd you do?" Rhino cried. His costume was disintegrating before his eyes.
"I just concocted a highly caustic web-fluid to get rid of that suit of yours. I guess that takes care of your strength, eh?"
With one punch, the once powerful Rhino fell. Spider-Man changed web-cartridges and webbed the near naked man (Rhino still had boxers on) from a streetlight. Then Spider-Man turned to see Daredevil punch Shocker down to the ground. Spidey leaped over and delivered a forceful kick before Shocker could stand up.
"And that's a wrap," Spider-Man said as he webbed up Shocker next to Rhino.
"Pun intended?" Daredevil asked.
"Of course. You feeling okay?"
"I'll be alright. I did do most of the fighting, though."
"Uhh… Yeah, sorry about that."
"Once I catch my breath, we go after that vermin, Kingpin. He's not going to be ruler of the mob for much longer." Daredevil clenched his fists and jaw with the thought of the large powerful figure sitting at his desk without any worry.
"Take your time, Daredevil. I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of energy for the upcoming fight." Spider-Man took a deep breath and exhaled. "I can't wait to see that scum bag go down."
Sitting in his inherited mansion, Harry Osborn watched the evening news and squinted when he saw the image of Spider-Man appear. The red and blue hero was fighting the Rhino and Shocker.
"I know that's you, Peter," Harry whispered to himself. "I know you've been lying to me. You've been deceiving me. Why, Peter? I thought we were best friends? I need to think. I need help. The Green Goblin will help me! He's helped me before. Maybe he can help me again. He can bring MJ back to me. MJ and my father!"
Harry got up from his chair and left the living room. It was time for him to find the Green Goblin again.
Next: Empire's End Part I