Chapter 9

"Son of a…" Peter said as he read the information that Ben had found. Peter was a little shaken up at this revelation. He took out his cell phone and dialed Mary Jane's number.

"MJ?" Peter asked.

"Peter, what's the matter? Are you okay?" Mary Jane asked. She could tell by Peter's tone that something was wrong.

"I'm fine, MJ. I just got some information from Ben that will shed light on who we're dealing with."

"That's great, Pete. Then you know who hired Elektra. Who is it?"

"I'll tell you person. Can you get hold of Elektra so that I can tell her what I found out?"

"Sure. Are you sure you're okay? You don't sound like your cheery self."

"I'm just surprised at who hired Elektra, that's all. I'm going to do some web swinging to clear my head. If you need to reach me I'll leave my cell on. When you get in touch with Elektra tell her to come over so that we can talk about this."

"I'll let her know what's going on and we'll wait until you get back."

"Thanks, MJ. Talk to ya later."

"Bye, Pete."

When the connection was broken, Peter put his cell in a hidden pouch in his costume.

It had been almost a full day since Matsuo and Takashi had engaged Elektra and Spider-Man. Fortunately, they were able to get out of Spider-Man's webbing before the authorities could investigate. That was not an experience they wanted to repeat when they met their foes again.

While they were trying to figure out what to do next, the phone rang. Takashi answered it. To his surprise and dismay he heard Roshi's impatient voice on the other end of the line.

"How are things going?" Roshi asked.

"Well, sir," Takashi began, "we were able to confront both of them, but we were unable to recruit Spider-Man or kill Elektra. When Spider-Man refused to accept our offer, we tried to kill him as well, but we underestimated his abilities and they got away."

"I see." Roshi replied menacingly.

"We are not giving up yet, Master Roshi" Takashi said anxiously. We'll regroup and get rid of them soon enough."

"Excellent, Takashi. Do you need any assistance this time?"

"I would like to request that you send us some ninjas to aid us with our assignment."

"How many would you need?"

"Twenty or thirty should do the job."

At hearing that number, Roshi was shocked. "Why that many?" he asked.

"Spider-Man is extremely difficult to handle. If we can outnumber him, I believe we'll have a very good chance to end his web-swinging career for good. When we have dealt with those two, what do you want us to do next?"

"I would like for you and Matsuo to make arrangements to bring their bodies back here."

"Why would you want that, Master Roshi?"

"We will be able to have them work for us. Using the proper resurrection ritual, they will be brought back to life to serve the Hand."

"I guess we would be making good use of our enemies."

"Yes, it would. If there is nothing else, I will let you get back to what you were doing. Please inform Matsuo of what we discussed."

"I will, sir."

"Good. The ninjas should arrive within the next 24 hours. Again, keep me posted with what's going on," Roshi said breaking the connection.

Takashi told Matsuo what he had discussed with their leader. Matsuo was to learn that they were not going to be disciplined for not getting the job done.They both knew that Roshi did not tolerate failure.

"It's good to know that Master Roshi agreed with your request for some assistance. When did he say the ninjas would arrive?" Matsuo asked.

"He said within the next 24 hours. This will give us some time to come up with our next move concerning Elektra and Spider-Man. I told Master Roshi that with dealing with Spider-Man we would need to outnumber him in order to take him down and that is why I asked for more Hand ninjas," Takashi said.

"I'll tell you this, my friend, it wasn't an unreasonable request. Like you, I think we could use all the help we can get. Spider-Man may be difficult to bring down but Elektra is no slouch either. Remember, she took out some of our best warriors."

"Yes, but we'll have the ultimate revenge when we kill them both and bring them back to serve the Hand faithfully."

Matsuo agreed. They began to work on their next move when something caught Matsuo'seye outside. He looked out the window, "Takashi, look at this," he said, surprised.

Takashi went to the window. They two of them saw Spider-Man web swinging his way through the neighborhood.

"Takashi, do you think you can follow him without being seen?" Matsuo asked.

"No problem," Takashi replied.

Matsuo then grabbed Takashi's cell phone from a nearby table as Takashi changed into a fairly large raven. "Don't forget this," Matsuo said, offering the cell phone to Takashi who took it in his talons. "If Spider-Man stops, give me a call and we'll try to get rid of him."

The only reply he got was a squawk from the raven, which suddenly went out the window in search of its prey.

Spider-Man headed for the one spot where he could think about what he had just learned. The place was one of the highest in the city and a place where he was very familiar. He first ventured up there after he fought the man that had killed his uncle. Ever since, Peter would return to that perch to think. Spider-Man took his place next to his old friend the gargoyle and began to think things through.

"It's been a rough couple of days for me. First I find out that Elektra, whom I just became friends with was trying to kill me. At least we were able to work things out especially after she found out that 'your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man' was in fact Peter Parker, a guy she knew from ESU. After that, these two goons show up out of nowhere claiming to be from this group called the Hand. The interesting thing about those guys was that they wanted me to kill Elektra so I could join their group or they would kill us both.

"It looked like a no win situation, but Elektra and I managed to get out of that situation without a hair out of place. But now we have to deal with those two whenever they show up, not to mention the person who hired Elektra to kill me. Between MJ, Elektra and myself, we came up with a plan of action. Elektra was taking care of the stuff about the Hand and MJ and I dealt with who hired her. MJ couldn't come up with anybody for a suspect so I gave some info that Elektra had over to Ben Urich to see what he could turn up. But what he found shocked the hell out of me and that's why I'm here," Spider-Man finished talking to the eagle and all he got back was nothing but silence. Getting all that out felt therapeutic to him even though he was just talking to statue.

During his talk, Spider-Man spotted a raven flying around him. He didn't know what to make of it since it was rare that he saw any type of birds flying around at the height he was at. The real curious thing was that he thought he saw something in the raven's talons but Spider-Man couldn't make out what it could be but what was troubling him was his spider sense was going off and he didn't understand why.

"Well, I think I'm all talked out for now. Time to take a quick look around the city to see if there's anything going on and then home. Thanks for listening, buddy," Spider-Man said giving the hideous-looking stone sentinel a pat on the head.

Out of Peter's sight, the raven transformed back into Takashi and made a quick phone call to Matsuo to tell him where he was. While they were talking, Takashi noticed that Spider-Man was leaving. He quickly changed back into the raven, grabbed the cell phone in his talons, and took off after Spider-Man leaving Matsuo to converse with himself.

As Spider-Man was swinging his way above the streets, his spider sense started going off. He looked around to see what was going on, but he couldn't find anything until abird started attacking him. With his free arm, Spider-Man swatted at the bird but it wouldn't leave him alone until it had pecked at him enough that he losthis grip on the web line and crash-landed on a nearby roof.

After observing that Spider-Man appeared shaken by the fail, the raven morphed back into Takashi. He immediately contacted Matsuo, letting him know the webslinger's exact location. Takashi kept an eye on him toprevent him from escaping before Matsuo could arrive. The shape-shifter did not have to wait long. Matsuo suddenly arrived, accompanied by a half dozen Hand ninjas.

Takashi saidto Matsuo, "I knew that Roshi promised that Hand ninjas would take about 24 hours to get here but I didn't think that they would get here that quickly."

"They were in the area and there are more on the way. For now we'll have to get along with the ninjas that we have and go from there," Matsuo told Takashi as the whole group surrounded Spider-Man.

"Can anyone give me the license of that bird?" Spider-Man said as he shook the cobwebs out of his head from the fall. Spider-Man was slowly getting up when he realized that he was surrounded.

"Well, well, well. We meet again, Spider-Man and this time we are not alone," Matsuo said.

"Who are the guys in the black pajamas?" Spider-Man asked.

"It doesn't matter since we'll be the last thing that you'll ever see," Takashi said as they all started to approach the wall crawler.

Spider-Man stood his ground as they started to attack. One by one the ninjas came at Spider-Man, but he was able to either dodge their attack or grab a hold of one and toss them into each other. Spider-Man was also able to handle both Takashi and Matsuo when they tried to get at Spider-Man. But after they were thrown off to the side, the ninjas, Matsuo, and Takashi got right back up and got ready to attack again.

"Oh, brother. Here we go again," Spider-Man groaned as he prepared to defend himself again.

This time when the Hand members attacked they did so together. It didn't give Spider-Man enough time to react against their attack so they were able to get several blows on him. They continually pounded on Spider-Man until he had enough of them. Using his spider strength, Spider-Man flung the Hand members off of him.

"No more Mr. Nice Spider," Spider-Man told them as they started to get up.

As the Hand members were finally on their feet again they started tossing pellets at Spider-Man. Spider-Man thought nothing of them since the pellets didn't activate his spider sense but then he realized they were not the real danger. Once the pellets had hit the ground, they emitted smoke, which soon bathed everyone on that rooftop almost invisible. When this happened, Spider-Man's spider sense started going off. While enveloped in the smoke, Spider-Man was being punched and kicked from all sides. His spider sense didn't give him time to react to each threat. For what seemed to be several minutes Spider-Man was constantly being beaten at even though from time to time he was able to fight back, but the smoke was really hampering him.

Spider-Man was starting to sway on his feet from the pounding that he was taking from the Hand. The only thing that was in his mind now was to make it out of there alive. As luck would have it, the smoke was starting to clear which gave Spider-Man an opening he so desperately needed. He slowly battled his way to the edge of the rooftop. Spider-Man was then able to fight off a couple of Hand ninjas so that he was able to limp the rest of the way to the edge and leaned over and began to fall over the edge.

Both Matsuo and Takashi saw Spider-Man do this and they ran to the edge with all of the Hand ninjas to see where Spider-Man had landed. To their surprise, Spider-Man was gone.

"Damn it! He got away again," Takashi said still looking down at the street below.

"It's of no consequence, my friend. Spider-Man was extremely lucky this time. Even though he got away, we were able to get the better of him this time. But when next we meet with the wall crawler, we'll have even more Hand ninjas. I just hope that Master Roshi will not be too upset at us because of this," Matsuo said.

They slowly moved away from the roof's edge and took their leave, very eager for their next encounter with Spider-Man.

Mary Jane waited patiently for both Peter and Elektra to arrive so she busied herself with some homework. Before starting her work, Mary Jane was able to get in touch with Elektra who said that she would be right over. Trying to concentrate on her schoolwork was hard for her to do since she was wondering what Peter had found out. To her surprise, the first one to arrive at her place was Elektra.

"Hi, Mary Jane. Is Peter here yet?" Elektra asked.

"Not yet. But he did find out who hired you," Mary Jane replied.

"Well, that's good news. I can't wait to find out who it is. I did find out a little about our two friends from the Hand."

Elektra then told Mary Jane what she found out about Matsuo and Takashi. Even though it wasn't much, it was still better than nothing. Mary Jane was shocked to learn that the man named Takashi was a shape shifter.

"So, let me get this straight. This guy can change into anything he wants?" Mary Jane asked.

"Pretty much. That will make him the hardest one to handle because one minute he could look like himself and the next he could be someone or something else," replied Elektra.

They continued their discussion ofthe Hand. When they finished, Mary Jane heard a tapping sound coming from her balcony doors. She glanced up and saw Peter in his costume. Mary Jane opened the door to let Peter in when he fell right into Mary Jane's arms.

"Peter!" Mary Jane exclaimed.

Elektra came out to see what was wrong. "What's the matter with Peter?" Elektra asked coming up to the both of them.

"I don't know," Mary Jane replied anxiously. "Can you help me get him to the couch?"

They grabbed a hold of Peter, one on either side of him, and gently put him on the couch. After that, Mary Jane removed Peter's mask and was shocked at what she saw. Peter's face was bruised and his right eye was almost swollen shut.

"My God, Peter. What happened to you?" Mary Jane asked.

"Those guys from the Hand paid me another visit," Peter said groggily.

"Were they alone or did they have help?" Elektra asked.

"They had help, alright. A small group of ninjas did this to me."

"Hand ninjas," Elektra replied. "I've tangled with those guys before. That gives us one more thing to worry about."

"Well, first thing we'll do is get Peter here fixed up," Mary Jane said. "I'll go get the first aid kit and clean you up, Pete." She started to go up when Peter grabbed her arm.

"Before I pass out I want to tell you who hired Elektra," Peter said barely keeping conscious.

"Who is it, Peter?" Mary Jane asked.

"It's…" Peter nodded off for a couple of seconds and then continued, "It's Harry, MJ. Harry Osborn." When Peter finished he quickly lost consciousness.

AN: Well ladies and gentlemen, now you know that it was Harry that hired Elektra. That definitely adds a new dimension to things. Keep reading to see where things go from here. A special thanks go out to Jenn1, Laser Crusader, Ratdogtwo, htbthomas, SpartanCommander and Georgia Kennedy for their wonderful reviews. Now it's time to review to let me know what you think about this chapter.