All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.
Note: this story begins shortly after the "The Other: Evolve or Die" story arch, which is recently completed in the Spider-Man comics.
A New Life
By TVfan
Chapter 8: Meetings
Hotel
Mary Jane quietly knocked on the conference room door that the director had told her to meet at when he called her a half hour ago.
"Come in," she heard the director's voice answer.
She quietly opened the door to see the entire cast of the play that the Other had ruined sitting in the chairs surrounding the conference table. The director was standing at the head of the table.
"Sorry I'm late," Mary Jane said as she entered and sat down in an open chair.
"Only by a few seconds," the director chuckled, "But you are the last one here, so we can now get down to business.
There was a collective sigh from rest of the cast while the director began shuffling with papers inside his briefcase.
"The only bright spot in the recent production was that the reviewers thought that the parts of the play that that monster did not interrupt where spectacular," the director began, "Unfortunately everything else has gone wrong."
The director paused for a few uncomfortable moments.
"Unfortunately, that monster's attack has forced us to cancel all upcoming performances of the play," the director said in a weak voice.
"What?" one of the actors spoke.
"The creature did extensive damage to the building, which will take weeks to repair," the director answered, "And by the time the repairs can be completed, our allowed time period to use the theater will be over. I don't own the building you know."
"Couldn't we go to another theater?" an actress asked.
"Normally, we could, but every other theater has scheduled plays already on the schedule," the director sighed, "the only other option would be that we postpone the play for three months, and that will mean you'll have to go three months without pay."
No one said anything.
"I thought so," the director sighed, "I'm sorry everything turned out this way, but we have to. The good news for you is that I do have your checks ready, and I wish you the best of luck with upcoming auditions you may have."
The meeting lasted a few minutes more while the director handed out checks. Once that was done, Mary Jane began her long walk back to the Avenger's tower. One of her co-actors walked next to her.
"If I ever find that thing, I'm going to make it pay!" the actor said.
"I don't think it was there to ruin the play," Mary Jane answered, "I saw it attack someone in the audience."
"The only reason it didn't do more is because that Arachne woman showed up and chased the monster off," the other actor said.
Mary Jane sighed. Peter in past complained about how Jonah always vilified Spider-Man, and he occasionally needed a pep talk to keep him from depressing over the fact that the only reason the Bugle now 'liked' Spider-Man was because Peter and John Jameson had lied to Jonah about WHO Spider-Man was.
Now, she had wound up with her own powers, and everyone seemed to love Arachne. Strangely, Mary Jane didn't like the positive attention or even the other Avengers's reactions to her becoming Arachne. She had heard and seen several reports that she was now Spider-Man's partner, which is something she did not exactly envision herself as. She would try to do her best to make sure that Peter would be safe in his battles with his deadliest foes and she wouldn't hesitate to become Arachne if one of Peter's enemies would come and attack her. But she wasn't about to go running around in spandex on patrols the way Peter did or to help him battle some of the more 'wimpy' crooks that Peter had to deal with. It was all a very complex issue, which she didn't want to really tackle until she had finished training herself and her powers.
"No, it doesn't make sense," Mary Jane told him, "Why would some creature want to ruin a play? I think it had some sort of problem with whoever it was it attacked in the audience."
"Doesn't change the fact that that creature ruined the play and that the Arachne woman is a looker," the actor answered.
"I'm sure every female super hero likes the fact that you like them because they're attractive," Mary Jane joked.
"Come on, don't you find any of the male super heroes attractive?" the actor asked.
"Only Spider-Man," Mary Jane answered as she moved out toward the crosswalk, while the other actor walked to hail a cab, "see you later."
Midtown High
"So, Pete, you have any more luck in getting in touch with Spider-Man?" Flash asked.
"What is your obsession with meeting Spider-Man?" Peter asked as he took a bite of his lunch.
"He's a hero, and he sounds cool," Flash answered, "And besides, the Bugle says he's got a partner now. Maybe she's single."
"They aren't 'partners' per say," Peter answered, "But I think they are involved with each other romantically."
"What do you mean?" Flash asked.
"Well, first of all, I did see Spider-Man kiss Arachne, that's why I think they're involved," Peter answered.
"I never saw that picture, and wouldn't that mean they're partners?" Flash questioned.
"One, I never took that picture, and don't tell anyone," Peter answered, "And two, I'm married to Mary Jane, does that make her a teacher or a teacher's aide? Spider-Man and Arachne could be dating and not be partners."
"Yeah, but that only works with normal people," Flash pointed out, "They're super heroes."
Peter sighed conceding defeat on that issue, "I didn't want to hurt your hopes, but Spider-Man will not do any personal meetings with people. He said it wouldn't be fair to others. He can't go around meeting every fan he has, right?"
Flash sighed, "Yeah, but I'd still like to meet him."
"I'm sure," Peter answered, "Maybe he'll save you from somebody. Then you could meet him."
"Like there's an answer," Flash commented back, "Get myself mugged and hope Spider-Man saves me."
"Fine, don't take my help," Peter answered.
Flash only grumbled something that Peter couldn't hear. Peter meanwhile decided to change the subject.
"So, how have your classes gone?" Peter asked.
Flash only sighed again, "Things have gone way down hill…"
"I thought that was only with the sports teams?" Peter questioned.
"It's everything," Flash answered, "Either everyone in my class is too wimpy, or their overweight. The few that are in good shape don't want to be there. I swear, I saw a kid, who could start at forward for basketball, barely trying to do push ups during warm ups and I swear he coulda done at least fifty easily in the amount of time he had."
"You gotta find a way to motivate them," Peter commented.
"I'm trying," Flash sighed, "but it's not like I can do much. In our day, wimps were taunted until they managed to learn how perform at sports. Like you. Fat kids were run harder until they learned to put down the ice cream bar. Kids with bad attitudes were given detention."
"Your tact hasn't improved much," Peter commented, "First don't call the kids that are physically weaker then the others 'wimps' or those who are overweight 'fat'. You'll get sued when they tell their parents. And detention is still an option for punishment, but you can't use it because someone isn't trying."
"So what do you suggest I do, smart guy?" Flash asked sounding annoyed.
"Well, maybe you could try offering an after school gym session," Peter suggested, "I mean, not everyone can afford membership in a gym and home exercise equipment is even more expensive. They could use the school's gym. Those that want to come will get better. And don't use steroids."
"I ain't stupid," Flash answered.
Peter nodded, "Of course. Now, for the overweight ones, I understand that teaching health is one parts of your teaching gym?"
Flash nodded, "I'm co-teaching that part, but yeah."
"Maybe in that part you can do an entire section on the importance of diet and exercise," Peter suggested, "I mean, currently kids that are overweight have more distractions to keep them from exercising that involve little energy. Video games, DVDs, the internet. Doesn't take much energy to run them. Let them know what the dangers of living an inactive life are. Strokes. Heart attacks. Heart disease."
"What about the kids who don't want to be there?" Flash asked.
"That I don't know," Peter asked, "Maybe ask them what they are interested in and find some way to make gym class train them for that."
Flash slowly nodded and sighed heavily.
"Things were much easier back in our day," Flash sighed.
"Things were more complicated then you think," Peter said silently and the spoke up, "Well, lunch is about over. We both have our class rooms/gym to get back to."
Osborn Industries
"I don't like you coming here," Liz commented as she closed the shades in her office so that no one outside could see that she was conversing with the Hobgoblin.
"Would you rather I publicly kill your son in Times Square?" the Hobgoblin questioned.
"NO!" Liz answered quickly, "I don't like meeting you here. If the police come I could be in big trouble."
"You? In trouble?" the Hobgoblin laughed, "You are the victim in this saga. How could you get in trouble?"
"Because you're a goblin, and this Osborn Industries," Liz answered, "I've had to deal with monthly investigations ever since Norman was arrested and escaped."
"Then where else would you want to meet?" the Hobgoblin asked, "I'm operating out base that is under the city, which I'm sure is out of the question if you're to do any more work after our meetings, and anyone and everyone would recognize this costume if we were to meet out in a park."
"There are various warehouses that are in service that we could hold these meetings in," Liz said weakly, "I can bring you your money."
"Warehouses?" the Hobgoblin chuckled, "sounds rather dark for someone who is not wanting to be imitating her predecessor."
"It is better then having to remove all my employees from this floor when you come here," Liz answered, trying to be brave.
"True," the Hobgoblin chuckled and sat back in what was normally Liz's chair, "Now, on to the more pressing business. Like my money."
Liz pulled a suitcase from beside her feet and placed it front of the Hobgoblin.
"That is one percent of Osborn Industries profits since our deal began," Liz told the costumed criminal.
"That is less then I demanded," the Hobgoblin scowled, "And I don't think your son would like the consequences of that."
"Would you rather Osborn Industries be bankrupted from a embezzling scandal?" Liz asked back weakly, "If I paid you all you wanted, either our book keepers or the IRS would find out, and I'd be arrested."
"Does it look like I care?" the Hobgoblin questioned.
"If I'm arrested, you won't get any money," Liz answered, "Book keepers will miss one percent in their calculations or would chalk it up to poor reports. You'll get more money in the long run if we go by one percent increments."
"More money?" the Hobgoblin asked.
"In the long run," Liz answered weakly.
"Very well," the Hobgoblin commented, "You will still have to follow my orders."
"I know, or you'll kill my son," Liz answered, "I'll do anything you want."
The Hobgoblin smiled, "I know. First I need you to gather the ingredients for your predecessor's famed Goblin formula…"
"I had that destroyed already," Liz answered, "I didn't want Osborn Industries to have any more connections to goblins."
"You seemed to have plenty of old goblin paraphernalia in that warehouse I raided," the Hobgoblin answered.
"That is merely everything I haven't gotten to destroying," Liz answered, "You people seem to stockpile that stuff. Norman had at least one ton of goblin equipment and gear in every warehouse and building that Osborn Industries owned."
"You're going to stop doing that," the Hobgoblin ordered, "I will be needing that equipment for my own armament."
Liz weakly nodded.
"I also want you to begin work on constructing a new glider," the Hobgoblin ordered.
"Wha… Why?" Liz asked.
"Not that it is any of your business, but I have a thorn in my side that I need to remove if I want to keep having these lovely meetings with you," the Hobgoblin answered, "Just begin work on it."
The Hobgoblin then hopped back onto his glider and maneuvered it to the window.
"I'll be back soon to check on your progress," the Hobgoblin said as he then piloted his glider out of the building.
Liz only watched as the criminal flew off. She sighed and maneuvered back to her desk to keep up her work on running the company. She knew that the Hobgoblin's instructions would irritate her employees, but she had little choice. She couldn't let that monster kill her son.
Over New York
Peter quietly swung on a webline over New York in his Spider-Man costume. His classes had finished well, and he was now trying to hurry back to the Avengers Tower. He wanted to see if Mary Jane wanted to practice anything that afternoon or if the others had found any sign of where the Hobgoblin might be or where Tracer had come from. As he went, a pained scream caught his ear.
Instinctively, Spider-Man released his webline, did a back flip through the air and landed on the side of a nearby building. When he looked down he saw something that he hadn't expected. He saw a group of street thugs with knives surrounding Flash Thompson. The high school gym teacher took a swing at one of the thugs, and knocked him down, but the others ganged up on him.
"Well," Peter thought to himself as he leaped toward where the scuffle was going on, "He took me up on my offer."
Spider-Man landed behind two of the thugs, and in one swift motion, grabbed them from behind and then webbed them together, so that they couldn't escape. Flash in one swift turn punched one of the other two thugs. The other one turned and ran. He only got ten feet before Spider-Man snared up his ankles with a webline. It took Spider-Man roughly twenty seconds to web up all the thugs and leave them dangling from a nearby lamp post. Once that was done, he turned to see Flash still standing there with a look of wonder on his face.
"Wow," Flash commented, "If I knew you would have rescued me, I would have planned all this, like Parker told me."
"You didn't plan this?" Spider-Man asked, "Those guys aren't as tough as the normal bunch of thugs I mess with."
"No," Flash answered, "Only an utter moron would plan on getting themselves mugged. I was just here to use an ATM, but since you're here, I must say it's great to meet you Spider-Man."
"It's good to see you again, Flash," Spider-Man answered him, "Although I never picked you as one to get mugged by the average riffraff."
"I wasn't pay… how do you know my name?" Flash asked.
"What do you mean, 'how do you know my name?'" Spider-Man answered back in a voice that was half annoyed half humorous, "I've had to save you from a half a dozen situations, including the Hobgoblin once."
"What?" Flash asked, "Are you okay? This is the first time we've met."
Spider-Man shook his head, "No it's not. I remember that I've had to save you several times before."
"I don't remember any of that," Flash answered, sounding annoyed, "You must be mistaken."
"You have amnesia!" Spider-Man exclaimed.
"What?" Flash asked.
"Weren't you in a car wreck recently?" Spider-Man asked.
Flash's face soured, "Norman Osborn and a bunch of his buddies got me drunk and made me have an accident. It was in the papers."
"That accident had to have given you amnesia," Spider-Man explained, "It cause minor brain damage."
"I'm not a dummy!" Flash growled.
"Amnesia has to do with the memory, not intelligence," Spider-Man sighed, "The 'accident' that Osborn made you have has caused brain damage that has taken away parts of your memory."
"I don't have amnesia," Flash growled again, "I'm perfectly fine."
"You have to," Spider-Man answered, "I remember meeting you before. And believe me, when people meet Spider-Man, it's something they don't forget. Car accident induced amnesia would be the perfect explanation for that."
"I… don't… have… amnesia," Flash said slowly.
Spider-Man raised his hands, as if giving up on arguing with him, "Whatever you say."
"Thank you," Flash answered, "Meanwhile it is an honor to meet you. A real super hero."
"Uh… thanks," Spider-Man answered slowly.
"So where's Parker now?" Flash asked.
"Who?" Spider-Man asked.
"Peter Parker," Flash explained, "They guy who takes your pictures."
Spider-Man shrugged, "Am I supposed to know him?"
"He said he talked to you the other day," Flash answered.
"He was covering the work and I did to capture the Other," Spider-Man answered, "That's all."
"Speaking of her, what do you think of her?" Flash asked.
"Uh, I don't think that's any of your business," Spider-Man answered.
With that, Spider-Man shot a webline up to the top of the nearby building and began to websling away.
"Nice meeting you!" Flash called after him.
Spider-Man barely heard him as he swung off. He sighed heavily as he did so. The 'new' Flash seemed to idolize Spider-Man the way the 'old' Flash did. As he pressured 'Peter' to introduce him to 'Spider-Man', he began to think that maybe if he did have Spider-Man meet Flash, maybe he could convince Flash that he had amnesia. That idea was now shot to pieces.
He returned to the Avengers Tower to find everything quiet. His first order of business was to check with Mary Jane and then with the other Avengers. He found his wife coming out of the bathroom in her bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her hair.
"Hey, Tiger," Mary Jane smiled as Spider-Man entered the room, "Have a good day?"
Peter removed his mask and sighed, "Decent. Teaching went fine, but there was no sign of any trouble on my way here."
"That's good," Mary Jane answered, "How's Flash making out?"
"Well," Peter sighed, "Apparently, he won't even believe that he has amnesia, even if Spider-Man tells him."
"You actually meet with him?" Mary Jane asked.
"I actually found him being attacked at an ATM machine by a bunch of basic thugs," Peter answered, "He thought Spider-Man was nuts too."
Mary Jane patted him on the back, "You can't save them all, Peter. And Flash is small potatoes compared to some of the other things you put up with."
"Yeah, I know," Peter answered, "Do you know if anyone's heard anything about the Hobgoblin?"
"Aunt May and I haven't seen anything on the news," Mary Jane answered, "And Jessica's the only other Avenger here right now. She hasn't heard of anything."
"I don't like this," Peter answered, "There hasn't been sight or sound of him since he attacked the tower here."
"Maybe he's run off to whatever place he came back out from," Mary Jane commented.
"I doubt it," Peter answered, "The Hobgoblin is no fool. He's planning something, I'm sure of it."
"We'll stop him," Mary Jane tried to comfort him, "I know I need more training and all, but we'll get him in time."
Peter slowly nodded, "Did you train today?"
"Jessica and I worked on my controlling my pheromone powers a little bit today," Mary Jane answered, "She says I'm getting better, but I still need to practice."
"You got it lucky, MJ," Peter spoke to her, "When I first became Spider-Man, I played everything by ear, and never received any formal training."
Peter was silent for a moment and then smiled, "And if they were still there, I'd show you the bruises that I got to prove it."
Mary Jane put her arms around her husband's shoulders and kissed him on the check, "Thank you for putting up with me with all of this. I know I'm probably not the easiest person you've ever trained."
"You're the only person I've ever trained," Peter answered, "And considering that Jessica is helping, I'm only helping to train you with everything."
Mary Jane playfully smacked him, "Why don't you take your humor out of here, so I can get dressed. Then we can do something romantic."
Elsewhere in Manhattan
Liz watched her son, Normie, play in the family room to the apartment mansion that had been in her possession since Harry's death, although she was sure that it was originally intended to be a sort of cage provided by Norman Osborn. She had spent months trying to find secret passageways and make sure they were sealed up. Her worries were now over a different goblin. The Hobgoblin, who had threatened to kill her son if she didn't do what he wanted. And he wanted her to roughly carry out many of the same methods that Norman had done when he ran the company.
"Don't let your grandfather's curse touch you, Normie," Liz spoke to herself as she continued to watch her son play, as an innocent kid, "If only there was a way to get rid of the Hobgoblin."
Then something hit her. Normie was playing with the small Spider-Man doll that she had sewed for him when he was younger. She could hear him giving Spider-Man rather interesting adventures, including trips to the moon and other dimensions. There was also the comment that the Hobgoblin had made earlier in the day. He said he had to deal with a 'thorn in his side'. Now Liz didn't know all of the people that the Hobgoblin had probably battled over the years, but she was sure that the Hobgoblin had been a foe of Spider-Man's. The Daily Bugle photo had been more then enough to prove that. All she had to do was contact Spider-Man somehow.
"Of course, I have no idea how to contact Spider-Man," Liz sighed to herself as she began to walk to a private study that she had, "The only person that I know who knows Spider-Man would be Peter, but he only takes his pictures for the Bugle. I don't think they know each other personally."
Liz then sighed heavily and sat down in her chair and began to look through a list of phone numbers that she had.
"Of course I have no choice," Liz sighed, "I can't let the Hobgoblin kill my son. I don't care what he does to me."
Under Manhattan
"Some planner," Tracer laughed from the screen he was trapped on, "You can't even strike at your enemy."
"My plan is fine," Kingsley answered the robot, "Unlike you, I don't see assaulting the Avengers Tower as soon as possible as a perfect strategy."
"I was nearly successful both times," Tracer answered.
"How is being killed 'nearly successful'?" Kingsley questioned, "The only thing that is affecting my plans is the presence of the ingredients that I need, and not all of them are necessary."
"Not necessary?" Tracer asked, "From what little you allowed me to read of that newspaper article, this 'Arachne' while new on the market is still super-powered. Putting some thug in a costume and sending him after her will not work."
"The other one is merely to be bait," Kingsley answered, "To lead them into an arena of my choosing. I can destroy them there.
"You would take on two heroes by yourself?" Tracer asked.
"I'm not afraid of a challenge, and besides, it's like you said," Kingsley answered, "Arachne is likely to have little or no training in fighting the good fight. Spider-Man cares for his friends to much, and therefore the key to victory is her. I knock her out, and the fight is over."
"Suppose that Spider-Man uses the same strategy against your decoy?" Tracer asked, "What would you do then? You can't let him be taken into custody or he'll never serve you again."
"First of all, there is an abundance of thugs in this city," Kingsley said with a smile, "If that happens, I can find a new one easily. Second, my decoy is to leave the instant I begin the fight. He should not be present during the fight."
"Reactivate me, and your victory will be assured," Tracer said in a somewhat commanding voice, "You know you will need my help to beat Spider-Man."
"You didn't help fight Spider-Man the last time you were online," Kingsley answered, "You ran around the inside of that tower and got yourself killed… again."
"If you reactivated me, you would be able to proceed with your plan immediately and I would be able to fight either Spider-Man or Arachne" Tracer spoke.
"And have you go off on how you're 'God' again and then do what exactly the opposite of what I plan?" Kingsley asked, "Forget it. You can stay in that screen for all I care."
The image of Tracer's face only frowned.
Avengers Tower, that Night
Tony Stark stared at the results that his analysis of the Tracer robot had produced. When the first robot invaded the tower, he simply had the body crushed into a cube sent to a garbage dump. But when the second robot appeared, it was obvious that Tracer was able to transfer his mind into something else. So since the second attack he had disassembled the robot piece by piece trying to find some sort of weakness in it, or at least something that would allow him to track the robot.
"Come on," Tony grumbled as he examined another fragment of the robot, "there are no traces of a 'God of Robots' in mythology. Which means that someone had to have built you, and that means that whatever means you used to come back from the 'dead' are detectable."
He then picked up a small cube-like device that he had removed from inside Tracer's robotic brain and placed it under a scanner. After a few moments of looking at the results he realized he'd found what he had been looking for.
"Bingo," Tony smiled to himself, "Now we can make sure if you're truly dead. You won't be attacking my tower again."
The Next Morning
Peter awoke with both the sound of his bedroom phone ringing and the buzzing of his spider-sense.
"Who could be calling us at this hour?" Mary Jane asked as she sat up, pulling the covers up to keep herself covered.
"I don't know," Peter shrugged in a defeated voice, knowing that Mary Jane's spider-sense had woken her up as well, "I'll get it."
Peter slowly climbed out of bed and walked over to the nightstand where the ringing phone was sitting. Stifling a yawn, Peter picked it up.
"Hello," Peter spoke into the phone.
"Peter?" came Liz's voice on the other line, "Is that you?"
"Liz?" Peter spoke in surprise, not expecting to receive a call from her, and especially not this early in the morning, "Why are you calling so early?"
"I'm sorry, I just found your number a few minutes ago and I really need to talk to you," Liz answered.
"We're talking now," Peter answered.
"No, he might be listening," Liz answered skeptically, "I need you to meet me somewhere."
"Okay," Peter said slowly, "Where?"
"On the observation deck of the Empire State building," Liz answered, "At noon."
"Can you tell me anything about what this meeting is to refer to?" Peter asked.
"I can't say," Liz answered, "Please meet me there. I know you don't teach today."
"Okay, I will," Peter said, "I'll be there."
"Thank you, Peter," Liz answered and hung up.
Peter gave a perplexed look at the phone as he hung it up. He had no idea what was going on.
"What is it?" Mary Jane asked from behind him, "What did Liz want?"
"As far as I know, right now she wants to meet me on the Empire State Building's observation desk," Peter sighed as he turned to see that Mary Jane had gotten out of bed, "Other then that, I have no idea."
Mary Jane looked back at the clock and looked at the time.
"She called at six o'clock in the morning just to say she needs to meet with you?" Mary Jane asked.
"It must be important if she's calling me this early," Peter sighed.
"Hopefully it's nothing that will get you in trouble," Mary Jane answered.
"I would never cheat on you," Peter said back, nearly defensively.
"I know, tiger," Mary Jane gave a weak smile, "That wasn't the kind of trouble I was referring to."
"You think she's in danger?" Peter asked.
"She called you, the only one in the world that most people would assume associates with Spider-Man at six in the morning," Mary Jane answered, "this could not have been a social call."
Peter sighed and frowned at Mary Jane, "I fear that if she is in trouble, it's not that someone is attacking her, but that someone is blackmailing her to his or her own purposes. Which means she might not be able to tell me everything."
"Maybe," Mary Jane tried to comfort him, "But if she can't tell Peter Parker everything, tell her to come here and meet with Spider-Man."
"What about you and Aunt May?" Peter asked.
"I have nothing on my schedule today, and for a while, actually," Mary Jane answered, "Because of some other factors, the play that the Other ruined has been cancelled. I've been paid for what should have been a full set of performances, but the play has been cancelled, and there aren't any new plays to audition for yet. And 'Arachne' isn't fully trained yet. We could have my training session going on just before Liz arrives."
"And Aunt May?" Peter asked.
"I think she said something about going to the library, yesterday," Mary Jane replied, "And if not, just tell her the truth. She's here to see Jarvis."
Peter cringed. He still found it hard to see that his Aunt was dating anyone, let alone the man who was the Avengers's butler. It didn't help when Mary Jane started giggling.
Empire State Building, Noon
Peter found that the observation deck was rather quiet as he stepped out onto it. There were a few tourists out looking at New York's skyline through the large binoculars that had been set up for looking at New York City. Seeing no sign of Liz, he approached the security rails and looked out over the city. Everything seemed peaceful.
"Good view?" asked Liz's voice in a nervous manner from behind him.
Peter turned to see Liz standing there, looking extremely nervous. She was constantly looking around, trying to see if anyone was following her.
"It's good for the tourists," Peter answered lightly, "But with my work for the Bugle, I see a lot of the skyline anyway."
Liz gave a weak smile, "it's your work for the Bugle that I called you here."
Peter was certain now that someone was doing something that was putting one of his old high school classmates in danger. He hoped he could get her to explain it all.
"I haven't been assigned to cover anything at Osborn Industries recently," Peter answered.
Liz looked around again, still looking very uncomfortable.
"This has nothing to do with you covering Osborn Industries for any reason," Liz replied nervously, "This has everything with you taking photographs of a certain wall-crawler."
"He hasn't done anything, has he?" Peter asked, trying to keep his secret identity covered.
"Spider-Man hasn't done a thing to me," Liz answered, "I actually need his help."
"Are you okay?" Peter asked.
"No," Liz answered firmly, "I need to meet with Spider-Man. I need his help."
"I don't know Spider-Man personally," Peter answered, "I don't know if he would listen to me…"
"But he has to know you take his pictures, right?" Liz asked back, "I mean he has to read the Bugle, and some of the photos you've taken look like they're pretty close up. You could get the chance to talk to him?"
"In theory I could," Peter answered, "but I'm not sure how much he would listen. We aren't exactly best friends. We only have a professional relationship. He fights crime, and I take his picture."
"Why did I even bother coming to you then?" Liz nearly screamed at him.
"Could you at least tell me what's wrong?" Peter asked.
"I can't," Liz answered, "He'd come after you and your wife and your Aunt."
"Who?" Peter asked.
"I can't say," Liz answered, "I've said too much already."
"You can't tell me, but you can tell Spider-Man?" Peter asked.
Liz nodded weakly, "I'm sorry Peter. I just need you to talk to him."
Peter sighed, "Well, Spider-Man is one of the Avengers now, and as far as I know, he's taken up residence in the Avengers's Tower atop Stark Enterprises."
"Could you take me?" Liz asked.
Peter, sighed, "Unfortunately I have an appointment at the Bugle today, but I'm sure you could meet with Spider-Man at the Avengers Tower, right?"
"I could," Liz answered, "But I'd feel safer if I wasn't alone."
Peter smiled, "Don't worry. Spidey's a real friendly guy. If he's there he'll do everything he can to make sure you're safe."
"Can you contact them to let them know I'll be there in about an hour?" Liz asked.
"Sure," Peter answered.
Liz gave Peter another weak smile and then left the observation deck. Peter watched her leave, just to make sure she was safe. He frowned when he watched a rather suspicious looking man follow her.
Ricky ignored the man that Liz Osborn had contacted, and largely ignored Liz as well. He knew that Liz had broken her agreement with the Hobgoblin and he needed to report that to his boss. He couldn't get into the elevator that Liz had gotten into and moved to the elevator next to it. As he go in, he saw Liz's contact rushing after him. Not wanting to get into a fight, which would uncover him as the Hobgoblin's 'thug', he hit the door close button and smiled as it closed in the man's face.
Once his elevator got to the ground floor, he rushed outside, knowing that his lone pursuer was still up on the building's observation deck. He didn't get far from the front door when he felt something hit and wrap around his ankles and then felt himself being pulled up. When he looked up, he saw Spider-Man holding the webline that was wrapped around his ankles. In a few seconds, Ricky found himself looking Spider-Man eye to eye.
"Going my way?" Spider-Man asked him in a somewhat humorous voice.
"YOU!" Ricky exclaimed, "I haven't done anything! This is abduction! HELP!"
"Abduction?" Spider-Man asked, "Is that what you planned to do to Liz Osborn?"
"What?" Ricky asked, trying to sound like he thought that the super hero was crazy.
"I saw you following Liz Osborn," Spider-Man said firmly, "Now, where you planning on abducting her?"
Spider-Man held Ricky out over the street below for emphasis.
"No! NO!" Ricky screamed, "But she went back on a deal…"
"With whom?" Spider-Man questioned.
"I can't say, who," Ricky lied, "All I know is that he is my boss."
"You don't know your own boss?" Spider-Man questioned.
"He contacts me over the phone," Ricky whimpered, "I've never met him."
"There are plenty of phones INSIDE the building that you could have used," Spider-Man pointed out, "Why didn't you call your boss then?"
"He's never given me his number," Ricky lied, "I was rushing home to wait for him to call me."
"What was this deal that your boss have with Liz Osborn?" Spider-Man asked.
"She promised to do whatever he says and he promised not to harm her son," Ricky answered, looking down.
The eye pieces of Spider-Man's mask widened as he heard the thug's answer. His boss was using Liz's son against her in his scheme. That was too much, and he was now one hundred percent determined to find and stop this villain. Spider-Man then encased Ricky in a cocoon of webbing and left him dangling from a lamp post for the police to cut down. The thug was likely to lie to the police, but that was the least of Spider-Man's concerns. Liz had given Peter Parker an hour to get back to the Avengers Tower, make sure Mary Jane was in her Arachne costume, and prepare for Liz's arrival.
Avengers Tower
Arachne carefully aimed her wrist at the dummy that had been set up for her to practice her aim with her organic web shooters. She steadied her wrists and pulled back her middle and ring fingers and shot out a strand of webbing at the dummy. To her surprise she felt the webline wrap itself around the dummy in a way that would prevent a real person from being able to escape it.
"I did it!" Arachne exclaimed, "I did it!"
"Very good," Spider-Man said from beside her, "Very good. See, I told you practice will make everything better."
"It took a lot of practice," Arachne commented, looking at a row of half webbed dummies or ones that she'd managed to hit, but couldn't get her webbing to wrap around.
"Let's try again," Spider-Man encouraged, "Make sure you've got it."
Arachne nodded and waited for Spider-Man to prepare another dummy for her to practice on.
"Why are we here, mommy?" young Normie Osborn asked as Liz lead him into the building.
"Because mommy needs to speak with Spider-Man," Liz answered, "And I'm too scared to leave you alone."
"Spider-Man's a good guy," Normie answered simply.
"It's not Spider-Man I'm afraid of," Liz answered and lead her son to the elevator.
They waited quietly until the elevator reached the top of the building, and Liz found herself standing before the Avengers's butler, Jarvis.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Osborn," Jarvis spoke, "Mr. Parker informed us that you would be coming."
"Thank you," Liz answered, "This is my son, Normie."
"Hello, young man," Jarvis spoke politely.
"I'm here to see Spider-Man," Liz spoke, "Is he here?"
"He and Arachne are in the gym, at the moment," Jarvis answered, "As soon as we drop your son off with a very good friend of mine, I will take you to them."
"Okay," Liz answered, "I don't really want Normie hearing what I have to talk with Spider-Man about. And who is Arachne?"
"Arachne would be Spider-Man's partner," Jarvis answered.
"Is she an Avenger also?" Liz asked.
"No," Jarvis answered, "The Avengers roster is set for the moment, but as you know, Spider-Man deals with many problems that the Avengers as a team do not deal with. Arachne is helping him deal with those threats."
"I see," Liz answered while Jarvis opened a door.
Liz then gasped when she saw who was sitting on a couch and knitting in the room that Jarvis had opened the door to.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Osborn?" Jarvis asked.
"That woman…" Liz answered, "That's May Parker. She's the Aunt of one my high school classmates."
"Yes, a very responsible boy named Peter from what she's told me," Jarvis answered.
Liz looked at him with a very perplexed look on her face.
"I suppose the easiest way to say this is that we're dating," Jarvis finished and then gestured to Normie, "Why don't you go on in and wait until you're mother's meeting is over."
Normie looked up at Liz with a confused look on his face.
"Go on son," Liz encouraged.
Normie slowly walked in. Jarvis then shut the door and began to lead Liz toward the gym.
"So, how do the two of you meet?" Liz asked.
"I meet her at a grocery store," Jarvis answered, knowing it was a lie, but like Iron Man, Spiderwoman, and Wolverine, Spider-Man's identity was not known to the world and Jarvis had to protect that identity.
"Well, I hope the two of you are very happy," Liz said.
"We are," Jarvis answered as he stopped a mechanical door.
Jarvis then pressed a com button that was next to the door.
"Spider-Man, Arachne, Mrs. Osborn is here to see you," Jarvis spoke.
"Let her in," Spider-Man's voice answered from inside the room.
The door then opened and Liz slowly walked through it. She found two people standing in red and blue costumes. Spider-Man was waiting in his traditional costume while Arachne stood not far away from him. Liz also noticed several foam dummies laying on the floor of the room, covered in webs.
"Mrs. Osborn," Spider-Man said politely, "my photographer said you needed to speak to me?"
"Yes," Liz answered, "I'm afraid I'm in trouble."
"Who is giving you trouble?" Spider-Man asked.
"The Hobgoblin," Liz answered, "First he robbed Osborn Industries of the ownership papers to the company that Norman took from a man named Roderick Kingsley, then he raided a warehouse where I'm storing the various pieces of goblin equipment that Norman had made, and now he's blackmailing me."
"Blackmailing you?" Arachne asked.
"Yes," Liz nodded, "He's threatened to kill my son unless I do as he says."
"My God," Spider-Man gasped.
"I know," Liz answered, "I need your help in fighting him. You know he would probably kill any normal policemen that would try and stop him. Only you can real fight him and make sure my son is safe."
"We will do everything we can to make sure both of you are safe," Spider-Man said firmly, "The Hobgoblin has actually given me quite a headache recently and I have been trying to find him."
"Oh," Liz replied.
"But thank your for reporting this to me," Spider-Man answered, "I've been having a hard time trying to find the Hobgoblin since he attacked this tower. Now we can get him."
"Is your son safe at the moment?" Arachne asked.
"He should be," Liz answered, "I left him with your butler's girlfriend and I'd like him to stay here until the Hobgoblin is caught."
"Where will you be?" Spider-Man asked.
"I have to go back to Osborn Industries," Liz answered, "If I don't, the Hobgoblin will do something terrible to the company."
"He'll kill you if he finds out that you've done anything to try and stop him," Spider-Man pointed out, "He's a villain. They do that sort of thing."
"But suppose he attacks Osborn Industries trying to find me?" Liz asked.
"Then we'll go there and stop him," Arachne spoke up, "You should stay here until he's caught. You'll be with your son, and the rest of the Avengers will surely protect you while Spider-Man and I deal with the Hobgoblin."
Arachne silently sighed to herself. She didn't like sounding so proactive, but then it was like every play she had been in. While she was Mary Jane she could cautious and uncertain about her powers and being Spider-Man's 'partner', but as Arachne she had to be strong and confident.
"You would have me stay here?" Liz asked.
"If the Hobgoblin is targeting you, you would be safer here," Spider-Man answered, "And Arachne is right. If you want your son to stay here, it's probably better that you stay here. Keep your family together."
"How long will it take for you to defeat the Hobgoblin?" Liz asked.
"To be honest, Mrs. Osborn, I don't know," Spider-Man answered, "the tricky part will be finding him. Once that happens everything will depend on how the fight goes."
There was a brief silence for a few moments before Spider-Man started speaking.
"Which is another good reason for you to stay here," Spider-Man continued, "The Hobgoblin is no fool. He'd catch on quickly that his real trump card against you is now beyond his reach, and you would pay the price."
"I don't want to be a bother," Liz spoke.
"You won't be," Spider-Man promised, "I won't any of the other Avengers be troubled by your presence here."
"Thank you, Spider-Man," Liz answered, "Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it," Spider-Man replied, "Why don't you go sit with your son and Jarvis's… girlfriend."
Liz nodded and slowly walked out of the room. Spider-Man and Arachne watched Liz walk out, once again following Jarvis once she was out of the door.
"At least we know what the Hobgoblin's been up to recently," Arachne sighed.
Spider-Man nodded, "Finding him will still be tricky. I doubt he's making daily trips to Osborn Industries."
Not long after that, Spider-Man felt his spider-sense go off, indicating that someone else had entered the room.
"Finding him may not be as hard as you think," came Tony's voice from the door.
Spider-Man and Arachne turned to see Tony Stark standing in the doorway. He held a small hand held device in his right hand.
"When the Hobgoblin attacked the tower, he did so with the aide of the Tracer robot," Tony explained, "And since Tracer was polite enough to 'die' in his own invasion, we've had the means to at least track Tracer."
"But Tracer died," Spider-Man answered.
"Not in the way you think," Tony answered, "Remember that Tracer is a robot and that he invaded this tower before and died in that attempt as well. Tracer is an extremely advanced robot and has the ability to transfer his mind into a new shell."
"He claimed to be a God of Robots," Arachne commented.
"So he claimed," Tony answered, "but it's unlikely. Robots are only something of recent history and all were created by man. No robot or any piece of technology can have a god. Tracer is powerful and advanced, but he's no god. Someone or something built him."
"Do you know who?" Spider-Man asked curiously.
"Unfortunately not," Tony answered, "But the knowledge that he had to have been built led me to the way you can track him."
Tony then held up the device.
"I've been running an autopsy on Tracer's body and I found the small device in his brain that allows him to transfer his consciousness into another of his shells," Tony explained, "That discovery allowed me to make this device. It is tuned in to the specific frequency of Tracer's robotic brain functions. You should be able to take the quickest route to him."
"What does this have to do with finding the Hobgoblin?" Arachne asked.
"According to your husband, he was working with Tracer when Tracer made the attack on the tower that resulted in you gaining your powers," Tony answered, "And since Tracer likely transferred his mind to a new shell when it was clear that this one is 'dead', I have no doubt that Tracer is still working with the Hobgoblin."
"So this will lead us straight to both Tracer and the Hobgoblin?" Spider-Man asked.
"If my hunch is correct," Tony answered.
"Thanks," Spider-Man said to Tony.
"Don't mention it," Tony answered, "Shoot, even if Tracer wasn't one of your new foes, I would have tried to find a way to attack him. We've only recently got the Avengers back together. I'm not about to let some robot tear them apart or attack my tower."
"We're still thankful," Spider-Man responded.
Tony nodded, "Do you want any of the others to come along with you? It took a combination of you, Jarvis, and Spiderwoman to defeat Tracer the last time."
"No, I think Arachne and I can handle it," Spider-Man answered, "I don't think Tracer will be expecting any company and the Hobgoblin won't even be focused on being attacked."
"Have it your way," Tony answered, "But remember, the team is always there to help."
"I know," Spider-Man answered, "But this is our fight. And I think we're coming close to the final curtain."
To Be Concluded…