Disclaimer: I can only hope to own Spider-Man in the future, but for now, I do not.
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Previously on Spider-Man:
The Green Goblin kidnapped Mary Jane Watson and brought her to a bridge. Spidey found her, but just then, Green Goblin threw a pumpkin bomb, destroying part of the bridge. MJ, losing her balance, fell, just as GG dropped his Time Dilation Accelerator (TDA), which opened up a portal into limbo. Mary Jane's fall ends through the portal!
Much later, a man named Professor Miles Warren reveals that Mary Jane is a clone. "What do you mean I'm just a clone?" But the process is unstable. You're falling apart."
Soon, Madame Web is bringing Spider-Man through limbo. "It's been a long journey, Spider-Man, and I believe it time you were entitled to some happiness. We're going to find the real Mary Jane Watson," she declared.
"I need to find an item which no one other than MJ has touched in the past five years." Spidey thought.
In Times Square, Spider-Man is captured by a mysterious woman and brought to a high-tech complex. "You, Spider-Man," said a man whose face was obscured, "are responsible for the death of Mary Jane Watson!"
In the next scene, Spider-Man and the Black Cat are staring at a newcomer.
"I heard there was an unauthorized visitor. Professor Miles Warren sent me to check it out. I guess I got a traitor to deal with."
All that Spidey and Cat could do was gape as they stared at – another Spider-Man!
(Theme song music plays)
Spider-Man
The Clone Saga, Chapter 2: Seeing Double
One week ago
"Silvermane," said a young man, "after Spider-Man's recent battle with Hydro-Man, I have found a bit of his costume which tore off. If I can find a way to stabilize the cloning process, perhaps I can find a way to help you get your revenge." He was talking to an old man whose face was practically buried in wrinkled. The old man had white hair and was wearing a silver suit. He sat behind a desk, listening to the younger one who had croppy brown hair and glasses. The man had a beard as well. He, too, wore a suit.
"I don't pay you to give me riddles, Warren," said the older one, "explain what we could do."
"Well, perhaps some of Spider-Man's DNA is left on the costume piece. We could this for a number of things. First, we could learn his identity. Next, we could create a clone which can be used to frame him!" explained the one named Warren.
"Yes…." the old man grinned wickedly. "Yes! Perfect! Then I can finally exact my revenge on Spider-Man for making me this way!" He remembered how, a long time ago, he tried to use the tablet of time to restore his youth. He remembered how something went wrong and the old man turned into a baby. He remembered how his daughter, Ilyssa, took care of him, and helped the baby hire minions, such as Alistair Smythe and Miles Warren. He remembered how in an attempt to restore his rightful age as a young adult, he attempted to steal it from Spider-Man. He remembered how Spider-Man escaped and how the old Vulture took his place. He remembered how Vulture got the age of everyone's dreams, while he turned back into an old man. It was all Spider-Man's fault. Both times, Spider-Man had prevented the old man and the baby from restoring his youth.
"- need some help!" Warren finished and the old man realized that he had wandered off again.
"I'm sorry, Warren, what was that?"
"In order to stabilize the cloning process, I'll need some help." Warren repeated.
"Smythe…." thought the old man. "Smythe! Get in here!" He pressed a button on a speaker. A few seconds later, a monster walked into the room. It had a grayish torso with too lasers popping out on either side. Its legs were a dark-blue. The monster's claws rested on each of its three toes. Its head, however, was almost human, with brown, shoulder length hair. The monster had two yellow slits for eyes.
"Smythe, this is Professor Miles Warren. He is an expert in cloning," the old man said. "Warren, this is Alistair Smythe. As the termination of his alignment with Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, Smythe was turned into a cyborg. He is now my right-hand man. Smythe is a genius in robotics, but perhaps he can also help you stabilize your clones, so that we can successfully create a clone of Spider-Man!"
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Now
"Who are you?" Spider-Man asked, staring at the other Spider-Man.
"I am Spider-Man. Who are you?" inquired the twin.
"What? That's ridiculous! There can only be one Spider-Man! And that's me!" Spidey insisted.
"Nice try, but if you want, we could fight. Only the real Spider-Man could win."
"Um, no thank you. I have this strange phobia of fighting myself," Spider-Man argued. "Besides, I doubt you'd like the results."
"Ha! Yeah right!" And with that the new Spider-Man shot some webbing, but in the form of a huge ball! Spider-Man (the one we should be rooting for) dived out of the way, barely dodging it.
"Say," he wondered, "that's impact webbing! I saw Scarlet Spider use it in our fight against Carnage-Spider in that other dimension."
"What are you talking about? It's my own design!" insisted the new Spider-Man, tossing some more impact webbing.
"Say, Scarlet Spider and Carnage-Spider! That's right! One of them was a clone! Maybe you are, too!" Spidey realized, dodging the impact webbing.
"What?" screamed the other Spider-Man shooting a third bit of impact webbing. "That's preposterous! If anything, you're the clone!" Spider-Man dodged the impact webbing, now singing a song.
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can!
Spins a web, any size! Dodges it, like it were flies!
Look out! There goes his true blue clone!"
"Stop it!" screamed the clone, shooting out three more bolts of impact webbing. Spidey paused in between lines to dodge it, and then picked up again.
"Does he kick really hard? His bad guys tend to go behind bars!
Can he dodge a ball of web? 'Too easy!' the Spider said!
Ouch! I'd hate to be his true blue clone!"
However, despite his words, the clone managed to dodge his kick, jumping up and landing on a nearby wall.
"It is now that the battle gets very, very tense!
For it is clear that someone's even cloned my spider sense!"
It was only now that Spidey remembered Black Cat was in the room, but when he looked to see if she had heard that last line about his spider sense, he was grateful to see that she was running for something – a button on the wall. The bubble! That's what she's going for! Perhaps they could trick the clone into the bubble that snared Spidey just a few minutes ago….
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Why would someone clone Spider-Man?
Wealth and fame? I doubt that! They'd be better off cloning a gnat!
Perhaps, they wanted to unmask him. Or maybe they wanted to frame him.
So they created a true blue clone!"
"Stop that incessant singing!" the clone screamed, charging at Spidey.
"Hey, I'm the original, remember? I think I have a little more experience than you!" Spidey said, diving out of the way. He had purposely positioned himself so that the clone would land on the bubble, allowing Cat to trap him.
"Not so fast!" shouted the clone, shooting out some webbing and grabbing Spider-Man, who couldn't twist out of the way in time, by the heal. The clone then dragged him towards where the clone stood. But aside from this, he stepped a little backwards.
Meanwhile, Cat realized that they had both figured out what she was doing. But the clone was too close to the edge of the bubble. He could escape without a second thought. And Spider-Man was now in the bubble area as well. She didn't want to trap the wrong Spider-Man!
But just then, the Spider-Man clone shot some webbing to grab Black Cat in her chest. He threw her across the room towards Spidey and then used his webbing again to bring up the bubble, therefore trapping Spider-Man and the Black Cat inside.
"Well," he thought, "my work here is done." And on that note, the clone left the room as quickly as he came.
"Gee, Spider," Black Cat said, "that didn't quite go the way I hoped."
"Don't talk, Cat," Spider-Man ordered. "The air is slowly being drained from the bubble." Cat gasped, but neither wished to speak anymore. They needed to save their breath as long as possible, but they knew that it couldn't last forever. And then, it would be over.
Four Days Ago
Spider-Man woke up. Where was he? It looked like some sort of tube. And who was that man hovering above him?
"Spider-Man," said a voice, "are you awake?"
Finally, Spider-Man's vision came to, and he saw a man whom he had never seen before. However, we should all recognize him as Warren.
"Spider-Man! You are awake!"
"Wh-where am I?" Spider-Man asked, drowsily.
"You were injured while fighting Hydro-Man," said Warren. "I wanted to help you, so I got some bandages for the wounds."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Professor Miles Warren," Warren replied.
"Why do I feel so -?"
"Different? It is an effect of the chemicals I used on your wounds. You had them all over your chest, face, shoulder, leg, -"
"My face?" Spidey gasped, suddenly realizing that his mask was off. "You took off my mask?"
"I'm sorry, Spider-Man, but I needed to treat your facial wounds. But don't worry, after all, just because I saw your face, doesn't mean I know your name," explained Warren, but he was thinking: That's true, I didn't know his name from his face, but rather because I ID-ed him!
"I'm sorry," Spider-Man said. "How did I get injured anyway?"
"When Hydro-Man, coincidentally, brought a young redheaded girl here, you followed shortly. The redhead and I took to cowering in a corner. Meanwhile, Hydro-Man drew a gun on you! He escaped and took the redhead with him, but he assumed that you were already dead. Wrong he was."
Suddenly, an inexplicable rage came over Spider-Man. "I bet that the Bugle blames me, huh?" he shouted, jumping out of the tube.
"Well, yes," Warren admitted.
"I'll kill them!"
"What was that?"
"I'll kill them all! I'm sick of them! I'll kill them all! Starting with Mary Jane Watson!"
Now
Just then, a shadowy man walked in.
"Well, well," he said, "a spider and a cat, both locked up in the same bubble. You've been here before, Spider-Man; perhaps you can fill Black Cat in on all the lovely details." He now stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself to be Professor Miles Warren. "I hope you both know why you're here. But just in case, I'll tell you. Spider-Man, you have robbed my father-in-law many times. We now seek revenge on you. And just so you know, we know who you are and will reveal that information to the world only after destroying your loved ones." Inside, Peter Parker began to fill up with rage.
"And Black Cat, you claimed to be on my side. You even seemed to believe my stories of Spider-Man being a merciless killer. But of course, you betrayed me, and for that, you will die. White Tiger doesn't betray me. No, he isn't on to my little secret. And can tell that you both are curious of that. But alas, I must go, for I grow weary of waiting for you two to die. I will much prefer it when you are both crushed by a Spider-Slayer!" Warren now drew some kind of walkie talkie out of his pocket and spoke into it.
"Smythe, bring in the one of my design," he said. Now, turning to Spidey and Cat, he continued. "In just a few seconds, the Spider-Jackal will come to destroy you. Have fun until then. I'll be watching from my office." And with that, Professor Miles Warren turned to leave the room.
As Warren said, within the next few seconds, a new Spider-Slayer appeared. The Spider-Jackal was about eight feet long and four feet tall. It looked like a green, eight-legged jackal. It had sharp claws on each of its eight hands. Also, it featured some sort of humungous cannon on its back. It looked far more powerful than any Spider-Slayer ever before – and Spider-Man and the Black Cat were completely defenseless!
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Three Days Ago
Mary Jane was carefully guarded by Hydro-Man. Spider-Man couldn't risk it with him there. Instead, he developed a new plan. Just earlier that day, Spidey had created a new type of webbing. Impact webbing. It was webbing in the shape of a ball and packed the power of a few punches. Plus, it could reach long distance. He now used it to shatter Hydro-Man's back window, thus distracting him. Meanwhile, Spider-Man snuck around front. He went in through in an open window and immediately webbed up MJ's mouth so that she couldn't speak.
"Hush," he said, "I'm not gonna hurt you. Here."
Spider-Man then found a cloth which used as a blindfold and took out some handcuffs he had stolen from the police on his way over. Then, he heard Hydro-Man coming.
"Lousy kids, some sort of joke, I guess -" All Hydro-Man could do was stare at the spot where Mary Jane once stood. "Curse you Spider-Man!" he shouted.
A couple of blocks away, Spider-Man found an old deserted warehouse where he took Mary Jane. He pulled off the webbing, wondering what she was thinking.
"Let me go!" was all she could muster.
"No! I can't stand it anymore!" Spider-Man shouted. "The public has ignored me for too long! They have called me everything from a dim-wit to a menace. And I've finally decided that if they're going to treat me that way, I'll act that way! Starting with the murder of you, my dear!" And with this, he .
"Why? Why me?"
"Why you? Who else? Just look at me!" As MJ was collapsing on the floor, Spidey took off his mask, and MJ, whose blindfold was removed in the censored struggle, seemed shocked.
"Peter?" This was her dying word.
Now
The Spider-Jackal was closing in and neither Spidey nor the Black Cat could do a thing about it! They bit their lips. Within moments the Spider-Jackal had approached the bubble, which was already emptying itself at a considerate pace. It snarled. This sounded odd – it was like the sound that you get when you scratch a chalkboard, only a few octaves lower.
It was now that the Spider-Jackal began to crawl up the side of the bubble. Uh-oh! Spider-Man thought. I think I know what it's doing! Once it gets to the top, it'll put it full weight on the bubble, causing it to collapse! The Spider-Jackal was already at the top now. Meanwhile, the bubble had finished emptying itself and the Black Cat, who can't hold her breath as long as Spider-Man, collapsed. Spider-Man, however, tried to stay focus on the task at hand. He was sure she was only unconscious and that it wouldn't stay that way very long if he didn't think of something – fast! Perhaps the Spider-Jackal can shatter the bubble, and maybe even our skulls in the process, but I hope it can't break through my webbing! As fast as he could, Spidey spun up a quick web-dome around the Black Cat and himself, still holding his breath.
At the same time as this, the Spider-Jackal collapsed upon them and broke the bubble into a million pieces – but, as Spider-Man hypothesized, it couldn't even dent the web-dome containing Spider-Man and the Black Cat! They were saved for now!
Gasping for breath, Spidey checked the Cat's pulse just to be sure. Thank goodness! She is only unconscious! Thank goodness? What am I? Nuts? Now that Cat is out, who's gonna help me against Spider-Jackal?
The Spider-Jackal was currently clawing at the web-dome with six of his eight limbs, searching for a weak point. And he found one! With one more slash from his six claws, the Spider-Jackal tore apart the web-dome right at the seams!
Two of its arms lashed out at Spidey, who dove aside and clung onto a nearby wall, another arm grabbed Cat by her throat, a fourth one scratched its nose (your guess is as good as mine), another arm shot some kind of laser at the doorway, supposedly sealing it off, while the remaining ones acted as legs and supported the Spider-Jackal.
"Cat!" Spider-Man shouted. "It's going to kill her!" But five of the Spider-Jackal's limbs were focused on one thing and one thing alone – destroying Spider-Man! Suddenly, Warren's voice appeared.
"It's no use resisting, Spider-Man," he said as Spidey dodged a laser, a handful of glass shards, two ferocious claws, and a few gunshots. "My Spider-Jackal is designed to home in on its targets. Once this is done, it well sense their very DNA and destroy them. You can run, but you cannot hide!"
"Sheesh, talk about an old saying!" Spider-Man joked.
"It senses your consciousness and that is why it prefers you to the Cat. It takes out the strongest ones first, so they will no longer be of use," Warren continued. "Also, whenever you attack it, its defenses will increase. Whenever it attacks you, its arsenal gains more power."
"Tell me more, Suity," Spidey responded, now running from one claw, three lasers, and a rapid fire gun. "What about that cannon? I mean, since you seem so keen on revealing your robot's design."
"Ah, great idea, wall-crawler," Warren happily stated.
Uh-oh, Spider-Man worried, What's it doing now? The Spider-Jackal was suddenly absolutely frozen, other than an eerie glow dancing inside the cannon. Perhaps I can use it to my advantage? he wondered, jumping down.
Spider-Man grabbed the claw holding the Black Cat and pried it open, releasing her. "Cat!" he screamed in her ear. "Wake up! Please tell me you're still alive!" But then Spider-Man saw that she was breathing. Barely, but she was.
Spidey had seen Spider-Jackal seal off the only exit earlier, but if he couldn't help the Black Cat escape, he needed to wake up her up. But how?
Just then, his spider sense went off. Grabbing Cat, Spider-Man darted off to the side. There was a huge explosion. When Spidey turned around, he saw an enormous fiery sphere, expanding at an enormous rate.
"Spider-Man, witness the power of fire," Warren whispered.
As the sphere passed over the Spider-Jackal, its speed increased. Spider-Man knew that it could not be stopped. It was hopeless! Even if Black Cat was awake, they would never even stand half of a chance. Through all his sobbing, Spidey failed to notice that the entire room had gone black other than Spider-Man, Black Cat, and the fireball.
Two Days Ago
Spider-Man had agreed. He would help out Warren in exchange for a little cash. Plus, he would have the glory of killing anyone just as long as Warren gave his consent first. Not that Spidey really planned to stay working for Warren. The agreement was only temporary. In fact, once he got enough money, he would buy the necessary tools to create a bomb which would destroy New York. If Warren attempted to double-cross Spider-Man, he would meet a very unfortunate fate. And he knew it.
"In the meantime," Warren ordered, "stay low. I'll have a few other people working for me and if they find you, you can forget about living long enough to carry out your plan."
"Who would these people be?"
"The Black Cat and the White Tiger. Hide in the secret room behind my bookcase with Smythe."
"I still feel uneasy about Smythe." Spider-Man admitted. Of course, I even feel uneasy around you nowadays, you four-eyed loser! This he added under his breath so that Warren wouldn't hear it.
"Remember, Spider-Man," Warren said, "you're on our side now."
"Yes, but wasn't Smythe working for Silvermane?" Spider-Man questioned. "And that old geezer probably still wants revenge on me."
Warren needed to restrain from slapping himself on the head. Oh no! he thought. I forgot to wipe his brain of Silvermane! If he finds out, my cover is blown!
"No need to worry," Warren responded, "Smythe felt betrayed when Silvermane didn't help him awaken his father after that incident where Silvermane turned back into an old geezer." Warren smiled. He rarely got such a chance to backtalk his boss.
"OK," Spider-Man admitted, "but you'd better be telling the truth!"
"Would I lie to you, Spider-Man?"
Now
The fireball was still expanding. Spider-Man felt completely hopeless. Nothing could save him now! Nothing!
Just then, Black Cat woke up.
"Spider," she said, weakly, "what happened? Why do I feel so hopeless?"
"Cat, I think I know why. Open your eyes. But first, get some sunglasses."
Black Cat then saw the fireball. "Now I feel even more hopeless."
Wait a minute! Spider-Man realized. Why did Cat feel hopeless before she saw the fireball? Because she was knocked out, that's why. What was that? Does it matter? You're about to die! I'm not going to die. Yes you are.
"It isn't hopeless!" Spider-Man shouted with the last ounce of life! Yes it is! No, I can still win this! That's impossible! You're going to –
And then, something stopped. Spider-Man felt as if something was being lifted off his brain. He had been drugged. Somehow, Warren or someone gotten into his head and had been messing with him. It wasn't hopeless. In fact, Spider-Man now realized that his spider sense wasn't even tingling!
"I can stop the fire. On one condition. Join me and never leave my side."
"It's our only hope!" Black Cat decided. "OK, we'll join you!"
"Cat, no!" Spider-Man screamed.
"You dare refuse me, Spider-Man?" Warren seemed shocked. "Fine then. Black Cat, destroy him! If you fail, you will both be engulfed by the power of fire!"
"Cat, no! You're being drugged! You need to fight it! You need to –"
"I need to kill you, Spider-Man! I see it now!"
Yesterday
"It has been successful, Silvermane," Warren said.
"Good, Warren," Silvermane responded.
"With Smythe's help, I was easily able to create a clone of Spider-Man. However, a few minor adjustments now make him quite vengeful. He wants to kill everyone. He has already begun on his first prey. As I predicted after learning his identity, he wanted to go after someone close to the real Spider-Man. He wanted to destroy everything he knew. Starting with the love of his life. Unfortunately, she was already dead. And her previous clone fell apart. But I merely wiped the Spider-Man clone's memory of this and created a new clone of Mary Jane Watson, along with her captor, Hydro-Man. I have also wiped his memory of his previous encounter with me."
"What about terminating his memory of me and Smythe?" Silvermane questioned. At this, Warren's heart sunk. "Warren, once your relations with this clone is terminated, he'll seek revenge on all of his enemies, undoubtedly starting with me."
"Don't worry, Silvermane," Warren insisted. "Once he's done killing Spider-Man, he will be the next one to die. You will remain untouched."
"You'd better be sure of that, Warren. I would hate to have to kill my own son-in-law."
To Be Continued….