SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 3)
2:30 pm Coffee Bean…
Peter and Gwen decided to take their afternoon tea break at the nearby Coffee Bean café in Tribeca, a popular hotspot for any ESU student. Together the two shared their views on what they wanted to do for the future after looking through everything they were interested in.
"So what did you ask Professor Warren?" Peter wondered as he mixed the sugar in his coffee.
"Just wanted to see if he had any internship placements I could do." Gwen said playing with the cheesecake she ordered.
"Wait, so are you still planning on studying?" Peter asked.
"I am. But I really want to see if I could get into the work process of things." Gwen replied.
"You'd be lucky if you got the gig, Gwen." Peter said.
"Thanks. So…Um, I saw Ned today hanging out with a Spider-Man cosplayer on the campus ground." Gwen commented.
"You did? Wow, so nice to know someone from high school is at ES." Peter said pretending he does not know what happened.
"He was actually doing photos for the Daily Bugle. Shame, you didn't get to meet him. I was wondering where you went." Gwen said.
"Me? Uh…Bathroom." Peter excused himself.
"Okay.. By the way, don't you think it's weird that he was mostly taking photos of that one Spider-Man person before moving onto the other stuff?" Gwen questioned, "Bet he and that person had a strong bond."
"Hey…Uh…I'm sure Ned had more friends than just me." Peter said as he played around with his coffee while trying to brush off the idea that Gwen knows who he is.
"As far as the rest of high school was concerned, you were the only person who stood out as his friend." Gwen said, "Anyway, I heard people like Flash and Liz are here as well."
"Ah great…" Peter scoffed taking a sip out of his mug, "I gotta say I don't know if I'm ready to do further study yet. I want to check out other places first… You know… Like Baxter Scientific for instance."
"Well, you better think fast or the offers will be really gone." Gwen warned.
5:30 pm Parker residence…
After the day at Empire State University was done, Peter got back home and stretched his arms and legs on the sofa as he turned on the television to watch some entertainment. At this time, Aunt May was still working her hours despite the fact she could finish her shift.
"Aunt May is always busy helping people." Peter said as he shifted through the channels and wondered what he wanted to watch.
"Hm…Movie? TV show? Documentary? What do I feel like watching?" Peter asked himself.
Peter then decided to settle with a television show and used his Netflix subscription to open up a show. As this happened, Peter's phone rang and he heard Aunt May speak to him on the ear.
"Peter, are you home yet?" May asked.
"Um…Yeah, Aunt May. I'm home." Peter answered before muting and pausing the television with the remote.
"Listen, I'm working till half past 9 today which means dinner is up to you." May requested, "While you're at it, I do want to remind you about the dishware if you're planning to cook."
"I'll stay away from it…" Peter laughed.
"Good, maybe when I have time I'll show you properly…" May said, "Take care now."
"Love you, Aunt May…" Peter said before hanging up the phone and resuming his television.
A minute into the show, Peter was interrupted again by another phone call by Gwen.
"Hello?" Peter asked.
"Peter, I've got some great news to share. Hey, what's the background noise I'm hearing?" Gwen questioned.
"Oh, sorry." Peter said as he muted the television, "Just watching Mindhunter. Fascinating show."
"Okay then. I just want to tell you that Professor Warren has accepted me for internship work." Gwen informed.
"Oh wow…Congrats." Peter replied.
"I guess my connections to Mr. Warren back at high school helped pay off more than anything." Gwen said, "I'm going to be part of his genetics research division."
"Oh great…Did he tell you the kind of work you're doing?" Peter asked.
"He thinks I'd be good for the data work. Write down the results after each practical is done." Gwen stated.
"Doesn't sound much, but it's nice that you're given the opportunity." Peter said, "Hope he's a cool guy as well."
"He's actually pretty awesome. He's oddly enough…Charming in his own way." Gwen said.
"Um…What?" Peter asked.
"I meant that he's a really smart and charismatic person. People really seem to like him." Gwen explained.
"Would love to meet him if I had the chance…" Peter said, "How is the family reacting?"
"My mum and dad are already proud. Little brother could care less." Gwen stated, "Anyway, I have to go back to them. Have fun watching your TV at home, Peter. Love you."
"Love you too…" Peter said as the phone went off.
Once both Aunt May and Gwen's calls were done, Peter prayed that he could just watch his show and finish off the episode he was onto. The last person Peter expects a call from would be through Ned and he hoped it would not be another Spider-Man photoshoot.
After about ten minutes into the episode, the television shut off abruptly causing Peter to shut off. Peter walked up to the television and checked the wirings and plug ins. He was sure that nothing had cut off.
"What the hell?" Peter wondered searching about while rapidly pressing the power button on the remote control.
Moving to the living room light switch, Peter flicked it before realising there has been a power outage which frustrated Peter. Moving to the window against his front yard, Peter looked at the electricity power pole but saw nothing unusual prompting him to go outside and check the power box. The power box was normal as well which caused Peter to suspect if the problem had to do with the local power plant nearby.
"Hm….Maybe I need to gear up and find what's going on." Peter said as he went back inside to suit up.
5:40 pm Forest Hills Queens Community Bank Branch…
The local Queens Community Bank at Forest Hills had been broken down by a mysterious intruder who had smashed down the glass windows as well as charred up the bank leaving tiny sparks of electricity bouncing around. Some of the employees and citizens had been injured with parts of them sizzling from electrical shock.
The alarm and security cameras had been toasted making it difficult for evidence to left behind. Picking up a few wallets as well as pulling apart a few ATM machines, the intruder who was hooded made his way out of the area with the largest amount of money he could carry. Spider-Man arrived at the scene staring down at the bank and took a good look at who was responsible for the mess that was happening.
"Hey, you there! That's a quite mess you left behind." Spider-Man yelled before jumping down to confront the man.
Even through jumping down, Spider-Man still could not make out the face of the robber with the hoddie overlapping his head. However the man did respond to his words.
"Bout time I get to meet you." The man answered.
"You know if you're new to bank robbery then I think you failed already." Spider-Man said, "Just stay where you are and I won't have to kick your butt."
The man snickered before unleashing a wave of electricity out of his fingers and hurling it into Spider-Man's direction. Spider-Man dodged the attack in time as the electricity disappeared behind him.
"Electricity huh? You're not the first to fight me with it." Spider-Man said referring to the time he fought Eel.
"Like I have another choice." The man said back before hurling another bolt at his direction to which Spider-Man dodged again.
"I'm just going to make you keep missing unless you surrender and stop yourself from potentially hurting anyone else." Spider-Man said.
"Nah, just glad I have your attention from this mess somehow." The man said, "I've just been doing a little studying on how I might make you crawl out of your web."
"Okay, you want me right?" Spider-Man asked, "I'm here. What's the deal?"
"The deal is…Your little fights back then made me who I am. You might think you save people all the time but in my eyes, you ruin them!" The man shouted bitterly.
"OK, I admit it. I'm not perfect but I do my best." Spider-Man replied, "Can we talk this out any further?"
The man then shot out another bolt of electricity which was avoided by Spider-Man once again. Afterwards, the man was huffing and puffing a little after exerting the streak of electricity indicating to Spider-Man on how physical the attack is.
Spider-Man then leapt forward to bring the man down as he extended his arm out and reached for the rear light of a nearby car. Shattering the glass, the man absorbed a bit of electricity from the rear light with his hands which went through the skin of his hand.
Pinning the man down, Spider-Man attempted to knock him out before the man grabbed him by the arm and sent a jolt of electricity into his body knocking him backwards. Feeling the shock, Spider-Man attempted to feel the rest of his body as the man stood above him.
"Why don't you lie down there? I gotta do a little replenishing first." The man said as he walked away briefly leaving Spider-Man paralysed.
Spider-Man heard the sounds of more car lights shatter as well as a light pole nearby break which not only gave him to get back up but also figure out what is going on with his new foe.
"It looks as if he needs to external electrical sources to generate his electrical powers." Spider-Man thought as he slowly got back up.
The man turned around and grumbled once he absorbed enough electrical charge and readied himself as Spider-Man did as well.
"Of course…You're a not regular dude, alright?" The man commented while his hands flowed with electrical charge, "You're a guy who shoots webs and swings around like a superhuman."
Spider-Man then rushed forward and shot out some webs at the man's direction to which he used the electricity in his hands to melt down the webs. Spider-Man then aimed at the feet which was enough to stop the man from moving.
The man grumbled as he balanced himself as much as possible as Spider-Man made the big leap to kick him in the face. However the effort did not work as Spider-Man was zapped again falling onto the ground.
"You can't come near me. I'm less physical than I used to be." The man gloated as he watched Spider-Man groan in pain before unleashing a huge amount of electricity onto him.
"But you still walk with two feet…" Spider-Man quipped out as the electricity rained down on him.
"A joke? Ha, I'm sure gonna miss those out when you're fried." The man said as he continued bombarding Spider-Man with jolts of electricity.
As Spider-Man grew weaker from the electricity, he tried moving himself closer to a nearby fire hydrant. Once he shuffled himself close enough, he attempted to web up the hydrant and planned to fling it at the man. If that did not work then he hoped the water would.
With his last strength, Spider-Man tried to do exactly that but his growing weakness from the electricity stopped him. However his luck had been made, when the electricity accidently broke the fire hydrant causing water to spray out.
The water landed on the man causing his electrical powers to short circuit out while he was being weakened by the effects of water. Spider-Man with his regenerative powers recovered as the water rained down on him as well.
Realising his powers were disappearing, the man tore off his wet hoodie and threw it aside revealing his full appearance. The man was almost bald with little strands of hair sticking out indicating his hair was burnt off. He also bore a jagged star-like scar tissue on his face that covered most of his face. His attire consisted of a green jacket; an old yellow wife-beater; black pants and black rubber boots.
Spider-Man watched as his foe recovered and looked him in the eye. With fury, the man rushed forward to punch him but Spider-Man easily subdued him by knocking him down onto a puddle. Moving away from the fire hydrant's spray, Spider-Man examined the man's appearance.
"I don't recognise you…" Spider-Man commented before the sounds of police sirens drew near.
8:15 am Daily Bugle Building, 4th floor…
The next day at the Bugle, John rushed into the kitchen room to see his colleagues waiting for him as they were sipping their coffee and tea. Robbie was the first to greet John as he sat down while giving everyone a funny look.
"What are you all smiling about?" John wondered.
"Well, Jonah. I think we have a new headline to cover regarding your favourite super-hero." Robbie said sipping his tea.
"Don't make me demote or fire you, Robbie. I need you on your job." John said, "Alright, tell me."
"Spider-Man had been fighting with a new foe last night." A female employee commented.
"At his local neighbourhood, he was fighting some guy wielding electricity." Betty added drinking her latte.
"What did I tell you, everyone? Without the Shocker, the menace was looking for a new friend to wreak havoc with." John said confidently, "Who the heck is this guy anyway?"
"His name was Maxwell Dillon…" Robbie commented as he showed a Daily Globe article on his phone, "He was a local electrician who was involved in an accident cleaning up a power plant mess the day Spider-Man took down Hammerhead."
"I knew it! Spider-Man is always breaking things just so he can make new friends. That's how he gets his 'enemies', he encourages them to become freaks on their own!" John said accusingly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Jameson." Frederick interrupted who had been chewing on his waffle as well as sipping his honey lemon tea.
"What is it, Foswell?" John asked.
"With your permission, I think this will be the next article I will pursue for today." Frederick said, "After all, me and my intern might go down to Queens together to uncover what happened."
"Well you better take him with you this time… That's a must." John instructed.
"Of course, it might factor into the Oscorp power plant stuff I'm investigating." Frederick said before he worried about what to do with Ned.
"Alright, everyone. Take your snacks back to your office, we got a lot to write about." John said clapping his hands together, "Robbie, stick with me for a moment."
As everyone else left the room, John and Robbie were the only two left. The two discussed matters on what to do regarding the latest Spider-Man incident.
"It's a pity we can't use the name 'Shocker'. What do you think, Robbie? Got any ideas on what we could call this electrical based menace?" John asked.
"Uh…I'm not really bright with name calling like you but I can spout out a few words like 'Charger' or 'Bolt'." Robbie suggested.
"Meh…What about…'Crazy Lightning'?" John suggested, "Actually, scrap that. He's still fairly new."
"Electrical-Man?" Robbie added.
"Oh yes… Keep the word, 'electric'. I think I have it…" John said excitedly.
A brief moment of silence followed as Robbie waited for what John had to say.
"Electrocutioner…" John said as he brainstormed the name, "No, too long and trademarked. How about… Electro-…Oh wait…"
"You got it yet, Jonah?" Robbie questioned.
"Yes I have it! ELECTRO! Ha, yes! Robbie, make sure the Globe hasn't taken that name yet. We're gonna use it to our advantage! 'THE SPARK OF A NEW SPIDER-MAN FOE: ELECTRO'." John said with excitement, "We got it, Robbie!"
"Like always, Jonah." Robbie said rolling his eyes a little.
"What are you waiting for? Get that article ready!" John ordered.
TO BE CONTINUED…