SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 12)
8:03 am J. Jonah Jameson's office, 4th floor…
"Mr. Urich hasn't been up to date with his work, has he?" John said sitting on his chair while talking with Frederick.
"Yeah… Poor guy, he's getting old. He's probably getting torn down by age." Frederick replied.
"Oh…I'll talk with him, alright…You have a point with age, Foswell. My own wrinkles can feel it." John said, "And how's your collaboration with Leeds going?"
"He's a bit of a troublemaker…" Frederick replied while pondering onto that question, "He's…Been obsessed with that Spider-Man. Could land him in trouble."
"Well, if that's the case… We can give Spider-Man another red-flag based on the experiences of one Bugle employee." John said while managing a proud smile.
Soon, Peter and Ned burst into the office doors causing John and Frederick to stare back abruptly.
"Hey! Knock on the door first." John said.
"Forgive us, Mr. Jameson. We just want to be as early as possible." Peter replied.
Frederick took note of Ned who was standing with Peter. His thoughts ran with trouble seeing him; the corrupt federal agents seemed to have failed their duty.
"Ned. Good to see you here." Frederick said, "Did you have fun yesterday?"
"Stop right there! Fun?" John questioned with a bewildered expression.
"Yeah… They were…Awesome people." Ned answered pretending nothing suspicious had happened.
"Leeds, I hope Foswell isn't talking about you partying all night yesterday. Am I right?" John asked, "Anyway, got any photos of interest?"
"Um…" Ned replied before looking at Peter to which Peter had no idea how to help. It took a bit of time before Ned mustered an answer.
"You don't have any…" John swiftly answered.
"Yesterday was a convoluted situation. Uh… Spider-Man basically told me to not take any pictures." Ned semi-admitted.
"And who is Spider-Man? He's a self-entitled troublemaker who thinks he's above the law. If I were you, I'll refuse that request right off the bat!" John snapped.
"Mr. Jameson, I've got some catching up to do… You mind if I…?" Frederick butted in.
"Sure, sure… Off you go then." John said waving his hand up and down to dismiss him.
After Frederick left, John began to show more of his displeasure in front of Ned.
"Mr. Leeds. I don't keep you around because I pity you…. Well I do. I keep you around because I expect WORK from you! I'm relying on you to keep the public's interest in the Bugle!" John shouted.
Peter then noted the stress Ned was undergoing after John's harsh voice.
"I… It won't happen again, Mr. Jameson." Ned said while feeling like there were tears out of his eyes.
"It better not." John grumbled while rubbing his forehead.
"Mr. Jameson…I'm just curious how good exactly is Mr. Foswell here as an employee?" Peter interjected.
"He's one of the Bugle's best reporters. He can dig a solid worth of information and it sells." John replied, "Why are you asking me this?"
"Cause Ned told me that Frederick has been doing a poor job supervising." Peter said back.
"I don't know if you're just trying to make me feel soft in front of Leeds or not. But Frederick is one hell of a reporter and he's been good at reporting Leed's growth here." John said.
"Say, may I suggest something?" Peter asked.
"Speak your mind, Parker." John replied.
"You don't mind if I give the photography stuff a shot as well, right?" Peter said.
"You're managing my finances, Parker. It's what I pay you to do." John said.
"But…Think about it. I can help Ned with Spider-Man pictures and other stuff you'd like. If he's struggling, don't you think he deserves some help to make his job a little more efficient?" Peter proposed.
"Eh.. You can't steal someone's thunder, Parker." John said shaking his head.
"No way…I mean tracking down someone like Spider-Man is hard work. Hell, it'd be harder if he was facing new supervillains." Peter continued, "Would you consider the maximisation for effort?"
"Bold request, Parker. But I do appreciate it." John said, "Hm…You might want to give me time to think about it. Hell, maybe we do need backup against the Globe's photographer."
"Well, okay…" Peter said.
"Alright, alright… You two… Get to your stations. Parker, help out Robbie." John ordered, "And Leeds… Don't disappoint me like that again."
Outside Frederick Foswell's office…
"Take a deep breath, Ned. I've got your back." Peter said.
"I think the levels of cortisol inside my head is melting me." Ned replied.
"Well, focus. We've got some digging to do." Peter said.
The two then stopped in front of the door that covered the entry into Frederick Foswell's office.
"I think he's in there now." Ned whispered.
Peter slowly walked up to the door and pressed his ear against it.
"Doesn't seem like it." Peter said before holding onto the doorknob before trying to turn it.
"Also…Locked." Peter added.
"Gotta be hiding some weird things…" Ned said crossing his arms.
"I'll find a way to deal with this place." Peter said.
"How?" Ned questioned before Peter gave him a look to which Ned realised.
"Are you serious? Why would you do that?" Ned asked, "You do realise Mr. Jameson…"
"I don't care. I get bashed by his publications no matter what I do…" Peter said, "So…Whenever I have time. I'm going to have a peek behind this door. Yeah, I also assume there's ventilation systems in this building that can help me…"
"Okay…Who knows what he has." Ned said, "Frankly, I want less trouble today. So…I'll see you at lunch time?"
"Sure…" Peter agreed.
9:30 am Secret meeting room…
Jack, Dan and Ronald sat around a circular table and waited inside the dimly lit room. The place had some artistic flair to it with the paintings hanging on the wall as well as other items such as Ming Dynasty vases sitting across the room.
Soon, the door opened with Frederick Foswell arriving under his Big Man persona. The mask covering his face made his presence unsettling and cold in front of the trio. However, this was topped by Wilson's arrival.
Wilson's scale made the people around him feel like worms. The man himself wore a white suit that stood out from the black/dark suits that were in the room.
"Morning, gentlemen…" Wilson spoke as he sat with the three federal agents.
"Morning to you, Mr. Fisk." Jack replied putting his cowboy hat down.
"I heard about last night…And I'd like Mr. Foswell to explain first." Wilson said turning his attention to Big Man.
"I hired the three of them to handle Mr. Leeds." Big Man explained, "But I believe something got lost in translation with them."
"This was a simple job…" Wilson explained, "Now we're attracting even further unwanted attention."
"Mr. Fisk. To be fair, you always catch everyone's attention. I mean look at yourself… You own some nice penthouses; fancy restaurants and you're married to that art collector woman of yours." Dan said, "You have a huge company and yet you hire us to do your dirty laundry."
"Tell me, Mr. Brito. Are you and your agents always brash in catching crooks?" Wilson questioned.
"We're generally good with putting down fugitives." Ronald answered for Dan.
"Trust me, Mr. Fisk. It's not just their skill but their status." Big Man added.
"I don't care about that now!" Wilson snapped, "I care that someone in the Bugle can jeopardise our work. Now with Spider-Man around, we've made it more difficult for ourselves."
"Don't worry, Mr. Fisk. We've taken note of our web-slinger foe now." Jack assured.
"You better hope so or I'm cutting you out of my operations for incompetence." Wilson said back.
"So, how's your pet human battery doing, Mr. Fisk?" Dan asked referring to Electro.
"He is none of your concern." Wilson answered back, "You three… You're dismissed. Go back to your regular jobs."
"Will you promise us the payment?" Dan questioned.
Wilson paused before giving out his next word.
"You two…" Wilson said pointing to Jack and Ronald, "Leave. And you… Mr. Brito. Stick around if you want to talk business. Mr. Foswell, you stay right here as well."
Jack and Ronald got up from their chairs and left in a respectful manner leaving Wilson, Frederick and Dan alone. Once the doors closed, Wilson approached Dan and violently grabbed him by the throat and choke-slammed him. He then viciously started punching Dan's face.
Big Man watched as Wilson unleashed every bit of his rage. It was obvious to him that those who were interested in Wilson Fisk's wealth pay the biggest price of regret and that talking about salary in general was rude.
In the end, Wilson let Dan live with a bloodied face but there was a chance that his injuries may overcome him. He then turned to Big Man and gave out a warning.
"Keep these men in line." Wilson said, "Discipline them."
"Of course, Mr. Fisk. I apologize for his behaviour." Big Man said.
"And keep an eye out for Mr. Leeds. We cannot allow public controversy to happen." Wilson ordered.
9:35 am Empire State University Student Longue…
Meanwhile, Gwen was hanging out with a bunch of ESU students in the student longue area. The place seemed like the perfect spot to kill off excess time when there is no class.
"Broke off with him…Shame." Patrick, a male student said to Gwen as they were playing eight-ball pool.
"It's okay… I still got enough sleep over it." Gwen mumbled.
"You know you're lying if you say it in that tone." Samila, a female student noted.
"Alright, it looks like it's my turn." Gwen said as she took aim at the cue ball with the cue stick.
Just as Gwen steadied her aim, a hand grabbed onto her shoulder which ruined how she hit the ball. She turned around to see who it was.
"Well, well…I knew it was you. Good to see you around here, Gwendolyn." A male student said wearing an ESU sports jacket.
Gwen instantly recognised who it was based on the slick half blonde and brunette hair. It was Flash Thompson, no doubt the confident attitude gave it away also.
"Oh, hey Flash…Finally…I get to meet you here again after talks that you and Liz were here together." Gwen said.
"Well…I'm not with Liz anymore." Flash replied, "She and I parted ways… But really, it's on good terms. In fact, I found someone else."
Flash then introduced an Asian girl who was standing behind him. She was quite pretty from Gwen understood and Flash certainly knows how to pick.
"This is Shailene Nguyen. She's studying healthcare. Shai… This is Gwen, one of the people who went to Midtown with me." Flash said introducing her to Gwen.
"Hey… Nice to meet you." Shailene said shaking Gwen's hand.
"Yeah…" Gwen said.
"You know? I've got a lot of word about what's going on with everyone else. But I want to know how things are going with you and Parker?" Flash said teasingly.
"You actually care about Peter?" Gwen asked.
"Duh… Who forgets about him?" Flash replied, "The biggest bookworm, am I right?"
"We're not together anymore, Flash. So, I actually don't know what's up with him now." Gwen said, "Now, I was just in the middle of a pool game and you interrupted me."
"Oh, shoot… Yeah. I'm sorry…" Flash said, "In fact, tell your friends to give you another go since that obviously did not count."
Gwen soon waved goodbye to Flash as he left with his girlfriend to go elsewhere. She shook her head knowing how awkward it is to reunite with old colleagues from Midtown High.
As she continued playing, one of her friends notified her about someone staring at her through the glass window.
"There's a weird looking guy just standing there." Patrick said, "You know him?"
Gwen looked up and was surprised to see Professor Miller Warren standing beneath a tree outside. His eyes looked behind his glasses as he watched Gwen with care.
"Yes…That's the professor who gave me my internship." Gwen answered, "Hang on, maybe he wants to talk grades or something."
Gwen then decided to come outside and greet Miller who watched her approach him.
"Professor Warren…So great to see you." Gwen said, "Haven't seen you around campus lately."
"Well, yeah…" Miller said with a smile, "I was busy really…"
"Was it our work? Come to think of it, we haven't been doing a lot recently in terms of the internship." Gwen said.
"Aha…There is an explanation. I was publishing in results and…Making appointments with Anton regarding the physiological changes he got from the serum." Miller said, "I'm sorry if the substitute teachers had been boring."
"I see. Still…" Gwen said.
"Don't worry…" Miller said, "We'll be resuming our work once I clear things. How are your grades going, may I ask?"
"Quite well…" Gwen replied.
"Mhmm… Excellent response. You are a talented student indeed, Ms. Stacy. You have a lot of potential ahead of you." Miller said.
"Thanks…" Gwen replied again, "Did you want anything else from me?"
Miller took time to think but his consistent response was to smile.
"You are one remarkable student. I just… Want to say… If you are interested in… Being a part of the next phase of experiments I'm conducting." Miller said, "What do you say?"
12:00 pm Frederick Foswell's office…
Spider-Man could not find a ventilation system in the Daily Bugle building as the place is mostly just standard air conditioning. So, he opted to sneak into the Frederick's office by trying to get through the window.
While trying to get in, Spider-Man was concerned about the citizens down below or at other buildings around him spotting him. But it was urgent for Ned's sake and potentially the safety of others, that he investigate who Frederick really is.
"There we go…" Spider-Man muttered as he slowly opened up the window and snuck in.
Spider-Man was nervous as he was uncertain when Frederick could come back. Worse, it is John and his accusations against him that bring so much pressure. If he was caught being inside the Daily Bugle building, the papers will have more context on him being a menace.
"Okay…Seems well organised." Spider-Man noted looking around the small office space.
The bookshelves did not seem to give anything away with topics such as world politics; history and geography were on display. There is no guarantee for Spider-Man if any of the books hide secret information.
On Frederick's desk, there was a family picture of him and a little girl to which Spider-Man assumed was his daughter. Other things include a tea jar, a copy of today's Daily Globe and sticky notes regarding reminders.
"Write up about Queens Redevelopment Scheme…" Spider-Man said examining one note, "Seems like he and Fisk have one thing in common."
He then turned his attention to the closed laptop and slowly booted it up.
"Now if I remember the hacking tricks Phil taught me back in high school or email. Just hope there are only a few worms when I open this up." Spider-Man said taking a USB drive out.
Beginning to override the laptop security; Spider-Man easily surpassed it and found various files that Frederick had.
"Alright, let's take my time before someone comes in." Spider-Man said before beginning a thorough examination.
The files had a variety of things; there were unfinished draft articles with some of them referring to Spider-Man about the trouble he causes.
"Typical… Wait a minute." Spider-Man then noted articles with the words 'Fisk' involved.
"So… Fred does have something going on with Fisk it seems." Spider-Man managed to note.
Further examination prompted to Spider-Man to copy some things onto the USB drive in an attempt to gather as much shady evidence as fast as possible. With this evidence, it could help him decide to track down Frederick and what exactly he was up to.
Soon, Spider-Man heard footsteps on their way and decided to terminate the USB drive in an attempt to escape being caught. He jumped out of the window and attempted to pull the window glass down as the door lock clicked.
TO BE CONTINUED…
End note: Shailene Nguyen is based off Sha Shan Nguyen, the name of Flash's ex-wife in the comics.