SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 20)
Note: J.J. Abrams is doing a new Spider-Man comic with his son and I'm not sure what to think yet.
6:46 pm Leeds residence…
After the abrupt confession, Ned had no choice but to let Gwen into the operation he and Peter had established in the past. After talking with his mother, he led Gwen down to the basement in the front yard where he and Peter worked together.
"I'd thought this place would look fancier." Gwen commented as she took the steps into the place.
"Well, we're not billionaires alright. We're dumpster divers." Ned replied.
Gwen shook her head as she looked around the place.
"Why exactly would you and Peter keep this a secret from me?" Gwen asked.
"Because… I'm his best friend and he trusts me. And hero code dictates that loved ones can't be in danger." Ned replied.
"Seriously? That's such a contradictory excuse." Gwen pointed out.
"Well…Uh, whatever. Anyway, welcome to our base of operations." Ned sheepishly said.
Gwen took her time to look around the place. Other than old furniture as well as some pop culture posters; there was most notably a work desk with sketches drawn on paper. Gwen looked at it and saw that they were design ideas for webslingers; suits and other gadgets.
"Oh shoot…" Ned said trying to put away the design sketches.
"There's nothing worth hiding now, Ned." Gwen stated.
"Uh…It's more that I don't want bad people storming my house and finding stuff like this." Ned answered.
"What kind of bad people? Is it a supervillain or what?" Gwen asked.
"Maybe. Right now, It's just crooked cops and stuff." Ned said.
"Crooked? So, you got a bounty on yourself?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah… One of my work colleagues is an informant to one of New York's worst crime bosses." Ned said.
"All because you work with Spider-Man…" Gwen said.
"Exactly! Thank god, it was you with the powers that I ran into." Ned said.
"I could have easily hurt you, Ned. Let's not forget." Gwen said reminding Ned why she came to him in the first place.
"Yeah…It's too much for me now. Peter is MIA and I'm more vulnerable than ever." Ned said, "I hope he was just beat up badly."
Gwen then saw how sad Ned looked as if he felt guilty that he led his own friend into a downfall. Seeing that genuine sign of friendship also made her reconsider how harsh she was against him.
"I haven't seen you in a while. You've changed a lot since high school, personality wise." Ned said.
"Care to elaborate?" Gwen asked.
"I mean you used to be a shy girl who'd watch Peter every time in class. And you were kind of…No offence, living under Mary Jane's shadow at that time." Ned described, "That's what people say about you at least. Now you're sharp-tongued and deadpanned."
"I'm always the same, Ned. You know Peter shared stories to me that you get queasy with this one girl at work." Gwen teased referring to Betty Brant.
"Ack! Okay, you know what? Enough. We've got other things to talk about." Ned said attempting to change to the subject.
Ned then opened up a chest that revealed a lot more of the things he and Peter were working on. There was old articles about previous Spider-Man endeavours that talk about encounters with different villains. More importantly, there were prototype gadgets as well as Peter's old homemade suit left in Ned's possession.
"This whole bloody time…" Gwen said picking up an article that depicted Spider-Man facing off against the Shocker.
Ned picked up a pair of webslingers out of the chest and handed to Gwen.
"What's this?" Gwen asked.
"Strap them around your wrist." Ned replied, "Then press the buttons on them."
Gwen did as Ned instructed and slipped the webslingers on.
"They fit surprisingly well." Ned noted as he blinked his eyes twice as Gwen put them on.
Afterwards, Gwen pressed the strap-on button on one of her webslingers and shot a straight line of web in the corner.
"Hey, careful!" Ned shouted as he watched Gwen play around with them.
"Nice. These should… Help stop the random webby things coming out of my wrists." Gwen commented feeling the pressure of the webslingers strapped on.
"Glad it helps." Ned said accepting the scenario of Gwen trying on the webslingers.
"So, I guess I can swing around with these properly with these on." Gwen said.
"If you can do it." Ned said, "Um… Since you have the spider powers now, you mind helping me out with something?"
"Okay, what?" Gwen asked.
"I'm going to the Wilson Fisk speech event at the Flushing Town Hall tomorrow to take pictures as requested by my boss, J. Jonah Jameson." Ned said, "But I need you to help me."
"What time?" Gwen asked again thinking that Ned is talking about people trying to assassinate him.
"9:30 am-ish. Just be there in costume and webslingers." Ned said, "This Wilson Fisk guy by the way is the crime boss trying to get other people to kill me. Namely my supervisor."
"Dad always told me about Fisk and how fishy he is as a human being." Gwen said, "I'll see what I can do."
"Be on the rooftops and out of sight." Ned advised.
"Cool." Gwen nodded, "Before I decide to go home; do you need me around to protect you?"
"No, I'm fine. I'm cautious." Ned assured her.
"Um, alright. Good night then, Ned Leeds." Gwen said as she prepared to leave.
"Oh, I need to say something else." Ned added.
"Assuming Peter is okay, if he finds out I told you, could you tell him that I'm sorry?" Ned asked.
"I will handle him." Gwen stated in response.
9:31 am Flushing Town Hall…
The press and crowds huddled in front of a metal gate in front of the town hall entrance waiting for Wilson to come outside. The number of people there all were symbolic of the idea that Wilson has captured the trust of the people he supposedly looks out for.
Ned arrived onto the scene jogging with his camera in hand and was surprised to see John and Frederick waving and waiting for him among the people.
"Leeds, you're a minute gone wrong." John scolded.
"Sorry… It hasn't started yet, right?" Ned asked.
Frederick eyed Ned a little before turning his eye away from John and Ned whispering something in secret with his fingertips pressed on his ear. Ned gulped as he anticipated the problems that were going to happen.
Meanwhile Gwen arrived on scene perched on top of a building and watching from afar. She saw Ned as well as J. Jonah Jameson at the scene. Her new powers have also given her a heightened sense of vision seeing things from afar.
"About as cartoony looking as I expected." Gwen commented on John before looking around more.
Soon, Wilson came outside wearing a white suit and purple shirt. Accompanying him was wife, Vanessa adopting a magenta dress. The press then started clicking their cameras; while the crowds went wild in support. The guards and police on the other hand were stern and acted out their job. John then nudged Ned to start taking photos as well.
"The weather sure is nice today." Wilson started, "And it is also nice to see the amount of people who've turned up for this day. It is important for all of you just as it is for me…"
Once Wilson continued talking through the microphone; Ned noticed Frederick starting to walk away with his pen and notepad in hand. Nervous; he also decided to move around a little before John stopped him.
"Leeds, where the hell are you going?" John asked.
"To get a better picture." Ned replied.
"No…Stay where you are. This is the perfect angle." John ordered causing Ned to stress out more in fear.
Gwen still watched from afar and all she was hearing was the voice of Wilson delivering on his promises.
"The recent incident at Forest Hills is a tragic reminder of the vulnerable state crime is trying to overtake. Criminals are going rampant and taking control of what's not theirs…" Wilson spoke trying to stir up the crowd.
"Ned… What the hell am I doing wasting my time?" Gwen asked into the communicator in her ear.
"You're doing bodyguard duty, remember?" Ned spoke back.
"I'm not seeing anything." Gwen stated.
"Have you tried your sixth sense thingy yet?" Ned asked.
"What?" Gwen questioned.
"The tingle feeling when there's danger and stuff. Spider-Man had the ability to sense forthcoming danger." Ned said.
Gwen then realised what Ned was talking about and tried tapping into it.
Meanwhile, John yelled at Ned again.
"Leeds, what's with the mumble crap you're saying?" John asked, "And did I hear you say, 'Spider-Man'?"
Just as Wilson mentioned Spider-Man in his own speech, Ned made up his excuse.
"Oh, I have my thoughts regarding Fisk's stance on Spider-Man." Ned said.
"Well shut up and take those photos first." John barked.
Just as that was happening, Gwen moved around a little trying to master her sense. Eventually the tingle sensation alerted her to something. She heard someone coming near her the stairs below the building causing her to hide.
The rooftop door opened and a man in a bulletproof vest with a sniper rifle arrived on scene. Gwen realised that the man may be an assassin trying to get rid of Ned. Her assumption was corrected when the man tried pointing the rifle at Ned.
In response, Gwen shot out a string of web from her wrists prompting the man to turn around as she tugged at the weapon. The man tried fighting back against her as she tried subduing him. Gwen found herself tackled to the ground as the man pinned her down with the rifle before reaching for something else.
Luckily thanks to Gwen's super strength, she kicked the man off as he held out a handgun and fired. The sound of the gun echoed and caught the attention of some people watching Wilson's speech. Wilson also took notice as well.
Gwen dodged the bullet thanks to her senses and delivered a swift kick onto the man's face knocking him down. As the man tried getting up, Gwen put him down with a punch to the face. After the deed was done, Gwen noticed the press turn their cameras to her with police getting prepared to confront her.
"God damn it." Gwen said before fleeing the scene.
As this was happening, John requested Ned to take a photo of the costumed Gwen.
"Quick, take the shot up there." John said.
As he ordered Ned; he then looked around for Frederick.
"Where the hell is Foswell now? I've got a new headline he can write about; 'Fisk Speech Gone Wrong'."
10:00 am Local carpark…
After the day was cut short, Wilson hurried his wife back to the car.
"It's just like I said, Vanessa. A lot of things are wrong with this borough." Wilson said.
As they arrived at their getaway vehicle, Wilson looked up to see Frederick waiting.
Wilson made Vanessa wait inside the car before confronting Frederick.
"You've failed me." Wilson said.
"I did not expect this to go the way it went." Frederick commented.
Wilson clenched his fists before looking at his wife who was watching his actions.
"Tell me, who exactly has sent an assassin on this day?" Wilson asked.
"With all due respects, Mr. Fisk. It wasn't easy. Besides, I instructed the man to use toxin darts from the rifle since bullets cause more chaos." Frederick confidently spoke.
"You've cost me the trust of people out there!" Wilson accused.
"You're wrong. In fact, you need me to run headlines in your favour. And I've done so much arranging things." Frederick said, "I can take care of the situation."
"Arranging things is more Wesley's speciality. You are more expendable to me since your incompetence to take out Mr. Leeds in the first place." Wilson said.
"So far, I've pushed him for a good while and second of all, Mr. Lincoln had already taken care of Spider-Man as we speak." Frederick reminded.
Wilson stopped talking and thought carefully about his next words.
"I need to crush anyone acting like a hero. By letting them destroy themselves. After all, it's only fair…" Wilson said.
"I can make amends." Frederick promised, "Let's hope the election goes well first. Then you can have more to play around with."
After Wilson walked back into the car with a bored Vanessa waiting, he looked at his phone and saw an unknown voicemail on it. He looked at Vanessa before pressing the play button.
"Wilson Fisk…I've heard a great deal about you and your vision for Queens. I'm here to ask you about a certain possession that you are keeping in that funded prison of yours. That spider creature you know. I'll meet you at your new house to discuss this more." The voicemail said.
A junkyard elsewhere…
Peter was lying on a flat broken bed; his eyes opened up to see a whole heap of junkyard scrap around him. He then realised his mask was off but his Spider-Man costume was still on. Weary and tired, he looked around to get a sense of where he was.
"You okay there, dude?" A voice asked.
TO BE CONTINUED…
End note: This is the first foray into Gwen as a superhero.