SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 24)
Note: Happy 2020…
8:35 am The Raft…
Yesterday, Miller had been inducted by Wilson to work in his scientific division as a deal for him to gain access to Man-Spider and continue his research. Though the deal was made, Wilson had maintained his weariness for the man and the potential danger he could bring.
Dressed in a lab coat; Miller adjusted his glasses and observed Man-Spider who was weak but alive.
"Poor Mr. Rodríguez… It's my fault; isn't it?" Miller said as he looked inside the cage.
Over the past few days; the former Anton Rodríguez had been suffering immensely within his restraints and was kept alive through tube supplementation of nutrients derived from insects since he has the biology of an arachnid.
Miller carefully extracted blood samples out of Man-Spider as he had plans for the DNA. As this was happening; Wilson arrived into the room fuming in anger.
"Ah, Mr. Fisk… Good morning, how are-?" Miller tried to ask before Wilson grabbed him by the collar.
"You are a means to my end." Wilson accused.
"What are you-? Oh yeah…" Miller replied before giving out a confident smirk.
"You think this is funny, huh? I got a call last night that told me that one of my chief scientists had been overdosed and found dead in his home!" Wilson yelled.
"Mr. Winkler?" Miller asked referring to Gerhard; "He would be an obstacle to this whole deal."
"And how would that be? He's been useful to my services." Wilson asked.
"I realised how stupid he was in treating one of my subjects; one of my favourite students." Miller said in defence of how Anton was suffering.
"In this prison; criminals earn the rightful judgement they deserve. Especially when we have people such as those who use shock gauntlets to terrorise our neighbourhoods. Or people who wear bug costumes." Wilson spoke.
"Oh, pardon me? You're referring to those customed nutcases like the Beetle or… The Shocker. Oooh." Miller joked around.
"I have no time for puns." Wilson growled as he threw Miller to the ground.
"I'm sorry, you're just overly sensitive." Miller giggled.
Wilson exploded in rage as he bashed Miller as hard as he could. At first; Miller was reacting to the pain strongly until Wilson saw the change on his face where his eyes began to shift into a beast-like state while he saw traces of green on his face. He then dropped Miller and backed a little at the unusual sight.
"Where's that explosive violence gone?" Miller said rubbing his head and noticing his broken glasses; "My glasses… Broken again."
"You will keep your distance from me." Wilson said backing away, "Guards, lock down this area!"
As Wilson backed away; the Raft security guards came in with guns aimed at Miller.
"You'll put down like the animal you are, Mr. Warren." Wilson snarled before leaving and pulling the Raft alarm
As Wilson stepped out of the research room, he began dialling a number to Jackson Brice; one of his close FBI informants who was tasked to take down Spider-Man in the past.
"Well, if it ain't Mr. Fisk. What can I do for ya?" Jack asked through the phone.
"Mr. Brice. I'm urging you to bring every authority on alert for some danger." Wilson requested, "Can you handle it?"
"Danger is the fun part; I'm looking forward to it." Jack answered.
Meanwhile back inside the research room, the guards pointed their guns carefully as Miller remained unphased by their threat.
"Oh, this will be fun." Miller smiled revealing a couple of canine teeth.
8:00 am Daily Bugle Building, 1st floor…
Early on, Robbie arrived later than usual at the Bugle today since his meet up with Tombstone. Now under pressure from him, Robbie expected himself to take a more treacherous path as he worked with John.
"Robbie, you're later than usual. Is everything okay?" Betty asked at the reception desk.
"You'll be surprised if I tell you that I'm taking on a more journalistic approach from now on." Robbie replied.
"Oh, interesting. What's the first article you're going to write?" Betty wondered.
"Uh-." But before Robbie gave an answer; John's voice made its presence known.
"Robbie. Miss Brant." John said pushing through the glass door.
"Jonah." Robbie answered in acknowledgement.
"It's not usual to see you and Miss Brant chatting up early this morning." John noted.
"Well, same thing for your sudden arrival." Robbie replied.
"Traffic and other crap." John answered dismissively, "Anyway, how was that investigation?"
"It's complicated. There's some things we need to discuss." Robbie said.
"You can tell me now." John said while acknowledging Betty's presence.
"According to my encounter with Lonnie, he claimed that Mr. Foswell has been working a mole in our building." Robbie answered.
"Foswell?! A mole for what?" John questioned.
"A mole for Wilson Fisk. If true, then that might add something weird to his work behaviour as of late. As well as why Mr. Leeds hasn't been showing up that often as well." Robbie explained.
"Is Ned alright?" Betty asked in concern.
"He's fine, Miss Brant. I fired him, I think." John answered.
"You fired him?" Robbie asked in surprise.
"Well yeah… He's slacking off-." John said before Robbie cut him off again.
"Jonah! We've got some situations to clear in our department." Robbie swiftly reminded.
"Ugh, you tell me this and of course; the other things I'm forgetting." John said shaking his head.
Soon, other employees were turning up to the Bugle building which caught them by surprise when they saw their boss standing there.
"Hey, you're all late." John grumbled before motioning them to their positions; "Oh, dear. How many more messes can the Bugle take?"
9:30 am Brown apartment…
Meanwhile at the Bronx, Hobie had overslept while his girlfriend, Mindy was already out of bed and off to her job.
"Ugh. My head." Hobie groaned as he stretched his arms and got off the bed.
After his routine toothbrush and simple breakfast, Hobie went to check on Peter. He checked the sofa where he let Peter rest on in the past few days and found that there was nothing except the Spider-Man suit.
Picking up the suit, Hobie looked around for where Peter was but found no sign of him. He did find a sticky note attached that read out the following.
'Dear Hobie and Mindy,
Thank you for your hospitality over the past few days. You guys really saved my life.
I feel like I've recovered so I guess I'm good to go. If I stay any longer; I'd just be a nuisance.
Anyway, I have to leave. But I'm gonna leave this present here since I'm not finding any good use for it.
You've proven your worth as real heroes who stood by moral principles instead of the opposite. Take care and I promise it fits you.
Peter.'
"It's mine?" Hobie said picking up the suit before smelling the nasty smell of it.
"Oh yeah, we did find him from a trash heap though." Hobie noted.
10:15 am Juniper Valley Park, Queens…
With Ned's help, Gwen took the challenge of re-establishing the image of Spider-Man like hero governing the neighbourhood in her new costume. In Ned's view, he was not sure about the white and black costume Gwen had in addition to the feminine touches she put onto it.
"Think I'm ready to kick some ass now?" Gwen asked Ned as he watched Gwen perch from tree to tree.
"I don't know, do I look like a mentor?" Ned said without a care.
Gwen jumped down and began to converse with Ned.
"Still not used to the idea of me, huh?" Gwen asked.
"You clearly can do those acrobatics and stuff. And you have that Spidey-sense to get you out of danger." Ned commented, "I have no words."
"Hm." Gwen said before picking out her phone and finding a text message from her dad.
'You better come home soon.' The message from George read.
"What's dad worried about?" Gwen wondered.
10:05 pm Parker residence…
Since the day Peter went missing, May had been in the state of mourning. Even with the emotional support from the Stacy family and other friends, it did not fill the void for her. The police investigation had also been sluggish.
She sat lonely in front of the television screen dreaming that the ghosts of Peter and Ben were around to accompany her. Her sleep cycle was also disrupted by the recurring nightmares of criminals gunning down Peter in the same manner as Ben. As she slowly tried to shut her eyes, her attention was alerted when she heard the doorbell ring.
Slowly, she got out of her chair and walked up to the door. Opening it carefully in case it was a thug, she was greeted by a familiar face. A young brown-haired man in a olive green trench coat and standard casual clothing. His hair was messy and a bit of grizzle on his chin could be noticed.
"Hey, Aunt May." Peter greeted with a bit of sheepish grin.
In disbelief, May took a second to adjust herself before she slowly put her hands on Peter's cheeks.
"Peter? Is that-?" May asked before she grabbed Peter suddenly and hugged him.
May was slowly showing off happy tears as she tried feeling her nephew again.
"It's really me, Aunt May. It's been a rough journey of survival." Peter replied.
TO BE CONTINUED…