SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 28)
Note: Hey everyone, it's been tough lately. Hope you are staying safe out there. It's been a while since I wrote, so I'm trying my best to remember my own continuity and decide the next course of action for the characters.
11:35 am New York Metro Hospital…
Peter waited at the reception area with like an ordinary New Yorker as he paid his daytime visit to Gwen in the hospital.
The waiting time has been strangely long with rumours that the hospital staff were making room for a 'special' patient. Finally, a nurse came into the area and called out Peter's name.
"Peter Parker…" The nurse called out.
Peter got out of his chair and made his way down the hallway. He entered an elevator as he was directed to Gwen's ward.
"Heya…" Gwen said sitting comfortably in her own bed as she greeted Peter.
"You look pretty happy for someone who's getting hospital treatment." Peter said with his arms crossed.
"Well, I'm about to boot out of this place soon. So, why not?" Gwen replied.
"Mr. Jameson granted me this special opportunity. So, I gotta make the most of it." Peter said.
"Lucky you. You broke out of your work schedule." Gwen said stretching her arms for a bit.
"So other than me wanting to check on you. I…Want to resume talking about your use of 'powers'." Peter said.
"Here? Peter, I have to check out first." Gwen answered.
"Of course, not here… Look, um… I'm super, super glad you're okay." Peter said, "I gotta go as well soon."
"Aw, you're leaving?" Gwen asked feeling as if the conversation was short.
"Yeah, um…Take care?" Peter said awkwardly.
"What about last night?" Gwen said reminding Peter of the kiss she gave after Electro's defeat.
Peter froze and was brought to a new level of awkwardness as he tried to fight his own words.
"That-That was…" Peter stammered.
"Wow… Look at the redness in your face." Gwen teased.
"You know… I gotta save my skin now. Bye." Peter said pulling the bed curtains back and leaving.
Gwen was then left alone as she pondered on the reason, she kissed Peter. It was time that she repair the relationship between them as the secrets of their identities are known.
As Peter walked to the elevator, he was greeted by a surprise as the door opened. His Spider-sense which had not been utilised in a while gave a faint tingle as he confronted something dangerous.
Multiple nurses and one doctor were guiding a single wheel bed with a woman on it. Peter recognised the woman as Vanessa Fisk. Behind her was a man with a familiar shape.
Through his own eyes, Peter saw Wilson accompanying the emergency transfer of his wife who had been under cardiac arrest thanks to Electro's attacks. The intimidating presence of Wilson made Peter tremble a little.
Outside of his Spider-Man costume, Peter was quite different. The encounter left Peter standing a while before Wilson and the others walked away from him into a special ward room.
"Gee... Of the all places." Peter said to himself before he left for the elevator.
Meanwhile, Wilson was advised by the doctor to stay outside the ward room as they prepared to save Vanessa's life. Wilson reluctantly did as he was told before he angrily pulled out his phone and dialled a number.
"Yes?" Tombstone's voice asked.
"You better have your streets monitored 24/7. The problem you took care of has returned." Wilson said.
"You're acting like this Spider guy is the new devil of sorts. You've been catching too many problems lately." Tombstone answered.
"Your own business is in jeopardy if you don't take this seriously." Wilson warned, "If you want to save it, act now. Don't cry to me if you find yourself in deep shit."
"Ooh… If it was the same guy as before, this time he will be dead. Still isn't my problem as much as he's yours." Tombstone said.
"Keep your eyes peeled, Mr. Lincoln." Wilson said before finishing the call.
As the call ended, Wilson thought about the events as of recent. The return of Spider-Man was a deep concern for his plans to control New York and he would have to be more discerning when enlisting more allies.
7:05 pm The Raft…
Since the defeat of Electro, the NYPD have a chance in taking back control of the Raft prison. The mission called upon as many police officers of different ranks to work together. Yuri Watanabe was one of the officers who enlisted switching to full-on bullet proof gear as she prepared for the mission.
On board the Raft, Miller was shutting down all the work he had done in preparation for his proposed escape. Hammerhead offered him the chance to escape with him with the promise that his research will continue and he will be rewarded by the Maggia.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's paper you have on hand." Hammerhead said as he watched Miller stuff as many things into a tightly squeezed backpack.
"You have no idea…" Miller grunted shoving the last bit of notes into the backpack.
"You don't have that stuff on a USB stick?" Hammerhead wondered.
"Don't BE ridiculous. I don't want piracy hackers to find out." Miller replied, "I mean, my student knows this is important."
"Come on, this flight wasn't cheap to call." Hammerhead said feeling annoyed and concerned that the police were on their way.
Outside of the Raft, police had been stationed on boats as they surrounded the supermax prison. A few police helicopters were also dispatched and shone their lights.
"We have this prison surrounded. Any further hostility would not be tolerated!" An announcer voice called out from a police chopper.
The orange-suited prisoners were eager to resist as they waved guns in their hands in an attempt to stand their ground.
"They really deserved this place." Yuri commented as she heard the yells on top of the Raft platform.
Soon enough, fire exchange was started as the police ducked down when bullets flew.
"Alright, we're pushing forward!" One officer in charge yelled.
The boats moved forward as Yuri grasped her rifle. For some reason, she was excited to beat down some criminals after days of boring paper work. This was a special night for a special change of pace.
Yuri fired her weapon as soon as her boat approached a docking station. The prisoners were armed fairly well to the teeth and resisted by firing as much as they could in return. For every fire, Yuri and the other police officer ducked or were protected with the gear given to them.
The boat got near and Yuri became the first to jump off. She landed well onto the station and began striking down as many prisoners as possible. It was such a moment of adrenaline as she began showing off.
On an upper level of the Raft, Miller had finished packing up and followed Hammerhead as they fought their way through multiple prisoners who were happy to be out of their cells. Anton who was now wearing orange prison clothes followed Miller as well like an obedient pet and did so without question.
"You see, this is the kind of professional business the Maggia can specialise in to get out of trouble." Hammerhead said as multiple prisoners gave him compliments for freeing them.
"I see…" Miller said without making eye-contact to anything in his path.
"You'll be blown away by the stuff we have." Hammerhead said as they worked their way to the top of the prison.
After going through crowds and multiple levels, Hammerhead and his guests reached the helipad where they found a black helicopter awaiting them.
"There's our getaway." Hammerhead said as he led Miller and Anton to the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Yuri was starting to become physical as she resorted to martial arts training to take down her foes. A risky feat but one that she has no trouble pulling if she feels great about her odds.
"Holy… Does that guy have a rocket launcher on hand?" Yuri said with her eyes wide after spotting one prisoner with the weapon on hand.
Before the weapon could be unleashed onto her fellow officers, Yuri did the heroic thing and bravely tackled the prisoner down and making him lose his grip on the weapon. She then knocked him out with a punch to the face.
"Someone's making Christmas possible for these guys." Yuri noted as she looked at the rocket launcher.
Yuri then heard a helicopter sound nearby which prompted her to look up and see the black helicopter Hammerhead and the rest were escaping in.
"What a coincidence." Yuri said as she picked up the rocket launcher.
Grabbing hold of the rocket launcher and she aimed it at the helicopter. Her finger pressed down onto the handle which sent one rocket into the air and colliding with the tail. After that, the helicopter began to plummet into the East River.
7:55 am Frederick Foswell's office, Daily Bugle Building…
Frederick was not having a great week ahead of him as both bosses seem to be chewing him out lately. Wilson began to see little value in him day after day while John was wondering why he had been slacking.
To Frederick's benefit, John assumed that it was family issues troubling him and it was partially the case. He had the family photo of him and his niece for a while now and realised that without Wilson backing him, he was an empty shell of a reporter with no insights for fresh new stories.
A few minutes before the meeting, John had left him a message on his desk phone.
"Foswell, I just read that draft you sent me. It's too surface level. What happened? Where's the exclusive Wilson Fisk outlook that you're good at reporting? Don't tell me this is it." John's voicemail said.
"If only I had the old geezer's tricks." Frederick said rubbing his forehead remembering the previous reporter before him.
He then began to think about Ned and how he was no longer working. He wondered if he still needed to fulfil the task of taking him out which he had been hesitant on in order to win back Wilson's favour.
"I could get rid of the kid. Or…I could come clean and face the future." Frederick said as he thought about his next move.
8:00 am Downtown Manhattan…
Peter stood on top of 432 Park Avenue in his costume. His old costume gave him the nostalgia of his past as he reminisced his times with both MJ and Harry. More importantly, there was so much he missed as Spider-Man since then.
"Beautiful sun rise." Peter said taking a snapshot of the sun in the distance with an old camera that used to belong to Uncle Ben.
He examined the shots he took and began thinking what is next move as Spider-Man is. His powers were returning to him as he could scale big buildings again.
"And besides that. What could I do to be friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man again?" Peter wondered as he stood on the rooftop.
For Peter, his issues with big villains such as Kingpin and Tombstone would have to be dialled down for now. Afterwards, a woman's cry for help was heard from the distance and sensed by him.
"New York. Big City. Plenty of trouble." Peter said as he grabbed his gear and leaped off the building.
TO BE CONTINUED…