SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 44)
10:35 am Fisk Tower R&D Survey Room…
After hearing Peter utter the name 'Ben Reilly', Wilson contorted his face while Scorpion stood her ground.
"Ben Reilly…" Wilson replied, "Well…Whether you're lying to me or not is irrelevant now. Point is… You are at my mercy."
"So, I will die basically speaking and this 'Scorpion' lady is going to replace me?" Peter asked.
"I still think killing you here now is unfulfilling to tell you the truth." Wilson said, "You're still an enigma to us all."
"So, are we leaving this bug alive? Mission accomplished? Where's my money?" Scorpion yelled in the back.
"Well, Ms. Gargan. Shall we give the poison another go?" Wilson asked.
As soon as Scorpion heard the order, she stomped forward and elevated the stinger behind her for Peter to see.
"Oh no." Peter uttered as the stinger swung down.
Wilson gleefully watched as Spider-Man withered in pain as Scorpion's stinger jammed right close to the ribcage.
10:50 am Fisk Tower…
Gwen carefully approached the looming Fisk Tower; looking at the building with determination. This had to be the most sophisticated criminal hideout New York has offered.
"This will make things easier." Gwen commented as she looked at her own palm and thought about her phasing ability.
At the quietest corner possible without any witnesses in sight, Gwen stepped into a wall and walked carefully. The layer of building material surrounding her felt heavy as Gwen pushed through.
"I'm so glad we're overpaid for this." A guard muttered as Gwen traversed through and listened.
"I wonder what's going on with Spider-Man in the secret lab area?" Another guard said back.
"Eh…Torture. What else? Mr. Fisk has beef with him so it makes sense he's getting all the pain." The guard said back.
Gwen found herself in the underground car parking area and noticed the two guards chit chatting among themselves. The little slither of information also gave her the clue on where Peter was held captive.
"Man… What's on the menu for lunch?" Another guard started talking before Gwen zipped him up to the ceiling.
The other guard was shocked as Gwen jumped down from the top knocking him before shutting him up with a web. After another round of webs, Gwen restrained the guard before cutting open the web on the guard's mouth to make him talk.
"Tell me where you're hiding Spider-Man in this building." Gwen insisted.
"Honestly- I don't know." The guard said, "You can check the security room for that."
"Where is the security room?" Gwen asked before applying pressure on the guard's left arm.
"Ow… It's just one floor from here." The guard said.
"Thank you." Gwen said before knocking the guard out.
As Gwen gathered her new information, she looked up to the ceiling and leapt up. With the phasing ability, she tried to slip through but found that effort required was too much.
"Horizontal phasing, yes. Vertical? No." Gwen said as she landed back on the ground.
Grudgingly, Gwen decided to go through the elevator door nearby and crawl inside the operating elevator area. This was no doubt a dangerous move as Gwen found herself crawling up the place.
"Please no descending elevators." Gwen begged as she started climbing.
Her worst fear was granted when one elevator shaft began descending down prompting her to phase through the first door nearby. Soon enough, Gwen found herself at the reception area which was luckily the place she needed to be to find the security room.
After being unnoticed by a businessman walking by and checking his phone, Gwen stood silently next to a pot plant surprised that she was not seen so far. Perhaps, the lack of elevator sound helped.
"Security room." Gwen whispered to herself as she zipped up to the ceiling where potential cameras cannot spot her.
As she crawled her way forth, she passed by any unsuspecting Fisk Tower employees until she could find the door marked 'Security; Authorised Personnel Only'. Landing quietly on her two feet, Gwen activated her unique ability again and phased past the locked door.
"Oh, crap." Gwen said as she came face to face with a big security guard.
"Who the hell are you?" The guard asked surprised that she got through the door.
"Come on, the costume doesn't give it away?" Gwen said adding her bit of humour.
"Well, I'll be lucky in this situation if I get to ground you to mince and place you next to your other web-headed hero." The guard said getting out his taser.
"OK, got to use as much space as possible." Gwen said trying to remember how to deal with large opponents.
As the guard struck, Gwen moved herself around the place knocking all the objects around from desk to wall. Some of the security camera screens were stepped on impact as the guard tried to attack Gwen.
Gwen then noticed the guard trying to reach the alarm button before using a web against the guard's hand to stop him. As the guard tried using the web to pull Gwen towards him; Gwen got the opportunity to use an uppercut only for the security guard to grab the arm.
"Hehe. Nice try but no cigar." The guard said before his hand grabbed thin air.
Gwen's phasing ability once again saving her and giving her the advantage, which gave chance to another uppercut that landed against the guard's chin. The guard was punched hard causing him to hit the ceiling as well before landing.
"Yikes." Gwen said hoping that no one heard.
Gwen then turned to the security operation controls and began tampering with the keys.
"Of course, I need a password and facial identity." Gwen said before looking back at the unconscious security guard.
Finding the password on the guard's own key card and using his body to access the mainframe, Gwen spent her time trying to decipher where she needed to go next. There was a search engine for security footage and this prompted Gwen to type up who she was looking for.
"Wow. This thing is like a little Google of its own." Gwen said as she looked through both archived and live footage.
Looking through the live footage, Gwen confirmed the floor where Peter was held while the archived footage showed records of Peter that consisted of swinging through New York at different instances and one piece of footage being linked around Fisk Tower.
"Huh?" Gwen said as she viewed the footage featuring Spider-Man; Ned and Frederick all in the vault room against Wilson and the Enforcers who were down on the ground.
(See Chapter 29 for the scene)
"Frederick… There's no need for the mask anymore. You don't need to hide the anguish." The archived voice of Wilson stated.
"Ned, get him out of the room. I'll hold him off." Peter said next.
The scene then played out with Wilson firing his gun whilst he and Spider-Man clashed. The footage then ended with Fredrick being hit by the gunfire as well as with him returning fire back at Wilson.
"This was the scene Peter was trying to prove. It actually happened. This is bigger proof Wilson killed Frederick." Gwen said.
Gwen then picked up her phone and began recording the footage herself. Determined to keep it before going back to her mission of rescuing Peter.
11:45 am Fisk Tower R&D Survey Room…
Peter coughed as the poison travelled through his bloodstream. While still alive, his whole body could not move and it was a chore to even lift a finger. There were scientists surrounding him as if he was about to dissected.
One scientist came rushing through with a blacked face from a tiny explosion of sorts and reported on what happened.
"We couldn't access the phone for private details. It broke apart, this guy had some kind of malware installed on it that encrypted the phone so bad that nobody but him could access it." The scientist reported.
"So, this guy not only is an excellent physical fighter thanks to super-human abilities but he's a tech professional himself." The head scientist said, "Interesting."
Peter could not utter a single word properly as the scientists crowded around him. This moment had to be scarier than any as his face was also revealed in front of them.
"Alright, guys. Let's collect this guy's super-duper blood." The head scientist said as they prepared instruments.
Before the process began, the scene was interrupted by Gwen making an entrance by leaping through air before pushing the scientists away and knocking them.
"Oh my god." Gwen said looking at Peter's state.
"G-G-G-Gwen." Peter uttered as he opened his eyes by a little.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Gwen said lifting Peter out of his restraints before walking.
Peter weighed just enough for Gwen to be able to move around and this was lucky for her.
"Well, well. As I thought." Scorpion said walking into the room.
"Get out of my way, bug face." Gwen uttered as she carried Peter on the back.
"Look who's talking." Scorpion said before rushing forward to attack.
With no attempt to fight back, Gwen dodged Scorpion's moves as she tried to make it out. However, Scorpion's stinger then grabbed Gwen by the ankle.
"Stay right here and die like him." Scorpion warned.
As Gwen tugged, she then used her web to blind Scorpion in the face. Although blinded, Scorpion did not let go until Gwen's phasing ability loosened the grip.
"You slippery-!" Scorpion yelled as she tried scratching the web off her face.
Gwen did not look back as she made a mad dash out of the place. Scorpion kept pace as she too rushed towards Gwen in fury and determination. People watched in awe as the two super-powered people made their moves around Fisk Tower.
The only quick exit out of the place was for Gwen to break through the glass off the tower which she did. Seeing the view of New York in front of her, Gwen did just that and began falling from high altitude. Scorpion stopped just in time from behind and watched Gwen dive down.
"Okay, I can do this." Gwen said while clutching onto Peter.
With the right timing, she then shot out a web. After a brief moment of intensity, there was a wave of excitement as Gwen swung hard across the city. It was the first time; she could feel the fun of being a Spider-person before being reminded of the trouble she had to deal with.
12:35 pm Parker residence…
With Aunt May out of the house; Gwen could safely get Peter back home. Inside Peter's room, Ned's cat; King waited and watched the two enter the room before leaving.
"Did that scorpion lady do this to you?" Gwen asked as she laid Peter to rest.
Peter nodded by a little as he groaned from the pain caused to him.
"Please hang on." Gwen desperately said as she tried to ease Peter's pain.
Peter then turned a little on the bed indicating he wants to rest.
"I found what you were trying to look for, by the way." Gwen said grabbing out her phone and showing a poor quality version of the archived footage she saw of Frederick getting killed.
"G-G-Good." Peter said in return in the best possible state.
"Need water? Medicine?" Gwen asked changing the subject back to Peter's health.
"Y-yes." Peter replied.
"Okay…" Gwen said and nodded.
"A-A-A…" Peter also tried to say.
"Huh?" Gwen asked.
"A-A-Anti… V-V-Venom." Peter said again.
Gwen then thought about what Peter said before realising he wanted antivenom to clear out Scorpion's poison which made sense.
8:30 am City Hall Square…
The next day, Wilson held a surprise announcement ceremony at the City Hall where he invited crowds to witness a speech of his.
"My fellow New Yorkers. I've come to say a couple of words regarding recent developments." Wilson started as people watched him on the set-up podium.
"We've seen malicious attempts from Spider-Man attempting to sabotage our collaborative efforts to keep the city safe." Wilson continued as the press began to take out their pens and cameras.
"The cold hard truth is; we will always live in fear as long as there are those with super-human abilities. So when those people continuously do as they please with the power in their hand; they will always be a risk to us." Wilson said.
The crowd muttered as much as they could before Wilson added more.
"This is not an anti-superhuman/mutant event. We will insist on including these people in our community; so long as they cooperate." Wilson said, "Which is why I'll introduce someone special."
The crowds then turned their attention to the top of a building where Scorpion was perched. Scorpion jumped down landing on his feet greeting the New Yorkers.
"Sergeant Mackenzie Gargan here will protect us against the threat we face. If she performs her duties well, she will reach promotion faster than ever." Wilson explained.
Scorpion then showed off her stinger before posing. The crowds stood in awe at the new vigilante that Wilson had personally approved.
"Now, I know… There are a lot of questions." Wilson said, "And we'll do our best to answer them."
There was then a bit of shuffling amongst the crowd as John. Jonah Jameson stepped out to say his words.
"I will 100% support this effort to keep our New Yorkers safe." John said stepping forward.
10:00 am Secret meeting room…
Wilson held Spider-Man's mask in hand as he arrived to meet with the three Enforcers and Scorpion who were well-seated and awaiting instructions.
"Good morning, my fellow law enforcers." Wilson said sitting down.
"Mr. Fisk. With all due respect, I oughta think that not being in our suits makes us vulnerable in front of our armoured friend over there." Jack said while eyeing Dan and Ronald.
"Ha,ha! I'm not insane to pierce anyone yet." Scorpion proclaimed.
Wilson ignored the concerns before briefing out his words.
"I need to organise an urgent operation to draw out 'Ben Reilly' and finish him once and for all." Wilson said, "We now know our man behind the spider is a brown-haired Caucasian male with hazel eyes."
"I've seen a lot of men like that." Dan said balancing a pen with a finger.
"A pity we failed to secure a proper DNA draw from him. But I do know potential targets to draw him back in." Wilson said.
"Is it that Leeds kid? Heard he's crossing states as desperate as ever." Dan said again.
"Leeds is beyond our reach now. However, I do know that Spider-Man worked with some fellow officers." Wilson said.
"They wouldn't be working if that was the case." Ronald joined in.
"Which is why, I ask you direct your attention to this man." Wilson said before presenting a slideshow presentation on the wall via projector.
"Former Captain George Stacy. Now a private investigator. He has solid leads into Spider-Man." Wilson said, "Our mission is to interrogate him by all necessary force and execute him when finished…Discreetly."
"So an assassination?" Dan wondered.
"The more associates we hunt down; the closer the endgame is." Wilson said, "All of you in the room represent the law and I now expect all of you to uphold it."
As the meeting progressed, the three Enforcers got up and left leaving Wilson alone with Scorpion.
"Keep your temper in check. Ms. Gargan. Just some friendly advice." Wilson said as he noticed the rattling stinger.
TO BE CONTINUED…
End note: I will note there is a bit of cutting back and forth between times from now on.