SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 45)
1:00 pm Parker residence…
Peter continued resting as he felt Scorpion's poison flow through his veins. His whole boy was stiff and there was sweat dripping from his forehead. His heart however continued to beat in spite of the venom.
"I'm back." Gwen said slipping into Peter's room while wearing casual clothes.
In one hand, Gwen carried a pharmaceutical bag containing antivenom products used to treat different kinds of poisons from snakes to spiders.
"Y-Y-You bo-Bought all t-that?" Peter stammered while lying still.
Gwen quickly grabbed a bottle and an injection needle out of the bag both labelled with a 'caution' warning. The bottle was labelled 'Anascorp'.
"Let's hope this one works." Gwen said.
With uncertainty, Peter watched as Gwen followed the instructions before taking a dip of antivenom serum out and injecting it into Peter's arm. Peter reacted with ease as the serum entered the body.
There was no immediate response from Peter after the injection as Gwen waited. Eventually, Peter fluttered his eyes open before in surprise vomited out a spew of green acidic-like material out onto the carpet.
"Ugh." Gwen said recoiling back as she watched the vomit hit the carpet and sizzle.
Peter then coughed afterwards and gasped for fresh air.
"That was like the worst… Gastroreflux or whatever." Peter answered properly.
"Geez… Peter? Are you actually okay now?" Gwen asked in concern.
Peter then felt the top of his forehead before nodding.
"Just a bit of a burning sensation but I think I'll live now." Peter replied.
Gwen sighed in relief before pushing the rest of the antivenoms aside.
"You know, those may come in handy when I'm going camping or some place." Peter noted.
"Now…" Gwen said, "About this."
Pulling out her phone, Gwen showed the footage she captured of Frederick's death.
"Great. I was going to try Spider hacking but I suppose the easy way is good enough." Peter said, "There's a cop named Yuriko Watanabe. Show her the video."
"Uh… Who are you talking about? Who is this?" Gwen asked.
Peter then pulled out Yuri's call card that he received from his pocket when he took down Tombstone.
"She's one of the good cops here." Peter said, "If we give this information to her… We can create the domino effect to bring Fisk down."
"And what if this puts her in danger?" Gwen asked back.
"I've got to try." Peter groaned as he continued to lie down.
2:03 pm Astoria neighbourhood…
Yuri waited near her local park as she dressed in her casual outfit after calling for her day-off.
"Sorry to keep you waiting…" Gwen said as she perched on top of a tree behind Yuri.
"The Spider…Woman." Yuri said looking a little surprised for her first-time meeting Gwen, "Spider-Man sent you all the way here?"
"You've got my message, didn't you?" Gwen asked.
"I know who Spider-Man is. But you? You're like someone's fan fiction come to life." Yuri said.
"Hey, that's an insult to fans. I'm not here to be like Spider-Man. I'm just the way I am…" Gwen retorted.
"Let's cut to the chase then. So…You've sent me a video detailing the actual murder of Frederick Foswell." Yuri said, "The one journalist who was working undercover for the corrupt man in charge and be murdered by him."
"Yes. I know it's phone quality but, it's the truth." Gwen said.
"Unfortunately, I don't think I can get you far with this." Yuri replied, "You see, I can't submit evidence like this to the higher ups. Fisk has the police system rigged up to his favour; you submit this. He can turn a huge amount of people against you."
"But we know people like him are corrupt so why can't we just go with this?" Gwen asked.
"Maybe not the police… But perhaps." Yuri said walking back and forth, "There are 'independent' journalists out there who might expand on their stories regarding Fisk. If they can also be encouraged to testify this in court then Fisk's true colours can be dragged out."
"I don't know what kind of people you are talking about but I hope you know what you are doing." Gwen said.
"Sorry, this isn't an easy task. I've got a lot of other things going on. Namely, there have been cases of people going missing and then coming back with strange behaviours. Should have been a psychologist's job."
"Alright, uh. Guess, I'll leave you to it?" Gwen asked before thinking of her father.
"Yeah. I've got enough-." Yuri stated before realising Gwen was gone.
"Come to think of it… Didn't the missing people have like super strength and jumping powers?" Yuri pondered.
Around the corner, a spying man had been watching the conversation with a glint of yellow in the daylight.
2:45 pm Forest Hills Community Hospital…
George had been recovering slowly from the gunshot wounds he sustained. After surviving, he was more cynical than ever about talking to the police. He would only talk with his family and Spider-Man himself as they were the ones he could trust.
"Mr. Stacy, you're looking to be in spirits." , the head doctor of the hospital came in to check on George in his own ward.
"I don't want to walk out yet. Not without my family here." George said turning his back over.
"I understand. The bullets have all been extracted and your blood flow is stabilised." The doctor stated, "It would be better if we can make room for other patients."
"Yeah. Can we do this later then?" George said feeling slightly annoyed.
The doctor then left the ward leaving George alone. Once more, George tried to fall asleep before moments later, the door opened again.
"Captain Stacy." Dan's voice said.
The Enforcer trio sent by Wilson arrived with their goal in sight.
"My policing days are over. Go away." George said upon realising that these were men sent to finish the job.
"We're the FBI, not the NYPD." Ronald said in return.
"The Federal Bureaucrats? What the hell do you guys want with me?" George asked.
Outside…
Gwen hastily made her way back to where her father was. Before she could reach the hospital, Scorpion jumped out from a tree and tackled her to the ground.
"I almost wish this wasn't easy." Scorpion menaced as she hovered her stinger above Gwen while pinning her down.
On the middle of the road, a car stopped behind them. Scorpion turned her head and gave one glare to the mother and son in the car as they started reversing back.
"Where were we?" Scorpion pondered, "Ah yes, you last jumped out of a building, didn't you? You're lucky you didn't go SPLAT!"
Gwen struggled as Scorpion applied as much pressure on her. In an attempt to think quickly, Gwen fired a web at a nearby car and used enough force to slam it against Scorpion's figure.
"Think that hurt?!" Scorpion yelled as Gwen shut her up with more webs leaving Scorpion in a sticky situation.
After immobilising Scorpion in the middle, Gwen headed towards the hospital as urgently as possible.
Back inside…
George struggled back at his assailants as he fought back against their manpower.
"You think being captain meant nothing?" George asked, "I got so much up my sleeve still at this age."
"Happy retirements then." Dan said as he tried cocking out a silencer pistol.
George then reacted by tackling Dan to the ground while Jack attempted to get out his whip and restrain him. Ronald on the other hand tried to support Dan as George fought back.
"You guys are a joke. Being part of the law and yet you resort to this." George insulted.
"You won't have the last laugh for that." Jack said as he cracked his whip and tried hitting George.
"Hey Jack. Put that thing away, you'll cause a ruckus." Dan said as George slapped the silencer out of his hand.
Ronald then picked the silencer up with glee and aimed at George.
"Bang." Ronald said before firing.
However, the bullet missed its target leaving a silenced mark on the wall as Gwen arrived in time using her phasing ability and knocked Ronald down.
"Ah, shit. The new Spider." Dan said as George gained the upper hand against him.
"Let's try to treat this one with respect." Jack said noting that the Spider vigilante was female.
Gwen went after Jack first seeing that George can handle Dan on his own. Despite Jack's training, Gwen's own super-powered skills had the advantage all the way through as Jack slipped onto the ground unconscious.
Dan being arguably the top man was still fighting against George as he found himself in trouble after Gwen had dealt with Jack.
"Shit. Shit." Dan complained as he tried to make an escape.
Before Dan got away, Gwen webbed him onto the door he was attempting to escape for. Turning around, Gwen looked back at George.
George looked back as well and stared at Gwen before he figured out his daughter was behind the suit and smiled.
Outside again…
As Scorpion shredded the last bits of web off, Spider-Man arrived on scene.
"Well, look who it is." Spider-Man said as he prepared himself.
"So, you survived the poison." Scorpion noted as her stinger rattled.
"I got lucky." Spider-Man replied as he watched Scorpion's movements carefully.
As Scorpion took one step forward, her stinger turned its attention to the hospital presumably due to Gwen's presence. This gave Peter the idea that Scorpion's rattling stinger sound would be the clue to danger instead of his Spider-sense.
Jumping away, Scorpion made her way to the hospital to hunt for Gwen's location. Spider-Man tried to stop Scorpion by using a web to pull her stinger back. However, the headache symptom from Scorpion's poison still persisted and forced Spider-Man to let go.
"Damnit. My head." Spider-Man said as he put a hand on his forehead.
Scorpion furiously made her way before crashing down the wall for George's ward room startling both Gwen and George. Gwen; still masked was helping George up before Scorpion's arrival.
"Let the man there die and I'll leave you for today." Scorpion proposed.
"Get lost, bitch." Gwen warned as she shielded George.
Scorpion then attacked with her stinger before Gwen caught it and stopped the attack. Scorpion kept pushing forward in an attempt to overwhelm Gwen with her strength. Ultimately, Scorpion still had the upper hand prompting George to run to his bed desk and reach for an item.
Opening the draw, George got a gun out before he aimed the gun at Scorpion. George shot the gun which hit Scorpion's left bulging eye. The bullet to George's surprise left a mark causing a bit of ooze to leak out as Scorpion reeled in pain before letting Gwen go.
Scorpion in rage then lashed out her stinger and swung it in fury. Nearby items in the ward were swiped immediately before the stinger pierced George from behind and stuck into his chest.
Gwen watched in horror as George was dragged up by Scorpion while he struggled to breathe.
"Rest in peace, old man." Scorpion retorted and dropped George to the floor.
"No!" Gwen screamed before attacking Scorpion.
Scorpion herself felt disinterested after stabbing George and was ready to call it a day. Using her stinger, she tried attacking Gwen and strangling her. Spider-Man arrived at the scene distracting Scorpion as he jumped onto Scorpion's back and used his web to wrap it around Scorpion's neck.
Tired of fighting, Scorpion let Gwen go and shrugged Spider-Man off her back. In desperation, she left the scene by jumping out of the hole she had made.
"Dad?" Gwen cried as she cradled George.
Peter hurried to Gwen's side as he watched Gwen hold her father. In his heart, Peter felt he could never forgive himself.
"Gwen…" George said with a smile, "My own daughter. Doing what she can to protect…"
"Dad, it's alright. We're in a hospital." Gwen tried to reassure.
"Yeah, it is." George assured, "I have a daughter that I can truly say 'I did not fail'. And of course, the rest of the family…"
George coughed after speaking as Gwen tried to pressurise the stinger wound. However, it would be futile due to Scorpion's poison being lethal to a normal human body. George then looked at Peter who was standing in costume.
"Peter Parker…" George said with a smile, "It's you, isn't it?"
"Sir?" Peter said before lifting his mask up to reveal his face.
"Thank you for treating my daughter well. She has chosen wisely." George said giving his sign of approval to the relationship between the two.
"I wish I could've helped you more." Peter said.
"You did enough, son." George said as he slowly died.
Pulling his mask down again, Peter stood as Gwen held her father in her arms while the medical staff were rushing in to see what was happening.
2:30 am U-Genetics…
In the quiet night, a delivery truck arrived to deliver special products ordered by U-Genetics. Little did the delivery people know, they were in for trouble.
"Ah, good. I've been wondering if these things would actually come." A weary Miller proclaimed as he watched the delivery people come.
The truck drivers unloaded six heavy silver canisters that could hold aerosolised material. Unsure of the intentions behind the purchase, they hastily delivered the goods into the building.
"Nothing matters expect the next evolution step." Miller whispered as he held his bandaged hand.
The aerodispensers were placed at the reception hall where Miller instructed.
"Have a good night, sir." One man said as he and his two colleagues prepared to leave.
"I know you're all tired. But could we just have a little quality assurance?" Miller asked before he reached for his phone.
The top headline by the Daily Globe instantly grabbed Miller by attention, 'FORMER NYPD CAPTAIN DEAD AT TRAGIC VIGILANTE INCIDENT'
TO BE CONTINUED…