SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 49)
6:50 am Parker residence…
Peter was still sleeping quite heavily when a ring from his closet prompted him to open his eyes. Getting up and walking to the closet, Peter opened the door to hear the sound coming from the Spider mask he hid underneath a pile of clothes.
Inside the mask was the earpiece communicator he used as a phoneline which he picked up and popped into his ear.
"This is Spider-Man." Peter mumbled.
"Spider-Man. It's Yuri. Heard the latest update?" Yuri asked in a serious tone.
"Yuri? Oh my. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Peter yawned.
"It's Fisk. He's resigning. Sounds like good news but we have word about him leaving New York." Yuri explained.
"What?" Peter said widening his eyes, "He can't do that. He has to face trial and stuff, doesn't he?"
"You and I know this is a ploy for him to operate the criminal underworld further if he gets away. Unfortunately, no cop is going to make the direct arrest towards him while he still has legal power left." Yuri said, "I can only hope he is delayed for his escape though."
"Okay. Thank god, I got that info. Now tell me when and where is he leaving?" Peter asked.
"Simple. Top of Fisk Tower. And around midnight roughly." Yuri said, "You get there and I promise I get the evidence ready towards him. I've got a trustworthy whistle-blower helping."
"What's his name?" Peter wondered.
"Can't disclose that information now but if you could help then that be great." Yuri replied, "Please, don't screw up this chance."
As Yuri hung up, Peter pondered the moves he was going to make.
"I better beat the hour now." Peter said.
9:25 am Stacy residence, Brooklyn…
Peter decided to catch an early subway train to Gwen's new residence. He felt that by directly talking with Gwen, it would be appropriate and courageous at the same time. As he walked up to the door, he gave the doorbell one press before Helen showed up looking like a stay-home mother.
"Ah, Peter. What a nice surprise to see you." Helen said as she greeted him by kissing both his cheeks.
"It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Stacy." Peter greeted, "I miss going to the old house though."
"I know this is a strange place to be but we had no choice." Helen said, "Here for Gwen?"
"Yes. But I will add seeing you and the rest of the family is nice." Peter said before realising that his words may be a little insensitive.
"Simon obviously has school but we have a family friend who picks him up to take him there luckily." Helen said, "If you want to know what Gwen is up to then I'd hate to say, she still doesn't really have anything. She's not studying or working."
"Mum?" Gwen said coming down from the staircase.
"Ah, you're awake. Sweet old Peter just dropped by." Helen said.
"Yeah, I know. Um, mum? I do have a job. I do post office deliveries…Casually." Gwen attempted to correct.
"Dear, your future can't be casual. Anyway… I have things to do. So, I'll let you two have your moment together." Helen said before she went away upstairs to her room.
After Helen left the scene, Gwen and Peter started conversing with each other.
"I knew you'd want to talk with me, one way or another." Gwen said, "I don't want to pretend that I want too much alone time. After all, it doesn't always help."
"Look, you're leading the more difficult life right now and I understand." Peter tried to start, "But I want to say I'm proud of you."
"Peter. It's okay honestly. The pain; the trauma. I know you've been there too." Gwen said, "But I can get through this…With you."
"You know I care about you so much and how scared I can be if I lose you. But whatever you did at U-Genetics… You've showed me that you can handle things on your own." Peter said who was starting to beam up a smile.
"I thought you'd be mad with me doing things on my own." Gwen stated.
"I'm not always the best judge." Peter said, "Gwen, this may be strange to say but… You're not my sidekick. You're…Gwen. Spider-Gwen. You're a hero on your own."
After mentioning the last bit, there was an awkward pause between the two before Gwen started to smile.
"I don't know if we're supposed to say things like that out loud. But… It's better than being called Spider-Woman." Gwen said with a laugh.
"Only problem would be people would guess who you were." Peter joked back.
Helen then came back downstairs.
"Peter, do you want some coffee or tea, dear?" Helen asked.
"I'll go with a bit of coffee." Peter said before turning to Gwen.
After Peter's answer, Helen happily went to accommodate him.
"There's something else I need to tell you." Peter whispered to Gwen before turning to Helen.
"Mrs Stacy? Is it okay for me and Gwen to go out for a little walk? I would like to have a little tour of Brooklyn myself and stuff?" Peter asked.
"Really? What about the coffee?" Helen asked.
"I'll definitely come back for it." Peter replied.
7:05 am Brooklyn neighbourhood…
"What exactly do you have in mind now, Peter?" Gwen asked as the two strolled the streets.
"Did you get the word that Fisk is making his big escape tonight?" Peter asked back.
"Oh." Gwen said stopping.
"Yes. And with Professor Warren out of the picture, we can refocus our efforts." Peter said.
"Yeah. We can. We finally have a chance to give dad some purpose." Gwen said clenching her fist.
"Gwen…" Peter said noticing her increasing anger.
"Sorry. I-I. It's just a natural reaction." Gwen said.
"You know what? We'll cut to the chase. Fisk is getting away and we need to stop him." Peter said simply, "Tonight."
"Peter…I have one question." Gwen said.
"What?" Peter replied looking at Gwen directly in her eyes.
"How can you hold onto your own grudges? I mean… You had stuff like your uncle; your aunt nearly dying and your best friend exiled. I-I want to know how you can get past stuff like that?" Gwen sincerely asked.
Peter was surprised and relieved at the question. It was something that he often questions himself but a relief that Gwen is way past the stage of being melodramatic every time something horrible happens.
"It's just…A matter of moving forward and not looking back. When you can do…The things you do and put them use. The bad things will catch up." Peter said whilst reflecting back.
Gwen said nothing in return before Peter added some final words.
"Even if I have no one left, I won't give up. Ever." Peter said.
7:45 am Fisk Underground R&D Lab…
Scorpion continued to fume as she approached the area the day Mac Gargan changed. Her broken left eye had been irritating her and she was desperate for further genetic modifications and cellular regeneration.
"Where's my good doctor?" Scorpion hissed whilst looking around at the scared staff.
The staff shuffled to corners as Scorpion walked around freely without any guard.
"Look at you… Feebly walking this place while I go hunting." Scorpion said, "What have you all been doing? Feeding rats? Having a little science fair?"
Despite the fear in the staff, Scorpion was not allowed to harm any of them by any means and most definitely could not kill them whilst she could roam around. However, some rules may be broken. Afterward the dreadful silence, Farley came out to talk to her.
"Gargan, what are you doing?" Farley said confronting the vigilante he partially helped create, "Oh my god. What happened to the eye?"
"You tell me. Don't I have regenerative healing?" Scorpion asked as she turned her attention.
"Well, you've only been modified to-." Farley tried to explain before Scorpion used her arm to reach Farley around the throat.
As this happened, her stinger loomed behind her rattling.
"All this power and you forget one unique property that can make me stronger?!" Scorpion said.
"Miss…Gargan." Farley wheezed, "I-I don't know. Please."
"Oh right, I can't kill you." Scorpion said letting go, "You're the man I need to rely on when stuff like this happens. Secondly, rules from the boss."
"Right." Farley said, "So, you're here for modifications? Sure. I mean…"
"Can't hurt for a second run, right?" Scorpion said, "So get up."
11:15 pm Fisk Tower entrance…
Later that night, Spider-Man and Gwen had their sights on Fisk Tower after a bit of normal time beforehand. The duo perched on the side of a nearby building as they monitored black SUVs block the entrance from both the public and media.
"I think we're right on time." Spider-Man said observing the scenery, "How rich is this guy to have this much security?"
"If only you or I had the money to make fancier suits; webslingers all the time…Can you imagine?" Gwen said.
"Gwen, we have to really focus on this one." Spider-Man said looking around, "Wait a second…"
As they stood their ground, Scorpion who had been anticipating their arrival jumped out and attacked. Because of the rattling stinger, it took a while for both Spiders to react. This led to Spider-Man being knocked to the ground below whilst Gwen tried to dangle and stay on.
"Shall we continue to dance, pretty woman?" Scorpion taunted as Gwen's emotion turned to anger as soon as she saw her father's killer.
Meanwhile on the ground, Spider-Man groaned as he tried to pick himself from the fall.
"Good reminder that I'm not human." Spider-Man said as he dragged himself.
As Spider-Man tried to stand, he had two foes approach him. One was Jack who was wearing an armoured power suit equipped with his signature whip. The other was Ronald who wore a suit fitted for him.
"Well… Our last job before the big man leaves town." Jack said cracking the whip.
"You look tenderised there, bug." Ronald said as he bumped both of his metal fists together.
"Oh, hey guys. Finally figured that sending in regular security guards won't do the trick." Spider-Man said as he dodged Jack's whip.
"Keep the whip away from me, Montana." Ronald said as he tried cornering Spider-Man like a goalie.
"This ain't no sports game, Ox." Jack said as he tried to attack Spider-Man.
Back on the building, Gwen fought Scorpion as hard as she could but for every punch she tried to throw, Scorpion was much more agile.
"Come on, pick up the pace." Scorpion said as her stinger wrapped around Gwen's right arm and dragged her.
Using the web shooter on her left arm, Gwen shot the web to blind Scorpion to no avail. Furthermore, her phasing abilities were making it easier for her.
"Always the tricky one, aren't you?" Scorpion remarked as Gwen slipped out of her grasp once more.
Gwen did not utter any words yet but was raging hard behind her mask and staring directly into both Scorpion's bug-like eyes. The wound on the left reminding her of the pain Scorpion had caused to her.
"Listen, dear. Do you really think you can throw a hard enough punch against me that can knock me over?" Scorpion said, "Even Spider-Man couldn't make me flinch with his superpowered fists."
All the gloating then gave Gwen an open opportunity to hit Scorpion across the face which led to her falling off the building to the ground.
"How did that taste?" Gwen said as she jumped down towards Scorpion.
Scorpion tried to pick herself up like Spider-Man before and even had to crack a few bones to stay in shape. As she stood up, she noticed Spider-Man overpowering both Jack and Ronald through sheer strategy.
"You useless buffoons." Scorpion scoffed before noticing Gwen drop down.
"I'll be the one punching you down." Gwen said as she prepared to deliver more.
"That didn't even hurt." Scorpion said pretending that there was no pain.
"I know bullshit when it's spoken." Gwen said noting that Scorpion does not have completely armoured skin as she proclaims.
"Oh, yeah, take this." Scorpion said before her stinger shot out of a blob of murky green corrosive acid.
Gwen's Spider-sense picked up before dodging the blob which hit a nearby SUV and melted off the car doors.
"Yikes. Scorpions don't eject venom like that." Gwen said.
"And spiders shoot webs from their wrists?" Scorpion fired back.
While Gwen and Scorpion scuffled, Spider-Man was overpowering his two opponents by focusing on Ronald specifically. Grabbing on Ronald's back, he rode the enforcer around like a bull whilst using his webs to confuse Jack.
"I want to ask. What happened to the other guy? Weren't there three of you?" Spider-Man said as Ronald continued to move in random directions.
"Dan's off commission. Got knocked off to make room for our pay." Jack replied, "Why do you care?"
"Just curious." Spider-Man said before finding a panel opening on Ronald's suit.
Using his raw strength, Spider-Man ripped the panel off and pulled every wire that was exposed. This caused Ronald's suit to shut down and bug out leaving the man stuck.
"Roxxon? Really?" Spider-Man said reading the small engraving of the company behind the suit on the panel.
Jack was left fuming as he focused on his last efforts to make good use of his whips; however, his wits would never meet his match as Spider-Man overcame his whips and kicked him which sent him flying.
"To be fair, those are still high-tech suits. Just not really good ones and especially inferior to others on the market." Spider-Man said.
All the attention then turned to Scorpion who continuously attacked Gwen. Spider-Man watched impressed at how much Gwen could handle herself before deciding to help.
"I figured you and that old man are maybe related." Scorpion taunted, "Nothing personal. But one eye. Just one eye."
As Scorpion and Gwen continued their fight, Spider-Man intervened by using his webs to pull the stinger.
"At last, we're fighting altogether again. How cute." Scorpion said, "I can't decide who I want to kill more."
As Spider-Man tugged the stinger, Scorpion shrugged Spider-Man away from throwing him into the air before Spider-Man used another web to pull himself back.
"Be careful, she has acid spray now." Gwen warned, "Stay far from her if you can."
"No, Spider-Man. She means that you have nowhere to run now." Scorpion gloated.
"Oh, upgrades are bound to happen any time we have a round two or so." Spider-Man said.
Scorpion then started to attack again with Spider-Man and Gwen bouncing around as she tried to hit one of them. As this happened, the stinger nearly hit Spider-Man again before the web-slinger vigilante stuck Scorpion down with some webbing before grabbing hold of the stinger with all his might.
As this happened, the three of them noticed two helicopters zip by on the night sky. One of them was a newscaster while the other was non-identifiable but was no doubt Wilson's ride.
"Hey, Spider-Woman. Go stop that helicopter!" Spider-Man said as he began losing his strength against his struggle with Scorpion.
"You can't fight her alone, it's too dangerous." Gwen retorted.
"Who's going to stop Fisk then if neither of us go?!" Spider-Man asked.
As Scorpion started to break free, Gwen then saw Spider-Man bring out a web-bomb and stick it onto Scorpion.
"I have a plan for this creepy crawler this time." Spider-Man assured, "Don't worry. You can stop him!"
Gwen nodded before looking upwards Fisk Tower and zipping herself upwards. As this happened, Scorpion turned her attention to Spider-Man and grinned with self-confidence.
"Do you actually have a plan?" Scorpion pondered.
11:45 pm Fisk Tower Helipad…
Wilson felt the chill of wind still as he watched the helicopter descend slowly. Both him and Vanessa wore their coats as the helicopter's rotor added to the gust of wind surrounding them.
"We're almost there." Wilson said holding onto his wife.
As this was happening, Gwen had reached the top before shouting.
"Stop right there, Fisk!" Gwen yelled as she balanced herself.
"So…You arrived. Spider-Man's sacrificial pawn." Wilson said as he shielded Vanessa.
"Lucky for me, I'm going to kick your ass till you regret it." Gwen said trying to sound serious.
"Hmph. Perhaps think twice before you speak, girl." Wilson said before taking out a mask of Spider-Man and held it in front of Gwen.
"I've peeled the mask off Spider-Man and I have seen his face." Wilson said, "I've gone toe to toe with him and he couldn't stop me."
Throwing the mask to Gwen, Wilson dismissively threw the item back. Gwen picked it up and pocketed it before facing down Wilson.
"That's because you're an untouchable piece of trash." Gwen retorted.
"Yes. Literally I am…Untouchable." Wilson warned.
Soon, the helicopter made a complete landing behind Wilson and Vanessa with the rotor continuing to spin.
"I must thank you and Spider-Man for helping to clear the mess you made at that science lab in Greenwich recently." Wilson said with sincerity referring to the incident at U-Genetics, "Unfortunately, I want nothing to do with you now."
"Too late for that. And you know what… You'll pay for the suffering you have caused." Gwen said as she got ready to strike.
"Pardon me but how have I suffered you?" Wilson asked before going forward.
As Gwen faced off against Wilson, the helicopter door opened. Wilson motioned Vanessa to get inside as he prepared to get his hands dirty. Vanessa sat down in the helicopter before she spoke to the pilot.
"Don't go anywhere without my husband." Vanessa ordered.
Wilson roared as Gwen came forward. Swinging his body, he viciously tried to strike Gwen. However, Gwen used her phasing ability quite often to dodge the attacks. This annoyed Wilson greatly who began to formulate a strategy on how to overcome Gwen's ability.
"If you were an honourable fighter, you'd stop using your gift to hide." Wilson said as he stood his ground.
Gwen answered back by punching Wilson every chance that she could. Vanessa watched from her seat as Wilson took as many hits as he could take. He may be human, but there was something that even super-powered people had to fear from him.
Taking out his aggression and with no mercy, Wilson finally grabbed hold of Gwen. Gwen attempted to use her web shooters which have some of success in disrupting Wilson's vision before he moved his palms to grab the wrists where the webs would shoot out.
He then proceeded to squeeze Gwen's wrists to break the web shooters off Gwen before smacking her down as quickly as possible. This was an attempt to stop her from phasing as that would require focused will. He then moved to stomp Gwen ruthlessly.
Gwen, still in her live state held on until she could uppercut Wilson and buy herself time to escape the assault. It was then she realised how much she was hurting from the pain Wilson had given her.
"You feel that?" Wilson asked rubbing his jaw, "That's the pain one mortal man could shatter from. For me, you're easy to crack."
Gwen staggered back as she tried to recover however, she saw that Wilson was so determined to kill her that she only had time to dodge whilst the pain lingered. As this happened, she was cornered to the ledge of the helipad with the city below.
"What's wrong? Where did that fiery spirit go?" Wilson asked as Gwen held on.
As Gwen stood her ground, Wilson charged forward and went for her neck.
11:51 pm Fisk Tower entrance…
As the clock ticked, Spider-Man continued to fight Scorpion and learned to maneuverer his way out of danger whenever the stinger was in play. The stinger was key in both disrupting his Spider-sense and being poisonous at the same time.
Using his Spider-sense to offset the signal of Scorpion's rattling stinger; Spider-Man finally was able to have a proper sense of knowing danger. He dodged the attacks better than ever and it helped him stand toe to toe with his latest foe.
"Gotta find a way to knock her out faster and stop that tail." Spider-Man thought as he moved about.
Seeing the unconscious Ronald, he figured that something with enough weight can damage Scorpion. It was at that moment, Peter Parker's brain kicked in.
"That's it, I got it!" Spider-Man said before beginning his strategy.
First thing was to shut off the stinger which he did by goading Scorpion to use the acid spray attack. He would then use a web to retaliate back and hopefully use the acid to break down the thick layer of armoured skin surrounding Mac Gargan herself.
"You really are some type of genius." Scorpion said as she continued to use her stinger to shoot and spray the venom.
Spider-Man in return calculated the approximate distance between him and the stinger to which he used his own chemically synthesised webs strong enough to soak in acid itself. This would then fire back at Scorpion sizzling parts of the scorpion skin before burning the stinger tip itself.
"Bastard!" Scorpion scolded as she realised her stinger had been jammed.
"Hey, Mac. Catch me if you can." Spider-Man yelled before going up Fisk Tower.
Scorpion furiously chased after Spider-Man as he climbed up the tower.
"You think I can't reach you?!" Scorpion yelled before leaping up to grab hold off the tower.
There were probably more broken window panels than ever on Fisk Tower since both the fight with Electro and the rescue of Peter Parker combined as Scorpion furiously crawled up to catch her prey.
"Just a little more." Spider-Man said rushing up before stopping at a high enough floor.
As Scorpion bolted up the building, Spider-Man then shot out some webs to stick Scorpion's hands in place. Bringing the focus back to the stinger, he then fired some webs at different directions to hold the stinger in place. Scorpion was clueless about what was happening and was worried about losing grip.
"You can't punch me with those little arms of yours!" Scorpion yelled thinking that was the plan.
"I'm not doing that. I'm letting gravity do the work." Spider-Man answered back before diving down towards Scorpion.
With some swift kick downwards, Spider-Man's foot hit Scorpion in the face square before Scorpion freed herself. However, this was the downfall as Scorpion with no web-swinging powers like Spider-Man started to fall.
Spider-Man saved himself by using one web to hang on as he watched Scorpion plummet down hard. The arachnid monster yelled until she hit the ground hard on her back and laid paralysed and armoured skin cracked.
"Gravity times the mass of two over distance. Makes sense." Spider-Man said adjusting himself and sticking onto the building while seeing Scorpion lay unconscious but not dead by the looks of things.
It was victory against a villain worth celebrating as he noticed the newscaster helicopter shine a light to where he was at. However, the light focused its attention elsewhere when Spider-Man's Spider sense sounded off.
Looking around for the next sign of trouble, Spider-Man looked around before noticing something falling next to his left. It was a body and that body was Gwen who was looking unconscious as she dropped down.
"Gwen!" Peter's mind yelled as he watched her fall from the building whilst his Spider-sense sounded off prompting him to try and catch her.
TO BE CONTINUED AT THE END…