Part 2

When they arrived, Peter, Mary Jane, and Gillian lead the children off the bus. They counted heads to make sure everyone was accounted for and when each name was checked off, they lead the kids into the woods.

Gillian lead the way as Mary Jane and Peter stayed in the back so no kids wandered off.

The location for the camping grounds was chosen weeks in advance and certified. It was only a fifteen minute hike with fully regalia to the camping grounds. An hour later, tents were set up and kids were gathering fire wood for a fire.

Each kid was separated into groups. There were six groups, seven with the councillors. It was entitled to embody teamwork. Each member of the group was to help their member in their survival duties, apart from the councillors.

When enough firewood was gathered, Mary Jane called them all over and they all sat in a circle around a main fire pit. It wasn't the only one on the grounds.

Gillian's friend Max had met them there and almost immediately Peter's spider-sense had tingled around the guy when they were introduced. There was something familiar about him, but Peter couldn't put his finger on it. He had a beard and a long haired tied pony-tail.

"Now kids," Mary Jane began. "We're here to have fun, but we're also here for you to get your merit badges. I'm confident that all of you have been studying your handbooks? So, who here knows how to make a fire without using matches?"

All of them raised their hands. "Okay, good," Mary Jane said pleased.

A kid named Scott was chosen to demonstrate with everyone else to guide him. Anyone who participated would get their merit badge for the task, which meant everyone.

Scott kneed down by the fire pit and collected a handful of leaves from beside him putting it in the pit, then he gathered two sticks and put one horizontal and the other one vertical about half a foot off the ground. Rubbing the sticks together, after a while, smoke started to smother, eventually catching fire. He blowed on them and surrounded the little flame with more leaves and more sticks until the flame bloomed into a good healthy fire.

"Excellent!" Mary Jane said. "Very well done!"

Peter was amazed by Mary Jane's leadership qualities. She knew exactly what needed to be done and the kids obeyed her without question. He always knew she would be a great teacher, but god forbid why she didn't take a teacher's qualifications test he would never know.

"Your wife is good with kids," Max said to Peter, as they sat together. Peter agreed. "Want to see a magic trick?" Peter looked at Max, as he suddenly snapped his fingers of his right hand and a small flame was ignited on the tip of his index finger. Max winked at him, then revealed the trick was two matches scraped together with obviously some skill.

Peter's spider-sense tingled even more about this guy.

"Good job, everyone," Mary Jane repeated. After beguiling some further lessons of the sacred Scout handbook, it got dark quickly, and all the kids gathered around closer to the fire pit. And after roasting marshmallows and telling a couple of scary stories, Mary Jane addressed the kids again. "Great job today, kids. I'm proud of you. Tomorrow is going to be even more fun."

"I would even say electric," Max said to Peter.

This guy was creeping Peter out and he had hardly done anything all day. Gillian said he would be helpful, but so far he had done nothing but leech of their good nature.

"So, get to bed and get plenty of sleep because bright and early we're going on a hike," Mary Jane concluded. The kids got into their tents, and after fifteen minutes, everyone settled in.

This left Gillian, MJ, Peter, and Max alone sitting in front of the fire. Max stoked the fire with a stick, and then looked up at the sky. Peter noticed how calm the man seemed. But there was definitely something odd about him.

"I better head in, too," Gillian said. "I'm feeling tired."

Max looked at her. "Don't go yet, Gill," Max said. "I wanna thank you for asking me on the trip. I really needed to get away from the hustle of life. I've never been good with crowds."

Peter thought this statement strange. If he didn't like crowds, then why was he here with thirty kids? Adult crowds were one thing, but kids could be rambunctious at times, even uncontrollable and unpredictable. Adults were more tempered.

"What do you do, Max? I'm mean, job wise," Peter asked.

"I used to fix electricity poles," Max said, looking at Peter, "shocking stuff. I can't tell you how many times I was zapped and lived to tell the tail. I have a weird nickname: Mr. Static. Because things keep sticking to me. It's almost like I have this weird electrical force surrounding me."

Peter knew someone else of the same career persuasion and who also lived to tell the tail. His spider-sense suddenly peaked to its highest. He involuntarily inched away from Max.

Max noticed. "What's the matter, Peter? You look nervous? Was it something I said?"

And all of sudden, Max jumped Peter and pinned him to the ground. He zapped Peter with the same finger he lit on fire only a little while ago.

Peter yelped.

Mary Jane and Gillian jumped to their feet. Mary Jane went to hit Max with a fist, but Max released a static force shock attack in her direction and sent her flying backwards, and only inches from the fire pit. Mary Jane was rendered unconscious.

Gillian stood back, shocked.

Peter grit his teeth as he looked into the eyes of his enemy. Max Dillon ripped off the wig and fake beard and grinned sinisterly at him. "Now, you're gonna contact your friend Spider-Man, Parker, or I'll start frying kids! You used to take photos for the Daily Bugle, then moved to teaching, but you and Spider-Man are still very good friends."

"Not really, we just run into each other from time-to-time," Peter lied. "But how…"

"Gillian invited me," Max said. "We go way back. I used to date her sister until that nasty accident that shocked me and turned me into a human lightning rod."

Peter tried to push Max Dillon off him, but he kept getting zapped by small shocks from Electro. They felt like being scorched by fire brands.

"There was a little incident with Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus a time back at an Empire State University science fair," Max began, "and Gillian's sister was there. So was I, checking things out. But when Doctor Octopus showed up I put my plans on hold to steal some of the inventions for my own use. Doc Ock had the same idea. But the mess Spider-Man and Ock caused, nearly caused Gillian's sister her life when a booth fell on top of her. I saved her from being totally crushed, but she has not been able to walk like she did. She has a permanent limp."

Peter was so involved with Doc Ock at the time, he didn't even know that occurred.

"So, why…are you here?"

"Revenge," Max said, "simple revenge. Gillian's and mine—on Spider-Man!" Max zapped Peter more. "And you, Parker, are going to help us get it. You're going to call Spider-Man here."

"I don't have his phone number," Peter said.

"Then try the web," Max said with a laugh.

"That joke wasn't bad," he said with a small smirk. "But again, I don't have his contact. He just shows up whenever idiots like you decide to create havoc."

"Then I'm going to have create some," Max said. "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. But, you're not incentive enough for that annoying wall-crawler to make a special appearance. We roasted marshmallows earlier, how about we roast some kid-kabobs?"

"NO!" Peter cried out, and despite Max's zaps, he pushed past the pain, and rolled out from underneath the villain. Pater got to his feet, and lunged at Max. Electro side-stepped out of the way. Peter was filled with anger than he hadn't thought of his actions and only reacted.

Electro pointed a finger and zapped Peter's left leg. Peter cried out. A fiery numbness immediately set in and he tried to drag himself away from Dillon. "Now, however you contact him, and I know you can, tell the web-slinger to meet me here, in camp. I'll give you two hours. Since it took us an hour and half to get here, with Spider-Man's abilities, he can be here within a reasonable amount of time before the clock runs out. If not, roasted kids will be on the menu. And don't worry about your wife, Parker. I'll keep her nice and warm." Electric chuckled. "You have a cell phone, when you get a signal, use it. Or else, people will die."

Peter swore. He got to his feet, but hobbled, and then thought twice about attacking Electro. He grit his teeth, and then wandered off into the forest, into the dark.

He knew what to do and he needed secrecy to do it. He knew Mary Jane would be okay, but he worried about the kids. Was Dillon capable of harming those kids? Frankly, he didn't know if Dillon was bluffing. But Peter couldn't take the chance.

Luckily, for such occasions, Spider-Man was always near by to take out the trash. And when Peter got out of sight, and his leg began to feel better, he stripped out of his camping clothes, and fit his Spider-Man mask on that he had hidden in his secret pocket.

He and Mary-Jane had discussed whether or not to bring his costume, but ultimately he prevailed, and he was lucky he did. And as he secured his other clothes to a tree and checked his web-shooters, he remembered what Oscar Wilde once said: "Expect the unexpected".

Peter slipped on his Spider-Man mask.

He watched the campsite from the forest beyond. Electro had given him a time-limit of two hours to inform Spider-Man of what was happening here. However, despite the time given, Spider-Man needed a really good plan to capture Electro and spare the kids any harm.

He had a major hurtle, his web-shooters were inside a knapsack he had brought with him. With them, he could even the odds with the villain. But now, he had to rely on his wits and fists.

But getting close to Electro was going to be a challenge.

And then there was the issue with Gillian and her involvement. He remembered the fight with Doc Ock at the science fair at Empire State University some time back, and the destruction that was caused, but he wasn't aware of any injuries.

After he beat Doc Ock, he didn't stick around, so he wouldn't have known. The fight was in the news, but Gillian's sister wasn't. But he still couldn't believe Gillian would join with Electro to get revenge on Spider-Man for an accident. Spider-Man knew Electro has a beef, but the other issue could've been resolved in some other way.

Suffice it to say, he had a big problem now. And he seethed when he thought back to Electro knocking MJ down. He'd pay for that, dearly!

To be continued...