SPIDER-MAN: THE GREAT RESPONSIBILITY (CHAPTER 10)
Note: Hope everyone is enjoying Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse in cinemas right now…
4:30 pm Forest Hills Community Hospital…
Peter sat next to Aunt May's bedside as he watched over May's recovery. "The more I get involved, the more Chameleon will do to hurt anyone close to me." Peter thought to himself, "How am I going to stop this?"
Aunt May opened her eyes a little to see her nephew sitting there. "There's my nephew…" May said with a smile on her face. "Eh.. Is everything okay with you?" Peter asked. "Everything is fine, Peter. I'll make a recovery as fast as possible…" May replied.
Peter grabbed her hand and assured that this was the case. "You'll be okay for sure…" Peter said. May laughed a little, "As soon as I leave the bed, I'll be working in no time again…" "Whoa… Hold on, May please… You have to take it easy." Peter said.
"Oh you know me… I don't back down." May said. "I'm serious, just take some time to recover." Peter replied. May sighed before nodding, "The whole F.E.A.S.T. shelter really came down today, didn't it? To be honest, I was really surprised when the place was attacked."
"Well, I gotta say that Chameleon is doing a terrible job in trying to become a new crime lord. He's seems to be blowing his covers left and right for a guy that's supposed to be sneaky." Peter said. "The one thing I didn't understand more was… How did he know my name?" May questioned.
Peter said nothing before May talked, "I'm not afraid of him. I've been through a lot in my life that things like him don't put me down." "You gotta play it, Aunt May. He knows how to look for people." Peter warned.
"I know." May said before her phone on the desk rang. "I'll get that.." Peter said getting up and giving the phone to her. May had received a message from Martin Li regarding her work. 'Take some time to rest for now.' The message read.
"Even Martin's saying the same thing you said…" May said examining the message. The doctor looking after May then walked in with a nurse into the room. "Mr. Parker, we need to do a vital check with your aunt right now." The doctor said.
"Thank you, Dr. Bromwell…" Peter said smiling to both the doctor and nurse as he was about to leave. Peter gave one last look at May before departing the hospital.
5:50 pm Forest Hills police precinct…
TEARFUL WOES FOR VICTIMS OF F.E.A.S.T. TRAGEDY
By Frederick Foswell
Last night, the community of Queens and even more so, the city of New York had been struck by tragedy at a local F.E.A.S.T. centre. 10 injured and 15 dead after an attack caused by the uprising crime lord known as The Chameleon.
In a direct assault, Chameleon led the charge with seven other men including Abner Jenkins and André Gerard have caused $5 million worth of damage against F.E.A.S.T. Martin Li, the founder of the F.E.A.S.T. organisation has offered his condolences to victims as well as condemnation for the attackers.
"Here at F.E.A.S.T., we strive to support all of those who are in trouble. To say sorry is not enough, these attackers must face justice for lives that were unfairly stolen. My heart goes out to all those affected including the world that is watching." Li stated.
Also involved in the incident was Spider-Man, who arrived at the scene to fight off Chameleon but in doing so has caused more trouble than good. The popularity of the vigilante has decreased considerably with many being more open to his arrest.
"We deserve to know more about him more than ever." One witness said, "It's around two and a half years that he's been allowed to do what he does. We need to open this situation up a bit more." In contrast, Martin Li is surprisingly rather supportive of Spider-Man saying, "We shouldn't lose faith in him. I wish every good civilian will be willing to put their support behind him. He may make mistakes, but I see a good heart."
In other related news, Frank Oliver has been transported out of Forest Hills Community Hospital to the Raft temporarily for safekeeping until the situation at Queens clears. Meanwhile, Herman Schultz is being imprisoned in an unspecified location due to safety concerns.
George put aside the Daily Bugle paper as he sipped his coffee. "My god…" George said rubbing his forehead, "One thing after another." "Deputy Stacy?" Captain Saito said knocking on his office door, "The commissioner is here."
George grumbled as he got up to meet up with his superior. He entered the captain's room where the commissioner, Bethany McGraw was seated with some paperwork. "Gentlemen, please take a seat." The old woman requested.
Saito and Stacy sat as requested before listening to the commissioner. "As you two and the rest of the precinct is aware… Forest Hills has been taking some pretty major hits as of late." The commissioner briefed, "I'm gonna give this place some special orders on my account."
"Okay…What's the special order?" George asked. "This precinct will be one of the first to receive anti-vibranium equipment." Bethany explained as she presented a paper that detailed description of a strange material labelled 'DB-127'.
"Forensics aren't able to comprehend what they were looking at. But using a combination of both physics and chemistry, we were able to discover that DB-127 is a lump of matter that can pulls apart energy bonds from certain sources. In this case, we can counteract the absorbent characteristic of vibranium." Bethany continued.
A black and white photo of what looked like an explosion of unstable energy was presented to George and the captain. "It's a bit lethal but the results are effective…" Bethany explained, "We're currently raiding hidden vibranium supplies all over town with this thing." "Uh.. Commissioner? How did this DB-127 come to be?" George questioned.
Bethany sighed before admitting the truth, "We had to get ourselves a little dirty. A gift from the men Hammerhead had hired." "The demon-masked people? Why? No offence, Beth. But I think what we're taking is going to benefit us all the way through." George argued.
Captain Saito nodded surprisingly before saying a word, "I'd give it a chance but this also warrants an investigation." "Thanks, cap. I'm glad you're questioning just like me…" George stated. "By the way, thank you for being here. Best of luck to this team." Bethany said before leaving.
"Oh, George… I gotta a favour for you…" Captain Saito requested. "Tell me…" George said. "Herman Schultz managed to scribble out some things the other night. This could be the task I'm giving you now." Captain Saito said handing out a paper from his pocket.
"Oh good…" George said looking through the handwriting, "Seems like a bunch of places mixed in with what he knows about the scary-masked people. I knew he'd come around."
6:15 pm Leeds residence…
Peter swung by in his costume with a takeaway meal bag and knocked on the basement door at Ned's house. The door opened to which Ned and Phillip were surprised. "Peter? Is that really you?" Ned asked. Peter pulled up his mask a little, "Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"
"Uh, sure… Wow, you're not black and white anymore." Ned noted. "What?" Peter questioned as he stepped inside to sit down. "Hey Peter… Remember me?" Phillip asked. "Yeah, why are you two acting suspicious?" Peter said looking at his friends.
"To put it simply, you weren't yourself as of late…" Phillip said. "You went AWOL the moment you finished your fight with the Kangaroo." Ned said. "I did? Yeah, uh… About that." Peter said with regret in his eyes.
"So yeah, this might sound crazy… But I think I went into another dimension. I had a voice that was trying to tell me to beat people without mercy. The next thing I know was that Aunt May got hurt when I went to fight Chameleon…. And then I ask myself, 'What have I done?'" Peter explained.
"Sounds like mind control… Did you find out what it is?" Phillip asked. "No, I know that the masked people were the ones who probably started this. They may have healed my broken bones but they tried taking my mind away." Peter said.
"Speaking of masked men, uh…We actually…um…Went to Chinatown at Flushing to speak with the triads about it." Ned said. "Ned!" Phillip hissed. "Really? I mean that's stupid… But what did you gain out of it?" Peter asked.
"Nothing…Except some threats and one that may cost Phil his life." Ned answered sheepishly. "Great, guess I'll go there for two things then." Peter said getting up, "Coincidently, Flushing Chinatown is the same place Martin Li is setting up his new office at."
"Hold on…" Phillip said, "Martin Li? Forgive me if this sounds weird… But what if he's got a story in all of this?" "Martin's just the guy who runs F.E.A.S.T. The only involvement I'm seeing is that his place got attacked and he's not happy about it." Peter answered, "I don't know… I might have a peak at what the place looks like."
"Anything's worth a try…" Phillip said opening up his laptop on the coffee table. "You know… Is it okay if I start eating?" Peter asked as he got out a hamburger from his takeaway bag and took a bite. Before he could dive in more, Ned's phone rang.
"Hi, is this Ned Leeds? It's me, Captain George Stacy…Well, former captain. We met after the incident at JFK airport. Listen, do you have time?" George's voice came in. "It's Gwen's dad…" Ned said to both Peter and Phillip. "Uh, I have time… What do you want, officer?" Ned asked.
"Well, I remembered you told me that you know how to reach Spider-Man…" George said, "You gotta any ways in which I can contact him? It's for an investigation." "Uh…" Ned said looking at Peter. "He's looking for you…" Ned whispered to Peter.
Peter then grabbed the phone as he munched on a fry, "Hello?" "Spider-Man? Is that really you? The real you? Boy, do I need your help right now…" George asked. "Spill it out, officer…" Peter replied. "Not now… Could you try meeting me at the rooftop of the Forest Hills police precinct? I'm sure you'll be grateful to hear me out." George said, "I have some leads regarding both Chameleon and Hammerhead."
"Okay, sit tight then…" Peter said before hanging up the phone and passing it back to Ned. "It could be a trap, Peter." Phillip said, "You're not a friend to the police. And the public to a degree." "It's not going to stop me. There's only so much Chameleon can do to hurt me." Peter insisted.
"Oh no… Sounds like you're channelling that negativity again." Ned said. Peter calmed down before saying a word, "Just don't eat my food." "Don't forget to use my upgrades this time." Ned said reminding Peter of the upgrades he was given beforehand.
6:32 pm Forest Hills police precinct…
George waited alone on top of the precinct before seeing Spider-Man swing by and reach the rooftop that he is standing on. "I'm glad to see that you're wearing red and blue again." George noted as Peter stood there.
"Well, I can safely say that I'm back to my senses…" Peter said. "I gotta guilt-trip you, so bear with me." George said as he grabbed out a document folder from his jacket. "Full physical assault against Frank Oliver alongside the seven men at a former Maggia bar. Hurting I guess four other men when you were chasing down Herman Schultz. And unfortunately… The stuff at F.E.A.S.T." George stated.
"What? Why are the police trying to pin the F.E.A.S.T. stuff on me?" Peter questioned. "Don't worry, it's not murder. They're charging you for 'vigilantism'. Which to me is the most ridiculous part." George said. "All of those people at F.E.A.S.T., it's all my fault... Isn't it?" Peter said in a disappointed tone.
George placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "I don't blame you, despite all that aggressiveness, you held back tremendously…Please at least tell me, if your photonegative black and white suit was more than just a cosmetic." George then showed Peter a full-coloured picture of the suit. "Yeah, it was more than that." Peter said looking at the photo, "That's an impressive photo. Who took it?"
"Some guy from the Daily Globe. He knows his cameras. Anyway… I want to know if you're up for a task." George wondered. "Name it…" Peter said. "So… When we arrested Herman Schultz. We got some answers from him regarding vibranium stock locations in which if we could target them successfully, we have a better chance in bringing both Chameleon and Hammerhead down."
"I want to know if you're willing to go here as part of my request. A big chunk of resources are said to be located at a dock around College Point. According to Schultz, it's where at least two of Chameleon's top men have been stationed." George said.
"So I'm Spider-Cop now? Great…" Peter said, "I don't know if I want to do this." "I guess it's up to you. Do you have any other plans?" George questioned. "Uh…I was going to do an investigation on the source of my mind-control." Peter replied.
"Maybe you'll find answers there. That place could be targeted by what I'm gonna call 'Demons'. If you can help me find out any suspicious activity, report it to me and I'll be the one to relay the message for the rest." George instructed before handing out a digital walkie talkie.
"I understand if you wanna keep that identity of yours a secret, so all I'm asking is that you can do the right thing again." George said, "Please be smart about it." George then walked away and left the rooftop leaving Peter to ponder on what to do.
Peter looked at the walkie talkie and decided to go through with the request as a testament to get pay back against Chameleon for hurting Aunt May. "I'm not possessed now. So hopefully I do all this properly." Peter said reflecting on his times as Negative Spider-Man.
7:35 pm College Point Docks…
Peter arrived feeling a little exhausted that he had to swing all the way to the point where he could see Ryker's Island, the one place where most bad guys in New York would go. While he had superhuman stamina, Peter never forgot that he was once a normal human.
"Ah, there's Ryker's Island over there on the East River. A place where I think most of these guys will be sent to once all of this is over." Peter noted as he perched and saw the island in the distance. Taking the walkie talkie out of the utility belt given to him by Ned, Peter informed George.
"I can see Ryker's Island from where I'm standing, is this the place?" Peter questioned. "Yes, possibly. You're at College Point right?" George asked. Taking out his phone and accessing the map application, Peter confirmed it, "Yep."
"Okay, let me know about anything if you find anything." George said before switching off. Peter then turned on the earpiece to talk to Ned, "Hey, I don't know if you're listening right now. But I've got a thing from the deputy I'm doing, so sit tight." Switching off the earpiece, Peter went to work.
"It seems pretty abandoned here. Perfect place for bad guy hiding…" Peter acknowledged as he made his way around the docks. There was one small warehouse alongside a few several containers scattered about. "I guess all the docks are in Manhattan…" Peter said swinging closer to the warehouse.
As soon as Peter peered into the open window, he saw all kinds of suspicious looking things. "Doesn't look like anyone is in there at the moment." Peter commented before finding a way inside through the window. Crawling about, Peter dropped down onto the floor to begin a bit of detective work.
"No lights, no problem." Peter said remembering the flashlight lens Ned had given him. The place illuminated with Peter finding all sorts of things. "Just looks like a run of the mill warehouse. Not as bombastic as the one where I found the Oscorp blueprints." Peter thought reminding himself of the time he went to Mason Consolidated Repairs.
Within the warehouse, Peter found boxes concealing vibranium on shelves confirming George's suspicions as well as Herman's writing that this place is being used. Peter then got out the walkie talkie and tried talking to George. "This place is definitely hiding stuff." Peter informed.
"Thanks, anything else?" George asked after a few seconds. "I'll get back to you." Peter said switching off the walkie talkie. Peter then saw a couple of desks that look as if they have blueprints spread out with toolboxes and such.
But before Peter could interact with anything else, his Spidey-sense went off in response to door unlocking sound click behind him. "Oh god, where do I hide?" Peter wondered before making the decision to simply hide behind a desk.
The lights within the warehouse were turned on which made Peter realise that he had to turn off the flashlight in his lens. As he was attempting this, Peter heard two voices from afar and recognised one voice as Beetle's.
"We better finish up on the few things we're working on before we rat out of his crusade…" Beetle's voice said. "For once, I agree. Our talents are hindered as long as we follow his orders." Cyclone's voice replied, "This cause is indeed lost."
The two walked over to separate desks and opened up separate tool boxes. As Peter turned off the flashlights in his eye lens he watched closely at what the two were up to. Beetle and Cyclone were partially in costume with their masks removed and as they conversed.
"So lucky to get my hands over this vibranium." Beetle said with a snicker as he took out a strange-looking device that resembles a blowtorch out of the toolbox, "From the rich capital of Birnin Zana." "Zat thing is used to reconfigure ze shape of vibranium, you imbecile." Cyclone scolded.
"Shut up, wind boy…I'll sizzle you." Beetle snapped by pointing the device at Cyclone. "You don't want to ruin things just now…" Cyclone warned. As the two argued, Peter made note of the device Beetle was holding.
"Looks like their crafting tool is also a dismantling tool." Peter noted before he continued observing the scene. "Zese fine materials all from ze depths of Wakanda are our salvation." Cyclone said, "We would prosper by selling zese on ze market."
"Oh, if I ever had to face bug man again…" Peter said to himself as he tried to formulate a plan to take both of them out. "Sell them?!" Beetle decried not liking the idea of giving away the precious metal. At this moment, Peter's plan was to kill the lights in the warehouse.
Aiming an electrical web shot at the ceiling lights, Peter shot out a web that broke the light bulb. "What the…" Beetle said looking around in confusion. Peter turned on his night vision mode in the dark and snatched the device out of Beetle's hand with a web.
Cyclone put on his mask quickly in the dark and scanned his environment through his goggles. "You guys really hanging around these generic warehouses, right?" Peter said in the dark. "It's Spider-Man!" Cyclone proclaimed as he pointed his wind turbine gauntlets all over the place.
Without warning, Cyclone shot out his high-velocity winds in different directions in hopes that Peter could get hit. The winds tore down some of the warehouse's structure leaving parts of it exposed to the outside. Debris was sent flying as well as shelves that had boxes of the vibranium hit the floor. Despite all this, the boxes withstood the fall keeping the vibranium stable.
"Quit it!" Beetle said as soon as he put on his mask before restraining Cyclone, "You're going to mess up our things!" Using his jetpack, Beetle flew out of the warehouse and observed from a bird's eye point of view to see where the webslinger is.
Sure enough, he saw Spider-Man just standing on top of a roof. "Hey bug man, I'm pretty sure there's a lot of me if you're looking through compound eyes." Peter called out. Beetle swooped down extending a blade on top of one hand and attacked.
Peter moved around quickly on the rooftop as Beetle tried to cut him down. "So you survived Chameleon back at the F.E.A.S.T. centre, huh?" Beetle asked. "Sure…A little stab in the tummy isn't worth the discouragement for me to stop you guys." Peter replied. "Keep joking, you won't laugh when I leave my second mark on you!" Beetle said as Peter continued dodging.
"Second or third…I'm not underestimating you this time." Peter said as he caught Beetle's blade by the side. "This vibranium really does wonders…" Beetle said as he tried to push the blade against him. Meanwhile, Cyclone levitated himself upwards to see Spider-Man and Beetle fighting.
"Move out of the way, Abner. I've got zis." Cyclone insisted as he pointed his gauntlets. "Your little air-conditioning tools won't help!" Beetle yelled. As Peter saw that Beetle was annoyed by Cyclone's presence, he punched Beetle right across the face leaving a crack on the left compound eye.
"So which one of you should I be more worried about? Which one is the smart one?" Peter asked hoping to trigger a little conflict between the two. "Of course, me. Why would you be worried about a guy who shoots air?" Beetle said as he chased Peter across the docks.
"You cannot grasp ze devastation ze gauntlets could cause with ze vibranium added!" Cyclone argued as he decided to fire a blast of high-velocity wind. "For the last time, stop that!" Beetle called out as shipping containers were moved a little.
"Aw, I don't know how to describe you two… Either you're an estranged couple or you're two little children." Peter said as he continued moving around, "Hey bug man, what other gimmicks can you do?" "If you insist…" Beetle said as he stopped mid-air to grab out the same repulsion cannon behind his back which Peter had seen before.
Instead of an repulsion blast, Beetle shot out high vibration air blasts that knocked back shipping containers and forced Peter to move out of the way. "I see you're copying Shocker and Kangaroo with that blast." Peter noted. "This is more superior than their stupid hand gloves!" Beetle proclaimed.
"He has a point, Abner. What's ze point of implementing the mistake of ze other two…" Cyclone said. Peter then shot out some webs at Beetle's directions blinding both his eyes and trapping his feet, he then rushed forward and knocked the cannon away before zipping under Beetle.
Peter grabbed out the blowtorch looking device he took out of Beetle's hand from his belt and tried to figure out how to use it in order to disrupt the vibranium coating on Beetle's jetpack. Pushing the grip, Peter unleashed a blue flame cutting apart the coating smoothly and exposing the inner components of Beetle's jetpack.
Cyclone then unleashed another fury of wind knocking both Spider-Man and Beetle back and close to the river water. "My hands and feet are all sticky!" Beetle complained as he tried to rid himself of the webbing. The device that Peter used was knocked into the water which meant that Peter had to struggle with what he has on land.
Reaching for the inside of Beetle's jetpack, Peter tore out some wires sending sparks. Most of Beetle's technological systems were shut down. Enraged, the lower jaw of Beetle's mask unveiled mechanical jaws reflecting a stag beetle's. Beetle turned around for a moment and tried biting Peter.
Because of the suit's limitations now, Peter shoved Beetle away before the jaws clamped on him. He then shoved Beetle's face downwards onto the concrete ground with his jaws sticking him. "That was neat but have fun staring face down…" Peter said as he webbed Beetle flat on the ground.
"Argh!" Beetle yelled in frustration as he could not move. Turning his attention to Cyclone, Peter watched as he slowly levitated himself downwards from the air. "Hey there, I don't think we interacted much. Nice blue suit by the way." Peter said.
"You're a nuisance. I'm so glad we didn't meet all zat much…" Cyclone said looking through his red-eyed lens. "I'm sorry, what do they call you?" Peter jokingly asked, "I heard bug man say that you're a wind guy. I want to call you so many things."
"You may address me as 'Cyclone', if zat satisfies you." Cyclone said as he readied himself. "OK, OK, before you blow me away. Let me ask… Is that suit comfortable?" Peter said trying to delay Cyclone. "It's protective against za winds I fire." Cyclone remarked as Peter prepared to move.
Peter moved as soon as Cyclone fired zipping away using the objects around the docks. Cyclone shot out destructive winds that were strong but not as strong as the vibration air blasts Peter faced from his previous enemies. A few scraps of debris had been hurled in the midst of the blast.
"You know I think your buddy was right about you. In a way…" Peter said perching on shipping container that rolled into the river, "Those winds kind of suit themselves more for a hot summers day instead of combat."
"You zink?" Cyclone questioned as he tried firing again. "Yeah, I mean there's so much more to those." Peter commented. "Zat's ze problem… I can't go back to my old life." Cyclone said as he fired a gust of wind.
Peter held onto the shipping container as much as long as he could before being swept away and landed his back on the ground. Cyclone moved towards him and gloated, "Do you feel ze power now?" "Nah, those things are way too cute…" Peter said still lying on the ground.
"Now that you're not in zat black and white suit anymore. I don't think I have to worry about my gauntlets being bust." Cyclone said seeing that Peter is not Negative Spider-Man. "Yeah, kind of cool that I'm myself again…" Peter said as tried picking himself up.
After Cyclone came close, he attempted to punch Peter right across the face. Peter caught the hand before Cyclone activated his gauntlets once again. Peter hit his back but got up as fast as possible. He then looked back at the damaged warehouse behind him.
The mess caused by Cyclone gave Peter an idea. "I gotta get rid of his gloves." Peter said looking around for something he could use. "Even if my blasts don't hurt at first… They make it hard for you to come near me." Cyclone said.
"I see…" Peter said before swinging a box of vibranium at him. Cyclone attempted to brush the obstacle away but because vibranium withstands high-velocity winds, the box landed onto Cyclone's gauntlets scraping parts of it.
"Merde!" Cyclone cursed in his native language before Peter rushed up and landed a swift kick onto his face. With the gauntlets busted, Cyclone could only try and escape. However Peter webbed him down leaving the former French mechanic struggling.
"One of zese days, I'll make a suit beyond your imagination!" Cyclone said tied down. "I agree, though I promise that won't happen. You're pretty much a second rate Herman Schultz." Peter said, "Destined to obscurity."
"Shut your mouth! I'll make a suit zat could generate winds zat would…" But before Cyclone could finish talking, Peter shut his mouth with a web. "I don't want to talk too much… So I'll leave you at that." Peter said, "Mind if I search your place?"
Peter then remembered he had a camera stored in his belt buckle that was given to him by Ned. He took it out and decided to photograph some significant things until the authorities would arrive to pick off the latest henchmen of Chameleon.
9:05 pm Forest Hills police precinct rooftop…
"Nice work tonight…" George commented looking through the photos. "That was a tremendous amount of work done. Don't worry about the property damage, no one's used that place in a long time." "Gee… I'm glad I took care of those guys. Helps when they're narcistic." Peter commented.
"Which is why teamwork is important…" George said, "Anyway, we still have so much ground to cover despite all that. It's not the last of Chameleon's people by the way." "It isn't?" Peter said before realising about Eel.
"How did you fight off a bunch of guys with vibranium by the way?" George asked, "Was it those freaky negative powers of yours?" "No… They had a bunch of other things shipped all the way from Wakanda." Peter answered, "They got their hands on some crafting tools as well."
"Well, this sort of thing may attract some interesting people to you, that's for sure…" George said. "What?" Peter asked. "I'm saying that if vibranium is involved, some interesting people might look at you by the time the media posts about it." George replied, "Was there anyone else at the docks?"
"No…No 'Demons' by the way." Peter said, "Looking forward to answers when I head to Flushing." "You know our precinct is being commissioned to equip ourselves with a thing labelled 'DB-127'. It's said to counteract vibranium by dissociating the energy bonds on it. I personally think there's something fishy with that stuff." George said moving onto the next topic.
"DB-127?" Peter questioned, "What is that?" "It's a strange energy matter. I have no idea how we got our hands on it. But I don't feel confident in it." George said, "It kind of reminded me of your black and white suit."
"Well if that stuff is the reason for my mind-control. I guess I'll look into it." Peter said, "I guess I'll head to my next destination. Good night… Deputy." Peter then leaped away into the night and swung to the direction of Flushing.
TO BE CONTINUED…