ISSUE #5: Gameplan

Nick reached up for the phone weakly; most of his strength had been sapped by the effort to find Blackout, and he was still groggy from the darkness visions he'd incurred after locating Blackout. He scanned the Daily Bugle, looking for the number of the reporter working on the Blackout robbery. When he finally found it, he dialed and waited for the man to pick up.

At the Bugle, David was about to head out to try to get more info on Blackout when his desk phone rang. Slightly annoyed, he picked up the phone and briskly said, "Daily Bugle Crime, David Harvey speaking. Can I help you?"

On the other end, Nick hesitated, but spoke up quickly. "Hi. . . uh, my name is Nick. Nick Grey. I have some info on the man named Blackout."

David's eyes widened, but he wanted to make sure it wasn't a prank call. "How do I know this info you are giving me is accurate?

Nick sighed. "Because I'm a mutant. In case you're wondering, I have registered with the government, so if you have any contacts there, they can confirm it. The info I have is strictly confidential, and for you only unless otherwise necessary."

"Why are you contacting me then? Believe me, I'm grateful for the scoop, but if this info is so important, shouldn't you contact the police first?"

"I don't want to be bothered and hassled about being a mutant. Not only that, I don't think they will believe me. I've always liked how you write, it seems like you truly care and want to help clean up New York City."

"Alright then, what do you have? If it helps I will even pay you."

"I don't need any money, I just want to help out any way I can. The man you are looking for, Blackout, was at Midtown High School today at about 3:00 P. M."

"And how do you know this?"

"Yesterday, at the bank, Blackout made contact with my skin. One of my mutant powers is a bond that is formed with anyone i touch. I can always locate them by momentarily reforming that bond, though it does require a great deal of effort."

David excitedly wrote down the info, and since he had no leads at the moment, anything was good news. "Thank you very much for the info, hopefully it will turn up something." He slammed the phone down and rushed out the door. Meanwhile, in an alley downtown, Peter was toying with Aunt May's digital camera. Oh, God, I hope I don't break this thing! She will so kill me. They won't even find anything left of me! I know it! Ok, let's not freak out now, and um, let's see how this works. He set the camera to automatic, and webbed it to the wall. Ok, I hope that does it. Now, I wonder what the public wants to see. Maybe Spidey doing flexing poses? Or, howabout one of me hangin' upside down? Me walking on a wall? As many random poses as he could imagine he performed as the camera clicked away. An hour (and about thirty odd poses too many) later, Peter had the pictures he wanted. Now, how the heck am I supposed to get them to the Bugle? E-mail? No, not for the first. I'll need to transfer the pics to a jump drive and see what Jolly Jonah thinks.

Vicki looked around her house, and saw nobody was looking. She yelled to Blake that she was going to bed and not to bother her. She then created an illusion of her sleeping, and another illusion to hide herself while she changed and sneaked out. Now, I need to find Spider-Man. But, how? I need to think like a spider. An icky, disgusting, filthy spider. Queens? No, no skyscrapers there. I'll try up near midtown first. You know, I really, really need a Miragemobile. Now I have to sneak on a bus, or maybe the subway. That's just great. Within an hour though, Mirage was in midtown, searching for Spider-Man. I need to create an illusion of some super-villain of his. But, wait, has he actually fought anybody yet? Oh! There was that dude made of sand. I'll just make it look like he's attacking some people on the street. She concentrated, and soon the illusion had formed.

Spidey was high above, on his way home to fix the pictures he had taken. I'm glad my arm is feeling good enough to web-sling, I wasn't sure it would heal in time, and I really didn't want to walk home. Just then, he spotted Mirage's illusion. Oh, Crap! I just put that guy away! And he was seriously hard to beat! How in the world did he escape that unbreakable metal container they stuffed him into? Aw, man, this really sucks.

As he swung down to face Sandman, all of a sudden, both Sandman and the people he was trying to rob were gone. Mirage heard Spidey mutter "What the. . ." before finishing the phrase with something that he probably shouldn't have said around young children.

"Um, hi, Spider-Man!"

"Mirage?" The surprise on his face was evident, even through the mask. "Why in the world did you do that? You about gave me a heart attack!"

"Well, I needed to contact you, and there's no light in the sky to let you know I need to get a hold of you. (That would be a good idea though). Anyway, I figured an illusion of a super-villain would do the trick instead."

"Well, you got my attention. You've also pissed me off, but we'll ignore that for now. What do you need? I WAS busy."

"I wanted to see how you want to go about fighting Blackout. He kicked our asses pretty bad last time out, so I figured you might want to game plan for next time around."

"You need to go home and worry about boys, not fight Blackout. You probably aren't even old enough to cuss yet. Leave Blackout to the big boys like me."

Now he'd made her mad, and her response was laced with venom. "The big boys like you? Blackout nearly killed you at the bank! And you can't be more than a couple years older than me yourself, so I don't want to hear the age crap from you. I have these powers for a reason, and I'm gonna help take out the bad guys with it."

Spider-Man was irritated but she had a point. "Fine! But, consider yourself warned. if you get hurt, don't come crying to me."

"Okay, I'm warned. Do you have any ideas?"

Peter thought for a second. "Well, we know he has the power of darkness, and he also has the ability to take other super-powers from those who have them. The question is really how he can use them. Does he only use one at a time? All at once? Does he lose them after a certain time? Also, can the darkness always be generated, or does he have a limit. Can he use the darkness in conjunction with one or all of his acquired powers?

"That's a crapload of questions."

Peter glared at Mirage through the mask, "I wasn't finished yet," he said, still quite annoyed. "As you can tell there are a lot of unknowns that come into play when fighting a super-villain. So, consider this your training. Super-villain 101, so to speak."

"Ok, so we have all these questions about his powers. Do we even have a clue as to how to beat him?"

"Oh," Spidey said with a smile, "I have a pretty good idea. Are you ready for part two of your training?" He quickly laid out the plan of attack for the next time that Blackout attacked.

The next day after school, Peter swung over to the Daily Bugle and walked up to the front desk.

"May I help you?" the lady at the desk asked Peter.

"Oh, uh, I hope so. I have pictures for Mr. Jameson for the contest about Spider-Man."

"I'm sorry; you must not have read the fine print in the ad. It says that you need to be at least 21, and be available anytime for work. It is quite specific, and I don't believe you qualify. Have a nice day."

Peter turned and walked toward the door, quite confused. He turned back around to argue, but the woman gave him the meanest look he'd ever received. He hurriedly turned around and went out the door. Well, that sucks. He looked up at where J. Jonah Jameson's office was. Of course, Spidey himself may be able to get in, then let Peter Parker take over from there. Once Jameson sees these photos, he's gonna flip! And hopefully in a good way this time. Peter ducked into a nearby alley, and quickly changed into his costume. He then climbed the building next to him and swung over to the floor of the Bugle that housed their offices. He made sure no one was looking and entered through the window into a closet, then changed back into Peter. He opened the door, and stepped out. He spotted Betty, and his smile widened a bit. Well, if I work here, at least I'll be able to enjoy the scenery. He decided to walk over to her, and see if she would take the photos.

"Uh, hello"

Betty smiled at Peter. "Well, hello. What are you doing up here?"

"I h-I have pictures."

"Okay, but we try not to use freelancers, and I know for certain you aren't a staff photographer."

"No, it-it's Spider-Man."

"Wait, YOU have Spider-Man pictures?"

"Yes! Uh, yeah, that is what I was trying to say. I have Spider-Man pictures. Here, with me. On this jump drive."

"Well, I don't think that technically you meet the requirements in the ad, but if you managed to get up here anyways, you must be resourceful. I should at least take a look at the pictures, especially since no one else has come even close to getting one. Now, can I have it?"

"What?"

"The jump drive with the pictures on it, can I have it?"

"Oh, well, yeah, sure, of course, why not?"

Betty rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and give me the pictures. I'm at least ten years older than you." Peter finally managed to give her the drive. When Betty started looking through the pictures, she gasped in surprise and quickly grabbed the phone. "Mr. Jameson, you'll want to come out here. Like, RIGHT NOW!"

She heard JJJ cursing under his breath as he walked over to her, but she just laughed and shook her head. "Yes, Miss Brant? I hope this is important. I was in the middle of my cigar break! Why is this pipsqueak here? Security! Get this twerp out of here!"

"No! Mr. Jameson, he's why I called you out here."

"Because of this KID? Are you CRAZY!"

Betty turned her computer around and showed Jameson the pics. "Not if these are any indication of what he can bring in."

Jameson's mouth hung open, and for almost an entire half second he was speechless. Then he cracked a huge, very ugly smile and slapped Peter on the back. "Well, I guess you win the contest son!"

"So I get the staff job?"

Jameson doubled over laughing, and finally managed to regain composure. "Of course not! You can't be more than 15!"

"I'm actually 18."

"Well, you have to look 21 to even think about a staff job here. Anyways, we don't usually use freelancers, but if you keep bringing in Spidey pics like this, I won't have a choice but to keep taking them off your hands. And for these, I'll even spring for a generous hundred bucks!"

Both Peter and Betty stared at Jameson, and he finally muttered the price they should have been. Peter smiled and Jameson walked into his office, complaining about how kids never appreciate money like they did in the old days. Betty gave Peter his check, and a huge smile spread across his face. Wow, I mean, expected a lot, but, Wow! One thing down, one thing to go. He glanced around once more, stepped quickly into the closet and swung out a minute later as Spider-Man. Now, if I can only find Daredevil.