Posted: 8/01/10.

Partnership and Breakup

Spidey's life had settled into a rather comfortable routine. Wake up, go into the city, stop criminals, return home. Rinse, wash, repeat. There was only one thing that threatened to disrupt this cycle: Mary Jane Watson.

The girl made him promise to eventually tell Peter that he existed. "How long is 'eventually', anyway?" Spidey mumbled as he woke up. However long, MJ was clear that she didn't want him to put it off forever.

Problem: Putting it off forever was exactly Spidey's intention.

This was Spidey's life. The way things were now, he was his own person. But if Peter got involved it would feel like admitting Spidey was just a piece of him. "And who wants that?" he said.

On the other hand, if he stalled for too long, MJ would get frustrated and tell Peter whether Spidey liked it or not. And since he slept during the day he didn't really have a way of stopping her.

Stressing over this wouldn't solve anything. Spidey decided to cheer himself up. He concentrated and the gelatinous suit covered his skin and pajamas. Once the costume was set he opened the window and crawled outside the wall. But something happened to interrupt his cycle sooner than he feared.

A flashlight's beam glared into Spidey's face, making him wince. It was so sudden he almost fell off the wall, but the beam lowered after a moment. He looked around for the source and saw two people standing on the driveway. Although it was long past dusk, there was a streetlight close enough for the boy to make out their features.

The one holding the flashlight was a woman with orange hair tied in a bun. She was next to a tall man with short blond hair. Spidey suddenly remembered being in a lab somewhere, with a gun pointed at his face and a tank of black goo behind him. These were the first two people he ever saw.

"What are you doing here?"

"We came to talk with you," Natasha Quarter coolly replied, "Peter Benjamin Parker."

My middle name is Benjamin? That's even lamer than Peter! But this wasn't the time to worry about that.

Spidey jumped to the ground. "How do you know that name?" He intentionally didn't call it "my name," for a few reasons.

"When you were in Oscorp that day," Howard Backyard spoke up, "we figured it was because of Midtown's field trip. So all we had to do was look up your face in the yearbook."

The vigilante crossed his arms. "You know, I'm still really mad at you for that time you tried to shoot me."

"Well, we're still mad at you for stealing that suit, so we're even."

Pause.

"Oh, yeah. It is stolen. I tried not to think about that too much... Okay, no hard feelings then. If that's all, I'm gonna go now."

"We know who you are, Parker," Quarter said. "We did our research. That's how we knew we'd find you here. We also know your aunt and uncle live here. If you don't cooperate, we'll just wake them up and tell them what we know about Spider-Man's secret identity. I'm sure they'd be very interested."

As Spidey struggled for a response, Backyard continued with, "Even if you beat us up like last time, we'll just come back later. Or we could go to the police, or the newspapers, or anywhere really. True, we don't have any proof that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, but the accusation alone will turn some heads."

They were holding his weakness by the neck. And to think, a few minutes ago he was worried about MJ. Spidey would gladly take her over these two.

"What do you want?"

"We have a lot to say. Let's go somewhere a bit more comfortable."

The comfortable place they had in mind was a 24-hour fast food restaurant. "Couldn't you have dragged me to a real restaurant? You know, something classier?"

"You know any that are open this late?"

"Well you could have at least bought me something more than coffee."

"Shut up. We're underpaid."

Since it was very late they were the only three customers inside. They sat at the table farthest from the register, so there was no chance of being overheard. Spidey was no longer in costume. To anyone watching he was just a barefoot teenager dressed in pajamas, sitting with two people twice his age in white lab coats. In all they were quite an unusual sight.

But, hey, New York. Who'd notice?

"I'm sorry if we seemed hostile tonight," Backyard said.

"Apologize for shooting me first."

"Uh, yes, we're sorry for that too, of course. The thing is, we need your help."

"I'm listening." Spidey looked at the steam rising from his coffee. He gently started blowing.

"Your suit is actually a highly advanced weapon called a bio-graft," Quarter started. "Basically, a bio-graft is a method of using technology to upgrade the human body. But, after using the suit's abilities, you probably figured that out already."

Spidey didn't respond. He continued blowing on his drink as if he hadn't heard her.

Quarter glared at him for a moment, but resumed. "Backyard and I created it under orders from a very powerful crime lord called the Kingpin. But attaching a bio-graft to a person counts as human experimentation, so it's illegal. If our bosses at Oscorp found out about it, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"In the past," Backyard said, "Oscorp Industries secretly created a lot of prototype bio-grafts, but the founder stopped it and made Oscorp strictly legit. It's doubly bad for us to be involved with this now."

Spidey kept blowing, completely indifferent.

"You are listening, aren't you?" Quarter growled at him.

"Making bio-grafts is bad. Continue." The teenager cautiously took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, but he pulled the cup away instantly. Wincing, he reached for a glass of water and quickly popped an ice cube in his mouth.

Backyard and Quarter stared at the boy. "Just how sensitive is your tongue?"

"And here I thought our coffee was a little cold."

"I said continue," Spidey snapped. He couldn't blow with the ice cube in his mouth, so he opted for dropping a few more cubes in his coffee cup.

"The point is, we want out of the Kingpin's organization. Ever since we 'lost' that suit he's been treating us worse than ever."

"So quit." Spidey swallowed the melting ice cube.

"We can't quit extortion," Backyard deadpanned. "He says he only wants one bio-graft. But even if we gave yours to him, I have no doubt he would just force us to make more."

"If we could turn the Kingpin over to the police, we'd be free. But he only contacts us through the phone. To turn him in we need to lure him out of hiding first. So... Our plan is to use you as bait, and capture him as he comes to 'collect' you."

"How do I know you're not letting him 'collect' me for real?"

"If we wanted him to catch you, all we would have to do is tell him where you live," Quarter answered.

Spidey considered this. "Good point. Okay, I'll do it."

"If you don't-" It took Backyard a second to realize what he really said. "Wait, you will? No complaints?"

"Yeah." Spidey smiled like it should have been obvious. "Don't you watch the news? Taking down criminals is what I do. It's what makes me, 'me'."

He took another sip of his coffee, winced, and dropped even more ice cubes in the cup.

That same night, Macendale parked his van outside one of the entrances to Central Park. He slammed his car door shut and walked through the gate. The best lighting in the area came from the moon shining through the trees.

"Chameleon!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

"Right here. I've been waiting here since I received your call." The Chameleon calmly stepped out from behind a tree. Even with this much shade, his white mask and spotless white trench coat were perfectly visible.

"The other day," the masked man continued, "you were supposed to deliver the 'aerial-assault glider' the organization stole from Oscorp. I noticed it never reached its destination. Nice work. With a weapon like that, you should be able to break through the Kingpin's security even without the bio-suit."

"Give it a rest," Macendale snapped. "Did you really think you could get away with double-crossing me?"

"Hm?"

"There's been a rumor going around the Kingpin's organization saying that I want to take over. There are only two people who could have started a rumor like that, and it wasn't me. Care to explain this?"

"I did more than start it. I'm also the 'channel' that has been spreading the rumor ever since." He didn't sound the least bit guilty.

"What possessed you to do something like that? If that rumor reaches Fisk, he'll know I'm plotting against him!"

"He already knew that from the very beginning."

"What was that?"

"I've been telling him most of your secrets in order to earn the Kingpin's trust," Chameleon replied, calmly as anything. "But don't misunderstand, I still need you to kill him. That's why I didn't tell him about the glider. I started that rumor simply to motivate you into action. It was safer than speaking with you directly. You do realize how dangerous it was to call me here, don't you?"

That nonchalant attitude was really starting to annoy Macendale. "If you want me to take down Fisk, you shouldn't bother earning his trust! If Fisk wasn't on his guard I'd have no chance of failing!"

"There is always a chance of failing. This way, even if you die, the Kingpin will not suspect me. And then I can try again with another assailant. And if he fails, I'll try again with another."

Macendale stared at him in disbelief. "So I'm not your boss at all, I'm just your 'weapon'."

"That's right."

"You don't care what happens to me as long as I attack Fisk."

"That's right."

"You were pretending to work for me before, so why bother telling me now?"

"Because you asked for it, didn't you?"

After a few moments, Macendale broke out in laughter. It didn't last long.

"So that's your game," he said bitterly. "Alright, I'll let you off the hook for telling Fisk, but not for free."

"You want money?"

"You've been using me like a tool. Well, real tools have to be paid for. Ten grand, or I tell Fisk what you really think of him."

"That's fine. I don't care about money. I don't care about anything except getting my revenge against the Kingpin and I WILL get it."

His voice rose a little at the end of the sentence. It was the first display of emotion Chameleon had shown in a long time. But Macendale wasn't sure what emotion it was.

Chameleon's cell phone started ringing. He casually looked at the display. "It's Backyard and Quarter."

Macendale held out his hand. "Let me have it."

"What for?"

He grabbed the phone. "Because I don't trust you, that's what for." He put the phone to his ear.

"This is the Kingpin," he lied. "What? ... Really? ... Really? ... Are you sure? ... Alright, bring him to the rendezvous point. I'll meet you there."

He hung up and looked over at Chameleon, stunned. "You'll never believe it. Those two idiots said they just captured Spider-Man."

"That's a shame," he replied. "If you got his bio-suit a week ago it would have saved me a lot of trouble."

Macendale grabbed Chameleon's arm. "Let's go."

"Why am I coming too?"

"I don't want you out of my sight until I see that money, traitor." He pulled the masked man towards his van.

Neither of them ever noticed the black limousine, perfectly camouflaged in the shade of a nearby building. The limo was too far away for the occupants to hear them, but not so far that they couldn't see the van driving off.

Wilson Fisk looked to his driver. "Follow them."

Disclaimer: I do not own the Spider-Man franchise.