Note! The last chapter was so short because I wanted to give you something before this one. This one took a while to write and I'm quite proud of it. Still no Spider-man though. Sorry.
SPIDER-MAN: DARK WOUNDS
HOT OFF THE PRESS:
12:01PM
I told Ben I had something to take care of something. That was half true. I could have rode with Ben in a cramped, nauseating taxi cab but something about that just didn't appeal to me.
Swinging through New York was relaxing and mind-numbing. It wasn't simple though. All the target practice helped my aim. Without it, I might as well be a splattered mess on the corner of 5th and Broadway.
Swinging through New York in my street clothes was not an option, so for quick-change purposes, I wear my costume under my clothes. The hoodie is quite difficult to hide under my shirt but I make it work.
xXx
Daily Bugle.
It was a large tan building in the middle of Times Square. It was kept nicely and sported a large red "Daily Bugle" sign on the roof.
Ben wanted me here to finally meet the owner, J. Jonah Jameson.
From what I heard, Jonah was a stubborn, hypocritical, asshole. So, you can imagine the joy I felt when Ben told me I would have to meet him today.
I began to walk through the newly cleaned revolving doors when my cell phone chimed.
Beep, beep, beep.
I stopped walking to answer it. The phone continued to obnoxiously beep in my face until i pressed the "Send" button on the number-pad.
"Hello?" I began.
"Pete, it's Harry." the voice on the other end moaned.
"Hey…? You OK, man?" I worried.
"Uhm, yeah…yeah, I guess." Harry responded, sounding spacey.
I entered the Bugle realizing that Harry was taking his time. Time I didn't have.
"OK, then why did you call me, Harry?" I wondered.
"I'm…I'm worried, man."
"About what? Your Dad?" I knew that was his problem. With the amount of money Harry had, family problems were his only concern. Lucky bastard.
"Yeah, man. Something weird is goin' on man…"
"Hold on, Harry." I shot out quickly.
I held the phone to my chest and approached the front desk.
"Mr. Jameson's office." I told the woman at the desk.
"Name?"
"Parker, uh, Peter."
"Ah, yes. He's expecting you." she smiled. "Go on."
"Thanks!" I smiled back.
I pushed the "Up" button next to the chrome elevator and held the phone to my ear again.
"Back."
"Cool. Um, anyway…" Harry started, but before long he lost his train of thought.
"Your Dad…" I slowly let out, hoping it would get him started again.
"Right, sorry. I'm just concerned. He never comes home. He leaves early in the morning and comes home…early in the morning." Harry explained.
"What do you think is going on? When did this start?"
"Uh, I dunno. Couple weeks ago? Maybe a week before you came back to school?"
The elevator was reaching the top floor. Considering the "excellent" stories I've heard about Jonah, I couldn't afford a screw-up.
"Harry, I really need to go." I apologized. "Have you tried talking to…Gwen?"
"No, but-" he started.
Ding. Top floor.
"See ya, Harry." I closed the phone, feeling awful.
The top floor of the Daily Bugle was phenomenal. It was a large, sprawling room cluttered with desks, computers and people. The gray rug offered a stark contrast to dull, yellow walls. The room looked a hell-of-a lot better than the web-designer floor. Pastey walls and splintered wood have nothing on this room.
"Peter!" Ben called across the room, waving me over.
I snaked through the office, avoiding cubicles and dodging oncoming workers. Eventually, I made my way to Ben.
"Hey." I huffed.
"Peter, I want you to meet someone." Ben smiled, moving to the side revealing a young woman with curly, dark-brown hair and mesmerizing eyes. She was sitting at a desk
"Ms. Brant, Peter. Peter, Ms. Brant." Ben introduced. I met her gaze and couldn't help but smile.
"Hi-hi, Ms. Brant. Nice to meet you-you." I stuttered, not being able to take my eyes off hers.
"Please." she laughed. "Call me Betty."
I couldn't help but feel like an ass.
"Ok…Betty."
"Uh, Peter, I hope this isn't a bad time, but I think we should be showing Mr. Jameson those pictures now…" Ben interrupted, his eyes darting from me to Betty.
"Wha-oh, oh, yeah! Yeah, let's go." I jolted. I couldn't care less, but I didn't want to seem creepy around Betty. Creepier anyway.
Me and Ben worked our way to the other end of the room to a wall of windows and a single door. All the blinds were down and the door read "J. Jonah Jameson"
"Now, Jonah is quite the hysterical type. Keep your head down and do as instructed, okay?" Ben warned.
I nodded.
Yippee.
Ben opened the door swiftly letting the smell of cigarette butts and week-old coffee hit me in the face.
The room was plastered in a rich red color and bright wood. To the right was a large book-shelf containing books, magazines and even newspapers. On the left wall was about a dozen, framed newspaper's. To the back wall, along a row of revealing windows was a dark-colored desk. It was hidden under a layer of coffee mugs, paper, office supplies and one large phone.
A man in his fifties lay face-first on the desk, clothed in a plaid shirt and dark-grey work pants.
At first, I thought he was dead. Ben wasn't worried at all. He walked over to the slump-of-a-man and picked him up by his greasy hair.
He was laying in white powder resembling sugar.
J. Jonah Jameson was a cocaine addict.
"Jesus, Jonah." Ben sighed. "I told you to lay off this stuff."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gimme a second" Jonah spat quickly, laying back down in "white-killer" as Ben calls it.
Jonah took a big sniff and sat straight up.
"Woah! Now that…that is some good shit" Jonah laughed. "Quick, Ben, write a reminder that I need to tip Phil next time. This stuff is the freakin' BOMB!"
Jonah continued to smile until he turned his attention to me.
"What? What the hell are you looking at? Think this is some charity?"
"Jonah…" Ben sighed.
"I'm not gonna give you some of my well-earned money so you can go smoke pot or whatever it is you little shits do." Jonah continued, spitting in my face.
"Jonah!" Ben yelled.
"Huh? What?" Jonah stammered.
"This is Peter Parker…" Ben said, pointing towards me.
Jonah looked at me clueless. Ben noticed.
"The photographer."
"Oh, oh, oh. Why didn't you say so, son?"
I stared at him, hopelessly. I eyed the cocaine quickly, grabbing Jonah's attention.
"Ah, I see now. This makes sense now." Jonah smiled, scooping it into his hand.
My first thought was that he was gonna dispose of it, instead he walked over to me and offered it.
"Take it."
"Wha-no, no, no." I nodded, pushing his hand away. "I've got pictures."
"Oh…" Jonah frowned. "Forget this." he dropped it on the floor like trash and walked back over to his desk, taking a seat.
He turned towards Ben quickly.
"I'm trying to run a business here, Urich! Fire the person who is bringing this crap in my office."
Ben opened his mouth, ready to say something and instead just nodded, walking out of the office."
"Good luck." he whispered in my ear before leaving.
There was a weird silence between the two of us once Ben had closed the door.
"Get on with it, boy!" Jonah demanded, breaking the silence.
I unzipped my backpack shifting past my camera and web-shooters. My hand hit a pack of glossy plastic. I took them out slowly, trying not to bend them.
I handed them to Jonah carefully. Jonah took them without haste and studied the pictures. After a few seconds, he stared at me in disbelief.
"What the hell are these?" Jonah gasped. "Who wants to see pictures of old people, skylines and…ducks?"
"Well…" I began.
"Get out of my office and come back with real pictures." Jonah added, dropping my pictures in the trash.
I sighed, slightly disappointed. As I was turning around, my eyes caught a glimpse of something. There on the wall was a framed newspaper dated "September 27th"
The day after Aunt May and Uncle Ben were killed.
The article was titled "Human-bug Among Us?" and sported a picture of a man swinging between buildings. My initial reaction was that someone nabbed a picture of me in my old Spider-man uniform until i looked closer. It was an artists interpretation. I was clad in red and blue tights with stitched on black webbing and a large black spider motif on the chest. The eyes were large and white.
I looked like a fag.
"Jonah." I started, happiness spurring inside me.
"What?" Jonah answered angrily.
"This guy-the human-bug…he's still around."
"How would you know?" Jonah responded, interested and skeptical all at once.
"Because I see him around town. His name is Spider-man, and his outfit-it is a lot different…a lot!"
"Really?" Jonah stood up and began to walk over to me. "What's your point?"
"I can get pictures." I smiled. "Up close and personal."
There was silence for a while. Then, completely out of character, Jonah wrapped his arm around my back and squeezed, smiling like an idiot.
"Hey! I like you." Jonah laughed. "You're gonna make me rich kid-rich! Aha!"
He strutted over to his desk and sat down. He smiled for a while and looked at me. "Get out of my office!"
xXx
My first encounter with Jameson wasn't as bad as expected. He was actually pretty fun. I had spent more time than I had expected there. It was already 2:33 PM, Kong's party was in an hour and a half. Harry said he was coming. I hoped he still was even after I hung up on him. Gwen said "she would see." She wasn't coming.
I walked out to the street, the beaming sun blinding me. I pulled out my phone and called Harry.
C'mon, Harry.
Beep!
Pick up, Harry
Beep!
Harry!
"Pete?"
His voice sounded forced.
"What's…what's up, Peter?" he asked again. Harry's voice still seemed like it was being pushed through a printing press.
"Harry…? Are…are you alright?"
"Yea-Yeah, I guess-yeah." Harry sniffled.
Shit, Harry, what happened to you?
"Harry, I'm concerned." I stated. "Come over. We need to talk."
"Do I have-"
"Yes."
I hung up. Harry took priority over Kong's party anyday.
xXx
I waited by the door, running my hands through my hair. I was worried that Harry wouldn't show.
Ding!
Thank you, God!
I reached for the door knob before realizing I was getting ahead of myself. I pushed my left eye to the peep-hole and was relieved to see Harry standing there, hair unkempt, hands dug deep into his leather pockets. I opened the door, my eyes meeting his. We were silent for a while.
"It's because I'm black, isn't it." he smiled.
"You son of a bitch." I laughed.
Harry was so bad at breaking silence, he was good at it.
"Come in." I ushered. "Take a seat."
He walked in, rocking side to side and fell into the couch. I sat next to him, staring hard into his eyes.
"What's going on, Harry?"
"Nothing…nothing at all." Harry slowly responded.
He was lying through his teeth.
"Harry, don't gimme that bullshit!" I yelled, aggravated. "Something is wrong. It's obvious."
Harry sat there for a minute, staring at the ground.
"My Dad." he said eventually.
"Still?"
I was stunned. Harry never was a fan of his Dad, but this was getting weird.
"What happened, Harry…?"
"He revealed everything. I feel like such an idiot. How could I not see it? All this time, it was right under my nose." he babbled, standing up and pacing the room.
He continued like this for a while until he lost his breath and fell over.
"What did he reveal, Harry?" I questioned, trying to figure out exactly what he was talking about.
"He…Oh my God…"
"Harry!"
"He's an underworld crime boss!" Harry shouted, turning around immediately.
"Harry, how much have you been drinking?"
"What? I dunno, a lot, but I know that happened. I-I-oh, God…"
"Harry, look, I want to believe you, but…this is weird. I can't see your Dad being a crime lord." I explained, scratching my head.
"But…I know. I…shit…"
Harry wasn't in control of himself anymore. He was breaking down from the inside.
"C'mon, Harry. We're going to Kong's party." I helped him up off his feet.
"Are you sure? I mean…look at me!" Harry slurred.
He was right, he was a mess.
"It'll keep your mind off of your troubles." I reassured. "It'll be fun."
xXx
5:17 PM
Kong's party was packed. There must have been the entire junior class there, and then some more. Kong's parents obviously weren't home judging by the amount of alcohol present.
Me and Harry entered awkwardly feeling like the outcasts, even though Harry was not.
"Parker!" a voice called out in the kitchen.
Kong.
"Hey…Kong."
"Having fun?" he beamed.
"We just got here." I explained. "Fun hasn't kicked in yet."
"Ok, well-" Kong began before he was interrupted by Liz Allen.
"Hi, Peter." she slurred, batting her eyes.
Liz Allen. I had admired her through most of high school. It was hard not too. Her wavy brown hair sawing with each step and her big blue eyes breaking hearts. She was gorgeous.
"I have a science question…" she flirted, putting her hand on my chest and leaning towards me. "How do I look?"
"Uh…."
She fell into a fit of laughing at my response.
Drunk. Should've known.
"I have to meet someone…" I said in a hurry and left. I could hear her call my name as I made my way back to Harry.
xXx
5:21 PM
I couldn't find Harry. He must have left. I shook my head out of stupidity and thought maybe it was best for me to leave too.
I made my way towards the door, trying not to draw Kong's attention.
"There you are, Peter!"
Liz. Damn.
"Oh…hey! I was…I was just looking for you." I lied, smiling.
"Really…?"
Crap.
"Sure?"
"Well then…" She purred
I was frozen. She leaned into me again, this time pushing me back against a wall. She kept leaning in and eventually her lips met mine. It was a weird feeling, I don't know if I liked it.
"Look at Liz. Sucha slut." I heard from the crowd.
That's when I noticed something by the door way. A familiar face, shocked and upset.
Gwen.
Shit.
I pushed Liz off just as Gwen began to walk away.
"Gwen!" I called.
No response.
I turned my attention to Liz who was sleeping on the cough already.
"Hey, shitface!" someone called out to me.
No. Not now!
Flash.
"You got some balls to be showing up here, Parker." he spat.
"That's cool, Flash." I commented, wiping the spit off my face. "Thanks for telling me."
"Think your some…some wise-guy?"
He shoved me.
"Wise-guy is such…such a…bad word." I sputtered, joking. "I prefer…smart-ass?"
Flash shoved me again, this time out the back door and onto the porch. Knowing he would shove me again, I continued down the stairs onto the lawn.
"Right here, right now." he threatened.
"Sorry, Flash. I don't swing that way."
I was screwing with him only so that my anger couldn't get the best of me.
He threw a punch, a left hook. I took the punch and stumbled to my right. I didn't feel a thing.
"Next one wont be so easy."
A crowd was forming by now. I was debating whether to kick Flash's ass or take the beating.
A jab to the face caught me off guard sending me to the ground.
"Taking after your Aunt and Uncle?" he joked.
Bastard.
I got to my feet and glared at Flash. He was still smiling.
"Fuck…you." I swore.
Flash threw another left hook. I leaned backwards letting it slid past my face, and sprung back up delivering a "one-two" to his stomach followed my an uppercut to the chin.
Flash was too stunned to block or move and was one the ground in no time. He started to get up by I pushed him back down with my foot.
"The jokes aren't funny, Flash." I told him.
"Your just mad because I have the perfect family." he coughed.
I laughed. A real laugh.
"You're kidding, right." I managed to get out. "What's the perfect part? Your alcoholic Dad? Your unappreciative mother? Wait, it's the fact that you were an accident, right?"
Flash's face flushed. He knew I was right, and he couldn't stand it. I let him up and he scrambled to his feet and stared at me. I stared him back, you could feel the hate between us.
My Aunt and Uncle was his weapon.
His parents was mine.
Neither of us wanted to be hurt anymore. Physically or mentally. Our stare broke down. I just wanted to leave.
That's when he did, what I still think, is the most human thing he has ever done.
He held his hand out. A handshake. My mind was blown. Flash Thompson showing real heart. I couldn't resist.
With a shaking hand I grasped his hand and we shook.
I let go and walked past him.
It was getting late, Spider-man was needed.