FINALLY! I know it took some time to put this one out and it isn't that long but I've been very busy…and very lazy.

The other chapters should come more frequently, I promise.

Enjoy!

SPIDER-MAN: DARK WOUNDS

THE CLINIC:

December 27th, 10:47 AM

Doctor Otto Octavius; a broken and beaten man. His limp carcass wrapped up in the neon white sheets. A dozen tubes connected him to a handful of machines. In some weird way he was part machine.

But he was alive.

I had just arrived a minute ago. Ben had told me that Otto had lived and was being kept in Doctor Phineas Mason's clinic. Jonah wanted me to get pictures. I brought my camera, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to make Otto a trophy patient. The sight of him on the other side of the viewing glass was heart-wrenching. My memories relied on Otto being a slightly over weight, strong being. Now? He was barely a shell of himself; thin, weak and helpless.

"Peter?" a voice questioned to my left.

Carolyn Trainer.

"Wow…Carolyn." I stuttered, amazed. "Haven't seen you in weeks."

"Family stuff…" she shrugged. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah. Did you?"

"Got some coffee." she held up the styrofoam cup emitting steam into the vivid hallway.

We turned our attention to Octavius again. The occasional sip from Carolyn and the boom from the clinic's speakers were the only distractions from our concentrated stare.

"It's sickening isn't it…" she stated, her eyes still trained on Otto. "He'll never be the same again…"

My brain jumped. "What? Why? What happened?"

"They didn't tell you?" her widened eyes focusing on me.

"No..."

Sip of coffee.

"His legs and arms are permanently paralyzed…the last two bullets virtually destroyed his spine." she sighed heavy, gritting her teeth. "His organs and head are the only functioning parts of his body. Hell, not even his brain is right."

"Is…is that why we can't go in?" I whispered.

She nodded lightly. "The son of a bitch who did this should be killed, slow and painfully." Her temper was rising.

"Carolyn…" I started, hoping to calm her down.

"Don't 'Carolyn' me!" she barked back, throwing her coffee on the floor. I backed off. "He was one of the world's greatest minds, and one person sends it all crumbling down. Do you have ANY idea how close we were to making a successful fusion reactor? We were going to put an end to the world's energy crisis forever…"

"I know how hard this is…" I reasoned, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me, you filth." she hissed. She had turned into a completely different person within seconds. The coffee she had thrown down a few seconds ago traced her footsteps as she huffed away towards the entrance.

I looked back at Octavius, my head hung low.

"Sorry, Doc." I apologized to a virtually nonexistent listener.

xXx

I walked back to the entrance of the clinic, my hands shoved deep into my pockets and my head hung low. I felt low. Lower than usual; that's saying something. Two doctors approached from my back, talking about a patient.

"Hey, did you hear about the old coot in room nineteen?" the older one asked.

"No. What about him?" the younger one responded, excitement present.

"He's some depressed weirdo who lived in an apartment in Harlem. Decides life isn't worth living and jumps from 20 stories, head first."

"Shit."

"Barely lived. We call him 'The Vulture'" Pause for a laugh. "Old guy who tries to fly…" he explained.

"Oh!" the younger one laughed.

I smiled at the story even if it wasn't any of my business. I continued for the entrance but was stopped short by the same familiar face from the other night. Norman Osborn.

"Peter, my dear boy, how are you?" he smiled with a grin that looked more sincere than it felt.

"Oh…uh, hi…" I shrugged, eyeing the door.

"What brings you here?" He completely missed my hint.

"Uhh…my friend…mentor, actually. Doctor Otto Octavius."

"Really? What a coincidence. Otto's a close friend of mine. Just visiting him."

"Oh, well, interesting…Look, I-"

Norman cut me short. "Please, Peter. If you need to go, just say so. No need to beat around the bush." Another smile and a pat on the back to boot. He walked off, hands in his suit pockets.

"Creep…" I whispered to myself as I left the clinic, mimicking his posture.

xXx

"Otto's a close friend of mine."

"Peter?"

"Otto's a close friend of mine."

"Peter!"

"Huh? Wha-" I gasped, waking out of my trance.

"I don't know. You tell me…"

I was in Central Park with Gwen. I didn't even remember getting there.

"Uhh, I-I don't know." I shook my head, waking myself up a little more.

"So…" Gwen sighed, her warm breath creating mist as it floated through the air. "How's the Bugle?" There's a topic I hadn't thought about in a while.

"It..."

Cocaine.

"…smells nice, and…"

Betty.

"…has a nice view." I looked at Gwen nodding lightly. "Yeah…"

"I saw Mr. Osborn today…" Gwen stated, changing the topic. "He was walking past my building today."

"Weird, isn't he."

"Shit…" she laughed.

"I saw him too; in Dr. Mason's clinic. We talked for a little…"

"Nice talk?"

"No."

"Man," Gwen whispered. "Sucks to be Harry."

We laughed for a little. Both at Harry and with him, in spirit.

xXx

I approached the building stiffly. So stiffly that I hadn't noticed the moving van until I was at the door to the building. There were two vans, each an egg white color with an orange pin-stripe on the side. The back door to each was flung wide open, and four men, each one dressed in thick green jackets and tan pants carried boxes from the van's to the building. Most of the furniture was victorian age except for one bedroom set which was more modern and red than the rest.

I shrugged it off and entered the building. The change in heat caused a thick wave of wind to whip me in the face, blowing my damp, matted hair upwards. I stopped, dead in my tracks as I noticed that the elevator had a big "Out of Order" sign hung from it.

"Crap." I sighed as I turned toward the stairs. At least the apartment was only on the fifth floor.

xXx

I huffed as I pulled myself up to the fifth floor. I leaned my hands on my knees and took a few deep breaths. Spider-man climbed buildings, not stairs. I continued towards the apartment, number eight. I counted each room as I made my way down the hall.

1…2…3…4…5…6…

My monotonous counting was cut short when I caught the shape of a person emerging from apartment number seven out of the corner of my eye.

"Woah!" I gasped as I stopped in my tracks.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologized as she looked up at me.

In front of me stood a teenage girl with an hour glass body and wavy red hair. She had very faint freckles along the top of her checks and bridge of her nose. Her lips were thick and covered in a medium shade of red. She wore a long sleeve black t-shirt with tight jeans and light brown 'UGG' brand boots. A thick, fur jacket that matched her boots was slung over her body as her right arm was propped up towards her face, holding her hair back.

"You're…you're the ones moving in." I noted pointing a limp finger towards her direction.

"So we have a genius in the building I see."

"I like to think so…"

"Well, If you don't mind, I need to get the rest of my bedroom upstairs before someone steals it. You'd be surprised at the amount of creeps I've already seen in this city." She set down her purse and began to put on her coat.

I smiled lightly at the idea that I had no idea of the creeps in this city. "Hey, I'll help you with your bedroom stuff. Along the way, maybe we could probably introduce ourselves?"

She stood up, her eyes not leaving mine. "Yeah. Sure…sounds great." She extended her arm our in front of me "Mary Jane Watson. And you are…?"

My hand connected with hers. "Peter Parker. May I help you with your bags?"

"You sure can" she smiled as I showed her down the stairs.

xXx

I found myself talking about nothing but science all the way down the stairs. I talked about science when I was nervous. I didn't feel nervous and I had no real reason to be nervous. We reached the ground floor and I was still talking about science. She hadn't gotten a word in and I could tell she was bored.

"So that's why a pos-" she held a box out in my direction, cutting me off mid-sentence. "Huh? Oh…I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm talking about school." I apologized sheepishly. "You must think I'm one of those kids that spends all day locked in his room trying to find the next big thing for a Noble Science prize or something." I grabbed the box with box hands and was surprised at how light it was.

"Ah, doesn't matter. You taught me more in 5 minutes than my science teacher did in all of 9th grade." She picked up a box for herself and started for the stairs again.

"Where are you from again?" I asked, trying to stay away from science.

"Maryland. Why?"

"Just trying not to become Albert Einstein."

She laughed sweetly and made her way up the stairs. Her laugh reminded me of Gwen's.

xXx

We stopped in front of her door, both of us out of breath and set down the boxes.

"Listen, Peter. I'm having a party Saturday night. A bunch of my friends from Maryland are coming up to say good-bye. You should come, bring a few friends."

Then it hit me like a train.

"I have a girlfriend…" I blurted out. My mouth shut instantly, and my throat closed. "Why the hell did I say that?" I whispered to myself.

"Oh, so…you think I'm threatening her position?" She looked as confused as I was.

"No! I…uh, I didn't…I don't know…" I sat down against the wall, trying to avoid eye contact.

She sat down next to me. We stared across the hall silently for what seemed like an eternity.

"MARY JANE?" a scruff voice called out from inside her apartment. "Where the hell are you, girl?"

"Right here, Dad." She stood up whipping the dust off her pants and picking her purse up again. She turned and looked at me. "I hope you come to the party…bring your girlfriend. Should be nice to meet the person I'm trying to replace." She was joking, it was obvious but I couldn't help but feel like there was some truth to the matter. I stood up and made my way home. Ben was inside to greet me.

"Hey, Pete. Meet the new neighbors?" He was watching his favorite show on TV, 60 Minutes.

I stopped walking towards my room and looked at Ben. "Yeah…I did."

"Seem like nice people?" he asked dumbly concentrating more on the show.

"Yeah, they do."

"Good…good." He had become completely involved in the show.

I continued towards my bedroom and began to think if I really wanted to go to the party. One thing was certain, I wasn't going without Gwen. I'd call her about it tomorrow.

xXx