Disclaimer: The more reviews, the more I feel I absolutely need to continue on. I intend to of course since we're not even halfway through it yet. By 'we' I mean me and the voices in my head, they counsel me, they understand, they talk to me. Sorry, couldn't help.
Spider-Man and all supporting characters are the property of Marvel.
Chapter XIII
Peter wandered out to the balcony to get away from the crowded room, at least until Jonah inevitably ordered him back in to continue with the photos. But the job was the farthest thing from Peter's mind now. His thoughts trailed off to Gwen arriving to the event… with Harry. He didn't see it coming. It was as if Venom appeared out of nowhere and forcibly tore his heart out. Then Carnage appeared soon after and tore the rest him to shreds while laughing in his face. That's how Peter was feeling. But maybe he had it coming. It was Peter's own indecision that led to Gwen breaking off their relationship, and he had to live with it. He just never expected Gwen to end up with Harry.
A small part of Peter was at least a bit happier that it was his best friend, but another part of him was angry with Harry and himself. Peter tried to as optimistic as he could be, trying to see the overall bright side of it. At least he was hoping there was a bright side. Gwen approached him from the charity event and casually joined him at the railing. Neither said anything at first. They spent much their time just looking out into the city, admiring the lights of the cars on the streets below. They caught sight of a couple of airliners in the night sky, their strobe lights blinking steadily to show their location. Seeing the planes in the sky brought a smile to both Peter's and Gwen's faces despite the remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. They were only kids then, never even meeting at the time.
After a short time of silence between them, Peter elected to break the silence. "So, how have you been since we broke up?"
Gwen smirked a bit knowing that question was coming. She looked at Peter and replied, "I've been good. What about you?"
Peter felt the need to really think about the question before providing an answer. "I've been hanging in there," he said before changing the subject. "So… Harry…"
Gwen knew that was coming, but it didn't bring her to smile a second time. "It just… happened, you know? Harry was there for me when I was down."
"I get it, Gwen. Harry's always been a great friend to both of us. And I'd totally understand if you feel better with him than with me; I've been a pretty terrible boyfriend." Peter said.
"No, you haven't. You've been somewhat inattentive, maybe, but not terrible." Gwen clarified.
"That didn't stop me from losing you."
"You didn't lose me, Peter; I broke up with you. You didn't give me a choice, and I told you that I wouldn't wait for you," Gwen stated, although she inwardly regretted her last statement. "Look, I still love you, but as a friend. And maybe that'd be for the best."
Peter felt defeated, beaten much worse than any super villain that he'd ever met. Before he could protest, Harry appeared at the glass doorway and said, "Hey Pete, you mind if I borrow Gwen for a minute?"
Peter couldn't answer, so Gwen said, "I'll be right there, Harry," Then with a last look, she told Peter, "I'm sorry, Peter."
She went to join Harry just as Mary Jane was appearing at the doorway. Briefly stopping, Gwen seemed to whisper something to Mary Jane. Peter couldn't hear it clearly enough, not that it mattered anyway. Peter was certain that he'd caught a slight train of thought from Mary Jane, as if she was considering something very important. Then Gwen and Harry returned to the charity event while Mary Jane remained where she stood. She didn't approach Peter at first and instead returned to the event. Peter was just about to follow, if only to keep Jonah from shouting at him again. Before he returned, Peter stopped short and looked up.
One of those sensors that Norman had installed was directly above Peter. Normally, a sensor that was as advanced as the ones Norman had would have a set of blinking light akin to an airliner's strobe lights. But Peter noticed that this sensor had no lights blinking at all. It had the lights; they just weren't blinking. The only reason that the lights were out was due to the sensor itself being shut down. Peter began to suspect that something wasn't right but before he could figure it out…
"Parker, quit standing around and get in here. Osborn's about to make a statement, and I want photos, ASAP." Jonah shouted.
"I'm on my way, Jonah." Peter replied.
"Hurry up." Jonah quickly returned to the party after that.
Peter followed shortly after, handling his camera as he entered. The guests were already clapping and not because of Peter's arrival. He wasn't that important to them given the vast difference in social standing. Coming up to the center of the small sea of people, Peter got his camera out as Norman Osborn took to the stage in front of the gathered. There was a slight increase in the volume of the applause, so Peter took several photos of the guests in attendance. He was very quick to snap a photo of Wilson Fisk speaking privately to Norman Osborn about something important. Following that snapshot, Peter snapped a few more photos of Martin Li and then Capt. DeWolff before refocusing on Norman. The industrialist titan that Norman was took a bow to the guests, while Peter's mind trailed off briefly to Gwen.
She was standing beside Harry, who had a slight but noticeable scowl on his own face at the sight of his father. Mary Jane appeared beside Peter but surprising said nothing to him, immature or otherwise. When Peter glanced at MJ, she gave him a smile and a wink. Whether it was to keep up the appearance of playfulness, Peter wasn't sure. So, he refocused again as Norman Osborn address the gathered guests to his home.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for coming to this evening's charity event is support of Autism Speaks. As you're aware, Autism Speaks was started in 2005 by Bob and Suzanne Wright, both of whom had a grandchild born with autism. Their friend Bernie Marcus donated 25 million to financially launch this wonderful organization. Autism Speak has since grown into the world's leading organization in the science and advocacy of the disease," Norman paused for a few moments to gather himself and allow the statement to sink in. He soon continued, "This charity event tonight is to be a sign that OsCorp Industries full supports Autism Speaks and the effort put in place to further the research into autism, with the hope that an eventual cure can be discovered."
Peter continued to snap picture after picture as Norman continued his speech. That was when the light suddenly went out in the entire room and possibly the entire building. Nobody was panicking as of yet, and Peter was sure he'd heard someone crack a joke about Norman forgetting to pay his utility bill. It sounded female but Peter wasn't sure if it had Mary Jane or even DeWolff. But he was sure that something was about to go very wrong when his spider-sense went off. Peter quickly scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary before he disappeared into the crowd. Mary Jane lost sight of Peter and quickly went over to where Gwen and Harry were standing.
Norman was both confused and annoyed with what was happening. Then the windows behind him were shattered with the force of a heavy gust of wind, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. People ran for cover or shielded themselves from the projectile, while Norman was thrown to the floor before he recovered and looked at the winged figure standing in his place. There wasn't any mistaking the image of the Vulture looming over Norman. Vulture had no absence of malice is his eyes as he leered down at Norman. Norman attempted to escape before Vulture jumped from the stage and grabbed him by the collar of his suit jacket and hoisted him up.
"It's been a while, Norman. Did you miss me?" Vulture asked.
"Like the plague, Toomes. How the hell did you manage to get passed my security systems?"
"You're not the only one capable of insider trading. You ruined my career by stealing my designs. Had Spider-Man not interfered the first time, you'd be dead at my feet and I'd be in the Caribbean now," Vulture hoisted Norman higher. "But that doesn't matter. No one is going to stop me this time."
"DAD!" Harry was making a run for Vulture, and he was quickly swept off his feet by a swat of Vulture's wing.
"A son coming to save his father… touching but futile. Not even the wayward child of Norman Osborn can save him." Vulture ranted on before a line of webbing stuck to his wing.
"How about a friendly neighborhood wall crawler?"
Spider-Man suddenly appeared directly behind Vulture and pulled on the web, yanking Vulture away from Osborn. Vulture fell backward on the floor but sliced the web in half, while Spider-Man bounded forward and tackled him to the floor. The guests backed away while Harry helped Norman to his feet and escorted him away with Mary Jane and Gwen following. Spider-Man had Vulture pinned to the floor where he punched him in the face repeatedly right before Vulture swung one wing at him. The quick swipe was enough to get Spider-Man to back away, while Vulture quickly took flight. From above the gathered guests, Vulture caught sight of Osborn attempting to get away.
Before Vulture could attack again, Spider-Man swung right into him and drove a kick into the villains back. Vulture spiraled from the momentum before he recovered and turned his attention to Spider-Man. It bought Harry time to get his dad out of harm's way but in the confusion, Gwen and Mary Jane were separated from them. Spider-Man swung around Vulture without giving the villain a target, forcing Vulture to chase him around the room. It was an advantage since Vulture couldn't fly as well indoors. Spider-Man often managed to land a few blows to his elderly foe before clinging to a wall while Vulture recovered.
"Wow, Beaky! All that time spent in the slammer really softened you up. Maybe you're losing a step in your old age." Spider-Man quipped and fired off a pair of web lines at Vulture.
Vulture swiftly sliced the lines into halves before lunging directly at Spider-Man. "I'm not too old to learn from our past encounters, wall weasel." Then Vulture sailed right toward Spider-Man.
Spider-Man bounded away right before Vulture dug his talons into the wall, and then swung to the opposite wall. "Nice banter for an old guy."
Vulture got himself free from the wall and flew for Spider-Man, who fired a web line and swung toward Vulture in kind. This time, Vulture was ready and swiftly cut the line before Spider-Man could react. Spider-Man careened into a table, sending food and drinks flying into the air and smashing down to the floor. Vulture landed front and center amid the terrified guests and scanned for Osborn. He found him and Harry escaping into a room. Snarling at the loss of his prey, Vulture decided to take the next available hostage. That hostage turned out to be Gwen. Vulture lunged forward and his momentum knocked several people, Mary Jane included, to the floor. Gwen tried to escape but Vulture took her by the arm and pulled her to him.
Spider-Man recovered from his fall in time find Vulture near the broken window and holding Gwen. "Stay away, Spider-Man." Vulture demanded while holding Gwen tightly so she wouldn't escape.
"Vulture, don't hurt the girl. I'm the one you want." Spider-Man declared, though he was immensely fearful for Gwen's life.
"That's where you're greatly mistaken. You see, I came for Osborn and I'd very much prefer that he was my hostage. But you had to get involved so I had to improvise." Vulture pulled on Gwen's neck and jaw to prove he wasn't bluffing.
"Okay, you want a hostage? Let the girl go and I'll take her place." Spider-Man said.
"You want her, Spider-Man," Vulture spread his wing and, after snagging Gwen by the arms with his talon, flew out of the window into the sky. "Come and get her."
Then Vulture flew away with Gwen in his grip, forcing Spider-Man to follow them out. Spider-Man's first fear was that they'd both dropped straight down, but he spotted Vulture flying away with Gwen in tow. He could hear Gwen's screams of fear and quickly dove from the broken window, shot out a web line and gave chase. In the chaos left behind in the penthouse, the guests were stunned by the unexpected turn of events. Jean DeWolff was calling in support from the NYPD while Jonah was calling the Bugle. Martin Li was being escorted out of the room and seemed to vanish into the crowd all together. Wilson Fisk would've been escorted as well before he'd noticed a lone security officer skulking around. The officer glanced at Fisk, and Fisk determined that the man wasn't as he appeared.
Spider-Man was closing in on Vulture but keeping a reasonable distance so as not to provoke Vulture into harming Gwen. Vulture looked back periodically to see if Spider-Man was tailing him and quickly banked around the corner of a building. The maneuver caused Gwen to scream in protest, not that it would've kept Vulture from doing it at all. Spider-Man still was able to keep up a visual of Vulture, but he was highly fearful for Gwen's safety meaning he had to act accordingly to protect her. He also had to find a way to get close to Vulture to stop him… without putting Gwen in further danger. Vulture sensed that Spider-Man was hesitant to attack because the girl, so he used her as his leverage.
Vulture banked around the next corner, twirling around in mid-flight to further agitate Gwen. Gwen's first impulse was to wiggle free of Vulture's grasp, but then she'd fall down toward the street and she didn't trust Spider-Man to catch her in time. Spider-Man was remaining as close to Vulture as possible without provoking him. All of a sudden, Vulture stopped, turned around and then flew back toward Spider-Man. He managed to snap the web Spider-Man was swinging from and sent the hero spiraling in midair. Spider-Man still managed to catch himself with a new line and resume his pursuit of Vulture. When Vulture turned the next corner, Spider-Man didn't follow. The villain looked back very briefly to see if Spider-Man was behind him and was pleased that he'd appeared to give up.
But once Vulture turned his head around, he flew directly into a web line that sent him, and Gwen flinging up and over themselves. Gwen was suddenly in freefall before Spider-Man swooped in and caught her, while Vulture attempted to right himself as best that he could. By the time he'd recovered, he spotted Spider-Man swinging the girl to the safety of a nearby building. Rather than give chase, Vulture refocused on reaching his intended target back at the penthouse. Spider-Man had the first intent of chasing after Vulture, but his first priority was getting Gwen to safety. They landed atop the roof of the building and Gwen, unsurprisingly, pulled away from Spider-Man once on solid ground.
"Are you okay, Miss Stacy?" he was asking, trying not to sound too concerned lest he gave himself away.
"I'm fine, but don't ever touch me again." Gwen replied rather coldly.
"I was trying to help." Spider-Man stated, although Gwen wasn't buying it.
"I know that," Gwen snapped. "But that doesn't change anything between us."
Behind his mask, Peter could plainly see the mix of trepidation and anger coming from Gwen toward him, and he knew the reason all too well. This clearly confirmed that Gwen hadn't forgiven Spider-Man for his role in her father's death, and it seemed likely that nothing he said was going to change this young woman's mind. Spider-Man elected to focus on catching up to Vulture, so he bounded onto the ledge of the rooftop and fired off a web line. He took a brief glance back at Gwen, who was still staring daggers into him, before bounded off the roof. Gwen instinctively rushed to the ledge just in time to watch Spider-Man swing out of range.
Norman was clearly infuriated by the night's unexpected turn of events. "Those damn idiots in R&D told those sensors were foolproof."
Harry and Mary Jane were with him in his office, along with 'Ditko'. But they had no idea of the officer's true identity. "Dad, you've got to get a grip."
"Shut up, Harry," Norman shouted and punched the wall, producing a heavy thud. "When I find the shit-for-brains scientist who designed this system, I'm going to pull his idea out through his ass."
Mary Jane whispered to Harry, "He's taking it well." Harry rolled his eyes in response.
'Ditko' moved slowly around the room with a hand on his hip when the side arm was positioned. All he needed with one clear shot.
Vulture was almost back at the penthouse and minutes away from putting Osborn down. Something suddenly snagged his feet and he spotted Spider-Man clinging to a building side holding onto a web line. Spider-Man pulled hard on the line, pulling Vulture with it. Vulture snapped the line and went right for Spider-Man. Spider-Man jumped clear of Vulture's talons and swung back around, driving his feet into the villain's chest. Vulture hit the wall back first but recovered and chased after Spider-Man again. In midair between lines, Spider-Man shot off a series of web spheres that hit Vulture several times in a row, throwing Vulture off kilter. Firing another line, Spider-Man swung forward and collided with Vulture.
They beat on each other in the ensuing freefall, tumbling end over end without direction. Vulture managed to kick Spider-Man off of him and tried to get to the penthouse again, but Spider-Man fired off another line. The line snagged Vulture's feet, forcing him to once more try to lose the wall crawler. Vulture banked into the next street lane, closely skirting the corners of whichever building was the closest. Spider-Man was able to avoid the incoming brick and concrete wall while maintaining his grip on the line. Vulture tried to climb up and flew up into he was at the roof of the next building.
There, he flew as low as possible in the hope that he'd lose Spider-Man. But Spider-Man simply ran as fast as he possibly could across the length of the roof he was on. They made over to the next building and then the next one and the one after that, all with the same result each time. Vulture was growing frustrated and desperate, going so far as to spin around to get rid of Spider-Man. Spider-Man let go of the line before shooting to more of them, and then he catapulted himself directly toward Vulture. He landed on Vulture's back, putting in him almost a vice grip and cranking back on Vulture's throat.
"Hey, here's an idea, Beaky; how about you touch down somewhere and we'll finish this mano-o-mano?" he asked.
Vulture spun and started flying upside down, but Spider-Man was still holding on. "Never!"
"Have it your way then!" Spider-Man said and pulled down on Vulture.
They tumbled toward the roof of the next building and right before they crashed, Spider-Man turned Vulture so his front to the brunt of the fall. The momentum sent Spider-Man spiraling across the length of the roof, while Vulture staggered to get upright. Spider-Man wasn't moving right away and that to Vulture meant that he was hurt more than he let on. It seemed like the perfect moment; Spider-Man was going to keep on interfering with Vulture's plot against Osborn. The villain stalked toward the hero with his wings to his side, the razor-sharp glint visible in the moonlight. As soon as Vulture was on top of him, Spider-Man suddenly flipped up and blinded Vulture with a glob of webbing. Vulture staggered back and tried to remove the webbing and it left him vulnerable.
Spider-Man acted quickly and decisively; first he flipped over Vulture and torn off his wings one at a time. Then he forcibly removed the harness and pushed Vulture down. It was around that time the Vulture removed the webbing and tried to fly away, but his attempts were thwarted upon realizing his harness was removed. Spider-Man gave him a friendly wave and that enraged him. He tried a throw a punch that was caught with ease, and Spider-Man punched him in the jaw to knock him out. Spider-Man then encased Vulture in a cocoon of webbing and left the head exposed.
"New harness, same old glass jaw. They don't make old people like they used," he quipped before he noticed Vulture was chuckling. "Now what's so funny?"
"You are as stupid as you seem, Spider-Man. How do you think I managed to infiltrate Osborn's home despite his security measures?"
It took Spider-Man half of a second to figure it out. "You had inside help."
"You think I wasn't ready after our last encounter? It's always a good idea to have an ace in the hole," Vulture gloated. "Too bad you won't make it back the…" Vulture was cut off by a glob of webbing.
Spider-Man hoisted the beaten villain from the ground before taking him to the edge of the building. He dove off with Vulture on his shoulder and fell two stories before firing a line straight up. The line snagged the building wall and it was enough to slow the descent, and they eventually reached ground level. Numerous New Yorkers were stunned by the sight of Spider-Man carrying Vulture over his shoulder and then setting him on the pavement. There was a mix of commentary amongst the onlookers as Spider-Man webbed Vulture to a mailbox.
"Now you be a good little old buzzard while I go clean up the mess you made… again." Spider-Man quipped before swinging away.
This left the onlookers to either call the police on the phones or take picture of the beaten and decided grounded Vulture, left once again humiliated by Spider-Man. But he was also convinced that Spider-Man wouldn't make it back to Osborn's penthouse in time. With that inside help of his still at the penthouse, Vulture's long-awaited revenge was all but assured.
Author's Note: I'm going to end the chapter there and pick it up next time. These chapters are taking longer to finish nowadays, but I suppose that means that I want them as well written as possible.
I honestly think I could've done the Spider-Man/Vulture battle a bit better to be honest. I even went back and watched their first fight in The Spectacular Spider-Man series for some pointers, but it doesn't to be what I was hoping for. Oh well.
The interaction between Spider-Man and Gwen is brief but telling; Gwen clearly is not a fan of the web head for obvious reasons.
Anyway, that's it for this one so drop a line my way and I'll be back with the next entry soon.