The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 82: Bagels and Blackmails
"So, you're sure it's Hammerhead then?" asked Yuri over the phone, as Peter walked up to Horizon Labs.
"Trust me, Yuri. This is the second time you've called about this," replied Peter, masking his voice a little to sound more like Spider-Man.
"I trust you, but I don't trust the Enforcers. You sure this isn't some ploy, and they aren't sending you on some wild goose chase?" questioned Yuri.
"Believe me, I'm certain their collective IQs reach up to a total of 42. There's no way they would've come up with such an idea," replied Peter, entering the doors and lowering his voice.
"Fair enough, I'll have a special task force look further into this. You better hope you're correct," she replied, as Peter chuckled and cut the call. He walked up to the couch at the reception and sat down, looking through a brochure.
"A subsidiary of Oscorp. Let's hope this one isn't experimenting on vulture wings and mechanical gliders. Speaking of which, I ought to pay my friends at Ryker's a visit. It's been quite a while," he muttered to himself when he heard a voice clear their throat from behind him.
"I knew you'd show up late on your first day," said Anya, stifling a laugh.
"Wait what? I was supposed to show up at 10:30," replied Peter, glancing at his watch, which read 11 am. "Oh,"
Anya wheezed as Peter shook his head. "My bad, that's on me," he said.
"Don't worry about it," she replied. "I suppose you'd want a tour of the chemistry department then?" she asked, gesturing for Peter to follow her. They walked to the 3rd floor and towards a closet containing hangars of lab coats.
"Uh, I think this is a size too big for me…" said Peter, as he put on the coat which seemed to feel more like a dress. Then he turned back to Anya and noticed that her coat was much larger than her too.
"Yeah, there's pretty much only one size, though you do look good in a dress," joked Anya, while Peter sarcastically chuckled. The duo walked away from the closet and up to two glass doors.
"Ready to have your mind blown?" she asked. Peter shifted his feet in excitement as Anya swiped a card, and the doors parted to reveal a pristine white laboratory.
Peter gazed in awe as the lab seemed to be laden with the latest hi-tech instruments; a dream for a scientist like Peter.
"Well, let's get you familiar with the spectrophotometer first," said Anya.
"Oh, I already know how one works," he responded.
"Hmm, not this one," she chuckled, as she flipped a switch, Peter heard a whirring noise. He turned to his left and saw a machine as large as a printer start up, as the noise stopped and the spectrophotometer was switched on.
"Wait, we don't need to wait for it to heat up?" asked Peter, as Anya shook her head.
Peter gasped in awe as he put his hands together and chuckled.
"And May, just make sure that Mr Dallas gets his coffee, you know how he can get without an evening serving," chuckled Martin Li, as May nodded and walked into the F.E.A.S.T. kitchen. Li adjusted his tie as he walked to the second floor and back to his office, only to see something odd.
The door was open, even though he had locked it before he left to get lunch.
"Must've forgotten," he thought to himself, as he entered the office and closed the door behind him, only to almost jump in surprise when he heard a sound.
"It's good to meet a fellow businessman," said an Italian voice, as Martin turned around to see a large man in a blue tuxedo, and a large forehead, sitting in his chair.
"I'd advise you don't call anyone inside," continued Hammerhead. Martin noticed his right hand was on the desk, aiming a gun at his torso.
"W-What do you want? If it's money then take whatever you want from this office, leave the people alone," said Martin, trying to be assertive despite the tremble in his voice. Hammerhead guffawed.
"Is it the gun? Don't worry, it's just a precaution. I just want to have a…discussion," said Hammerhead, gesturing for him to sit down. Martin slowly walked up to the chair in front of him and sat down. A bead of sweat raced down his back.
"What do you want?" he asked again, as Hammerhead put the gun to the side, but just out of Martin's reach.
"I wanna propose…a partnership," said Hammerhead, clasping his hands together on the desk. Just then, the door opened and two more men walked in, wearing black suits.
"What is the partnership?" asked Martin, dread coursing through his veins.
"This is a mighty fine establishment you've got here, Li. Helping the homeless and whatnot, I really appreciate it. I'm sure a philanthropist like you would be willing to help me," said Hammerhead, as Martin swallowed hard.
"That…depends," replied Martin, shifting in his seat a little.
"I assume you've heard of Wilson Fisk?"
"The Kingpin, yes. Do you work for him?"
"Ahahaha, no. But when he was around, he had control. The entire criminal world of New York was in his iron grip. After Spider-Man took him down though, everything went to shit," explained Hammerhead. "I just want to put things back the way they were,"
"Why do you need my help?" asked Martin.
"A person of my stature is the right fit to fill in the void that Fisk left, but for that, I need a base of operations, a place where my men can hole up. A place where I can store my…assets," explained Hammerhead.
"You mean launder money?" asked Martin, immediately wishing he could take back the tone he replied in. Hammerhead chuckled with a wide grin on his face.
"Now when you put it that way it sounds way more crooked than it has to be. All you have to do is lend your warehouses to us, and some of F.E.A.S.T's sister sites. All discreet of course," reassured Hammerhead.
Martin's forehead began to pulsate, as a sharp sting seemed to penetrate his skull. His arms began to feel sore, and he was beginning to lose sensation in his legs.
"NO!" yelled Martin, as Hammerhead raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's your answer?"
"Yes. You can't use F.E.A.S.T," replied Martin, clenching his knuckles in pain.
Hammerhead grinned. "Well boys, we tried it the diplomatic way. Let's be a little more…persuasive," said Hammerhead, as he got up from the chair and slammed Martin's head onto the desk.
The two men walked up and held his hands onto the desk, pushing his face in to mask out any screams.
Hammerhead walked up to Martin's side and punched him in the stomach. "Still saying no?" asked Hammerhead, as he kicked Martin's shin, before pulling out what looked like a long stick.
"Hold him down, boys. He thinks he's a top dog. Well, it's time to show what happens in the pound," said Hammerhead as he pressed a button on the long metal stick, as sparks of electricity began to emanate from its tip.
Martin's headache got worse, as his entire body went numb. Hammerhead jabbed the stick into Martin's chest as electricity flowed through his entire body, but he could barely feel anything.
All of a sudden, he felt a massive urge as he yelled out loud, his face being pushed deeper into the desk, as his eyes rolled back and everything went black.
"Now come on, Speed Demon! Just go back to driving fast cars, will ya?" asked Spider-Man, flipping out of the way as Speed Demon raced towards him at the speed of sound.
"You're done messing with me!" he exclaimed, as he threw small pellets at Spider-Man. They'd normally be harmless, but Peter knew that at the speed they were being hurled at him, they could easily penetrate bone.
Spider-Man ducked under the pellets and webbed them up, as he shot two more webs at Speed Demon's feet, tripping him as he ran.
"Hey, but I actually do have a question. Like, for real," said Spider-Man, jumping onto an overturned car and sitting down.
"What is it?" asked Speed Demon, ripping the webbing off of his feet and looking back at Spider-Man.
"If you're wearing headphones, and you move faster than the speed of sound, can you hear the music?" asked Peter, genuinely curious.
"Huh? I mean, it's relative to your speed, right?" suggested Speed Demon.
"Right, and from your headphones' frame of reference, it's moving at the same speed as you since you're wearing them," continued Peter.
"So relative speed will pretty much be 0. So yeah, you can hear the sound," exclaimed Speed Demon.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Spider-Man, as he webbed up Speed Demon to the ground, especially his arms and legs.
"See, this is what I love about my enemies. We keep healthy relationships! Would Iron Man talk to Crimson Dynamo about relativity? Don't think so," remarked Spider-Man, as police cars arrived to take away Speed Demon.
As Spider-Man began to swing away, he got a call from Harry.
"Hey, Harry! What's up?" he asked, as he swung over to a bagel stand.
"Pete! How's the internship going?" asked Harry, as Spider-Man began to daydream about the amazing lab he got to use, and also how helpful Anya was.
"Great! The lab is amazing, and I made a new friend too," replied Spider-Man, as his turn finally came in line. The bagel stand owner was familiar with Spider-Man; another one of his loyal customers.
"I knew you'd be a good fit for Horizon. We ought to celebrate, I'm taking you to the Deep End," said Harry.
"The Deep End?" asked Spider-Man, a little taken aback. The bagel store owner handed him a cream cheese bagel, as Spider-Man reached into one of the small pockets in his belt and pulled out some crumpled notes. The owner happily took the money as Peter took the bagel and leaned next to a lamppost.
"Yeah, the nightclub. It's time Peter Parker got around a bit," remarked Harry.
"Very funny. But I don't know, nightclubs aren't really my scene," said Peter.
"They weren't mine either until I went to Europe. The number of times I-"
"Uh, TMI!" exclaimed Spider-Man, before Harry could continue.
"Anyway, you get the idea. MJ said she'll come too," continued Harry.
"Of course she did," replied Peter, as he thought for a second, finishing the bagel.
"Screw it, I'm in," decided Peter.
"Nice! Don't worry, I'll lend you something good to wear," joked Harry, cutting the call as Peter chuckled back.
"The Deep End…normally I'd say no thanks, but MJ's gonna be there too. I should make sure she stays okay there," thought Spider-Man, as he decided to walk down the street instead of swing, waving to civilians.
"Wait, why am I caring so much? She can take care of herself, it's not like she's my responsibility," thought Peter, countering his own thoughts.
"But what if I…no, nope. Not MJ, she's good as just a friend," thought Peter, feeling conflicted, as he pictured MJ's face.
"But I haven't felt like this about someone since…since Gwen," thought Peter, solemnly, as he started to swing and called up Detective Macendale.
"Detective, any news on the whereabouts of Hammerhead?" asked Spider-Man.
"None yet, although we did get a tip from one of our informants in Harlem," said Macendale. "He said men in black and white suits were loading crates inside a shipping facility. We didn't send anyone from the force in case it's nothing," he continued.
"Black and white suits sound like what goons of the Italian Mob wear," suggested Peter.
"Exactly. Think you could check it out? I don't wanna send them over if it's nothing," replied Macendale.
"I'm on my way," replied Peter, swinging to the location. "Silvermane, Kingpin, Rose, now Hammerhead…when does it end?" Peter asked himself, sighing as he dodged another building.
Spider-Man perched himself on a building overlooking the facility. Lines of vans were parked at the back, and the suited men were still loading crates.
Spider-Man took out a small device from one of the notches in his belt, and attached it to the nozzle of the web shooter, before shooting a web at a wall near a group of men.
"Time to see if this tech that Tony gave me works," said Peter, as he pressed a small button embedded in his mask.
"And then she's like, "Todd has a more stable job!" And what do I say to that?" asked one of the guards to the others.
"Eh, Todd's a dumbass, trust me," said the other, reassuring him.
Spider-Man chuckled. "Looks like the bug worked, no pun intended," he told himself, as he aimed more of them to other places.
"There ain't enough space here, we need more to load in the merchandise," said another goon from across the place. Peter turned to look in his direction.
"Boss is coming here in a few minutes, said there's gonna be a "shake-up." No idea what he means," said the other one.
"Looks like Hammerhead will be coming in a while. I should get myself comfortable," said Peter, sitting down and listening to the entertaining conversation of the mobsters.
"So I straight up went to Linda and I told her, "we're through!" And I took Phineas the Fish and walked out of there," said one of the mobsters.
"You go, Charlie! You deserve better than Linda…or probably not," cheered Spider-Man lightly from the rooftop. Just then, a black car pulled up to the gates, as some of the men rushed to the gates and others went inside.
"Hello there," muttered Spider-Man, as he jumped onto a lower building, with a clearer view of the gate. A bespectacled man stepped out of the backseat, holding what looked to be a rolled-up map. He began ordering the guards, as some of them left to get into the vans.
"That can't be Hammerhead. Dammit, must be one of his right-hand chumps," sighed Spider-Man, as he shot another bug near where the discussion was taking place.
That's when the man's eyes darted towards where the bug had attached itself with the webbing, as he squinted at it and walked up to it.
"We're being watched, get me out of here!" exclaimed the man, as he picked up the device and crushed it under his boot, as the guards rushed inside the compound and the man jumped inside the car.
"Well, lost the element of surprise," thought Spider-Man, as he jumped down in front of the men.
"Alright guys, time for the teacher to confiscate your illegal toys," said Spider-Man, as he webbed up their weapons to the ground. He then front-flipped and kicked one of them in the face, before backflipping and kicking another in the chest.
Peter webbed up a small wood box, about the size of a chair, and hurled it at two guys, knocking them out instantly.
The last 3 took out AK-47s and opened fire on Spider-Man, who quickly jumped behind cover. The gunfire started to break the wooden crate Peter was hiding behind. Peter waited for a few seconds.
As soon as the guns stopped to reload, Peter dived out from the side of the box and precisely aimed webbing at the muzzles of the gun, blocking in entirely. The men opened fire again, but due to the gun being suddenly jammed, the blowback from the bullet being blocked knocked them off of their feet.
"It's a neat trick, I know. And Charlie, don't worry about Linda. You've still got Elizabeth, at least," said Spider-Man, as he webbed up the unconscious goons and walked inside the compound.
"Looks like the big fish got away…but they left their plans here!" exclaimed Spider-Man, as he walked into the main office. Inside, the rolled up map was placed on the desk.
Peter opened up the map and lay it on the desk. It was a map of New York, with red dots in some places.
"These dots…they're in Chinatown, Harlem, Brooklyn, the Bronx and the Upper East Side," observed Spider-Man, as a realization hit him like a truck. "Wait a minute…" he gasped, eyes going wide.
"These are F.E.A.S.T shelters…"
Martin opened his eyes, the pain having suddenly disappeared. Hammerhead and his men were nowhere to be seen.
He got to his feet, confused, only to realize he was standing…on grass? He looked around and saw nothing but trees, and a few pedestrians walking on a path, around a lake. He blinked rapidly and realized he was still in his suit and tie.
"Central Park?" asked Martin, completely befuddled as he tried to remember what was happening. The pain had gone completely, and the last thing he could remember was a large Italian man in his office.
He held his temple and shook his head, trudging his way towards the exit of the park. Surprisingly enough, his suit seemed to be barely creased, if anything it seemed like it had just come out of the wardrobe, despite the fact that he was lying on the grass.
"How did I get here?" he asked out loud to himself, as he reached for his phone out of his pocket. He noticed about five missed calls from May.
But, more curiously, an unknown member had also messaged him.
"It's gonna be a pleasure doing business with ya," read the first message. The second one had Martin feeling confused, and yet at the same time sent an unexplainable bead of sweat down his forehead.
"And uh, keep your party trick to yourself."
Times Square was bustling with people, with crowds so thick that one could barely tell what was going on.
That's why it was weird when a blue portal suddenly opened up in the middle of the Square, and someone jumped out from it and onto the street. He wore what looked like a blackish, dark blue, metallic-looking suit. His chest bore a red skull-like symbol, shaped like a spider, and his eyes had the same red texture, looking sharper.
"Well, I'm definitely not in 2099 anymore," sighed the man.
And there's that! Wonder what's up with Martin, and how is Hammerhead gonna take it now that he knows Spider-Man is interfering in his operation? And who is the new mysterious figure who just showed up in Times Square? Stay tuned for the next chapter, where Spider-Man embarks on the first part of a new adventure: Spider-Verse- Part 1!
Welp, Semester 3 is going well so far, and I've finally finalized the main universities I'll be applying to, now I just need to work on my application. School is going quite well, and I finally feel like I have things under control! I did take a bit of a break as I was getting overwhelmed by a lot of things, but I'm certainly feeling much better. I celebrated my dog's 9th birthday 2 days ago too, and I've been hanging out with friends and people in general more!
vfc15650: Ahhh yep it's super stressful, but I feel like things are finally under control
Fate-Be Changed: Indeed he did!
Marvel Nerd: Definitely lol
majikss: Yep, looking back I definitely could have improved on those aspects, though to be fair I was 14 and super inexperienced in the world of writing lol. Hope I've improved over the years!
SpideyXBC: Maybe they do!
Geek4Life: You will know soon enough!
Teller-Story: It definitely will, especially with what lies ahead!
I am the Voice: Yep, he has about 6 years of experience now
Guest: Ahahaha maybe Fogwell's Gym?
Guest: Yep, though I am not super excited for the game. Feels like a lot of wasted potential on a turn-based card game. But hey, I'm glad Spider-Man is in it! I'd prefer something more along the route of Gotham Knights, if Arkham would be too much for Midnight Suns. I recently replayed Lego Marvel Superheroes, and yep I believe it's the ultimate Avengers video game (and not by Square Enix)!
Yours Truly,
Shadow Strike.
