Chapter 5
While Peter ducked out on the gala, Gwen talked with Harry and Mary Jane. MJ was sweet and kind, definitely not what Gwen expected. Usually, when you're the object of every guy's obsession, it inflates your ego. But not MJ. She knew what she had, but she remained humble. She wanted to prove she had the talent to back up her looks. She was always determined.
Harry was talkative for once. He comes out of his shell more when he's not around his dad. He seemed like a totally different person. Harry was usually quiet, but being with MJ and Gwen made him comfortable. He even told Gwen what his favorite snack was. White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies. Gwen was surprised to find out that.
Harry and MJ decided to step away for a moment. Harry told Gwen they wanted a short moment away from the crowd. As MJ turned to grab a drink from a passing waiter, Harry opened his jacket at Gwen, revealing a present in his inner pocket. He held his finger to his lips, winked, and shushed Gwen. They walked through the crowd as Gwen returned to her and Peter's table. But Peter wasn't there. She stopped by the bathrooms and took a peek. No one inside. She went back to the main area.
"Where are you, Peter? You promised!" Gwen's thoughts were increasing with anxiety. She pulled her phone out and sent Peter a text. No response. She tried again with the same result. This time she called him, but no answer. Suddenly, the crowd around her felt 10 times bigger. She started to feel overwhelmed. Her breath quickened as her search efforts continued to fail. This wasn't the first time Peter disappeared like that, but never during something as important as this. Gwen was on the verge of a panic attack as she ran out of the room. She went down a hallway, checking every room as she went. With every empty space, her panic grew stronger. At the end of the long hallway, she found an office unlocked. A lamp in the corner kept the room dim. Gwen plopped down in a chair and dropped her head in her hands. Gwen was dealing with her panic attack when the lights flipped on.
Two security guards barged in, and guns were drawn. Unbeknownst to Gwen, she had walked into the wrong office. Her sneaking in set off a silent alarm.
"What are you doing in here?" the first guard barked.
"This is a restricted area. How did you get in here?" the second guard questioned Gwen, gripping his gun tightly.
All of the color drained from Gwen's face. She died on the spot. Or at least she wanted to.
With a pale face, wholly overwhelmed, Gwen squeaked out, "Where are you, Peter?"
Across town at Pier 23 –
Tombstone rampaged through his office. Peter could dodge a few attacks, but with the limited space available, his luck soon ran out. Tombstone snatched him from midair, violently slamming Spider-Man against his overturned desk. Peter groaned as Tombstone flung him into the trophy wall. He lay under a wood pile, shattered glass, and knockoff Rolexes. Peter started to rise out of the rubble as Tombstone approached, cracking his knuckles.
"I told ya, punk, I'm gonna crush all'a ya bones!" Tombstone said with a mischievous grin.
"-cough- Ahh no, - cough-, not all my bones. At least save my funny bone. I have open mic night after this."
Tombstone snarled and raised a leg to stomp Spider-Man. Peter flicked a web line into his eyes. Tombstone stomped the ground as Peter rolled out of the debris. Blinded by webbing, Tombstone started thrashing about his office harder than ever. He kept tearing at the webbing covering his eyes. Peter stood by the office entrance and taunted him like a bullfighter.
"Come on, Stoney. I'm over here!" Peter taunted Tombstone.
Tearing the last bit of webbing from his face, Tombstone charged at Spider-Man, attempting to spear him. Peter flipped over him and kicked his momentum through the door. Peter landed on the desk as Tombstone crashed through his office door onto the metal porch outside it. Tombstone's office in this warehouse was elevated above the main floor at the back of the room. Metal poles held it up, with a metal staircase descending along the wall to the right. Tombstone staggered to his feet but caught a swinging dropkick to the chest for his efforts. Peter kicked him over the porch railing, watching him crash through a box below. Peter chuckled as he leaned on the bar.
"Haha, man. I thought you'd be tougher than that."
Peter grabbed the makeshift knapsack off of his back. He ripped the webbing apart, revealing a mechanical device. The ace-in-the-hole Peter was saving. Daredevil had given him tons of information about the raid tonight. One thing he touched on was Tombstone. He explained that Tombstone was more brutal and potent than other goons because of his skin condition. Punches, kicks, metal pipes, and even gunshots had a minimal effect on Tombstone. If Peter was going to take Tombstone down, it wouldn't be by force. So, Peter thought he'd use his brain instead.
The device Peter created was a highly pressurized, oversized web bomb. The exoskeletal structure was two-fold:
The exoskeletal arms fan upon activation. The curved shape contours the webbing to force it into a cocoon shape. The over-pressurization gives the webbing an extra boost once it's released.
The exoskeleton makes it look super cool.
The Web Wrap. Patent pending.
Peter checked to make sure it was still in one piece. No cracks and no pressure leaks. It was time to put Peter's new invention to the test. He was about to activate it when Tombstone roused to his feet. He started laughing loudly while wiping dust and splinters from his body. Peter paused, giving all of his attention to Tombstone.
"Ah hahaha…you assholes really ARE all the same," Tombstone grinned. He reached into his pocket and lifted a small device over his head.
"You talk too much!" Tombstone laughed louder as he clicked the button on his device.
All of the explosives in the building exploded at the same time. Peter thought the front door was his only concern, but Tombstone was ready to go scorched Earth. He had placed explosives around most of the building. Including all over the office Peter stood in front of. The concussive force launched Peter from the metal porch to the main floor below him. Peter's ears rang with loud fury. His vision was doubled. Peter wasn't expecting Tombstone to blow the whole building with both of them in it, especially not with a room full of unconscious goons. Peter tried to regain his senses. He noticed the Web Wrap was nowhere near him. Tombstone wasted no time in trying to finish what was started. He kicked Spider-Man in the ribs, flopping him across the floor. Tombstone reached down and lifted Spider-Man to his face. A violent headbutt sent Spider-Man's vision into triplets. He threw Spider-Man against a column as the building suddenly shifted.
The explosions had utterly destabilized the entire warehouse. The upper decks of the warehouse began collapsing through the floor into the water below them. The fire began spreading rapidly through the whole building. Goons started to wake from their violent naps as chaos spread around them. Some tried dragging their wounded partners out the nearest hole in the wall. Others bolted the second they got to their feet. Peter could only afford a second of attention to the fleeing goons. Tombstone was relentless.
Peter wasted no time replying with a flurry of attacks of his own design. He flung two webs to the vertical columns behind Tombstone. In the blink of an eye, Peter went from leaning backward to smashing his knee into Tombstone's face with a flying V-Trigger. Peter flipped back and immediately followed up with two forearm smashes. Those three strikes were enough to daze Tombstone slightly. Peter took this opportunity to slam Tombstone's head into his knee. With Tombstone bent over, reeling from the knee smash, Peter slid behind him and gripped his waist tightly. Peter lifted Tombstone with a scream, and German suplexed him neck-first into the warehouse floor. Peter flipped a few feet away as the flames grew stronger.
"It's over Tombstone. Everything is coming down around you. Stop this before we both die!" Peter tried pleading. As much as Peter loved fighting bad guys, he realized the situation was getting out of hand. Peter didn't want anyone to die. A little bruised, maybe, but certainly not death. Tombstone pushed himself off the ground.
"You're right about one thing…" Tombstone uttered, the heat slowing his breaths. "…we're both gonna die!"
Tombstone launched himself at Spider-Man, full tilt. Peter shook his head as he flipped over the rampaging statue. He flung a web from each wrist shooter onto the burning ceiling above. Tombstone crashed into another pile of boxes. Enraged, he turned back to Spider-Man to repeat his charge. Peter yanked both web lines, causing the ceiling to collapse onto Tombstone. A burning wood, concrete, and glass mound covered Tombstone like a burial mound. Peter fell backward onto his butt and ripped his mask off. He was already out of breath from the fight, but the smoke was making things 10 times worse. Removing his mask afforded him his first decent breath in a minute.
Peter, for the first time, took in his surroundings. From the info he received, he expected more tech crates to be in the warehouse. Even with the destruction and flames, he could tell something was up. Peter didn't have time to hypothesize on this more profound mystery. He had five minutes left before the warehouse burned into the water below the docks. Peter found an unconscious goon and flung him out of a broken window. He webbed him as he fell, cushioning his fall. Peter turned his gaze back to Tombstone's burial mound.
"No way he's dead." Peter thought to himself. He didn't have time to dig through it. He had to get out. As Peter wasted time thinking about Tombstone, the available exits were consumed with fire and falling debris. The only way out was the hole in the ceiling directly above Tombstone's makeshift Tombstone. Peter limped up the pile of junk. He was halfway up the stack when Tombstone burst through the rubble and tackled Spider-Man back to the floor. Tombstone landed on top of Spider-Man. He immediately started choking him.
"I told you. We both die. Right here. Right now!" Tombstone growled through clenched teeth.
He was charred and bleeding from the fight with Spider-Man. His skin chipped away like an ancient statue. His eyes burned with a fury hotter than the flames surrounding them. He crushed Spider-Man's throat with unbridled rage.
As Peter punched and tore at Tombstone's hands, he noticed the Web Wrap a few meters away. This was his last chance. Peter needed to end this any way he could. The life was slowly trickling out of him. Peter started to reach toward the device when Tombstone slammed his fist into Peter's wrist, crushing his web shooter and bones below it.
"Nuh-uh, Spider. No tricks. Just die!" Tombstone put both hands back on Peter's neck.
Peter's vision started to quadruple as he looked around the room. His eyes fixed on the rubble behind Tombstone. Peter started squeaking. Tombstone couldn't hear him.
"What's 'at?" Tombstone asked, leaning closer to hear Spider-Man's last words.
Peter finally squeaked out a complete word. "Duck…"
Tombstone raised back up in confusion.
Peter web-snatched a nearby concrete slab with his free hand, slamming it into the back of Tombstone's head. Tombstone crumpled over, nearly unconscious. Peter rolled onto his right side and yanked the Web Wrap to him. Peter rolled back over to face Tombstone as he staggered to his feet. Peter smacked the Web Wrap with his undamaged hand, activating it directly at Tombstone. The fluid erupted from the device, fully engulfing Tombstone in thick webbing. An extra strong batch just for him. Tombstone wriggled but was unable to fully move. He lost his momentum and tumbled backward into the dark water below.
Peter rushed to the edge, afraid Tombstone would be drowning. After everything Peter had been through tonight, he wouldn't let someone die at the eleventh hour. Even if that someone was Tombstone.
Peter found Tombstone bobbing in the water, only his head protruding from the web cocoon. Tombstone started floating further from the dock as his stream of obscenities grew quieter with the distance. Peter dropped his head in relief. He made his way up to the hole in the roof and swung to an adjacent building just as part of the warehouse and dock collapsed into the water.
Peter thought his first big mystery would be easy. But it turned out to be anything but that. He left the raid with more questions and bruises than he had before. Who was the tech for? Who supplied it? Where was the rest of the shipment if the goons had been moving bases? Peter had only barely scratched the surface. But all of his scratchings would cause this mystery to fester worse than he ever imagined. So much was on Peter's mind, but the first thing he wanted to do was shower and sleep. He grabbed his webbed-up clothes and phone, swung home, and snuck into his bedroom window.
The Next Morning –
Peter woke up with the worst headache you could imagine. He felt like he got hit by a bus. Or at least a man-shaped bus named Tombstone. Thanks to the spider's bite, he had gained an increased healing factor. Cuts and bruises healed up overnight. Broken bones would need an extra day, but, in the meantime, left him with a limp. Peter rolled over and sat up on the side of his bed. He looked at his Spider-Man costume lying on the floor. It was covered in soot, smelled like smoke, and was soaked with sweat, blood, and maybe a little snot. Peter rose to his feet and slightly limped to the bathroom. He could hear the TV in the next room playing the news.
"…authorities and fire rescue were able to contain the situation. Although the property was a complete loss, no casualties were reported. Police found known felon and criminal Lonnie Lincoln, A.K.A. Tombstone, floating in the water several hundred feet from the scene. He was found wrapped in a strong, cocoon-like substance. Police believe Spider-Man may have had some involvement, but couldn't comment further at the time."
Aunt May switched off the broadcast as Peter exited the bathroom into the living room.
"Pete, you look terrible! You didn't get home till late, but I figured you were living it up at the gala. How about I whip up some pancakes, and you tell me all about it, okay?" Aunt May was always positive. She could tell something was up with Peter but would only push it further if he wanted to talk. Pancakes usually did the trick.
Peter stopped dead in his tracks. All of the colors drained from his body. His heart almost stopped beating. A pit grew deeper than ever before in his stomach. Even after the hell he went through last night, nothing topped the primal fear he felt at that moment. Peter stared out the window.
"Oh. Crap….GWEN!"
- A Few Minutes Later –
Peter stood on the street in front of his house. His phone had died at some point between webbing it up and nearly burning to death fighting Tombstone. He powered it on for the first time since last night's events. As the system initialized, Peter was bombarded with notifications. Multiple missed calls and text messages. All of them were from Gwen. Peter really screwed up this time. There were only a few instances where he dipped out on Gwen or May. Peter always had a good excuse too. But he knew his luck wouldn't last forever. He had to salvage the situation.
Peter tried messaging Gwen, but her phone was on do not disturb. After a few attempts, he realized it was 10:30 am. The usual time they would meet up for Sunday brunch at Gina's. Since she wouldn't answer, he figured he'd check there first. Gwen was a creature of habit. And if last night went South, she would seek out her scheduled comfort. Peter turned the corner at Gina's and spotted Gwen, but she wasn't alone. Harry and Mary Jane were both with her. All three made eye contact with Peter at the same time.
Gwen turned her head awkwardly. Harry visibly cringed. Mary Jane pushed her chair back and immediately confronted Peter.
"You got some nerve, Peter!" Mary Jane barked, her finger stabbing Peter in the chest.
"How could you ditch Gwen like that? She was counting on you. Ya know, I thought you were better than that. Do you even know what she went through after you vamped out?"
Peter was mortified. He was so stiff you could've used him like a baseball bat. He knew his choice would upset Gwen, but he didn't expect to incur MJ's wrath. MJ filled Peter in on what went down last night.
Last Night After Peter Left –
Gwen was petrified by the questioning security guards.
"We saw you on the cameras checking every office down this hall. Now answer my question, what are you looking for?" the first security guard had his gun ready.
Gwen stammered but was too overwhelmed to form anything resembling a word. The two guards started to approach her as she backed into the desk. Before the guards could get any further, Harry and MJ burst in behind them.
"What's going on here?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed.
"Mr. Osborn, we found this woman checking every office down the hallway. Then she somehow managed to unlock your father's Osborn Initiative office. The security alarm gave her away." The second guard replied, keeping his eyes trained on Gwen.
Harry barged past the guards, turning to block Gwen from them. "Jesus, guys, drop your guns; she's terrified! I unlocked the door! I did it earlier when I arrived so I'd have somewhere to sneak off to later."
Harry started arguing with the guards as MJ went to console Gwen. Harry was getting heated. Gwen nor MJ had ever seen him act like this. He was pulling his weight to defend his friend. Watching him, MJ's eyes gleamed. She gave him a soft smile. MJ finally calmed Gwen enough to tell them what had happened.
Presently at Gina's Diner –
"After we got things settled with the guards, they showed us the security footage. We saw you heading down the exit. We know you just up and left without saying anything. And you're supposed to be her best friend!" MJ was hopping mad. Her hair seemed redder the angrier she got.
Peter was stunned into complete silence. Before he could reply, Mary Jane yanked her jacket off the chair and beckoned to Gwen.
"Come on, Gwen. Let's go shopping!" MJ flung her purse over her shoulder, carrying her jacket. She didn't want to deal with the boys anymore. It was girls' time now.
"Umm…I was actually going to the library after this." Gwen replied timidly.
MJ stopped for a beat. She looked at Gwen, Harry, Peter, and finally back to Gwen.
"Come on, Gwen. Let's get some books!" MJ confidently changed plans. She grabbed Gwen by the hand and led her toward the library.
Peter, still speechless, sat in the empty seat next to Harry. Harry offered him a sympathetic smile and slid an extra coffee over.
"Oof…that's rough, buddy." He said, patting Peter on the back.
Peter and Harry spent the next hour drinking coffee and talking. It was the first time they'd ever been alone together. Bonding over science homework wasn't exactly doing the job, but bonding over drama certainly helped. Although the situation wasn't ideal, this would start a blooming friendship between them.
Across Town, High Rise Building –
The mid-day sun was rising high into the sky. Its piercing rays shone through every corner of the city. A high-rise building basked in the glow. The marble penthouse suite was fully illuminated. Hammerhead stood humbly in the light of day.
"Boss, I don't know what happened. We had it set up perfectly, but he had help. The red devil, it was him again. Please, boss, let me go at'em. I'll clean up Tombstone's mess. I'll make this right."
Hammerhead's boss raised his hulking hand, motioning for quiet. The boss stood from his chair, the light illuminating his massive frame.
Wilson Fisk, AKA King Pin, towered above Hammerhead. He was over 6'5" and weighed close to 400 pounds. To the untrained eye, King Pin looked fat and unathletic. Even with his height, he appeared overweight. But to those that knew him knew, it was all an illusion. Underneath the slick suits and flabby exterior was sculpted muscle capable of incredible feats. Fisk rose to power after his father died, leaving his criminal empire shambled. He spent the next several years picking up the pieces. Over time, Fisk grew his organization to heights his father could only dream of. Fisk systematically dismantled rival gangs and usurped them into his own. He left a bloody trail through New York for a decade, carving his path to the top. Once he was the only outfit in town, he gained the respect and fear of his contemporaries. The name King Pin was bestowed upon him. He continued to rule New York's criminal underground with an iron fist.
"Enough." King Pin said firmly, "You were right, Hammer. I should have put more thought into Tombstone's plan. You're my top lieutenant. I should have taken your words into careful consideration. That headache is on me. Truly."
Hammerhead seemed surprised. He didn't expect the boss to react like that. No plan had gone this wrong since the Silvermane incident six years ago. King Pin didn't take to that very well but seemed in better spirits.
"But, boss…you-" Confused, Hammerhead offered excuses, but King Pin cut him off.
"This…Spider-Man. He has become a bigger nuisance than I anticipated. Now you say the devil is involved?" King Pin moved around to the front of his desk. He sat on the edge and poured two glasses of scotch. He offered one to Hammerhead. King Pin wrested his hand on Hammerhead's shoulder.
"It's time to take things to the next level. If Spider-Man wants to be a player, we must show him how dangerous this game gets."
"That's right, boss-" Hammerhead started to agree but was cut off by King Pin squeezing his shoulder.
King Pin downs his drink, "I was serious about this getting out of control."
King Pin narrowed his eyes at Hammerhead, gripping his shoulder tighter as time passed. "You let this happen."
Hammerhead started to stammer, sweat rolling down his protruding forehead. "But boss-"
Hammerhead dropped his drink as King Pin snatched him up, pressing him over his head. Hammerhead's drink crashed to the floor. As quickly as he was snatched up, Hammerhead was sent back down onto King Pin's knee. His back cracked in multiple places, shattering his spine and ribs. King Pin tossed him to the side. His body contorted into an unnatural shape. Blood started dripping from his lifeless mouth. King Pin's intercom buzzed as his assistant's voice came over the speaker.
"Sir, MR. NO is on the line. He is quite insistent."
"Tell him to give me a minute. I'll take the call in the conference room. I'm finishing up a meeting. Oh, get a crew in here too. Hammerhead can't hold his liquor." King Pin's hulking frame disappeared into the adjacent room.
Peter's mystery was about to explode.
End Part 1
