SPIDER-MAN: ALL ALONE (CHAPTER 14)
Note: Thank you for your patience.
COLLEGE POINT DOCKS, QUEENS…
Arriving at one of Queen's docking areas, Marty and his crew parked behind an empty cargo as they walked out to meet two casual uniform police officers who were willingly complicit in their plan to double cross Adrian Toomes, The Vulture.
"So, just so we're clear… We're not in any shifty business. We're men who just happen to know how to find this wanted man that so happens to fly every day." Marty started as he and his three accomplishes approached.
"What makes you think he'd come here?" One tall police officer asked.
"Well, give him a good deal and place and he'll come. That, and he's desperate for cash. He's also looking to backstab me, can you imagine? After all the goodwill?" Marty said with a laugh.
"We've got the sonic disrupter stands set around the docks, what's next?" The other short officer asked.
"We wait for the bird then the Spiders. Then together, they'll weaken each other before we take them out." Marty said with a grin whilst tapping the ear plugs in him.
"What does taking out Spider-Man and Spider-Woman achieve in this instance? I thought they were on our side." The tall officer wondered.
"They may be cop helpers but they're sure not my friends. These guys are looking to stick to me like gum." Marty explained, "Why should we win only to lose?"
"I hope I keep my badge after this." The short officer muttered.
As the conversation unfolded, Vulture peered down from the sky circling. In addition to his wings and talons, he had some specially tailored arsenal with him to prepare for the betrayal. He then dropped a smoke bomb down below. Without saying a word, he followed through with a swoop attack.
As the bomb hit the ground causing the group to cough, Marty overheard Vulture diving down and before Vulture knew it, a nearby sonic disrupter that had been set up on a cargo box directly shot a ball of energy knocking him down. The smoke bomb's effect then cleared allowing Marty and the rest to see clearer again.
"Tsk. Tsk. Slow going." Marty mocked as Vulture laid on the ground, "Thought you'd outsmart me? I invested a lot in strategy watching you build so I could get men to rig places."
Vulture grunted behind his helmet as Marty's men quickly dragged him onto his feet. They tried taking off his helmet but found it difficult. The two police officers at the scene stood awkwardly as Marty handled his client.
"Ugh, keep the helmet on." Marty said shrugging, "Honestly, it would hurt more."
The men agreed and took out some stun batons. Together, they began beating down Vulture. At first, they had the advantage before Vulture swung his wings around knocking them back before slowly adjusting himself with a bit of wobbling.
"You're not looking too sharp, Adrian." Marty said facing Vulture down.
"I'll carve my claws onto your face, spineless roach." Vulture replied.
Before Vulture could retaliate, Spider-Man and Gwen arrived at the scene in which Gwen delivered the kick right onto Vulture.
"Looks like some sort of party." Spider-Man joked looking at Marty, the police officers and the rest of Marty's crew.
"Thank god." Marty said seeing Gwen tackle Vulture before feigning desperation, "You got to stop him, he-he's holding us hostage until he gets what he wants."
Without listening too much, Spider-Man picked up on Marty's lies with suspicion before webbing him down, he then webbed the rest of the crew including the two police officers.
"A little stupid to be mixing up your professions here, officers." Spider-Man said before seeing Gwen struggle with the Vulture.
Vulture attempted to fly upwards with Gwen being dragged along as she used a string of web on his back while his wings clanked onto the nearby metal shipping containers.
"I grow tired of all your persistence justice seeking." Vulture commented as he started flying around with Gwen behind.
Gwen held tight as she was swung around leaving Spider-Man to figure out a way to help on ground. Finding an installed sonic disruptor, he swung next to it to figure out how he could use it to zap Vulture down.
"Hey! I'm losing grip." Gwen yelled as Vulture attempted to throw her off.
"Aw, screw it!" Spider-Man said before using his webs to yank the device off and hurl it at Vulture's direction.
The hurling failed as the device broke apart onto the ground after Vulture dodged.
"You could have hit me there, hello?!" Gwen yelled again as she felt her grip loosen.
Watching Gwen dangle, Spider-Man watched as Vulture attempted to cut the web with his talons. Determined to stop Vulture in his place, Spider-Man signalled Gwen before shooting his own web. Gwen snatched the tip of the web and latched it on her original web which she detached from.
Spider-Man found himself to be one being dragged afterwards as he held onto his web to keep ground. Gwen then used the newly latched web as a climbing rope. Soon, Vulture found himself dragging too much weight as he felt gravity do his work. As a counter, he then grabbed out a smoke bomb and dropped it.
Gwen dodged the bomb but realised the aim towards the ground allowed the smoke to spill near Spider-Man causing him to gag and make holding onto Vulture difficult. Determined to shut Vulture's wings off, she used as much strength as possible to continue climbing.
"Ugh!" Vulture grunted as he swung around mid-air violently in attempt to shake off the excess weight.
Soon enough, Gwen climbed onto Vulture's back and focused on breaking the jetpack. Using her fists, she tried to rip the metal material off. The attempt was tough with all the motion until Gwen spotted a nearby crane hook.
"Left!" Gwen yelled below.
Spider-Man still trying to recover from the smoke bomb effects did the move as requested dragging Vulture and Gwen closer to where the crane hook was. Reaching the hook, Gwen rammed the hook into the jetpack allowing the hook to not only damage the engine hide but also to hold Vulture in place.
"You wretched! I'll scratch those eyes of yours." Vulture cursed as he was left to hung.
Finally, Spider-Man let go to catch his breath and strength while Gwen used full strength to tear the rest of the hide off Vulture's jetpack. The jetpack's internal circuity was exposed in the open leaving a vulnerable spot for both Spider-Man and Gwen to see.
"Alright, it's time!" Spider-Man said grabbing out an electrical jammer device and throwing it upwards for Gwen.
Using another web, Gwen caught the electrical jammer and proceeded to do the deed before being caught off guard by Vulture twisting and making Gwen lose her grip. The result was Vulture being free and flying again while Gwen had to save herself from falling by webbing onto the crane hook.
"Guess I'll find my treasure elsewhere." Vulture grunted as he prepared to fly off.
However, Spider-Man was determined not to let him get away again and immediately swung up the crane to chase Vulture down. As Vulture began to fly over to the East River, Spider-Man used the crane top to jump and glide.
Vulture noticed the new change implemented and flew as far as he could to lose Spider-Man.
"Your new wings won't make the difference in air." Vulture proclaimed whilst realising that his jetpack was getting faultier.
"Uh, looks like things aren't in your favor!" Spider-Man called out gliding noting the fault.
As Vulture realised, his engine not doing so well he turned around and headed back. With talons stretched out, he went straight for Spider-Man in his glide form and grabbed his head whilst flying.
"You should worry for yourself, pest." Vulture said dragging Spider-Man across the air.
As Spider-Man struggled with Vulture dragging him on air, he blindly kept punching Vulture until he was dropped. Eventually, Vulture let go of Spider-Man's head but not before Spider-Man used a web to drag him down as well.
The two met luck as they landed on a cargo ship sailing for Manhattan. The landing surprised cargo workers who until then did not notice their fight beforehand. Getting up on his feet, Spider-Man stared down Vulture whose helmet showed cracks after numerous punches. The old man also stood his ground with his wings slumped.
"What exactly are you fighting for?" Spider-Man asked.
"I will fight for my dignity and prizes, it seems. And I don't ask the likes of you to judge me. You will let me take what I need." Vulture warned.
"Fine. Guess, you're falling harder than before." Spider-Man muttered as he charged forward.
Vulture was able to hold against his own with Spider-Man trying to get a good angle away from the blocking wings in addition to the talons trying to claw him.
"I gotta shut off his engine." Spider-Man said to himself as he focused on getting to the jetpack.
As he carefully navigated around Vulture, he then flipped over and landed behind him to shut down the jetpack circuity. Vulture using his own smarts then used his wings to slam Spider-Man who responded by using both hands to prevent the two wings from pressing together.
The feat seemed a little difficult as Vulture held Spider-Man in place whilst not being able to do anything else. As he pushed on either side, Spider-Man focused his eyes onto the jetpack circuity before timing it with a web shot. As he lost force, he quickly ducked down to avoid getting slammed together by the wings like a patty.
"Your icky webs don't stop these wings, boy." Vulture replied as he continued to function.
"Damn it, I need electrical power." Spider-Man said backing away.
As the cargo ship continued sailing, Manhattan was just close by. Many of the worker witnesses were trying to organise evacuations off the ship to avoid further danger. Vulture noticed them before plotting to use them to his advantage.
"Would you like to be captain of a drowning ship, boy?" Vulture asked before straying away.
Curiously, he decided to fly around to random cargo containers and noticed one that said 'flammable material'. Using his talons to rip a bit of the metal down, he soon saw what looked like fertiliser spill out. With a devious smile, he flew back into the air whilst dropping a lit lighter out of his pocket.
This prompted an explosion causing the ship to shake and Spider-Man to realise the dire situation he was going to be in. Torn between saving anyone stuck on the ship and catching Vulture, he let the former decide his action as always. After all, saving people will always be number one.
Vulture smugly thought he could escape once again, a surprise by Gwen caught him off as she phased out from a nearby container and latched onto Vulture. This time with the electrical jammer in hand, she wasted no time in getting the device stuck into the circuity of the jetpack. With one successful jam, the device overcharged the electrical flow of Vulture's wings causing them to lose power.
"No!" Vulture yelled as he plummeted down.
Even with the wings softening his blow, it still did not stop a hard fall as Vulture finally moved around like an injured old man.
"Get everyone off this ship!" Spider-Man called out to Gwen as she had Vulture at her mercy.
Realising the cargo workers onboard, Gwen briefly abandoned Vulture for a moment to save them. The ship was already on its way to make a land stop as it burned which may be a risk for nearby civilians on Manhattan land.
She rallied as many of the cargo workers as she could before helping them with their lifejackets so they could safely jump into the water. Once that was done, she then turned back to get Vulture. His last attempt to swipe Gwen with his talons failed as he stumbled due to the fall.
"Come on, old man." Gwen said dragging the frail Adrian with her.
As the cargo ship continued to burn, it stopped a few metres away from land where it also began to slowly sink down. All the crew members had been saved by available lifejackets as well as float rings. Meanwhile Spider-Man and Gwen had to jump into the water with Adrian next to them.
They watched the ship slowly sink as soon after finding a safe distance.
"Well, that stinks. The next Jameson podcast is going to be brutal." Gwen commented.
HUNTS POINT DOCKS, MANHATTAN…
After moments had past, Gwen and Spider-Man found a crane post where they could watch the 911 crew do their job. Spider-Man looked at Gwen, who seemed to drenched wetter than he was.
"Wow, what a chase that was." Spider-Man commented.
"Had to hang from a hook and make somewhat of a swim to get onboard." Gwen said, "But at least the water's fresher than before."
"Is that true? You mean from murky green to light green?" Spider-Man asked, "I'm going to spend $2 more at the laundromat."
As they watched both the cargo crew be given towels and Adrian having his Vulture gear removed by the police, Spider-Man's ear comm picked up on an update regarding the others who were apprehended at College Point.
"One got away? Damn." Spider-Man said shrugging at the disappointment of the police radio report.
"It's fine, we finally got a hold of bird man. He's the objective after all." Gwen said looking at the police tearing off the Vulture's gear from above, "You sure it's okay that one of your house tools has been wasted like that?"
"Wish it went more smoothly…But thank the jammer for doing its job" Spider-Man sighed.
"Whatever happened, happened. Hey- Uh… Are you okay?" Gwen asked noticing more to Peter's concern.
It was at that moment, Spider-Man changed back to being Peter Parker and started talking about his problems.
"It's May. She's uh…Been having issues lately." Peter said, "All the while, we were doing this."
"Peter…I wish you told me sooner. What's the problem?" Gwen pressed on.
"She's fainted recently and she's in the hospital. For what? I have yet to know." Peter let on, "I'm going to visit her after this."
"Do-do you want me to go with you?" Gwen asked.
Before responding, Peter looked at Gwen for a moment and then answered.
"No… No need. In fact, I don't think you'll like it." Peter answered.
OSCORP BOARD MEETING…
The next morning, Norman sat impatiently as he listened to his executive board team do their talking. They discussed the future of Oscorp which was bound to bring great concern for him.
"Clearly the cyberattack risk has an impact for all departments here. And it's only helping to drive down our stock market value. We need to revamp how Living Brain is implemented and think about subsidizing Oscorp to function more stably." The COO said.
"Yes, it's for the better. Norman- don't you think…" Donna said in return.
Norman raised his hand before getting up from his chair and staring down at his team. The team was used to seeing Norman in a discontent mood but something else has seemed to be brewing inside.
"I want to be honest about how I feel about these meetings." Norman stated, "Time and time again, you're all just biting off more than you can chew. Subsidizing Oscorp? You think that stops things?! Do you forget who founded this place?! Huh? Who helped bring those departments to life?!"
"Sir, what are you talking about?" The director of Oscorp Energies asked, "This is how we're going to keep Oscorp afloat."
"No." Norman replied back, "No, it isn't…"
The whole team watched in concern as they carefully heeded Norman's words. The anger in Norman then continued to exacerbate further.
"You all are cowards…" Norman blatantly stated, "Thinking that you can control how this place works…"
The statement led to confusion amongst the board which prompted one other member to ask.
"Norman, what exactly are you saying?" He asked.
"That a simple network risk and actual attempts at my company make you all squeal? I should've said this a long time ago but this company should be run by soldiers; not peasants…" Norman said, "And right now, I see the opposite."
"Norman, that's enough." Donna insisted, "Please…"
"Shut up, Donna!" Norman yelled, "You festering porcine… Feeding off my company."
Before Donna could respond back, Norman gave her the cold shoulder and left the room from his chair. As Norman's presence was out of the room, Donna noticed some erratic fingernail marks on the table surface from Norman's chair.
J. JONAH JAMESON APARTMENT…
"Well, another good morning to the good people of New York." John started, "it seems like we've seen some progress these days. Sit down for this because it is something."
John then grabbed out his script notes listing off today's details for the podcast episode. Most notably it was about the recent arrest of Vulture.
"Folks, I'm sure everyone knows about that bright orange light burning near East River last night. Ignited by huge quantities of flammable ammonium fertiliser. Woof, talk about a big hazard with a big tragic potential." John said through the microphone.
As he flipped the script, he began to double down.
"That was all thanks to Spider-Man who was at the scene with his partner-in-crime, Spider-Woman. Together, they put a 'stop' to the evil menace roaming the skies. The one whose name reputation goes by 'Vulture'." John continued, "That's right, Adrian Toomes, an out-of-work and limbo retiree is indeed our culprit for why spare parts are lost."
"Spider-Man once sent this man to prison in his early days and then he came back as a hi-tech supervillain keen on stealing toasters; refrigerators and phones. He allowed a deranged old man to fly around picking things and give himself a petty reason to fight on." John rambled, "See, we're all back to square one on what he does. Putting citizens in harm's way and damaging our beautiful economy as seen by that explosion by setting up a supervillain of the week kind of thing."
"Oh by the way, to all my critics who think all I do is complain. I am formulating my own solutions soon enough to counter Spider-Man's recklessness. Just be a loyal triple J member and you'll get the exclusive answer…" John finished.
FOREST HILLS COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, QUEENS…
A memorial for George Stacy had been laid on the hospital entrance sideway ever since his death by Scorpion. Passing the memorial made Peter's mind sting like the sting from Scorpion herself. The loss of not just an ally but a family member served a reminder that his enemies are indeed worth keeping close.
"Please, May. You can pull through again." Peter muttered to himself whilst flashing back to when Chameleon was causing trouble.
As he walked into reception, he showed his phone to the registration lady before being told to be seated and be called into May's room. Once his turn came, he walked to the designated ward room where his aunt was.
Approaching the bed, Peter saw the family doctor, Dr. Nicholas Bromwell who was seated with a clipboard taking notes. The doctor noticed Peter and smiled.
"Mr. Parker. It's been a while." Dr. Bromwell said whilst showing traces of grey hair since the last time they met.
"How is she?" Peter asked, "Sorry for the rash question?"
"No need to apologise, I understand. She's stable at least. But she's only got this place for now." Dr. Bromwell said, "You may spend some time alone with her if you wish. I gotta catch up on a meeting."
"Thank you, doctor Bromwell. You're always here for us." Peter answered before the doctor got up and patted Peter on the shoulder before leaving.
Peter finally sat down on the stool next to a seemingly unconscious but stable May and started to say the things he wanted to say.
"Hey, May. If you're listening then I gotta say… Today was a good day." Peter said, "Me and Dr. Connors are making breakthroughs. Gwen and I are still steady. And uh…"
Peter choked up before thinking of anything else to say, he then made himself hold her cold palm.
"I'll see this through no matter what." Peter said holding tightly, "Please…Get well soon."
TO BE CONTINUED…