SPIDER-MAN: ALL ALONE (CHAPTER 25)
J. JONAH JAMESON APARTMENT…
"Ladies and gentlemen, I asked you last time to give me suggestions regarding the name of our new green flying fiend and I have to say… The survey melted from creativity." John stated over the microphone, "While all of us have a name in mind, I personally have my own. Know what I call him? Thanks to general consensus, I'd call him 'Jaded Metal'".
As John cleared his throat, he went on to explain his answer.
"He may look flashy flying around his 'hoverboard' and he may think of himself as a gem. But come on people, does this shiny tin-can suit really deserve a flattering description?" John asked, "No… He's just another tired accomplice of Spider-Man's charade. We've seen this kind of villain before, Spider-Man! That's why I call him 'Jaded' not because of the stone colour."
John huffed after the long-winded words before calming down.
"With that out of the way, I'd like to turn attention that despite the name. Jaded Metal is no joke. He menaces from the sky dropping bombs and sharp boomerangs. He cackles and knows the harm he causes to civilians. You all saw the devastation on Brooklyn Bridge and God knows what follows next." John warned, "But remember, we're all in this together looking to the sky and watching Spider-Man's next ploy."
YURI'S HOUSE…
Yuri changed into her casual clothes and walked around with documents in hands which reference potential dealings between Oscorp and U-Genetics, the company Miller hijacked for his cloning and genetic experiments.
"Now I'm not an expert on finance." Yuri said shifting through the details regarding performance reports, "But if what you suggest is true… Then we'll be looking into a whole new scandal."
"I only just got the idea that Warren might be connected because of a hallucination." Gwen replied, "We got nothing at the moment to suggest otherwise."
"Why would you hallucinate about him?" Yuri asked curiously.
Just as Gwen was about to answer, Spider-Man who was with her interjected.
"He's quite possibly one of the biggest villains we faced." Spider-Man answered, "And just the creepy vibe he gives off whenever we think of him."
While the answer he gave was true, inside Peter Parker's own mind was an internal debate of the villains that gave him a run for his life. While foes such as Chameleon and Tombstone came close to endangering his life; there was no one yet he could think of with anything truly personal to him.
"Well, I know not to question my fears then." Yuri said looking down.
"I gotta ask… Why would he target the Brookiest of bridges?" Spider-Man asked.
"You're asking a question we know nothing about." Gwen replied.
"What she said." Yuri agreed.
"Well, okay…" Spider-Man said, "I think we owe it to ourselves to find out a little more."
"You know what? I think I should repay Oscorp another visit." Gwen added.
"Excuse me?" Spider-Man asked in surprise.
"Oh, come on. What else can we do to stop all the crazy things?" Gwen asked, "I'm not seeing much else we can do if we just swing around the city."
"I-I…" Spider-Man sighed, "Didn't we discuss the possibility that Greenie could be there and that would be trouble?"
"No risk; no answer. Besides, aren't you going to let me decide on some plans?" Gwen asked.
"OK… Then I guess I'll…Scour the city?" Spider-Man replied moving to the side, "At least keep people on the streets safe."
"Which means this job calls for individual efforts." Gwen said, "Don't you think?"
As the two conversed, Yuri watched the Spiders' discussion with increasing impatience. It was then her third wheel presence started getting to her. Spider-Man then took note of Yuri's concerned expression.
"What's wrong, Yuri?" Spider-Man asked noticing Yuri looking like she was about to break down.
"I-…" Yuri started, "You know. I'm thinking that… As captain of my precinct, I should be able to do more to help. We cops can't always be piggybacking off superhero help. We're supposed to be capable to protect. And to think this at the moment, many of our fellow officers including the Commissioner have been hurt now because of that green freak."
"Sorry, Yuri." Spider-Man said looking back and forth between her and Gwen, "It's just how it is with superpowers."
"No, I'm not asking for powers. I just wish human intuition can be just as equal." Yuri said clutching her right fist.
OSCORP BOARD ROOM...
Norman walked into the same room where he had murdered his executives previously alongside
Marty; two of his men pushing a trolley and Nicky Lewis Jr, the boy under Marty's wing. The room's crime had mostly been erased save for the absolute absence of the executives here in the first place.
"What's so important that the boy had to come, huh?" Marty asked and questioned Norman about Nicky's presence.
Norman did not reply before sitting down with a grin on his face. The grin got onto Marty's nerve immediately giving him the impression that Norman is too arrogant to care.
"Oh, you look so happy. Exploding bits of Brooklyn Bridge. Terrorising a police station. I bet your mama is real proud of you, huh?" Marty insulted, "Is this the Oscorp you wanted to reclaim?"
"Quiet, you barking poodle." Norman sneered before glaring at Marty.
"Yeah, there's the psycho in you." Marty egged on, "You said our arrangement was a partnership. I was promised a piece of this company? A nice piece of capital to build off."
Confused at Norman's mundane expression, Marty looked behind to see his two men acting indifferent as they stood while Nicky was chewing gum and staring at Marty getting chewed out. Norman continued with his grin as he began to explain the circumstances.
"Mart-o, whose chubby house do you think you're in?" Norman asked.
As Norman finished what he was saying, he snapped his fingers prompting one of the henchmen to bring forth a wine glass and bottle of wine from the tray. Pouring the drink for Norman; Marty was bewildered to see one of his men serve Norman a drink without his order.
"Steve, what the hell are you doing just giving this man a drink?" Marty asked with his hands out.
The henchman did not say a word as he poured Norman the drink. Norman smiled after his first sip before taking a deep breath.
"It's a real shame, Mart-o. I brought you into this room…" Norman explained, "To show you the kind of vile people we are supposed to despise. But all I see in you… Are the same suits they wore."
"What? Hey, aren't you a hypocrite? You call out these asses for being rich when you're a higher pay-grade than them." Marty retorted.
"You miss the point, Mart-o. Some people lift themselves through hardship but others will siphon the goodwill off others. Too bad, it's the latter for you…" Norman said with a sneer.
"Oh, you are so full of shit, Osborn. Who are you to distinguish between right and wrong?" Marty said standing up.
Norman placed his wine glass down on the table before standing up on his own.
"Morality… Is such a weakness. It absolves the best in all of us…" Norman said looking out the building window before turning to Marty, "I feared it like all… But through my own discoveries, it is clear that only free will and control matters."
"OK, I'm leaving." Marty grumbled trying to leave Norman's lecture.
"Oh, but you WANT to stay for the party cake, Mart-o." Norman replied.
After those words, the two henchmen in the room suddenly grabbed Marty and restrained him much to his surprise. They then forcefully put him back onto his chair. Nicky looked on with a blank expression before Norman walked up and took out of his pocket, a spherical bomb.
"Get that bomb away from me!" Marty yelled.
"Quiet, Mart-o. This room can't take that much noise." Norman said toying around with the bomb in hand, "Your choice. Blown to smithereens? Laugh up a gas? Or shock till you drop?"
"N-Nicky. Stop standing there and tell Mr. Osborn to put an end to this!" Marty said in desperation to Nicky.
"Nicky, after all we chatted about. You still belive Mart-o Fart-o here is a man worth listening to? I brought you here for a reason." Norman said to the boy.
"Is this a joke?" Marty asked with ire, "You, Mr. Osborn. Are a freak. Like Adrian Toomes."
"At least, Toomes knows to how to build art from scrap. In fact, the man has more value than a worm like you." Norman retorted, "Nicky, do what we talked about."
Nicky nodded before pulling out a pistol out of his pocket and shocking Marty. As this happened, Marty wanted to exploit any potential conflict inside of the boy while the pistol was pointed at his chest.
"Nicky. Before you do anything extreme… I just want to say. I loved you like a son. Please rethink what you are doing! I took you in after your real father died. He'd so disappointed if you chose this path, I'm telling you… He-." Marty pleaded before a bang sound was made.
The henchmen let Marty go as he clutched his chest and fell to the ground. The last thing Marty saw before closing his eyes was Nicky's satisfied smile. It seemed like the boy had freed himself from his chains and now the last remaining memory of Marty was just how pitiful his existence really was.
With Marty eliminated, Norman placed his hand on Nicky's shoulder as if he was proud of his own child.
"Well done, son. You showed him no mercy." Norman said.
As this was said, Norman's own memories of Harry started to erode. His sick son whom he had been fighting for was replaced by a warped conscious persuading him that the sickness was a weak link. Nicky Lewis Jnr; who was born from crime had inherited the traits; Norman was seeking for his worthy successors.
NEAR OSCORP TOWER PARKING AREA…
Moments later, Gwen was on duty carrying out reconnaissance and seeking the clues to close out the crisis of Oscorp. As this happened, she noticed from where she was perched, a truck delivery site at the bottom of the tower. Goods were transported through here undoubtedly.
"Everything Oscorp needs and delivers goes through that door…" Gwen muttered to herself.
It was then something caught Gwen's eye. There were men taking what looked like body bags out from Oscorp to the back of a truck. From there, Gwen's suspicion for the bags and need to investigate Oscorp tugged at her mind.
"Surely, there's something to those." Gwen thought before swinging for a closer look to observe and hear what is being said.
"Damn. Mr. Osborn is pretty cold-blooded." One man wearing a worker uniform said.
"Shhh… Keep that gossip down." Another man added.
The words themselves soon ingrained into Gwen's mind that Norman was indeed making moves behind the scenes. But it was the next words that got into Gwen's mind about what happened with their original lead, Marty Defalco.
"Did you ever like Marty as our boss anyway?" The first man asked.
"Pfft. I have to eat and live, bro. Stop pulling my leg." The other man replied, "Do you know what happened to him by the way?"
"Beats me. Apparently, he's not the one paying us anymore." The first man replied back.
"They're Marty's men." Gwen observed leaning from the building side as her eye lens scanned the environment further.
Upon getting that information, she also noted that her eyes were not fooling her and that there were indeed body bags being taken out and transported into the truck. While she focused on the truck for the body bags, she also took note the other vehicles and people around.
"Time to unwind this foul play." Gwen said while preparing to drop onto the truck's container.
After making sure that it was safe to drop, Gwen made sure that she was not spotted before making her move. With the truck container door being closed; Gwen jumped down and immediately activated her phasing ability.
Getting inside the truck, Gwen found herself in a cold room where the body bags hanged. There was no time for shock as Gwen reached for one bag and opened the zip. Inside one of them was Donna Meneken, the former CFO of Oscorp. Her face contorted and devoid of any sign of life.
"This feels familiar." Gwen said under her cold breath as she studied the body, "Hang on, isn't she one of Oscorp's executives?"
"Hold up. We got another fresh body to add." A voice from outside called.
"Oh, crap." Gwen said before jumping to the right side without thinking and phasing through the container.
As she phased out, Gwen realised her mistake as she happened to be in the sight of a random man in the parking lot.
"Double crap." Gwen said as she got back on her feet.
"Hey, it's that Spider-girl!" The man shouted sounding the alarm to her presence.
WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE…
On a separate occasion; Spider-Man swung to Williamsburg Bridge as part of his objective to ensure Norman or as he knows him, 'Mr. Green' that no more bridges were getting attacked at random.
Manhattan Bridge was heavily guarded the same as Williamsburg itself. And beyond Manhattan Bridge was Brooklyn Bridge with bits of it missing. To keep out of police eyes, Spider-Man decided to swing beneath the bridge rather than usual upwards. It was not easy being in the eye of authorities who may or may not appreciate his work.
"Seems like the police are all on high alert." Spider-Man commented, "Good thing in case Greenie comes back but bad if I'm considered the 'bad guy' too."
Soon, Spider-Man picked up a call from Gwen on his earpiece. He was then greeted by numerous loud noises such as punching; smacking and shouting.
"Spider-Woman? What's happening?" Spider-Man wondered.
"Hey, I'm kinda busy kicking ass right now." Gwen said over the earpiece, "But I got some new info."
"What? New info?" Spider-Man replied trying to listen closely to the messy audio.
"Marty Defalco, our lead-*Oof* after Vulture got his men… Hired by Norman." Gwen said as the sounds of punching and kicking continued, "But… Also. You know Oscorp's executives? Turns out they've been dead and body bagged."
"Uh, that's grim info. You sound like you're in trouble. Do you want to me to swing by?" Spider-Man asked.
"Actually, I got this." Gwen said before the sound of her throwing aside a big man was heard, "Just dealing with your day-to-day thugs. Not much new."
"OK, seriously… Please tell me when there is real trouble." Spider-Man warned before another call to his ear was made whilst the fighting sound fizzled away.
Switching the call, Spider-Man got a message from Yuri.
"Yuri, how's the gig at home or work going?" Spider-Man asked.
"I got the latest development on the police feed regarding our green flying friend. This time, it's a kidnapping. He blew open an apartment block and he's kidnapped someone. And that someone happens to be J. Jonah Jameson." Yuri informed.
"Jonah?!" Spider-Man answered with surprise.
ACROSS MANHATTAN…
Across the skirts of Manhattan, John had been dangling by Norman's hand as he whizzed by the city getting nauseous from different angles while everything went by fast in his view.
"HELP!" John screamed while Norman laughed surfing on his glider.
After a while, Norman stopped mid-air before lifting John up by the arm and stared directly at his face through his mask.
"You've been giving me a bad name, haven't you?" Norman said with a hint of wickedness under his breath.
"Please, I mean you no harm. I-I-I just report…And entertain audiences." John begged trying to look away from both him and the ground below.
"Entertain, huh? Well, let's have some fun now." Norman said before letting go and grabbing John by the suit.
John continued to panic with Norman's toying as he thought about what he could say as his possible final words.
"OK, um… What do you want to be called then?" John asked shakingly.
Norman's direct response to that question began with a little flying around to intimidate him whilst the next response was to let go of him again. This time, he caught John by the throat making the situation more dangerous. The sound of the glider engines powered up again as Norman answered John's question.
"How about you start with the word… 'Green'? Norman suggested holding onto John's throat.
TO BE CONTINUED…