Chapter 8
Good afternoon everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful day. I have to say writing is alot more difficult than i initially anticipated, the motivation is quite difficult to find sadly but the reviews certainly do help both for my fanfiction and actual novels so thank you verry much :)
BoyBay44: Great to see you as always! :D Might aswell make it three chapters sure why not, hope you enjoy this one it's sadly a bit rough.
Guest: Lovely to see you too! Don't worry dear reader, chapters might be monthly (except the odd occassion like at the moment) but they will come out :)
"Spectacular" = Speech
'Spectacular' = Thoughts
"What is a 'Hero' though?" = Speach with a quote
*BANG* = Important Noise?
-Flashback- = Flashback settingF
"I love you" = Written words
{4:00am} = Important Time/ Date
Disclaimer: Spider-man, Marvel and related IP belong to their respective owners. The author of this story owns jack-shit and holds no fantasy that they ever will.
_
Swinging through Mid-Town in a ferocious thunder storm was the loyal masked vigilante Spider-man, his costume slick with rain as he raced faster and faster to catch whatever it was that he was pursuing.
The roar of thunder and flash of lightning illuminated the area, briefly showing a glimpse of something that looked like an inverted T flying through the air infront of him.
Attaching two webs to the buildings either side of him, Spider-man used them to throw himself forward towards the weird flying T shaped blob infront of him, the rain making it near impossible to identify exactly what it was.
"Hahahahaha"
Muffled it may be but that blob was definitely laughing at Spider-mans attempts to catch up to shape as it turned a sharp corner trying to loose him. Luckily this gave Spider-man a bit of room to catch up as he stuck a web to corner of a building and used it to swing himself around with all his momentum.
There, with the speed boost from the swing he was catching up slowly but surely. Another flash of lightning and all he could make out was the vaguest hint of purple on the inverted T shaped blob.
This song and dance continued for a while, Spider-man slowly gaining ground whilst the blob bobbed and weaved through the city as it seemed to try loose its pursuer. Atleast that's what Spider-man thought it was doing. Swinging around a nearby corner Spider-man could only glare into the rain in frustration, the blob was gone.
Landing on a nearby skyscraper, Spiderman kept a close eye out on the roads below where he'd been in hot pursuit of the elusive blob. Although, with the rain pouring down as heavily as it was, he'd be lucky if he saw a pigeon before it flew into him.
"Ahahahahaha"
There was the laughter again! Maybe he hadn't lost the trail after all. But where was it coming from? Looking around frantically Spider-man tried his best to peer through the rain which seemed to be coming down with more force each second. Finally however, he looked up.
There it was! Floating perpendicular to the building and looking down at him was the blob, the dull thrum of laughter peeling out from it and reaching down to him in its rain distorted glory.
Turning around so that he was standing on the skyscraper, Spider-man got into a runners stance, ready to bolt up the side of the building and finally catch the blob which had led him on the wild goose chase. Atleast, he would have had something not cut his arm.
Looking down in alarm at the rapidly growing red patch on his outfit Spider-man looked frantically into the rain and at the floating blob to see what could have caused it. This would only be exasperated when suddenly he received three more cuts to his back.
Quickly looking over his shoulder, Spider-man spotted nothing but more rain and the street below.
"Ahahahahahaha"
Turning his gaze quickly back to the floating blob Spider-man once again prepared to run up, knowing that somehow this thing was to blame for his pain.
One step. That's all he got before his body erupted into pain as more cuts blossomed into being on his body whilst the blob laughed on continously, whatever it was it evidently enjoyed seeing him in pain.
Slice, Slice, Slice. Each second a new cut would open on his body, bleeding in tandem with his heartbeat. Resisting the urge to scream out in agony, Spider-man failed to keep it contained as his body yearned to tell the world of its pain. Yet, when his mouth opened, nothing came out.
Not one word or sound. The lack of sound only seemed to make the blob laugh harder as it began to float down towards the now silently screaming Spider-man who was plastered to the side of the building, his legs having lost their ability to hold him upright.
Gliding into view was the blob now revealed to be the sight of a green skinned goblin, it's eyes alight with joy and pleasure at the sight before it as a wide manical grin split its face from ear to ear. This would be the last thing he'd see however as at the same time that the goblin came into view, a new deep cut came into being on his throat.
Gurgling silently at the blood pooling in his throat, Spider-man clawed at it in despair, anything to get some air into his lungs whilst The Green Goblin looked on in joy, his laughter ringing out loud despite the rain drowing everything else.
Eyesight starting to fade to black, Spider-man reached out one hand in a final bid of desperation as one sound finally made it out.
"Help..." Spider-man gurgled, blood spilling down his costume whilst he suffocated from the amount in his throat.
Reaching down to the Spider, the Goblin just looked at his feeble nemesis and laughed even harder at the pitiful sight before him.
"Hahahahahaha"
Laughing insanely, the Goblin kicked Spider-man in the chest, right above his heart and watched gleefully as his hold on the building wavered.
Eyes wide in fright and lungs burning, Spider-man couldn't keep his hold on the building any longer and plumeted down to the ground below. Spider-man didn't know what would kill him first, the lack of oxygen or the ground rushing up to meet him. Either way, as he fell his last sight was of a grinning Green Goblin waving good-bye to him, his eyes sparkling in joy whilst Spider-mans own faded to black.
_Bolting upright in bed and gasping for air as loud as he could was Peter Parker, his eyes frantically wide as they scanned the room whilst he gulped in as much air as his poor lungs would allow. Seeing nothing immediately, Peter waited till he had caught his breath before bending over his bed and checking underneath it.
Seeing nothing but some dirty clothes and comic books Peter let out a loud sigh as he moved to lay back on the bed, his head resting on the pillow as he gazed at the ceiling. Atleast mainly the ceiling, try as he might he couldn't help but gaze around his room more every now and then incase he missed something the first time.
Eventually his eyes caught sight of a certain card sitting on his bedside locker. Reaching over to pick it up Peter gently grabbed it and began reading through it. This was how he spent the rest of his night, eyes re reading over the card and it's message whilst occasionally darting around the room. This continued until the sun began to rise, birds chirping merrily in the morning air as Peter's tired eyes closed softly, his hands gently holding the card close to his chest.
*BRIINNNGGGGGG*
Blearily opening his eyes, Peter groaned in pain from the awkard position he'd found himself in. Last time he hoped to fall asleep sitting up but given his busy schedule he had little hope that it wouldn't happen again.
Picking the card laying on his chest up gently, Peter gave it one quick read, a smile blossoming onto his face before he yawned loudly. Returning the card to the top of his bedside locker, Peter gave it a forlong look and sighed.
"Nom nom, nom" Peter chewed as he looked confusedly over his bowl of cereal at the person sitting at his kitchen table reading a newspaper, all that was visible were dainty hands gripped onto either side of the near comically large paper.
"Can you believe the cops still haven't caught this serial killer?" The person behind the paper said in shock. "I mean I know they're understaffed but this whole story is really freaking people out you know? Not that i'm scared or anything."
Pausing in his ceral munching, Peter rested his spoon in the bowl as he affixed the newspaper with hands infront of him with an understanding look. "I'm sure they're trying their best, Spider-mans probably on the lookout too so it's only a matter of time."
Putting the paper down, the scowling face of Mary-Jane Watson was shown for all to see as she gave Peter a weird look. "I get that but how many more are gonna die until they're arrested? And I don't just mean civilians, the police and Spider-man ought to be careful with this lunatic loose"
"I'm sure Captain Stacy has his officers on top alert for this killer and Spider-man isn't new to facing lunatics. Personally, I just hope one of them catches him soon. They have enough on their plate with this crime wave, people shouldn't have to be worried about a killer at the same time." Peter said glaring into his bowl full of slowly melting cereal.
"I agree" MJ said simply as she reached over to take a sip from a cup beside her. "Ahhh, your Aunt makes the best coffee, you know that right?"
"Is that why you're here first thing on a saturday morning?" Peter asked cheekily, glad for a change in the topic as he pointed his spoon at her accussingly.
"Naturally Tiger" MJ laughed with a smile splitting her face as she watched Peter finish off his cereal. "Need something to keep me awake while we work on that group project later."
"Oh yeah how's that going? We barely got ours submitted in time..." Peter winced remembering the fiasco they'd had trying to articulate their idea to Captain Stacy. Here's a tip people, if you ever have a good idea, write it down exactly so that you can remember it when the time comes for it to be needed.
"It's alright, they're both doing work although Harry looks like he wants to be anywhere but there when we meet up. We went with 'The effects of super powers on an enviroments crime levels'." MJ said taking a sip of her coffee. "Personally, I think Harry only agreed to it so that he can blame Spider-man but it's the only suggestion he'd agree too so we were a bit screwed to say the least."
Peter winced at that information, if he had to guess he'd agree with MJ's opinion. Gwen and MJ might write something unbiased but there was no way Harry would be able to put aside his grudge if his past few outbursts regarding Spider-man were any indication.
"Did you know he's even bailing on us later? We'd planned to finish off the first few hundred words today as a group now that the ideas been approved and the jerk goes and bails on us! Hmph, well fair enough, if he has better plans then today will just be a girls day out" MJ continued, huffing in irritation at the thought of Harry not pulling his weight before a smile of satisfaction lit her face at her decision, obviously pleased with herself.
"Ouch, I'm sure he's got a good reason for it, he's not one to bail usually." Peter winced as he tried to defend Harry from MJ's wrath only for him to get a glare in response.
"Peter"
"Yes MJ?"
"Hush please."
The silence that spread between the two was quickly broken by the sounds of their laughter as the two fought back chuckles fighting desperately to escape their mouths.
"Honestly though, I'm sure he has got a vaild reason. He wouldn't bail on Gwen and you for no reason. He'll probably make it up to you two next time." Peter continued defending Harry whilst MJ simply gave him a skeptical look.
"Fine. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt but only cause of you Tiger." MJ said, raising her cup of coffee to perky pink lips as she took a quiet sip.
Smiling in appreciation Peter nodded happily as he rose to go rinse off his now empty bowl, placing it on the drainning board beside sink once he'd finished.
"And what are you up to today?" MJ questioned the boy sitting back down in his seat. "Meeting up with Liz and Hobbie by any chance?"
"Nah, Jamesson has me busy all day on the lookout for Spider-man or any new stories from this crime wave." Peter replied with a sad look on his face as he hung his head.
"That sucks." MJ chuckled with a shake of her head. "If you get a chance why don't you pop in for a quick coffee or muffin later, we'll be at the Silver Spoon all day and i'm sure Gwen would love to see you."
Looking up at the ceiling rather than the grinning girl infront of him, Peter could only sigh. "I'd love to myself, but I really am busy today."
"Just an idea Tiger, who knows how your day will go" MJ said as she finished off the last of her coffee, placing the cup onto the table as the two friends stood up and grabbed their things, both heading for the front together in comfortable silence.
Swinging through the city, Spider-man basked in the sunny day that had only a few clouds floating in the sky above. Heading down Mid-town, Spider-man was looking left and right, dodging the occassional bird, as he kept an eye out for crime.
'Man what I would give to take MJ up on her offer, it'd be great to hang out with her and Gwen on a day like this...' Spider-man thought to himself as he swung past the Silver-Spoon and over the head of a certain blonde.
'Focus Parker, Spider-man has a job to do.' Spider-man thought to himself as he shook his head quickly, jumping over a flock of slow moving birds in the process.
Turning sharply, Spider-man began swinging down at nearby alleyway only to shoot two webs onto a nearby firescape, pulling himself onto it in the blink of an eye.
"Now what do we have here?" Spider-man quietly questioned aloud as he gazed down at a group of people in trenchcoats climbing down into the sewer one at a time through a manhole.
"Hurry it up! The boss will have our heads if we don't catch him soon." A man standing to the side of the manhole said as he directed more people down into the sewer, waving his hand towards another member once the ladder down was clear.
Now normally Spider-man would've just continued on, after all urban exploration was a pretty big thing and who knew, maybe they were youtubers or something. The problem arose when considering their words however, they were evidently on the hunt for someone and they didn't look like police officers.
The situation went from bad to worse when Spider-man spotted something metallic glinting across the chest of the man directing the last few people down into the sewers. There slanted across the mans chest under his trench coat was an automatic rifle, not the type of toy someone wants to be hunted with.
Realising the quickly devolving event would need his focus, Spider-man took out his phone and quietly gave the police a call once the last thug had entered the sewer, someone needed to know that there were a bunch of goons with guns in the sewers.
Finishing up with the location of the alleyway, Spider-man hung up the phone and jumped down onto the filthy ground littered with rubbish and cardboard.
Walking over to the still open manhole Spider-man quietly stuck to the wall and climbed down head first, peeking his head into the sewer to see the group of goons up ahead with flashlights as they searched the dingy sewer for someone.
Climbing down even further Spider-man stuck to the sewers ceiling and slowly followed the group from behind as he kept his ears open for any information the group had on who exactly it was that they were pursuing.
"I'm telling you guys, the boss has a thing for him" One of the goons said, shinning their flashlight into the disgusting water beside them.
"Bah, that's just your stupid headcannon. There's no way a gal like her fell for a lad like him." A female thug said aloud as she shoved her way past the previous one, scoffing at the notion that their boss would associate with their target.
"Twenty bucks says i'm right and that that's why she hates the previous bigman, he snatched up her hubby before she could get him working for her." The first thug said as he ran up to match pace with the female thug near the rear of the pack.
"You're on." The two quietly shook on it, unaware of the arachnid crawling above their heads.
'So they're after somone who worked for tombstone...must be prolific if this boss of theirs wants him so bad...' Spider-man thought to himself as the group went deeper into the sewers.
The group below went silent after the last exchange between the two goons near the rear, no doubt trying to keep the element of surprise for themselves rather than give it away to the person they were hunting.
'Well it's now or never' Spider-man thought to himself from above the three goons at the rear as he got into position. Sadly he should have been a bit quicker because right as he got into position he heard shouting from up front.
"There he is! After him!"
That's his que if he's ever heard it. Dropping down onto the thug in the middle Spider-man kicked him into the hard sewer concrete, webbing him to the floor much to the shock of the rest of the thug squad who turned to face him in disbelief.
Reacting quickly, Spider-man shot two bursts of webs towards the stunned goons now on either side of him. The two of them found themselves webbed to the wall before they could even blink whilst the rest of the group ran off in search of their pray, ignoring Spider-man and the now struggling comrades.
"Hey what am I, chopped liver?" Spider-man called out into the sewer as he gave chase on foot, running after the group that saw fit to ignore him.
"Cheryl, Tony. Slow that spider down for us" The thug which had been directing them into the sewer shouted from the top of the pack pursuing the shadow deeper into the sewers.
Two goons split off from the rear of the pack, both turning with their guns cocked as they began shooting down the filthy sewer towards their not so friendly pursuer.
Jumping up onto the ceiling and back down, Spider-man bent in all sorts of manners in order to avoid the gunfire that was barelling down towards him in the tight corridor of the sewers. Thank gosh for spidey-sense. This went on for about a minute until the sudden empty click of their guns resounded out through the dank sewer.
Capitalising on the lull as the duo reloaded their guns, Spider-man shot a web onto both guns, reefing forward with his strength he pulled the two guns and the goons they were attached to towards him.
Jumping over the goons now laying on the ground, Spider-man quickly webbed them to the floor before continuing his pursuit of the pursuers. Geez wasn't that ridiculous.
By his estimates there were four goons left including the one in charge, four goons who had a head start on him and were probably cornering some unlikely person right this very moment. Speeding up Spider-man turned and twisted through the winding sewer tunnels, ducking under stray pipes as he continued his pursuit.
The sounds of a fight slowly made itself known to Spider-man as he ran through the sewers. It was coming from up ahead and given the occassional shot of gunfire, he didn't think it was an exactly fair fight.
Turning the corner and speeding into a large open junction that seemed to connect multiple different sewer tunnels, Spider-man saw something he wouldn't believe if he hadn't been standing there himself.
Hammerhead stood with a goons arm pulled tight behind his back as he used the unlucky person as a human shield from the goons facing him with weapons.
'So that's who they were after...makes sense really.'
Realising that the situation was already tense Spider-man quietly crept around for a better vantage point as he kept his eyes on the weapons infront of him whilst the man in charge began issuing demands.
"Drop the fodder Hammerhead, it's useless! We've got you right where we want you and there's no escape now." The head thug shouted out at Hammerhead, his gun pointed at the man.
"I'm dead if I do, dead if I don't. So why not try don't eh?" Hammerhead snarled in fury as he bent the unlucky sods arm back even further causing them to cry out in pain. His eyes that were fixed solely on the goons widened however when he caught sight of a certain arachnid waving at him from behind the goons.
This action brought a small smirk to Hammerheads face as the situation added a new variable in his favour.
This variable had finally found a good vantage point to hit multiple guns at the same time, although it was complete chance that none of the goons had looked to their right and saw him standing there.
Nodding towards Hammerhead, wow didn't that feel weird, Spider-man took a moments pause before shooting two webs at the guns being pointed towards Hammerhead and his shield. The webs hit two of the guns in quick succession which Spiderman used as the perfect opportunity to recreate his previous tactic of reefing the guns, and those they were attached to, to the ground.
A slight Problem arose however, he was so busy focusing on the the head thug who didn't budge, no doubt to make sure Hammerhead didn't move, that he missed his next two web shots. It wasn't all bad, he'd managed to stick the guns to the floor so they were out of commission but the goons themselves? Yeah they just took the strap off and were charging him, wonderful.
Hammerhead wasn't standing ideally by however as he kicked his hostage towards the head thug, running behind his shield he closed the gap between him and the thug in the blink of an eye. Smashing his head down on the barrel of the gun, bending the barrel and leaving the thug in a state of surprise that someone would put their head that close to the barrel of an automatic weapon.
Standing on even footing now Hammerhead charged the thug and started throwing punch after punch his way which to his credit, he was managing to dodge, even throwing a few back himself.
Whilst this was going on Spider-man was in a similar situation, ducking and weaving through the punches of two lesser goons as he tried to stick them to the floor or wall.
Left, right, down, back. Spider-man dodged every which way that he could as he tried to avoid two sets of hands at the same time, every time one would make a mistake, the other thug would cover him so it wasn't as easy as it normally would. These two evidently had some experience fighting together but they forgot one thing. Spider-man was used to fighting multiple people at the same time.
*SPLASH*
Well there goes Hammerheads foe, poor dude looked like he'd lost a couple of front teeth after that altercation. Hammerhead didn't waste anytime in bolting down a nearby sewer tunnel much to Spider-mans dismay, Hammerhead might be the victim here but that didn't mean he was innocent of previous crimes.
Waiting for one of the goons to overextend Spider-man finally found his moment to strike as the other thug jumped forward with a punch. Quickly webbing the defending goons feet to the floor, Spider-man jumped over his fist and shoulders to reach the thug now stood behind him.
Dropkicking the remaining thug Spider-man knocked him straight into the wall where he was webbed up nice and tight for the police to come collect. Making his way over to Hammerheads knocked out opponnent Spider-man picked him up and set him against the sewer wall before webbing him to it to make sure he didn't escape when he came to.
On the topic of escape however, wasn't there four goons here?
'Damn it!' Spider-man thought as he spun around the large room looking every which way for the remaining thug. But no matter how hard he looked, two things became clear, the last goon got away and so did Hammerhead.
Spider-man wasn't one to just give up however so he ran down the tunnel he'd last seen Hammerhead barelling down at full speed away from the fight and began searching for any clues that he could find. Spider-man spent hours looking but no matter how hard he searched he couldn't find any indication as to where either of them had disappeared to.
So it was with a frustrated demeanor that Spider-man dodged the police squads combing the sewers in search of any other goons, crawling out of a manhole covered in filth as the sun set left Spider-man in dire need of a nice hot shower.
Walking towards the abandoned building, Harry kept his eyes peeled for anyone lurking in the shadows, after all this wasn't exacly the usual neighbourhoods he would be frequenting.
Lurking around Hells Kitchen, Harry Osborn climbed the steps of the building, the only light coming from the yellow street lights sat on the street behind him. Atleast, that's how it appeared. Opening the door, Harry was greeted by a long white hallway illuminated by bright fluorescent lights devoid of life.
Stepping down the hallway Harry carefully watched every door and corner he walked past, wondering where was hiding. The man had told him to be here and he was fucking here damn it! He was ready to prove himself worthy of his father.
Turning a corner carefully with his back slightly hunched, Harry quickly straightened up upon seeing standing at the end of the hallway next to an open door. The man was checking something on his phone and giggling. The heck? Harry didn't want to know. As he got closer to the man who seemed absorbed in whatever was on his phone screen, Harry's foots landed particularly hard on the floor below him, resounding throughtout the hall and causing Dr. Warren to look up quickly from his phone, coughing into his fist as he put the phone back into his pocket.
"Harry, so you actually showed up?" asked bemusedly as he shook his head, eyes slightly wide as he stared at the Osborn heir.
"Of course I did Warren. I told you, i'm going to prove myself whether you like it or not." Spoke Harry through gritted teeth towards the man who glared at him in response.
"Don't take that tone with me boy." spat out before turning away from Harry and walking through the open doorway. "Come. We'll see if you really are your fathers son"
Harry followed obediently, Stepping into a room with a large glass window looking into another seperate room where a man was strapped to a chair.
"What's going on Warren? Who is that?" Harry asked as he walked over to the window to watch the man struggling in the chair, his mouth was open but no noise was coming out so Harry assumed the room was soundproofed.
"That is what happens when you fall behind on your gambling debts." Dr. Warren said simply as he fiddled around with a large control panel infront of the window. "As for 'who' that is..."
Dr. Warren pressed a button on the control panel infront of him and suddenly the room which had been silent lit up with curses and shouts of outrage.
"W-where am I? Let me the fuck out of here you cocksuckers!" The man screamed as he shook trying desperately to get out of the chair he was bound to.
simply smiled at the man and pressed a button on the control panel. "Now now Mr. Gargan, this is no place for profanity." This only seemed to enrage Mac even further who continued spitting curse after curse towards the man whilst Harry just looked on in confusion.
Seeing Harry about to open his mouth, Dr. Warren took his finger off the button on the control panel and turned towards the young Osborn. "What?"
"What do you mean 'what', what's going on here Warren you never answered me!" Harry shouted at the man who gave him an uninterested look.
"You seek to prove yourself the man your father was don't you? Then prove it. Take the same step into stopping the Spider that he did." said simply as he pointed at the man screaming at them from the other room.
"Spider-man..." Harry growled as he looked at the man squirming with unflinching eyes. "You're sure whatever you're planning will put that murderer in the ground where he belongs?"
"Positive. It's time for a superior arachnid to rise, one that will take out that so called murderer as you so simply put it" said as he began typing away on the control panel before them.
"Then do it. I don't care what happens, i'll make my father proud" Harry said resolutly as he turned determined eyes towards the doctor beside him who tched and scowled.
"Maybe you are a bit like your father afterall." said as he glared into the room where Mac Gargan was sat strapped to the chair. "Lets see if you can keep it up when things get serious."
"What do you mean?"
"This." said as he finished pressing a series of commands into the control panel before him. What was set in motion was straight out of a horror movie, lights flashed and terrified pained screams erupted from Gargans mouth as he was subjected to untold horrors at the behest of Harry and . Harry could barely watch, his eyes wide as he realised what he'd done before he ran over and began puking in the rooms bin.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
"Blegghhhh" Harry cried, eyes teary as the contents of his stomach lined the metal bin.
"Hahaha, this a bit much for you Harry! Want me to stop?" cackled, as he took out his phone, looking at something and smiling even wider before returning it and turning to watch Harry walk back over to the one way window, green in the face but a resolute look still in his eyes.
"No. My father would do whatever it takes to see his goals achieved and so will I." Harry said to the now scowling who turned back to the screaming Gargan. Seems like he wouldn't be winning the bet after all.
Hey everyone, hope you are all having a great day. Had a serious bout of writers block for this chapter so i'm not too thrilled with how it came out but ah well, I tried my best sure. Hope you all enjoy it!