-Chapter 14-
Persona
Late one night inside a New York City bank, security guards were making their rounds, making sure the building was secure. As the guards continued to survey the area, a shadowy figure made his way out of a vent and toward the vault. He slid down before getting to work cracking it. After a few moments, the safe was open, setting off an alarm and alerting the guards.
Immediately, they ran in shining flashlights on the figure to reveal...
"Spider-Man?!"
Spider-Man fired a web at one of the guards, tying him up and causing him to fall to the ground. Another guard ran up toward him, prompting Spider-Man to kick him in the chest, sending him flying back. With that done, he went into the vault, grabbing bags of money.
"Thanks for the donation, fellas," he quipped before making his escape.
The next morning, Peter and Peni were in shock at the headline of the latest Daily Bugle: "Spider-Menace robs bank! Shows his true colors!"
"What?!" Peter quickly turned to Peni. "Peni, I didn't do this!"
"Pete-" Peni began.
"I was studying for the next test and crashed!"
"Pete-"
"I swear to God, it wasn't me! I would never-!"
"PETER!" Peni screamed, silencing him. "Relax. I know this wasn't you."
Peter sighed in relief. "Oh, good."
"Look, clearly we're dealing with some kind of imposter here. Though to be fair, it's a pretty damn good one."
"Not helping," Peter replied.
"Sorry, but it's true," she replied while looking at the pic. "He's even using webs."
"Can't be. My dad's biocable formula is one of a kind. It's in my lab."
"So unless this guy knows your secret identity-"
Peter cringed. "God, I hope not."
"We'll figure this out, Pete," Peni assured. "For now, you might wanna keep a low profile."
Peter nodded. "Good idea. Last thing I need is the cops trying to arrest me while I'm swinging to school."
Meanwhile, at NYPD, Yuri was meeting with Captain George Stacy over Spider-Man's robbery.
"George, you can't be serious," she insisted. "We have eyewitnesses and everything."
"You do know the kind of world we live in, right?" George countered. "Shapeshifters. Robots that look like people. For all we know, this Spider-Man could be a fake. Besides, why fight crime for months, only to start committing it?"
"Maybe he wasn't satisfied with charity work."
"Also, another thing to consider," He pulled up footage on his computer before turning it toward her. "Here's the security footage from last night," He then opened up another video. "And this is older footage. Notice anything off?"
She looked closely. In the older footage, Spider-Man was hopping around, fighting like a street brawler while constantly talking and cracking jokes, while in the more recent footage, Spider-Man was mostly stationary and silent.
"His mannerisms, the fighting style. It's all different."
"Okay," Yuri conceded. "I'm starting to see your point."
"Just keep an eye out. And if we do have to arrest Spider-Man… know which one we're dealing with."
In an abandoned warehouse, "Spider-Man" was sitting on a wooden box, reading over an issue of the Bugle and musing to himself
"This is impressive. though not enough," he mused. "The press is already turning on Spider-Man, but the police have yet to budge."
He pulled off his mask, revealing a white mask with holes for the eyes and mouth underneath
"If Spider-Man is to truly be hounded by the city he claims to love so much... I will need to step up my game somehow…"
At Midtown High, Peter and Peni sat with Gwen and Harry at lunch, overhearing some students talk.
"Spider-Man robbing a bank... guess the Bugle was right about him."
"And I thought he was a hero. Guess I was wrong about that."
Flash stood up at that. "How about you guys not shoot your mouths off about shit you know nothing about?"
"What's the big deal, Flash?" the first student asked.
"The big deal is that Bugle's full of nothing but lies! Spider-Man's a hero! No two ways about it!"
"He robbed a bank. In front of witnesses."
"It was someone who looked like him. Probably a mutant shapeshifter, or robot."
"Sounds like you're just in denial."
Flash scoffed. "Oh, forget you two. I don't care what anyone says, nothing will make me believe Spider-Man's turned to crime!"
He stormed off at that.
Harry let out a whistle in astonishment. "Who knew Flash was such a Spider-Man fan?"
Peni leaned over to Peter, whispering under her breath, "If only he knew."
"If only…" Peter whispered back.
"Well, I think he's right," Gwen voiced. "Spider-Man's done so much for everyone. I can't see him snapping like this. The one who saved my life when that Goblin attacked the Christmas parade couldn't just randomly decide to go bad."
"Question is if he's not the one behind all this, who is?" Peter wondered.
"Who knows?" Harry replied.
After school, Peter and Peni headed home, only to stop as they heard a report on the radio.
"Calling all cars, we have a robbery in progress. Suspect appears to be dressed as Spider-Man."
"Looks like my evil twin finally decided to show himself," said Peter. "I need to get down there."
He was about to remove his shirt before Peni grabbed his arm.
"Hold it! You run down there in the suit, you're gonna get shot."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "What am I supposed to do, then? Swing down there to save the day in my nerd clothes?"
"Not quite. I have a better idea."
Peni headed back to her locker, returning with a black sweatsuit with a white spider logo, matching gloves, and a ski mask fitted with goggles
"What's this?"
"A temporary suit I whipped up just in case. One that, hopefully, shouldn't get you shot on sight."
"Never really considered black my color," Peter shrugged. "But I guess spiders can't be choosers."
He took it, ducking into an alleyway. A moment or two passed before the newly black-costumed Spider-Man came out.
"Not bad," he mused.
Peni waved him on. "Now get going."
Peter nodded before swinging off.
Outside a jewelry store, several police cars pulled up, hoping to corner "Spider-Man". George and Yuri were there, the latter with a megaphone.
"You're surrounded, Spider-Man!" she announced. "Come out with your hands up!"
Suddenly, something came flying out of the store, landing in front of them. It exploded, releasing a gas cloud that disoriented the police. The imposter Spider-Man came running out, just as Peter came swinging in. He kicked the imposter in the face before landing on a car
"Oh cool," he quipped. "I always wanted to meet 'Spider-Man'. Know where I can find him?"
The imposter got to his feet, scowling.
"If you wanna sell it, maybe be more 'Friendly Neighborhood' and less 'Angry Back Alley'."
"And who are you supposed to be?" the imposter wondered.
"The real Spider-Man. Now… Get out of my suit!"
"Sorry, kind of using it."
Peter jumped at him, the two grappling with each other intensely.
"Why my costume? Why me?! You could've gone with any gimmick!"
"Let's just say it's personal."
He managed to knock Spider-Man aside before pulling something off his belt. Spider-Man's eyes widened as his fake pulled a pin from the object.
"He's got a bomb! GET BACK!"
Spider-Man chucked the bomb toward a crowd, Captain Stacy seeing it heading toward a kid.
"LOOK OUT!" he called out, rushing at the kid.
He shoved the kid aside as the bomb got closer. Peter shot a web, snagging the bomb just as it went off, the explosion sending him into the wall.
"Okay... ow…" he looked up, seeing Captain Stacy lying on the ground. "No…"
Yuri ran over, checking for a pulse. "Get a medical team! NOW!"
In the confusion, the imposter swung away. Seeing this, Yuri scowled, grabbing a radio.
"Spider-Man is on the move! Captain Stacy has been badly wounded in an explosion!"
Peter clung to a nearby wall, clenching his fist in response to what had happened, before swinging off.
"Great. Juuust great. As if I didn't have enough to deal with already," he winced. "And Gwen... Oh God, Gwen..."
Later, Peter made his way to the hospital, running into one of the rooms to see Peni consoling a weeping Gwen.
"I came as soon as I heard," he told them. "Is he...?"
"He's alive, but…" Gwen mustered to say. "Hurt really bad."
"Aunt Yuri's pissed," Peni reported. "She's already putting out an APB on Spider-Man."
"And without the Captain to reign her in…" Peter began.
Peni nodded. "She'll be out for blood."
"Damn it…" he let out.
He turned back to Gwen, grabbing a chair and sitting down next to her.
"I am so sorry, Gwen. Is... is there anything I can do?"
Gwen wiped her eyes. "Just... stay here. please?"
Peter smiled, wrapping an arm around her as she leaned on his shoulder.
-X-
Sometime later, when Gwen had gone to the bathroom, Peni sighed.
"Pete... what are we gonna do now?"
"Honestly... I have no idea," Peter admitted. "We're up shit's creek without a paddle.
He grabbed a remote and turned on the room's TV, hoping it would clear his mind. He surfed through the channels before something caught his eye. He stopped on a news report about four individuals dressed in blue uniforms fighting off some kind of monster coming from below ground. He leaned forward, his attention caught as it ended.
"Pen... I've got an idea."
Inside the Baxter Building, Ben Grimm was fast asleep on the couch, unaware that a massive handful of shaving cream was being dispensed into his hand.
"A classic, but still effective," Johnny Storm remarked.
He grabbed a feather duster, bringing it up against Ben's nose. Eventually, Ben slapped his nose, getting shaving cream all over his face. Johnny pumped his fist, taking off as Ben woke up.
"Johnny!" he cried out.
Johnny just laughed as Ben grabbed a towel, cleaning off his face
"Aw, come on, Ben. Just some good clean fun."
Ben got to his feet, growling. "Hope it was worth the ass-kicking!"
"What?" Johnny replied, slowly backing away. "Can't take a joke?"
Ben swung at him, only for his fist to hit some kind of force field.
"Can we please go through one day without you two at each other's throats?" Sue Storm demanded, entering the room.
"Ask your brother!" Ben called back.
"Take a joke, Pebbles!" Johnny challenged.
"Give it a rest, Johnny," Sue demanded.
Johnny sighed before walking off. "Some people just have no sense of humor."
"Eh, I could've set him straight if you'd given me five minutes," Ben commented.
"You do that, and he wouldn't even be able to see straight," Sue retorted.
"Your point being?"
"That disciplinary actions aren't your strong suit."
-X-
Meanwhile, in the lab, Reed was hard at work examining some samples of Spider-Man's web left at the scene of his latest crime.
"Fascinating," Reed commented.
At that time, Sue came into the lab.
"Hi honey," Sue greeted. "How's it going?"
"I retrieved a sample of webbing Spider-Man left at the jewelry store he hit," Reed explained.
"Find anything interesting?"
"Yes. This is the webbing used in the recent robberies." He set out an empty plate. "And that's a sample left behind by the black-suited man who confronted him at the jewelry store."
"Um…" Sue spoke up, looking at the empty plate. "There's nothing there."
"It dissolved after an hour. This compound on the other hand is still here. Combine that with the lack of clean-ups, and it's safe to assume that in previous outings Spider-Man's webbing had a similar time limit."
"So the one in black is the real Spider-Man…" Sue reasoned.
"While the one in costume is most likely an imposter."
-X-
Outside, Spider-Man was swinging toward the Baxter Building
"Here's hoping they're in a listening mood." he mused as he landed on the side of the building, crawling up and hoping to find an open window.
"C'mon, where is it…"
Eventually, he found a window he could open, and quickly slipped inside. Not long after entering did he find himself face-to-face with Johnny. The two were silent, staring at the other in surprise before Spider-Man awkwardly waved.
"Um... hi?"
"...Flame on!" Johnny instantly burst into flames and flew into the air.
"Whoa, wait! I-" Spider-Man ducked out of the way. "Will you hold on a second?! I'm just here to talk!"
"Sorry, got nothing to say." Johnny threw a fireball at Spider-Man, who narrowly jumped aside.
"Wow, gives a new meaning to the term hot head."
He was forced on the run as Johnny chased him.
"You blew up a cop, robbed a bank, and thought you could just come here without getting fried?"
"And how am I supposed to know you're the real Human Torch?"
Johnny stopped. "What?"
"It's true, a Spider-Man did do all those things, but not the Spider-Man, not me. Somebody's setting me up. I don't know why, but they're doing it. Maybe some Life Model Decoy or shapeshifter, but it wasn't me."
Spider-Man watched as Johnny stared at him, taking in everything he'd just said. Then, the Torch narrowed his eyes, and his heart nearly stopped.
"Yeah, don't you hate when that happens?" Johnny said with a sigh. "It's like when my girlfriend turned out to be a Skrull."
"Oof…" Spider-Man said with a wince. "That's rough, buddy. Anyway, that's why I'm here. I need your help."
Johnny still didn't seem convinced. He raised his fist, readying fire. Peter sighed.
"Would it be too much to ask to talk to someone with listening skills? Preferably not a hothead?"
He fired two webs and pulled on them hard, launching himself past Johnny as he made his way into the building.
"Hey!" Johnny called out, but it was too late. "Dammit!"
-X-
"Whew!" Spider-Man let out as he wiped his brow. "Talk about playing with fire." He took a second to catch his breath before running off. "Okay, I'm inside, now I just gotta find someone I can talk to who'll actually lis–Oof!"
As he ran, he slammed into something rock-hard, bouncing off.
"Hey... I'm running here. Ouch...
He looked up, seeing he had run right into Ben Grimm.
"Oh, hey," he greeted. "So... would you be willing to hear me out? Just five minutes of your time is all I ask."
"...Ya got one," Ben replied. "Then I start clobberin'."
"Alright, I'll take what I can get," Spider-Man stood up. "Okay, so the Spider-Man who's been robbing banks and blew up Captain Stacy isn't me. I'm being framed. Who and why? I don't know. So, I came to you guys because I thought you could help; because right now, New York's Finest isn't willing to listen. So... what do you say?"
Ben raised a craggy eyebrow, giving Spidey yet another near-heart attack as he got ready to dodge.
"Eh, I guess I've heard weirder," Ben remarked with a shrug. "How 'bout we talk this over with Reed and Susie?"
Spider-Man sagged in relief. "Best Idea I've heard all day."
-X-
Sometime later, the Fantastic Four had gathered as Spider-Man outlined what had happened
"...Which is why I'm here now. I was hoping you guys could help me clear my friendly neighborhood name."
"Could be a trick…" Johnny insisted.
"I don't think so," said Reed. "I collected two samples of webbing from the jewelry store after the latest robbery. I assume the one in the black sweatsuit was you?"
Spider-Man nodded. "Bingo."
"Your sample degraded and dissolved after an hour, correct?"
"Right. My webbing's biodegradable, but I'm guessing my double's isn't?"
Reed nodded. "Exactly, It's still intact."
"So, whoever's cosplaying as me doesn't know all my secrets," Spider-Man reasoned. "Thank God for small miracles," he then turned to the FF. "So... will you help me?"
"Of course," Reed reassured. "I'll speak to the police about your innocence. and in the meantime, keep an eye out for your imposter."
"That's the plan. I'll stick with the black suit to try and keep a low profile."
Reed then pulled out a phone and handed it to him. "Here. Use this to contact us if you need further help."
"I will, thanks. And... thanks for believing me."
His business with the Fantastic Four concluded, Peter returned back to his lab. He spent of his time pacing around, trying to come up with an idea.
"We need to catch this guy," he insisted as he made what had to be his fiftieth lap around the lab. "Any idea where he'll strike next?"
"Honestly, it could be anywhere," Peni said as she typed away on her computer. "I haven't been able to figure out much of a pattern. First a bank, then a jewelry store, there's nothing here that really stands out."
"Stands out…" Peter thought before snapping his fingers. "Peni, that's it! What has the Spider-Fake done each time he pulled something? He showed up, then witnesses came knocking, and then he did something. Whatever he pulls, it'll be in public. Full of eyewitnesses to see Spider-Man being bad."
Peni perked, her typing increasing in speed. "So wherever the Spider-Fake is gonna strike next, it's gonna have a lot of witnesses."
Peter crossed his arms in thought, before perking "Jonah mentioned this the other day. Some big gala on the Mayor's yacht on the Hudson."
Peni grinned. "Well, then it's a good thing you've got a black suit for a black-tie event."
That night, on the yacht, the party was in process. Jonah was there, ecstatic as he gloated to Yuri.
"This promises to be a hell of a shindig," he remarked. "I trust the NYPD has taken precautions to make sure no eight-legged pests crash the party?"
"Yes," Yuri replied solemnly.
"Finally... Spider-Man shows his true self. I warned you all he was a menace. Bet you wish you listened to me now, huh?"
"I... just want to make sure everyone's safe."
"Trust me, the city will be a lot safer when that webhead is caught, jailed, and run out of town."
Off to the side, Norman Osborn smirked before heading off. He rounded a corner, ducking into a bathroom and opening up a briefcase he had on hand, revealing a Spider-Man costume inside.
-X-
Several minutes passed, and the party was in full swing before a web hit the ground.
"Alright," he called out, getting everyone's attention. "Nobody move!"
Everyone turned in a panic to see the imposter Spider-Man clinging to a wall.
"Here's how it's gonna go down," he spoke, shooting his webbing and forming twin bags. "You take out all your valuables, cash, jewelry, watches, the works, and put them in the bags. You make trouble, well, let's just say you don't wanna get caught in my web."
People slowly filed forward, putting their valuables into the bags. Yuri was the last up, raising her hand... and promptly pulling her sidearm on him.
"Spider-Man, you're under arrest."
"Awww, that's cute. You think you can take me in?"
He then proceeded to kick her, knocking her back. She looked up just in time to see a spring retract from the underside of his boot. On a closer look, his gloves were lined with suction cups.
"Stacy was right... this guy's a fake."
Spider-Man took aim with a web-shooter, only for a black-costumed figure to come swinging in, kicking him aside. Yuri looked up to see the real Spider-Man staring the fake down.
"What, you're having a party, and I wasn't invited?" he joked.
"You again?" The imposter responded. "Don't you have anything better to do?"
"I'm just here to clear my good name. So... how about you give back the money you stole, and we'll call it even?"
"I don't think so!"
The fake Spider-Man fired a web at Spidey, forcing him to leap backward. He fired another web, snagging Spider-Man and causing him to fall to the ground. The imposter then grabbed a nearby chair and tried to smash it on Spider-Man, but Spidey broke through the fake web and grabbed the chair, tossing it aside before grabbing the imposter and throwing him against a window. Shaking his head, the imposter grabbed the bags of loot and took off, prompting Spider-Man to follow. However, as the imposter made his escape, he hit an invisible force field. He blinked in confusion as Sue Storm appeared
"Leaving so soon?" Sue remarked.
Thinking fast, the imposter pulled out another smoke grenade and threw it in front of Sue, disorienting her as he went the other way. He was stopped short by a rubber arm, turning to see Reed Richards.
"I'm afraid we can't let you go any further," Reed declared.
He shot a web to escape, only for a fireball to hit and burn it.
"Nope!" Johnny shot down.
He tried turning around again, but instead came face to face with Ben Grimm.
"Goin' somewhere?" He remarked, cracking his knuckles.
"So…" Spidey remarked, coming to join them. "You done running?"
The imposter looked around, not seeing any way he could get out of this. Finally, Spider-Man wrapped him up in web, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Now then…" Spidey yanked off the Spider-Man mask, revealing a white one with small eye and mouth holes. He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You're doing the 'under the mask is another mask' routine?"
"No one may see my true face," the man boasted, his voice thick with a Russian accent. "So says the Chameleon."
"Your alias, huh? Okay, Chameleon. I want answers. Why frame me? What'd I do to you?"
"Retribution. in hopes to restore my family's honor that you have tarnished. Do you recall Sergei Kravinoff?"
"Kraven the Hunter? You're related to him?" Spidey looked him up and down. "Wow. I gotta say you two do not look alike at all."
"Regardless, his defeat at your hands will not go without response. I will admit I care little for Sergei. We've spent some time trying to destroy the other. But in allowing himself to lose to you, he has shamed the Kravinoff name. So it falls to me to restore our honor.."
"Yeah... how 'bout you do your twenty-five-to-life and try again once you get out?"
-X-
Later, Chameleon was loaded into a police car as Spider-Man talked with Yuri. Jonah was off to the side, bitterly grumbling about having to print a retraction.
"So... we good?"
"You're clear of the charges, if that's what you're asking," Yuri replied.
"Thanks…" Spidey sighed. "Captain Stacy's a good man. I genuinely hope he pulls through."
"So do I," Yuri agreed as Spider-Man turned to leave. "By the way... black looks terrible on you."
"Trust me, it's only temporary. Next time you see me, I'll be back in the red-and-blue."
With that, Spider-Man swung off. The Fantastic Four stood off to the side, watching as he left.
"Looks like Spider-Man doesn't have anything to worry about anymore," Reed noted.
"Well, I think our work here is done," Johnny decided, resting his hands behind his head.
"Just one more thing to take care of," Ben decided, turning to Johnny smirking.
Johnny went wide-eyed at the sight.
"Oh come on! You're still on that?"
Ben punched into his hand with a rocky clunk. "Yep. Any last words, Flamebrain?"
Johnny swallowed nervously, a few beads of sweat trickling down his face. "Just this…Flame on!
Immediately, Johnny ignited and flew off as Ben chased after him.
"Get back here!" he cried out.
Sue sighed, shaking her head. "What are we going to do with them…"
"That is a conundrum even I can't solve," Reed commented.
Back at the hospital, Gwen was asleep at her dad's bed. Suddenly though, George began stirring, opening his eyes. He looked around before seeing Gwen by his side. A moment passed before he smiled, placing a hand on her head.
"Mornin', sleepyhead."
Gwen stirred, looking up and immediately going wide-eyed seeing her dad awake.
"Dad!" she cried out, immediately hugging him.
George quickly returned the hug in kind.
Meanwhile, at the NYPD, a police officer exited the building. He headed to a high-rise apartment filled with posh decorations such as a chessboard, fancy abstract art, and a grand piano. Entering a secret room, covered in numerous masks, he removed his hat and face to reveal the mask of the Chameleon.
"You have not heard the last of me, Spider-Man."
Author's Note:
Another one bites the dust. Apologies for the ungodly wait. Got distracted with other stories.
Voice cast for this chapter:
* Mr. Fantastic - Pedro Pascal
* Invisible Woman - Erin Torpey
* Human Torch - David Kaufman
* Thing - Michael Chiklis
* Chameleon - Steve Blum
Please R&R. Until next time!