Chapter Two: Prey Meets Predator
Another day starts and the sun rises over Queens. Peter gets startled over his wacky alarm clock and gets up from bed, thinking if it was already time to get a new one after all the hits it's taken. He then goes on to clean himself before putting on his clothes and getting his bag, containing the usual things he'd bring with him. After that's done, he proceeds to go down the stairs and meets Aunt May, who is currently watching the news.
"Morning Aunt May!" Peter greeted.
"Oh Peter! Come sit down for a bit, there is something they say on the news, and it's about Spider-man!" Aunt May suggests.
Peter shrugged—knowing very well that he himself is Spider-man—and sits beside her to watch the news.
"Breaking news, near the Baxter Building: Spider-man and the Human Torch, member of the Fantastic Four, briefly joined forces in taking down a masked flying gunman wearing a suit of armor that looks like a human beetle…" The news spoke further about the recent incident, showcasing most particularly about the web-slinging 'menace' partnering up with a founding member of the Fantastic Four.
'Whoa! The Fantastic Four?...! The—Fantastic Four!' Peter thought to himself in awe of that event.
"Oh my, Spider-man seems to have made a good friend in that battle," Aunt May points out, taking Peter aback in response.
"He sure did," Peter replied back before getting up from his seat to get a sandwich and chugs on a glass of milk before going to leave the house.
"Peter? Where are you going? There's no school today," Aunt May points out, wondering why Peter is going out on a weekend.
"Um! Daily Bugle for photos of Spider-man! Or um, just, taking a short stroll?" Peter nervously answered.
"Oh alright, but just try to come back by noon, or else your lunch won't be warm by the time you get back," Aunt May replied back with concern. "But in case of an unexpected event, text me."
"Thanks Aunt May, you're the best!" Peter replied back before dashing out of the house.
As Peter leaves the house, he immediately gets into a bus that drives all the way to the city, where he can visit his workplace: the Daily Bugle.
—
"What!? What do you mean you still haven't found out how?!" J. Jonah Jameson exclaimed in his usual aggravating and angry tone.
"Sir, I just said that it is quite difficult as to how that kid is able to take photos of the vigilante in action," says a man draped in a dark trench coat. "It will probably take more than just half a year to find out the kid's secret techniques in—"
"I don't care how long! Find the way fast, so that I don't have to rely on just that one freelancer! For all I know, the Daily Globe may have kept that kid as the rat under our noses!" Jameson supposes.
"Now now, settle down Jonah, the kid is trustworthy. I can feel it, so please stop this nonsense," Robertson assures.
"I'm sorry I'm late! Did I miss anything?"
Suddenly, at Jonah's doorstep, Peter arrives, just right after they were talking about him.
"Ah, our menace's favorite photographer," Jameson remarked. "Peter, I want ya to meet a friend of ours, Mr. Mac Gargan."
"Pleasure to meet you, um, how should I call you?" Gargan awkwardly asked.
"Peter, sir! Peter Parker!" Peter replied.
"Peter, sounds easy enough to remember. You can call me Mac," Gargan replied. "From what I've seen and heard around here, you seem to be the only person that is able to take a great number of photos showing the masked hero Spider-man, in action. Would you care to share how you were able to achieve that feat?"
"Oh uh um, just, practice? I had to almost use up lots of film to take those photos," Peter lied, knowing full well of how he's able to take good photos of Spider-man.
"Hmmm, interesting, would you care to demonstrate next time?" Gargan asks.
"Ummm, sure? Maybe next time though, good bye!" Peter nervously replied before dashing out of the office.
"Parker! Parker! Aw great," Jameson sighed before looking at Gargan who hid his chuckling. "Gargan, this time, I ask that you know the secret by tomorrow, or else no more for you! You got one chance at this, and it better be soon!"
"What!? B-but Jameson—"
"No more whining! If you're lucky, you better tail that Parker kid before it's too late! Go!" Jameson silences his private investigator and lets him out of his office.
"Sorry, detective," Robertson apologized.
"It's alright, I just need to try harder," Gargan souredly replied back as he exits the office.
"Jameson, do you really have to?" Robertson asks with a look of concern for the pressured investigator. "Can't you just call it off? I know Peter from how my son talked about him at school, so—"
"No more! Say no more about this. We have to learn how that kid done it, 'cause without him, we wouldn't get to have the big scoops for the paper about that masked menace!" Jameson answered back. "Unless we could get that web-headed menace to follow us instead! Gargan! Gargan!"
"Yes Jonah?" Gargan responded as he was about to go to the elevator after a short conversation with some of the staff.
"I got a plan on how we could make your job a bit easier, and you're gonna like it!" Jameson assures.
—
After the short visit to the Daily Bugle, Peter takes a stroll around the city while being mentally preoccupied over the supposedly trivial things, most of which are about his hard lovelife.
'Man, I just can't get her out of my head, especially after reflecting back on how I probably just liked Gwen on impulse. I mean sure, we've been friends for as long as I can remember and only saw her like a friend or sister, but never expected her to develop feelings for me. But, I guess it's for the best that people should not get too close to me. The life of a superhero is too dangerous to experience…'
"Petey?"
From hearing that voice and the nickname, Peter slowly turns around to see Liz in some sort of formal uniform with a pencil skirt, remembering that she said her father somehow owns a hotel of sorts.
"L-Liz! H-hi!" Peter immediately replied, taken aback by how she gives off some sort of attractive appeal in the uniform. "Y-you look, um…"
"I look stiff and silly don't I? But I have to if I were to represent my dad's presence in the family business, or something like that," Liz replied, embarrassed of her look not being in her usual cheerleading outfit.
"N-no! You don't look silly! But uh, you look different, but not the bad kind of different! And uh…" Peter stammered, making Liz laugh at the look on his face and his reaction to her look.
"Thanks Petey. Would you like to um, try coming in?" Liz offered, not in a very professional manner, which comforted Peter because of her genuinity.
"Yes! I-I mean, yeah," Peter answered as he was guided inside with Liz keeping company and texts to Aunt May that he might not show up for lunch.
—
In the ESU laboratory, J. Jonah Jameson and his private investigator Mac Gargan, make a tedious appointment with the current head of the management, Dr. Miles Warren. For like half an hour, the loudmouth editor stated meaningless reasons for planning to resort to using dangerous experimental means in trying to prove how this can help his investigator find out Peter's secret or techniques.
"So, what you're saying is, you want to let this young man become the perfect adversary for Spider-man, just to attract the student of my brother, who happens to be your only photographer in taking pictures of Spider-man?" Miles Warren clarifies.
"Yes! Yes indeed!" Jameson replied.
"You do know the possible consequences that come along with it, right?" Miles asks again.
"You know what, let's forget about it, Jonah. There are many other ways to go through instead of this," Gargan suggests.
"And come all this way for nothing!? No sirree," Jameson angrily deflects. "We want a man who can match up against that masked menace, even if it means having to make one ourselves!"
"Are you really sure about this? You do realize the research, the resources, and the procedure is overall extremely costly, so—"
"I can get that all covered in no time! So will you help us or not!?" Jameson snapped.
After a moment to breathe, Miles Warren made up his mind and nodded, as a sign of permitting Jameson's request. He then lets them take their seats while he scrounges around for a mutagen that could make a perfect foe for Spider-man.
"So, you say you want to make your perfect fighter?" Miles remarked.
"Well duh, that's what we came here for, ain't it!?" Jameson barked.
"Well then, how about we make a battle of the century, between two arachnids: a spider against a scorpion," Miles suggests as he takes out a mutagenic vial containing scorpion DNA.
"A scorpion huh? Will it make my friend stronger than the Webhead?" Jameson asks curiously.
"Ohohoho yes. Scorpions are known to be quite predatorial toward spiders and their other arachnid cousins. Much more fearsome as a creature with its great grip strength and its notorious venom in the invertebrate kingdom. I am confident that it may give our "Spider Friend" a hard time," Miles assured.
"Ohhohoho, now this I gotta see," Jameson laughs in a somewhat maniacal tone.
Now, they commence the experiment, with Mac Gargan being the specimen and test subject for the experimental mutagen containing scorpion DNA as it was placed into a huge syringe-like instrument. Miles then injects the mutagen into Gargan's system before giving him space.
"Well, how do you feel?" Miles asked curiously.
"I feel, something warm rising up inside of me, and it's getting hotter, and hotter!" Gargan hysterically screamed from the gradual pain inside of him.
Gargan then jumps out of his seat, and falls on his knees, undergoing a horrifying transformation while screaming in agonizing pain. Dark-greenish, segmented shell-like armor made of keratin grow on his skin all over his body; suddenly an elongated tail, covered in segmented keratin scales grows with a sharp diamond pointed tail, grow out of Gargan's back; then his face and head start to harden and get covered by keratin scales with his eyes turning bright yellow, covered by some sort of elastic membrane; his joints harden, forming kneecaps and elbows caps made of hardened keratin shell.
"Ughhh," Gargan groaned after the painful transformation and gets on his feet.
"Mr. Gargan, Mr. Jameson, congratulations: the experiment was a success," Miles congratulated.
"Success? Success!?" Gargan angrily reacted with his red pupils stressed on his yellow eyes after staring at his newfound appearance from his reflection over the glass panes."You call this a success!? I'm a monster!"
"And you're gonna be the monster in that menace's nightmares, it's an awesome breakthrough Gar—gah!"
"You...you did this to me...you turned me into a monster, just as I already thought that you were a monster yourself!" Gargan angrily barked at the loudmouth editor, grabbed by the neck from his scaled hands before throwing him aside and knocking down a table with vials of gene cleanser in a fit of fury. "You wanted that spider gone, right!? Then you shall have it! After that, it is your turn!"
From there, the newly mutated villain Gargan storms out of the laboratory with bloodlust for the Webhead hero, searching for the one person who is the closest ever to him: Peter Parker.
"There goes my opportune moment," Jameson regretted with a despaired look on his face.
"And there goes my research funds, thanks to your stupidity," Miles adds sarcastically.
—
Meanwhile, Peter now is in the hotel owned by Liz's father, sitting on a table near the huge window while being accommodated by Liz herself, engaging in various conversations about certain things or people that they both know about.
"So wait, that's how you got into their squad?" Peter clarifies.
"Yeah, funny story, I had to look cool and I did strive hard at doing it, only to be some sort of accessory really, but it wasn't so bad for a while to be honest," Liz answered, sipping on some tangy beverage.
"But why? The last I saw you before all that, you seemed pretty decent enough. Unlike me, wearing glasses and being all, you know," Peter trailed off, remembering his old look before he got his mutated abilities.
"And that's how I learned that it isn't really necessary to be exactly popular, thanks to you. It has its perks though, but that's about it," Liz admitted with a smile on her face. "I really mean that, Petey. Being popular sometimes can't beat what a guy like you have, though."
"Liz...I—"
Suddenly, his Spider Senses were triggered by a threat coming from behind the window. With quick reaction time, he tightly embraces Liz and then flips the table to its side to protect her from flying shards of shattered glass, which apparently scares Liz to a loud extent. Following that was a large panic in the restaurant, with all the customers and bystanders running around and away from the scene, whereas Peter helps Liz back up on her feet.
"Petey! What's going on!?" Liz hysterically asks with a deeply worried and fearful look that she clutches hard on Peter's coat and stands on shaky legs.
"I-I don't know!?" Peter replied back, shielding Liz with his arms over her from other possible attacks.
After a moment of looking around, a loud crashing drop resounded in front of the restaurant, catching the attention of Liz and Peter standing in place, frozen from the situation. At the crash site was Gargan, who is barely recognizable because of his newly mutated and monstrous appearance.
"Paaaarrrkeerrrrrr!" Gargan roared out like a beast, catching the attention of the police that have entered the scene with their guns armed and ready.
"Surrender now! Put your hands and your erm, tail up, or else we'll be forced to fire," George Stacy calls out with the magnophone, catching the attention of Gargan.
"I have a name...my name...my name...is...Scorpiooon!" Gargan, now named Scorpion, roared at Officer Stacy with a menacing look.
"Open fire!" Stacy ordered, signalling all nearby police officers to start shooting at Scorpion, only to realize that they're barely damaging his scaly skin, with mere dents that were easily healed thanks to Scorpion's enhanced healing capabilities.
"Weak weapons," Scorpion scoffed as he got down on all fours and slammed the tip of his strong tail to the ground, causing a tremor that was able to knock everyone off of their balance except for Peter and Liz, who protected her and kept her balance.
"Get away from this place! Find your family and get outta here!" Peter warned.
"What!? But what about you!?" Liz asked.
"Um, pictures for the Bugle?! I don't know, but please trust me!" Peter pleaded, getting her nod as an answer and seeing her leave the place to find her family if they're alright.
"Show yourself, Parrkerr! I know you are here!" Scorpion roared like a madman, searching for Peter Parker in a reckless pursuit.
"Hey pal, isn't it too late for Halloween? You could'a won the 'best costume award' with that killing suit of yours," Spider-man quipped atop a street lamp, catching Scorpion's full attention.
"Youuu," Scorpion growled, remembering the annoying and aggravating obsession of his former employer J. Jonah Jameson, to put Spider-man in a bad light. "Spider-man…"
"Yeah, that's me, and what's up?" Spider-man mused.
"What is up? Is that you're going down!" Scorpion roared as he lunges to jab at Spider-man, striking him down to the pavement, even though Spider-man blocked it with full force.
"Ugh, whoooaa," Spider-man groaned from the strong punch that almost dazed him before trying to get back up on his feet.
"Gwahahahaha! Is that all you got, bug!?" Scorpion laughed out manically.
"Hey! I'm not a bug, I'm an arachnid! But if that's the case, aren't you a bug too then?" Spider-man joked around, rousing Scorpion's anger even further that he rushed towards Spider-man with his sharp stinging tail pointed towards him.
'Wait, is that a tail!?' Spider-man thought to himself in awe of the built-in weapon before swinging away from him.
However, much to his dismay, while he swings around the streets, the angry Scorpion crawls onto buildings' walls like a mad creature, which caught Spider-man by surprise.
"Wait, he can climb too!?" Spider-man thought out loud while noticing at how fast the Scorpion is catching up to him.
Soon, the Scorpion manages to reach and grab hold of Spider-man by his left foot before slamming him to the building like a ragdoll. Before Spider-man could get a grip on the wall, Scorpion throws him high up in the sky, which is fine because he was able to stably land on his feet. After that, Scorpion jumps over to make an intimidating entrance with his muscular structure—though a bit smaller compared to the Rhino.
"Now you're dead," Scorpion growled as he runs over to lunge and impale Spider-man with his diamond-pointed tail, who immediately dodged it before it could impale him.
"Is that all you got?" Spider-man taunted before flipping over to latch onto a nearby wall. "Looks like the only thing going for you is that sharp tail of yours."
"Oh, I beg to differ," Scorpion smirked maniacally as droplets of acid poured slowly down from the tail's tips and corroded the concrete floor.
"Oh now that's just unfair," Spider-man complained with a hint of fear, imagining what happens if he was ever pierced by that tail.
In response to that discovery, he swiftly swings away, while Scorpion is in pursuit again over the rooftops.
'I gotta lead him away from the buildings!' Spider-man thought to himself until he made a safe landing onto a tree branch in a park, waiting for the Scorpion to just land right in front of him and scare away the civilians.
"Nowhere to hide, little spider," Scorpion taunted with his tail ready for impalement.
"Oh really? Let's see about that," Spider-man taunts back as he webs his tail five times, catching him off guard before pulling it with all his might and lifting him up from the ground and hops off the branch he was sitting on then stands in front of an angry Scorpion, hanging onto the sturdy branch and squirming furiously.
"I'll get you Spider-man! I'll get you!" Scorpion barked.
Now, Spider-man thought of a silly idea and proceeded with it: which is to poke and prick Scorpion's rear with his own "rear". With a strong tug, he drags Scorpion's tipped tail to poke and prick his scaly back with a burning acidic touch from it.
"Graaaagh!" Scorpion screamed in pain.
"Oooh, that's gotta hurt," Spider-man pitied his own foe.
"I'm gonna get you for this, Spider-man. When I get out of this, you are de—gaaaaagh!" Scorpion roared in pain from the pain of his own tail as it was tugged to touch him by Spider-man.
"Um, I'm sorry, whatcha say? I couldn't catch that last part," Spider-man quipped as he tugs on his tail again.
The whole process went on for a few minutes until the police arrived, with Scorpion laid down on the grass unconscious from the pain. As the police were going to arrest the Scorpion, they were left with the usual note card stuck onto his scaled head, saying : "Courtesy from your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man".
—
Back at the wrecked restaurant, Liz—now in her casual clothes—is found helping out the workers save what is still usable for the restaurant while carefully cleaning out the debris inside.
"Careful with that, it's still intact," Liz warns one worker, carrying an expensive table found near the shattered window that is still in mint condition.
"Liz!" Peter calls out as he runs into the restaurant while being wary of the nearby debris.
"Petey!" Liz responded worriedly as she ran out to hug Peter with great concern, holding his slightly bruised cheek. "Where did you go!? What happened to you!?"
"Um, about that, while taking some pictures, debris got me good at that time. It's nothing big really," Peter nervously assured while scratching his head.
Not taking her seriously, Liz lightly taps on Peter's bruised cheek, causing him to wince from the pain.
"You call that nothing big?" Liz retorted with a "I'm-not-stupid" look before taking out a small vial with a small spherical tip and then carefully applies a menthol kind of ointment over his cheek. "A friend of my father gave this to him, and then my dad gave it to me, just to help relieve pain. I...never used this thing on Flash yet. Probably because I rarely bring it around."
"Liz…" Peter was at a loss for words from her kindness and initiative, which strengthened his pangs even more for what he's done in the past.
"Oi! Mija!"
From afar, a Latino man with a seemingly fit body, having the intimidation of a businessman, calls out to Liz for whatever he may be asking.
"Sorry Petey, it's my dad. I—"
"No no! It's fine, I understand. I also have to do a rain check with my Aunt May or else she'll get worried sick," Peter didn't mind. "But I'm sorry that I couldn't help much with what happened earlier today. If it's fine with you, I could help you ease your expenses!"
"Petey, thanks for your kind gesture, but we got this in the bag. Might not be now, but we can handle things from here on out," Liz kindly thanked, followed with a hug around his neck. "Showing up was enough to assure me, Petey. Take care."
"MIja! What are you doing!?" the Latino man called out again.
"Bye Petey," Liz bade before going to meet with her father.
"Bye...Liz," Peter replied back, waving goodbye, letting her wave back at him before taking off to return home.
—
Somewhere in Massachusetts, in a certain school that few find to be a safe haven for gifted people, a plan is set in motion for a serious matter…
"I believe your paperwork has been done well, am I correct?" asked a bald-headed man in a wheelchair.
"Yes Professor!" said a young man and a short young woman with a ponytail.
"Please take this matter with great caution and sensitivity even though you may be staying for only a few months. A small mistake can lead to huge complications," warned the man addressed as Professor.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We've already contacted the school you're going to, now all you kids have to do is just—"
"Thanks, Mr. Logan, but I think we can try doing it ourselves, isn't that right Kitty?" says the young man with a suave haircut.
"Yeah Bobby!" exclaimed the girl named Kitty.
"But—"
"Don't worry Logan, I believe they can handle themselves quite well without your guidance," the Professor assured. "I'll just have Scott and Jean bring them to the designated trainway."
"Awww Professor, c'mon," groaned the young man named Bobby.
"Bobby, suck it up like a man, 'kay? It's just to bring us there safely. Now! Let's all get our beauty sleep for the early train!" Kitty gleefully suggested as she ran down the hallway, followed by Bobby as they went into their respective rooms to prepare for a big day.
—To be continued