Chapter
Fourteen: School Dancing and Hulk Smashing
A
young man was in the process of cleaning out a vault, with a
boomerang stuck in the wall. All of the guards and other customers at
the store were rendered unconscious thanks to the knockout gas in the
boomerang.
“Right,
going to be quite the take tonight, I tell you that, best job I’ve
ever pulled,” said the young man before he came face to face with a
certain web slinger.
“Okay
and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that stealing is in fact
right,” said Spider-Man.
“Blimey,
if it isn’t Spider-Man,” said the young man. “I’ve been
waiting to try my luck against you, web head.”
“And
you’re name is…” prompted Spider-Man as he prepared for
anything this outlandishly dressed thief was going to throw at him.
“The
name’s Fred Myers, mate,” said the young man. “But everyone
calls me, Boomerang, for obvious reasons.”
With
a quick draw, Boomerang pulled out two boomerangs and moved forward.
Spider-Man quickly shot webs around one, pulling it from his hand,
but the young criminal dodged an attack, before he measured
Spider-Man with careful aim. The boomerang was thrown, moving right
through the air to take Spider-Man off but Spider-Man ducked down
underneath the projectile.
“Missed!”
called Spider-Man but he paid for his arrogance as the boomerang came
back, knocking Spider-Man right in the back of the head. Boomerang
caught it, before he brought his lips to it for a kiss.
“Man,
this is going to net me some big bucks, the boomerang that knocked
out the Spectacular Spider-Man,” said Boomerang gleefull as he
rushed forward, throwing another boomerang over his shoulder, this
one an exploding model, which caused a miniature explosion, causing a
minor cave in and allowing him to get away or so he thought.
Spider-Man caught the debris, before he swung out a window, moving
right in front of Boomerang and a strand of webbing pulled his prized
boomerang out of his hand. Boomerang attempted to pull another one,
but Spider-Man wrapped him up and the next thing he knew, he was
hanging upside down from a light post. An attempt to pull himself
free but it was no good.
“And
that will be it for your crime spree, Boomerang” said Spider-Man as
the thief struggled.
“You
win this round, but like my namesake, I will come back and fight you
again, Spider-Man!” shouted Boomerang but Spider-Man swung off,
leaving the police to deal with it. A stop at the Bugle for photos of
his battle with Boomerang and then he had a dance to get ready for.
“Besides,
what are the chances that anything’s going to happen that will need
my attention?” asked Spider-Man, as he swung around the corner and
prepared to make the change to Peter Parker.
-
Having
walked up to the Stacy residence, Peter raised his hand, knocking on
the door. The door opened to reveal George Stacy who stood right in
front of Peter.
“Ah,
good evening, Peter,” said George in a good natured tone of voice.
“Gwen will be down in a couple of minutes, she’s just finished
getting ready. Why don’t you come in and take a seat?”
“Thank
you, Captain Stacy,” said Peter with a grateful nod as he sat down
on the chair.
“Gwen
tells me you’ve been holding up well lately, that’s good,” said
George. “And got yourself a job, with the Bugle of all places,
shows how good you are at taking photos.”
“Well
to be honest, sir, Spider-Man is a bit tricky to get photos of, I’ve
the only one who’s been able to get any decent shots of the web
head in action,” offered Peter. “Not that Jameson goes out of his
way to praise my work.”
“I’ll
tell you this Peter, I know J. Jonah Jameson and while he doesn’t
give out praise lightly, he doesn’t give out jobs lightly either,
the photos you gave him must have been something,” said George.
“You wouldn’t mind telling me exactly how you manage to get those
photos.”
“Well
it has to do with a steady hand and a whole lot of luck,” said
Peter casually, choosing his works carefully.
“Figured
it would be something along those lines, photography isn’t really
something I’m not familiar with,” said George.
“Neither
am I, quite frankly, other than a bit of dabbling here and there, but
hey, it helps pay the bills,” thought Peter.
Peter’s
eyes snapped up towards stairs, when he saw Gwen making her way down
the stairs. She looked absolutely breathtaking.
“Wow,”
murmured Peter as Gwen responded with a smile. “You look even more
beautiful then ever, and I didn’t really think that was even
possible.”
“Thanks
Peter,” said Gwen. “You clean up nicely too.”
“So
shall we go,” said Peter and Gwen nodded. “Bye, Captain Stacy, I
should have Gwen back before nine.”
“I
trust you will, Peter,” said George. “I know you’re a man of
great responsibility.”
“Bye
Dad, see you later tonight,” said Gwen as they walked out. It was a
short walk towards the school, as Gwen eyed the bag that was over
Peter’s shoulder nervously.
“I
hope the web head won’t have to interrupt our night, but unless
it’s an absolute emergency, there’s no need for Spider-Man,”
said Peter.
“Besides,
dozens of other super heroes in this city, I’m sure one of them can
handle any issue that comes up,” said Gwen with a laugh.
“Unless
someone crashes the dance, Spidey can sit out tonight,” muttered
Peter.
“That
sounds like a good enough deal to me,” said Gwen as they walked
towards the school hand in hand.
-
Bruce
Banner sat in the hotel room, putting his things away. The plane
would leave in the morning and he would be able to get a few hours
sleep, before it was time to leave. The lecture gone as well as could
be expected, even though he wished a few more people would have shown
interest but he learned not to let such matters get to him. Science
was simply not something that interested many young people these
days.
Whirling
choppers and bright lights caused Banner to turn forward. He saw a
helicopter with the word SHIELD stamped on the side and his eyes
widened, as several SHIELD operatives smashed right through the
windows, weapons pointed at Banner.
“What
is it, Fury?” asked Banner. He had his share of dealings with the
SHIELD commander or rather his alter ego did, more than once. It was
never pleasant.
“Bruce
Banner, you are under arrest from the destruction of several villages
in the Northwest United States and Canada,” said Nick Fury, as he
stepped forward. “Come along quietly and calmly and we can make
this nice and easy.”
“I
swear, it wasn’t me,” said Banner as he stepped back. The truth
was that he had not recalled turning into his green alter ego for at
least a month and that was a good sign if any. But it appeared that
Fury and the rest of the members of SHIELD.
“Right,
Banner, I warned you before, now you’re going to be taken in,”
said Fury, as several stun blasts were leveled against Banner, which
irritated him more than anything. “Keep firing, before he
transforms!”
Banner
dropped to the ground, hands to his temples, as his body shook madly,
before his shirt ripped, his skin turning green. The SHIELD Agents
continued to fire, but it bounced off the thick green skin of the
beast that Bruce Banner turned into, known as the Incredible Hulk and
needless to say, he was none too happy.
“YOU
NO HURT HULK ANYMORE!” bellowed the Hulk as he picked up the bed,
before he flung it with all of his might towards the SHIELD agents,
causing them to scatter. Hulk turned, before he smashed through the
wall and continued his rampage, smashing the stairs and causing
several people in the hotel to shriek in absolute fear.
“To
the helicopters quickly, circle around, try and catch the Hulk as he
goes out, we can’t let that monster get into the city, no matter
what,” ordered Fury gruffly, as the SHIELD operatives did as they
told. Fury followed, ready to give the orders to break out the heavy
weaponry, because he was damned if he would have to clean up another
Hulk created mess.
-
Working
in his lab, Norman Osborn looked at the formula with a grin. It was
increased several times past the capacity that he had to begin with,
with several of the imperfections eliminated. He would need to heat
the formula, before blasting it with explosive charges, to increase
its potency and potential for the plans Norman Osborn had for it.
Everything needed to be precise if he could carry out his plans.
-
Hulk
continued his rampage, fueled by absolute anger and rage. The chasing
helicopters and ground vehicles only served to agitate the green
monster. A stun missile had only stopped him for mere seconds, before
he lifted one of the ground vehicles up and flung it into the air.
“AGENT
MEN WON’T GET HULK!” shouted Hulk as he flung it into the air.
The operatives in the helicopter bailed immediately, and Fury
watched. It was fortunate that the Hulk picked one of the vehicles
that was operated by remote and had no men inside. Several of the
operatives on the ground, after barricading the streets to keep
citizens fro getting in their way walked forward, weapons at the
ready.
“Now,
listen here, Banner, we’re just going to sedate you and change you
back and no one has to be hurt,” said one of the agents in an
attempt to appease the Hulk but the monster was beyond reasoning at
the moment.
“AGENT
MEN WON’T TURN HULK BACK INTO PUNY BANNER!” shouted Hulk as he
jumped forward, before he snatched the weapons and crushed them in
his hands. “LEAVE HULK ALONE!”
“I’ll
handle this,” said Fury, as he grabbed one of the weapons that Hulk
hadn’t damaged and turned the sonics up to the next level. “Cover
your ears, this could be deadly for any humans caught in the blast.”
Fury
turned the weapon right on the Hulk but despite a brief moment of
pain, the Hulk turned, smashing right through the barricades. He
hoisted a parked truck over his head and flung it right at the
operatives, who threw their grenades but the Hulk was already
airborne, having leapt onto the building, smashing into them as he
made his way further away.
“Air
command, shadow the Hulk, find a way to lure him away from civilians,
my team will follow on the ground, to try and intercept him before he
causes too much damage,” said Fury in his usual gruff matter, as
the two teams mobilized to do as he said.
-
The
Gymnasium was crowded at Midtown High School, as Peter and Gwen
walked through the doors, after being checked for identification. The
dance was getting going, as they quickly spotted Liz and Harry on the
other end of the dance floor. Harry looked a bit nervous but he tried
not to look the part.
“Gwen,
Pete,” said Harry cheerfully. “How are you guys doing tonight?”
“Great,
Harry, at least I am,” said Peter.
“The
same as Peter really, I hope to have a good time tonight,” said
Gwen.
“Providing
there isn’t any problems,” added Peter almost casually. “You
know, no disasters or anything…”
“It’s
a school dance, what’s the worst that could happen?” asked Liz.
“Harry told me about your job at the Bugle, but I’m sure they can
live without your pictures for one night.”
“Yeah,
Liz, you’re right, they can,” said Gwen, as she gripped Peter’s
arm. “So are you two having a good time.”
“The
best so far,” said Liz with a smile. “It’s so much nicer not to
hear about the latest great pass of the great Football Quarterback
hero of Midtown High.”
“It’s
a wonder how Flash fits his head into that Football helmet
sometimes,” replied Peter as he looked. “See he found a date.”
“Well
obviously he did, I mean, there’s always going to be someone who
wants to be his girlfriend because he’s Flash Thompson,” said Liz
dismissively. “Bit of an air head it looks like, was I really like
that?”
“You
don’t really want me to answer that, do you,” said Gwen. “Listen,
Liz, you’ve grown beyond him, we’ve all grown, he might someday.”
“Don’t
hold your breath,” muttered Harry, who realized that some people
never changed. His father was living proof of this fact. “So Liz,
would you like to dance?”
“Of
course, Harry, I’d love to,” said Liz as the two headed out to
the dance floor.
“Well
Gwen, looks like everyone is doing this, so would you give me the
honor of this dance, my lady?” asked Peter.
“I’d
be insulted if you didn’t ask, Mr. Parker, this is a dance, after
all,” said Gwen with a smile as she held out her hand. “Lead the
way, hopefully I remember my dancing lessons from when I was five.”
“I’m
sure you will do fine, providing you can pick up the slack for
someone with two left feet like me,” said Peter but Gwen just
smiled.
“Don’t
worry Peter, I think we can manage,” said Gwen with a shrug. “If
not, it could be either an embarrassing or an amusing memory.”
With
that they walked out to the dance floor.
-
“BROCK,
GET YOUR KEISTER IN HERE!” bellowed Jameson, as the ill tempered
publisher of the Daily Bugle watched and Eddie Brock stepped forward.
“You
called, JJ,” said Brock in a cool, calm, and collected voice.
“Yes,
Brock, we just got word of a rampaging monster throughout the city,”
said Jameson. “Parker’s not available and besides, you owe me
something after you’ve failed to get pictures time and time again.
It’s a big one Brock, the Hulk is on the loose again and he’s
into the city.”
“Wait
a minute, the Hulk?” gasped Brock. “As in the Incredible Hulk?”
“Yes,
Brock, the Incredible Hulk, big green monster, hard to stop, gets mad
and smashes things, you know that Hulk,” said Jameson. “That’s
beside the point, get your camera and head out. I want photos of the
Hulk’s rampage and you better not mess up this time Brock.”
“Don’t
worry, JJ, I won’t,” said Brock as he turned, grabbing his
camera. Photos of the Hulk, that would be even bigger than
Spider-Man. Parker had been close to taking his job as the lead
photographer at the Bugle, but with some luck he could scoop that
upstart and overshadow any pictures he could have gotten of
Spider-Man.
-
It
had been nearly an hour at the dance and Peter had to admit that he
was having a great time. Judging by the look on his girlfriend’s
face, she felt the same exact way.
Unfortunately,
like all good things, it would have to come to an end, as there was a
loud rumbling outside and several smashing noises, that lead to car
alarms going off.
“What’s
that?” asked someone in horror but the doors of the gym were
smashed open and all dancing stopped, when they saw the angered form
of the Hulk storming inside the dance.
“Is
that who I think it is?” asked Liz quietly, as she and Harry were
close to Peter and Gwen.
“HULK
NOT LIKE LOUD MUSIC!” shouted the Hulk as he stomped forward. “HULK
MAKE AWFUL NOISE STOP!”
“I’m
afraid so,” said Gwen as she looked at Peter, who grabbed Gwen and
pulled her off to the side. Peter made a movement to slip out the
door, as Hulk overturned a table with snacks on it on his way.
“Got
to go, I hoped this wouldn’t happen,” muttered Peter, but Gwen
anxiously grabbed his hand, watching the Hulk’s destructive streak
as the crowd backed off.
“The
phrase way in over your head seems to come to mind,” said Gwen as
she looked at Peter with a pleading look.
“If
anyone got hurt, I could never forgive myself,” whispered Peter.
“If
you got hurt, I could never forgive myself,” muttered Gwen, but
Peter turned to Harry, who was with Liz, backs towards an entrance.
“Harry,
get the girls out of here, I’m going to try and phone for help!”
shouted Peter, as he watched the Hulk knocked over a set of speakers.
“HULK
MAKE LOUD MUSIC STOP NOW!” shouted Hulk as Harry, Liz, and Gwen
moved, along with several others, as Peter slipped around. He saw
Gwen give him an anxious, worried look and the fact is he felt his
stomach turn in mild horror. The Juggernaut had a weakness in that
the fact that his ability to keep moving no matter what could be
turned against him. The Hulk had no such obvious weakness. “PUNY
PEOPLE BETTER GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE HULK ALONE!”
Flash
Thompson looked as the Hulk smashed a table, frowning as several
girls screamed and more than a few boys as well. Taking a deep
breath, he clenched his fists.
“Hey,
you big green dork, no one trashes Midtown High without Flash having
something to say about it!” taunted Flash cockily and he rushed
forward, in a foolish attempt to tackle the Hulk but that worked out
about as well as could be expected. The Hulk knocked Flash down and
raised his hands in an attempt to finish off the loud mouthed jock
but a figure swung down and scooped up Flash, before he could get
Hulk Smashed.
“Admirable
sentiments, but next time, leave the heroics to the heroes,”
admonished Spider-Man.
“Woah,
Spider-Man!” shouted Flash, as if he could hardly believe his luck.
“You saved me!”
“That’s
what I do,” said Spider-Man nonchalantly as he dropped Flash off by
the nearest exit. “Now remember, stay in school, don’t do drugs,
and don’t pick fights with angry green monsters.”
“Right!”
called Flash as he ran off and Spider-Man turned around, before he
shot a net of webbing, stopping the debris from falling on a group of
girls, before he swung around and scooped up two girls who were in
the line of fire.
“GET
OUT OF HULK’S WAY!” shouted Hulk the moment that Spider-Man
dropped to the ground and a large green fist caught Spider-Man right
in the chest, causing the web slinger to fly backwards and land right
on the ground with a thud. The Hulk stomped forward, but Spider-Man
rushed forward.
“Whoa,
listen here big guy, you can’t do this, just rampage through a
school like that, that isn’t right,” said Spider-Man but Hulk
grabbed Spider-Man and hoisted him up.
“HULK
NOT LISTEN TO PUNY BUG!” shouted Hulk as he threw Spider-Man like a
javelin but turning his arm, the web slinger wrapped his webbing
around a basketball hoop and he swung down, before he aimed a punch
right in the Hulk’s face. It had little effect, other than a
stabbing pain. “HULK SMASH PUNY BUG!”
“Technically,
spiders are classified as…”said Spider-Man but he was knocked
right off of his feet. The Hulk, it seemed, was not in the mood for
the impromptu biology lesson. “Okay, listen, deep breaths, no need
to blow a gasket, I mean it’s not that exactly good on your blood
pressure to go on such destructive rampages. I mean, have you ever
thought of investing in a stress ball?”
“PUNY
BUG TALK TOO MUCH!” shouted the Hulk as he swung for Spider-Man.
“HULK MAKE PUNY BUG SHUT UP!”
Spider-Man
dodged an attack, before he grabbed onto a bowl of punch and flung it
right towards Hulk but the monster smashed it into bits before he
grabbed Spider-Man and hoisted him up. Spider-Man turned his arms.
“Time
to slow you down,” muttered Spider-Man as he shot webbing right in
Hulk’s face, causing his vision to be impaired.
“HULK
NOT SEE!” shouted Hulk as he tossed Spider-Man to the ground. He
just barely managed to brace for impact, but the Hulk continued to
rush forward and smashed up the gym floor, causing it to crack. “HULK
NOT NEED TO SEE TO SMASH PUNY BUG!”
Hulk
reached for Spider-Man, feeling around for his throat but his
frustration gave way and he began mindlessly smashing everything in
his path.
“Come
on, big guy, play follow the spider!” called Spider-Man, as he
looked for something, anything that he could use as a weapon, but
Hulk rushed forward, ripping the webbing from his face as Spider-Man
hung from the folded up bleachers. “Come on big guy, give me your
best shot. You can’t smash me!”
“HULK
SMASH YOU!” growled Hulk as he rushed forward but Spider-Man swung
down, causing Hulk to smash right through the bleachers. This only
slowed Hulk down for a moment as Spider-Man turned, shooting from
both web shooters, in a futile attempt to wrap the Hulk up. “HULK
NOT BE STUCK BY STICKY STUFF!”
The
webbing snapped and Hulk reached forward, but Spider-Man slid
underneath the legs. Foolishly, he jumped onto the Hulk’s back but
Hulk flung him into the ground and leapt into the air, to smash down
but Spider-Man slid out of the way. A punch and Spider-Man was
knocked right over the upturned table.
Eddie
Brock arrived, with a smile. Spider-Man and the Hulk were fighting,
this was bigger than he thought. The entire gym had been cleared out
as he watched the wall crawler swing around, with the Hulk moving
around. He snapped several photos of the battle, as the entire gym
was nearly trashed, as Spider-Man looked to be running out of steam
just as the Hulk was gaining momentum.
“HULK
NOT LIKE THIS!” yelled Hulk as he jumped up but Spider-Man leapt
down, nearly collapsing, before he webbed onto a set of speakers and
swung them towards Hulk. “HULK JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE!”
“Yeah,
well that’s not going to happen with the trouble you’ve caused,”
admonished Spider-Man but Hulk reached forward and grabbed
Spider-Man, but Spider-Man kicked off and leapt up. He shot two
strands of webbing and attempted to pull the Hulk up but they
snapped. “Well that worked out poorly.”
A
flash of the photos caused Spider-Man to turn and see Brock.
“What
are you doing here?” demanded Spider-Man as he saw Brock as Hulk
stampeded forward. “Got to get you out here.”
“Oh
no, not this time, you web crawling creep!” shouted Brock as he
leapt out of the way, and Spider-Man swung past him, missing him with
Brock holding up his camera triumphantly with a grin on his face, as
if he thought he was something because he believed he outsmarted
Spider-MAn. “Ha, not going to lose my camera this time…”
“HULK
SMASH!” shouted Hulk as he swung his fist, causing Brock to fly to
the ground, along with his camera, which shattered from the immense
impact of the Hulk’s fist.
“NO!”
shouted Brock but Hulk turned and moved right towards Spider-Man,
smashing the walls and smashing his way outside the building.
“Come
on Hulk, out in the opening, don’t want to collapse the building
and kill anyone who might still be in side,” said Spider-Man in
desperation and Hulk seemed to take the bate, as they were out into
the parking lot. Spider-Man stepped backwards, but the SHIELD
helicopters and vehicles arrived, rolling down into the parking lot,
before several dozen operatives.
“Fury,”
muttered Spider-Man, saying the word as if it disgusted him.
“HULK
NOT LIKE AGENT MEN!” shouted Hulk as there were several sonic
weapons brought out. “THEY TRY TO HURT HULK!”
“Open
fire, take down the Hulk!” shouted Fury, but Spider-Man swung into
the way. “Out of the way, kid, this is SHIELD business and I can
have you brought in if you interfere.”
“Yeah,
you could, but it seems to me like your men are getting a bit
trashed,” said Spider-Man as he watched Hulk make mincemeat out of
the SHIELD operatives. “Look Fury, we need to find a way to stop
the Hulk.”
“Yeah
right, listen, kid, leave it up to me, Hulk’s wanted for a little
rampage he did,” said Fury. “Swing on home, fight some nutcase in
a costume, do something, just stay away from here. The only way to
stop the Hulk is to calm him down and good luck in doing that.”
“You
mean his powers are fueled by rage,” said Spider-Man.
“Yes,
you are a smart one, Parker,” said Fury sarcastically as he rolled
his eye.
“I
can stop him,” said Spider-Man as the SHIELD agents moved in,
throwing gas grenades at the Hulk but the Hulk picked up one of the
cars in the parking lot and smashed it down.
“Right,”
said Fury disbelievingly but Spider-Man grabbed the weapon he had.
“Give that back kid, that’s government property, I could have you
locked up for this!”
“Give
me ten minutes with the Hulk and I’ll find a way to stop him,”
said Spider-Man as he eyed the weapon. “Even if I have to use this,
but I doubt I will.”
“Fine,
but it’s on your head if he destroys the city even more,
Spider-Man,” grumbled Fury. “Men, stand down, Spider-Man wants to
try to stop the Hulk. This should be amusing.”
The
SHIELD operatives backed up in relief.
“GET
OUT OF HULK’S WAY!” shouted the Hulk but Spider-Man refused to
stand down.
“No,
listen, we’ve got off on a bad foot, Hulk, but I’m not going to
try and fight you,” responded Spider-Man calmly. “Look at you,
this anger, it’s getting the better of you. I mean, your just
playing right into Fury’s hands. You’re better than him.”
“HULK
BETTER THAN EYEPATCH!” shouted Hulk as he clenched his fist but he
looked at the weapon, which Spider-Man dropped to the ground, with a
disapproving look from Fury.
“Attack
me, Hulk Smash me, do whatever you want, but I’m not fighting back,
unless you put innocent people in danger,” said Spider-Man. “And
if you want to be left alone, I’ll help you with that too.”
“PUNY
BUG HELP HULK?” asked Hulk and Spider-Man nodded, as Hulk backed
off, breathing heavily, as he turned, his anger fading. Fury looked
on, but held his commanders off, as Hulk reverted back into Bruce
Banner.
“Wait
a minute?” thought Spider-Man in absolute shock. “That rampaging
monster was really that mild mannered scientist that gave a lecture
this afternoon? Well I’ll be, just when you think you know a guy.”
“It
happened again, didn’t it?” asked Banner as he turned to Fury.
“Well, I guess I’m going to have to be taken in.”
“No
Banner, not today,” said Fury as he turned to Banner. “I would
but more evidence has come in, that your alter ego might not have
been involved after all. Still, keep that temper in check or we might
be having another meeting, and this time Spider-Man won’t be able
to save you.”
“Yeah
nice of you to find this out Fury, after I got knocked around by the
jolly green giant there,” thought Spider-Man bitterly.
“Right,
Commander, I better get going,” said Banner.
“Come
with me to the airport, just as a precaution, wouldn’t want you to
have a relapse,” said Fury gruffly and Banner nodded, before they
walked to the ground transport. “And we’ll have a nice long talk
about keeping your anger in check to keep the Hulk’s appearances
limited.”
Spider-Man
collapsed on the ground, completely battered, before he pulled
himself up. The dance was ruined, but he needed to chance quickly
before it was realized that Peter Parker was missing.
-
In
the home lab of Norman Osborn, there was a loud humming sound, that
proceeded with a large explosion that blew the lab door right off of
its hinges. Green smoke filled the hallways, as there was a fire that
caused the lab to completely burn, claiming the computers in the lab
and notes. Several more explosions rang out because of the chemicals
in the lab, as the Osborn butler rushed forward.
“MR.
OSBORN!” shouted the butler but the fumes had made him light headed
and he backed off quickly. He could not see any sign of his employer
anywhere, and he turned quickly, to call the authorities, on the
change that Norman would still be around.
Had
the butler stayed around for a minute longer, he would have seen a
figure moving in the shadows, towards a secret exit in the lab. His
plans had gone to the letter and now he would be able to move onto
the next phase.
-
“Peter!”
shouted Aunt May as she rushed over to hug her nephew. “I saw what
happened at the dance, that awful Hulk person ruining the dance…”
“I’m
alright Aunt May, but it’s definitely not something I would want to
repeat in the future,” said Peter, wincing. “I would have gotten
home sooner, but I had to make sure Gwen got home safely, because who
knows what’s out there any more.”
“And
who would have protected you, young man?” asked May but Peter just
shrugged. “Still, you’re home now, but it must be awful that your
night was ruined.”
“I
know, Gwen and I were having a good time,” said Peter honestly as
he turned to help himself to a late night snack. He hoped that Banner
got out of town safely and that he would not be coming back any time
soon. He felt he was lucky this time but doubted he would survive
another go around with the Hulk.
-
An
impressive looking man with dark hair and a black mustache exited a
plan, dressed in an Africa safari outfit. The man’s name was Sergei
Kravinoff and he was one of the most skilled game hunters in the
world. He had brought down many wild and vicious beasts but he looked
a photograph of his newest prey.
“So
this Spider-Man is supposed to be tough to defeat,” said Kravinoff.
“No prey is tougher than Sergei Kravinoff. I will stalk and then I
will eliminate him. This Spider-Man will just be another trophy for
my collection. The greatest beasts in the world, but none could match
the might of Sergei Kravinoff.”
Kravinoff
moved from the plane, without another word, he would map out a
strategy as he would with any other beast before he moved in for the
kill. He never failed to capture his prey and he doubted this
Spider-Man would be any different.
-
Harry
returned home but he stopped in his tracks in shock, when he saw
police cars surrounding his house. He quickened his steps before he
was stopped by an officer.
“Hold
up there, you can’t go in,” said the officer. “Norman Osborn
was caught in an explosion in his laboratory, the fire consumed
everything inside…”
“WHAT?”
asked Harry in absolute shock. “That’s my father…what
happened…is he…”
“We
don’t know what happened,” said the officer. “There’s been no
body found, so nothing is confirmed or denied. There is no sign that
he had perished in the lab but I must say it looks highly unlikely
that anyone could have survived that explosion. If the explosion
didn’t get him, the fumes that place was giving off would. I’m
sorry.”
“Don’t
be,” said Harry stiffly as he turned around, as if shocked. He had
thought of his father to be untouchable, he thought the old man would
be around always but if he was dead, than Harry quite frankly did not
know what to believe. Strangely, he felt a strange combination of
grief and relief. On one hand, it was his father, but on the other
hand, he had never been much of a father.
Still,
Harry turned to be along, with questions buzzing in his head. There
would be no way to determine what had gone wrong until there was
investigation but the most obvious thing was that he knew his father
and when it came to Norman Osborn’s work, he made no mistakes that
could cause such an accident.
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