Chapter 28: Shocked

Chapter Twenty Eight: Shocked:

“Harry, it’s no problem,” said Peter as they walked to the Ravencroft Institution. To be honest, Peter needed something to keep his mind off of the events of the past week. The reveal of the origin of the spider that gave him his powers, the sinister person behind it, and then a taxing battle with the Lizard, with a scuffle with Kraven the Hunter added into it. Not to mention the usual amount of thugs and thieves and balancing a tough school year, along with his social life and responsibility as Spider-Man. The usual insanity was more than enough but this seemed to lead to new levels.

“Yeah, it’s just that you’re the only person that Dad’s kind of accepted as my friend and I kind of need the moral support,” said Harry as his good mood as of late had been punctured by the prospect of meeting his father. “Dr. Hamilton told me that he thinks that seeing me may spark dad to open up. He’s barely said anything since he’s arrived but…I didn’t want to tell you this but when he did talk, he mentioned you.”

“Yeah, I can imagine, all of the Goblin might have been purged from Osborn…” thought Peter bitterly, mentally trailing off for a second before he collected his thoughts . “But let’s face it, he was a bit of a jerk before that formula exploded in his face and if he remembers I’m Spider-Man, Goblin or not…I don’t want to think about it. Reason I haven’t told Harry either.”

The two teenagers arrived outside of a glass door of the cell that contained Norman Osborn, who sat there, with a calm, nearly tranquil expression on his face as he looked at the new arrivals, just giving them the barest of acknowledgements.

“Dad, it’s me, your son, Harry,” prompted Harry hopefully and Norman just looked at him. “I’d figure I would stop by, see how everything was? How are you doing after that Goblin fiasco…which I guess you don’t remember, but really you seem to be holding up better than I would be. You remember Peter, Peter Parker.”

“Yes, I remember Peter quite well,” said Norman softly, as his eyes snapped up and he looked at Peter with a calculating expression that caused the young man to pale as Norman paused, as tension was in the air . After a moment’s pause, the elder Osborn spoke again. “Hello Peter.”

“Hello, Mr. Osborn,” said Peter in relief, breathing in. For a brief second…well it appeared that Norman Osborn had been cleansed of the Goblin.

“You look pale, Peter,” said Norman coolly. “You almost look like you’ve seen a goblin.”

Harry looked vaguely amused at the unintentional double meaning of his father’s words but Peter was tense.

“Of course, it could be keeping my son in line so he doesn’t become even more of an embarrassment, that could be very taxing,” responded Norman and Harry’s amusement faded in the blink of an eye. “After all, he is inept. It would take all of your cunning to keep him in line so he doesn’t break free from your web.”

“Is he playing with me?” thought Peter desperately. “Or am I just paranoid?”

“I do what I can, Mr. Osborn,” said Peter nervously.

“Dad, I’ve been running Oscorp,” said Harry suddenly, in a desperate attempt to get his father to notice him.

“Harry, Peter and I are having a nice conversation, it’s rude to interrupt,” stated Norman calmly. “I don’t want to hear about how your inept management will give me more work than I can handle once I have a clean bill of health.”

“I’m doing fine!” shouted Harry but Norman just laughed.

“Just fine, Harry?” asked Norman. “Have I taught you nothing? You can’t merely do just fine. You have to excel. You have to raise yourself above everyone else. You have to crush the competition. You should be the best. Better than the best in fact. You can’t be just fine. Otherwise, you’ll be nothing.”

Norman was on his feet and Harry took a step back. The happy Harry that been present recently had faded big time and he was looking rather down at his father.

“Back up boys, our patient is getting upset,” said a nurse who had walked forward. “Dr. Hamilton will be pleased with you getting the patient to open up.”

Norman sat down, silent. He hated the staff. They were so meddling but he had to stay here as part of his plan.

“Hamilton wanted me to check in with him afterwards,” muttered Harry to Peter who nodded.

“Do swing by sometime Peter, alone, so we don’t have to dumb down our conversation,” said Norman towards Peter’s retreating back which caused him to cringe.

“Paranoid Pete, you’re just paranoid,” thought Peter.

-

“So Mr. Schultz, all you need to do is deal with Spider-Man,” said the Kingpin as Schultz had been fitted with an outfit. It looked like he was wearing a giant yellow and black quilt around him, with a yellow mask with goggles.

“This outfit’s going to help me beat the web head?” asked Schultz skeptically.

“No, Mr. Schultz, merely a measure to protect you from the power I’ve given you,” said Kingpin as he watched his men from the monitor, fit Schultz with a pair of gauntlets. “That is what is going to help you against Spider-Man.”

“What does it do?” asked Schultz in confusion.

“Flick the switch on the gauntlets. Aim for that stack of boxes and find out,” said Kingpin calmly as his men inserted ear plugs in their ears as Schultz got up. He aimed the gauntlets and with one motion, shockwaves ripped through the air and blasted the boxes into toothpicks. Schultz backed up.

“Impressive,” muttered Schultz, pleased at his new power. That could rip through the doors of a bank vault easily.

“Indeed,” remarked the Kingpin. “Those gauntlets will emit the power necessary though the shockwaves created. You are Shocker.”

“Shocker?” asked Schultz but he nodded. “I like it. Herman Schultz was a nobody but Shocker will be a force to be reckoned with. Spider-Man will pay for putting me behind bars.”

“We are on the same wavelength, my friend,” said Kingpin. “The only caveat in me granting you this power is I can call on you at any time I choose.”

“Fair enough,” said the newly christened Shocker as he went off. He had banks to rob and a city to plunder.

-

“Mr. Osborn, Mr. Parker isn’t it?” asked Dr. Barton Hamilton.

“Yes, sir,” said Peter as he took a good look at the doctor’s office. There were quite a few medical degrees on the wall but other than that, it looked like a shrine to Spider-Man. Pictures, most of it his work, and press cuttings. It was a bit creepy how much was devoted to Spider-Man.

“My patient talks most highly of you, from what little he does talk,” said Hamilton. “Quite peculiar as he only mentions his son in passing and with what seems to be disgust.”

“Nothing peculiar about that at all,” muttered Harry.

“How you classify your relationship with your father, Mr. Osborn?” asked Hamilton and Harry looked like a deer in the headlights, as he looked at Peter for help.

“Dr. Hamilton, correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t this supposed to be just Harry checking in with the progress of the visit of his father?” asked Peter nervously, he wanted to get out of this office as soon as possible. There was just something about it that gave him an unsettling vibe.

“I do apologize Mr. Parker, the curiosity that comes with my job sometimes gets the better of me,” said Hamilton. “So a freelance photographer, as my patient informs me. And as you can see, I have a fair bit of your work in my office.”

“Yes, I noticed,” said Peter in a casual voice but he could not help being curious. “Why the interest in Spider-Man?”

“Merely professional, as he is connected with a handful of my patients here,” said Hamilton. “He’s a subject worthy of study. Best I can tell because of his crusade of crime was that he lost someone close to him perhaps due to a criminal. Therefore, he has the obsession nearly as powerful as the people that he puts away. I have a thick file on Spider-Man and one day, I may be able to piece together his identity. The clues will continue to build up.”

“I thought we were here to talk about my father, not Spider-Man,” responded Harry and Hamilton just looked at Harry with a calculating expression on his face. The lad seemed to be keen in steering the conversation away from Spider-Man. Quite intriguing to say the very least.

“Of course,” said Dr. Hamilton as Harry took a deep breath, before he gave a rundown on the visit, with Hamilton taking down notes, with a curious expression on his face.

-

“Alright, everyone put your hands in the air where I can see them!” shouted Shocker as he burst into a fancy restaurant, gauntlets in hand. Several of the upper class people in the establishment looked at him in disgust when they saw his outfit.

“I’m sorry sir, but do you have a reservation?” asked the doorman in a posh French accent.

“Here’s my reservation, Pierre,” said Shocker gruffly as he pointed his gauntlet and he sent the doorman backwards. He cracked against the wall and was severely injured. “Alright, unless any of you want to get the same, fill of the bag. Money, jewelry, anything you snobs have on you that could be valuable, give it to me. Otherwise, I knock the silver spoons right out of your mouths.”

The fearful people began to come forward, as Shocker blasted a window out to prove his point. He knew eventually that the web head would be attracted by the chaos but there was no reason he could not make a little income on the side.

-

As they had left the asylum after that uncomfortable little interview with Hamilton, Peter suddenly stopped, his spider sense having gone off in an explosion in the distance and just at that moment, Harry was taking a cell phone call.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there right away, Mr. Menken, I understand,” muttered Harry in a downcast voice as he turned to Peter. “Listen Pete, you’re going to have to find a way back on your own, another couple of people jumped on that class action lawsuit thing about the toxic waste and…”

“Go, take care of that, it’s important,” said Peter as he ran quickly but Harry seemed to notice nothing odd about his friend’s sudden departure.

Another explosion and Peter ducked into an alley way, pulling out his bag and changing into Spider-Man.

-

Shocker looked pleased, as he left with the spoils of victory. He turned away, with a nice new car. He always wanted a car like that. In fact, he always wanted a car period, but could never even afford a junker. A teenage boy with more piercings in his ear that should be allowed by law walked towards the car but Shocker lifted up his gauntlet.

“Hey, man, what’s your problem?” asked the teenager.

“I need to borrow your car, kid, to carry my purchases for the day,” said Shocker, as he held up the sacks of money and jewelry. In an instant, Shocker turned his gauntlet and with one blast, the light post was snapped in half, which caused the teenager to be fearful before he threw the keys at Shocker’s feet.

“It’s yours man,” stammered the teenager as he ran off and Shocker nodded with a pleased look on his face.

“And people say New York is full of jerks,” said Shocker as he moved forward, but a line of webbing shot around his hand and pulled him around, which caused him to fly onto the ground with a thud. A figure swung in and kicked him right in the chest, to knock him right to the ground. Shocker bounced up, the added padding in his costume having worked wonders.

“Yeah there are a lot of jerks in this city,” said Spider-Man as he dropped down but Shocker dodged his attack. “Like the people who bully others into handing over their stuff.”

“Spider-Man, I’ve been waiting for you for sometime,” said Shocker with glee as he cranked on his gauntlets but Spider-Man aimed a kick at him which caused him to get knocked down. The padding was effective enough and he pulled himself to his feet, to resume the battle with the web slinger. “You put me behind bars!”

“I would think I would remember a costume as ugly as yours, quilt man,” said Spider-Man as he managed to catch Shocker off guard, by sweeping his feet out from underneath him. “Really quilt man, with a costume like that, you could think you were a joke.”

“THE NAME IS SHOCKER!” shouted the Shocker angrily as he got to his feet.

“Now no need to yell, we need to learn how to use our indoor voices, quilt man,” admonished Spider-Man as he swung towards Shocker but a blast of his shockwave gauntlets and Spider-Man’s webbing was dissolved, before he flew to the ground with a thud. Spider-Man landed on the ground and began to stagger to his feet.

Another blast and Spider-Man was lifted up into the air and knocked right onto his back. He held his head, as a splitting sensation came over him, not to mention a ringing in his ear. He tried to get to his feet, but he was dizzy. Shocker raised his gauntlet once again and Spider-Man was blasted once again. He rolled over, dizzy and nauseated, unable to string a coherent thought together.

“Am a joke now, web head?” asked the Shocker in a gruff, cold voice, as he lifted his gauntlet once again. Spider-Man could not brace himself for the next blast and he was knocked right to the ground once more. Shocker moved over and he placed his foot on the chest of the downed Spider-Man. “AM I?”

Spider-Man struggled, but it was too painful to even move. His vision was blurred, he was dizzy, sickened, his ears were ringing, he could barely hear the taunts of Shocker. He may have been rendered deaf from being in the full blast of those shockwave blasts.

“And to think, I thought it would be Jameson who would cause me go deaf,” thought Spider-Man but Shocker backed off.

“No, I could kill you right now but that would be too easy,” said Shocker as he looked at the crowd who had gathered around and he heard the sirens in the distance. “There is your hero, there is Spider-Man, defeated, by the Shocker! You will remember my name, as the man who had brought down Spider-Man! This entire city will fear me and remember me, for what I’ve done. I’ve eliminated Spider-Man!”

Spider-Man could not move, as the Shocker ran off, blasting a bus in the way to block the road from the incoming squad cars, so he could make a get away. The bus sent debris everywhere when he smashed into the side of the building to set a fire.

“Have to help, but can’t move, too weak, got to find a way out of here,” muttered Spider-Man as he rolled away. It would be a miracle if he could get home without being seen.

-

“You have made quite an impression so far Shocker,” said the Kingpin, as he looked at Shocker from his office, guarded on the outside to ensure there was no distractions. No one could put together that Wilson Fisk was in fact the Kingpin. “Your defeat of Spider-Man made the five PM news, top headline.”

“It’s all thanks to you boss,” said the Shocker. “And the spoils aren’t too bad either.”

“They never are,” said The Kingpin crisply. “Spider-Man may have lived though his encounter but I wonder if we’ve seen the last of the web head.”

“Yeah and if he does crawl out from whatever hole he’s hiding, I’ll finish him off once and for all,” said Shocker in a determined voice.

“I’m certain,” said Kingpin calmly. “Good day to you Shocker”

Kingpin turned off the transmission without another word as he turned towards his son, Richard, who seemed utterly baffled.

“The fool could not finish his job against Spider-Man,” said Richard in a disgusted voice.

“On the contrary, everything has gone exactly as planned,” said Kingpin with a smug expression. “If had wanted Spider-Man dead, he would be. It is just as simple as that. A nuisance that he may be in some aspects, he’s made me a fortune in many other areas. The super powered battles have given me many insurance contracts, with the ability to raise the premium though the roof.”

“I still think Spider-Man should be dealt with, Father,” said Richard, surely his father could see that the danger that Spider-Man posed.

“Once he stops being useful, he will be dealt with,” said Kingpin firmly. “I could find out who is behind that mask as simply as turning on a light if I had wanted to but it serves no purpose.”

“I still think it would be easier to just shoot him at the first opportunity,” said Richard.

“Any uneducated hoodlum can just shoot him, my boy,” said The Kingpin. “The Kingpin plays a more complex game than that.”

-

How Peter made it home, much less up to his room was a miracle to say the least. Through a daze, he felt a pounding in his head. At least the ringing in his ears had subsided but dizziness and nausea was still present. He collapsed on his bed immediately, as he pulled his mask off.

“Shocker, those gauntlets, the vibrations that they give off are incredible technology,” thought Spider-Man. “I doubt anyone could stand up to them but how could I beat them, how?”

Rational thought had left him at this point but still, he had to figure out exactly how the gauntlets targeted him. Best he could tell, was that the shockwaves were a low level sonic attack, but powerful enough that they could throw off his entire equilibrium. Not too powerful in that he could have been killed or at least rendered permanently deaf. Still not too pleasant.

Still, Peter felt enough of the symptoms clearing up to think somewhat clearly and thus he began to devise a plan to negate the Shocker’s vibration gauntlets and bring him to justice.

-

Shocker felt pleased, he was on a roll, as even Spider-Man had been powerless to stop him. He had stolen several thousand worth of cash and jewelry but he was far from done. He wanted to play for bigger stakes.

Namely a bank as he blew the doors off the hinges and walked in, causing the customers to be terrified, as he walked up to the front desk. Two security guards were promptly dealt with by the villain.

“Excuse me, I’d like to make a withdrawal,” said Shocker gruffly, as he looked at the bank teller in the eye. “All of the money you have in the vault.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir, it’s against…” stated the bank teller but Shocker calmly rose his gauntlet and obliterated an entire desk with one shockwave. “The vault is back this way, do help yourself, please don’t hurt me.”

Shocker turned, as he walked towards the vault, unaware that the bank teller had pressed a silent alarm that had been operated. Shocker walked over and got all the money he could carry at the time.

The sirens had caused Shocker a bit of dismay but he stepped outside of the bank, before he had blasted an armored truck outside of the bank. It had caused a chain reaction with several cars wrecking and the villain nodded, a pleased expression on his face, as he loaded up his ill gotten gains in his getaway car. While he would have to still leave some behind to make a clear getaway, he had more money then he had ever seen in his entire life and surely enough to blow the country and escape persecution.

He would be out of the reach of everyone, including the Kingpin.

-

Spider-Man swung over the city. It did not take him long to find where he looked at.

“Looks like Shocker has been experimenting with his little toy,” thought Spider-Man as he dropped down onto the ground, the smoldering wreckage and the ambulances. People had been injured or maybe worst thanks to Shocker.

Spider-Man carefully scaled the walls. He had a slight hunch that he was not far and sure enough, a few minutes searching had indicated pay dirt. Several terrified screams and Spider-Man swung into battle, the web slinger ready for action.

He watched, as Shocker exited a building, with his ill gotten gains in hand. Taking careful aim, the web slinger shot webbing right at Shocker’s stolen loot and ripped the bag from his hand. That caused the criminal to stumble and look up.

“YOU!” shouted Shocker.

“Yeah me,” replied Spider-Man as he lowered himself to the ground and went face to face to Shocker. “You didn’t think I was going to lay down easily, especially to someone wearing that outfit, did you?

“I should have killed you when I had a chance, web head,” grunted Shocker as he dodged an attack from Spider-Man, before he activated his shockwave gauntlets and sent a blast right towards Spider-Man, who launched himself in mid air.

“Plugging my ears seems to have worked wonders, still feel a little dizzy, but at least the sonic vibrations aren’t crippling me and reducing my ear drums to applesauce this time,” thought Spider-Man as he caught the dumbstruck Shocker with a kick right to the face. The villain landed on the ground and Spider-Man shot a line of webbing at Shocker, but Shocker pointed his arm towards a ledge, before he caused a ledge to crumble. Several innocent civilians were in harm’s way.

“Everyone, move, now!” shouted Spider-Man as he shot a net of webbing, just barely containing the debris but Shocker was back as the civilians ran for cover. Spider-Man was caught right in the back with a shockwave. While there was no damage to his equilibrium, the attack nevertheless hurt like hell. Shocker stepped over but Spider-Man pulled himself up and dodged an attack, before he slid around, swinging around a light post and he kicked Shocker right in the chest.

The villain bounced up, winded but the added padding blocked most of the fall. Shocker aimed at the ground and Spider-Man had to leap quickly. A building that he had landed on was aimed for but he kept on the move right away.

“Got to get him away from the streets, too many people out here,” thought Spider-Man desperately, as he dodged the flying glass and concrete, with several people screaming in the distance.

“C’mon, quilt man, is that the best you got?” taunted Spider-Man as Shocker aimed for him again but Spider-Man threw himself out of the way The villain was becoming more and more frustrated with each passing second and Spider-Man managed to get a swinging punch to further enrage the villain.

“Get back here, you insect!” yelled the Shocker.

“Actually, spider’s are technically classified as arachnids, but judging by how smart you are I doubt you made it past Kindergarten,” heckled Spider-Man as Shocker renewed his fury and aggression towards Spider-Man but the web slinger stayed one step away, drawing the villain further and further away from innocents and towards an abandoned and condemned section of the city, that was being restructured. “Come on, take your best shot.”

“Gladly!” growled Shocker, as he cranked his gauntlets to full power and took aim right at Spider-Man but he flipped over Shocker in a flash. Shocker’s blasts struck the building and debris blasted right towards Shocker, who tried desperately to block the attack. Spider-Man scaled his way up the side of another building and shot two lines of webbing, to remove the gauntlets from Shocker. Shocker landed on the ground and his horror was evident, when he realized that his power had been taken away.

That was the last thought that went through his head before Spider-Man’s fist connected with his face. Shocker staggered backwards and Spider-Man kicked him, before he webbed him up. Shocker was unable to free himself, without the gauntlets, the suit was just padding and nothing more.

“Let me out of here!” grumbled Shocker but Spider-Man just stepped back, not answering Shocker and hoisted him up.

“The power would have been something that would have been more dangerous had it been used by someone who was somewhat intelligent,” thought Spider-Man. “It was still dangerous, but wielded by a common street thug and an Achilles heel that beat him in the end. Thank you for small favors.”

Spider-Man deposited Shocker at the feet of the police and swung off into night.

-

Wilson Fisk just smirked as he received news of Shocker’s capture. As he figured, Spider-Man had found someway to triumph but the Kingpin just saw his newest villain as a distraction to Spider-Man, to keep the web head’s attention diverted from an operation that his men were carrying on the other side of the city. He was brought out of his thoughts by the ringing of his phone.

“Speak,” said Fisk.

“Kingpin, the operation didn’t go all too smoothly,” said a terrified voice over the phone, voice trembling.

“I arranged for Spider-Man to be dealt with,” said the Kingpin coldly.

“Not Spider-Man some guy, it’s the devil, we were attacked by the devil!” screamed the henchman over the phone. “He had no fear! He just took us out! There’s no way he’s human!”

“What do you mean?” demanded Kingpin in a soft but deadly voice. He had little use for the lack of sense this man was making.

Seconds later a scream was heard and the line went dead. The Kingpin looked out the window, it appeared that there was another costumed crusader who made it his mission to interfere with his business and he would find out who this “devil” his men spoke of was.

-

“Gwen, I’m here, sorry I was late,” said Peter apologetically as he arrived for their double date with Liz and Harry and Gwen just looked at him, frostily. “I said I was sorry for arriving late.”

“You didn’t have the curiosity to call me and tell me if you were alright,” said Gwen as she looked at Peter with an accusing look and Peter was baffled.

“Look Gwen, I’m here, you know, alright, right now, there’s no need for you to worry, sure I got knocked around a bit but it’s all fine,” said Peter but Gwen just turned away from him, arms folded. “I told you it’s not your responsibility to worry about what happens during my job. Everything is fine.”

“Everything’s not fine, Peter Parker and you know it,” remarked Gwen accusingly after a minute. “Five seconds was all it would have taken. I was worried that you could have been…”

“I’m fine Gwen,” persisted Peter stubbornly, not knowing what the big deal was.

“Why is she pushing the issue so much?” thought Peter to himself in frustration.

“I don’t see why you think it’s such a big deal,” added Peter but this was the wrong thing to say.

“It’s a big deal if I have to learn things second hand that you’re keeping from me,” said Gwen throwing her hands up in frustration. Peter had usually been prompt about reassuring her that he had not been killed before or around the time his Spider-Man exploits popped up on the news. “Makes me wonder if you would be keeping your little secret from me if I hadn’t pretty much confronted you on it?”

“Harry and Liz are here Gwen,” said Peter evasively.

“Good, if you want to join them, then fine, but I’m heading home until you can figure out your priorities Peter,” said Gwen coolly as she walked off without another word, leaving Peter frustrated and confused.

“What’s with her lately?” thought Peter in frustration, leaving him with the task of explaining to Harry and Liz why Gwen had decided to leave. “One time I don’t call to tell her I’m okay and she flips out. She can’t still be mad about me keeping all of the details of that night from her…you know what screw this, Harry and Liz shouldn’t have their date ruined because of the drama of my life.”

With that, Peter slipped away, to change into Spider-Man. There had to be some petty thug somewhere to take his aggression out on.

-

Gwen returned home, a small voice in the back of her head telling her that she was being too hard on Peter, that he was under a lot of stress. Perhaps it was right but she feared one day that Peter would go into a battle that he would not walk away from. An air of uncertainty was worse than it actually happen to an extent.

-

A female cat burglar dressed in a leather bodysuit with a black mask obscuring her features slipped inside of a window in the museum. Careful not to trip any alarms, she searched for an item that a certain someone would pay big money for.  


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