Chapter 37: The Scorpion Stings Again

Chapter Thirty Seven: The Scorpion Stings Again:

“Just missed him, Peter,” said Gwen in frustration, as sure turned to Peter as they stood outside Oscorp headquarters.

“Yeah what are the odds, another last minute meeting comes up and he’ll be unavailable for the next week,” said Peter dryly as he looked at Gwen.

“Please tell me you didn’t try and bring up the subject with him when you talked to him earlier,” said Gwen.

“No, I didn’t,” said Peter. “He’s just really busy I guess.”

The entire mess with Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six(as they were being dubbed by the Daily Bugle) had caused Gwen and Peter to be preoccupied and thus they had not had a chance to have a talk with Harry.

“Maybe,” said Gwen in a skeptical voice. “Of course Harry being busy might be part of the problem. He’s never taken on this much responsibility ever and….who knows what he might be doing to cope.”

Before Peter could ponder this fact further, his phone rang and he quickly answered it.

“PARKER!” shouted Jameson. “Get your keister down to the Daily Bugle building right now. I need a photographer, immediately and since Brock’s indisposed on another assignment, I had to settle for you.”

“Right, right over Mr. Jameson, as soon as I can get there,” said Peter, wondering what had happened to merit Jameson to call him in. The city had been quiet over the past few days.

“Do me a favor Parker, and make it sooner,” said Jameson. “Right here, proto, move it, I’m not paying you to lollygag!”

Peter held his tongue before he just hung up the phone, as he turned to say good bye to Gwen, thinking this was going to be a long day.

-

“Mr. Gargan, I’m impressed,” said Barton Hamilton, as he looked at Mac Gargan, also known as the super villain, the Scorpion. “You’re rehab has gone well, everything that we can do here, is done and other than your physical condition being cured, you’re nearly back to normal.”

“Normal, that’s a state I hope to return to, Dr. Hamilton,” said Gargan completely covered in a trench coat, hat, gloves, and sunglasses, obscuring his costume of the Scorpion. “The power isn’t just good for me, I know that now.”

“Progress, indeed, perhaps some day, you will be completely purged of the Scorpion,” said Dr. Hamilton. “Now, as we’ve found out, use of your powers lead to your mental degeneration so you will be released to attempt to return to society, on the condition that you will not use your powers. If you are found using your powers for whatever reason, you will be held at this facility indefinitely.”

“Fair enough, I don’t need to use my powers ever again,” said Gargan. “Trust me, been down that road before, don’t need to go there again.”

“Fantastic,” said Hamilton. “The top genetic experts are studying your DNA, to find a cure for your powers and you will be Mac Gargan once again in body and mind.”

Gargan just nodded, with a grin on his face.

“If I may ask you one further favor, before I sign the papers to discharge you,” remarked Hamilton and the former Scorpion’s eyes snapped towards the doctor. “A press conference to announce your extraordinary rehabilitation to world and to clear up any misconceptions.”

“I’d be down for that, doc,” said Gargan with a twisted smirk. After all, everyone who clearly see that he was declared rehabilitated mentally from his condition as the Scorpion and he could not get on with his life without that.

“Splendid, I had thought you would have agreed,” said Hamilton. “The press conference will start in two hours, I trust you’ll be ready.”

“Oh, I will be, doc,” said Gargan, as soon the world would know what Mac Gargan was all about.

-

"Miss Brant I wanted those files three minutes ago!" bellowed Jameson as he looked around from side to side. "Leeds, am I paying you to drink coffee and shoot the breeze? Get to work! Robbie, ROBBIE!"

"Yes, Jonah," said Robbie in a calm voice.

"Where is Parker?" demanded Jameson. "I called for him twelve and a half minutes ago and he's yet to get here."

"Here I am, Mr. Jameson," said Peter as he walked into the office. "Sorry, the traffic was a bit bad out there, I couldn't get here in..."

"Parker, no excuse, I said I needed a quality photographer and you're the next best thing I've got!" shouted Jameson, who looked around from side to side. "Office, now, Parker! Haul it!"

"Wonder what crawled up his butt and I died," thought Peter as he followed Jameson. Jameson quickly locked the door of his office and shut the blinds.

"Parker, sit down and listen up," whispered Jameson and Peter stood up straight. He did not think it was possible but it seemed as if J. Jonah Jameson had found a way to scream while whispering at the same time. "Today, I got a distressing tip from one of my contacts at Ravencroft."

"Don't tell me someone escaped again," thought Peter to himself but he looked attentive.

"And what might that be, Mr. Jameson?" asked Peter.

"I'm getting to that Parker, don't rush me!" snapped Jameson as quietly as he could manage, which was about the level of how a normal person spoke. "Mac Gargan is being released, the Scorpion, you know, they're saying he's cured."

"Really, cured, that's great," said Peter trying to force a smile but at the same time he doubted very much this to be true. Mysterio had been declared cured and Dr. Octopus had been judged close to be rehabilitated before his gang broke him out and Peter knew all too well how both of those situations turned out.

"Parker, don't be so naive, we both know that it's a mistake," said Jameson. "Nothing like what that experiment did to Gargan could be cured easily. Not many people know this, but I helped fund the creation of the Scorpion. Don't know why I'm telling you to be honest, but I know you value your job here too much to rat me out to any other newspapers. I know what Stillwell did to him and he's far beyond any sanity."

"What if your mistaken, sir?" asked Peter.

"Parker, the only thing I was mistaken in was using someone like Gargan in the first place," said Jameson. "Gargan might have convinced the staff, he might have convinced naive punks like you, he might have convinced himself but I'm not buying it. He should be locked up for the rest of his life like that wall crawling ruffian."

"Sounds like someone would rather sweep his own mistakes underneath the rug," thought Peter.

"So what do you need my help for?" asked Peter.

"Press conference, I need you to get some pictures," said Jameson before his voice lowered the lowest Peter had ever heard it. "Both before and after the press conference, I want you to find out what Gargan's up to, what con he's pulling. Report back to me by the end of the week, its not like you have anything else better to do."

"You want me to follow around a potentially dangerous criminal?" questioned Peter.

"You do it all the time anyway when you get photos of Spider-Man, this isn't any different," said Jameson sharply as he stared at Peter, who remained dumbstruck. "What are you waiting for? A pat on the back, get going and bring me back proof that Gargan is up to no good."

"I'll do it, Mr. Jameson," said Peter. "You can count on me."

"For once Parker, I hope you're right," said Jameson as Peter walked forward, before he tried to unlock the office door. "Didn't I tell you to get going?"

"The door's locked, Mr. Jameson," said Peter.

"Lazy good for nothing...guess I have to do everything," grumbled Jameson as he opened the door for Peter. "Now go!"

-

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I assure you that we're not making a mistake this time, Mac Gargan has proven to be rehabilitated and soon we have many top scientific minds working on a cure that will remove the powers that caused him to be in condition he was," said Dr. Hamilton as Peter watched the press conference in the back, as many reporters stepped over each other.

"What's to stop Gargan from being corrupted by his powers again?" asked a reporter.

"I know those powers ain't good for me," said Gargan as he looked at the crowd coolly. "I've had my taste of power and while it seemed good at first, it wasn't good for my mind. I thank Dr. Hamilton and all of the other doctors at Ravencroft. Without them, I wouldn't take the first step from being just Mac Gargan again."

"What about Spider-Man?" asked another reporter.

"Yeah, what about Spider-Man?" thought Peter, attentive now.

"He's what he does but he helped put me in here and get me the treatment I needed," said Gargan. "I hope to give the old web head everything that he has coming to him."

There were several more questions, but Peter grew tense. He had to find a way to tail Gargan, without being seen. He just had a feeling that Jameson was not going to be happy unless Peter came back with proof that Gargan had turned over a new leaf so Peter resigned himself to countless hours of his free time vanishing into air.

Still, it would be much easier for Spider-Man to keep an eye on Mac Gargan, than Peter Parker, especially if the Jolly One was right about Gargan faking his rehabilitation.

-

Spider-Man swung from building to building, circling the neighborhood. He had been doing this for several hours, as Gargan had gone inside his apartment and had not returned.

"Well this is pointless," thought Spider-Man as he swung over the city. "I could be home in a nice warm house by now or with Gwen or something, anything but following a lead that there's nothing to be followed. Same thing every day, Gargan gets up, watches television all day, leaves the house for a couple of hours, does errands, over and over again. Wow, Jonah, that's a making of a super diabolical criminal mastermind right there. Move over, Doom!"

Spider-Man checked his watch.

"Better call it a day, looks like Gargan's not going to do anything for the third day in a row," thought Spider-Man as he swung home. He was first inclined to agree with Jameson about the fact that Gargan might be faking but now he was convinced that Gargan really might have been cured.

-

"Peter, you have someone here to see you!" called Aunt May as Peter was just about finished with breakfast, ready for his next day of doing nothing.

"Right, be there in a sec, Aunt May," said Peter and he got up, to see Gwen standing in the doorway, with a smile. "Oh, hi, Gwen!"

"Hello, Peter," said Gwen brightly as Peter walked forward to greet her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Peter.

"Well, I do kind of like to see my boyfriend every now and then," said Gwen with a smile.

"Oh course, Gwen, I'm really sorry," said Peter but Gwen waved his apology off.

"No need, Peter," said Gwen. "It's not your fault that Jameson is a tight fisted, slave driving....well you kind of do know better than I do."

"Yeah I do," said Peter, as he stepped outside and Gwen took the hint, as Aunt May went to clear off the table. "Followed Gargan, three days straight, think he might have gone straight for real. That's actually I relief. Other than Spider-Man busting up a couple of common thugs, pretty quiet."

"I'm just glad you're still alive," said Gwen. "Been really boring the last few days but considering what happened not that long ago, its a welcome change."

"No kidding," said Peter. "Look Gwen, Jameson wants me to report in tonight, after dark, he's supposed to phone me for the details."

"Probably in some seedy back alley way," muttered Gwen.

"Do they still do that?" asked Peter.

"Don't know, but they do, Jameson seems to be someone who might," said Gwen and Peter just laughed.

"Gwen, if Jameson doesn't prolong my little assignment, we'll hang out tomorrow, I swear," said Peter and Gwen raised an eyebrow." And the obvious reasons, trust me, I'd rather be with you, but I have to do the other thing."

Gwen just responded by giving him a kiss good bye.

"See you around Peter," said Gwen after a moment. "Hopefully sooner rather than later."

"The feelings more than mutual, trust me," said Peter dryly.

-

The fourth day of trailing the former Scorpion was pretty much started like the first three. Gargan watched television, decided to leave the house, do some errands and then he walked aimlessly through the park. Spider-Man swung after him from a safe distance, bored out of his skull.

Still the boredom was short lived, as things began to heat up, when two gentlemen stepped forward, right towards Gargan, with steel pipes in hand.

"Hey, a perfect day for a stroll in the park alone," said one of the thugs.

"Yeah perfect for us and not for you," said the second thug.

"So why don't you cough up all your money and we won't decide to bash your kneecaps in," said the first thug.

"You two goons are making a mistake," said Gargan roughly, his temper over the past few days, all the looks he was getting, when he was recognized, all the slights towards him in the media, coming to a head.

"Hey, I know you," said the first thug. "Hey, Frankie, its that Scorpion guy. You know, the guy who was supposed to be a big bad super villain."

"Yeah, he was," said Frankie. "But now, Joey, he's just nothing but a chump, who wants to be cured. He wants to be normal. People would kill to have that power."

"Guess he couldn't handle it," said Joey, as they held their pipes. "Shame he can't use it now, because he won't be able to handle us now."

"Yeah he's not able to use his powers without going cuckoo," remarked Frankie. "What a pity!"

Suddenly, two lines of webbing shot out and grabbed the pipes, ripping them from the hands of the thugs.

"Yeah, he might not be able to use his powers to teach you two a couple of lessons about harassing people but I can," said Spider-Man as he swung in.

"Ah, crap, it’s Spider-Man!" shouted Frankie the thug, just a second before he got punched right in the face and webbed up in short order. Joey tried to punch Spider-Man but this did not work out too well. He was thrown onto his back and Spider-Man webbed him up immediately.

Gargan stepped back, as his glasses had been knocked off and his yellow eyes stared at Spider-Man, with pure menace.

"You!" shouted Gargan. "I don't know why you've been following me around, Spider-Man but in case you haven't seen, I've done everything I can to turn over a new leaf."

"Wasn't saying that you weren't?" argued Spider-Man but Gargan took a step forward.

"If I ever catch you following me around...." stated Gargan as he stood in a threatening manner and Spider-Man braced himself for a violent attack, but Gargan "I'll have you arrested for harassing me. I'm a private citizen, I don't have to take this from a vigilante. So stay away from me. Do you hear me web head? I’ll sue you for everything you got!”

Spider-Man stood there, dumbstruck, as he halfway expected Gargan to lash out against him.

"I don't have to take this!" shouted Gargan angrily as he stormed off, the desire to rip Spider-Man to pieces nearly overwhelming him but he stopped. It was getting more and more difficult not to give into the impulses to use his powers. The doctor said he was cured but yet they seemed to grow the longer he was out in the real world.

"You know what Jameson, he could have used his powers to rip me to pieces, but he didn't," thought Spider-Man. "Given the fact that he swore to kill me, if that isn't proof that Gargan's decided to turn over a new leaf. Oh well, better head off to the Bugle and report, Jameson's going to flip if I don't play it his way but I don't care.

-

Mac Gargan returned to his apartment in a huff. Spider-Man decided to swoop in and play the hero, after tailing him. The web head was one of the reasons why he was in this state to begin with. Spider-Man was the reason why he had to be covered up all the time he went out in public and even then, people stared at him like he was a freak. Gargan looked around, as he saw the copy of the Daily Bugle, featuring an editorial about Spider-Man, once again blasting the web head. Another reason stared out at Gargan, the reason why he would never be able to live what was considered a normal life.

J. Jonah Jameson, had talked him into doing this. Jameson had promised to make Gargan out to be a hero and all he got was six months right in the nut house, with a bunch of therapy sessions by some quack who thought he was a science project. The hat and the trenchcoat were removed and Gargan stood there, dressed in his full Scorpion suit. The suit had to remain on at all times, or he would die from radiation poisoning. Until there was a cure.

But there was no cure. He would never be looked at as the same, as normal Mac Gargan. He would be a super powered freak, used as a tool against Spider-Man and then pitched away.

That was fine, Gargan decided that if he was going to be forced to live as a freak, he would make the most of it. The Scorpion would show the world that he was not to be mocked and he would gain his revenge on the person who did this to him.

It was time to pay a little visit to the Daily Bugle and his good friend, J. Jonah Jameson.

-

"No, I want this article rewritten again, it'd be all of our necks on the line if this is proven wrong!" shouted Jameson in a loud voice, as he walked around. "Brock, you mean to tell me the best you can do after weeks is just one faint photo, where you're not even sure if it’s real or not."

"He moves pretty quick, JJ," argued Brock but Jameson did not seem to be in the mood, as he moved around the office.

"Parker, what are you doing here?" demanded Jameson as Parker had arrived.

"I've gotten photos of Spider-Man," said Peter. "And also of the Scorpion...."

"Parker, my office, quickly," said Jameson, as he gabbed Peter by the sleeve and pulled him inside and quickly locked the door, trapping them inside. "Now, I told you, I would arrange the meeting, surely this could not have waited a couple of hours."

"Mr. Jameson, I've followed Gargan around, there's nothing, he had every chance to use his powers," said Peter. "And he got into an altercation with Spider-Man..."

"Continue, Parker," said Jameson, as he perked up, perhaps he could make something of this after all.

"It was just that, it appears that you weren't the only one who was a bit skeptical about Gargan," said Peter and Jameson suddenly turned, revolted that he had something in common with Spider-Man. The very thought had made him feel so dirty, and Peter noticed, feeling great that he could gain a small measure of revenge. "Gargan looked like he was going to rip him to shreds and threatened to get Spider-Man arrested if he continues to harass him."

"Well, can't blame the guy for that," concluded Jameson gruffly, but there was screaming from the outside office, which caused the fearless publisher to snap his eyes up. "Now what the devil is that?"

"Something tells me that it's not anything good," thought Peter, as Jameson opened up the door and saw that the Scorpion was standing there, with a dangerous, murderous expression on his face, as he overturned a desk, which caused several people to scream.

"JAMESON!" shouted The Scorpion as he overturned cabinets and smashed windows open, shredding papers as he continued his path of destruction. "Where are you? Are you hiding from your old pal, Gargan? Come on, we have so much catching up to do, after you helped put me in the mad house! Come on Jonah, let's get caught up!"

Peter stood right in front of the Scorpion.

"Now wait a minute, what's going on here?" asked Peter but the Scorpion grabbed Peter and hoisted him up off the ground.

"No one's gong to get in my way, not a little twerp like you, not anybody!" shouted the Scorpion as he launched Peter right out of one of the broken windows, as cold air flew into the office.

-

Peter found himself flying to the ground but once he was certain that no one was looking, he managed to slow his descent enough, before he put on his web shooters and latched onto a windowsill, before he swung around and was ready to reemerge in a minute.

-

"Sending twerpy little freelancers at me Jameson, you're not a real man!" shouted Scorpion as he turned, as Brock stood there, taking a picture, before the Scorpion turned around. "Oh, you think you can just take my picture like I'm a sideshow attraction! Well, think about blondie!"

The Scorpion shot acid from his tail, melting Brock's camera, before he turned and Scorpion whipped his tail, knocking Brock backwards.

"How would you like an acid perm?" demanded the Scorpion.

"Hey, Gargan!" called the voice of J. Jonah Jameson, who stood there.

"Ah, Jonah, you decided to crawl out from underneath your rock," said the Scorpion with a sadistic smirk, as he advanced on Jameson. "I've been waiting for this for some time, all the time, you've decided to use me."

"Even with all those powers, you're still as pathetic as ever Gargan," said Jameson shakily, but the Scorpion whipped his tail, smashing the wall right behind Jameson.

"Next time, I'll break you Jameson," said the Scorpion, as he cornered the publisher. "I want you to beg for your life Jameson. I want you to beg. Beg like I had to beg for a chance to get the power to avenge myself against Spider-Man. The power that has destroyed me. I've lost my life because of you!"

"I won't," said Jameson with pride but his knees trembled.

"I've lost my life, it's been ruined, guess what Jameson?" asked Gargan. "Now it's time for me to take yours, you worthless, gutless, son of a...."

Suddenly, Spider-Man leapt out of nowhere, right onto the Scorpion. He held the Scorpion but the villain threw Spider-Man right to the ground. The Scorpion dove right at Spider-Man but the hero avoided his attack.

"You know, I'm pretty sure there is a city ordinance about throwing freelance photographers out the window," said Spider-Man. "Lucky I happened to be in the neighborhood or Parker would be road pizza."

"Spider-Man, guess I'll kill two birds with one stone," said the Scorpion, as he grabbed Spider-Man's arms, but Spider-Man managed to kick off, and crawl the walls. The Scorpion met him, and tried to impale the spiked part of his tail right into Spider-Man but the web head did a somersault.

"Go, what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation?" asked Spider-Man to Jameson, as he shot his webbing right around the Scorpion, and Jameson quickly ran as fast as his feet could carry him. The Scorpion ripped through the webbing and knocked Spider-Man down before he made a movement towards Jameson, but the web slinger wrapped his legs up, causing the Scorpion to land on the ground. The villain turned, before ripping right through the webbing.

"NO!" shouted the Scorpion, as he grabbed Spider-Man and slammed him against the wall. "You robbed me of my revenge, web head! You robbed me. Well I might not get Jameson right now but I'm sure I'm going to take my pound of flesh on you."

The Scorpion slammed Spider-Man against the walls and attempted to impale Spider-Man but the web slinger blocked the tale just narrowly, before he slid underneath the attack.

"Don't see why you saved that worthless son of a...." started Scorpion but he was interrupted by getting a punch right to the face.

"Sometimes I have to do things I'd rather not do," said Spider-Man as he dove right over the Scorpion. "I thought you had reformed, you wanted to be normal."

"Being normal is pathetic, I love the power that being the Scorpion gives me!" shouted Gargan insanely as he tried to melt the floor out from underneath Spider-Man but the web head wrapped his webbing around a board overhead and pulled himself up. "That quack tried to blind me, make me think I wanted nothing to be cured and at first, I did, but now it's too hard to be normal, I have to use the power, it's a rush, to make others fear me. People laughed at me for all my life, BUT WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, SPIDER-MAN!"

"You took the easy way out," stated Spider-Man.

"That's the point!" shouted Scorpion as they continued their battle and Spider-Man was getting slowly worn down.

"You are pathetic," said Spider-Man but the Scorpion grabbed Spider-Man and threw him down to the ground, throwing him back into the main office, which had been cleared. "I mean, no one forced a gun to your head to be the Scorpion. You chose to take that experiment...."

"No, Jameson used me, he lied to me he misled me telling me that I would be a hero, because he has that stupid grudge against you but you know what, I've decided that if I can't be normal, then I'll be a villain!" shouted Scorpion, as his acid sprayed everywhere, trapping Spider-Man and Scorpion rocketed him upwards with a vicious uppercut. "I was designed to destroy you Spider-Man and I guess in a way, I'll fulfill that purpose. I'm going to rip you to shreds so badly that not even your own mother will be able to identify you!"

"I don't think yours would even want to identify you with that face," said Spider-Man which provoked the Scorpion into attacking once again. "Seriously, Gargan, you really got the short end of the stick on looks, even more when you decided to douse yourself with radiation, put on that suit, and become a super villain."

"I'll show you Spider-Man!" shouted The Scorpion and he swung his tail, this time it smashed the web slinger right in the ribs, but Spider-Man got to his feet, just enough to roll underneath a blast of acid that melted the desk. The Scorpion reach forward and grabbed Spider-Man, before he attempted to fling Spider-Man through the opened window. Naturally, Spider-Man hung on and bounced back, before he shot two lines of webbing, right at the Scorpion, in an attempt to wrap his arms. The Scorpion turned, before he melted the webbing but at that moment, Spider-Man rocketed him with an uppercut. The Scorpion ducked but only succeeded into smashing a chair into bits.

"Your supposed to be my equal, act like it!" taunted Spider-Man as he avoided the spiked end of the tail, but the Scorpion jumped up, scaling up the walls, before he dropped down right next to Spider-Man and turned, before he shot a spiked barb from his tail, which Spider-Man quickly shot webbing round and flung it back. "Guess you do have a few new tricks up your sleeve, Gargan. Perhaps you’re not as lame as you look. Then again, no one could possibly be as lame as you look!”

Spider-Man dodged an attack.

"Shut up, just shut up!" shouted the Scorpion. "It's hard to kill you when you just won't shut up!"

"Then, of course I'll be quiet, after all I wouldn't want to live," said Spider-Man dryly as he avoided the attack. "Seriously, no wonder you can't beat me with all that power. That's the kind of thing that you don't want to tell the super hero you want to kill."

The Scorpion just angrily grabbed a filing cabinet and flung it right towards the web head but Spider-Man avoided it. The battle continued, with neither gaining the advantage.

"Got to wrap this up quick," thought Spider-Man. "Not going to be able to hold out for that much longer...of course, that's the answer."

Spider-Man dove forward but Scorpion blocked the attack. The web head quickly wrapped his webbing around the ceiling and flung around, before he kicked the Scorpion right in the face. The Scorpion staggered and dove right towards Spider-Man but Spider-Man dodged, before he held out both arms and shot webbing around each arm. Before the Scorpion could react, Spider-Man twisted, and smashed the villain against the wall. The Scorpion tried to move the tail of his costume.

"No, we'll have none of that," admonished Spider-Man as he shot webbing, pinning the tail to the wall. Scorpion tried to move but he was pinned. Spider-Man climbed up the wall, as the Scorpion tried to shoot acid but with pinned against the wall, he could not aim.

"When I get out of this, you'll wish you'd never been born!" shouted the Scorpion but Spider-Man just shot webbing down. Some of the acid burned through but the webbing found its mark, covering the tip of the tail. The acid began to leak but Spider-Man just kept firing more and more webbing. The Scorpion tried to strain to fire and sweat rolled down his face. "What's this...when I get out of here...."

"If I'm right, the strain of trying to use your powers should kick in soon," said Spider-Man and the Scorpion tried to free himself.

"Just wait until I get out of here!" shouted the Scorpion, as he tried to move, but he was stuck. He felt completely fatigued, and Spider-Man shot even more webbing around the area of his mouth.

"Thankfully, I don't think I could stand to hear a minute more of that," said Spider-Man but much to his surprise, the Scorpion broke free from his constraints, a large splash of acid flying in every direction. Spider-Man quickly ducked out a window, as the entire floor at the Bugle was utterly destroyed. He peered around, as the Scorpion looked at him, hands outstretched, but pretty much done.

"Just wait until I...." stated the Scorpion, but he never finished, as Spider-Man swung back in and kicked the Scorpion. The thud of the Scorpion landing against the wall had caused the entire floor, weakened by the acid sprayed, to collapse and the Scorpion was knocked down a level of the Bugle building. Covered in rubble, the Scorpion was still stirring but pretty much out of commissioner. Spider-Man shot his remaining webbing down to hold the villain in place.

"There, that should hold him until they can pick him up and bring him back to Ravencroft," said Spider-Man with a sigh of relief, that battle had taxed him greatly but at least he could walk after this one.

-

"THAT ACCURSED WEB HEAD!" shouted Jameson as he looked at the damage in the Bugle office from the battle of Spider-Man and the Scorpion. "My entire office, completely trashed!"

"Look on the bright side Jonah, at least no one was hurt," said Robbie but Jameson was deaf to all reason.

"Spider-Man, that....I....he....SOMEONE SHOULD LOCK HIM UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY!" shouted Jameson angrily, as he surveyed the damage of once was the Daily Bugle offices. Jameson could not even go in his office and stew because thanks to Spider-Man, it was no more. "PARKER!"

"Yes, Mr. Jameson," said Peter, who had just arrived, having made a quick change of clothes.

"You didn't even get me any pictures!" shouted Jameson.

"Well I was thrown out of the window," offered Peter. The truth was that he was so pressed to fight the Scorpion that getting pictures had escaped his mind.

"No excuses!" shouted Jameson. "The moment that....web head saved you, you were to dust yourself off and come back in and get pictures!"

Jameson turned to the shell shocked office staff.

"Well don't stand there, help me clean up this mess, so we can get back up and on our feet, to show the world what the Daily Bugle does the best," said Jameson in the calmest tone he could manage.

-

Dr. Hamilton was finishing some paper work in his office.

"Working late, doc?" asked a voice and Hamilton looked up, to see Spider-Man crawling on the ceiling.

"It is polite to knock, Spider-Man," said Hamilton in a calm, cool, and collected voice. "Exactly how did you get in here?"

"Super hero trade secret," remarked Spider-Man calmly. "I'll cut to the chase, I have some concerns about how things are ran around here."

"I'm afraid I'm not following you, Spider-Man," replied Hamilton.

"Then I'll spell it out for you," answered Spider-Man. "Villain break outs, villains being released before they are completed cured."

"Security has been tightened," answered Hamilton without missing a beat. "And these so called villains actually benefit you Spider-Man."

"What are you trying to say?" demanded Spider-Man.

"I've followed your career, my studies indicate that you appear to get a rush fighting the super powered criminals that have popped up over New York as of late," said Hamilton. "You may deny it but deep down, you have a subconscious need to prove yourself time and time again and you've grown addicted to this battle. My diagnosis is that you had lost someone by not acting and thus you've fashioned this Spider-Man persona as a way to cope with your loss."

"You really think you have me pegged, don't you?" asked Spider-Man. "You still didn't answer me. Gargan was released before he was ready to return to society and he regressed back into the Scorpion."

"That was the final stage of his rehabilitation, I'm sad to say that it did not work as intended and he will have to undergo further treatment to return him to that point," said Hamilton.

"Innocent people could have gotten killed because of this," said Spider-Man angrily.

"Innocent people die each and every day because of common mishaps," said Hamilton as he looked right at Spider-Man. "It's not my responsibility to play moral guardian and police what happens in the city but I can see you believe that’s your job. You take so much responsibility yet you also hide from it. That mask shields you from being held accountable."

"The mask helps protect those I care about," said Spider-Man hotly. "From the super villains that seem to go in and out of the revolving door of this asylum!"

Hamilton just looked at Spider-Man, without saying anything for a moment before he talked again.

"Before I ask you to leave, Spider-Man, I have one thing for you to consider," said Hamilton. "Are these so called super villains the reason that Spider-Man exists or is Spider-Man the reason why these super villains exist?"

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