Chapter Forty Three: A Sand Storm
Part II:
The armored truck continued to move
down towards the bridge at top speed and was only a short time before
it careened over the side, straight to its doom in the depths below.
“Too bad for you Spidey, if that
hits, I’ll be fine, but you’ll be squashed like a bug,”
responded Sandman. “Looks like you got about a second to bolt
before you find yourself being scraped up, later.”
Sandman threw himself over the side of
the completed section of the bridge, where he latched onto the side
of the bridge. Immediately, Spider-Man latched a line of webbing
right to the side of the bridge.
“Better get the truck, hate to be
accused of losing this too,” thought Spider-Man, just seconds
before a second line of webbing had shot out and latched onto the
back of truck. With all of his might, Spider-Man managed to hang onto
the truck. Both web lines were stretched, but somehow, Spider-Man
just managed to pull the truck back onto the bridge.
Immediately, he collapsed on the
ground, breathing heavily, as the truck was safely back onto the
bridge. All of his muscles felt like they were strained and it took
every bit of his energy to get the truck back onto the bridge. The
trio of men rushed over, looking extremely grateful, but as
Spider-Man rolled over to the edge of the unfinished bridge, he
peered over, with Sandman completely having fled the scene of the
crime.
“Can’t get this blasted sand key
out of the ignition, it’s going to ruin the vehicle,” grumbled a
voice.
“Maybe I should give it a crack,”
said Spider-Man as he moved over, before he grabbed the key and gave
a tug. It was jammed in pretty tight, but fortunately, another burst
of spider strength managed to get the key out.
“Ah thank you Spider-Man.”
“No, thank you,” said Spider-Man
suddenly, as he looked at the key or what was once a key, it had
dissolved into a small clump of sand by now. With careful intention,
he managed to piece together a very simple solution. In fact, he was
mentally slapping himself for being unable to do so.
“This sand, it has to contain his
altered DNA, he said it himself, he’s creating these little things
out of his own body mass,” thought Spider-Man as the wheels began
to turn. “Maybe if I analyze it properly, long shot, but the only
shot that I have right now of catching up with Sandman. Better get in
touch with Aunt May to tell her that I’ll be running a little later
for dinner.”
-
“Anything yet, Brock,” demanded
Jameson over Eddie Brock’s cell phone.
“Not yet, but I’m following a hot
lead and I should be able to get exclusive photos of the Sandman and
maybe Spider-Man too for good measure,” said Brock.
“That lead better be so hot that it’s
scorching your finger tips Brock, because you only have three hours
to come up with something tangible that we can have ready before our
print run in the morning,” said Jameson. “Remember, if you don’t,
you know what happens.”
“JJ, I’ve got it in the bag, I’ve
never been more sure about anything in my life,” said Brock. “These
pictures will be so good that you might have to give me my own office
and a raise.”
“Don’t press your luck Brock,”
grumbled Jameson. “Just get out there and get the pictures. The
clock is ticking.”
-
“Well that’s a complete wash,”
thought Peter grimly as he had looked at the results of the sand
sample. “Whatever was done to Marko to make him into the Sandman,
it’s far beyond my comprehension. He’s absorbing more mass every
time in touches any sand and his powers are growing. I’m just glad
no one with a couple more brain cells had these powers. No one could
stop them. In fact, other than freezing him and entombing him cement,
there really aren’t too many other ways to stop him.”
His cell phone going off had caused him
to break out of his thoughts.
“Hey, Gwen,” said Peter.
“I looked around for things in the
city that might catch Sandman’s attention for you like oyu asked,”
remarked Gwen.
“Thanks Gwen,” said Peter. “What
did you find?”
“Well the only thing I could find is
an exhibit of priceless Renaissance art that’s on display at the
museum starting tomorrow, you know the one that is five minutes away
from the Xavier Institute,” said Gwen. “It’s being shipped in
tonight in an hour.”
“Never really pegged Sandman as
someone who could appreciate culture,” said Peter.
“I don’t think it’s the love for
the art that the Sandman’s going to be after, it’s the price,
even one of these pieces is worth a small fortune,” said Gwen.
“That’s about the only thing that could be worth enough for the
Sandman to get his hands on.”
“At least you’re doing a better job
than I’m doing, I can’t even think of any way I can counteract
his DNA and bring him to justice,” said Peter.
“Well they had to contain him some
way in Ravencroft, in his cell,” said Gwen.
“Yeah, that place couldn’t really
contain someone if they wanted to be there,” said Peter grimly.
“No, they said that he escaped
because a lapse of power, it came in on the news,” replied Gwen.
“Well, it looks like I’m going to
have to make a quick stop at Ravencroft on my way to the museum,”
said Peter. “Gwen, I don’t know how I can thank you…”
“Figure that out later, go Peter,
they’ll be plenty of time to talk to you later and good luck,”
said Gwen urgently.
“Thanks Gwen,” thought Peter as
he pulled on his Spider-Man mask. “Tonight, I think I’m going to
need it.”
-
“Working late, Dr. Hamilton,” said
Spider-Man crisply as he dropped down from the ceiling.
“I truly need to get better
security,” said Hamilton lightly, not even looking up from his
papers. “What brings you to my office, Spider-Man?”
“You know the reason, Hamilton, this
isn’t the first time that someone has broken out of Ravencroft
under your watch,” said Spider-Man. “The Sandman’s on the loose
and innocent people are in peril….”
“Because of your obsessive attempts
to recapture Flint Marko or as you have taken to refer to him as, the
Sandman,” commented Hamilton. “I have interviewed Flint Marko
many times since he has been contained in Ravencroft. He has
expressed no desire to bring harm to innocent bystanders, with the
exception of the man who turned him into what he is today, the
Kingpin of Crime and even then, not truly on his priority lists. He
has even abstained from wishing harm upon yourself Spider-Man and
only sees you as a minor nuisance at best. He is a thief and would
prefer to remain in that field.”
“It’s a slippery slope from robbing
someone, to committing full blown murder!” snapped Spider-Man, as
in his mind, he saw the image of the burglar that killed Uncle Ben.
“You seem to have some very strong
feelings about this Spider-Man, interested to see if you are just
speaking hypothetically or from personal experience,” said Hamilton
dryly. “Then again, perhaps you wish to atone for your own mistakes
regarding the Sandman.”
“What are you talking about?”
demanded Spider-Man.
“If Spider-Man did not exist, then
would the Kingpin have turned Flint Marko into the Sandman?” asked
Hamilton. “It returns us to the question that I asked you the last
time we met Are the these super villains responsible for Spider-Man
or is Spider-Man the reason that these super villains exist? “
“Look, Hamilton, I don’t have time
for your double talk, the Sandman is going to strike again and I need
to know precisely how to contain him,” said Spider-Man in a frantic
voice.
“A strong desire to apprehend those
that he perceives to be as a threat, no matter how strong or how
small,” remarked Hamilton. “Does it truly affect your life to
whether or not someone like Flint Marko walks free?”
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned
that these villains are on the street?” retorted Spider-Man.
“It is not my concern, my job is to
rehabilitate these people so they can return to society,” said
Hamilton. “Of course, one must wonder if the criminal mind can
truly be rehabilitated. Then again, your obsession with capturing
these criminals is not too much unlike the obsessions of these
criminals.”
“What did you do to keep him here?”
asked Spider-Man more forcefully. “He could be about ready to pull
a heist right now, I need to know. You might not care about someone
like the Sandman being on the street but I do and I’m sure there
will be others that agree.”
“Only if it causes direct
inconvenience to their lives,” replied Hamilton briskly.
“Otherwise, most will not bat an eyelash at what these self
proclaimed super villains are up to. In fact, many would scoff at
your efforts to bring them in and brand them as a waste of time and
energy on your part.”
“What did you do to keep him here?”
demanded Spider-Man as he took a step forward, but Hamilton seemed to
not be humiliated.
“Such a desire to learn the knowledge
that you feel will lead to you keeping the safety of others,”
remarked Hamilton calmly. “I have studied you rather closely,
Spider-Man, as you aware, putting together pieces from various
interviews with some of the super villains you put in this institute,
news footage, press clippings, and my own observations from our
limited encounters. I have come to a simple conclusion that you may
try and menace me, but you will not dare to harm a civilian to get
what you want.”
Hamilton pressed a red button
underneath his desk, right as Spider-Man balled his fists in anger.
“I do hope for your sake that
security has reached the same conclusions as I have,” responded
Hamilton as he tapped his fingers on the desk. “Oh, and since you
asked, the Sandman was kept at bay by a pressure sensitive alarm that
released a burst of compressed hot air that deliberated his molecules
and prevented him from holding himself together. Every time he
reached the door, he was subjected to this.”
Footsteps approached.
“Well, I’ve got my answer, but
exactly how am I going to approach it?” asked Spider-Man as he
hastened to leave. “I doubt there is a hardware store open this
late at night where I can get an air compressor, going to have to try
and find another way, to the museum, I just hope that I will make it
there in time before the Sandman makes a clean get away.”
-
Around this time, sand eased up through
the cracks on the form and formed right into the figure of the
Sandman. A twisted smile appeared on the face of the criminal, as he
made his way toward. The museum had been something that he had his
eye on and had managed to get his hands on a floor plan. He managed
to get in and another exhibit would allow him a perfect way out for
his ill gotten gains, where he would get touch with a dealer who
would pay big bucks for these pieces of art.
“I don’t know anything about
art,” thought the Sandman as he moved his way to the paintings.
“But, I do know what makes me big bucks.”
The Sandman prepared to pilfer the
paintings but at that moment, a figure swung inside on webbing,
before he was knocked down to the ground, causing him to go to
pieces.
“You again!” shouted the Sandman as
he reformed, with a sand hammer.
“Miss me?” taunted Spider-Man.
“You didn’t get me the first time,
you didn’t get me the second time, what makes you think you’re
going to get me a third time, web head?” demanded Sandman, as he
tried to smash Spider-Man into bits with his solidified sand hammer
but Spider-Man once again avoided the attack.
“I have a motto, if at first you
don’t succeed…” started Spider-Man but Sandman managed to get a
shot in on him, knocking him fright to the ground and Spider-Man
rolled over, grumbling. “Try again until you’re put in traction.”
Sandman rose up with a wave of sand and
it smashed right onto Spider-Man. Spider-Man broke free from
underneath and aimed a series of well placed kicks, but Sandman just
kept restructuring himself.
“Just don’t get it, I’m not going
to wander by any cement!” shouted Sandman as he swung a punch right
at Spider-Man. The first one caught him, the second one just missed
narrowly. “I’m not going to go outside where you can freeze me to
death. You can’t beat me.”
A line of webbing went right through
Sandman and Sandman rose up his fist, before he shot it right out,
which smashed Spider-Man right in the face.
“This is not going my way,”
thought Spider-Man as he was smashed around again. “So not going my
way. Can’t web him up, can’t even touch him. Think Spidey…”
Several sand ropes shot out, wrapping
around the arms and legs of Spider-Man and pulled him backwards. The
web slinger desperately tried to plant his heels into the ground to
block, but the Sandman now transformed right into a buzz saw, which
threatened to hack Spider-Man into pieces.
“No, way, that can’t work,” said
Spider-Man in disbelief but he was less than confident
“Don’t know if it will, but it will
be fun to find out!” taunted Sandman. “Well not fun for you, but
a real ball for me.”
Spider-Man struggled, attempting to use
his spider strength and he managed to get one of his arms free,
before he shot a line of webbing upwards and grabbed a barricade
around one of the exhibits, before he flung it with reckless abandon
and caused it to smash right into the Sandman. The villain busted
into pieces, before he reformed immediately and one arm contorted
into a sand mace, that he swung around.
Spider-Man ducked ,as one of the
exhibits was smashed on. Immediately, Spider-Man scaled the walls,
but Sandman moved in, before he shifted in between it, causing the
walls to loosen and the web slinger to lose his balance.
A loud crack and Spider-Man found
himself on the ground. Sandman sunk into the cracks of the floor,
before several sand shackles reappeared, trapping the ankles and
wrists of Spider-Man. The web head thrashed violently, as the Sandman
reappeared, a large hammer between both arms ready to smash the web
slinger right into a fine paste.
“Say good night, webs!” taunted
Sandman but somehow, Spider-Man managed to break the shackles, just
narrowly avoiding getting smashed to bits.
The fight raged on and Spider-Man found
himself dangling from outside of a window, about five stories up from
the pavement, on a ledge, as the Sandman dove forward, forcing
himself onto the ledge. Slowly, he shifted in between small cracks in
the ledge, making them bigger, and the ledge that Spider-Man hung
onto began to erode.
-
Kitty sank onto her bed. This was not
her day. First she had gotten into a fight with Peter and for a
stupid reason. After thinking about it, Peter was well within his
rights to rail on her, although she wished he did not do so that
much. She could not bring herself to apologize to Peter either. It
was fortunate that they had a grueling Danger Room Session, otherwise
she would have had more time for the guilt eat away inside her.
Flipping on the television in the room,
for something to keep her mind off of her guilty, the first imagine
that she saw was Spider-Man hanging from his life on a ledge that was
crumbling.
“Oh my God!” screamed Kitty in
horror.
“A fight between the Sandman and
Spider-Man has broken out and news choppers have managed to get this
footage, of the web head perilously fighting the man who has been on
a crime scream all today,” remarked the news caster as Spider-Man
just barely managed to pull himself to safety at the last second. The
sounds of combat could be heard but not really seen. “The battle
rages on, stay tuned for more late breaking updates.”
“That museum, that’s not too far
from here, and he could use….” Thought Kitty but she just
stopped. “Peter has to handle it…I mean I screwed up pretty bad
earlier…people could have gotten hurt.”
She turned around on the bed, hands in
her forehead, but that terrifying image of her friend hanging from
the side of the window and nearly falling to his doom. Super powers
or not, that was a horrific image.
“I can’t live with myself if I
don’t help him but I won’t be able to live myself if I screw up
again,” thought Kitty as she chewed on her lip. “Damned if I do,
damned if I don’t, screw it, I’m helping Peter and this time I’m
not going to screw up.”
-
Spider-Man staggered around confused
and dizzied. The Sandman just turned to Spider-Man.
“Look, web head, it doesn’t have to
be like this, you could just turn around and walk home, no harm, no
foul, let me do my job,” said Sandman, as he held Spider-Man back
with sand ropes. “I don’t really want to have to exterminate you,
but you’re kind of forcing the issue. You can’t beat me, I can’t
get any work done when I’m too busy swatting you, if you leave, we
both win.”
“Tempting offer Sandman, but I’m
going to have to decline, because I’m not going to give up yet,”
said Spider-Man as he managed to break free, before he launched
himself right into a somersault right into Sandman. Sandman’s chest
and midsection withdrew just long enough for Spider-Man to go through
the gap which promptly closed.
Spider-Man struggled, as the Sandman
with a resigned look on his face, solidified, with Spider-Man trying
vainly to break out.
The attempts became less heated by each
passing second.
Spider-Man made a desperately attempt
to break free.
Another desperate attempt was made.
Sandman could feel Spider-Man
struggling to draw breath, as he was running out of air and his
attempts became more frantic. Time was running out.
The next few seconds Sandman felt
Spider-Man’s attempts fading. There were still a few feeble
attempts, as the web head struggled to draw air that was no longer
within his ability to breath in.
The Sandman was caught off guard, when
suddenly, a girl had just dove right at him and had became intangible
just seconds before she had passed right through his body. Seconds
later, she phased completely out, pulling Spider-Man out and causing
Sandman to blow right into several grains of sand as he had
splattered all over the museum walls.
Spider-Man woke up, breathing, as
seconds ago, he was about ready to be smothered and he was looked
into the concerned face of Shadowcat.
“Um, thanks,” said Spider-Man
cautiously.
“Least I can do after I screwed up
earlier,” said Shadowcat as she waved off his gratitude. “Look, I
know what you said, about not needing a sidekick but…”
“I stand by that, Kitty, I don’t
need a sidekick,” said Spider-Man in a firm voice and he watched
the shocked look on the girl’s face. “Sometimes, I do need a
friend to watch my back.”
Shadowcat was at a loss for words
completely.
“You trust me to do that,” she said
quietly.
“You’re capable enough,” said
Spider-Man. “Look, about earlier….”
“No you were completely in the
right,” said Shadowcat.
“Great, now I feel bad all day, at
least the parts where I am not getting whacked around by a super
villain, and now you think I was right,” said Spider-Man.
“Fine, you were completely, wrong,
happy,” said Shadowcat but she was smiling.
“No, not…DUCK!” shouted
Spider-Man suddenly, as his spider sense had went off and the Sandman
had reconstructed himself and he was back on the attack. “I hoped
that your little stunt would work earlier when you phased through
him.”
“No, and you’d wish neither of you
had gotten out of bed,” said the Sandman angrily, as he had rounded
upon the two teenagers, and he swung his large sand hammer, but
Spider-Man took advantage, by webbing onto it when it was solidified
and he swung around, before he launched Sandman right into the doors
to the next exhibition.
Spider-Man and Shadowcat made their way
into the next room but the Sandman had a smirk on his face.
“Egyptian exhibit, of course I would
have had to throw him into the Egyptian exhibit!” shouted
Spider-Man as Sandman moved around to a large pit of sand that had
been placed in the middle of the exhibit and began to absorb it,
causing his mass to grow five times his normal size.
“Well, this sucks,” dead panned
Shadowcat, as they were faced by a much larger version of the
Sandman, who just barely was big enough to fit inside the large room
that housed the exhibit.
“That’s putting it mildly!”
managed Spider-Man as he had no doubt that to Sandman, they were
insects that he was going to stomp. “You know, I’m open to
suggestions.”
“Before or after we get smashed into
goop?” asked Shadowcat, as they avoided the attacks of the Sandman,
who smashed up the room with reckless abandon.
“You know, before would be nice,”
responded Spider-Man as he looked at his web shooters, but he
discounted ever trying to use them as a distraction. There was
falling back on old habits and there was being stupid. “Maybe if
you can phase through him again and disrupt him a bit so we have more
time to…”
“Don’t you think I would have
phased us through the floor by now instead of doing this ducking and
running routine,” answered Shadowcat in frustration.
“Why can’t you?” asked Spider-Man
as they just narrowly avoided being attacked.
“I don’t know, I just can’t
concentrate,” said Shadowcat with a shrug. “Maybe it’s because
of the heat in this room, it’s more than I’m used to.”
“Yeah that’s a good point, why is
it so hot?” asked Spider-Man.
“Well, I think there might be some
kind of compressed hot air fan in here that keeps the room warm,”
said Shadowcat with a shrug of her shoulders.
“That’s it!” responded
Spider-Man, as it had struck him.
“Er, what’s it?” asked Shadowcat.
“Just keep him busy, just for a
couple minutes,” said Spider-Man.
“Keep him busy?” asked Shadowcat
with a raised eyebrow.
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,”
said Spider-Man.
“You better,” said Shadowcat, as
she dove right in front of Sandman. “Hey, you, yes, you, what makes
you think you can beat Spider-Man, if you can’t even touch me. Come
on, is that your best shot, that’s really pathetic?”
“The web head is bad enough, I don’t
have to take this from some arrogant little girl,” grumbled Sandman
as he swung but Shadowcat once again avoided the attack.
“Man, if you really want to see
arrogant, all you have to do as look at yourself in the mirror, I
mean, how lame can you be?” asked Shadowcat. “You get sand powers
and you call yourself, Sandman. I bet that took you all of five
seconds to come up with. Of course, you don’t really use that power
all that well. I mean, is the best you can think of to use that power
is to commit crimes.”
“You know, you won’t be thinking
I’m so lame when I’m scrapping your body off of the bottom of my
foot!” bellowed Sandman, as Shadowcat continued to duck and weave
underneath the attacks. “Both you, whoever you are, and Spider-Man,
I’ll crush both of you into sand!”
“Better kick it up Peter, I don’t
know how much longer I can keep this up, he came close to flattening
me,” thought Shadowcat.
-
Crawling down in the pit where Sandman
had extracted his sand, Spider-Man had located what he was looking
for. Carefully, without damaging it, he managed to somehow pry the
fan from the wall. He really hoped that it would be enough to bust
the Sandman up, especially at his increased.
“Not exactly what they would use
to keep him at bay in Ravencroft, but it’s better than nothing,”
thought Spider-Man in a resigned voice.
With a careful amount of work, he had
extracted the fan from the wall and it was still in running shape.
The sounds of battle were still going on from above and Spider-Man
hastened, as he had no idea how long the distraction was going to
happen.
-
It was pretty much crunch time for
Eddie Brock, as he bolted right towards the museum, managing to
somehow find a side entrance. He checked his watch, he still had time
to get something for Jameson, but it was running short. A battle
between Sandman and Spider-Man inside the museum would be something
worth getting a few photos of, providing he found them.
With visions of a big fat paycheck
dancing in his head, Brock made his way into the museum, ready to
snap the photos.
-
Out of the corner of her eye, Shadowcat
saw Spider-Man rise from above, attaching a line of webbing onto the
fan that he had extracted.
“Can’t catch me!” shouted
Shadowcat, as she managed to retain her concentration long enough to
go intangible and fall through the wall right into the next room,
just before Sandman was to smash her.
“Smart, girl, now for the web head!”
cheered Sandman but he turned, as Spider-Man launched the still on
fan right towards his body. The fan, cranked up to the highest, had
caused compressed hot air to fill the body of the Sandman and his
particles began to heat up. “No, no, it can’t end like this, I
won’t let it end like this!”
“Now, Marko, you can’t always have
what you want,” reprimanded Spider-Man, as the air had blew the
Sandman in several different directions.
The fan dropped to the ground and
failed immediately. Spider-Man dropped to one knee, as he saw several
chunks of sand on the ground in different areas, but seconds later,
they began to start moving.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”
yelled Spider-Man throwing his hands up into the air in frustration,
as he watched the villain reconstruct and he moved forward, towards a
closet behind him. The door was ajar and Spider-Man saw inside, a
vacuum cleaner.
“You don’t suppose,” thought
Spider-Man. “Well, it’s worth a shot.”
With two quick motions, Spider-Man
removed the vacuum cleaner and using his fast reflexes plugged it in.
“Not going to beat me that easy
Spider….NO!” screamed the Sandman as the vacuum cleaner, turned
to its most powerful setting, began to suck the villain sand
particle, but sand particle inside. Sandman struggled and swung his
arms, fighting the pull of the vacuum cleaner. “Not going to beat
me, not that easily, I’m going to.”
In one last ditch effort, an arm
contorted, grabbing onto the web head’s mask and gave a tug. The
grip slipped off as the Sandman was sucked right into the vacuum but
not before Spider-Man’s mask slipped completely off of his head,
exposing the face of one Peter Parker. Thankfully the Sandman had
been completely drawn into the vacuum cleaner and was unable to see
the fruits of his desperate attempt to keep himself from being
defeated.
The vacuum cleaner rattled but the
Sandman was trapped inside the bag, unable to break free.
-
Eddie Brock joyously leapt into the air
from his vantage point when he saw the web head’s mask slip off
from his vantage point from across the museum, having arrived just in
time to see Spider-Man pull out the vacuum cleaner.
“Damn, I can’t really see but my
camera should be able to get a good photograph from here,” said
Brock carefully, snapping the photo, just a second before Spider-Man
had managed to place his mask off. “I’ll find out who is
underneath the mask when anyone else does. Hello, I’m Eddie Brock,
top photographer of the Daily Bugle and highest paid photographer in
New York, pleased to meet your acquaintance.”
“Sorry,” said a voice from inside
the wall. “Didn’t you read the sign? There says there are no
pictures to be taken inside the museum.”
Brock jumped nearly a foot in the air
as he turned around, in time for a hand to move towards his camera.
He made a step back to protect the camera but the hand had went
completely into the camera and caused it to explode right into his
hand, blowing it to bits and burning Brock’s hand.
“A g-g-host!” shouted Brock in
horror which got Spider-Man’s attention.
“I really hope Brock didn’t see
my face when my mask slipped off,” thought Spider-Man as he swung
over before he confronted Brock.
“What are you doing here?” demanded
Spider-Man. “What did you see?”
“Nothing, I just saw your mask slip
off, I didn’t see your face, I got a picture,” said Brock.
“Then…a hand came out of the wall and fried my camera…ow..my
hand.”
“Good job, Kitty,” thought
Spider-Man to himself. “Your quick thinking might have saved me
from a nightmare. Makes me feel a lot worse yelling at you earlier.”
“You shouldn’t be in this museum,
Brock,” said Spider-Man shortly.
“I told you, I wanted to get pictures
on Sandman and what better way to get some pictures when he was
beating you up,” said Brock as he massaged his burned hand.
“Jameson wanted pictures, but he can’t fire me, I’m his best
photographer, better go explain this to him.”
Brock bolted off but stopped every few
steps, wincing at the hand that he burned.
“It’s safe to come out now,”
responded Spider-Man and Shadowcat stepped out from behind the wall.
“So, a vacuum cleaner?” asked
Shadowcat in disbelief.
“Hey, it worked,” said Spider-Man
with a shrug. “I don’t suppose there is a better way.”
“No,” said Shadowcat. “So you
bagged the bad guy, literally and I managed to fry that camera to
save your face from being exposed.”
“Thanks for that by the way,” said
Spider-Man.
“Don’t mention it,” said
Shadowcat. “I think that sort of makes up for me screwing up
royally this morning. I really should have listened to you.”
“Well, I don’t always know what I’m
doing, even if I am more experienced,” said Spider-Man.
“Yeah, even old relics like you make
mistakes,” said Shadowcat with a smile.
“Hey, I’m not old,” said
Spider-Man.
“You’re almost seventeen, that’s
practically ancient,” said Shadowcat.
“Just wait until you’ll get there
in a couple of years,” said Spider-Man. “Anyway, we should take
this to the police, I’m sure they can handle him now that he’s
bagged.”
-
“I swear, JJ, I had photographs of
Spider-Man unmasked but there was this ghost girl, she destroyed my
camera!” shouted Brock at Jameson, who sat at his desk, raising an
eyebrow and it was almost like time had stopped, before Jameson
decided to respond.
“I’ll give you credit this time
Brock, for originality, because in all my years, I’ve never heard
an excuse so absurd,” said Jameson. “Still, that doesn’t change
the fact that I gave you a warning. I told you to have something
tangible for me. I’ve given you plenty of chances to shape up but
you keep fouling up.”
“It’s not my fault, my camera keeps
getting destroyed,” argued Brock. “There are circumstances…”
“Brock, I don’t care about your
circumstances!” snapped Jameson. “You’re fired.”
“Fired?” asked Brock.
“Yes, fired, terminated, released,
good bye get out of my office and don’t let the door hit you on the
ass out on the way out!” bellowed Jameson before he took several
deep breaths to calm down. “I’m a fair man Brock, now that
Parker’s remotely reaching something close to competence, I don’t
need you any longer. Get out of my office!”
“You’ll be sorry, Jameson, you’ll
regret this,” said Brock as he walked out angrily.
“Somehow, I doubt that Brock,” said
Jameson as he watched his former employee leave.
-
“Something troubling you, Peter?”
asked Gwen gently as she sat down next to Peter, who was sitting on
the steps outside of Midtown High after school the next day. “You’ve
been quiet all day.”
“Just something that Doctor Hamilton
mentioned when I talked to him the other night,” said Peter. “Can
the criminal mind truly be rehabilitated? Am I just doomed to
fighting the same people over and over again?”
Peter took a deep breath.
“I am wondering if I really am making
a different or I am making the problem worse,” said Peter. “What
should I do?”
“The right thing, Peter,” said
Gwen.
“I’m not sure what the right thing
is anymore,” said Peter.
“I know you’ll know when you need
to Peter,” said Gwen, as she grabbed Peter’s hand and gave him an
encouraging smile.
“You’ll really trying to avoid
telling me what I should do, aren’t you?” asked Peter and Gwen
just responded by kissing Peter.
“You’ll know Peter,” said Gwen as
the kiss broke, before the subject is change. She could understand
why Peter was having doubts and she had wondered the same thing at
least once. “Now, I believe we were going to go on a date.”
“Yeah, I didn’t forget, I was just
waiting for you,” said Peter. “Hopefully something doesn’t go
wrong that causes it end early.”
“Well something is bound to go right
sometime, law of averages and all that,” said Gwen. “It’ll will
be fun if it’s even for a second or a minute or an hour.”
“With you, I’m sure,” said Peter,
as the two walked off.
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