Chapter 67: As the Web Melts Part 1

Chapter 67: As the Web Melts Part One

“Do you fear stepping out your front door? Concerns about where your next paycheck might come from, if at all. Do you fear being able to feed your children? Do you have fears that someone might be harming your children? Do you fear that your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues at work, your classmates, or even your own family are not what they say they are?”

A brief pause allows the viewing public to sink that fact in.

“Mutants continue to rise and they will oppress humanity. Do not be swayed, they will never be one of us. Humans must consider their future. The lives of humans have been ruined and even ended by these mistakes of nature. Washington has spoken about stricter controls against these mutants but how many innocent humans will perish?”

Grainy black and white footage of the X-Jet firing on an unsuspecting crowd of people, followed by humans cowering in fear at displays of power, and then Spider-Man battling Shocker, while several buildings collapsed, leaving humans to run in terror.

“The mutant problem is very real. To be a mutant is not normal, their very existence pollutes the gene pool of normal humans. Children of mutants are likely to be mutants themselves further contaminating our values and way of life and this cannot go on. The mutant epidemic must stop. The freedom of humanity is at risk and we must pressure the government to step up their efforts or have someone do the job.”

An image stating the Friends of Humanity logo appears on the screen.

“Join the Friends of Humanity. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem and you are an enemy of humans.”

The Following Message Has Been Brought To You by Graydon Creed and Funded by Humans Like You.

-XXXXX-

“The fourth attack on supposed mutants this week or mutant supporters, Captain Stacy,” reported Officer Jean DeWolff. “No deaths yet, but one little girl was severely burned.”

George Stacy looked grim at this fact.

“Creed has then riled up enough, but the problem is that he never urged anyone to attack any mutants as far as we know,” muttered Captain Stacy as he thumbed through the reports. “We’ve got more than enough problems to deal with.”

“Silvio Manfredi,” said DeWolff.

“Time off for good behavior, released in November,” said Captain Stacy.

“Everyone knows what’s going to happen,” said another officer as he shook his head.

“Everyone knowing what’s going to happen isn’t a valid by the laws,” said Captain Stacy, but he shook his head. He was sure that Manfredi or Silvermane as he was better known, had made some rather influential friends that caused him to avoid being thrown on death row, even though there was an airtight case against him. The ninety year old mob boss was sharper than most his age and very dangerous, despite his organization being completely depleted.

“What about the mutants though?” asked a young, brash cop sitting off to the side. “We should round up those freaks more than worrying about some geezer mob boss getting out of prison.”

“It’ll be the MRD’s responsibility to round up mutants if they do not register their powers at the end of the month,” said Captain Stacy, looking less than thrilled about the entire situation but his hands were firmly tied.

“People like Spider-Man though, they’re reckless, they should be put down,” argued the cop.

“Again that’s not our job,” said Captain Stacy in a collected tone of voice. “And if I personally find that anyone on this force had anything to do with any of these attacks, you’ll find yourself facing an inquiry. Is that clear?”

There were many nods, although some of them quite condescending as many of them had slowly vacated the area.

“Captain Stacy, I am concerned about the Spider-Man situation, I do think that we should push for whoever is under the mask to show his face,” offered DeWolff delicately. “People will always wonder.”

“They will,” agreed Captain Stacy. “It’s their choice to wonder, much its Spider-Man’s choice to hide his face. I can state with one hundred percent certainty that he’s not hiding his face for himself.”

“I’m not condoning these attacks on mutants, but don’t you find that people might consider it a little bit hypocritical to condone one form of vigilante and not another,” replied DeWolff and there was a pause. “Captain Stacy?”

“I can see that, but Spider-Man is in many ways a necessary evil,” said Captain Stacy. “As skilled as many are on this force, us going up against either the Scorpion or Rhino or anyone else Spider-Man has gone toe to toe with, I don’t see ending well. This is not a slight of our capabilities, just a fact.”

“One that I’m not arguing with,” said DeWolff hastily. “It’s just that…Creed might have a point, the one that he made about Spider-Man having a hand. Well not entirely but…It’s not on purpose, but still inadvertently a lot of these people would not be who they are.”

“Yet many of them might have been something different, perhaps worse, and a lot more people would be dead,” replied Captain Stacy grimly. “If Spider-Man descends to the level of these people…I’ll have no choice. If he takes a life in cold blood, then I’ll have to bring him in, just like any other criminal. I’ll have no pleasure in doing it, but I don’t think it will come to that.”

“How could you be for sure, Captain?” asked DeWolff.

“I have a good reason,” replied Captain Stacy. “But as long as I’m around, there’s going to be a place for someone like Spider-Man in this city to do good. Now I’m sure that we all have work to do, at least I know I do. If nothing else, this city never gives us any time to breath.”

-XXXXX-

Several figures dressed completely in black with night vision goggles and metallic gloves slipped down right in front of a building, from a waiting helicopter. One of the figures held up a hand, with a small tentacle like implement retracting, before it forced its way into fuse box for the facility. With the merest effort, the power for the security system was completely shut down.

Down the hallway, to the right, and up three flights of stairs and down another three corridors, before they reached a large stone door right at the end of the hallway.

“Stand right here,” whispered one of the gang members. “Watch out for the web slinger. Deal with him if he shows up but the Master Planner wants him alive still for some reason.”

“Would have offed the bastard by now,” muttered another gang member, as he flicked his hand, as three gang members stood, one on the left, one on the right, and one on the center of the stone door, before they placed their hands down, causing the stone door to vibrate.

The particles accelerated enough for the remaining members of the gang to slip through.

“Three minutes, before you’re trapped in there, two minutes before that, the security kicks back on,” muttered a voice, but they reached a glass case. One held his hand up and cranked a miniature dial on the side of each glove, before he reached right on other side of the glass case, carefully lifting the heavy case off. This action allowed two men to stand in and pick up a triangular container.

“Drop that stuff and you’re wipe out half of the city block,” hissed the apparent leader from the outside. “The boss wants it all, he has plans.”

“A master plan?” suggested one of the gang members.

“Quit with the wise cracks, you remind me of the web head,” said another gang member. “You better not be the web head under that mask!”

“No, no, I’m not him, I’ve never even met him,” said the gang member frantically, as he helped pass the container, it was slightly blistering his hands from the intense heat. “What is this stuff anyway?”

“Who cares, let the nerds and geeks figure that out!” snapped the leader.

“We pulled off a heist without that nosy bug rushing in and playing the hero,” muttered a voice.

“Don’t jinx it!” hissed a gang member but they all paused and one of them whipped out a gun and fired it right towards a nearby sound in the shadows.

“Just a cat, just a cat, now hurry, we got get out of here before the security kicks back on, to that elevator, and don’t drop it!” ordered the leader.

Barely, just barely, the Master Planner Gang managed to escape the premises, with the stolen goods.

The news of the break in would leak a short time later, early in the morning, but by that point, the gang had pulled off the heist.

-XXXXX-

“And I got talked out into this, how exactly?” asked Peter, as he walked into the Roderick Kingsley superstore, shoulders slumped slightly, to the amusement of the people around him, as Liz, Mary Jane, and Gwen stood with him.

“Lighten up Pete, it’s not that bad,” said Gwen as she patted him on the shoulder in a consoling manner.

“Define not that bad,” said Peter, as he rubbed the side of his head. “It’s just as well that I have to be here, because I need to get a new camera.”

“What happened?” asked Liz in an absent minded voice, as she looked around, wondering where Harry was, he was supposed to be there. She resented the awkward position that Harry had put her in, as he had promised to tell Peter and Gwen about his little run in with the law and his problems weeks ago, but he hadn’t.

“I stepped out of it getting out of bed,” replied Peter sheepishly, which caused some snickers.

“Seriously?” asked Mary Jane.

‘Yes, seriously, there is no really better story, sinister or otherwise about what happened, I stepped on my camera when climbing out of bed,” said Peter, wincing at the memory and mostly the slight injury to his foot. He still had a slight limp if he stepped the wrong way.

“Just imagine the headlines now, Spider-Man, brought down by a rogue camera,” thought Peter, bitterly.

“Well it looks like someone’s weather forecast is set to permanently moody,” remarked Mary Jane lightly which Peter just responded by narrowing his eyes.

“And where is Harry, isn’t he supposed to be here so I have someone to share my torment…of shopping with,” said Peter as he shuddered.

“That’s what I’d like to know, too,” answered Gwen.

“I’ve called him, I guess he might have overslept or something,” said Liz.

“Well that’s common for Harry, all of the times that he showed up for school right before the final bell rang,” said Peter with a smile.

“I don’t know, what if something happened?” asked Gwen.

“Yeah, I wonder, if Norman’s got another lost civilization mad at him, and Harry got kidnapped to pay for it, oh well, if we can’t get ahold of him in a bit, then I’ll be worried,” thought Peter. “But, it’s got to be Harry being Harry. Then again he wanted to tell me something…I wonder.”

“He’s got to be okay, I guess,” said Liz with a frown. “Maybe he got tied up, maybe his father…decided to do something to change his plans quickly.”

“That would figure,” agreed Gwen as she looked around. The Kingsley Super Store that replaced by the old mall was rather cold and uninviting, a bit corporate and a couple of security guards walked out, giving the group odd looks for just existing.

“You’d think they’ve never seen people hang out,” muttered Mary Jane.

“Think that might be the case,” said Gwen.

“I’ll get my camera, I’ll meet you back here a little bit, hopefully Harry will show up,” said Peter as he slipped off and the others seemed to agree, as Peter walked off, through the maze of the Roderick Kingsley Superstore, as he slipped inside.

“They don’t want much, do they?” mused Peter, as he looked at the camera with a price tag of three hundred and twenty dollars on it but it seemed to be one of the cheaper models.

“What do you want, kid?” asked a salesman shortly. “If you aren’t going to get something, then get out of here and make room for people who actually have money?”

“I’m looking for a camera, but something cheaper than this,” said Peter. “Can I find anything cheaper than this?”

“Yeah in a dumpster maybe,” said the salesman snidely. “If you don’t have the money, then get out.”

“Fine, I get the picture,” said Peter as he walked off, with the salesman looking right at him, eyes narrowed.

“Can’t believe this, can’t get a camera without enough money and if I don’t have a camera, I can’t make any more money to get a camera,” thought Peter, shaking his head. “I guess I’m going to have to use my spare camera. The one where the button sticks half of the time. The one where the film gets corrupted half of the time. Jameson is not going to be happy.”

Suddenly, Peter looked up, to see a group of men dressed in black with red arm bands with FOH printed in in white.

“Did you know that mutants are stealing our jobs, our food, and our oxygen?” asked one of the men, as he stepped right up to Peter, as two others walked to the other side, boxing him in.

“No, I didn’t,” said Peter slowly.

“It’s true, we must stand up to the rights of humanity, pure and true, without us being corrupted by the mutant DNA,” replied the lead member. “Mutants are corrupting human innovation and putting many people out of jobs, on the street. Every single human on earth must unite as one and drive the mutant menace away. Eliminate them completely.”

“Wait a minute, are you trying to say that all mutants are bad?” asked Peter.

“They are not natural, they have abilities that are not normal to humanity,” said a member of the group gruffly. “Each and every human needs to stand up to them. If they don’t, the mutants will enslave us and steal all our resources, our ideas, and we won’t make anything off of them.”

“We need to take down those filthy muties by any means necessary,” added another member of the group, cracking his knuckles in a menacing way.

“Yeah, whether those stuffed suits in Washington pass the law or not,” said the leader. “By the time those politicians decide what to order for lunch, we’re going to be up to our ears with mutant trash.”

“So what do you say, kid?” asked another member. “Ready to sign up with the winning team and drive those filthy mutants out of town and take the city back for humanity?”

“Look, I don’t really have a problem with them, with mutants I mean” said Peter but two of the goons grabbed him from behind.

“I bet the trash wouldn’t say the same thing with you,” said the leader. “And we have a huge problem with humans who is a traitor to our race. If you’re not with the Friends of Humanity, then you’re an enemy of humanity, and should be dealt with the mutie scum.”

“The human race needs to be purified, those mutants are a blight to the perfect world,” added another one of the goons, as he waved a clipboard. “Pledge yourself to the Friends of Humanity and we let you go on with your day. You’re a human, you qualify, we don’t care about any race, gender, sexuality, religion or anything. As long as you’re a pure one hundred percent human, without the slight trace of mutant heritage, we’ll take you.”

“So what do you say?” asked a goon who tightened his grip.

“I can easily take these guys, but secret identities and all that,” thought Peter desperately.”What to do, what to do?”

“HEY!” yelled a security guard, as he approached them. “I thought I told you Friends of Humanity yahoos to clear out of here the other day.”

“You can’t stop us from spreading the word of the great Graydon Creed,” said the leader of the group as the two goons stepped forward.

“His word doesn’t make this store one dime,” said the security guard, as he pulled out a baton. “Now you get out of here, before I call the cops.”

“Fine, we’ll spread our word where the values of humanity are more appreciated,” said the leader roughly, as Peter was shoved down to the ground by the other two goons. “We’ll make sure to spread the word that Roderick Kingsley doesn’t respect the human race.”

The Friends of Humanity members walked off as Peter pulled himself back to his feet.

“As for you, get back to shopping or get out,” said the security guard roughly to Peter as he walked off, no doubt in search for more teenagers who thought that this was a place to hang out, rather than bother everything.

“World class customer service,” thought Peter, as brushed himself. “Of course the Friends of Humanity make them almost charming.”

XXXXX-XXXXX

At the Krake Research Facility, Mark Raxton sat bent over a very delicate power source that he had been tasked with. One small misstep, and the entire thing would be fried, costing the facility millions of dollars and costing Raxton more, given the implied threats that hung over his head from the boss of his boss. Dressed in a suit of temperature regulating fabrics, due to the intense heat that he had to work in, Raxton continued to work to the best of his abilities.

The scientists looked rather quiet, as they worked on components of various types, most of them extremely small and extremely delicate.

The side door opened, as a group of armored henchmen walked in. The scientists remained still, the numerous weird comings and goings becoming second nature. They had a job to do, it was not to ask questions. They watched as Carolyn Trainer accepted a triangular cylinder container, with a nod.

“The Master Planner will be pleased,” replied Trainer in a low voice. “This Alloy is the final component that he needs for his power source.”

“What’s it for anyway?” grunted a thug.

“Not your place to ask questions, you have your next job, now get going, and if Spider-Man gets in your way, you know what to do,” whispered Trainer in an undertone.

“I’d like to go a few rounds with the web slinger, he doesn’t look so tough,” replied the leader, a man with long greasy hair, as he chewed on a toothpick.

“The Master Planner would like to avoid a fight, Ramon, and he doesn’t want you to hang around here,” said Trainer. “People are already getting suspicious.”

“Who cares about a few science geeks?” asked Ramon roughly.

“The Master Planner does,” mutters Trainer. “You have the next item and the location.”

“Yeah a block away from that Kingsley Superstore, got it,” replied Ramon slickly, as the Master Planner gang slipped away and Trainer turned without a further word, as the gang exited, with the container right in her hand.

“The final component to bond with the power source, Mr. Raxton,” said Trainer. “Do not touch it directly with any part of your skin. The consequences are not known but I think that you do not want to find out what they might be. The bonding process takes eight hours. If it is compromised before then, the entire power cell is ruined and this entire laboratory goes up with it. Once it is completed, then you will be reassigned to another project. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Dr. Trainer,” said Raxton, as he took the triangular container, as he held it carefully. He wondered what he had gotten himself into.

“And remember, my boss knows where your family lives and if it’s not up to his specifications, the good doctor will be making a little house call,” muttered Trainer. “Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” replied Raxton, the Internship of his dreams had turned into a nightmare, as he had been forced to work unknowingly for an insane super villain. The other science graduates seemed unaware or perhaps they didn’t care.

He went to work, all while looking over his shoulder.

XXXXX-XXXXX

“Remind me again why we decided that going here is a good idea?” asked Peter.

“Right now, I’m not sure,” replied Gwen.

“Customer service isn’t what it used to be,” remarked Peter with a shrug.

“It wasn’t that bad,” offered Mary Jane. “Other than those nuts trying to give out the pamphlets.”

“You mean the Friends of Humanity,” said Gwen, tone with absolute disgust.

“What other nuts could we be talking about,” said Peter. “Pushy sort, won’t take no for an answer, trying to draft teenagers into their holy war to wipe out all mutants.”

“Reminds me of a couple of people I used to date,” stated Mary Jane casually. “Other than the entire, trying to draft teenagers into their holy war to wipe out all mutants part.”

“I don’t think that one guy appreciated where I told him to stick his pamphlet,” said Gwen.

“Something tells me they wouldn’t,” said Peter, as he had seen what the Friends of Humanity did with their more diplomatic voice, as he watched Liz walk out of the mall.

“Harry, where were you, I’ve been trying to call you for hours, yes, that was today, no it’s not early, it’s one in the afternoon,” said Liz. “You forgot to set the alarm, are you sure you’re alright? I know, but…yes, I’ll see you later I guess. But you better have a good explanation.”

“So he did, oversleep,” muttered Peter, but suddenly his attention was caught by something off to the side and promptly his spider sense went off.

“Those guys look like…Master Planner gang, pulling off a heist in broad daylight, they must be getting bold,” thought Peter. “Of course, in a place that most of their scientists are not there right now, with minimal security. Except for one web slinging hero of course.”

“Oh crap,” said Peter suddenly.

“What is it?” asked Gwen and Mary Jane looked curious.

“I just remembered…something I need to take care of quickly, I’ll find my own way home, don’t worry about me,” said Peter, with Gwen nodding.

“Okay, talk to you later,” said Gwen as Peter was around the corner.

“He always seems to be running off for some reason,” said Mary Jane as she surveyed Gwen. “Don’t you find that odd?”

“I’m used to it,” said Gwen crisply, not wanting to reveal any more that she had to. “And I trust him.”

“That’s good you do,” said Mary Jane, as she studied Gwen carefully.

“I know it is,” said Gwen coolly. “So there’s really no point in hanging around here, and since Harry isn’t likely to show up, we might as well go.”

XXXXX-XXXXX

An unconscious and bound security guard was slumped against a wall splattered with blood, when the Master Planner gang stepped in.

“Get the stuff, get in, get out, and get back, no screwing around,” said Ramon gruffly, as the Master Planner Gang shifted a crate to find what they needed. “Right, the stuff should be around here, marked, one of you that can read find it.”

At that moment, a thug found the crate pleased but several shots of webbing had wrapped around the bottom, causing it to stick to the ground.

“What the…” started the thug, but he looked up, right into the feet of Spider-Man to impact his face.

“Spider-Man!” yelled another thug but his gun was quickly whipped out of his hands with a web yank, before Spider-Man bounced up and grabbed his shirt, to flip him over to the ground.

“Yeah that’s me, ready to break up your little play date,” answered Spider-Man as he twisted around, bouncing right off of the head another gang member, to flip into the air and he came crashing down knees first right onto the top of the head of another gang member. “Broad day light in New York, you have to get the award for the absolute dumbest thugs ever.”

“Yeah well you’re going to be the dumbest dead bug around,” grunted a thug, as he retracted razor blades from the side of his armor, before he charged Spider-Man but Spider-Man dodged them.

“Whoa, easy with those things pal, they’re dangerous,” said Spider-Man as they got stuck right in a wall. He struggled to rip them off, but Spider-Man webbed him right to the wall the moment they got out. “See what I mean?”

Spider-Man flipped into the air, wrapping two toothless pudgy thugs together, face to face.

“Well, don’t you two make a cute couple?” asked Spider-Man but suddenly one of the thugs rushed forward, before he wrapped his hands right around the throat of Spider-Man.

“Jokes on you, bug, these things make me ten times stronger, so I’ll snap your head off, you pencil neck geek,” grunted the thug but Spider-Man grabbed the hands and managed to push them off, using his spider strength to short circuit the gloves, along with breaking several bones.

“But obviously not ten times smarter,” said Spider-Man, as he flung him down and then webbed him onto the ground.

Two thugs rushed together, guns blazing, but Spider-Man pivoted slightly, propelling himself up to avoid their attacks, before he swung up and shot two lines of webbing, disarming them, before he shot another two lines of webbing, biding their arms together and then he brought his arms together, causing them to crash into each other head first, knocking them out.

A group of thugs made a mad scramble to the door, shoving each other out of the way, in their escape.

“Oh, leaving so soon, why don’t you stick around?” asked Spider-Man, as he shot a line of webbing, wrapping the feet of one of the four thugs together. The thug was tripped up but a shot was fired right over the shoulder of one of the shoulders.

“Let’s get out, this is a bad job and the cops are here!”

Spider-Man swooped down to ensure all of the thugs that had had taken out were properly secured with a brief look, before he exited through a window, crawling on the wall, to see two of the three members of the Master Planner gang already subdued and handcuffed by the police.

“Get these two downtown, see if they know anything, if they know anything,” said Captain Stacy.

“What about the third?”

“Spread out and search the area, he’s armed and dangerous, he’s already taken a shot at his own men,” responded Captain Stacy, as one of the gang members had managed to avoid the attempts to take him down, as a pair of officers were on the ground, shaken up but not fatally injured.

“More inside!” called Spider-Man as he swung right past the assembled group right down the street.

“Now if I was a thug with an attitude, where would I hide,” mused Spider-Man as he swung right across the city. “Might as well be looking for ants right now but…ah there’s the greaseball right there, going right into that lab, I think I have him right now.”

With a whoosh, Spider-Man dropped down.

XXXXX-XXXXX

Ramon the thug moved forward, throwing down the blaster, it had run out of fuel. He kept firing across the city, hopefully taking out some of the cops along the way. He burst into Krake Research Facility, frantically starling the scientists.

“If you’re looking for Dr. Trainer, she’s not here,” said one of the scientist.

“Don’t care where that bitch is!” snapped Ramon, as he rushed forward, before he picked up a miniaturized cannon.

“Be careful, it’s experimental, hasn’t been tested, it could be dangerous,” muttered one of the scientists.

“Shove it, geek!” yelled Ramon as he shoved the scientist right to the side. “Of course it’s dangerous…for Spider-Man.”

“Someone mention my name,” said the web slinging hero.

“Eat…whatever this thing does,” grunted Ramon, as a blast of red light erupted from the cannon, but Spider-Man dodged, it blowing a hole right through the side wall.

Spider-Man swung around, before he managed to disarm Ramon with a huge kick, sending him crashing down but he still had the cannon in his hand as he regained his bearings.

“You all got to get out of here right now!” yelled Spider-Man, as the web slinger moved around and many of the scientists did not seem to really think twice as they moved to the exit but Mark Raxton stood, frantically working on something. “Hey, out, that means everyone!”

“Just one moment, I need to get this done,” said Raxton and Ramon directed his fire right at Spider-Man who ducked and shot two lines of webbing out, wrapping around the cannot but Ramon punched Spider-Man just as he disarmed him right now and Spider-Man was down to the ground.

“Get out, now!” managed Spider-Man, as Ramon had a blow torch that he tried to melt the webbing. “That thing…whatever is…”

Ramon had freed the cannon and sent another blast right towards Spider-Man, which had caused Spider-Man to duck and the table that Raxton was at to be blasted. The backlash sent Raxton flying right to the ground but he managed to prevent the component to smash into the ground.

“OUT!” yelled Spider-Man again but Ramon had begun firing at him frantically, blowing holes at the floor and rocking the tables and shelves, causing chemicals to teeter dangerously above.

The component slid right out of the hand of Raxon, right underneath a shelf of chemicals, the scientist

Spider-Man continued to evade the thugs attacks, in a way to disarm him safely. He could not see Raxton, so he assumed that he had finally listened and got out, which allowed Spider-Man to throw his entire focus right on the thug trying to kill him.

The rapid firing of the blaster had caused it to overheat in the hand of Ramon and the greasy thug sent it flying right over Spider-Man’s head where it smashed right into a shelf of chemicals, causing the chemicals to burst open and them to bubble.

Raxton pulled himself up, as Spider-Man finally managed to stun Ramon enough by webbing him right up.

“Got it,” muttered Raxton, as he turned, chemical vials burst open, splashing both himself and the power source, causing it to bubble and his eyes to widen in fear.

Spider-Man turned horrified, before the power source cracked and began to hum.

“Spider sense, going crazier, got to get out of here!” shouted Spider-Man as he rushed forward, before he slid the webbed up thug right down a hole to the basement below and then made a movement for Raxton.

A large fireball engulfed Raxton, with the explosion rattling the windows and echoing from miles around.


Next Chapter