Chapter 8: Make Way for Mysterio Part II

Chapter 8: Make Way for Mysterio Part II:

After he nearly stumbled on his face, Spider-Man shot a line of webbing right and shakily, barely able to steady himself, he swung out the door, trying to block out the taunts and that face. He struggled, as reality was slowly crumbling from itself and he saw Uncle Ben’s murderer everywhere he looked. He nearly swung into a building after closing his eyes to block out the horrible, taunting visions in his head. Not to mention the horror that he suffered, when he realized he could have injured something. As he swung away, with his word garbled, a wonder that he could get this for, Peter wondered if he could ever face Gwen again.

-

“You’ve looked like you’ve had a rough day, son,” commented Norman lightly as he surveyed his son’s black eye. “Nasty shiner you got there, mind telling your father exactly what happened?”

“I accidentally hit myself in the face with my locker,” lied Harry.

“Come on now Harry, even I know you’re not that stupid,” responded Norman with a raised eyebrow. “You got in a fight, didn’t you?”

“Yes, with Flash Thompson, he said things that I didn’t like and I took a swing at him and he swung back, hard and into my face,” said Harry trying to remain calm but it was difficult to do so in the face of Norman Osborn.

“Things?” asked Norman in a disapproving manner towards his son. “So not only did you get in a fight with this Thompson boy, but you lost. No doubt over some trivial reason.”

“He said about how I’m a disappointment and he brought Mom into it…” started Harry but Norman rose to his feet, staring his son in the face angrily.

“Do not bring her into the conversation,” said Norman in a cold, angry, voice. “She died shortly after she had you, so there is no reason for you to bring you up.”

“So, I suppose you think that she died because of me,” said Harry.

“Having a guilty conscience is not becoming of you son,” responded Norman harshly. “Just like getting into fights and losing. The number one rule that you will need to know to survive in this world is only pick fights where you are either certain that you can win or at least in the long run, your adversary comes out worse in the end. Otherwise, you will be eaten alive in this world.”

Harry sat silently. It was best for his father’s criticism to bounce off of him, even though he was beginning to grow rather tired of hearing it.

“I do wonder why I even bother giving you the benefit of my wisdom sometimes Harry, it’s quite obvious that your mind is too simple to comprehend most of what I’m saying,” said Norman as he looked at his watch and walked off without another word to his son.

“Maybe when I tried to take a swing at Flash, maybe I imagined going after you, Dad,” thought Harry bitterly, as he watched his father leave, fingering the steak knife between his fingers.

-

“Dad, what happened!” exclaimed Gwen in a horrified tone as she watched as her father walked in and she stepped over, to help him. He was badly beaten, clutching his chest as it pained him to breath but somehow he managed.

“I can manage Gwen,” said George as he just barely slumped down in an arm chair. His ribs were sore and he was in a fair amount of pain. He was glad that Spider-Man was able to pull back, he would hate to imagine the kind of condition he would be in if the hero had swung at him full force. “Please be a dear and get me some ice.”

“Sure thing,” said Gwen quickly as she grabbed an ice pack before she moved over to the freezer to fill in. “So you never did tell me what happened.”

“Spider-Man happened Gwen, he caught me good in the ribs,” said George which caused Gwen to drop the ice bag in surprise and shock.

“What?” asked Gwen, something about this sounded off. Peter would not hit anyone without good reason, especially her father. She was shocked behind words. “But Spider-Man…he couldn’t of…he wouldn’t…not you…why would he…”

“Now, Gwen, don’t jump to conclusions, Spider-Man was definitely not himself during that battle, he was slurring his words and he appeared to be hallucinating, so don’t go blaming him for my condition” said George firmly. “I saw a glimpse of Mysterio fleeing the scene of a crime before a bright light and he was gone. He has quite a few tricks up his sleeve but I hope Spider-Man, whoever may be under that mask, was able to seek medical attention. He could just barely swing away form the scene of the crime and wasn’t really in his right mind.”

“So you’re saying Mysterio drugged him?” asked Gwen trying to keep her tone neutral not to let her father in on anything.

“Exactly,” said George as he took the ice pack and used it to relieve the pain, glad that Spider-Man was on the right side of the law. Judging by his one pulled back punch, he doubted that anyone on the force would be able to take Spider-Man down.

“Excuse me for a minute Dad, I need to call Peter,” said Gwen suddenly and at the curious look her father was giving her, she amended hastily. “You know, he normally gets pictures of Spider-Man for the Bugle, and if there was a battle, he could have been hurt and hit by Spider-Man when he was hallucinating.”

“Of course Gwen, I understand,” said George with a smile as he watched his daughter leave. Granted he did not see Peter Parker’s face anywhere near the scene of the crime but his daughter would not rest until her mind was completely at ease.

-

“Just made it barely, hopefully it wears off, every time I open my eyes, I see him, and my control goes out the window,” thought Spider-Man groggily as he pulled off of his mask, before he collapsed right on his bed. “Just got to rest for a few minutes, Mysterio got the better of me, but I can fight it. Just need rest and no matter how much it hurts to keep them closed, do not open my eyes. Anyone I look at is in danger. I could have really hurt Captain Stacy had I not pulled out at the last minute. Next time it could be Harry or Gwen or even Aunt May or anyone for that matter and I don’t think I could live with that. This has to wear off, I can’t be getting worse by the moment, I can sleep this off, I’m Spider-Man, just got to get a couple hours of sleep and I can tackle Mysterio…bust his dome, all that good stuff.”

Peter felt his head burning, it was almost like it was about ready to spontaneously combust. Not only that, he felt dazed, confused, and quite rattled. Mysterio completely crippled his effectiveness to do anything without lashing out irrationally towards innocent people.

“Peter?” asked Aunt May in a confused voice as she opened the door a crack, just enough time for Peter to slide himself under the covers, so his aunt did not see him in his Spider-Man costume. “I didn’t see you come in…what’s the matter dear, you look deathly ill.”

“Must have caught something, Aunt May,” mumbled Peter, as he kept his head buried in his pillow and eyes off anything. He wished Aunt May would just leave it at that, he did not know how long he could control what he was doing.

“Maybe we should call the doctor, if you look that bad,” fretted Aunt May.

“No, Aunt May, I’ll be fine, it’s just a bit of a bug,” lied Peter groggily. “Weak, just barely made it home, but I just need rest, don’t worry about me, I’ll be better soon.”

“I hope,” added Peter, with a desperate thought, straining to keep rational in this entire situation, a battle that was slowly overwhelming him.

“Peter, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything, don’t hesitate to yell for me,” said Aunt May reluctantly. “And if that gets much worse, we will be calling the doctor.”

Peter just groggily shifted his weight as he heard the door shot and the footsteps of his aunt. Peter rolled over, wincing in pain, he would give anything for it to stop. The fact that he cell phone went off caused him to wince but he reached over, something told him that he should answer.

“Hello,” muttered Peter groggily and slightly slurred.

“Peter, its Gwen,” said Gwen from the other side of the phone. “Dad said Mysterio did something to you and…”

“Nothing Gwen, I can handle it, I’m fighting it,” slurred Peter in a pained voice but it was getting worse.

“No, you’re not Peter,” answered Gwen as voice trembling slightly but she tried to remain a cool head. “Whatever he did to you, it can’t be good, you need to see a doctor…”

“Yeah and take a swing at him when I see my uncle’s murderer in his place, no one can help me,” argued Peter, still slurring his words. “Once that happens, Mysterio will know who Spider-Man is.”

“Right, secret identity, that could be a problem,” said Gwen thinking hard. “Maybe I can help you…”

“No, Gwen, out of the question,” argued Peter. “I can’t even open my eyes without seeing him, what if I hurt you? I hit your dad after all under the influence of…I couldn’t…blame you…never want to speak with me again…”

“That’s a risk I’m just going to have to take,” answered Gwen before she sighed. “Look Peter, if this happened to me, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to make sure I get better?”

“Yes, of course I would, there’s no question about it,” said Peter but he frowned. “Do you think you can figure out what Mysterio did to me?”

“With your help, I think we can work it out together,” replied Gwen. “Meet me outside your house in about fifteen minutes and you can web sling us over to ESU. Their lab might be able to help us, with a sample of your blood and Dad has a key to it regardless.”

“Do you really think I should be slinging across town in this condition?” asked Peter as he could barely keep his own head up.

“Peter, you can, I’ll help you, you don’t even have to open your eyes,” said Gwen. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do Gwen,” said Peter as if he was insulted this was even a question.

“Then, meet me outside, I’ll be there as soon as I can and try to keep your head together,” said Gwen as the phone clicked, with Peter just summoning the strength. His head was a mess but somehow he managed to summon enough wits to get everything together.

“Help me Gwen, help me, please hurry,” thought Peter, as his head continued to throb with pain. “Don’t want to hurt…need help…badly…”

He somehow swung his legs from the bed, pulling his mask on as he staggered towards the window, awaiting Gwen’s arrival. He hoped he could hold himself together for that long but he did have faith in her ability to formulate an antidote.

-

Beck smirked, as he watched as the last of the chemicals were prepared. His first test run on Spider-Man had been a success. True, the wall crawler fought the effects but his will was slowly being broken down. Within a few hours, he would not be able to determine fantasy from reality, his heart and adrenaline would speed up to nearly dangerous levels as he fought the illusions around him and eventually his body would give out from him.

“Be careful with that chemical, spill one drop on you and you will be as messed up as Spider-Man,” said Beck with a chuckle.

“And what is this chemical for again, boss?” asked one of the henchmen.

“Since all phases of the plan except for this one have been carried out, it is only fair that I give the proper exposition leading into the third and most climatic act,” agreed Beck. “This chemical will be pumped into the air and water in the city, causing the citizens to hallucinate that the person they hate the most is around every corner. There will be massive chaos and confusion as the every person in this city is tricked by my most brilliant special effect yet and it will leave the city open for the looting. Simple, yet strangely effective, and even the critics would have to agree. And with Spider-Man out of the picture, no one can stop the final climatic performance of Mysterio!”

Beck added the last bit in his overly pompous, over the top manner, before he cleared his throat and looked all business like.

“The chemicals should be ready to go within the next two or three hours,” said one of the henchmen.

“Excellent, I have waited quite some time to carry out such a brilliant plan, a few more hours should not make the difference for my master plan,” said Beck as he turned to put on his helmet to get ready for his final part of his plan.

-

“Just in time, Peter,” muttered Gwen as she looked at the results of what she had analyzed carefully. “Had we waited any longer, you would have been…well I don’t even want to think about it,”

“What?” said Peter weakly, as he felt a pounding in his head and it was almost like his heart was speeding up as well as he fought the strain.

“There would be further, more vivid hallucinations, judging by these test results, and your adrenaline would speed up until your body gives out under the strain,” said Gwen seriously, gripping Peter’s hand to calm both the boy and herself. “Your unique DNA may have bought us a bit more time than usual, but even then, you wouldn’t have had too much time if we waited much longer. Now, I can mix up an antidote.”

“How long will it take?” asked Peter, as he strained to speak, his vocal cords felt like they were on fire. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up, I could open my eyes at any minute and attack you thinking that you’re…”

“A few more minutes, Peter, I’m confident that this should work, it’s simple really, but the fact that the drug that Mysterio used strips away your sanity so quickly, most people would already be deluded past the point in thinking that something was wrong with them,” said Gwen as she double checked everything but everything matched up. “This antidote should counteract the drug Mysterio used on you and may also prevent you from being affected by it ever again, although you should really carry another dose on you. Just in case I’m wrong.”

“Thanks Gwen, you’re a real life saver,” said Peter weakly, as he weakly rubbed his temples.

“Unless I missed something, this is it,” said Gwen but there was a reluctant tone in her voice, briefly second guessing her own work. This was a crucial moment, any misstep and she did not know if she could live with herself.

“Gwen, I trust you completely, I’m sure you got it right, you’re normally a genius at this sort of thing,” said Peter as he reached forward and took the vial from Gwen, before he drank the antidote, immediately pulling a face. “Gwen, that tasted completely terrible.”

“Well it wasn’t supposed to taste good, it was supposed to nullify the drug in your system,” said Gwen but she looked surprised at what appeared to be a success. “It worked?”

“I see my beautiful girlfriend and not an ugly, middle aged murderer or any other equally vile hallucinations so I’m positive it worked,” said Peter, as he leaned forward to kiss Gwen. “Thanks Gwen, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“It’s no problem at all,” said Gwen as Peter looked to see if there was any security guards coming, as technically they were not allowed in the lab before he pulled his Spider-Man mask on, as he took a couple of vials of antidote.

“I’ll swing you back home, and then it’s me against Mysterio,” replied Spider-Man, as he wrapped his arm around Gwen, she tightly wrapped her legs around his midsection, resting her head on his shoulder, allowing him to get a firm grip and he climbed out the window and shot a line of webbing, before the two swung through New York as the sun had nearly set. Spider-Man thought he had a pretty good idea where Mysterio was heading and if he hurried, he could stop him.

-

“Careful, set it off too early and you might get infected!” bellowed Mysterio as he watched two of his henchmen carry a hose from a truck, that contained a batch of the chemical before he walked it over to the water. “The might of Mysterio must be displayed at its proper time and not one second before.”

“Yet the egotism of Mysterio is on display twenty four seven,” said Spider-Man as he dropped down on a line of web and Mysterio backed off in absolute horror, he could scarcely believe what he had seen.

“It can’t be, it has to be an apparition, you’re supposed to be rotting in the morgue by now!” shouted Mysterio.

“Sorry to disappoint you then,” said Spider-Man but the villain just laughed and raised his hand but Spider-Man turned away, before he shot a line of webbing away and pulled himself to a balcony high above. “Let’s leave the parlor tricks behind, Mysterio.”

“Bah, you dare attempt to mock Mysterio!” bellowed the criminal and suddenly, one of Mysterio’s henchmen dove at Spider-Man, in an attempt to cave his skull in with a pipe. It was dodged and the pipe landed, before Spider-Man knocked him out with a punch. Another henchmen dove right at him, before Spider-Man dodged and the henchmen smashed against the railing. Spider-Man webbed him onto the railing.

“You overplayed your hand Mysterio, set yourself up for a fall,” said Spider-Man as he avoided an attack by one of Mysterio’s henchmen and webbed him up.

“Fools, don’t let Spider-Man, stop the mystical masterpiece of Mysterio!” bellowed Mysterio as Spider-Man continued to fight the members of Mysterio’s gang, taking them out one by one. With them webbed up, Spider-Man moved around, trying to signal out any more enemies. He looked down just in time to see two more of Mysterio’s goons move the hose over towards the water.

“Oh, no you don’t,” said Spider-Man as he webbed the hose and pulled it out of their hands, and then he dropped down, before he knocked two henchmen out of commission and webbed them together, before Mysterio stood, face to face with Spider-Man. “Let’s dance, Bubble head.”

Mysterio waved his hand a metal hook swung from above. The lack of spider sense going off clued him in that this was not a real threat and Spider-Man allowed it to pass through him, before he turned around, right in time for a giant boxing glove operated by Mysterio to crack him right in the face. Several more attacks, some real, some fake, but all distracting enough to the keep Spider-Man from his task in defeating Mysterio.

“Threats all around, Spider-Man,” said Mysterio, as he watched Spider-Man pull himself up in time for Mysterio to throw a bomb right towards the ground where he stood. Spider-Man used his webbing to pull himself up and out of harm’s way at the last second, with the ground exploding right from underneath him and then he propelled himself right at Mysterio.

“This ends right now, Mysterio!” shouted Spider-Man as he dodged a very real looking dragon. The illusion was vivid and the fire part was real, activated by a concealed flame thrower apparatus. Spider-Man managed to disable it quickly. “The cheesy magician act might go over great at a five year olds birthday party, but I’m beginning to see right through your tricks.”

“Mysterio is no mere magician!” shouted Mysterio as several more illusions were brought up but Spider-Man avoided them. “I have yet to run out of tricks, Spider-Man! Time for my grand finale!”

Mysterio waved his hand and he vanished right before Spider-Man could get him.

“No, not this time, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, but not a third time, Mysterio,” said Spider-Man as he shot his webbing, wrapping up an invisible Mysterio. Mysterio was caught, considering the sounds of struggling, as Spider-Man stepped forward, before he groped around in the dark. “If I had to hazard a guess, the source of your powers, is those fancy little gloves you wear…yeah I like it when I’m right. The reviews are in and your show is cancelled.”

The gloves were pulled off and Mysterio became visible, much to his shock as the villain was completely and utterly trapped, wrapped in several strands of webbing, not to mention his feet were webbed to the ground.

“You fool, you can’t defeat me, I am…” stated Mysterio but Spider-Man cut him off.

“Yeah, I know, you’re…” said Spider-Man before he spoke in an overly dramatic voice. “Mysterio, master of talking about himself in the third person in a pompous manner and an egotistical jerk as well!”

Spider-Man stared down Mysterio, as he reached forward.

“What are you doing?” demanded Mysterio.

“Taking this stupid fishbowl off your head,” responded Spider-Man as he reached forward and pulled it off to reveal a dark haired man with a bowl cut. “Well, I would have never guessed this in all my life.”

“Yes, Spider-Man, you have deduced my secret identity,” said Mysterio in a bored voice.

“Yeah, who would have guessed that Mysterio was really Moe of the Three Stooges,” responded Spider-Man in amusement, a proclamation that caused Mysterio great outrage!

“What, no you fool, I’m Quentin Beck!” proclaimed Mysterio but Spider-Man just looked at him in confusion, as one could almost hear crickets. “The greatest special effects artist of all time, worked in twenty motion pictures, a true legend and a trend setter in the field of cinematic brilliance. BEHOLD MY GREATNESS!”

“Of course you are,” said Spider-Man in a patronizing voice, as he rolled his eyes, before he pulled himself up, as Beck struggled to free himself as he looked at the henchmen. Most of them had been trapped, with one exception and Spider-Man pulled himself up, before he walked over to a payphone and began to dial. “Hello, New York City Police Department. Come to the New York City pumping station and you will find your so called Master of Illusion Mysterio and his gang, along with a dangerous drug they were planning to poison the water supply with. Who is this? Why none other than your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, yes, no thank you for your hard work.”

“You are truly a fool Spider-Man if you think a mere prison can hold Mysterio!” shouted Beck. “I will break out and the next scheme I orchestrate will be your complete and utter demise…”

“You know I love to here a good villain monologue as much as the next person, I have better things to do, you can give your rant to the police, as they’re here,” said Spider-Man cutting off the super villain monologue in mid stream as he looked out the window, seeing the approaching cop cars.

“You haven’t seen the last of Mysterio!” shouted Beck but his proclamation fell on deaf ears as Spider-Man departed from the scene of the crime, ignoring any further rants from the former and slightly unhinged special effects artist.

-

“I have to hand it to Spider-Man,” said George Stacy to his daughter the next morning. “He figured out how to fight around Mysterio’s trickery and beat him as easily as he would any other common criminal because when you take away all of the smoke and mirrors, that’s what Mysterio is essentially. A bit more resourceful, but nothing more than a common thug off the street.”

George looked at Gwen for a couple of seconds.

“Finding an antidote just in time, that was something that I’m not quite sure how Spider-Man managed it, he’s was quite delirious when we fought and I took a look at the print out from the lab, it should have killed Spider-Man within at least an hour, maybe slightly more,” said George as if he knew more about exactly how Spider-Man recovered than he was letting on.

“Just think of how much of a disaster it would have been if Mysterio would have used those chemicals on everyone,” said Gwen calmly.

“Mass chaos, no doubt,” said George. “Spider-Man mixing such an antidote in his state, I do wonder if he had a bit of help from someone…”

“Dad, I have to be honest with you,” said Gwen and George looked at his daughter. She figured that her father might catch on to the fact she had helped Spider-Man. She hoped she could tell Peter about the cover story, before he had encountered her father. “Peter and I helped Spider-Man with the antidote, he came to Peter right away and I snuck out last night to help.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m sorry that you did help Gwen, given how much Spider-Man has done for this city,” said George but he looked at his daughter with a raised eyebrow, having a feeling there was something that she omitted from her story. “Guess, Peter had to protect his investment…”

“DAD!” shouted Gwen in a scandalized voice. “It’s nothing like that, it’s just…Spider-Man did save me one time, remember and I guess this was the simplest way of repaying him.”

“Well good thing he could count on two brilliant young people like you and Peter, otherwise, we might be mourning the loss of a selfless hero today,” said George with a smile.

“You don’t know how close I came to really mourning the loss of something even closer to my heart,” thought Gwen, but Peter was okay, thanks to quick thinking and his modified DNA delaying what could have been an inevitable tragedy.

-

“Morning Aunt May!” called Peter brightly as he made his way downstairs for breakfast.

“Peter you look much better today,” said Aunt May in a relieved voice. She was so worried about her nephew last night but the fact that he was here, looking better than ever showed her that her worries might have been a bit premature.

“Yeah, told you a bit of rest is all it took,” said Peter, as he saw the morning addition of the Daily Prophet, detailing the capture of Mysterio and his gang. “Spider-Man again, shame I couldn’t get any pictures, hope Jameson isn’t too upset that I was indisposed.”

“Now, Peter, that man would have to understand that you were sick,” said Aunt May sternly. “And if he doesn’t, just have him talk to me and I’ll have a few words to sort him out.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Peter as he put syrup on his pancakes.

-

“So Spider-Man makes the news once again,” said Wilson Fisk as he casually flipped through the Daily Bugle. He ignored the drivel about Spider-Man, he had his own information and the opinions of the news media met very little to him. He had been keeping a keen eye on Spider-Man’s progress over the last few weeks. “Interesting, Spider-Man you may serve a use to me yet, but a test of your mettle seems to be in order. Several tests in fact, as the Kingpin always is one to cover all of his bases.”

Fisk turned to an intercom system and switched it on.

“Send in Rhino,” ordered Fisk coolly.. “I have a job that I think will be an excellent test for his talents.”


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