Chapter 77: Up for Grabs Part One

Chapter 77: Up for Grabs Part One: Today is the Day

“The holiday season is upon us, but the chaos of last minute shopping amounts to nothing compared to the bloodletting that has occurred after Spider-Man’s defeat of Wilson Fisk, better known as the Kingpin of Crime. Several splinter factions are vying for territory.”

“Two members of the New York City Police department were killed today, three others were critically wounded, trying to stop battle between factions of the Kingpin’s former criminal empire.”

“Innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire today, as an understaffed police force continues to try and find answers…”

“The Mayor urges the citizens not to panic…”

“People are recommended to stay indoors and lock doors and windows. Do not go out in the city past dark…”

“Solutions to the gang war going on in New York continue to elude police. Captain George Stacy claims that he is working to try and keep a peaceful situation but warns people to take the situation seriously and remain careful…”

“Three teenage girls were gunned down in a drug deal gone wrong…”

“The Mayor has been reported to say that he is getting the situation under control…”

“A suspected top lieutenant of the Kingpin has been gunned down along with his family and two friends, gangland style…”

“Murderous vigilante has been rumored to engage warring gang factions. Man is reported to be dressed in black, in a trenchcoat, with a skull on his shirt, with a variety of weapons. Police fear gang war is a breeding ground for more vigilantes and strong warnings have been issued to not take the law into their own hands…”

“Convicted crime boss Silvio Manfredi, better known as Silvermane has just been released and picked up from Ryker’s Island. While Silvermane has served his sentence, there has been speculation that he intends to establish his former criminal empire.”

“Official word from the office of the Mayor is that the situation is being blown out of proportion by the media…”

“Spider-Man while saving a group of children who were caught in yet another battle between former Kingpin factions has been reported by eyewitnesses to have been shot. It has not been confirmed whether or not Spider-Man has suffered fatal wounds in the attack, but we will keep you posted.”

Bits of news filtered into the city, as those following the situation continued to see the events unfold.

X-X-X-X-X

Gwen’s eyes darted from her cell phone, right to the front door several time. She had been a bit on edge since the news came in a few minutes ago that Spider-Man had been shot. She tried to remain calm, it would do no one any good to jump to conclusions.

Especially the worst one.

Even if it could have seem like the most likely one.

A knock on the door had brought her right out of her thoughts and Gwen jumped right up, before she swiftly turned the door knob.

“Peter,” gasped Gwen as Spider-Man staggered inside, favoring his shoulder, as blood dripped, immediately, she gingerly lead him inside, before she shot the door and blocked in. “Your shoulder….hospital, we need to get you to one now.”

“No, Gwen,” said Peter in a dazed voice, he had lost just enough blood for him to be slightly disoriented.

“Peter, you’ve been shot!” yelled Gwen.

“Yeah, I realized that,” said Peter. “Look, Gwen, do you know anything about removing bullets?”

“Dad taught me but…Peter, absolutely nuts, you need to see a proper doctor,” said Gwen as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a few seconds, then returned to the matter at hand. “I know first aid, enough to help you but…”

“Then help me please,” said Peter and Gwen sighed.

“Alright, but you do know this will hurt like hell without an Anesthetic?” asked Gwen and Peter nodded. She moved over to get the necessary that she needed. Then she removed Peter’s top quickly to be able to tend to the wound in question. “Bite down on this.”

Peter felt dazed, then immense pain, not really telling what Gwen was doing, due to being slightly disorientated from the loss of blood.

“Told you so,” muttered Gwen, as she cleaned the wound and applied a bandage to then. “I’d feel a lot better if you saw a doctor but I think you’ll be okay, it might hurt if you make any sudden movements for a couple of days. And rest and eat something, you just been shot in the shoulder.”

“Sorry about the blood stains,” muttered Peter but Gwen waved it off.

“No sweat, those come out pretty easily, if you know what you’re doing.”

Gwen just turned, to hide her concern and took a deep breath. Spider-Man had defeated the Kingpin, which erased a storm cloud but created an entire mess of tornados.

“Is it…as bad as they’re saying?” asked Gwen.

“No, not as bad as they’re saying,” said Peter, as he shook off the cobwebs and Gwen relaxed. “It’s worse.”

“Of course it is.”

“Well, let’s just say that I had to break up about three fights before someone got a shot in on me, in about less than an hour. Your dad’s doing a good job out there, he’s fine, but….”

“In over his head, I know, here eat this, you’ll feel better.”

Gwen sat down, as she held onto Peter’s uninjured side.

“I don’t know what to do anymore, police are trying, Daredevil’s somewhere out in this, I heard whispers,” said Peter, somberly. “I don’t know what’s going on, instead of shutting down Kingpin’s empire, I just…well it just broke apart and now everyone’s fighting over bread crumbs. And Silvermane and the Master Planner and everything else on top of that.”

“I wish you didn’t feel the need to do this,” whispered Gwen, as she leaned in.

“You know I have no choice,” said Peter. “And as soon as I’m back on my feet, I’m…going to have to go back there.”

“I know,” muttered Gwen, as she held onto Peter’s hand. “I shouldn’t be worried about this, I know what you can do, but this somehow seems so different. People are dying, getting shot, in their own homes.”

“Gwen, you worry because you care and I appreciate it,” said Peter, as he lightly cupped his girlfriend’s face. “If it was the other way, if it was you out there and me in here, watching….I think it would be the same both ways. You’d risk your life and I’d worry myself…it’s okay, but I’ll survive, I got shot once.”

“Just wish you didn’t get shot at all.”

“Yeah, I would prefer that too.”

“Please, rest here, stay with me tonight, go back out there in the morning.”

“Okay, Gwen, for you, I’ll do that…”

“I mean, unless it’s something really bad, worse, like end of the world, I wouldn’t want you keep from that.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Aunt May that I’m staying here tonight, think she’d prefer that I don’t go out there and risk the trip home.”

“Thanks Pete, this means a lot to me.”

“You know, I’d leap off a bridge for you, Gwen.”

“Please don’t.”

“Okay, relax, you know I love you.”

“I know, I love you too.”

X-X-X-X-X

Several tired and rather worn down faces surrounded in the police station, as they stood, all they could do was wait. Any leads were followed up on, but with the unpredictable nature of the gang war that was going hard, it was difficult to follow any uninformed procedures. Yet, it had to be done by the book, even if those monsters out there were rapidly torching said book.

“Look at us, slaving away, while the Mayor is in his posh office, hiding under his desk, and telling everyone its okay. I’ve been out there, it’s not okay.”

“Nutcases everywhere, things were better with the Kingpin on the street, this is all Spider-Man’s fault, he should kept his nose out of this.”

“And Stacy’s protecting him, won’t hear a negative word about him, we should be hunting him down and throwing him in with the rest of the filth.”

“Ladies, Gentlemen, I know you’re tired,” said Captain George Stacy, as he looked rather worn down himself, bags underneath his eyes and looking like he aged several years. “Now is not the time for blame, Spider-Man did what he had to do and if given the chance, he’ll do what he had to do again I appreciate all of the work you’re putting in, this close to the holidays.”

“None of us will have much of a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year if this isn’t dealt with,” said Jean DeWolff, as she looked around. “I was there, I saw Spider-Man, he got hit right in the shoulder, point blank. Another inch and…well…we don’t even know if he bled to death. No one’s reported anything.”

“Spider-Man wouldn’t have gone to a traditional medical facility, too much of a risk,” argued Captain Stacy. “But…he’s not at the Baxter Building, then again, no one is, the Fantastic Four are another world, on a mission. Iron Man is out of the city, even the X-Men appear to be off the grid. It appears that the heroes of this city have been driven away by more global or even galactic manners.”

“You actually considered working with those mutants…”

“Spider-Man has worked with them in the past, so I felt it was prudent, as he might have gotten medical attention there,” said Captain Stacy, but he remained silent and thoughtful. Spider-Man did seem to have some help and if what he suspected and what he knew for some time was true, he had a hunch, but obviously neither would admit it if he was right.

Plus plausible deniability seemed to be the best thing for a professional standpoint.

“Heater’s busted on top of everything else, one of the coldest nights of the entire year…”

“Yes, that can be fixed later,” said Captain Stacy. “We’re going to have another busy one, it’s a small comfort that many are remaining indoors, but that won’t last forever. They’ll get restless. We need to contain the peace. As best we can, where we can legally do this. In some ways, we’re handcuffed. Now any leads, follow them, but be careful.”

He turned, before he entered his office. He needed to call his daughter and tell her that he would not make it home for about the fifth day in the last two weeks. She understood, but he still felt it was necessary to clue her in.

“Gwen, yeah I’m sorry, I might not come home again tonight, we’re getting closer to something breaking, at least I hope we are,” said Captain Stacy. “Have you heard from Peter? There were some Bugle people that got shot at and I was…Oh there with you and he’s spending the night, fine, his aunt said it was fine, good, keep the doors locked, don’t answer to anyone, I’ll call you if I can come home. You should be safe with Peter, not that you aren’t keeping him safe too, take care, Gwen, you too, I’ll talk talk to you later.”

Captain Stacy hung up the phone, his theory proven correct, even if obviously he could not directly verify it.

“Never gets easier,” said Captain Stacy, who wondered if they would take Christmas off or would continue this senseless violence despite the day. “Let’s hope, Spider-Man can get back on his feet and help us, for our sakes.”

X-X-X-X-X

The scene was an old hotel on the outskirts of the city, abandoned for years, but where a group of men sat around, playing cards, drinking, and smoking, playing cards, and sharing stories of the past.

“Alright, listen up here, the boss is on his way,” said the mobster known as Hammerhead. “You stooges better make yourself look about halfway decent, he’s been in prison for a long time and he’s not a happy man. And he won’t be any happier when he gets here, especially considering that we failed to get that tablet twice thanks to the meddling of that wall crawler.”

The mobsters nodded. Spider-Man had foiled their attempts to liberate a very important item months ago and just a couple of weeks prior, then ran right into the web slinger once again and humiliated.

“That’s him, sit up straight!” barked Hammerhead as the door opened, with a man of around ninety years old, flanked by two bodyguards. “Boss, welcome back.”

“Hammerhead, a disgrace, much like you, did any of you even bother to clean in all of the time while I was gone?” asked Silvermane as he leaned on his walking stick. He had grizzled features. “Never mind, I’ll be able to lead you all once again, once I regain my youth. Now, bring me the Tablet of Time and we’ll be able to take this city back.”

There was a very uncomfortable moment of silence. Hammerhead swallowed hard and he looked at his grizzled old boss, who could still likely smack him around even at his advanced age.

“You see boss, there were circumstances where we couldn’t get the Tablet of Time, in time,” said Hammerhead with a gulp. “We tried…”

“Special needs children try, Hammerhead, I expect my men to succeed!” snapped Silvermane angrily. “What dim witted excuse you could you have dreamed up right now?”

“It was that Spider-Man, boss,” piped up another member of the gang.

“Spider-Man?” asked Silvermane with disdain. “Is this some rival gang boss or something?”

“Ah, I’ve got a picture right here, he always shows up in the paper,” said another gang member. “He ain’t no crime boss, he’s some kind of do gooder, like something out of a comic book or something.”

Silvermane snatched the picture away, and got his first glimpse of Spider-Man.

“What is this nonsense?” asked Silvermane, eyes narrowed and voice low and dangerous. “You mean to tell me that the thing that stopped you from stealing the Tablet of Time was some fruit in a suit! We used to call this trick or treat.”

“Boss, you don’t understand, he’s tougher than he looks,” pleaded Hammerhead and Silvermane smashed his fist into the table.

“Back in my day, men were men and didn’t lose to some child who wears a Halloween costume,” said Silvermane through gritted teeth. “And Spider-Man? There is no man who dares look Silvio Manfredi straight in the eye and mock him and a spider? Insignificant pests that can be squashed, just….like…this!”

Silvermane smashed his fist right onto a helpless spider, killing the creature instantly.

“This Spider-Man, I want to see him finished and I don’t want to see blood, I want to see gore,” said Silvermane as he breathed heavily, red in the face. “DO YOU HEAR ME? I want to see this spider squashed. I want to see this man with bullet holes in his lungs! I want you to pump him full of bullets. Then, I want you to build a parking lot right on top of his bullet ridden, rotting corpse. I want him six feet under, so I can urinate on the ground he’s buried under. DO YOU HEAR ME HAMMERHEAD? Then you better get the Tablet of Time, or you’ll be underneath a parking lot right next to him.”

“Right, yeah, boss, sure, sure,” stammered Hammerhead. His boss might just drop dead of a heart attack, but Silvermane took the time to compose himself.

“It’s time to teach this city a lesson of who runs the city, not some spider, not some upstart like Fisk, not anyone else,” said Silvermane, as he leaned on his walking stick. “Today’s the day, I take back my city.”

The mobsters nodded. They had been in scuffles with the various pockets of the Kingpin’s old forces, but with Silvermane back in command, they would be back on the top of the food chain.

X-X-X-X-X

“Good thing you brought something tangible back Leeds, but this war is getting…LOCK THE DOOR BEHIND YOU!” bellowed Jameson. “Now, did any of you find out anything about Spider-Man? Is he alive? Dead? Grown extra arms? I need to know and know now.”

“I don’t know, anyone else know?” asked Ned Leeds as he shook his head, a bit shaken. Reading about what was out there and being out there was too different things.

“Nothing yet, Jonah, he saved those children and managed to distract those mobsters long enough for the police to get in, Peter doesn’t know anything, he’s normally close to the action,” said Robbie. “The Globe beat us to the punch…”

“Brock,” said Jameson in a grim voice. “Ungrateful little rat, taught him everything he knows…never mind, we’ll get the story. Be careful all of you…I’d hate to lose anyone out there and it costs too much to train up someone new. We’re going to be working around the clock, and…yes, you’ll be paid overtime.”

Jameson shuddered at the word. This would be a lean month for profits with all of the overtime that he had to pay. He returned to his desk, to make a few phone calls. The police was run ragged, the Mayor was trying to appease the situation, mob warfare had had innocent people caught in the crossfire, no one knew where Spider-Man was, and Jameson had to pay his employees more overtime than he had in the last ten years put together.

X-X-X-X-X

Norman Osborn moved at a brisk pace when he stopped, as his son Harry stood right out in the hallway, zoned out.

“Harry, watch where you’re going,” said Norman, as he glared right at his son. “Something’s troubling you, I suppose.”

“You could say that,” said Harry in monotone. “My friends…”

“Some teenage triviality, figures you’re moping around about it,” said Norman, as he waved his hand. “Harry, there comes a time where you need to be a man and not worry about how the world doesn’t automatically revolve around you. You either make things happen or get out of the way. If anything has happened to you, you’ve brought it on yourself. And if this is about some girl, that makes you even more pathetic. Women use you, I can guarantee you that women don’t like people like your personality.”

“Look it’s nothing like that, I just think that Peter and Gwen are keeping something from me!” yelled Harry. “Don’t you understand? NO ONE UNDERSTANDS?”

“Quit whining,” snapped Norman. “If Peter’s keeping something from you, he obviously thinks that it’s something your weak mind cannot handle. Obviously, if you needed to know, you would know. And if you aren’t smart enough to figure out whatever it is, then the obvious answer is that you don’t need to know. Today’s the day where you make a decision, Harry. Stop being a whiny child and man up or get out.”

“Fine, Dad, sorry for bothering you, the great Norman Osborn,” said Harry as Norman turned ,with disgust and distaste. “I’ll never bother you, ever again.”

Harry just clenched his fist. He felt himself slipping, but it was the only thing that he had to do, Peter had Gwen, Gwen had Peter, they had to be keeping something from him, and Mary Jane had toyed with his emotions before shoving him to the side. He had no one.

The harder he tries to grab onto control, the more it slipped away from.

A brief voice that said he was being paranoid was crushed.

He’d show them all. They’ll all be sorry.

X-X-X-X-X

Peter stirred slightly, as Gwen laid against him, arms wrapped around him, asleep. They had fallen asleep many hours ago, each other’s arms. In the dark, he saw that it was almost four in the morning. He was out light a light. Gently, Peter pulled himself away from his sleeping girlfriend and tucked the blanket around her, before his eyes spotted the television, which had been left on, with the volume nearly on mute.

His eyes widened, as there was a breaking news story, where several buildings were on fire. Apparently more causalities of the gang war right now. He spotted scrolling around the screen. It indicated that he was missing right now but that was not what caught his attention.

Hostage crisis, civilians trapped, threatening to shoot them if Spider-Man doesn’t show up by sun up, six adults and seven children confirmed to be captured.

Peter stepped away and looked right at Gwen, who was soundly sleeping. He could not bother waking her. He reached into his bag, before he pulled out his spare Spider-Man outfit and refilled his web shooters.

“I’ll be right back,” muttered Peter in a soft voice, but Gwen remained asleep and Peter pulled on his outfit.

Quietly, and carefully, Spider-Man managed to slip out and make his way out into the city, to deal with the hostage situation. His shoulder was a bit sore but he had to deal with it.

X-X-X-X-X

“Hammerhead, no sign of the web slinger yet.”

“He’ll come, if he knows what’s good for them,” said Hammerhead as he stood back. “Silvermane wants the spider squashed tonight and I’ve got a score to settle with the bug, after he made a fool out of me. If he doesn’t come, we start filling these folks full of lead. Starting with the kids. Hate kids. Bunch of whiny brats.”

The mobsters stood alert, as the hostages were trapped in the next room, tied up, awaiting their fate. Hammerhead’s ears perked up, as he heard a noise.

“Is that Spider-Man?” asked one of the mobsters in a hushed voice.

“He’s here,” said Hammerhead, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s give him a suitable welcome, boys.”

A movement in the shadows, as the mobsters began to fire right into the shadows up high and a large thump fell right to the ground. The mobsters moved right over.

“Just a dummy,” said the mobster, but immediately, webbing wrapped around his arms, as he was pulled up.

“You two would get along just great,” said a voice and with a clatter, two more mobsters found themselves hung upside down.

“Shoot him!” yelled Hammerhead, as he watched his men get picked apart from the shadows one by one, disarmed. “Bunch of amateurs, can’t even properly put the screws to one pesky bug!”

Hammerhead stepped over and smashed open a crate. He pulled out a large bazooka.

“Alright, you web slinging weirdo, time to blow you back to the freak show where you came,” said Hammerhead, as he pulled a trigger and a large blast blew a hole right through the ceiling. “Stand still so I can put you on ice.”

“Who writes your dialogue anyway?” asked Spider-Man before he spoke in a stereotypical 1920s gangster voice. “See, we’re going to stomp the spider, see, and we’re going to put the screws to him, see, its curtains for him, see. We’re going to fit him with some cement shoes, see, better go get Rocky and Mugsy so we can squash the spider, see. ”

“Shut up,” said Hammerhead as he fired two more times. “SHOW YOURSELF, YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

“Hey, watch it with the potty mouth, pal,” said Spider-Man and with a swift motion he web yanked the bazooka right from his hands.

Spider-Man moved for Hammerhead, but the gangster just stood there. Any shot to the head would be shrugged off.

Unfortunately for Hammerhead, Spider-Man was not aiming for the head. His aim was more south of the border.

As Hammerhead found out the hard way, as he dropped to his knees, cupping his crotch and wincing in pain.

“That’s dirty,” grunted Hammerhead in pain.

“And shooting someone with a Bazooka is sporting and perfectly fair play,” replied Spider-Man as he prepared to web Hammerhead up but his spider sense was activated, and a shower of bullets spiraled towards him, which forced him into evasive moves.

“Another splinter faction,” grumbled Hammerhead. “Sorry, Spider-Man, but we’re going to have to cut this date a bit short, see you later, if you’re in one piece.”

“And here he is, leaving me to pick up the check,” muttered Spider-Man. “Time to play limbo with lead.”

Spider-Man waited, as the doors of the factory opened, but immediately tear gas was shot in. The wall crawler placed his hand up, shielding is his eyes, as the New York City Police Force.

“Hammerhead snuck out the back way!” shouted Spider-Man.

“I’m afraid he’s long gone by now, Spider-Man,” said Captain Stacy. “The hostage situation was bad, but you seemed to deal with most of the kidnappers, except for Hammerhead. Of course, another faction had to stick their nose right into here.”

“Guess I made a mistake with taking down the Kingpin,” said Spider-Man.

“Maybe,” said Captain Stacy. “But, this conflict was brewing for some time. So it’s hard to tell if it would have been better or worse. The important thing is that you’ve managed to save the hostages and take down most of the kidnappers….lead them out once we get the all clear.”

“Silvermane, he has it in for me and I haven’t even met the old guy,” thought Spider-Man. “Well I foiled Hammerhead stealing that stupid tablet before, but really, that’s a bit extreme wanting to kill me for that. I mean, some antique can’t be worth my life.”

“We’ve had a long couple of weeks, but you know that,” said Captain Stacy but he paused and Spider-Man turned around. “Just a practiced behavior, looking over your shoulder, but you know the hazards better than anyone.”

“Indeed,” said Spider-Man right now. He had a feeling that the battle was just beginning although the air of mystery about what was beginning stumped him.

Little did he know of the microscopic camera that had pinpointed his exact location.

X-X-X-X-X

“Perfect,” muttered a voice from the shadows. “Spider-Man is out there, dealing with the Kingpin’s former gang members, squabbling over bread crumbs. I have managed to assure that they lose and only I win. Months I had planned this and I will prove that scientific brilliance will rule out over brutality. Now to test the device, plan is in motion, logging details of experiment, starting now. Today’s the day where I take what’s mine.”

A metal arm reached up, and latched onto the lever.

“Pleasant dreams, you meddlesome arachnid,” said the voice and the lever was pulled.

In a flash, the entire city descended into anarchy.

X-X-X-X-X

At that moment, Spider-Man stood right there, moments after talking to Captain Stacy, but he found that it took an extreme amount of effort to move his mouth to talk and he struggled to shift his eyes over to see that everything had been frozen right in motion around him or at least had been slowed down to an absolutely dismal crawl.

“We might have a bit of a problem,” thought Spider-Man, as he couldn’t even lift his legs to make a step forward, he could barely lift his eye lids to blink and no one else seemed to have much better look. It was beginning to be a laborious chore to even draw breath “And by bit of a problem, I mean a huge problem.”

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