“Otto, you have nothing to worry about,” he growled into the small cellular headset. “You asked me to spy on the Black Tarantula, but I’m not going native. My loyalty is still to the Six.”
“That had better be the truth,” he said. “After recent events…”
“Yeah, Otto, I know,” he said. “You need me to prove my loyalty. Don’t worry; the Six will come first. No. Matter. What.”
“We’d better.” The unsaid threat in Doctor Octopus’ voice was enough to send chills down his spine. Otto Octavius was one of the most frightening men he knew and people underestimated him. Mac’s phone began beeping. He pulled it out of his pocket enough to see the caller ID.
“I need to go Otto,” he said. He clicked to the other call. “Tarantula, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
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#8
OCT 11 |
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“Bugs”
Peter Parker didn’t dare open his eyes. He’d gone to bed with a migraine and the incessant sound of the rain hadn’t helped. The Kraven fight earlier in the week had beaten him up pretty badly and, usually, his enhanced body helped him through the effects quicker, but apparently he had hit his head at some point in the fight this time.
“How you feeling, sleepy-head?” a voice whispered in his ear. Peter smiled and rolled over, cracking his eyes open as much as he dared. No pain, thankfully. He smiled at Mary Jane, clad in a bathrobe, her hair freshly dried.
“Better,” he said. “I was a little baby last night, wasn’t I?”
“A little,” she said. “You’re cute when you’re like that though.” She kissed his forehead. “Doctor McCoy said you should be a hundred percent soon.”
“Doctor McCoy is a fuzzy blue teddy bear,” he said.
“Yeah, he is,” MJ said, standing up. “Aunt May called. Give her a call after you shower. There’s some Tylenol and a Coke on the bathroom counter for you.” She walked over to the dresser, slipped the bathrobe off and began pulling underwear from the drawer.
“Thanks for taking care of me last night,” Peter muttered. “I say anything weird?”
“A little babbling,” she said, slipping on her panties then a sports bra. “Typical stuff.” She turned and grabbed a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt.
“Okay, good,” he said. He sat up carefully and slid to the edge of the bed. “Going to work out?”
“Yeah, I’ll be back in a bit,” she said, pulling the pants on, stumbling slightly. She stepped over and kissed him on the forehead. “Love you.”
“You too,” he whispered. She walked out of the bedroom, the shirt still over her shoulder. He stood slowly and staggered into the bathroom. He found the medicine in a Dixie cup next to a small bottle of soda. He threw the three pills in his mouth, chewed them twice, then twisted the soda open and chugged it. He reached over and turned the water on, turning it as hot as he could stand. He stepped in and stood underneath the water until it started to cool before soaping and rinsing quickly. He stepped out and grabbed his towel, feeling much better already.
He dressed quickly and picked up his phone. The school had just started break and he was going to try getting back to the Bugle for the summer, yet he had a more important phone call first. He pressed speed dial three and it rang twice before she picked up.
“Oh, sorry, Peter,” May Parker said. “This darn phone is so hard to read sometimes. How are you?”
“Good, Aunt May,” he said. “How are you?”
“Oh, just as busy as ever,” she said. “Can I still count on you and MJ Saturday night for dinner? I have a lovely chicken in the freezer for that night.”
“We’re both planning on it,” he said. “MJ is going to try making brownies from scratch. She’s almost got it down perfect.”
“Wonderful,” she said. “I’ll plan on you at 6:30?”
“And not a minute sooner!” Peter joked. “We’ll see you then.”
“Goodbye Peter,” she said.
“See you soon May.” He hung up and slipped the phone into his pocket. He sighed as he slipped out the door, thinking, Now to get across town to the Bugle without my brain exploding.
Gargan found the place pretty easily, but he figured the Black Tarantula probably liked it that way. He pulled the small side door open and slid inside, and the first thing to hit him was the smell. When he heard ‘Insect League’ or ‘Bug Society’ or whatever, he expected a bunch of armored and costumed types. It smelled like that wasn’t all they got.
The room seemed to be divided. The costumed types were against one wall, while the freaks, which were thankfully few in number, on another. His skin crawled as he heard the full-scale sound of a man sized bug rush away from the light.
“Oh hell,” muttered a man he recognized as the Human Fly. “I didn’t sign up for this.”
“Well, tough, kid,” Gargan said. “You’re in it. Welcome to supervillainy.”
“I’ve been around for years!” he protested.
“Oh yeah?” Mac grunted. “You were turned into a human-slash-fly hybrid then changed back? Really kid…you’re barely legal.”
“An astute point, Scorpion,” a deep, charming voice said from the shadows. The Black Tarantula emerged from the shadows hushing the room except for an occasional skitter. Mac shuddered again. “I used the term insect quite loosely when I gathered you all here,” he said, “but it is our due time. The insects of the world outnumber all other living beings on the planet. I intend to make that true of those who take the likeness of the insect as well. We have a beautiful opportunity for power here and it is time to gather that power. Organized crime in New York City is at its lowest so now is our opportunity to make New York kneel at our feet!”
Mac grinned. The guy wasn’t half bad.
Peter winced as the horn honked and he shut the large glass door of the Daily Bugle behind him. His head was starting to throb again. He closed his eyes for a minute before walking up to the front desk.
“Hey Pete!” the security guard, Carl, exclaimed. “Long time no see.”
“Hey Carl,” he said. “The boss upstairs?”
“As he always is,” he said. “Good to see you!”
Peter walked past to the elevator and pressed UP. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the elevator dinged. He stepped inside and pressed the button he always did, leading straight to the city room. He grinned and waited for the chaos.
It came immediately as the doors opened. He pushed forward, keeping his head down as stories were called out across the room, flash drives flew over his head and information passed around him quickly. A few looked up at him, recognizing him and saying hello. Passing by him quickly, Ben Urich patted him on the shoulder and muttered an enthusiastic greeting that he almost entirely missed. He came to a stop at Glory Grant’s desk where he could see Jonah and Robbie talking inside Jonah’s office and it looked as heated as always. Curiously, there was a third figure with his back to the door and something seemed familiar about him to Peter.
“Hey Glory, how you doing?” Peter said.
She looked up at him and grinned. “Peter,” she said. “Hey, glad to see you. How are you?”
“Wonderful as ever,” he said. “Just looking for a little summer work while school is out, you know. How about you?”
“About the same,” she said. “I’m glad to hear that you and MJ are back together. We need to do dinner sometime. You guys, Randy and I?”
“As long as Randy isn’t bitter at me for leaving my cheese behind in the fridge,” he laughed.
Glory chuckled. “No, he’s not. Or I don’t think so, at least.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Pete, but it looks like this meeting is pretty deep. They may be a litt–” The third man turned around and smiled at Peter and he suddenly stopped listening to Glory.
What the hell was Ezekiel doing in there?
“Peter?” Glory said. “Pete? Hey!” She was standing up snapping at him now.
He shook his head and muttered an apology. “So, who is he and why is he talking to Jonah?” Peter asked.
“That’s Ezekiel Sims,” she said, “a new stockholder in the Bugle. He’s in here to make a few big changes, and one of those things is a new monthly magazine.” Ezekiel began waving to Peter. “And he looks like he knows you…”
“We’ve met,” Peter said, “but we’ve never really been formally introduced.” He grinned at Glory. “We’ll call you guys about dinner, okay?”
“I’m sorry Jonah,” Ezekiel said as Peter walked into the room, “but I’m not budging. If we’re making ‘The DB’ happen, I want Peter involved.”
“Excuse me?” Peter said.
“Don’t you read my paper, Parker?” Jonah growled. “The DB–,” he practically sneered the name, “–is the Board of Director’s new ploy at more readers. A weekly newsmagazine that our new Chairman of the Board, Mister Sims here, wants you to be the photo editor for, or whatever. I don’t know why…”
“Because,” Robbie interjected, “Peter’s one of the best photographers we’ve had and, for some reason, you’ve never brought him onto the staff.”
Jonah scowled at him for a moment before turning back to Peter. “Do you want the job Parker?” he growled. “It’ll come with a salary plus expenses.” Ezekiel turned to smile him and Robbie gave a smirk.
“I’ll have to talk to MJ about it,” he said, “and get a few more specifics, but…count me in.” Ezekiel named the salary figure and Peter’s jaw dropped. “Uhm, let me make that phone call…”
Mary Jane sat down at the computer, toweling her hair dry and looked at the clock. Peter must have still been at the Bugle. She logged into the computer as her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID: Peter. She pressed the answer button then quickly put the phone on speaker.
“Hey Tiger, what’s the good news?” she said.
“Jonah just offered me a salary position,” he said. “Photo editor of the Bugle’s newsmagazine.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” MJ exclaimed. “How much?” Peter named the salary figure and her eyes widened. “Pete, you need to take that. You’d be doing something you love and be making a ton of money while you do it.”
“I know,” he said, sighing. “Okay, I’ll tell him I’ll take it. I love you, MJ.”
“You too, Tiger,” she said. “I’ll talk to you when you get home.” She couldn’t help but smile as it was great news for the both of them. She turned back to the computer to find a folder open on the desktop. It was full of images she’d never seen before. She started opening files.
Captain America emerging from a burning building, a small child in his arms.
Thor in the sky framed by the New York skyline and a massive thunderstorm.
The Thing playing basketball with a small group of kids on Yancy Street, Johnny Storm laughing in the background.
They were unbelievable and there were hundreds more just like them. She hadn’t seen a single one of them but they must have spanned all of Peter’s superheroic career She opened an internet browser window; these images deserved to be out there.
Peter walked from the Daily Bugle offices with a grin on his face. Everything had been arranged and was ready to go. Now all he had to do was tell the school he wouldn’t be coming back in the fall. His phone suddenly started ringing but it was a private number. He answered quickly.
“Spidey, it’s me,” a female voice said before he could speak. Peter quickly recognized it as Mari Pacheco, his young superheroic protégé Wanderer.
“Wanda, what’s up?”
“I’m sending you my location and we need help FAST,” she said. “They’ve already taken out Rico and I can’t get in touch with Phil.”
“I’m on my way,” Peter said. He rushed into a nearby alleyway and began climbing the wall quickly. He wasn’t sure exactly how he’d gained an entourage but he was grateful. His little pack of heroes had bailed him out a time or two and he had done the same for them. On the roof, he quickly changed from his street clothes into the blue and red costume that had made him famous. He fitted his webshooters over his wrists, slipped his gloves on and then his mask. He took a running leap off the edge of the building and fired a thick strand of webbing to an adjacent building. Tugging as hard as he could, he went sailing forward.
Webslinging was one of the best parts of this job.
Johnny Gallo didn’t believe in the expression ‘seeing stars’ until he’d first put on his Ricochet costume as a part of the Slingers. The first time he got hit in the back of the head though…he didn’t even remember what was happening but he remembered the sensation and it was definitely described best as ‘seeing stars’.
The moment the Human Fly attacked them, he felt it all over again.
Johnny and Mari had been sharing lunch when it happened, though both were in costume, enjoying an afternoon off from work and responsibility in general. Johnny had grown to like Mari quite a bit in the last few months of working with her and he got the distinct feeling that it was mutual. He was about to start ‘the talk’ when a red and white figure attacked them from nowhere.
The Human Fly hit Johnny from the side and sent him sprawling. His head hit the cement ledge of the roof and suddenly he was seeing stars. It was several minutes before his vision cleared enough to realize that Wanderer was fighting several bug-like bad guys all at once. He tried to stand but a shock of pain froze his body and he collapsed again.
He tried to push himself up again but found himself collapsing to the gravel once again. He knew Mari was inexperienced and that she wouldn’t last long. A large butterfly-like villain dove at her and he was helpless as he watched her get knocked onto her butt.
Suddenly a blur and red and blue sailed over top of them. A thick line of webbing attached to the butterfly’s back as he flew over them and Spider-Man tugged fiercely the moment he hit the ground. The woman somersaulted through the air in a large arc before slamming into the roof, where Spidey instantly covered her in his webbing.
He then spun and cracked his knuckles.”And THAT is how physics are applied in the real world!” he whooped. “Who’s up next?!”
Johnny’s attacker, the young acrobat that had assumed the Human Fly name, came at him first. Peter dodged his first clumsy punches, grabbed the scruff of his neck and spun around, throwing him at one of the other bugs, who resembled a pill-bug.
“You guys okay?” he asked and dodged a moth with a skull-like pattern on its wings.
“A little bruised,” Wanderer said. “Jo-Rico’s been down for a few minutes!”
“Take care of him!” Peter exclaimed. He grabbed the moth’s wrist, twisted and slammed him into the ground.
Wanderer sprinted across the rooftop, joining Ricochet. Johnny smiled at her beneath his mask. “Hello beautiful,” he muttered.
“You okay?” she asked.
“A little dizzy,” he said.
“It’ll be okay,” she said. “I’m here now. We’ll make sure you’re fine.”
“I luuuuv you,” Johnny slurred as he started to black out again.
“Rico, stay with me!” she cried. “Stay awake!”
Peter shot a look at them. Johnny probably had a concussion so passing out was a bad thing. He spun and clothes-lined Human Fly as he made his next rush at him.
“Wanda, get him out of here!” he said. “Keep him awake and get him to the people I told you about!” He watched her lift him and whisper in his ear, then jump away, firing a web line of her own from her webshooters.
“Who are you freaks?” Peter exclaimed. “I thought I had the market cornered on creepy-crawly themed costumed antics!”
“You wish, Spider,” a very familiar voice chuckled. He turned to face the Scorpion a split second before his tail slammed into his side. He tumbled across the roof and came to a stop next to the butterfly.
“We’re the Insect League, and I think that makes us your worst nightmare.”
Phil Urich took the small bundle from the older gentleman eagerly. He handed him an envelope and the man glanced at its contents quickly. He slipped the envelope into his pocket with a smile.
“Everything will be in order,” he said, “and back at one-hundred percent. And the new vial of serum will be quite potent. I recommend not taking it until you’re ready to use it.”
“Thank you,” Phil said. “You don’t know what this means to me.”
“I have some idea,” he said. “Be careful Mister Urich.” Phil’s cell phone began ringing again. He grinned and pulled it from his pocket. “Yeah, Wanderer,” he said. “I’m on my way to help now!”
He dashed away and the older gentleman smiled as he turned and walked away. He tapped his headset as he walked. “Yes, sir,” he said. “The package was delivered. He doesn’t suspect anything. The Spider is keeping a tether on him, but I don’t believe even he knows the extent.”
He paused and chuckled. “Of course, Mister Osborn. I’ll keep in touch.”
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To Be Continued...
Next: In Amazing Spider-Man #9: Peter faces the Insect League alone, while Phil and Marianna do their best to get Johnny to safety! Even a struggle for his life won’t prepare Peter for next issue’s shocking ending! Trust me, it’s not hype, and the Spider-Man universe will be changed forever!
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