By Peter
Part 5
Disclaimer: No, I’m not Stan Lee, so I don’t own Spider-Man. Peter, MJ, Harry, JJJ, and the rest of our colorful cast are the property of Marvel Comics. I don’t own them.
Rating: PG-13
Category: Peter/MJ. Come on…like there’s any other fan base out there yet.
Spoilers: Takes place after the movie. Say…a week.
“PETER!” Mary Jane screamed as she saw ‘Spider-Man’ throw her friend over the side of the building.
Of course, she knew it wasn’t really Spider-Man. Peter WAS Spider-Man, so this newcomer was definitely an imposter. That still didn’t change the fact that he just threw Peter to his death.
The imposter quickly pointed an accusing finger and Jenkins, and snarled…
“Keep your eyes open, Jenkins! You’re next!”
And with that, he leapt away.
*****
The only thing Peter knew was that he had to act quickly. Whoever that was back on the roof, he could be hurting other people any minute. He had to stop him as fast as possible.
Of course…, he thought. I can’t help anyone if I’m road pizza.
Peter flexed his muscles out until, surprisingly, the webbing holding his arms to his sides broke apart. Then, with a sudden flick of his wrists, two strands of webbing shot out of his arms. The both anchored to the side of a building, letting him swing to safety.
He leapt to the side of the Daily Bugle building, crawling to the space between it and its neighbor. He began to peel off his clothes, revealing the red-and-blue costume underneath.
No one saw me web-swing, otherwise my spider-sense would have warned me, he thought. Which means there’s nothing left to do but see how THIS guy likes getting thrown off buildings.
*****
The attacker quickly leapt from rooftop to rooftop, chuckling to himself. Phase two of the plan was complete. From now on, he didn’t even have to worry about that Spider-Man person anymore. He'll be too busy hiding from murder charges to worry about him.
“Niiiice outfit,” a voice called from behind him. “I just love being a trend-setter!”
“Huh?” he imposter exclaimed, turning around. Anchored to the chimney behind him was Spider-Man. The REAL Spider-Man.
“Shouldn’t you be cleaning the twerp off the road by now?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Sorry about that!” Spidey called, landing on the ground. “I snatched Parker before he went splat. Mind explaining why you have to go with this ‘celebrity look-alike’ routine? Who am I, Elvis or something?”
“How are you sure that I’m the fake?” the other Spider-Man asked.
Then he shot a webline towards him. Peter ducked just in time, narrowly avoiding it.
What the…, he thought. My spider-sense didn’t even warn me. Who is this guy?
“Missed me!” he called out.
Cold, ominous laughter came suddenly from his opponent. The eyes on his mask suddenly started to glow.
“Did I?”
It was then that Spider-Man noticed a slight fog surrounding him. With it, an itching feeling on his hand.
He looked down in horror to see a dozen spiders crawling over him.
“AHHHHHHH!!!” he screamed in terror, trying to shake them off.
It was no use at all. The more he moved, the more appeared on him. While a few feet away, his attacker simply laughed.
“HA!” he exclaimed. “This is a sight, isn’t it? Spider-Man is afraid of spiders?”
Just then, there were interrupted by a noise from above. A police chopper had arrived on the scene, shining a light on them.
“You are under arrest!” an officer said from the cockpit. “Lie on the ground, and put your…”
He stopped in mid-sentence, eyes darting back and forth between the two men on the roof. He turned to the pilot in confusion.
“Two Spider-Men?” he asked.
“Better bring in both!” the pilot answered.
“Sorry!” one of the Spider-Men told them. “You’re going to be a little busy…”
With that, he pulled a grenade out of thin air, and hurled it at the back rotor of the chopper. It exploded, causing the airborne vehicle to spin out of control.
Satisfied, the Spider-Man who threw the grenade leapt into the air and web-swung away, leaving the remaining one to gasp in horror at the scene taking place.
“Oh no…” he said aloud, and leapt towards downwards after the chopper. If the helicopter hit the ground, it would not only kill the people inside, but probably a dozen pedestrians as well.
Though, he wasn’t sure how to stop it from falling. If he shot a webline, the sudden stop would cause it to break apart. And he couldn’t exactly catch it.
Or could he?
Beneath his mask, Peter smiled. He had an idea. Moving his body into a diving position, he managed to fall faster than the helicopter, which was still attempting to remain airborne, despite the damage to the rotor. Quickly, he shot webbing left and right, left and right, until almost the entire area between the two buildings was covered in a stylized ‘net web’.
Just in time, too. Because the second Spider-Man anchored himself to the side of the building, the chopper hit the web. It stretched out, but by some miracle managed to hold.
“Whew!” Spidey sighed in relief. “Glad that worked.”
He jumped onto the web, and ripped the helicopter door off its hinge, using his bare hands. Carefully, he helped the two cops out.
“Thank you for flying air arachnid…” he joked. “I apologize for the slight turbulence, and the fact that our in-flight movie has been postponed for the time being.”
“Wow!” the pilot exclaimed. “Thanks, Spider-Man!”
“Hey, it’s what I do!” he responded. “Just make sure they get this thing down in an hour or so, otherwise it’s still gonna leave a big mess.”
*****
Back on the roof, Mary Jane watched as Spider-Man helped the two police officers get back to street level. She sighed in relief that he was all right.
But who was that other one? And where had he disappeared to?
*****
Meanwhile, on the other side of town…
The second ‘Spider-Man’ dropped down on the balcony of a local brownstone, chuckling to himself. This was almost too easy. Not only did he get to shake up Jenkins, but that meddling idiot took the blame for it.
He slipped into the apartment, pulling the gloves off. Underneath them are a second pair of gloves, outfitted with complex wiring and switches. He points one at the TV, which turns on.
He pulls off the mask, although his face is still concealed by shadow. His happy mood quickly changes, as he sees the following news report.
“Eye witnesses claim there was, in fact, another Spider-Man on the scene!” the anchorman announced. “It is believed that the one who fled the scene first was responsible for the attack of film producer John Jenkins, as well as an attack on a local police chopper…”
Before it can finish, a blast of energy fires from the glove, shattering the screen.
“Damn it!” he mutters. “Very well. I’m a patient man!”
He pulls off the rest of the costume, revealing a black bodysuit underneath. It’s covered with the very same circuitry that the gloves have.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business…” he continued saying to himself. “It’s patience!”
*****
Later, at the apartment shared by Peter Parker and Harry Osborn…
“You wouldn’t know it to look at her, Pete!” Harry told his roommate. “But Gwen is…she’s like this Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde girl.”
“You know, most people would consider that a bad thing, Harry!” Peter responded, looking up from his book.
“No, no, not like that!” he corrected himself. “I mean, out in public she’s, well…fun. She jokes at lot, and doesn’t take hardly anything seriously. But a few minutes in the office…and boom, completely serious. Let me tell you, I need someone like her if I’m going to be taking over dad’s business.”
Peter puts away the book, and turns to Harry.
“How you holding up?” he asked. “It must be pretty hard.”
“My father was a genius, Peter!” Harry explained. “I’ve looked through his lab, his notes…this stuff is just incredible. He had at least five projects he was working on before he died. I’ve been looking through them. It makes me feel like he’s still there, you know?”
Peter nodded his head, but a part of him couldn’t help but be worried. Those projects…how much of them were Norman Osborn’s ideas, and how many came from the Green Goblin. He wanted to tell Harry, to warn him. But he made a promise that he wouldn’t say anything about Norman being the Goblin. It was Osborn’s dying wish.
“Still…” Harry sighed. “When dad was running the company, he had an entire board of directors to help him. I’m alone…and I know hardly anything about running a business. Especially one like OsCorp!”
“Didn’t your dad know anyone else in the business?” Peter asked him. “You know…someone who wasn’t a competitor? Someone who could give you advice?”
Harry thought for a moment, then smiled.
“Stark!” he said. “I could ask Tony Stark!”
Peter’s eyes went wide.
“Your dad knew Tony Stark?” he asked, surprised.
“Yeah, and he inherited his company when his parents died too, right?” Harry asked. “Stark doesn’t even make weapons anymore, so we’re not competitors. He could probably give me a few pointers!”
Harry grabbed his coat, and headed for the door.
“I’m gonna go set up an appointment!” he said. “Don’t wait up!”
“Good luck, Har!” Peter said as he left.
However, just as Harry ran down the hall, Mary Jane was walking towards their room.
“Hi MJ!” Harry greeted her. “Bye MJ!”
Then he left, leaving her confused.
“Don’t ask!” Peter told her.
She entered the apartment and closed the door behind her.
“Are you ok?” she asked, sounding concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine!” he reassured her. “As a matter of fact, I think I may be onto something!”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I’m listening!”
“Ok, I did a search at the Bugle, right after I spoke with those reporters,” he explained. “Now that I know this guy’s after Jenkins and not you, it was easier to find suspects.”
“Too easy, if you ask me!” she sighed. “He’s a Hollywood bigwig. He probably has more enemies than Bill Gates!”
Peter smiled.
“Oh, definitely!” Peter agreed. “But how many people in the business?”
“Excuse me?” she asked. “You lost me, Tiger!”
“Ok, look at the evidence!” he continued. “A giant dinosaur hologram in the park. Star Wars spaceships at the audition. A perfect duplicate of Spider-Man, right down to my voice. These are special effects! He’s attacking with movies!”
“So you think this guy is a jilted employee?” she asked. “Well, that narrows it down, but…?”
“Like I said,” Peter cut her off. “I did a search on the Bugle files, and came up with twelve names. I narrowed it to special effects, and came up with one!”
Slowly, a smile crossed her face.
Peter reached over on his desk and pulled out a computer printout. He handed it to Mary Jane, who looked over it.
“His name was Quentin Beck!” Peter told her.
She examined the face on the photograph. He looked about middle-aged, with jet-black hair, and a flat nose.
“This guy was a genius!” Peter continued. “He was working at ILM, until he quit a few years ago!”
“Why?” she asked.
“Strangely enough, because he felt they were being too narrow-minded!” Peter told her. “It was just after Jurassic Park came out. According to this, he didn’t like their sudden dependence on CGI graphics. Felt they lacked realism. Beck created some of the most complex 3-dimensional illusions ever…the idea that computers could replace him was too much for his ego.”
Peter then pulled out a newspaper article, dated one year ago.
“Jenkins hired him for a movie about a year ago!” he explained. “Rumor had it that Beck had come up with a real-life illusion program that would rival CGI. But near the climax of the film, there was too much TNT in one of the explosions. It killed the leading lady!”
Mary Jane’s face went white.
“Oh god…” she whispered.
“Yeah, he was arrested for it!” Peter told her. “But he claimed Jenkins forced him to increase the TNT. Said he wanted a bigger explosion. Robbie thinks Jenkins bought off the jury. Beck was mad…really mad! He vowed that ‘he’d get him for this’!”
“If that’s true, don’t you think Jenkins deserves what he gets?” she asked.
Peter thought for a moment, considering what she said. Suddenly, images of another person who ‘deserved what he got’ went through his mind:
“Now he’s getting away with my money!”
“I missed the part where that’s my problem!”
“Beck doesn’t care who else gets hurt along the way, though!” Peter reminded her. “He’s already killed people. He tried to kill you!”
Mary Jane looks at him, slightly scared.
“Please don’t remind me of that again,” she whispered.
Peter took her by the hand.
“Sorry!” he said.
She smiled.
“At least now I know who I’m looking for,” Peter reminded her. “Quentin Beck’s just an ordinary guy, not like Osborn. Now that he can’t hide anymore, I just need to find him. Robbie even gave me an address.”
“Well, I’m going to head home, ok?” she told him. “And Peter? Thanks…for everything!”
She kisses him on the forehead, then leaves. Once she’s gone, Peter grabs the phone and dials.
“Hey Robbie?” he asked into it. “What’s that address again?”
*****
About twenty minutes later, Peter knocked on the door of the brownstone.
“Hello?” he called out. “Is this…uh…Quentin Beck? I’m a huge fan of your work!”
He peeked through the eyehole in the door.
“Anybody home?”
Once again, no one answered. Peter kicked the door down.
What he saw inside was amazing. The walls were lined with electronics. Some of which he’d never seen before.
“Well, the guy likes to tinker!” he remarked.
Then something caught his eyes. The door to the back room was half-opened. Curious, Peter went inside.
It was some sort of workshop. On that table were a dozen rubber masks, a few buckets of paint, a dissembled computer, and a miniature jet. The same kind that had attacked the audition. Then, on a mannequin behind him, was a 100% accurate Spider-Man costume.
Well, if this didn’t prove Beck was guilty, nothing would.
Peter began to snap some photographs of the room, making sure to capture all the evidence.
However, just then, he got the strangest feeling…his spider sense began to blare. He couldn’t explain it, but his spider sense had three different frequencies:
Low, for low-level danger…like someone spying on him or that he’s about to fall or bump into someone.
Medium, for immediate danger. Someone shooting at him or sneaking up from behind.
Then there was high. In other words…get the hell out of there RIGHT NOW!!!
Just that moment, it was in high mode.
Quickly, Peter raced out of the room and towards the exit. A light beeping noise sounded from every digital clock in the room. Peter leapt into the air, attaching his hands to the doorframe, and launching himself outside.
Just as the entire apartment exploded, sending glass and concrete flying everywhere.
“This guy’s good!” Peter muttered, dusting himself off. “This guy is really, really good!”
*****
“Huh?!” MJ exclaimed, startled by the phone ringing.
She had fallen asleep on the couch, reading a magazine. Not that anyone could blame her. After the past few days, she was completely exhausted. She didn’t even know if she wanted that part in the movie anymore. There was something about working for a murderer that made her nervous.
At least she didn’t have to worry about Beck anymore. Peter would take care of him.
Mary Jane sighed. For some reason, she wished that Peter Parker really WAS all he seemed to be. If only she had noticed him before Spider-Man had come on the scene, back in High School. Granted, Liz and the others would have laughed at her about it, and her ‘popular girl’ status would have been stripped away…but at least she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now.
She was kidding herself, of course. She definitely noticed Peter then. She thought he was cute, in a Harry Potter sort of way. So why didn’t she show her interest? She was scared, really. That people would look at her differently for being interested in ‘Puny’ Peter Parker. Or maybe she knew what Flash would have done to him if he saw them together.
“Alright!” she yelled out loud, picking up the phone. “Hello?”
“Mary Jane?” Peter Parker’s voice answered.
MJ grinned from ear-to-ear. He was calling her. Yeah, it probably wasn’t for what she wished it was, but it was a start.
“Hey Tiger!” she replied. “What’s up?”
“I want to talk to you,” he continued. “Could you meet me at the Sunshine Studios lot downtown?”
“Sure,” she responded. “Is this about Quinton Beck?”
He paused for a moment.
“Yeah, exactly!” he said finally. “I’ll be there around 8. See you there!”
Quickly, he hung up. MJ stared at the phone confused for a moment.
*****
A little while later…
“Coming…” Gwen Stacy called out as she answered the front door of the apartment.
On the other side was Peter Parker.
“Hey Gwen!” he greeted her. “Is MJ here? I need to talk to her about something.”
Gwen looked at him blankly.
“What?” he asked.
“She went out,” she tried to explain. “Said she was meeting you somewhere.”
Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion.
“That’s impossible,” he argued. “I don’t remember…”
“You called here and told her to meet you tonight,” Gwen told him.
She walked into the apartment, with Peter following behind her.
“No I didn’t!” Peter assured her. “Believe me, I’d…”
Then he paused, panic filling his eyes.
“Oh my god…” he whispered.
“What?” Gwen asked.
Peter grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Where?” he asked. “Gwen, where did ‘I’ say I was going to meet her?”
“Um, at the Sunshine Studios lot downtown!” she answered. “What is with you, Parker?”
She turned towards the kitchen.
“I swear, you have a mind like a sieve…” she continued, turning back towards him.
However, Peter was no longer there.
“Pete?” she asked, then noticed the open window.
She stepped towards it, looking out. She swore that it had been closed earlier. He couldn’t have…
“Oh, be realistic!” she said out loud, closing the window back up. “We’re three stories up. He couldn’t have possibly gotten out through here!”
However, if young Miss Stacy had bothered to look upwards, she would have seen someone changing in the darkness on the roof. Within moments, Peter Parker had disappeared.
And in his place was the Amazing Spider-Man.
“Just hope I’m not too late!” he said, leaping off the ledge of the building, shooting webline after webline as he crisscrossed over the city.
*****
“Hello?” Mary Jane called out to the dark studio lot. “Peter?”
It was pitch black, not a single sign of life at all. Why had Peter wanted to meet here?
“Hello?” she called again.
Then, without warning, a hand grasped her wrist. She screamed.
“Quiet!” Jenkins said, moving into the light. “I’m here. So…?”
“Mr. Jenkins?” she asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“You know damn well what I’m doing here!” he spat. “So what do you want out of it, lady? Money? The part?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“I got your message!” he told her. “It was an accident, believe me…I never wanted her to die! It cost me the whole picture. Do you have any idea how much money that was?”
“Ah, of course!” a voiced called out above them. “That’s what it was always about, right John? The money. Not the art…just how much you could line your pockets!”
Both of them froze. Jenkins recognized the voice.
“Beck?” he whispered. “Quentin Beck?”
“Oh, you’ll have to speak up, Johnny…I don’t think the lovely lady heard you!” the voice called out again. “Do you hear that, Miss Watson? Someone died, and all he can worry about is his wallet. He even went so far as to blame an innocent FX man for his mistake. Now, I ask you…is that fair?”
Slowly, a thick green mist began to seep into the building. It didn’t smell like gas, so MJ knew it wasn’t dangerous. But it still made her feel strange.
“Listen, Beck!” Jenkins said, stepping forward. “We can work together again maybe? I’m working on a project that…”
His response was laughter.
“Work together?” he asked. “Oh, I quite doubt that. You see, I’ve grown beyond you…in more ways than one. Remember that new technology I was working on? Well, I’ve perfected it. All that’s left is to test it!”
A loud crashing sound was heard, echoing through the studio. Then, with almost lightning speed, a giant pair of hands grabbed the two of them, lifting them into the air.
“What was that you told me was the most important thing about show business?” the voice asked, though now it was coming from an obvious source. “Always make an impression!”
Mary Jane screamed again, as did John Jenkins. For they saw the twenty-foot tall man who held them now. He was dressed in green, with yellow gloves and boots. A long, majestic purple cape was fastened to his back by Egyptian eye symbols. He had no head, but instead a glowing glass done where his head should have been.
“Beck?!” Jenkins asked in shock.
“Call me by my new name, traitor!” the giant ordered. “I…am…MYSTERIO!!!!”