Web of the Spider Woman

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! "THOUGHTS"

Chapter Seventeen

As soon as her men had finished overseeing the deaths of the crime bosses, they came back inside the warehouse with the mind-controlled henchmen of the late crime bosses walking after them.

"It's done, boss. All those guys are dead. I saw to it myself," the lead henchman of the soldiers confirmed. "I even shot a couple of them to make sure."

"Good." With a wave of her hands, Serena made all of the faux pas flames disappear.

"Wait a minute. Where's that rascally White Rabbit? Didn't we leave her on top of all that money?"

"She must have slipped out during all the excitement, boss!" the lead henchman commented.

Serena had a perplexed look on her face. Then she relented. "Oh, well. We got what we wanted."

"When are we going to divvy all that money?" Igor asked, licking his chops at the mountain of cash in the room.

"Not yet, little man. There's some unfinished business to discuss first."

Then Serena turned towards the gunmen on whom she had used her mind control, using her telekinesis to take their guns from them and letting the gunmen free as far as her mental powers were concerned.

"You guys listen up. You can work for me and do things my way or you can die horribly. What's it going to be?"

The men looked at each other for a moment, noticing that they were surrounded by Serena's men who were armed with weapons poised on them. Each of them sweated nervously but sweated more as they regarded the frightening yet beautiful countenance of Serena Jade glaring right at them.

"All right, have things your way."

"I always have things my way. Now, where were we?"

"We were talking about how we were going to divide up the money," the henchman wearing a winged monkey outfit answered.

"Oh, yeah, that. Lucy, go ahead and divide the spoils. Don't forget my usual ten percent. Now, where's my new boy toy?" Serena searched around until she found the cute guy she had recently got out of prison.

"There you are," Serena said as she used her telekinetic powers to bring the new object of her desire to herself. Then she took hold of him.

"Come on, baby. You and I have some unfinished business." With that, the two vanished.

XXX

"Good job, Parker!" J. Jonah Jameson announced in front of everyone in the main press room.

"Thank you, Mr. Jameson," the young man answered, appreciating the fact that he had finally seen his boss smile for a change.

"How did you get those pictures, Peter?" Robbie Robertson asked. "Nobody was able to get pictures of Serena breaking out of prison. And how did you know she was going to escape in the first place?"

Peter demurred for a moment. "I don't want to tell them that I saw Mary Jane Watson leave school in the direction of the jail and disappear in that dark alley. She must have gotten lost on her way there. That's what tipped me off."

"I had a gut feeling something was going to happen. And when I saw Inspector DeWolfe let Spider-Woman inside the jail through the back door…"

"Yes, I saw the picture. How were you able to get such a good vantage point? Only Spider-Woman could have gotten a better vantage point," Robbie interjected.

"Well, I am a fairly agile guy due to all my martial arts training," Peter answered with a smile. "I'm able to run up walls. And before I either fell or ran up to the top of the building I took pictures."

Mr. Jameson frowned at the young photographer. "Don't get cocky, Parker! Just be grateful nobody had the sense of mind to get the pictures you've got. Now go on and get your check and get out of here!"

"Yes, Mr. Jameson!" However, before Peter could leave Robbie stopped him.

"Wait, Peter."

"Yes?"

"I know it's late," Robbie stated. "But we need some more photos for the newspaper tomorrow. We need these pictures ASAP. Here's the list."

After taking the strip of paper, Peter walked out of the main office and eventually out of the building.

"Let's see. I need to get pictures of police standing outside of the police station, bad traffic, cars and limousines near the U.N., and tourists in Times Square. It's a good thing I've managed to cook up some of my homemade web fluid which is contained in my wrist cartridges. I'm not as agile as Spider-Woman, so I'll have to be careful. But this is going to be fun and thrilling!"

XXX

The next morning, Norman Osborne opened the huge vault where he had his hypnotized daughter put all the money she got.

"Wow! Harriet hit the jackpot. It'll take some time to launder all this money, or maybe it won't."

Then Norman went to another room in his building where he had someone holed up.

"How is our guest doing?" Norman asked the two armed guards, wearing sophisticated, green armor, on either side of the concrete-steel door.

"She's fine, Mr. Osborne."

"Good. Let me in to see her."

Upon entering the room that was somewhat similar to a room at a hotel, Norman spotted his captive. Even though the room was fairly spacious and had all the amenities of life, it was simply a glorified prison.

"Good evening, Lady Dobson. I hope your accommodations are to your liking?"

The frightened young woman turned towards him with a tear-stained face and said, "I just want to go home. I hate this country!"

"All in good time, my dear. All in good time. I understand you're an expert at laundering money."

"Yes. Is that what you want me to do?"

"Not quite. I want you to tell me exactly how you do it. I'll take it from there. Once you've told me everything I want to know, I'll send you back to merry old England," Norman said with a toothy smile.

"All right. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. Then I can go home."

"I'm happy to see you're being so cooperative. And here I thought I'd have to threaten to send you back to the witch who sprung you out of prison."

"Oh, no! Please don't! She's crazy! Don't let me near her, please!" the young woman begged, tears coming out of her eyes.

"Well, since you're being so cooperative, that won't be necessary. Now, let's get started, shall we?" Norman Osborne sat down facing the frightened lady, giving her a cold hard look that showed he meant business.

XXX

Mary Jane made her way from one class to another until she ran into, "Peter Parker!"

"Oh, hi, Mary Jane."

"I saw the pictures you took in the Daily Bugle. How do you manage to be in the right place at the right time?"

"I get lucky, I guess. You've got some good stories in the Daily Globe. Do you plan on being a reporter when you get older?"

"It's something I'm considering. How is your relationship with Gwen Stacy coming along?"

"We're doing great. I never thought I'd get such a wonderful girl. Well, I better get going. See ya around!"

Mary Jane watched him go, impressed by the view. As she turned around, someone accidentally bumped into her. "Oh, excuse me!"

Mary Jane turned around to see, "Hugh Beaumont?"

"Yes, that's me." Hugh Beaumont was the high school's student body president. The tall, handsome boy had a medium build with well-corded muscles. His light brown hair waved in the wind around his clear complexion and the cleft on his chin. Wearing a white buttoned-down shirt under a light blue sweater, he gave the girl before him a winning smile.

"Oh, well, hi," Mary Jane answered nervously.

"Sorry for bumping into you like that, but I was wondering."

"Wondering what?" the buxom girl asked, tilting her head to the side as she regarded him.

"Do you have a date for the dance next Monday?" As the boy asked the question, Mary Jane could see the look of wisdom on his face that worked well with his good looks.

"Um, no. Do you have a younger brother who's looking for a date?"

"No. I was thinking of taking you myself," the boy said with a smile. "Would you like to go with me?"

"Oh, I'd love to!" Mary Jane gushed. "I just have to make sure I'm not working that day. What do people wear at dances like that?"

"Just wear something nice. So can I have your phone number?"

While Mary Jane wrote her phone number down on a piece of paper, the youth had tried to take a concealed gander at the girl's large bosom which looked as if it would burst free of the shirt she wore with each breath she took.

"I bet she's hot and sexy under all those clothes."

"Something wrong?" "He can't take his eyes off me!"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," the boy said with a blush. "So is that your number? Here's my number."

"Huh? Oh, yes!" After numbers were exchanged, Mary Jane looked up at him and smiled.

"What's going on here?!"

The couple turned around to see Mann Marko glaring at them. "What are you doing with my girl, Beaumont?"

"Your girl? She's made it clear she wants nothing to do with you. I'm just asking her out to the dance. Now if you'll excuse us."

The large jock closed in on the school president, glaring at him, but the tall young man wouldn't budge. "I'm not afraid of you, Mann. So why don't you just bug off?"

"You should be afraid of me. Mary Jane is my property. And if you mess with my property, you mess with me."

"You're talking pretty big after Peter Parker kicked your ass. He's not the only one here who can fight, you know."

The huge jock stared down at the student body president who was shorter than him but taller than most of the people of the school.

"That guy got lucky. Do you think you can beat me?"

Hugh stared back at the bigger guy without flinching. "I don't know if I can take you or not, but everybody knows how you've treated some of the girls at this school and about your roid rages. I for one have had it. I'm not backing down. And if you do put me in the hospital, you'll be visited by the police who will probably test you for steroid use. That will put the kibosh on your football career, won't it?"

Mann was taken aback for a moment. "What makes you think anyone will stop me when nobody has dared try to stop me before?"

"My grandfather is a friend of the chief of police. And as it is, you already have a case file on you. Do you want to make things worse for yourself?"

Mann fumed with rage, his eyes getting redder by the moment. However, as Hugh didn't back down, Mann decided to distance himself from the situation.

"This isn't over!" the larger than life jock screamed as he stormed off.

"Wow!" Mary Jane exclaimed, impressed. "You told him off."

"Well, I just had enough of his bullying and rapacious rage. Anyway, I have to go, so I'll see you on Monday night?"

"Oh, yes!" the girl answered, her bosom heaving with excitement.

"Did you see that?" one of the cheerleaders whispered to the four others standing in the shadows.

"Yes," Buffy Thompson replied with a hideous grimace forming on her normally beautiful face.

"The last thing we need is for Wimpy Watson to get a date with the student body president. By the way, has anyone seen Harriet? Is she out sick or has she been ditching for the last two days?"

Most of the cheerleaders shrugged in ignorance, but Donna replied with a wry smile, "I bet Harriet's making time with her new boyfriend."

"Really? Harriet has missed cheerleader practice two times in a row. I like hot guys as much as the next girl, but if she misses three practices in a row, I'll see her off the squad."

"There's no need for that."

The girls turned around to see, "Harriet! Where have you been?" Buffy demanded with her hands on her hips.

"I've been a little under the weather, but I'm all right now."

"I bet you spent the whole day in bed with your new boy toy?" Donna said, smiling and raising her eyebrows.

Harriet returned the wry smile. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Harriet, you can't just go off missing…"

"Oh, relax, Buffy," Harriet cut her off. "You seem a little frustrated. Maybe my new boyfriend has a brother who can service you."

Buffy Thompson looked at Harriet incredulously for a moment. "I'm doing fine when it comes to men, thank you! Sheesh! You get a new boyfriend, and now you have delusions of grandeur!"

"I have a newer boyfriend. I got tired of the old one."

"Really? How many boyfriends do you have?" Buffy asked.

Harriet looked askance, turning away from the captain. Then she abruptly turned back towards Buffy with her eyes glowing green as she creepily stared at her.

"There's no need for you to be jealous or upset."

"There's no need for me to be jealous or upset," Buffy parroted with her eyes glazed. She was immobile as she stared off into space, prompting the other girls to gawk at her in wonderment.

"You don't want to throw me off the cheerleading squad," Harriet said.

"I don't want to throw you off the cheerleading squad."

"What did you just do, Harriet?" one of the other cheerleaders asked. "It's like you did Jedi mind tricks or something like that."

"I didn't do anything."

"Oh, you didn't do anything."

"Let's get back to the main subject, all right?" another cheerleader interjected impatiently.

"Yes, let's do that," Buffy said in agreement."

"All right, now what happened earlier? Did my eyes deceive me, or is Wimpy Watson going out on a date with Hugh Beaumont, the student body president?"

"That's right, Harriet. We were just talking about what we can do about it," another cheerleader replied.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll think of something."

XXX

After school, Mary Jane went straight home, having the day off from her job at the Daily Globe. When she walked inside the house, her mother was there waiting for her.

"How was your day, Mary Jane?"

"It went great, Mom!"

"Have you been thinking about the upcoming dance and who you'd like to go with? Maynard is still available."

Mary Jane raised her eyebrows. "Well, I'm not. I have a date for the dance already."

"Really? With whom?"

"Hugh Beaumont, the student body president," the girl answered dreamily, her bosom heaving with a sigh as she clasped her hands together.

"Is this guy someone you made up, so you wouldn't have to date Maynard?" her mother asked with a knowing look. "Next thing you'll tell me you're also dating someone named George Glass."

"George Glass?" Mary Jane looked at her mother incredulously. "No, Mom. I'm going out with Hugh Beaumont."

"OK. Now, all we need to do is find a nice dress for you to go to the dance in. We'll go to Bloomingdales!"

"Bloomingdales?! Isn't that place expensive, Mother?" Mary Jane asked incredulously.

"You have to look nice for the dance, and we can afford to splurge a little now and then."

"All right."

XXX

Later that night:

"Is everybody ready?"

"Yes, Serena!" everyone there in the secret hideout yelled in response.

Inside the large abandoned warehouse were dozens of men dressed as either a soldier from the Wizard of Oz or a flying monkey from the same movie. There were also some men and women dressed in street clothes. Some of them were crazy, some of them weren't, but everyone there was loyal to Serena, or more importantly loyal to all the money they were getting due to Serena's schemes and Lady Macbeth's tech knowledge.

"Our next plan is to sneak into the underground basements of the stadiums of New York Yankees and the New York Mets," the Wicked Witch of the West explained.

"Why are we doing that?!" someone in the crowd asked.

"I'm going to play a little game." As Serena spoke, her agents were sneaking beneath both baseball stadiums, placing bombs in strategic areas that would cause both structures to come crashing to the ground as soon they are ignited.

"When everything is ready, we're going to wait until both stadiums are packed with fans. Then we're going to surround both buildings to keep everyone there from leaving. Once that's been done, the security in both buildings will find an ignition device that will cause the bombs in the other stadium to blow up."

"Why are you doing that?!" another member of her gang asked out loud.

Serena looked on her gang with a wicked smile on her face. "It's a game I want to play, you see. I'm going to give the detonating device for the other stadium to each of the people of the stadiums. This will force each side to decide to blow up the other ballpark or let themselves be blown up."

The criminals looked up at their leader for a moment. "Oh!"

"Now let's get to work!"

XXX

As both fans of the Mets and the Yankees cheered their teams from their respective stadiums, all of a sudden the lights went out! To everyone's surprise, an unfamiliar voice came out on the loudspeakers. "Hey, everybody! Enjoying the game?!"

"Who the heck is that?!" a few people in both audiences yelled out loud.

"That sounds like Serena the Wicked Witch of the West!" someone answered.

"I thought she was in jail! Where's the Amazing Spider-Woman?!"

"Nobody's seen her!"

"Here's what's going down. Both of the stadiums of the New York Mets and Yankees have been surrounded by a solid green force field and some of the members of my gang. There is no escape. Everyone here is going to do what I want."

"What does she want?" a Met's fan asked no one in particular.

"In the cellars of both stadiums are enough bombs to blow each stadium sky high. If there's any tampering with these bombs they'll go off and destroy everything around them. But there is a way out. In each stadium's cellar along with the bombs is a green box. I suggest you send someone down there to pick up that box quickly because the first one to activate the device in that box will blow up the other stadium."

Some of the security guards of each stadium went down into the cellars and found things the way Serena had told them. Then each group took the detonator device and made their way back to the middle of the field where the head official waited for them. At that moment the place went dark until a large spotlight was on both fields where the detonators lay in the hands of the main officials of each stadium.

"And just to let you know I mean business."

!BOOM!BOOM! A bomb went off in each of the stadiums right under Homeplate, blowing the umpire and catcher of each ballpark to pieces.

"Nooo!" the fans in the bleachers screamed in horror.

"So who is it going to be, the Yankees or the Mets' fans? And one more thing. If nobody activates either of those detonators by 10:00 PM tonight, both of these stadiums will blow up. So you people better make up your mind and make it up fast. Ta ta!" That having been said each of the stadiums saw an image of the Wicked Witch of the West flying away on her broom cackling away.

"What are we going to do?!" someone in the Mets' bleachers called out.

"We're all going to die!" a few people at the Yankees' stadium screamed.

"Everybody, calm down!" each of the head officials of the prospective stadiums announced.

"Who are you to decide?!" someone screamed from the bleachers.

"We don't all have to die; they're just Mets' fans anyway!" a woman called out from a megaphone in the stands.

"We're not going to talk about this!" the head official stated.

"Why shouldn't we talk about this? They're talking about this in the other ballpark!" a man close to one of the dugouts shouted.

"Let's put it to a vote."

XXX

While working at the Daily Globe, Mary Jane Watson was leaving the water cooler on the twenty-fourth floor when she heard some commotion.

"What's going on?!"

"It's the Wicked Witch of the West!" a secretary answered, running off like a chicken with its head cut off. "She and her gang are threatening to blow up both the Yankees and the Mets' stadiums!" Then the frantic woman ran off and disappeared into the hallway.

Upon hearing all that, Mary Jane ran towards the main monitor and saw what was going on and heard what the witch had said and demanded.

"Where's Spider-Woman?!" someone called out.

"Nobody knows; nobody's seen her," another answered.

When it looked as if no one was watching, Mary Jane attempted to sneak off.

"Where do you think you're going, Missy?" a slender, middle-aged man with graying blond hair who was the best-dressed person in the entire building demanded of her. Gerard DuPont had his well-manicured hands on his hips as he gave her a pert look.

"I'm on my way to Yankee Stadium."

"And why is that?" Gerard said, raising his eyebrows and looking down on the girl.

The young girl regarded the suspicious editor quizzically. "There might be a story in it for me."

"What's this guy's problem?"

"Listen here, sweetie, you're way too young to go gallivanting off like that when there's a dangerous supervillain on the loose. Besides, some copy machines need to be replenished with both paper and ink."

"Which one?" Mary Jane asked.

"All of them."

"All of them?"

"That's right. The copy machines on the twenty-fourth floor need to be replenished. We have to make sure everything's working right," the peculiar man answered pertly.

"It's late, and it's about time for me to leave anyway."

The editor regarded the teenage girl with an intimidating look and pointed sharply to the nearest copy machine.

"That's the first one. Go on. After you're done you can go home and fantasize about the gorgeous boyfriend you know you'll never have."

"What makes you think I'll never have a good looking boyfriend?" the not so homely girl protested indignantly.

"You're not that attractive, sweetie. And more importantly, if there was such a thing as the fashion police, you'd get tried and convicted, getting the death penalty."

"What?!" Mary Jane glared at the man through her coke bottle glasses, breathing in and out deeply. "Since when have you become an expert on women's clothing?"

The slender man raised his eyebrows, then his hands in an attempt to calm the girl's protestations down.

"Little girl, I know what I'm talking about, but don't feel too bad about it. You have a future as a reporter, and if you do a good job for me right here and now, you'll make me very happy."

Then the editor continued. "I'll probably be the only man you'll get a chance to make happy in any way, shape, or form. So I suggest you get going. Go on."

"All right. I'll get to it right away."

Watching the girl do an about-face and make her way to the nearest copy machine, Gerard DuPont folded his arms on his chest and shook his head.

In a little less than an hour, Mary Jane appeared in front of the low ranking editor. "I'm done. Can I go now?"

"You can't be done already," the editor protested.

"I'm fast even if I'm not that attractive," the buxom girl said with a knowing look. "So long!" Mary Jane practically glided on the ground as she made her way to the elevators and smiled at the editor as the elevator doors closed.

"How dare she leave before finishing what I told her to do? How dare she? How dare she?!" the low ranking editor exclaimed with flaring nostrils.

Then one of the office workers called out to him. "Gerard, she did finish putting paper and ink into the copy machines. She even cleaned them too."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. I guess she was trying to make up for her lack of fashion sense by working hard and fast. The pep talk I gave her helped her work faster. I'm so proud of me!" Gerard stated with a crinkly smile on his face as the other office workers regarded him quizzically.

XXX

A couple of hours later, the police and National Guard had surrounded both stadiums, both groups being unable to get through the green force fields that kept them out.

Inside of each ballpark, the votes have been tallied up. All right. It looks like the ayes have it. Now, who wants to push the button?" Each of the heads of security for the two stadiums asked these questions, looking around to see if there were any takers.

XXX

Spider-Woman swung through the skyscrapers of New York, searching for some clue as to the whereabouts of the Wicked Witch of the West and her gang of thugs when she noticed a group of Serena's flying monkeys who had recently robbed an armored truck of its money.

"Those guys are probably doing some extracurricular activities on the side. I bet if I shadow them, they'll lead me straight to Serena."

"That was great, Boris!" one of the flying monkeys said.

"That's right, Ned. Those guards never knew what hit them. Now we have all this money and don't have to share it with anyone else."

"That's right, Max. I told you we could make little cash on the side. Just don't breathe a word of this to Serena or that Lucy Macbeth lady. That goes for the rest of yous guys!"

The other ten nodded their heads in agreement as they each carried their loot which consisted of four bags of money each.

XXX

Less than an hour later, Spidey was hiding in the shadows of Serena's base of operations which consisted of an abandoned warehouse a few miles from the city.

"Now all I have to do is find how I can keep Serena from blowing up both baseball parks before it's too late."

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I'll end this chapter right here. Thanks for reading this fic. Now please review.