The Sensational Spiderman

Episode 2: Slayer Strike

Peter was taking a few quick shortcuts through the city center as he hurried along to meet Mary Jane for their second date. He flung himself across two buildings, hearing a child below him excitedly tell his father he'd just seen Spiderman. He knew that by the time the father would look up he would be another building closer to his date and long gone from their sight.

Peter jumped down from the last roof and landed gracefully, and out of sight, behind the coffee shop. He quickly changed, covering his suit up and hiding his mask in his pocket. As soon as he was done, he glanced down at his watch and noticed he was already fifteen minutes late. He hurried round to the front of the building and caught a glimpse of Mary Jane waiting at a table near the window. Peter took a deep breath, opened the door and walked inside.

"Hey," Peter greeted Mary Jane as he arrived at the table, "I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's okay." She waved his tardiness away with a smile.

"Have you ordered yet?" He sat down opposite from her.

Mary Jane shook her head, "No, I haven't. I've been waiting for you to arrive."

Peter glanced back and forth between Mary Jane and the counter, "Shall I order then?"

"Yes please."

Peter's heart fluttered at the smiles she was sending his way, and he practically had to force himself not to bounce towards the counter. He ordered two coffees with milk. As soon as he was settled he returned, setting two cups down, each adorned with a little milky heart.

They were quiet for a while as they added sugar to their cups, stirred and hazarded a first sip which left Peter's tongue burned even though Mary Jane tried to warn him to no avail. Peter hissed in reply, smiling apologetically all at once.

After a while Mary Jane started talking again as she noticed Peter's mind seemed to be preoccupied with other things than their date. She stretched her hand out and lightly touched his arm.

"How are you and your aunt doing?"

Peter shrugged, "I'm trying, but it's hard."

He avoided looking at Mary Jane, not wanting her to see that his eyes were watering up.

"Aunt May's not taking Uncle Ben's loss very well either." Peter wasn't going to deny he was doing any better but he didn't want Mary Jane to feel sorry for him either. "I feel like she's holding things back from me."

"Like what?" Mary Jane tilted her head a little to the side.

"I'm not sure. She probably just doesn't want me to worry."

"But you do worry." Mary Jane took hold of Peter's hand, squeezing it a little.

"I'm sure we'll be able to handle it together." He sighed a little, enjoying Mary Jane's hand in his. "Let's talk about us." He smiled, switching the subject back to their date.

"What about us?" Mary Jane sat back, pulling her hand free from his.

"Will there be a third date?" Peter smiled, giving her a quick wink as an added bonus.

Mary Jane's lip quirked into a smile, "Let's see how this date goes. Then take it from there, okay?"

"Okay." Peter nodded, taking another sip from his coffee.

The rest of their evening went quite well. They talked and laughed the hours away. When they parted later that night, Peter held the door of the cab like a true gentleman, making Mary Jane smile even wider than she already was.

"We are having a play at school next week." Mary Jane said, not yet ready to step into the cab, lingering a little longer. "Will you come and see?"

"Wouldn't want to miss it for the world." He grinned, "I'll be in the front, cheering you on."

Mary Jane put one foot inside the cab, changed her mind and got back out. Peter tilted his head in confusion, but she didn't give him a moment's time as she pressed her lips against his.

"You better not disappoint me, tiger." She let go off him and got into the cab, Peter closing the door still dumbstruck by the kiss.

He watched until the cab disappeared out of sight, and then turned to walk home, a silly little grin fixed to his face. For a while it was just him and his thoughts, until the familiar sound of a siren in the distance brought his feet back to firm ground. He quickly ran into a nearby alley, switched into Spiderman mode and slung his way towards the emergency.

The police and fire department had already arrived by the time Peter came jumping in. The apartment building ablaze as they were getting their gear out to start extinguishing the fire. He watched from a distance, noticing that the inhabitants had managed to leave the building before the fire had taken full control. However, the panicked screams of a woman standing across the building caught his attention at once. She was clinging to one of the firemen, who in turn tried to keep her from running back in.

"You have to save her! My little girl..."

Peter didn't have to think twice, knowing the firemen wouldn't stand a chance against the heat. And it would take them too long to reach the little girl anyway. He jumped up to the side of the next building and slung himself inside of the burning one, hoping for the best to quickly find the girl and get her out of harm's way. He ran through the hallways, skidding to a halt as he heard the girl scream for her mother to come find her. He turned and smashed his way into one of the abandoned apartments, finding the girl hiding in a closet. He didn't give her a chance to object, but picked her up and was just in time to avoid a falling beam.

"Too close." He muttered under his breath. "Let's get you to safety, shall we." He pressed the girl closer to his body and jumped straight out of the window, the screams of the girl muffled by the passing wind. He was just glad her mother wasn't able to see his stunt. He doubted she would survive him, even as Spiderman, jump out of a window that high up with her daughter in his arms.

He brought the little girl back to her mother, who all but flung herself first around her daughter's neck, then around his. She stammered words of gratitude into his covered ears, squeezing him so tight he had to almost tap her to let him go up for air.

"You're welcome." He nodded, after which he left the scene to continue his way home.

++/++

Norman Osborne, head of Oscorp Industries, sat at his desk, his hands clasped together, resting on the table top. Before him stood Alistair Smythe talking like he was in a hurry about a serum he had been instructed to make. He watched the man closely, occasionally tilting his head or stretching a little. When the man was done talking, Norman sat back in his chair.

"So then, is it ready for testing?"

"No sir," Alistair Smythe shook his head, "We have to run some more tests before we can start the human trials." He took a tentative step forward, "Maybe Doctor Connors could help us perfect it. Maybe it could be helpful to him."

Norman pushed himself away from his desk and got up. He poured himself a glass of his finest scotch before he turned back to Alistair.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow, over lunch." Alistair nodded in agreement. "So," Norman continued, "What about the experiment with the gas?"

"Almost ready, sir." Alistair's eyes lit up like a kid's in a candy store. "However, in order to create the perfect super soldier, I would like to suggest turning the serum into a liquid form. It would be easier to dose when administering, sir."

Norman took another sip from his glass as he stood watching, frowning a little as he mulled the idea over in his head. He set his glass down at once when he had come to an inner agreement about how to proceed next.

"Create a liquid form of the formula, but only tell a select few that we are doing this. Understood?"

Alistair nodded, following Norman return to his chair behind his desk. "What about our Spiderman problem?"

Norman leaned back in his chair before he waved his hand in a less than interested manner, even though everything Spiderman-related was of much interest to him.

"Send the Spider slayers after him."

Alistair Smythe couldn't help a satisfied grin creeping onto his face.

"I'll send them out first thing tomorrow morning." He nodded confidently. "By lunch time Spiderman will be dead."

"You better..." Norman glared at Alistair, who swallowed at the look sent his way. The head of Oscorp didn't need to finish his sentence for Alistair to know he better make good on his promise or it might very well be the last one he would ever make to anyone.

There was a moment of silence between the two men before Norman sat up straight again, and leaned his elbows on his desk again. He glanced back at Alistair who had returned to his seat opposite from him.

"Has Otto Octavius contacted you recently by any chance?"

"No sir, he hasn't." Alistair shook his head. "Not since he requested the use of one of your warehouses."

"And how long ago was this exactly?"

Alistair shrugged. "A few days perhaps. Not more than a week or so ago."

Norman took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Spiderman was fast becoming a thorn in his side and needed to be eliminated as soon as possible as far as he was concerned. He looked back up at Alistair.

"I don't trust him." Norman shook his head for good measure. "Oh, and Alistair, one last thing?"

"Anything, sir?"

Norman gestured at him as he turned his attention to his phone, which had started ringing. "I need you to find me a test subject for the gas test."

"Anyone in particular, sir?" Alistair tilted his head a little.

"Anyone you feel worthy of the cause, Alistair. Anyone who would benefit from the Serum." Norman had a brief conversation on the phone before turning back to Alistair. "If they're not worthy, then their loss will still have benefited us. Win-win!" Norman smiled, almost enjoying the idea of someone croaking on their watch because their test failed. "I have to go, and you need to go deal with my Spiderman issues." He got up and left Alistair near his desk as he disappeared out the door.

Alistair followed in Norman Osborn's wake but instead of heading out, he returned to his floor and made sure to program the Slayers to awaken first thing the next morning to get an early start of the day and have a pleasant Spiderman hunt. He's confident that with the abilities given to them, Spiderman features programmed right into them, they'll be able to track him and have him out of their way by lunch time, just as he promised Mister Osborn earlier.

/++/

Peter mumbled into his pillow as he fumbled one arm free to silence the alarm clock on his bedside table. One groan later, however, he's up and getting himself dressed to go.

Walking down the stairs he could hear his Aunt May shuffling in the living room. He kept quiet when he finds her quickly putting some letters he recognized as bills underneath a pile of magazines. Peter waited for her to disappear into the kitchen before he made his way over and pulls the papers from their hiding place. The bills turn out to be overdue and he sighs, muttering under his breath. He briefly considers asking about them but then decided against it, and instead puts the letters back from where he found them.

"Good morning, Aunt May." Peter smiled brightly as he walked into the kitchen, not going to let his aunt suspect him knowing about the bills.

"Peter, my dear," Aunt May greeted him, smiling wide, "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Toast and some orange juice?" He waved in the general direction of the toaster, while he poured himself a juice. "Oh, and I'll be a little later after school. I have an interview at the Daily Bugle?" He said in between bites.

"A job interview?" Aunt May looked down at her nephew from where she was standing near the counter.

Peter nodded, "I'd like to help out with the bills."

"Peter..." May started to form an objection, but Peter wouldn't let her finish as he continued.

"I know you've been hiding them from me, for a while now."

Aunt May sighed, looking back at him, "Thank you Peter, but you really don't have to."

Peter shook his head. "I want to Aunt May. If I get the job," he continued, "I pay you half of what I earn each month. Like rent." He smiled the solution simple and easy.

Aunt May realized that her nephew had just made a good argument, one that she could live with; when used to the idea that was. She nodded in agreement and went to hug Peter as he rose from his chair.

"I should get ready for school." Peter gave Aunt May a quick kiss on the cheek, and then hurried back upstairs where he grabbed his bag and shot out the window, slinging himself onto the next building and off to school.

++/++

Peter was halfway down 24th Avenue when his spider sense started tingling. He stuck himself to the top of the next building and glanced around, jumping and dropping several stories as a missile came out of nowhere whizzing past him.

"What the hell?" He exclaimed, slinging himself back to safety, nearly slamming into a Daily Bugle billboard as he did so.

His spider sense kept on tingling and next he knew a huge crab-like slayer appeared in front of him. A small screen appeared from within and next a man's face appeared, smiling at him from somewhere else.

"Hello Spiderman."

[Here you are telling the tale from Peter's POV. This means you have to stay with Peter unlike if this was live action or a cartoon where the scenes can switch from Peter to Alistair and back. This is never the case in a written story. You stick to either character and whatever happens on the other end is part of the imagination of the reader, so when Alistair is pushing random buttons you could have him disappear from the screen for a few a seconds and then make him reappear but all from Peter's POV so staying with Spiderman and not switch to Alistair's lab]

Peter scratched his head, confused. However it didn't take him long to recognize the person on the screen.

"Alistair Smythe," Peter tilted his head a little further to the side, "I always knew you were crazy."

"Crazy?" The screen crackled a little and for a moment Alistair disappeared from sight, only to reappear seconds later. "I'm not crazy. I am the genius who will bring Spiderman down. Any last words or wise-cracks web-slinger? Before I kill you."

"Yeah," Peter nodded, already having a few things in mind, "How about when I'm done with your toys, I come by and take you to jail."

Alistair Smythe chuckled, "Don't make me laugh. My spider slayers will squash you like the bug that you are."

"I'm shaking in my boots," Peter replied in a girly voice, taunting the man some more.

"You just wait!"

The screen went black and retracted back into the crab-slayer. Peter watched and wondered what he was about to see next from the man on the other side of the screen. His watch beeped and once again, he knew, he wasn't going to be on time. Late for class yet again.

He jumped back as the crab-slayer moved forward, swinging its arms at him, but missed.

"Missed me." Peter grinned. "That's strike one!"

However, the crab-slayer had no intention to back away as brought forth a missile launcher at the top of its head. It fired three missiles all at once at him, which he managed to duck by bending backwards. Peter straightened again, smiling at the machine in front of him which had failed yet again.

"And that's strike two!"

Peter was getting overly confident when next he reacted a little too late and got the wind knocked out of him, slamming into the ground beneath him. He could make out the shape of the crab-slayer advancing on him before the world around him went dark.

When next he woke, he was no longer out on 24th avenue facing a crab-slayer but inside a laboratory he quickly learned belonged to Alistair Smythe. The man stood gazing at him, a bucket of water at the ready for a second splash, as he realized he was dripping wet from a first attempt.

"Good morning sleepy head!" Alistair smiled, setting the bucket down.

"Oh dear..." Peter mumbled in reply.

He watched as Alistair Smythe moved to face his computer and started typing frantically.

"When I'm done here with you, there won't be anything left for anyone to find." He turned back to Peter, grinning wide.

Peter didn't like that particular prospect, and tried to find a way to get out of the crab-slayer's hold on both his arms. He wriggled as much as he could and finally managed to get his left arm free enough to fire sticky webbing at the right hand of the slayer. He pulled the web towards him, loosening the grip of the right hand which resulted in the crab-slayer releasing him completely. He immediately jumped to a safes distance high up the wall, looked down at Alistair and smiled.

"Excuse me Alistair, I think it's time for you to surrender now."

Alistair Smythe swirled around, horrified his crab-slayer had released their prisoner.

"Surrender?" He bellowed, "I, Alistair Smythe, will do no such thing."

"Of course, you don't." Peter said in a matter-of-fact tone before he flung himself in the direction of where Alistair was standing, knocking him clear to the ground.

He barely has time to react to a claw appearing in sight, knocking him straight into one of the walls. Peter feels his spine pop as he crawls back up, noticing in one go his spiderman suit is ripped in a few places.

"Oh no..." Peter pulls at the rips, expecting the damage done. "You ruined my suit!" He calls out to his attacker. "Have you any idea who expensive it is to make this? You're gonna pay for this."

He aims and fires a web in the direction of his attacker, and with the help of his enhanced spider strength slings the slayer straight up to the roof, and back down, crashing into the ground. The slayer leaves a shower of debris coming from the ceiling which collapsed seconds later, burying them all underneath bits and pieces of ceiling.

Peter cursed and managed to free himself, only to realize his suit is now entirely ruined. He kicked the crab-slayer for good measure, sparks flying as it dies right there and then, shutting down altogether.

Alistair Smythe had been caught in the falling debris, which Peter considered justified. However, he was always the better man and thus he dug him out and made sure help would come for him.

"I can't move my legs," Alistair called out to him. "This is your fault. You will pay for this!"

Peter shrugged and disappeared as he heard more men coming their way. He really shouldn't be here when Alistair's friends came to the rescue.

/++/

Norman had been on his way back to Oscorp Industries, when he had seen the explosion from a distance. He had made his way towards the lab as fast as his feet could carry him, hoping to see Spiderman lying dead there, but instead he found his henchman Alistair Smythe on a gurney cursing their nemesis to hell and back.

"What happened?"

"Spiderman!" Alistair Smythe cursed some more as they rolled him out. "This is his fault! His fault! My legs... Spiderman will pay."

"Don't you worry, Alistair, I will take care of everything." Norman Osborn smirked as he watched Alistair disappear around the corner of the hallway. "Spiderman is history."