Back to GatefoldIssue #12 by Mike Exner III
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"FACES IN THE DARK"
Previously in the Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Man and the Rose Goblin put their differences aside and teamed together out of necessity to tackle the threat of the Enforcers - modified Sentinels sent by Apocalypse - as the robotic minions attacked New York. Both the Goblin and the Spider were battered and beaten by the Enforcers and Spider-Man was left surrounded by four of the massive automatons. Meanwhile: A mysteriously resurrected and powerful Harry Osborn managed to capture the female symbiote known as Chaos with the CEO of Oscorp, Ryan Jent, caught in the middle.
Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, really wished he hadn't gotten out of bed this morning. It seemed as though he was set to enter the next realm as four Sentinels* had surrounded him and locked him in their sights.** His spider-sense was screaming at him full blast and the ferocity of its assault on his senses staggered him. He had no time to react, no time for anything. The constant strain of battle with these robotic creatures, not to mention his recent battles with the Rose Goblin and the new symbiote Chaos had taken their toll. Spider-Man, bloody and beaten in both mind and body, passed out as the Sentinels charged their weapons.
[*Giant robots created by the government to hunt down mutants and other super-powered beings - Michael]
[**Issue #11 - Will]
When the fog lifted and Spider-Man was finally able to regain consciousness and struggle to his feet his first thought was that heaven looked a lot like a really badly damaged version of New York. His head was pounding and as Spidey looked around there wasn't any sign of the Sentinels that had been prepared to incinerate him moments ago. His second thought was for the Rose Goblin who had been hit with a laser shot from one of the Sentinels right before they surrounded him.* She'd been blasted off the roof of the building he was standing on and surely hadn't been in any condition to walk away from it.
[*Issue #11 again - repetitive Will]
Spider-Man leaped to the corner of the building where he estimated the Rose Goblin had gone over and peered down to the ground below. The Rose Goblin was nowhere within sight. Spider-Man picked up a piece of the broken concrete roof and crushed it under his fingers. Not only had he been humiliated and defeated by robots that had suddenly decided to vacate the city, he was no closer to finding out who the Rose Goblin was, or how she knew who he was, or who she might be working for.
At least he wasn't dead. Spider-Man looked out over the city and although most of it was damaged in one way or the other, the Sentinels seemed to have all absconded. The city's work crews were all busy putting out fires and searching for survivors. Spider-Man knew he could help them but all he could think about was the Rose Goblin. His wife was presumed dead in a plane crash that occurred on her way to a photo shoot in Hawaii.* This Rose Goblin had shown up right before it happened and he couldn't think of a better suspect, especially since not long after the Rose Goblin had destroyed the penthouse Peter and Mary Jane had been residing in.**
[*Issue #2 - Will]
[**Issue #3 - dramatic Will]
He'd agreed to make the Rose Goblin his ally against the Sentinels simply because the woman was pretty competent as far as her fighting skill was concerned, but he'd fully intended to take her out once the immediate threat to the city had been handled. Now, the Rose Goblin was nowhere in sight and all Spidey could think of was tracking her down and making her talk. How did she know his real identity Peter Parker? Why was she wearing the Goblin costume? Did she know anything about Mary Jane's disappearance? Spider-Man would find out, one way or another.
Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, clone of Peter Parker, made his way back towards the Daily Bugle building with blinding speed. When he'd left New York, the Rose Goblin, a villain that seemed to know a lot about both Peter and himself, had just extensively damaged the Daily Bugle with an explosive device.* Now as he swung through New York he was transfixed by the destruction that had happened to the rest of the city while he'd been away. Everywhere he swung the city seemed to be burning or crumbling. Fire fighters and other city operators were struggling to help the victims of whoever had perpetrated this horrible onslaught on New York.
[*Issue #7 - overworked Will]
Many times the Scarlet Spider stopped on his way to the Daily Bugle to help put out a fire or brace a wall from falling until rescue crews could get victims to safety. He felt partly responsible for what had happened here. If he hadn't left he might have been able to prevent some of the incredible destruction that had occurred. Surely the Rose Goblin couldn't have been the cause of all this destruction. But if not her, then who?
The Scarlet Spider continued to mull over his thoughts as the Daily Bugle came within his sights. It was even more heavily damaged than when he'd left it and there was debris scattered all over the street. Work crews were busy clearing the streets so that rescue vehicles could operate more efficiently. They were also attempting to clear the entrance to the Daily Bugle as getting to victims still trapped inside was a high priority.
"Need any help fellas? The Scarlet Spider is more than happy to oblige you. Just don't tell anybody you saw me, I'm trying to keep a low profile," said the Scarlet Spider as he swung down and began to clear the entryway. Within a few short moments the doorway to the lobby was clear and the rescue teams went inside.
There was no sign of Spider-Man at the moment and the Scarlet Spider figured Spidey was probably off trying to help the best way he could as well. He'd been hoping Spider-Man was here though as the Scarlet Spider had important things to tell him. The Scarlet Spider had made a mistake after his battle with Chaos and the Rose Goblin.* He'd made more mistakes after that when he'd left Peter to face the Rose Goblin and Chaos on his own. He intended to fully atone for those mistakes as soon as he saw his brother.
[*Issue #5 - Will]
The Scarlet Spider watched the rescue personnel do their job with awe. These men had no super powers to speak of but their courage and commitment to the survivors of whatever catastrophe had taken place here was incredible. Most of them rushed into the Daily Bugle building immediately and therefore they didn't hear the soft groans that the Scarlet Spider did coming from under some rubble nearby.
Jumping quickly over to the debris, the Scarlet Spider began lifting it off of whoever was entrapped by it. It only took a few seconds and as the last piece of wreckage was thrown clear, the Scarlet Spider was shocked to see the battered and blood covered form of J. Jonah Jameson.
When Joannah Wilkins, more commonly known as Chaos, regained consciousness and was able to survey her surroundings she knew she was in serious trouble. For the first time since she'd bonded with the symbiote, she knew fear. The recently resurrected Harry Osborn, who had knocked her out somehow, and the current president of operations for Oscorp Industries, Ryan Jent were observing her and as she tried to reach out to them she realized she was encased in some sort of glass tube. Using the great strength the symbiote had granted her with their bonding, Chaos tried to fracture the glass and attack her captors. No matter how hard she pushed or scraped against it however the result was the same, she was trapped.
"Ah, I see you are finally awake, Miss Wilkins," said Harry Osborn in a cool, relaxed tone of voice. It was almost as if he were hitting on her in a club instead of talking to a woman he held as his prisoner. "Mr. Jent has just been sharing with me the details of your creation. Frankly, it's a very fascinating subject. Would you care to hear it?"
Osborn was toying with her. The anger Chaos felt welled up inside of her and she would have liked nothing better than to get her hands around Osborn's throat and squeeze the life from him. Jent didn't appear to be too pleased with any part of what was going on as he spoke hesitantly to Osborn before Chaos could say a word.
"I don't think now is the time to be playing games, Mr. Osborn. This creature must be destroyed. The experiment that created the symbiote we grafted to Wilkins was supposed to have been able to control her actions for the benefit of Oscorp. As you can see, there is no controlling Chaos. She must be killed," said Jent as he pushed a button underneath the desk he was standing behind and a small panel slid away revealing a set of electronic buttons beneath. Jent reached out to press one of them but was restrained by Osborn.
"Mr. Jent, how can you be so cold hearted? Surely after everything you told me while the good Dr. Wilkins was asleep you don't want to have her killed before knowing why it was she that was given the symbiote in the first place," said Harry Osborn as he pushed Jent from behind the desk and towards the tube holding Chaos. "Yes, I think now is certainly the time to reveal all."
"Mr. Osborn… we really don't have time for this. I am the president of this company and with that title comes power," said Jent as he eyed Osborn suspiciously.
"There's no way in hell I'm relinquishing control of my company to you. I don't even know if you're the real Harry Osborn or some kind of imposter," growled Jent in a menacing tone. He knew that Harry Osborn had been long dead and from what he'd heard, Harry Osborn was something of a jittery sort of person. This guy's smooth mannerism seemed way off.
Harry Osborn looked at Ryan Jent with a bemused expression. He reached into the inside of his suit and pulled out a pistol that he aimed directly at Jent. Both Jent and Chaos gasped in surprise.
"I assure you, Mr. Jent… I am an Osborn and I will be taking control of my company once more. You are simply an obstacle in my way, and a rather simple one to overcome at that," said Osborn as he pulled the trigger. The slug hit Ryan Jent right in the temple of his skull and Jent was dead before he hit the floor.
"Now where were we?" said Osborn as he took a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and wiped his fingerprints from the gun. Osborn placed the gun in Jent's hand and fired it again at the floor so as to place powder marks on Jent's hand. Chaos looked at him in horror as Harry Osborn raised himself up from his knees and dusted himself off. "Yes, of course. I was about to relate to you the details of your current situation. Please listen closely Miss Wilkins. I don't like to repeat myself."
Spider-Man stood in the motel room he'd rented as Peter Parker with a frown on his face. He'd returned to restock on his webbing as he'd used up a lot of it over the last few hours. Even though he'd felt like he couldn't have possibly taken any time to help the people of the city until he resolved his own problems, he'd stopped numerous times on his way to the motel to help out with one rescue operation or another. His sense of responsibility was too great to ignore the cries for help.
Now with his web-shooters fully loaded and a desire to find the Rose Goblin and learn her plans that had grown even stronger with the passing hours, Spider-Man had decided to make his way to the Daily Bugle. It was certain that the Daily Bugle staff, if any of them were still working right now, would be solely committed to the Sentinel crisis but Spidey still had hope that someone would have heard about the Rose Goblin and might have a lead for him to follow. It was a weak hope but the only one he had to work with so he grasped it and began to make his way to the Bugle.
As Harry Osborn told Chaos the story with what seemed like glee evident in his voice, she began to cry. Harry Osborn seemed to enjoy the sight of her tears and continued unabashedly. She learned all about the research division that was started by Ryan Jent as soon as he was made president of Oscorp. The research division dedicated to creating an artificial version of the alien symbiote that had infected and bonded itself to both Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady, the superhuman killers better known as Venom and Carnage.
The project had apparently been a success. The symbiote was everything that Jent and the research team had envisioned. There was only one problem. They needed someone to test it on. Jent had originally planned to be the test subject himself. He was a man whose desire for power had never been quenched, not even when he took over Oscorp in a bold corporate takeover. But he was also a man who only took educated chances. The symbiote needed to be tested first.
Jent had long been obsessed with a bright young research scientist named Joannah Wilkins. Her beauty and brilliance captivated Jent in a way that no other woman had ever done before. As the president of the company he often was actively involved with projects taken up by his staff. He would watch Joannah more often than any of his other employees. He would watch her even when she left work. Following her home and using binoculars to watch her at first. Then bugging devices, and hidden cameras to look in on her everyday activities at home from the comfort of his office.
Finally he decided that Joannah Wilkins would be his but every time he got close enough to ask her something or profess his love for her something held him back. She was too beautiful for him, too intelligent. She'd see right through him and discover that he'd been obsessed with her for months. Secretly watching everything she did. With his fear of rejection fueling his thoughts, he devised a plan.
He would use Joannah as the test subject for the symbiote. Surely once the symbiote was bonded to her no man would ever want her and once Jent had his own symbiote he would finally be able to relate with her in a way he couldn't possibly have done before. They would share something so intimate and rare that there couldn't possibly be any room for doubt that they were meant for each other.
So Jent had broken into her apartment early one morning when Joannah was at work and placed a drug in her toothpaste. That night the drug knocked Joannah out and he brought her back to the labs. All the personnel had gone home for the night long ago so Jent performed the procedure himself. The bonding worked beautifully but there seemed to be a problem. The symbiote was in control. Joannah was hiding somewhere inside her own mind and the symbiote was in a rage. It tried desperately to escape but the containment facility Jent had it in prevented it. He was confident that he could revive Joannah and that they would be together.
The next morning when Jent arrived, the containment chamber was empty. The symbiote had escaped. Jent sent out special teams to search for it but there was no luck. All the teams found was evidence that something was hiding within the complex, surviving in the ventilation shafts and eating whatever it could find. Jent postponed the research on the symbiote manufacture and closed down Oscorp Industries. He then turned his full attention to finding Joannah. That is, until Harry Osborn made his presence known by turning up alive and well.
Joannah knew the rest of the story herself. She'd woken up and the first thing she'd heard was the symbiote speaking to her. She thought she was going insane. She had no idea why the symbiote was with her or what had happened and the symbiote didn't seem to know either. All Joannah knew was that she had to stay at Oscorp. Try to find some sort of cure for herself. Then the Rose Goblin had shown up and Joannah had attacked her and when the Rose Goblin asked her what her name was Joannah had told her Chaos because it was what her mind, her entire life, had become.*
[*Issue #5 - do I have to do this anymore? Will]
"So you see Chaos. You are simply the product of one man's insane obsession. I truly pity your situation, but seeing as I have decided to retake the company my father sweated and toiled so long for, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to dispose of you as I did our dear Mr. Jent," said Osborn as he walked slowly back to the desk that Jent had been standing behind only minutes ago. Chaos knew she was going to die. The symbiote was all but invulnerable to everything except fire and sound and she was certain that by pressing the button Jent had been reaching for earlier, Osborn would unleash one or the other upon her.
"Don't press that button," said a harsh but familiar voice. Osborn, with a startled expression on his once calm face, looked up to a corner of the room concealed in shadows. Chaos looked towards the corner too and felt a rush of relief at what she saw. If there was any God in the world then He was shining on her right now. As the figure stepped out of the gloom it revealed itself as her ally, the Rose Goblin.
After seeing Jameson to an ambulance, the Scarlet Spider walked along the street helping the rescue teams with other injured people. As soon as the last person had been huddled into the overcrowded emergency vehicles the Scarlet Spider jumped to the face of the Daily Bugle building and quickly scaled it. He hopped over the ledge onto the roof and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Spider-Man standing right there in front of him.
"Jeez, Spidey! If you want to scare me why not just get a chainsaw and chase me through the woods next time. Less subtle," said the Scarlet Spider obviously trying to hide the tension he was feeling by making a joke. Everything that had happened since he'd come back to New York had taken its toll on him. He felt drained. Spider-man could sense it.
"Look who's talking. That outfit of yours is enough to give anyone nightmares for weeks," said Spider-Man and Ben interpreted his joke in the same way. Ben knew Mary Jane was gone and that Peter's home had been destroyed. Ben had left Peter in a time of vulnerability with two deadly enemies trying to destroy him and it was amazing to him that his brother could still make jokes.
"I'm sorry, Peter. I left you back there. When the Rose Goblin destroyed the Daily Bugle and you went to confront her I just couldn't bring myself to help you. I had to get away," said the Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man could hear Ben's voice cracking.
"Why did you leave Ben? What made you run away?" Spider-Man asked. Ben was acting strange and Spidey had no idea why. There was something bigger than Ben abandoning him going on here.
"I left because of what you said Pete. When the Daily Bugle was destroyed and Jonah was down on the ground ranting and raving you told me he was upset because he'd lost his entire life. Right at that moment I realized that I have no life as long as I'm here. I'm your clone and even though I love you and Aunt May and New York I've got to build a real life for myself. Anything less would be betraying who I am." Ben was looking at the ground as he said his piece and Spider-Man knew there was more to what the Scarlet Spider was telling him.
"What else Ben? You're keeping something else from me. What is it?" said Spidey and watched as Ben reached under his belt and pulled out what looked to be a card of some sort. He walked over to Spider-Man and handed it to him. It was an identity badge for Oscorp Industries. There was a picture of a woman on it and it stated her name was Joannah Wilkins. Spider-Man looked up at Ben questioningly.
"What's this, a picture of your newest girlfriend or something? Ben, did you go off and get married while the Sentinels were busy stomping on my head? Shame on you," said Spidey and chuckled but as the Scarlet Spider pulled off his mask and Spider-Man saw the expression on his face, his laughter soon died.
"Sentinels? That explains the state of the city… but that's not important now. What is important is that when I was fighting Chaos she dropped that card. I noticed it when I hit her and I picked it up hoping it would tell me who she was," said Ben as Spider-Man twirled the card with his fingers. "When I saw it had to do with Osborn, well, I guess I didn't tell you because I was scared. I thought Osborn had killed me, and the thought of you having to go up against him kept me from giving you this. I realize now it was a mistake. A terrible one."
The Scarlet Spider put his hands on his head as if he was in great pain. Spider-Man almost hoped that was the case. The Rose Goblin and Chaos had been working together. If Chaos was an employee at Oscorp then that might mean that both the Rose Goblin and Chaos could have been found there. Spider-Man remembered a story he'd read about Oscorp's main facility being shut down for renovation. What if that wasn't the case? What if Oscorp had been shut down because two super-powered villains had opened up shop there?
"You should have told me, Ben," said Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider could hear that there was an edge to Spidey's voice. "You can't run away from all your problems for the rest of your life. You've got to face up to them and be a man. Be the man that I know you can be."
"Look, I came back here because I have a sense of responsibility that shouldn't even be mine, ok? My whole life has been about not doing what I wanted to do. I'm not going to keep living my life this way. I know I made a mistake and I'm trying to make up for it. I've given you the card. You do what you have to do. I've got to go now," said Ben and he turned away from Spider-Man and walked towards the edge of the roof replacing his mask over his head.
"Where are you going, Ben? I might need your help with this. I know I'll need you after it's through." Peter was practically pleading and it hurt Ben but he wouldn't turn to face his brother. "Mary Jane is gone, Ben. I need my family to be here for me. Don't you see how important it is that you stay?"
"I'm sorry, Peter. I love you and you're my brother but if I don't find a life for myself then I won't be any help to you whether I stayed or not," said Ben although he still hadn't turned to look at Peter. "I'm hoping to find a place in Baltimore. Maybe finish up my grad degree in biochemistry. When I left the first time I was seeing to some of Seward's personal effects. He was my mentor after all and he left me some money too. I'll be alright and I promise to call you once I'm settled… but I've got to do this."
With that the Scarlet Spider fired a web-line and swung into the air. Soon he was out of Spider-Man's sight. Peter was confused and hurt but he felt like he understood partly why Ben had to leave. It was time for both of them to move on to the next step. He walked to the edge of the roof Ben had swung from and looked down at the card in his hand. Oscorp Industries was going to be paid a visit tonight by New York's friendly neighborhood web-slinger.
The Rose Goblin stepped towards Harry Osborn with a scowl of purest hatred on her face. Chaos hoped that she would kill him and free her quickly so that they could make their escape. She'd grown rather fond of the Rose Goblin over the short time they'd known each other. Chaos considered the female goblin her friend.
Suddenly the Rose Goblin's angry face brightened into an inviting smile and Chaos watched in horror as she embraced Harry Osborn and they kissed passionately. The Rose Goblin turned away from Harry Osborn and eyed Chaos in the tube she was trapped in.
"Why'd you stop me from pressing the button, my dear?" Harry asked as Chaos began to tremble deep in the recesses of her body. The Rose Goblin never took her eyes off of Chaos as she spoke to Harry Osborn in a cold voice.
"I wanted to press it myself," said the Rose Goblin and Chaos began to scream.
Spider-Man arrived at Oscorp just in time to hear the first horrible scream echoing within the building. Using his spider-like quickness and agility, he followed the sounds until they faded away. He had a pretty good idea of the direction from whence they had come and he continued on that path until the corridor he was in led him to a closed door with the words "Research Laboratory" engraved upon them.
He opened the door and stepped inside and was shocked at what he found. Inside lay the body of a man he recognized as Ryan Jent, the president of Oscorp Industries. Not far from where his body was laid, was a glass like tube with the body of a woman inside. As he approached it he saw upon her face a look of supreme terror, one that had been etched there even after her death. Even with her visage so twisted by fear it wasn't hard for Spider-man to tell that it was Joannah Wilkins he was looking at. The disintegrated symbiote was nothing but dust around her body. Something had destroyed the symbiote and taken Joannah's life with it.
Suddenly Spider-Man heard voices and running footsteps approaching the room. He jumped to the ceiling and clung there invisible in the dark room. Security guards entered with flashlights and began surveying the scene. Spider-Man crept out silently while their backs were to him. His confusion had only grown greater and he wanted to break something. His wife was missing or dead, his penthouse gone, one of his adversaries was dead and another that had some sort of connection to Oscorp was still at large and had apparently killed her own partner. All Spider-Man wanted to do was go home and pass out. Tomorrow would be another day and he could figure things out then. Until then, he was content to sleep.
Harry Osborn stood in the living room of his own penthouse with the Rose Goblin at his side. A video screen had just shown him Spider-Man stepping into the laboratory and then scuttling off like a thief in the night before the security team discovered him. Osborn had hoped he'd have been discovered and blamed for the deaths of Jent and Wilkins but he'd staged it to seem like Jent had committed suicide after killing Wilkins just in case. He didn't want any details about their deaths to point back to him. He was confident he'd thought of everything. After all, even if he hadn't he still had another scapegoat to lay the blame on. She was standing right next to him.
"We shouldn't have left," said the Rose Goblin. The venom in her voice was evident as she spat out the words. "We didn't have to call those security people. We could have waited for him and killed him ourselves. Together Spider-Man would have been no match for us."
Osborn looked at the Rose Goblin and laughed. The Rose Goblin was somewhat taken aback by the sudden outburst and her face took on an uneasy expression.
"My dear, the time for Spider-Man's demise will come soon enough. But before that day comes I want him to be humiliated and helpless. I want him to know that there is nothing he can do to prevent his fate. You were a step towards that goal but your time is finished for now. You must go back until I call upon you again."
"No. Please keep me with you master. I love you," pleaded the Rose Goblin and she kissed Osborn softly on the lips. Her begging tone sickened Osborn. He pulled away from her and stared down at her disgustedly. He raised his hand and slapped her once on her face, casting her down to her knees.
"Leave now before I kill you, wench. An Osborn has no use for love. I will call on you again when you are needed. You will not see me again until that time," said Osborn and the Rose Goblin got up and ran out with a terrified expression on her face. Osborn turned around after she had left and sat at his desk. His smile had grown even larger.
"Peter Parker… my old adversary. Soon you will pay for all the pain you have caused me. You killed me once and I must have my revenge," said Osborn to himself and lifted his hands to his face. He began pulling on his skin and it tore away revealing another face underneath.
"And my revenge will be the end of your life," said the figure sitting in the shadows. He reached for a match and struck it, lighting a candle placed in front of him and it revealed his face… the face of Norman Osborn.
Next Issue: Life without a job, without the woman who loves him and without a place to live. What's a friendly neighborhood web-head to do? After all the tragic happenings of late in his life, isn't it about time Peter was given a break? The Rhino doesn't seem to think so. Be here next issue for "Between a Frog and a Horn place". Wait, did I say Frog?
Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, really wished he hadn't gotten out of bed this morning. It seemed as though he was set to enter the next realm as four Sentinels* had surrounded him and locked him in their sights.** His spider-sense was screaming at him full blast and the ferocity of its assault on his senses staggered him. He had no time to react, no time for anything. The constant strain of battle with these robotic creatures, not to mention his recent battles with the Rose Goblin and the new symbiote Chaos had taken their toll. Spider-Man, bloody and beaten in both mind and body, passed out as the Sentinels charged their weapons.
[*Giant robots created by the government to hunt down mutants and other super-powered beings - Michael]
[**Issue #11 - Will]
When the fog lifted and Spider-Man was finally able to regain consciousness and struggle to his feet his first thought was that heaven looked a lot like a really badly damaged version of New York. His head was pounding and as Spidey looked around there wasn't any sign of the Sentinels that had been prepared to incinerate him moments ago. His second thought was for the Rose Goblin who had been hit with a laser shot from one of the Sentinels right before they surrounded him.* She'd been blasted off the roof of the building he was standing on and surely hadn't been in any condition to walk away from it.
[*Issue #11 again - repetitive Will]
Spider-Man leaped to the corner of the building where he estimated the Rose Goblin had gone over and peered down to the ground below. The Rose Goblin was nowhere within sight. Spider-Man picked up a piece of the broken concrete roof and crushed it under his fingers. Not only had he been humiliated and defeated by robots that had suddenly decided to vacate the city, he was no closer to finding out who the Rose Goblin was, or how she knew who he was, or who she might be working for.
At least he wasn't dead. Spider-Man looked out over the city and although most of it was damaged in one way or the other, the Sentinels seemed to have all absconded. The city's work crews were all busy putting out fires and searching for survivors. Spider-Man knew he could help them but all he could think about was the Rose Goblin. His wife was presumed dead in a plane crash that occurred on her way to a photo shoot in Hawaii.* This Rose Goblin had shown up right before it happened and he couldn't think of a better suspect, especially since not long after the Rose Goblin had destroyed the penthouse Peter and Mary Jane had been residing in.**
[*Issue #2 - Will]
[**Issue #3 - dramatic Will]
He'd agreed to make the Rose Goblin his ally against the Sentinels simply because the woman was pretty competent as far as her fighting skill was concerned, but he'd fully intended to take her out once the immediate threat to the city had been handled. Now, the Rose Goblin was nowhere in sight and all Spidey could think of was tracking her down and making her talk. How did she know his real identity Peter Parker? Why was she wearing the Goblin costume? Did she know anything about Mary Jane's disappearance? Spider-Man would find out, one way or another.
Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, clone of Peter Parker, made his way back towards the Daily Bugle building with blinding speed. When he'd left New York, the Rose Goblin, a villain that seemed to know a lot about both Peter and himself, had just extensively damaged the Daily Bugle with an explosive device.* Now as he swung through New York he was transfixed by the destruction that had happened to the rest of the city while he'd been away. Everywhere he swung the city seemed to be burning or crumbling. Fire fighters and other city operators were struggling to help the victims of whoever had perpetrated this horrible onslaught on New York.
[*Issue #7 - overworked Will]
Many times the Scarlet Spider stopped on his way to the Daily Bugle to help put out a fire or brace a wall from falling until rescue crews could get victims to safety. He felt partly responsible for what had happened here. If he hadn't left he might have been able to prevent some of the incredible destruction that had occurred. Surely the Rose Goblin couldn't have been the cause of all this destruction. But if not her, then who?
The Scarlet Spider continued to mull over his thoughts as the Daily Bugle came within his sights. It was even more heavily damaged than when he'd left it and there was debris scattered all over the street. Work crews were busy clearing the streets so that rescue vehicles could operate more efficiently. They were also attempting to clear the entrance to the Daily Bugle as getting to victims still trapped inside was a high priority.
"Need any help fellas? The Scarlet Spider is more than happy to oblige you. Just don't tell anybody you saw me, I'm trying to keep a low profile," said the Scarlet Spider as he swung down and began to clear the entryway. Within a few short moments the doorway to the lobby was clear and the rescue teams went inside.
There was no sign of Spider-Man at the moment and the Scarlet Spider figured Spidey was probably off trying to help the best way he could as well. He'd been hoping Spider-Man was here though as the Scarlet Spider had important things to tell him. The Scarlet Spider had made a mistake after his battle with Chaos and the Rose Goblin.* He'd made more mistakes after that when he'd left Peter to face the Rose Goblin and Chaos on his own. He intended to fully atone for those mistakes as soon as he saw his brother.
[*Issue #5 - Will]
The Scarlet Spider watched the rescue personnel do their job with awe. These men had no super powers to speak of but their courage and commitment to the survivors of whatever catastrophe had taken place here was incredible. Most of them rushed into the Daily Bugle building immediately and therefore they didn't hear the soft groans that the Scarlet Spider did coming from under some rubble nearby.
Jumping quickly over to the debris, the Scarlet Spider began lifting it off of whoever was entrapped by it. It only took a few seconds and as the last piece of wreckage was thrown clear, the Scarlet Spider was shocked to see the battered and blood covered form of J. Jonah Jameson.
When Joannah Wilkins, more commonly known as Chaos, regained consciousness and was able to survey her surroundings she knew she was in serious trouble. For the first time since she'd bonded with the symbiote, she knew fear. The recently resurrected Harry Osborn, who had knocked her out somehow, and the current president of operations for Oscorp Industries, Ryan Jent were observing her and as she tried to reach out to them she realized she was encased in some sort of glass tube. Using the great strength the symbiote had granted her with their bonding, Chaos tried to fracture the glass and attack her captors. No matter how hard she pushed or scraped against it however the result was the same, she was trapped.
"Ah, I see you are finally awake, Miss Wilkins," said Harry Osborn in a cool, relaxed tone of voice. It was almost as if he were hitting on her in a club instead of talking to a woman he held as his prisoner. "Mr. Jent has just been sharing with me the details of your creation. Frankly, it's a very fascinating subject. Would you care to hear it?"
Osborn was toying with her. The anger Chaos felt welled up inside of her and she would have liked nothing better than to get her hands around Osborn's throat and squeeze the life from him. Jent didn't appear to be too pleased with any part of what was going on as he spoke hesitantly to Osborn before Chaos could say a word.
"I don't think now is the time to be playing games, Mr. Osborn. This creature must be destroyed. The experiment that created the symbiote we grafted to Wilkins was supposed to have been able to control her actions for the benefit of Oscorp. As you can see, there is no controlling Chaos. She must be killed," said Jent as he pushed a button underneath the desk he was standing behind and a small panel slid away revealing a set of electronic buttons beneath. Jent reached out to press one of them but was restrained by Osborn.
"Mr. Jent, how can you be so cold hearted? Surely after everything you told me while the good Dr. Wilkins was asleep you don't want to have her killed before knowing why it was she that was given the symbiote in the first place," said Harry Osborn as he pushed Jent from behind the desk and towards the tube holding Chaos. "Yes, I think now is certainly the time to reveal all."
"Mr. Osborn… we really don't have time for this. I am the president of this company and with that title comes power," said Jent as he eyed Osborn suspiciously.
"There's no way in hell I'm relinquishing control of my company to you. I don't even know if you're the real Harry Osborn or some kind of imposter," growled Jent in a menacing tone. He knew that Harry Osborn had been long dead and from what he'd heard, Harry Osborn was something of a jittery sort of person. This guy's smooth mannerism seemed way off.
Harry Osborn looked at Ryan Jent with a bemused expression. He reached into the inside of his suit and pulled out a pistol that he aimed directly at Jent. Both Jent and Chaos gasped in surprise.
"I assure you, Mr. Jent… I am an Osborn and I will be taking control of my company once more. You are simply an obstacle in my way, and a rather simple one to overcome at that," said Osborn as he pulled the trigger. The slug hit Ryan Jent right in the temple of his skull and Jent was dead before he hit the floor.
"Now where were we?" said Osborn as he took a handkerchief out of his breast pocket and wiped his fingerprints from the gun. Osborn placed the gun in Jent's hand and fired it again at the floor so as to place powder marks on Jent's hand. Chaos looked at him in horror as Harry Osborn raised himself up from his knees and dusted himself off. "Yes, of course. I was about to relate to you the details of your current situation. Please listen closely Miss Wilkins. I don't like to repeat myself."
Spider-Man stood in the motel room he'd rented as Peter Parker with a frown on his face. He'd returned to restock on his webbing as he'd used up a lot of it over the last few hours. Even though he'd felt like he couldn't have possibly taken any time to help the people of the city until he resolved his own problems, he'd stopped numerous times on his way to the motel to help out with one rescue operation or another. His sense of responsibility was too great to ignore the cries for help.
Now with his web-shooters fully loaded and a desire to find the Rose Goblin and learn her plans that had grown even stronger with the passing hours, Spider-Man had decided to make his way to the Daily Bugle. It was certain that the Daily Bugle staff, if any of them were still working right now, would be solely committed to the Sentinel crisis but Spidey still had hope that someone would have heard about the Rose Goblin and might have a lead for him to follow. It was a weak hope but the only one he had to work with so he grasped it and began to make his way to the Bugle.
As Harry Osborn told Chaos the story with what seemed like glee evident in his voice, she began to cry. Harry Osborn seemed to enjoy the sight of her tears and continued unabashedly. She learned all about the research division that was started by Ryan Jent as soon as he was made president of Oscorp. The research division dedicated to creating an artificial version of the alien symbiote that had infected and bonded itself to both Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady, the superhuman killers better known as Venom and Carnage.
The project had apparently been a success. The symbiote was everything that Jent and the research team had envisioned. There was only one problem. They needed someone to test it on. Jent had originally planned to be the test subject himself. He was a man whose desire for power had never been quenched, not even when he took over Oscorp in a bold corporate takeover. But he was also a man who only took educated chances. The symbiote needed to be tested first.
Jent had long been obsessed with a bright young research scientist named Joannah Wilkins. Her beauty and brilliance captivated Jent in a way that no other woman had ever done before. As the president of the company he often was actively involved with projects taken up by his staff. He would watch Joannah more often than any of his other employees. He would watch her even when she left work. Following her home and using binoculars to watch her at first. Then bugging devices, and hidden cameras to look in on her everyday activities at home from the comfort of his office.
Finally he decided that Joannah Wilkins would be his but every time he got close enough to ask her something or profess his love for her something held him back. She was too beautiful for him, too intelligent. She'd see right through him and discover that he'd been obsessed with her for months. Secretly watching everything she did. With his fear of rejection fueling his thoughts, he devised a plan.
He would use Joannah as the test subject for the symbiote. Surely once the symbiote was bonded to her no man would ever want her and once Jent had his own symbiote he would finally be able to relate with her in a way he couldn't possibly have done before. They would share something so intimate and rare that there couldn't possibly be any room for doubt that they were meant for each other.
So Jent had broken into her apartment early one morning when Joannah was at work and placed a drug in her toothpaste. That night the drug knocked Joannah out and he brought her back to the labs. All the personnel had gone home for the night long ago so Jent performed the procedure himself. The bonding worked beautifully but there seemed to be a problem. The symbiote was in control. Joannah was hiding somewhere inside her own mind and the symbiote was in a rage. It tried desperately to escape but the containment facility Jent had it in prevented it. He was confident that he could revive Joannah and that they would be together.
The next morning when Jent arrived, the containment chamber was empty. The symbiote had escaped. Jent sent out special teams to search for it but there was no luck. All the teams found was evidence that something was hiding within the complex, surviving in the ventilation shafts and eating whatever it could find. Jent postponed the research on the symbiote manufacture and closed down Oscorp Industries. He then turned his full attention to finding Joannah. That is, until Harry Osborn made his presence known by turning up alive and well.
Joannah knew the rest of the story herself. She'd woken up and the first thing she'd heard was the symbiote speaking to her. She thought she was going insane. She had no idea why the symbiote was with her or what had happened and the symbiote didn't seem to know either. All Joannah knew was that she had to stay at Oscorp. Try to find some sort of cure for herself. Then the Rose Goblin had shown up and Joannah had attacked her and when the Rose Goblin asked her what her name was Joannah had told her Chaos because it was what her mind, her entire life, had become.*
[*Issue #5 - do I have to do this anymore? Will]
"So you see Chaos. You are simply the product of one man's insane obsession. I truly pity your situation, but seeing as I have decided to retake the company my father sweated and toiled so long for, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to dispose of you as I did our dear Mr. Jent," said Osborn as he walked slowly back to the desk that Jent had been standing behind only minutes ago. Chaos knew she was going to die. The symbiote was all but invulnerable to everything except fire and sound and she was certain that by pressing the button Jent had been reaching for earlier, Osborn would unleash one or the other upon her.
"Don't press that button," said a harsh but familiar voice. Osborn, with a startled expression on his once calm face, looked up to a corner of the room concealed in shadows. Chaos looked towards the corner too and felt a rush of relief at what she saw. If there was any God in the world then He was shining on her right now. As the figure stepped out of the gloom it revealed itself as her ally, the Rose Goblin.
After seeing Jameson to an ambulance, the Scarlet Spider walked along the street helping the rescue teams with other injured people. As soon as the last person had been huddled into the overcrowded emergency vehicles the Scarlet Spider jumped to the face of the Daily Bugle building and quickly scaled it. He hopped over the ledge onto the roof and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Spider-Man standing right there in front of him.
"Jeez, Spidey! If you want to scare me why not just get a chainsaw and chase me through the woods next time. Less subtle," said the Scarlet Spider obviously trying to hide the tension he was feeling by making a joke. Everything that had happened since he'd come back to New York had taken its toll on him. He felt drained. Spider-man could sense it.
"Look who's talking. That outfit of yours is enough to give anyone nightmares for weeks," said Spider-Man and Ben interpreted his joke in the same way. Ben knew Mary Jane was gone and that Peter's home had been destroyed. Ben had left Peter in a time of vulnerability with two deadly enemies trying to destroy him and it was amazing to him that his brother could still make jokes.
"I'm sorry, Peter. I left you back there. When the Rose Goblin destroyed the Daily Bugle and you went to confront her I just couldn't bring myself to help you. I had to get away," said the Scarlet Spider and Spider-Man could hear Ben's voice cracking.
"Why did you leave Ben? What made you run away?" Spider-Man asked. Ben was acting strange and Spidey had no idea why. There was something bigger than Ben abandoning him going on here.
"I left because of what you said Pete. When the Daily Bugle was destroyed and Jonah was down on the ground ranting and raving you told me he was upset because he'd lost his entire life. Right at that moment I realized that I have no life as long as I'm here. I'm your clone and even though I love you and Aunt May and New York I've got to build a real life for myself. Anything less would be betraying who I am." Ben was looking at the ground as he said his piece and Spider-Man knew there was more to what the Scarlet Spider was telling him.
"What else Ben? You're keeping something else from me. What is it?" said Spidey and watched as Ben reached under his belt and pulled out what looked to be a card of some sort. He walked over to Spider-Man and handed it to him. It was an identity badge for Oscorp Industries. There was a picture of a woman on it and it stated her name was Joannah Wilkins. Spider-Man looked up at Ben questioningly.
"What's this, a picture of your newest girlfriend or something? Ben, did you go off and get married while the Sentinels were busy stomping on my head? Shame on you," said Spidey and chuckled but as the Scarlet Spider pulled off his mask and Spider-Man saw the expression on his face, his laughter soon died.
"Sentinels? That explains the state of the city… but that's not important now. What is important is that when I was fighting Chaos she dropped that card. I noticed it when I hit her and I picked it up hoping it would tell me who she was," said Ben as Spider-Man twirled the card with his fingers. "When I saw it had to do with Osborn, well, I guess I didn't tell you because I was scared. I thought Osborn had killed me, and the thought of you having to go up against him kept me from giving you this. I realize now it was a mistake. A terrible one."
The Scarlet Spider put his hands on his head as if he was in great pain. Spider-Man almost hoped that was the case. The Rose Goblin and Chaos had been working together. If Chaos was an employee at Oscorp then that might mean that both the Rose Goblin and Chaos could have been found there. Spider-Man remembered a story he'd read about Oscorp's main facility being shut down for renovation. What if that wasn't the case? What if Oscorp had been shut down because two super-powered villains had opened up shop there?
"You should have told me, Ben," said Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider could hear that there was an edge to Spidey's voice. "You can't run away from all your problems for the rest of your life. You've got to face up to them and be a man. Be the man that I know you can be."
"Look, I came back here because I have a sense of responsibility that shouldn't even be mine, ok? My whole life has been about not doing what I wanted to do. I'm not going to keep living my life this way. I know I made a mistake and I'm trying to make up for it. I've given you the card. You do what you have to do. I've got to go now," said Ben and he turned away from Spider-Man and walked towards the edge of the roof replacing his mask over his head.
"Where are you going, Ben? I might need your help with this. I know I'll need you after it's through." Peter was practically pleading and it hurt Ben but he wouldn't turn to face his brother. "Mary Jane is gone, Ben. I need my family to be here for me. Don't you see how important it is that you stay?"
"I'm sorry, Peter. I love you and you're my brother but if I don't find a life for myself then I won't be any help to you whether I stayed or not," said Ben although he still hadn't turned to look at Peter. "I'm hoping to find a place in Baltimore. Maybe finish up my grad degree in biochemistry. When I left the first time I was seeing to some of Seward's personal effects. He was my mentor after all and he left me some money too. I'll be alright and I promise to call you once I'm settled… but I've got to do this."
With that the Scarlet Spider fired a web-line and swung into the air. Soon he was out of Spider-Man's sight. Peter was confused and hurt but he felt like he understood partly why Ben had to leave. It was time for both of them to move on to the next step. He walked to the edge of the roof Ben had swung from and looked down at the card in his hand. Oscorp Industries was going to be paid a visit tonight by New York's friendly neighborhood web-slinger.
The Rose Goblin stepped towards Harry Osborn with a scowl of purest hatred on her face. Chaos hoped that she would kill him and free her quickly so that they could make their escape. She'd grown rather fond of the Rose Goblin over the short time they'd known each other. Chaos considered the female goblin her friend.
Suddenly the Rose Goblin's angry face brightened into an inviting smile and Chaos watched in horror as she embraced Harry Osborn and they kissed passionately. The Rose Goblin turned away from Harry Osborn and eyed Chaos in the tube she was trapped in.
"Why'd you stop me from pressing the button, my dear?" Harry asked as Chaos began to tremble deep in the recesses of her body. The Rose Goblin never took her eyes off of Chaos as she spoke to Harry Osborn in a cold voice.
"I wanted to press it myself," said the Rose Goblin and Chaos began to scream.
Spider-Man arrived at Oscorp just in time to hear the first horrible scream echoing within the building. Using his spider-like quickness and agility, he followed the sounds until they faded away. He had a pretty good idea of the direction from whence they had come and he continued on that path until the corridor he was in led him to a closed door with the words "Research Laboratory" engraved upon them.
He opened the door and stepped inside and was shocked at what he found. Inside lay the body of a man he recognized as Ryan Jent, the president of Oscorp Industries. Not far from where his body was laid, was a glass like tube with the body of a woman inside. As he approached it he saw upon her face a look of supreme terror, one that had been etched there even after her death. Even with her visage so twisted by fear it wasn't hard for Spider-man to tell that it was Joannah Wilkins he was looking at. The disintegrated symbiote was nothing but dust around her body. Something had destroyed the symbiote and taken Joannah's life with it.
Suddenly Spider-Man heard voices and running footsteps approaching the room. He jumped to the ceiling and clung there invisible in the dark room. Security guards entered with flashlights and began surveying the scene. Spider-Man crept out silently while their backs were to him. His confusion had only grown greater and he wanted to break something. His wife was missing or dead, his penthouse gone, one of his adversaries was dead and another that had some sort of connection to Oscorp was still at large and had apparently killed her own partner. All Spider-Man wanted to do was go home and pass out. Tomorrow would be another day and he could figure things out then. Until then, he was content to sleep.
Harry Osborn stood in the living room of his own penthouse with the Rose Goblin at his side. A video screen had just shown him Spider-Man stepping into the laboratory and then scuttling off like a thief in the night before the security team discovered him. Osborn had hoped he'd have been discovered and blamed for the deaths of Jent and Wilkins but he'd staged it to seem like Jent had committed suicide after killing Wilkins just in case. He didn't want any details about their deaths to point back to him. He was confident he'd thought of everything. After all, even if he hadn't he still had another scapegoat to lay the blame on. She was standing right next to him.
"We shouldn't have left," said the Rose Goblin. The venom in her voice was evident as she spat out the words. "We didn't have to call those security people. We could have waited for him and killed him ourselves. Together Spider-Man would have been no match for us."
Osborn looked at the Rose Goblin and laughed. The Rose Goblin was somewhat taken aback by the sudden outburst and her face took on an uneasy expression.
"My dear, the time for Spider-Man's demise will come soon enough. But before that day comes I want him to be humiliated and helpless. I want him to know that there is nothing he can do to prevent his fate. You were a step towards that goal but your time is finished for now. You must go back until I call upon you again."
"No. Please keep me with you master. I love you," pleaded the Rose Goblin and she kissed Osborn softly on the lips. Her begging tone sickened Osborn. He pulled away from her and stared down at her disgustedly. He raised his hand and slapped her once on her face, casting her down to her knees.
"Leave now before I kill you, wench. An Osborn has no use for love. I will call on you again when you are needed. You will not see me again until that time," said Osborn and the Rose Goblin got up and ran out with a terrified expression on her face. Osborn turned around after she had left and sat at his desk. His smile had grown even larger.
"Peter Parker… my old adversary. Soon you will pay for all the pain you have caused me. You killed me once and I must have my revenge," said Osborn to himself and lifted his hands to his face. He began pulling on his skin and it tore away revealing another face underneath.
"And my revenge will be the end of your life," said the figure sitting in the shadows. He reached for a match and struck it, lighting a candle placed in front of him and it revealed his face… the face of Norman Osborn.
Next Issue: Life without a job, without the woman who loves him and without a place to live. What's a friendly neighborhood web-head to do? After all the tragic happenings of late in his life, isn't it about time Peter was given a break? The Rhino doesn't seem to think so. Be here next issue for "Between a Frog and a Horn place". Wait, did I say Frog?