Issue #2 by Jake Hawkins
Sep 2023 Peter Parker
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OSBORN ESTATELONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
A dark blue BMW with a tint as black as coal pulled up to the gates of Norman Osborn’s manor. In the backseat of the car, nervously clutching the strap of his favorite briefcase was Richard Parker. His eyes locked onto the initials of Norman on each side of the gate, wrought in a beautiful gold ornate lay. The gate separated once the driver checked in with the security via the intercom that sat in the white brick surrounding the estate. The driver took a hard glance at Richard in his rearview mirror, watching the doctor push his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. He wondered what this particular, almost sniveling man could have had in his mind that Mr. Osborn brought him out at this hour. Whatever it could be, he wasn’t paid to know, and he wasn’t going to ask anyone the wrong question about it. He stopped in front of the manor and stepped out of the car, umbrella first. The driver walked briskly around the vehicle, giving the young maid in the doorway of the manor a nod before letting Richard out of the car. Doing everything he possibly could consider to hide his nerves, Richard thanked the driver and hastily headed up the cobblestone steps into the twelve-room manor that Norman Osborn called home when he wasn’t at Oscorp. Linda, as the head maid told Richard her name was as he stepped into the foyer, took his coat before leading him through the mansion. It was Richard’s first visit to Norman’s home in almost a decade. Richard recalled the Christmas party he’d attended alongside Mary some eight or nine years ago in the same home, albeit with plenty of renovations that had been done since. As he followed Linda he couldn’t help but shuffle through the memories of his life from that period, and how much he never realized just how happy he was. The breakthroughs and discoveries Mary and himself were in the midst of, together, were all moments Richard assumed he’d have forever. Now he stood on the precipice of truly losing everything, and he couldn’t be quite sure why Norman wanted to see him when his son was fighting with all he had inside of an ICU. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Norman wrapped up the video conference call that he was in the midst of once he looked above his computer and noticed Linda leading Richard down the hallway. “We’ll continue this tomorrow morning. Ladies and Gentleman, if you’ll excuse me…” Norman ended the call and placed the computer into sleep mode. The screen generated an OSCORP logo screensaver across all its monitors just as Linda and Richard entered. Norman shook Richard’s hand, who returned the gesture with far less enthusiasm before sliding into the seat on the other side of Norman’s desk. “Will you be needing anything else this evening Mr. Osborn?” Norman shook his head and quickly shooed Linda away with a dismissive gesture. She nodded in return and hurried out of the office, closing the doors to it behind her. Once Norman heard the doors click into place, his demeanor shifted entirely. He sized up Richard, his lip almost curling in outward disdain for the frumpy scientist sitting across from him. “Alright, let’s get the necessities out of the way first and foremost, shall we?” Norman suggested. He pulled a few folders from the drawers of his desk and set them. Richard peered down at the group of documents as Norman sifted through them. He tried to hold back his surprise when he realized it was full of the work Curtis, Mary, and himself had devoted their careers at Oscorp to. He had always assumed Norman was the least interested of all board members when it came to their research, but evidence this had always been far from the case was sitting quite literally right in front of him. “I understand there was quite the dust-up between yourself and your brother last night at the hospital. How is Peter doing?” Norman didn’t even meet Richard’s eyes as he asked the question, instead focusing on the contents inside the files he’d pulled out. Richard stammered for a moment, still trying to get his bearings mentally after what had been the last twenty-four hours. He finally found his voice once Norman looked up at him, still waiting for an answer. “He’s…um. He’s stable…” Richard looked down at the folders and steadied his voice before speaking again. “Sir..how long have you been keeping these files in your personal home?” Norman chuckled softly and straightened up in his long back chair. “That’s good to hear about your boy, first of all. My boy is attending BV in the fall as well.” Richard shook his head, uninterested in the future for the first time in as long as he can recall. “If I can be blunt, sir, what exactly did you want me to come out here in regards to?” Norman was surprised to see Dr. Parker find such backbone in his home of all places. “Richard I know things couldn’t have been easy for you since Dr. Parker’s passing these last few years. Hell, the loss of our other half is one of the few things we can both acknowledge we have in common.” Norman sized up Richard before peering down at the research documents in between them. “Which is why I am offering you the opportunity to finally free yourself, and do what you love to do as a continuance of your grant at Oscorp.” Richard is visibly confused, which drew a bit of amusement from Osborn. “I’m not exactly sure now is the time for me to take on any more responsibilities, Mr. Osborn. I think the time I’ve spent since…Mary’s passing hasn’t been utilized the way it should have. That’s why my son is sitting in a hospital bed.” Richard stared downward at his brown slacks, a sign of his clear shame. “Richard, men like us weren’t meant for fatherhood. We had it thrust upon us due to the fiery passions that we carry, that helped us get to where we are today. But it isn’t the role best suited for our talents. You have always known this about yourself, that’s why your immediate instinct after losing your wife was to find the key to making sure no one else felt that pain again. Instead of taking solace in the, quite lovely, if I do say so myself family you still have.” Richard slowly looked up from his shoelaces as he listened to the words that streamed from his boss’s mouth. “That May Parker is some woman. Your brother shot way out of his league there, didn’t he?” Norman chuckled before getting back on track. “The bad news of this little meeting is I am shutting you and Connors down, your wing that is, effective immediately. And quietly I might add. But neither of you,” Norman leaned across his desk, making sure Richard was clear on what he was about to say “Are done contributing to Oscorp. As a matter of fact, you are about to become more valuable than ever before.” Richard tremored with a tinge of fear, but also with one of excitement. He saw the wild, almost devilish glint in the eyes of Norman as he stared across from him. The weight of his mistakes, with Mary, with Peter, and with his brother tore him apart. Norman saw the conflict, the burden he knew Richard was battling with as they spoke and let his words sit with the doctor for a bit. “I’ve..I failed Peter by not being able to save his mother. And I failed him again. Today.” “Then help me give him a better world to grow up in when he wakes up.” Richard took in Norman’s suggestion. He pulled his glasses off as if he couldn’t see clearly with them on, and his head sagged. He wouldn’t dare face Peter when, no if he woke up. He knew his brother couldn’t stand the sight of him. He had to do them both, and poor May too, the damndest of favors. “Do you have a lawyer on retainer this hour?” Richard asked, Norman raised an eyebrow in return, wondering what he could need legal council for at this hour. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # May slept soundly against her husband’s shoulder in Peter’s hospital room. The only sounds besides her light snoring in the room were the ones emitting from the various medical machines around her dear nephew. Next to her, Ben was wide awake, a copy of the Daily Bugle between his fingers. As he read the latest on a string of burglaries by a reporter he always enjoyed. A pair of men in tan suits stepping off the elevator just above his eye line got his attention. He put the newspaper away as they walked down the hall, passing Peter’s room and going straight toward the nurses' station. Ben got up carefully, leaning May against the wall behind them both. He crossed the room and turned the knob as quietly as he could before quickly pulling the door open and slipping back out into the ICU. He watched the pair of gentlemen converse briefly with the nurse there before looking towards Peter’s room and locking eyes with Ben Parker. He saw one of them thank the nurse for her time and they headed over to Ben. Ben took a brief glance back inside the room just to be sure May was still dozing before he met the pair of suited men in the middle of the hospital hallway. “Something I can help you gentlemen with? You look awfully concerned with us.” Ben puffed his chest just enough to let them both he was no Sunday stroll pushover. One of the gentlemen looked at his partner pulling an envelope from under his arm. “Are you Benjamin Parker?” The gentleman asked sternly with the envelope in hand. “I am. What of it?” Ben controlled his bark back at the pair of suits. He’d come from a pair of jobs he had scheduled straight to the hospital, without an ounce of sleep in between. His cranky attitude was snuffed out when the man simply handed him the envelope. “Have a pleasant evening. Prayers to your nephew, as well.” The pair walked right past Ben and back to the elevators without another word. Ben looked down at the thick envelope in his hand. He noticed the insignia in the top left corner and was all the more puzzled at why he was being served a letter from the Queens County Friend of Court offices, no less at an hour like this. He walked back inside Peter’s room, so distracted by the surprise delivered to him that he closed the door louder than intended. The sound shook May awake, and her focus quickly fell on the confused expression on her husband’s face. “Ben, honey, what’s wrong?” May asked while he was fumbling at the edges of the envelope. His hands trembled slightly, something May noticed only happened when her husband had a rare case of nerves. She stood up and approached him, looking down at the envelope alongside him before taking it out of his hands. She too took a brief glance at the Friend of Court insignia on the front, but before she could let her stomach drop she ripped open the top of the envelope with fierce ease. Ben tossed the remains of the envelope into a bin across the room while May unfurled the paperwork inside. Looking over her shoulder, they both read in silent shock at the words typed across the pieces of paper, now labeling them both as the legal guardians of their nephew. Ben stared at the signature at the very bottom of the last page, right above the line of consent from the previous parent/guardian. He held back every urge to cry when he saw his brother’s handwriting. A pain in his gut, one he recognized as guilt, began to eat at him as he turned around to where his nephew continued to fight against the radiation poisoning he was suffering from. Now he wondered if he too had failed his nephew, as he hoped his words weren’t the deciding factor in Richard’s decision. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # 2 WEEKS LATER Peter’s room is pitch black and dark as he still sleeps soundly. His oxygen and blood pressure displays still read as optimal, but the screen next to them that displays his brain functions slowly ticks upward. A fly slowly buzzing around the room, eventually comes to a lazy landing on Peter’s exposed forearm. As the fly walks up his arm, through the hairs sticking out of pores, the brain activity display spikes drastically out of nowhere. Peter’s eyes snapped open immediately. With a massive jolt he sprung from the bed, ripping IVs and lead patches off and out of him and clinging to the ceiling. Peter looks around the room, confused and terribly startled, his breathing is ragged and heavy. As his head darts around to take in his surroundings, he finally, slowly, and much to his own terror realizes he is hands and feet stuck to the ceiling. “AAAAGGHHHH!” Peter shrieks as he sees his inexplicable predicament. This phenomenon must be why he’s awakened with his butt out in a hospital gown, he assumed before he felt the ceiling tiles come loose under the strain of his weight. Peter along with the tiles he had been stuck to came crashing down on and around the bed. Nurses rushed into the room, just in time to be completely bewildered by the mess around the young man. Peter sat upright in the hospital bed, blushing at the nurses. “Would any of you happen to know where my Aunt May is?” # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # STACY FAMILY APARTMENT WESTSIDE QUEENS Gwen Stacy whipped open the door to her room, causing it to slam and rock the entire apartment from the impact. She put on her glasses and tucked her short blonde hair behind her ears while hurrying over to the dining room table. Taking a seat next to her father, she almost comically licked her lips with excitement at the plate of eggs, toasts, and pancakes her father had prepared for her. Her father looked up from the case he was studying, something Gwen’s mother would usually scold him for, to watch his daughter dive into her breakfast. He couldn’t help but swell with happiness as he could sense the amount of excitement bundled inside his one and only little girl, a month into her thirteenth year around the sun. “Did you need a ride over to May and Ben’s?” George Stacy asked her. He waited till she finished the mouthful of pancakes she was working on to get an answer. “Sure Dad, thanks!” Gwen replied before reaching for the bottle of Simply Orange in front of her. She poured herself a generous cup full before returning to her food. A realization jumped to the forefront of Captain Stacy’s mind, causing him to pull himself out of his case file and scoot back from the table. “That reminds me, this came for you today.” George got up from his chair and headed into the adjoined living room. He picked up a hefty rectangle-shaped brown box and set it on the other end of the table. Gwen's eyes got wide at the sight of the package. Her sight fell on the label slapped on the side of the box, her heart racing when she saw the name Brooklyn Visions Academy under sender. “Wow, I was wondering what was taking so long!” She popped out of her seat and took a step over next to her father. She reached into his pocket, rummaging for a moment before she found the box cutter she knew he kept on him. She split it straight down the middle and pulled back each flap. Her smile only grew significantly wider once she saw what was waiting for her inside. She eagerly pulled out her uniform, the sight of which drew a swelter of pride in Captain Stacy’s chest. She laid the uniform across the back of one of the dining table chairs and continued rummaging through the package of her new high school. George checked his watch and nearly choked on his bagel when he noticed the time. “Alright if I’m going to make it downtown in time we need to move it. You ready?” Gwen looked up from the box at her father, a planner in one hand and a student handbook in the other. She gave him a beaming nod of enthusiasm. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Peter stood in front of his bedroom mirror, one that sat right behind next to his computer desk. Shirtless, he examined the wiry, rippled frame he surely didn’t recognize as the body he knew before he blacked out at Oscorp. In his hand was a pair of his glasses, prescribed exactly to his needed specifications. After a moment of staring at them in his hand, he promptly turned to drop them in his Brooklyn Nets trash can. He walked over to his closed closet door and pressed his flat palm against it. Once he was sure it was clinging to the surface, he decided to be entirely sure his ordeal at the hospital wasn’t a hallucination brought on by the radiation poisoning. He placed his other palm on the wall, exactly like the previous one. Just as he raised his foot and placed it against the dull eggshell white paint, a knock at his door pulled him away from his radical experiment. He snatched a shirt off a nearby pile of laundry and hastily unlocked the door to his room. “It’s open.” He yelled before falling into his computer chair and booting up his PlayStation. His aunt cracked the door open and poked her head in, an even more worried than usual expression on her face. “Peter, dear, how are you feeling this morning?” Peter took a short breath before turning around to face his aunt with a smirk. “About as great as your hair always looks, Aunt May.” He kept his attention on her as the game rushed to the starting menu. “Are you sure? You barely touched your breakfast this morning.” She assessed, trying to make sure he wasn’t hiding any hidden symptoms. Peter leaned back in his game chair, smiling widely at his aunt. “Well, that's because I didn’t expect you to let Uncle Ben on the stove this morning.” Peter chuckled, drawing a laugh from his worrisome aunt. “Don’t think my stomach is quite up to trying one of his omelets just yet. May shook her head and chuckled along with her nephew. “Well don’t get glued to that thing just yet, though I’m sure you want to enjoy the rest of your summer to make up for lost time. There’s a package for you downstairs and a visitor.” Peter raised one eyebrow at his aunt, intrigued by his aunt’s revelations. He spun out of the chair and followed the half of his aunt that was in his doorway out into the upstairs hallway. Peter followed her down the steps and into the living room. The sight of his best(and only for that matter) friend almost made him shoot through the roof, as he figured Aunt May would have said. In her arms was her own box identical to the one sitting on the couch. “I figured we could go both get used to our new school now that you’re back on your feet,” Gwen said. She launched herself onto her toes and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight enough Peter blushed, much to his own surprise. “Glad to see you back on your feet by the way.” She let Peter go and he managed to regain his measured aloofness. “Thanks. Never thought a spider would be what would almost stop me from making it to high school.” Gwen snickered. “Yeah, I always figured it’d be Flash. Or at least a few of his cohorts. Speaking of ole mice food for brains, I still can’t believe he got in too.” Peter shook his head as he inspected the box sitting on the couch, listening to Gwen lament about his biggest childhood bully, who unfortunately would be following them to Brooklyn Visions. “Athletic scholarships, the true Neanderthal’s pass to success, unfortunately. And there isn’t a bigger Neanderthal than Flash Thompson.” “Peter Benjamin, you cut it out right now with all that name-calling!” May chastised him as she came back from the kitchen with a pair of scissors. She spread them apart and used one side to slice the tape across the top of the box. Peter scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry Aunt May.” Peter acknowledged before diving into the contents of his package much as Gwen had done earlier.` Peter pulled out the sweater vest and accompanying tie, both clad in the navy blue, white and black colors of the academy. The vest included the school’s insignia, the very same crest emblazoned on the box’s label. May fought back a well of tears she absolutely refused to shed in front of the pair of teens as she watched Peter hold up the school uniform. “Gah, I suppose it can’t be put off too much longer. We’ll absolutely have to get you everything you’ll need for the school year. Gwen, do you want to tag along with us?” The idea of a shopping trip immediately deflated Peter, but Aunt May was already searching the living room for her favorite pad and pen combo. Gwen, much to his surprise and regret, seemed just as excited as May. “I’ll have my dad cash app me some of the money he put aside for my supplies!” Gwen whipped out her phone and texted Captain Stacy right away. Peter stood between the two women, wondering how his day had suddenly been hijacked. “So much for starting my replay of Shredder’s revenge.” He muttered under his breath followed by a sigh. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Ben placed the rest of his equipment next to his drain scope, then took a moment to rest against the inside of the van. He took a deep breath before wiping the sweat off his brow with his forearm. His work cell phone vibrated loudly in the pocket of his tool belt that he kept it. Ben tried not to roll his eyes at the sight of the contact displayed on the screen. May had scolded him far too many times over the last month about his lack of positivity, and how this affected his mood and those around him. Still, the thought of the extra jobs he was going to have to take now that he and May were Peter’s legal guardians gave his ulcer the kind of trouble it certainly didn’t need at his age. He answered the call before it could go to voicemail which would only annoy him further. “Yeah.” He listened for a moment, getting the address and situation of his next assignment on today’s schedule. “I’ll head that way after my break.” Ben ended the call and with a small grunt rose from his seat in the back of the van. He turned around and slammed the doors shut. Before he could walk around to the front of the vehicle, the sound of a horn honking caught his attention. “Haven’t seen yous in ten years and I find you putzing around Brooklyn in this hunk of junk?” Ben turned around to see Joseph, a square-headed flat top-wearing buttonman in a designer suit. Ben is flabbergasted at the sight of his old neighborhood buddy as he walks over to the car stopped in the middle of the street alongside his van. Ben and Joseph shook hands, greeting each other like made men often did. “Ben %$#@%&$ Parker, as I live and breathe.” Ben looked inside the Cadillac at the scowling suited men, surely all carrying if he knew Joe as well as he thought he did, before greeting his friend in return. “Well gotta make sure there’s enough steaks in the freezer.” Ben gestured slightly to his uniform. “This is how I do it.” “All the scores we used to pull all across this damn city and you traded it in for a damn plunger? This just can’t be the same Benny I used to know.” Joseph cracked as he looked Ben’s work utility jumpsuit up and down. “Hey man what can I tell you? I wasn’t too built for the fast life no more.” Ben replied with absolutely no shame, his accent dropping as he continued the conversation with his old running mate. Joseph turned to the rest of the crew gathered inside the sleek 88 Caddy, pointing at Ben with one hand on the steering wheel. “He was one of the best shakedown guys on the fucking east coast. Rigoletto sends him to go to work on some bum and he runs into a brown-eyed dame on Syracuse campus. Two weeks later he tells the Don he can’t do this life no more.” Ben chuckled softly as he listened to Joseph tell the story of how he quit the only life he’d known, a life that made sure his brother was able to earn a scholarship to Empire State University, the moment he met May. “She’s one hell of a woman fellas if I’m gonna be honest with ya.” Ben admitted, drawing a chuckle from Joseph and his crew. “We could always use good help like yaself around again, Benjamin. Rigoletto would love to see you after all this time.” Joseph admitted. Ben sighed, his hands on his hips. A car horn honked behind Joseph, causing him to react a tad bit too aggressively in return. “YOU SEE ME HAVING A GOD @#$% CONVERSATION HERE!?” Joseph yelled to the driver behind his Cadillac before returning his attention to Ben. “Look you ever need any extra cash to keep taking care of that brown-eyed wife of yours, I still got the same number I had when I saw yous at ya wedding. You can ditch the pipes and wrenches. Well, at least using em like you do day to day now.” Ben chuckled and shook hands with Joseph once more. “Take care of yaself Joe. It’s good to see ya.” Joseph gave Ben a final nod before tires squealed on the pavement and the caddy roared off. Ben watched the vehicle streak down the street as he climbed into his van. He swiped through his phone for the maps application and typed in the address left to him on the voicemail. The van croaked to life and Ben placed it into drive. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Peter and Gwen walked through uptown Brooklyn, passing various shops and food stands along the street with hands full of bags. Gwen’s face is stuck in her phone, which he holds oddly close, somehow still weaving between human traffic on the sidewalk seamlessly. Peter watched her, impressed with every step they took. “You sure May won’t freak that we gave her the slip?” Gwen asked once she finally looked up from her own school shopping list. Peter waved off her worries with a nonchalant gesture of the hand. “She’s going to get lost trying to figure out what she can put on layaway for my dorm. And unfortunately, I don’t have the heart to call Uncle Ben and have him try to stop her.” Peter replied. “Besides, we absolutely have to get a slice from Joe’s before she drags us to that Target six blocks from here.” Gwen cocked her head to the side at Peter’s suggestion for their pizza stop. “Joes? You survive the spider bite from hell and that's where you want to get a Brooklyn slice from? I would be disappointed Peter, but I know how much you’ve been through the last month-” Peter rolled his eyes as he interrupted her teasing. “Alright, since we’ll be around here a lot more the next six months, where do YOU want to get pizza?” Gwen stopped them both in the middle of the sidewalk and pointed just up the street to a neon sign jutting out of the top of its storefront. “I’ve done my homework on this one, Pete. If you want pizza in Brooklyn, you go to Stan’s. Don’t debate me on this one.” Gwen warned him with amusement. The pair started walking again, now in the direction of Stan’s Pizzeria. “So I know life has been a complete tornado for you the last month but, how are you feeling about the academy so far?” Gwen wondered enough to ask him as they waited to cross the street. Peter shrugged, but Gwen knew it was his tried and true way of deflecting from what he was feeling. “I really couldn’t tell ya, if I’m being honest with myself for once.” Peter placed his hands in his jeans and stared down at the concrete while they walked. “Ever since I got back to Aunt May and Uncle Ben’s, I’ve been too focused on trying to figure out why my dad doesn’t want to be around me. Not a lot of time to really think about school, for once.” Gwen frowned. She put an arm around Peter as they crossed the street, reaching the side of the road the pizza joint they were venturing towards was on. “You’ve always been able to carry more than I ever thought you could. Maybe…your dad just wasn’t as tough as you.” Peter raised his head slightly, a smile trying to muster on his face. He couldn’t be more appreciative of having Gwen there to do what she could for his spirits. When they were just a few steps from entering the pizza joint, Peter’s life changed as he knew it. Peter froze on the spot, squinting in pain. Gwen looked at him confused, worried that maybe he’d been discharged from the hospital too soon. Peter opened his eyes, his head feeling as if a buzzer was going off inside his skull. An urge, a sense of danger amongst the discomfort that was more powerful, forced Peter to look up, right behind Gwen. A Cadillac streaked towards them after speeding around a corner. Sirens tailed behind it, the chase clearly far out of hand. Peter didn’t think first, for the very first time in as long as he could remember. He snatched Gwen by the wrist and yanked her towards him. Gwen gasped but didn’t have time to take in what happened next as Peter leaped out of harm's way. The caddy smashed into a mailbox before careening into a telephone pole with a thunderous crash that brings the entire street to a halt. Three cop cars surrounded the crashed vehicle as pedestrians either ran from the scene or took every picture they could. The officers exited their vehicles, their guns pointed at the men inside the Cadillac. High above it all on a fire escape, Peter and Gwen look at each other in a terrible mix of fear and shock, each of them speechless. TO BE CONTINUED |