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| Issue #6 January 2005 |
"Behind the Lies" Written by Groble |
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Spider-Man came to in a world of pain; the veil had lifted from his eyes to reveal a very desperate situation. The crates pushed down on his back pinning him to the floor and crushing his lungs, making it hard for him to breath in the thick acrid smoke that now filled the warehouse. Beneath him he could feel the unconscious body of Mysterio, one of the trio of misfits who had forced him into the current situation, and it was sensible to assume that the Rhino still lay under the pile of metal boxes nearby. Guessing from the speed at which he hit that pile, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
The building heaved and groaned as the heat of the fire's warped the supporting structure, threatening to bring the roof down on top of the three hapless souls trapped inside.
"Well, Spidey, looks like it's up to you," groaned Spider-Man as he firmly planted his hands on the ground, desperately trying to lift his back off the floor and topple the crates off, but to no avail. It was just too much to lift on his own. Beneath him Mysterio coughed as he inhaled the hot black air.
" Berkhart? You with me, buddy?" his questioning was answered with another cough.
"Listen! As it stands right now we're both going to die. What I'm proposing is that we put our little super feud aside and get our asses out of here before we get crispy fried."
"Where's Shultz?"
"I have the bizarre feeling he's not here."
"Traitorous fool. Once I get out of here I will hunt him down and ..."
"That's the fighting spirit, but first we have to get out of here. Now on the count of three I need you to push..." Before he could even finish his sentence Mysterio began to strain himself against the boxes.
".Or we could do it now I guess. Push!" The pile of boxes shuddered as the both forced themselves up. It hovered for a second before crashing down to the ground, allowing the two figures underneath it to escape.
The fire had now consumed most of the warehouse. In places only the bare wrought iron skeleton was visible, wrapped in the chemical flames that snaked across the walls. The pile of metal boxes nearby was also covered in the deadly liquid flame which scorched the already burning air that charred the lungs of those that breathed it in.
"Spider-Man, this is pointless; there is no way out. We are surely to die here," coughed Mysterio as he staggered to his feet.
"Less of the doom and gloom, Misty. You help me get lard ass out of those boxes over there, and then we'll all find a way out, what d'ya say?" Spider-Man turned round, the heat threatening to melt the lenses on his mask, as he stood in the inferno. Mysterio lay collapsed on the floor at his feet. "A lot of help you were." He picked up the body and slung the dead weight over his shoulder and ran towards the nearest wall. His path was blocked by a thick wall of flame, yet on the other side lay an opening of some sort-its presence given away by the tell tale billowing of the flames as the night air rushed in from the outside. He leapt through the wall of fire and crashed through the melting glass behind. The flames spluttered out through the broken window as he landed on the cool ground outside, Mysterio still thrown over his shoulder.
He dropped the fallen villain to the floor and dragged him over to a nearby lamppost, webbing him securely to it before turning to head back in to save the remaining villain. But as he did the wall nearby exploded outwards as the Rhino charged out from the warehouse.
"Nice of you to join us. I was just about to come looking for you."
"You would have let me die in there, web-head.." His angry shouting was cut short by the sound of sirens approaching fast. ". this ain't over!" he threatened as he stormed off into the night. Leaving Spider-Man and Mysterio all alone silhouetted against the burning wreckage.
"Well it's a shame the night had to end like this, but I'm going to leave you in the care of New York 's finest. I can't have the Bugle pinning this mess on me; I'm getting a bit sick of selling their paper for them." And with that he swung off into the all-consuming night once more.
The sound of the sirens was peeling out from clouds of smoke in the distance. By now the warehouse was nothing more than kindling, and The Rhino and Mysterio were safely in police custody. A lonely figure jogged out of the alleyway and up along the dark street towards the welcoming sound of a ringing payphone. He sprinted towards it and paused to catch his breath before picking up the receiver.
A crackled robotic voice, which had been run through numerous voice masking programmes, echoed out from the earpiece: "Is it done?"
"Sorry, boss, Spider-Man got away."
"And your associates?"
"They escaped; I'm really sorry boss."
"Incompetents! I tire of your sorrowful whining, you have done nothing but mess up my plans, but never mind I have a contingency plan."
"What is it, boss? What do you want me to do?"
"That's what I like about you, Shocker: so very eager. Let's hope you are as eager to die."
The phone in his hand erupted in a cascade of burning sparks that melted the handset of the payphone to the user's face. His vibro-shock units short-circuited causing them to vibrate at such a high frequency that they caused every bone in the Shocker's hands to explode, fragmenting them all the way up his arms that turned to jelly. The pain became too much, and he collapsed convulsing on the floor as blood seeped from his mouth and nose, pooling on the floor around him. The sparks from the handset stopped, and the street fell silent once more. The only sounds were the crackling and popping of the flesh from the side of his face and the occasional whirr of motors from his vibro-shock units which now lay shattered around the remnants of the Shocker's arms as he lay there chocking on his own blood.
The sun would be coming up in a few hours, and already a slight orange hue could be seen out across the waterfront, but the rest of the city was still under the consuming embrace of the night. Meanwhile on a rooftop near the centre of the empty black night stood a man whose heart was emptier and blacker still.
"Do you really hate yourself that much?" It was less of a question and more of an order that echoed out across the roof top; the man on the edge turned round to look into the eyes of this masked intruder.
"What are you doing here?" the man's voice was choked. The cold wind wiped the two figures as they stood exposed to the night air.
"Do you love your friends and family so little that you're willing to put them through all this?"
"My family don't care, and as for friends you gotta be joking."
"So you think you're alone? Hey, we all feel like that, but were not really alone."
"What would you know? You're never alone, the world loves you, you have friends like that Black Cat chick. You wouldn't know loneliness if it strapped on a costume and rampaged through the city." The rooftop fell silent once more; the grey light from the moon illuminated the scene currently being acted out on the rooftop.
"Yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you?" came Spider-Man's solemn reply.
"Ha, you are trying to tell me that the wise cracking Spider-Man is all alone"
"Yeah, guess I am."
"Listen, save the sob story for someone who's going to be around for a while. Now I'm kind of busy here, so if you wouldn't mind pushing me off." He edged closer to the ledge and looked down into the empty city street below. Come morning it would be filled with hundreds of people all going about their lives taking no notice of anyone else, as if they couldn't even see them.
"You jump, and I'm going to save you. I'm not going to let you die."
The man spun round and flung his arms into the air.
"Why the hell do you care so much, freak? This is just part of your job, and I'm sure someone more worthwhile needs your attention."
"Is that what think? You think I do this as a job? That I have nothing better to do than swing around the city saving peoples lives? That I get paid for this kind of stuff? Do I look like Iron Man to you?"
"Well okay, maybe it's more like a hobby."
"I don't do this because I need to. Hell, most of the time I don't even want to. I do this because no one else can, no one else will take care of the people of this city, no one else will go out of their way to save the lives of ordinary people simply because they feel that doing so will benefit the world in the long run. I do this because if I didn't the world would be a worse place."
"You do it for her?" the man was now standing there, back to the world, staring deep into the large material eyes of the masked hero.
"Yeah," the reply was barley audible and came after many tense minutes in which the two simply stood standing face to face.
"Well maybe some of us don't have her. Did you ever think about that, Spider-Man?"
"What makes you think I have her."
"Oh. but it's just you still carry on."
"Because I have to."
"But how can you? When I lost Sue nothing had meaning my world was over."
"You carry on in the hope that it'll get better, that one day you'll be happy again."
"And are you happy? Has the pain gone?"
"The pain will never go, and someday you'll wake feeling better, knowing that you can survive without her, knowing that you should carry on if not for yourself but for her."
The man sat down, the aching pain in his chest suddenly too great for him to stand. Tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice finally failed him. An awkward silence fell once more over the silver rooftop; the cold wind whipped the roof dust up into little twisters. Spider-Man took a few steps forward and placed his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Life is something to be cherished; losing her should have shown you this, not made you want to throw yours away for nothing."
".It's just so hard..."
Spider-Man sat down beside the man. They weren't similar at all: Spider-Man was taller and stronger, while sleepless nights had taken their toll on the other man's thin frame. They looked odd-Spider-Man an impressive figure of a man and his emotion ridden friend-but here they sat alone on the rooftop, so different yet equal in their pain and grief.
"You're right, you know? It is hard, and it'll keep getting harder until you get back on your feet and start putting your life back together."
"But.. How can I do that without her? How can I go back to my old life with that huge gap where she used to be?" The man got to his feet and wiped the warm tears from his eyes and began to pace about the roof top.
"You don't have to. Why not move on? Have a fresh start, a new beginning."
"I couldn't just leave what we had like that."
"You don't have to, just remember what she meant to you, keep those warm memories inside your heart, and you'll never be without her. No matter who comes along after her, you'll always have that place in your heart just for her."
He smiled and turned to face Spider-Man. "You know you sound a lot like her; you both talk a lot of sense."
"I'm not just a pretty face, you know."
"Thanks, Spidey. You're very insightful for a guy in a Halloween mask."
"No thanks necessary. Just don't go doing it again."
"Don't worry.." He turned and headed back towards the stairwell. "...I won't."
The rooftop was silent once more as Spider-Man sat all alone on the rooftop watching the sun begin to rise over the buildings to the East.
"Romantic isn't it, Spider?"
"I was wondering when you'd show yourself."
Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, moved out of the shadows to the rear of the roof and slowly sat down next Spider-Man. "That was some pretty deep stuff. Nothing turns a girl on more than a guy with a case of the deep and meaningfuls."
"Look, Felicia, now isn't the time." He was cut short as she pressed a slender black gloved finger to his lips.
"Actually, Parker, I think it's the perfect time. You put your life on the line tonight because you thought those chumps had got me, and it's not the first time. I've never met a guy like you before..."
"Felicia, it was noth.." She clamped her hand around his mouth.
"Let me speak. You clearly care for me, Peter, so why don't you just let me thank you properly."
"Felicia, what about MJ?" came the muffled reply from beneath the hand covering his mouth.
"While the wife's away, the cat can play." And with that she pounced, pushing him backwards onto the hard surface of the roof, nimbly pinning his arms to the ground while crouching over his chest. She began to slowly lower her head, kissing his neck and moving up to his face.
"Face it, Spider: you just hit the jackpot."
Adrenaline shot through his body as the words pierced deep into his memory, some of the first words MJ had ever said to him. This was wrong. How could he possibly be contemplating doing this to her? His legs jerked upwards kicking The Black Cat in the chest and sending her sprawling across the rooftop ending up winded in a corner.
"Sorry about this, Cat," he called as he leapt off the rooftop and swung awkwardly off into the coming morning, the guilt already turning his stomach to concrete.
Back on the roof top Felicia got to her feet and stared off after the fleeting figure silhouetted against the rising sun. "Those spandex pants must be cutting the blood supply off to his brain." She shrugged and swiftly leapt off in the opposite direction.
From the still dark corner of the roof scurried a small metallic creature, whose camera lens eyes had just finished recording the entire series of events that had taken place on this rooftop, and was already transmitting them back to its mysterious operator.
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The web is still drawing ever closer around our hero, but will he find out before it's too late? What does Spider-Man's mysterious observer have planned for the footage of his early morning meetings? Will this be the last we see of Shocker? And just what is the contingency plan? Find out in the next issue of Amazing Spider-Man only at Altered Visions.
