Why is it that everyone close to me always ends up paying the price for my life as a hero?

Aunt May, Mary Jane…

Gwen.

And now, A.J. and Billy, two of my students…because I couldn’t stop the Lizard from returning, both are in the hospital, and not even a few hours after I had found out that A.J. knows that I’m Spider-Man. He’s going to live, thankfully, but that doesn’t put him in any less danger knowing my secret. But he’s the lucky one; it turns out that Billy’s slipped into a coma. The doctors were baffled, but I know it’s because the Lizard’s mind broke him. Another person’s life ruined because Spider-Man couldn’t save the day like he was supposed to.

But that’s the least of my worries right now. There’s a symbiote on the loose now, who could attach itself to the first person it comes across. The last thing I need is another Venom running around, aiming for my loved ones…

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

By Tobias Christopher

The Vulture flew into the window of the Parkview Hotel, where Madame Borstein was waiting. He kissed her and smiled. “My sweetheart,” he said as he gave her a diamond necklace. “Another token of my love.”

“It’s beautiful,” smiled Madame Borstein as he put it around her neck. “As are all your gifts.”

“I was finally able to steal it without Spider-Man getting involved,” said the Vulture. “He’s really been a pain in my hide lately.”

“Perhaps it’s time we dealt with your arachnid problem,” said his lover. “Spider-Man is a threat to both of us as long as we’re in this city. I think it’s time we dealt with all of our problems at once. Your hero problem and my problem of cutting my newest model off from the distractions of her personal life.”

“Spider-Man won’t go down easily,” replied the Vulture. “Tougher and more powerful men have tried.”

“Perhaps it’s not a man who needs to take care of him,” replied Borstein. “I’ll take care of Spider-Man and, in return, you will take care of Maggie’s boyfriend. They’ll both be out of our way very soon. Then we can both move forward with our plans…and each other.”

Midtown High

“You want me to do what?” asked Peter as reached into the employee fridge and grabbed his homemade lunch for the day. He took a seat at the table of the school’s employee lounge and pulled out the bologna sandwich.

“You used to work for the Bugle, so I figured you could put in a good word for Drew,” replied Flash as he sat across from Peter. “The kid needs an after school job to keep him out of trouble, and he could use the money.”

“Money? From Jonah Jameson? That’s like trying to get Twinkie stuffing from a hot dog,” said Peter, thinking about it. “What kind of job was he interested in?”

“Photography,” answered Flash as he ate his own lunch. “I’ve seen some of his pictures, and he got some really good shots of Spider-Man yesterday. He showed them to me while we were at the hospital this morning.”

Drew’s brother A.J. was currently resting in the hospital, having been impaled on a water pipe thanks to the Lizard. A.J. survived, but he was going to be there for a while as he recovered. As Peter sat there, he felt responsible for letting the young man nearly get killed by one of Spider-Man’s fiercest enemies. Maybe helping Drew would help ease his guilt, but he doubted it.

Of course, Spider-Man was going to have a talk with Drew about putting himself in danger to get those pictures. He now knew who took those pictures of his fight with the Hobgoblin. He’d have to set some rules about Drew not putting himself into the line of fire.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to talk to Jameson about it,” replied Peter. “I’ll try to go to the Bugle tonight.”

Drew was sitting on the bleachers in the gymnasium during lunch. He wasn’t hungry, so he went down to the gym to try to think about things. It wasn’t long before he felt an arm around his shoulder.

“I heard about A.J.,” said Drew’s girlfriend Maggie as she kissed him. “I’m so sorry. How is he?”

“Stable,” replied Drew, trying not to show too much emotion. “I got to talk to him for a few minutes before the painkillers put him to sleep. I let him down, Maggie. I promised to protect him and—”

“You couldn’t control what happened,” said Maggie as she looked at him. “Stop blaming yourself. He needs you to be strong for him. Drew, I’m supposed to do a photo shoot for Madame Borstein tonight, but I can call it off so I can go with you to be with him.”

“No,” replied Drew. “You go do your thing. Besides, I have to try to get some pictures together to sell to the Bugle. No insurance means the hospital bills are going to pile up.”

“Are you going to be alright?” asked Maggie, worried about her boyfriend. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” replied Drew with a slight laugh. “We’ll get together later tonight.”

Felicia Hardy was on a mission in New York that for once didn’t involve stealing or getting thrown back into a love/hate relationship with the Spider. Yes, he was aware she was in town, but she’d promised herself she wouldn’t go down that route again. The Black Cat would make her own luck from here on out.

And she was going to start by finding the kid that her father supposedly sired. Two weeks ago, one of her father’s old accomplices, while on his deathbed, pointed her toward one of Walter Hardy’s stolen treasure caches just outside of New York. While going through the assorted jewels, cash and various pieces of art, she found a note that wasn’t meant for her eyes.

Instead it was a note addressed to a young man that Walter was talking to as if the person were his son, detailing the events that led to the boy’s mother passing and his abandonment on the doorstep of a foster home. The note went on to tell the boy about the treasure cache that Felicia had found…as well as a bigger prize.

All she had to do was find this kid, who unwittingly held the map to Walter Hardy’s greatest treasure cache of all. It had enough wealth to set whoever found it up for life, without ever having to worry about money again. And Felicia was going to find that treasure.

Currently, Felicia was in the halls of the aforementioned orphanage in Queens. They had to keep files here and they naturally weren’t going to share the information with her. All she had was a first name to go on, so this was going to take a bit of effort. Having disguised herself in a black wig and a very revealing skirt and blouse, she made her way to the locked office where the files were kept.

Quickly picking the old fashioned lock, she went inside, hoping this wouldn’t take too long. All she had to do was hack a computer and–

“Damn,” said Felicia as she saw there wasn’t a computer in the room. Instead, she saw filing cabinet after filing cabinet. The orphanage never updated their files on computer apparently. She sighed to herself as she went to the first cabinet and started looking for a clue as to her brother’s whereabouts.

After school, Spider-Man was swinging through the city. He had no commitments tonight beyond going to the Bugle, so now might be the perfect time to check out the hotel where the Vulture had been spotted a few days earlier.

I need to find that symbiote, but it could literally be anywhere by now, so I’ll just have to wait until some sign of it shows up and hope it doesn’t attach itself to another psycho. In the meantime, I really should go see A.J. The poor kid’s been through a lot, and it was my carelessness in deciphering Connor’s formula earlier that led to all of this. But if I put off checking out that hotel any longer, it might put more lives at risk. I’ll visit the kid later tonight before visiting hours are over.

“I want those lights set up perfectly for the shoot,” said Madame Borstein as she looked at the crew of the photo shoot. “This is my bright new star’s first big shoot and I want it all go to go perfectly.”

Just as she finished saying that, one of the lights fell to the ground, shattering on impact. She looked at the young crewman angrily.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I’ll fix it, and—”

“Come with me,” said Madame Borstein. No one screwed up while she in charge. She had ways of dealing with incompetence, especially when it was feeding time. “I’ll get you some petty cash and you can go out and buy a new one.”

The crewman sighed in relief; for a second he thought he was in trouble. He followed Madame Borstein down the hall and to an empty office. She closed the door as he looked around.

“Where’s all the furniture?” asked the young man as Borstein shoved him against the wall and pushed her lips against his. The young college student had never thought he’d see any cougar action, but went with it so he’d have something to tell his friends later on.

He returned the kiss, but then felt something was wrong. Something had shoved its way into his mouth and it wasn’t a tongue. It felt like a hose of some sort. He felt the air rapidly escaping his lungs as he tried to get away, but whatever was in his mouth was quickly draining his energy.

His arms started becoming bony and frail, the clothes around his body became looser fitting and his facial features started becoming more bony and pale. The young man let out one last gasp of air before the last of his body had shrunk away, leaving only the shriveled remains of the young man.

A younger, fresher looking Madame Borstein walked out of the room to put in a call to have a new light delivered in time for the shoot…

J. Jonah Jameson sat behind the desk of the Daily Bugle, looking at the shots in his hands that Drew had brought to him.

“I- I bought a higher quality camera,” stated Drew nervously as he sat in his chair.

“What do you want, a cookie?” asked Jonah as he put the photos down. “Still not the quality stuff that I’m used to buying, but it’ll do. Pick up your check from the girl out front. Bring me some real juicy, up close and personal pics, and you’ll start getting a little more.” Jameson looked across the desk at the young man. “What are you still doing sitting there? This isn’t a staring contest! Get out!”

Drew stood up with his camera and exited the office as Robbie Robertson looked at the pictures. “Jonah, these are damn good pictures. Certainly a lot better than anything we’ve gotten since Parker left.”

“The kid’s no Parker,” replied Jameson as he took a puff of his cigar. “Now there was a photographer. No one could take a shot of that wall crawling hooligan like that kid.”

“He always did get manage to get my best side on film,” said Spider-Man as he sat on the windowsill.

“You!” shouted Jameson as he stood up. “Robbie, call security! It’s time we unmasked this menace once and for—MMMPH!”

Jameson was silenced by a glob of webbing hitting his mouth.

“Your voice is more polluting to the air than that cigar,” said Spider-Man. “I came because I know there are two things you love more than anything in this world: making money and trashing yours truly. That kid who just walked out of here with less than what those pictures were worth—?”

“Drew Michaels,” said Robbie. “He’s our new freelance.”

“Not anymore,” replied Spidey. “As of now, he’s got a paying staff position with health benefits for his family.”

“What!?” shouted Jameson, finally having gotten the webbing off a little. “That’s outrageous! That’s extortion!”

“That’s business,” replied Spider-Man as he continued sitting there. “You want pictures of me doing what I do best? Well, that kid’s the only one I’ll let shoot me. Parker’s taken him under his wing and is going to show him the ropes.”

“Parker put you up to this?” asked Jameson angrily. “That backstabbing little—”

Another glob of webbing hit Jameson’s mouth.

“Those are my conditions. A staff job and benefits, or I find a photographer at the paper across town,” said Spider-Man, enjoying getting the better of Jameson. “A paper that doesn’t smear my name.”

Robbie looked at Jonah, who was still pulling the webbing off. “I think I speak for Jonah when I say your terms are accepted, Spider-Man.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Robertson,” said Spider-Man as he stood up. “You, too, Pickle Puss.”

Spider-Man jumped off the ledge, swinging away seconds later. Jameson finally managed to the second glob of webbing off of his mouth.

“So, are you going to hire Drew?” asked Robbie as Jameson looked out the window.

“What choice do I have?” asked Jameson as he looked at the pictures of his desk. “Get those pictures downstairs with the headline ‘Spider-Man #1 Suspect in Sunday’s Arson’, then call Michaels and tell him he’d better not be late to his first staff meeting this Friday. That little punk is my ticket to bringing Spider-Man down!”

One good deed down, several more to go. It’s not that late, I’ll check out that hotel and then it’s off to the hospital to visit with A.J. I just hope he’s awake, which is another concern. If he’s in and out of consciousness, he could say anything, including what he knows about me. I just hope that he’s not talking in his sleep.

As Spider-Man headed toward the hotel, he spotted Drew walking along the street. He was listening to music on his portable CD player and not paying attention to the world around him. This would be just a good a time as any to have that talk. He swung down toward the street, just behind Drew, snatching him up under arm before swinging back through the streets.

“Oh, shit!” shouted Drew as he realized what was happening. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

“Well, listening to Fall Out Boy’s not winning you any points,” said Spider-Man as he heard the music coming from Drew’s CD player, “but I don’t kill my paparazzi.”

Along the way, Drew explained to Spider-Man about his police scanner and how he was able to find Spider-Man to take the recent pictures of him. He also told him about the night the Hobgoblin attacked and that he was on the roof with a disposable camera during the fight.

“Alright, kid, here’s the deal,” said Spider-Man shortly as he stood on top of the high school roof with Drew. “You’re my official photographer for the Bugle. You get to take all the juicy pics of yours truly, but there are some conditions.”

“What are they?” asked Drew nervously. He’d never been this close to an actual celebrity before.

“First: this can’t interfere with your schooling. Your education comes first before this job,” said Spider-Man. The last thing he wanted was to see Drew’s grades suffer, especially since he was the kid’s teacher. “That means no cutting class and no staying out until 3 a.m. to get pictures on a school night. Second: you are never to risk your life or put yourself in the line of fire to get a picture, not even if I look like I’m in trouble. I don’t need the distraction of someone possibly getting killed if I’m fighting Doc Ock or Electro.”

“Okay, I can do that,” said Drew.

“Third: You keep your nose clean. If I find out you’re into doing drugs, lighting grandmothers on fire or kicking puppies, the deals off. Fourth: we have no knowledge of each other. As far as the world knows, the only way you have of finding me is using that police scanner to show up to places I might be at it. I have no knowledge of you and you’ve never met me if anyone asks. It’s better for yours and your family’s safety if the world doesn’t know I’m putting you up to this. And finally: find better music to listen to.”

“That’s it?” asked Drew as he looked at the hero.

“That’s it,” replied Spider-Man as he gave Drew a card. “I want you to take a few photography lessons from Peter Parker, my last guy. He’ll teach you a few tricks and show you how to stay out of trouble while at the scene.”

“Parker’s my teacher,” said Drew as he put the card in his wallet. “Nice guy. Kind of a stiff, though. I don’t think the guy ever gets out of his apartment. Probably too wrapped up in surfing the internet for new ways to bore the class.”

You smug little bastard, thought Spider-Man. “Remember our little talk, because I’m putting a lot of trust in you.”

“I won’t let you down, I promise,” said Drew as he remembered something. “My brother’s…kind of a big fan of yours, but he’s in the hospital. Do you think you could—”

“I’ll see what I can do,” replied Spider-Man as he got ready to leave. “Can I drop you somewhere?”

“You can take me home, I need to get a few things before I head to hospital to visit A.J.,” replied Drew as Spider-Man started swinging in that direction with Drew under his arm.

Felicia, after an exhaustive search, finally found the one clue she was looking for. She’d narrowed down the search to the several children who’d been put up for adoption around the time-frame of the letter’s writing. Now she just had to whittle down the list to the child her own father had put above her.

But first, she was going to have some fun. As the Black Cat, she was running across the rooftops, looking for a thrill. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d run across the Spider again and the two could go kick the ass of another villain or two.

As she came to the ledge of the rooftop she was currently on, she heard a noise coming from a nearby alley. It was a woman screaming. Damsels in distress weren’t her style, but she also wasn’t going to let someone get harmed while she was around.

She rushed across the rooftop, heading toward the sound of the commotion but, by the time she got there, she saw a man had already come to her aid. She couldn’t see him clearly, but he was giving the woman’s attackers a good beating, giving the woman time to escape the alley to find a safe place to call the police.

The fight was one against three, with two of the men laying on the ground as the man stood up against the third attacker, easily punching him in the stomach before punching him in the face. But as the third man fell, the man didn’t realize one of the other men had gotten up and found a lead pipe, striking the heroic man in the back, sending him to his knees.

The other two attackers got up and started punching and kicking at the man. Black Cat had seen enough as she jumped down to the alley below and roundhouse kicked the first man, sending him spinning to the ground. As the other two men attacked, Felicia grabbed one man by the collar, flew backwards, and sent him flying into the brick wall behind her.

The final man came rushing towards Black Cat with the lead pipe, but her bad luck powers had kicked in, causing the man to slip on a banana peel. He fell hard onto his back, just in time to see the lead pipe falling towards him. Black Cat caught the pipe before it could impale him.

“Tonight’s your lucky night,” she said before knocking him unconscious with her own fist. She went over to the brave man who’d rescued the girl and saw a small trail of blood under him. She turned the man over onto his back immediately stepped away. “You.”

“You,” said Flash as he lay on the ground, bleeding from his lips, nose and forehead. That was the only word he could get out before he lost consciousness.

After dropping Drew off at his house, Spider-Man started swinging back toward the city. With everything else taken care of, it was time to investigate that hotel.

I hope I don’t regret letting Drew have this job, but at least with him I have someone at the Bugle besides Robbie on my side. I know Robbie will take the kid under his wing and keep Jonah from eating him alive. Speaking of the old grouch, it felt good to be able to finally get one over on him.

Now it’s off to make sure there’s no danger at that hotel, then I’ll go visit with A.J. I just wonder if they told him about Billy yet. Poor kid’s going to be heartbroken when he learns Billy’s in a coma. I was kind of shocked when A.J. told me about his relationship as he lay there with a water pipe sticking out of him, but in the end he was the one who saved Billy from a life as the Lizard.

Landing on the side of the hotel, he started crawling to find an open window to sneak inside. Once he got in, it wouldn’t take too long to figure out what the Vulture was hiding. He didn’t notice the security cameras on the outside ledge of the building, which was on all four corners. Madame Borstein wanted top security for her latest venture and knew that at some point Spider-Man would come calling.

“He’s here,” the woman said as she was alerted. She was watching Maggie go through her first major photo shoot as the beeper in her pocket went off. She pulled out of a remote and pressed a button to spring her trap that was laying in wait.

Outside of the building, Spider-Man finally found an open window, which had opened on its own moments earlier. Seeing the empty room, he crawled inside. His spider-sense wasn’t going off, so there was no immediate danger. That’s when he heard the crying coming from another room. He quickly kicked in the door and found the teenage girl crying as she sat huddled against the wall. Her ankle was chained to the floor as she saw Spider-Man break in.

The hero had a shocked look on his face as he looked at her. He recognized her as one of the students from his class who hadn’t been to school in several days. He quickly grabbed the chain and used his strength to break it.

“Who did this to you?” asked Spider-Man as he knelt down to make sure the girl was alright. Through her tears, she looked at the hero.

“She’s—she’s got others,” the girl said. “You have to save them.”

As she talked to him, the camera watched their every move. By that point, Madame Borstein had snuck out of the photo shoot and went to her private office to manage things personally. Everything so far was going exactly as she had planned.

At the Michaels home, Drew had grabbed his camera and police scanner. It wouldn’t hurt to be prepared just in case. He couldn’t wait to see his little brother’s face light up when he told him that he’d be working as Spider-Man’s official photographer.

As Drew was leaving the house, he saw a shadow flying over him. Thinking it was Spider-Man, he reached for his camera, which was hidden in his backpack. As he pulled it out and looked up towards the sky, the Vulture’s fist knocked him unconscious the second he made contact. Drew fell to the ground, not even realizing what had hit him.

“Nothing personal, kid, but the love of my life says you have to die,” said the Vulture as he stood over Drew.

TO BE CONTINUED…