Ever hear the phrase ‘Be careful what you wish for’? Well, I learned about that one the hard way after wishing for some action. After weeks of taking it slow, taking on nothing more dangerous than bank robbers, a new Hobgoblin shows up and promptly hands me my butt.

That means I need to get back on my ‘A’ game so the next time we meet up, I can take this new freak down. In the meantime I also have to deal with teaching high school science to a group of kids who don’t seem to be interested in learning.

But at least these kids aren’t trying to kill me, unlike the people I meet during my night job. At least that I’m aware of…

SACRIFICES

Part I

By Tobias Christopher

The rain was falling hard on New York that night, forcing many people to run for cover to avoid getting soaked. For the normal people of the city, the ones who could walk in broad daylight without fear, it was just another rainy night.

For others, however, it was a chance to hunt in peace without worry of being seen. For those that lived in the shadows, who hid from the world, afraid to show themselves, rainy nights were to them what a sunny day in the park was to regular people.

For one creature, he couldn’t fight his hunger. Everything was brand new to him, especially the emotions that were running through his mind, particularly the anger that he couldn’t control. He couldn’t fight the rage that was inside of him, it was like a natural part of him.

The anger, combined with the extreme hunger, made for a very unpleasant creature. He roamed through the alley, hearing a rustling in one of the garbage dumpsters. It didn’t matter what was in there, whether it was rotting meat or vegetables, something fresher, or even something that was alive. It was food, and that was good enough for him.

The scaly green hand opened the dumpster, smelling the intense disgusting odor of what was inside. It was a beautiful aroma to an empty stomach, particularly to one who couldn’t control himself. Half eaten burgers; cold fries; old pasta, it was all delicious. Shoveling what he could into his mouth, barely taking the time to chew, his clumsy now oversized monster hands grabbed what they could, not caring what was meant to be food and what wasn’t.

That’s when he saw it moving under one of the black plastic trash bags, looking for food itself. A helpless little kitten, abandoned to the world, just looking for nourishment.

The kitten innocently looked up at the creature, its sad eyes saying that he, too, was abandoned. Drool fell from the creature’s lips as the scaly green hand gently picked the kitten up, hungry for fresh meat–

“AHHHHH!” screamed Billy Connors as he sat up in his bed, soaked in sweat, shaking nervously. It was the same horrific dream that he’d had virtually every night since his father had injected him with the experimental serum that turned him into a younger version of the Lizard.

Billy looked down at his shaking hands, which were still human.

At least for now.

Downtown, Manhattan

“The things I go through for this class,” said Spider-Man to himself as he collected mold samples from the top of the Empire State building. Putting the samples into a vial, he placed it into his belt along with his spare web cartridges. “Let’s compare mold grown in high altitudes to those grown in lower altitudes… Brilliant as usual, Parker.”

As he finished collecting and prepared to swing away, his spider-sense went off just as an explosion rocked a jewelry store below. It was then that the Vulture came flying out, holding a bag of stolen loot.

“I’ve collected the mold, now it’s time to collect the scum,” said Spider-Man as he held out his hand and shot a strand of webbing out before swinging after the villain.

As he flew over the city, the Vulture turned and saw he was being pursued by Spider-Man, who was getting closer.

“Excuse me, sir, can I see your receipt for those items?” asked Spider-Man as the Vulture shot a spiked blade at the web, causing the hero to fall but not before shooting a web onto the Vulture’s heel to hitch a ride.

“No free rides, arachnid!” shouted the Vulture as he flew toward a building, then shot straight upward. As he was about to hit the building, Spider-Man let go of the webbing and shot two more streams out from both hands, one attaching itself to another building, and the other onto the Vulture’s bag, pulling it from his hands.

“That doesn’t belong to you!” shouted the Vulture as he circled back around, firing more blades at Spider-Man, who had to work hard to avoid them. One of the blades struck the bag, ripping it open as the contents fell out, including a few necklaces and-

“Chocolates?” asked Spider-Man in shock. “Didn’t know you had a sweet tooth, Vulture.”

“They’re not for me!” replied the Vulture as he got close enough to uppercut the hero, knocking him off of his web. Spider-Man fell onto the roof of a nearby building and, by the time he regained his senses, the Vulture was gone.

“I just had a fight over chocolates? That’s new,” said Spider-Man as he swung away, ready to retire for the night.

Midtown High, the next day

Drew Michaels had been through a rough night. His boy was sore and aching, but the pain was worth it to make sure his little brother was going to survive. As he pulled his books from his locker and closed it, he felt a sudden sting in his face, brought on from being slapped by his girlfriend.

“Where were you last night?” asked Maggie as Drew rubbed his cheek. “You were supposed to meet me for our study session, remember?”

“Damn,” said Drew, remembering now. “I’m so sorry. I just got caught up with my new hobby, then I had to run some errands and—”

“Errands at eight o’clock at night?” asked Maggie. “And what’s this new hobby?”

“Photography,” said Drew sheepishly. “I’m not too good at it yet, but it keeps me distracted when I start to think about A.J.”

Maggie smiled as she kissed him. “You know, I can give you a distraction from that, too.”

Drew blushed as he looked at her. “How about you distract me after school? Say, on the football field under the bleachers?”

“Nice try, but I’ve got an appointment at that new modeling agency,” replied Maggie. “You could be looking at New York’s next top model.”

“Then how about we meet up after? I’ll be there this time, I swear,” said Drew, trying to look his cutest for her.

“My place, seven o’clock,” Maggie told him. “This time, actually show up. Maybe you can practice your new hobby with me.”

The bell rang as Maggie walked away from Drew, who got lost in thought momentarily before remembering he had to get to class himself.

Peter Parker was sitting at his desk in the science classroom, watching his students take their seats before the final bell rang. While he waited, he read the morning edition of the Daily Bugle. No mention of his fight with the Vulture, but there was an article on a recent string of disappearances, all young women who’d vanished over the last few weeks. As usual, the police had no leads, but that was typical. The final bell rang, and as always, Billy Connors was the last one in.

“Alright, class, I hope you brought your mold samples,” said Peter as he stood up. It was then that he noticed the two empty seats. Glancing at his seating chart, he saw two female students missing. Not putting too much thought into it at the moment, Peter told himself they were just probably sick and would be back tomorrow.

Flash Thompson took a drink from his flask before putting it back into his desk. He sighed to himself, almost wishing it was alcohol instead of Gatorade, but he’d been sober for a while now and intended to remain so. Leaving his office and walking into the gym, he saw his class waiting for him. The previous night hadn’t been pleasant, as it had been one of those nights that he’d had to literally fight the urge to have a drink, so today he’d have to go easy on the class since he wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Alright, ladies, today we’re going to relax with a nice game of basketball,” said Flash as he separated the class into two teams. “Alright the left group is shirts, and the right group is skins.”

Drew, who was in the group to the right, looked uncomfortable as the guys around him removed their shirts.

“Michaels, move it already,” said Flash as the rest of the class headed to the basketball court.

“There’s an odd number of students, maybe I should just sit out,” said Drew nervously.

“Actually, Lambright’s out sick today, the numbers are even, so get out there,” ordered Flash. “Take off your shirt and hustle.”

“I can’t,” Drew told him.

“Why not?”

Drew lifted his shirt, revealing his bruised body. “I fell down the stairs this morning.”

Flash got an angered look on his face, realizing what was going on. If someone was smacking around one of his students—

“My office, now,” Flash told him as he signaled the girl’s gym teacher on the other end of the gymnasium to keep an eye on his class. As he walked, Flash mentally kicked himself for not realizing Drew’s problem sooner…forgetting his gym clothes, skipping class, anything to avoid someone seeing his bruises.

Rhett Carson held the note in his hand from his little brother, who was in his junior year of high school. Zander let his brother know that things were going well and that he was looking forward to visiting Rhett come Spring Break if he could get away from his parents. A tear fell down Rhett’s face when he read that his parents still blamed him for the accident.

“One day they’ll love me again,” Rhett promised himself as he put the note into his desk next with the others. Sitting next to his brother’s letters was Spider-Man’s mask. He couldn’t believe he’d managed to steal it and actually get away. Rhett knew that he’d accomplished what no other person had done: He’d stolen a piece of Spider-Man. Maybe the mask would be a good bargaining chip if he ever wanted to get with a higher level of criminals.

Come on, Parker, make a decision…

Everything was riding on the decision that was about to be made as Peter stared ahead of him. Normally when faced with difficult decisions, it was in the heat of battle as Spider-Man as he fought against costumed villains and crooks. But rarely in his secret identity of Peter Parker did he have to face a crisis as large as this.

Peter put his finger on the button and hoped he wouldn’t live to regret the decision he’d just made. He watched in anticipation as he watched the spiraled mechanism move forward, dropping a package of peanut butter Ritz crackers into the holding slot of the vending machine.

“I know that look. Couldn’t decide between the Ritz crackers or the Hostess snack cakes again?” asked Flash Thompson as he walked into the teacher’s lounge and headed for the soda machine.

“Last 75 cents until I cash my paycheck, I can’t afford to make the wrong snacking decision,” replied Peter as he reached into the machine to grab his snack. “You look worn out. Tough class?”

Flash couldn’t hold in his anger anymore as he punched the wall.

“Uh oh,” said Peter as he got up. “Haven’t seen your angry face since they cancelled ‘My Name is Earl’.”

“Someone’s been beating up one of my students,” said Flash, running a hand through his hair as he tried to keep calm.

“What?” asked Peter in shock.

“Drew Michaels is covered in bruises,” Flash told him. “Said he fell down a flight of stairs. You know what that’s code for. I tried to get him to talk to me and tell me who did it, but—”

“Did you report it?”

“No, not yet,” answered Flash. “The kids scared he’ll be separated from his brother.”

“A.J., he’s in my class,” realized Peter. “Smart kid, just went into cancer remission. Do you think he might be getting hit, too?”

“Don’t know, but I want to stop this before it happens again,” Flash told him.

“Don’t make this personal,” Peter warned him, knowing he hell Flash went through with his own father. “Let me talk to the family. I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“Pete, I think I should—” Flash started to say as Peter raised his hand to cut him off.

“These boys are my students, too,” Peter reasoned. “Plus, I think talking it out will work better than going in with both fists swinging.”

“Fine, we do it your way for now,” Flash relented. “But it I see that kid with another bruise—” Flash pounded his fists together in anger before storming out of the teacher’s lounge.

“Don’t worry,” said Peter after Flash left. “If Peter Parker can’t through to this guy, then Spider-Man will.”

As Billy exited the building, ready to head home for the day, he found a surprise waiting for him, leaning against the flagpole. Billy tried not to react to seeing his father waiting for him, taking a deep breath as he ascended the steps.

“Hello, son,” said Curt Connors, trying not hide his shocked reaction at his son’s new Goth look. The blonde hair was now pitch black and his eyes looked somehow dead. And the earring definitely didn’t help. He looked nothing like the boy Connors had left behind.

“Hunter’s dad is picking me up, I don’t have time to talk,” replied Billy as he walked past. Curt sighed as he stood up from against the flagpole, wanting them to get past what had happened. He followed behind as Billy headed to the parking lot.

“How are the Lambrights treating you?” asked Curt as he walked to catch up. Billy’s friend had taken him in after Curt had left the city after the Lizard’s last rampage.

“They treat me like a part of the family,” replied Billy, trying not to look up at the father who had abandoned him. “I like staying with them.”

“I’m moving back into the city,” said Curt bluntly as Billy kept walking. “I want you to come back to live with me.”

“And what, be one big monster family?” asked Billy with a laugh.

“I never meant to hurt you,” said Curt as Billy stopped and turned around, with a pained look in his face.

“You turned me into a monster, just like you,” said Billy coldly as he fought back the tears. “Do you know that I can still feel…. that thing inside of me? Do you know how hard I have to fight to keep it from coming out whenever I get angry? I’m a monster, just like you, and I’m afraid that if I even show the slightest bit of anger, it’s going to get me. You did this to me, dad.”

“No, son, it was the Lizard—”

“STOP IT!” shouted Billy as he took a step back. “You use the Lizard as an excuse for the things you do, Dad. All the lives you destroyed, all the damage you caused, it was YOU. You did this to me. You did this…to Mom. She’s dead because of you.”

“Billy,” said Curt as Billy ran off.

“I wish it was you that died instead of Mom!” shouted Billy as he got into the Lambright’s car as it started driving off. Curt stared down at the ground, ashamed as he started walking away. He’d lost everything because of the Lizard, but now he knew he had to do something before the Lizard’s curse completely engulfed his son.

The Madame Borstein Modeling Agency

Madame Borstein looked over the portfolio of the girl sitting across from her. Maggie was excited to even be sitting in the same room as the former famous model, who now in her sixties.

“You’re young, raw, unprofessional and inexperienced,” Madame Borstein said as Maggie got a saddened expression on her face. “However, there is a glimmer of potential. You could be a diamond in the rough, but you have to be willing to put in a lot of time and effort. Are you willing to give your all for this?”

“Yes!” Maggie told her excitedly. “What do I have to do?”

“We’re having a small get together tonight,” Madame Borstein told her as she gave Maggie a card. “Be here at seven o’clock.”

“Seven?” asked Maggie. “But I was supposed to meet my boyfriend—”

“My dear, if you wish to be a top model, sacrifices must be made,” said Madame Borstein, “including family and friends.”

Maggie looked down at the card in her hand. She’d have to hurry home to get ready in time for the party.

The Daily Bugle

J. Jonah Jameson sat behind his desk, his cigar still clenched firmly between his teeth as he flipped through the pictures in his hand. Across the desk, sitting silently, was high school student Drew Michaels, who’d managed to get some up close shots of Spider-Man fighting the Hobgoblin days earlier and wanted to sell them for some quick cash.

“Crap… crap… crap…. what crap aspires to be when it grows up… crap…,” said Jameson as he finished looking through the pictures. “Poorly lit pics on a disposable camera…they’re worthless.”

“Jonah, we need a front page pic for the evening edition,” said Robbie as he stood at the door.

Jonah looked over at Drew. “I’ll give you a hundred bucks for the bunch.”

“A- a hundred?” asked Drew in shock.

“Fine, a hundred and fifty,” replied Jonah. “But if you expect to sell any more pics, get a better grade camera and work on keeping the shots in focus.”

“Thank you, sir,” smiled Drew as he stood up. He was expecting maybe a few bucks, but a hundred and fifty?

As he walked out, Jameson tossed the pictures to Robbie. “Think that kid could be a good freelance?” asked Robbie as he looked through the pictures.

“Only Parker’s been able to get close enough shots of that web-crawling menace,” said Jameson as he took his cigar out of his mouth. “If that kid can produce some high quality pics of that web crawler in action, we’re back in business. Besides that, the kid seems to have no problem working for peanuts. I like that in an employee.”

Robby sighed as he took the photos downstairs. It’d be good to have young blood in the Bugle again.

Spider-Man was swinging through the city on his way to the Michaels’ home. First, Spider-Man was going to make sure the boys weren’t in any immediate danger; then, if they were safe enough, Peter Parker would politely talk with the boy’s father. Peter knew both Drew and A.J. from his science class. Both were reasonably smart kids, even though Drew had an attitude that rivaled Flash Thompson’s when he was that age. As bad as he felt for his students if they were really being abused, he felt even worse for Flash. Seeing Drew’s bruises bust have stirred up horrible memories for him.

Flash sat back on his couch, trying to fight the urge to go out and get a drink. Just picturing someone beating up his students angered Flash to no end. He knew what it felt like to feel powerless against someone and then taking it out on someone else. Thank God Peter was a good man to forgive him for all those years of torment. He didn’t know what he’d do without a friend like Pete.

The party was getting underway as Madame Borstein was getting ready to make her grand entrance, just as a pair of hands put a necklace around her neck.

“And how’s the love of my life doing?”

Madame Borstein admired the necklace as she turned to face her lover.

“Perfect, now. I’ve missed you, Adrian. Where have you been?”

“I’ve had to lay low because of the wallcrawler,” the Vulture said as he gave her the imported chocolates he’d stolen. “But not even he could keep us apart.”

“Will you be here after the party?” asked Madame Borstein.

“Of course,” replied the Vulture. “I’ll be waiting for you eagerly, my dear.”

Borstein kissed him before she saw the clock. “Excuse me, darling, I must put my face on before I meet the people.”

Borstein slid open a secret door and walked in, going down a flight of stairs to a darkened, soundproof chamber, where several cells were, containing several young women, including the missing girls from Peter Parker’s class.

“Please, let us go,” the pleas from the caged prisoners said as Madame Borstein walked around, trying to pick out the young woman who’d be her next victim. The former model walked to a cell containing a young redhead.

Five minutes later, Madame Borstein walked into her modeling party, looking several years younger.

“Maggie, I’m so glad you could come,” Madame Borstein said as she took the young girl’s hand. “I have a feeling you’re going to go very far in this business.”

Downstairs, the shriveled remains of the young red headed woman lay in her cell, as the girls in the various other cells screamed in terror.

To be continued