Previously Peter and his reconciled wife Mary Jane welcomed their son, Stanley Parker, into the world. As the new parents started to get used to parenthood again, Norman Osborn plotted against his mortal enemy Spider-Man as he started assembling a group of young soldiers, starting with Mary Jane’s missing nephew Kevin Byrnes, a newly awakened from a coma Billy Connors, and Peter’s cloned son Drew Michaels. Meanwhile, a young scientist had escaped from one of Osborn’s facilities with a dangerous secret. He’s now searching for Peter Parker and Osborn will stop at nothing to silence him for good…

The Most Dangerous Man in the World

Part II

By Tobias Christopher

11 Years Ago

Rick Meyers stood in his lab at Osborn Industries, working for Norman Osborn by night and attending college by day. Rick had shown an aptitude for genetic engineering at an early age, something Osborn had been alerted to some time ago. Rick would have had a promising career if his mother hadn’t passed away and his father was laid off. Osborn wanted the young man working for him, but directly hiring him for…certain projects would have looked suspicious, so he had to make other arrangements to get young Rick Meyers under his thumb. 

Arrangements that included a complicated scheme to have Rick’s father hired, then subsequently murdered to gain the boy’s trust when Osborn just happened to be there with a generous off.

“This is amazing,” Rick said as he examined the vial of Spider-Man’s blood, which had been collected during a fight with The Vulture. “There’s never been anything like this on record.

“But you can do it?” Norman Osborn asked.

“It’ll take time to crack the DNA code,” Rick said. “But if I do it, I can do everything you ask and much, much more. We can save the world if I can make this work without poisoning people. Diseases and ailments will be a thing of the past.”

“Then get started, I’m paying you a small fortune for results,” Osborn said as he left the room, leaving Rick out of earshot. “Saving people? Heh. The kid’s too nice for his good. What I plan to do with Spider-Man’s DNA will yield much more than saving a few measly lives.”

Today

Tommy Byrnes was in tears as he listened to the stories about his deceased love A.J., who had died several months earlier at the hands of The Lizard

Drew had spent the last hour telling Tommy everything he’d asked to know about the boy he barely knew. His love of music, his extreme fondness for everything Spider-Man, and his dreams for the future and making it in the music industry. Drew seemed to be uncomfortable talking about his dead kid brother, but at the time felt good that A.J. was still having an impact on people.

(*Amazing Spider-Man #34)

“I have to go, I have to get to my new job,” Drew said as he stood up. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Better than okay,” Tommy smiled as he wiped the tears away. “I feel like I owe him now. Thank you.”

“Maybe we can hang out sometime and I can tell you about his first talent show,” Drew said. “I’ll see you around, Tommy.”

As Drew walked away, Tommy looked down at A.J.’s photo album and found several blank pages.

 “He gave me the book for a reason. I need to keep adding to it.”

As Rick Meyers lay unconscious on the sidewalk, Spider-Man and the mysterious Night Monkey circled each other.

“I don’t know who you are, but you just knocked out my good friend… unconscious… guy,” Spider-Man told him. “And you tried to kill the Hobgoblin*. I’m starting to think you’re not a very nice guy.”

(*Amazing Spider-Man #41 -TC)

“I do what I’m hired to do,” Night Monkey told him as he attacked with a barrage of punches. With his spider-sense and reflexes in full swing, Spider-Man easily dodged them. Grabbing Night Monkey’s fist, Spider-Man tossed him toward a wall where his opponent rebounded and kicked the hero toward the alley. “And I can’t leave without proof that that man is dead.”

“Then you’re going home empty-handed,” Spider-Man told him. “I’ve seen enough death lately. Why don’t we sit down, grab some Starbucks, and—”

“I function perfectly without coffee,” Night Monkey told him as he started throwing down smoke grenades.

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but smoke grenades don’t—

“Night Monkey started punching at the hero, tossing him out in the street. 

“Can’t focus, hero?” Night Monkey asked. “Those grenades are designed to throw off your special senses. It’ll be hours before you can think straight, Spider-Man. More than enough time to finish this job.”

Osborn Industries

Billy Connors lay unconscious in a hyperbaric chamber as Osborn watched surveillance footage of Spider-Man fighting Night Monkey.

“How soon before Connors is awake and ready to work?”

“If the implants take and we can get his mind to accept the programming, a few weeks,” the doctor told him. 

“Then take your time, I don’t want another Rhett Carson on our hands,” Osborn said. “Speaking of which, where are we on finding young Rhett?”

“He’s gone completely off the grid,” the doctor told him. “It appears he’s removed the implants on his own.”

“Boy must have the constitution of a vending machine to remove that many implants,” Osborn said. “Once Myers is dead and Connors is ready to join us, I want to send all of my new toys after him. Speaking of which, Drew should be here soon. Try not to make him scream too much, he is the son of my #1 enemy after all. I’ll need Drew to be strong enough to rip out Peter Parker’s heart out with his bare hands.”

Elsewhere in the city, Flash Thompson just sighed to himself as he held the bottle to baby Stanley’s mouth.“Is this it? Is this where my life has finally taken me?” Flash asked. “Don’t get me wrong, kid, I really like hanging out with you and I really hope I can be a good role model as you get older, but at the same time, I kind of imagined my life going a bit differently. You know, having a promising career doing something I love and maybe having a family of my own. Instead, I’m an asexual gym teacher with no romantic prospects and your dad’s the one out there having the time of his life. Are you full, kid? You drained the bottle pretty damn quick. Maybe we need to get you into baby AA.”

Flash put the baby on his shoulder to burp him, getting a very loud one after a few seconds.

“Was that you?” Flash asked. “That was… pretty awesome. I think you and I are going to get along great. I think Aunt May’s about to lose her first-place trophy with that kind of talent.”

Stan just giggled as Flash looked at him.

“I think that kind of power deserves a reward. Let’s hit up the local toy store. It’s been ages since Uncle Flash has been to one.”

As Mary Jane ran on the treadmill at the local gym, she looked up at the big screen t.v. suspended from the ceiling. As she took a drink of water from her bottle, she saw a news report showing Spider-Man fighting Night Monkey in an alley.

“Peter Parker, you are a dead man,” Mary Jane laughed as she went back to exercising.

6 Years Ago

“I think I’ve made a breakthrough,” Rick said as he entered Osborn’s office. “I think I’ve finally cracked the code of that DNA sample I’ve been working on—“ Rick stopped as he saw a blonde woman sitting at Osborne’s desk. “Gwyneth, this is Rick,” Osborn said. “He has a brilliant mind for science. Rick, Gwynet will be helping to oversee the project.”

“I don’t know, I think I’ve been making great—“

“That wasn’t a request,” Osborn told him coldly. “Gwyneth will help you along on this project.”

“Okay,” Rick said. “I think I’ve cracked the DNA code. I think we’re close to—“

“Excellent,” Gwyneth told him as she stood up. There was something about her that didn’t seem right. “Show me.”

As the two left the room, Osborn sighed. “Perhaps Gwyneth can succeed where young Rick has been unable to. But what to do with Rick without losing such a brilliant mind?”

“Feeling dazed?” Night Monkey asked as started another barrage of attacks. “Spider-senses not working? I can only imagine how you’re feeling right now. I’ve disabled your 

main weapon.”

“No, not my main weapon,” Spider-Man said as he shot webbing at Night Monkey’s legs

and pulled him to the ground. “I just need to keep you down long enough to get a grip and I’m good to go.

”Night Monkey broke out of the webbing and quickly got to his feet as he went to punch Spider-Man, who easily blocked him.

“Look, kid, I admit that you caught me off guard with that grenade bit, but the game’s over,” Spider-Man said as he grabbed Night Monkey by the arm and tossed him over his shoulder. Night Monkey landed on his feet as Spider-Man noticed he’d later an indentation in the brick wall. 

“You’ve been enhanced. That’s why you broke through the webbing so fast.”

“They said you were smart,” Night Monkey told him. “But you’re still an idiot for not walking away.”

“I don’t walk away from people in trouble,” Spider-Man told him. “Speaking of which, ’Night Monkey’? Who did you do lose a bet too?”

Rick was starting to regain consciousness as Night Monkey noticed him.

“Time to die.”

Pulling out a blade, he ran toward Rick as Spider-Man webbed his back and yanked him away.

“Rude much? I believe the two of us were engaged in a conversation,” Spider-Man told him as Night Monkey flew back toward him, Spider-Man kicked him into the street.

“I can’t kill you yet,” Night Monkey said as he stood up. “Someone else is very interested in ending you. So for now we’ll have to call this a draw.”Night Monkey threw a flash grenade to the ground to distract Spider-Man. When the bright light subsided, the Night Monkey was gone.

“Are you okay?” Spider-Man asked as he ran over to Rick. “Why is that guy trying to kill you? Let me guess, you came up with the name ‘Night Monkey’.”

“I can’t talk here, I need to get somewhere safe and find Peter Parker,” Rick told him. “But I need to find the briefcase that I dropped. It’s very valuable.”

“Flash,” Spider-Man said to himself. “I should get this guy somewhere safe first, but where?”

“Okay, kid,” Flash said as he looked down at Stan as he pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of the local toy store. “This is going to be the biggest decision of your young life. The choice you make today determines the path you will walk down for years to come,” Flash said as he held up two stuffed dolls. “Choose your hero. You want to go with Spider-Man, don’t— Oh, you want this one? Seriously? That’s the hero doll you want? Okay. I’m going to get an earful from Peter over this one. But at least it’s not the Torch or Iceman. Maybe I should have had Iceman as an option. Where are those dolls?”

“Oh, they weren’t selling so they got tossed into the clearance bin years ago because no one wanted to play with them,” the stock boy told him. Flash’s phone started ringing as he picked up. 

“Hello?”

“My baby is not with Tommy, Aunt May, or the Fantastic 4. Tell me where my baby is or I will take your testi—“As Flash listened to what Mary Jane would do to him if her baby wasn’t returned in pristine condition, his face went pale as his hand covered his lower region in fear.

“How you do know the boiling temperature for those? He’s with me, he’s with me! He’s safe, I promise, just meet me here.”

“It’ll be okay,” Spider-Man promised as he arrived on the doorstep of May’s house. “Just stay here and I’ll go find Peter Parker and bring him back here. Five minutes tops.”

As Spider-Man swung away, the door opened as May smiled at the young man waiting for her. Luckily Peter had sent her a text to tell her what was going on. This of course was followed by May asking where her grand-nephew was and if he was safe.

“Give me my baby,” Mary Jane as she took Stan into her arms. “How dare Peter just abandon his son like this.”

“He didn’t abandon him, there was… a thing that needed Spider-Man,” Flash told her. “He dropped this briefcase before he took off.”

“I’ll have a talk with Peter about this later tonight,” Mary Jane said. “… Thanks for taking care of Stan.”

“I’d never let anything happen to him,” Flash promised as he smiled at Stan. “See you around, kid. Oh, don’t forget Stan’s new friend,” Flash said as he held up a stuffed Cannonball doll.“Is that?–”

“The kid chose him over Spider-Man of all things,” Well, at least it isn’t the Torch or Iceman,” Mary Jane said as she took the doll.

Osborn Industries

After getting dressed in a hospital nightgown, Drew lay down on a table in an operating room.

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about this,” Drew said as the doctor came in with a surgical mask.

“There’s no need to worry, Mr. Michaels,” the doctor said. “The procedure is relatively simple. We’ve made great strides and now everything is virtually chemical-based outside of a minor implant. You’ll have enhanced reflexes and strength, and a little radiation treatment to help your body adjust.”

“Radiation?”

“No worries, you won’t turn into a Hulk or anything. It’s light radiation to keep your body in check so that nothing goes wrong,” the doctor promised. “Osborn Industries has spent well over a decade perfecting these tests and they only improve with each new test case.”

“So I won’t turn into a spider freak like all those kids did when they got those phony flu shots?” Drew asked as Osborn walked into the room.

“Of course not,” Osborn told him. “You are the first of a new breed of hero. One who will bring a new era to this city. When we’re done with you, you will be a brand new man.”

“I’m still having second thoughts,” Drew said as the sleeping gas mask was put over his face, putting him to sleep within seconds.

After dropping Rick off on the porch, Spider-Man swung around to the backyard and found a secret stash of clothes he kept underneath the house for emergencies. Before he could pull off his mask, his spider-sense started going off.“Someone’s here,” Spider-Man said as he looked around the yard, carefully looking everywhere. “False alarm. Maybe the Lambright’s dog has been burying squirrels in the yard again.”

Removing his mask and pulling off his Spider-Man costume, he heard laughter as he turned to see the Night Monkey sitting in a tree after turning off his camouflage filter

.“Nice boxers, hero,” Night Monkey said as he landed on the ground. “I knew all I had to do was follow you to find out where you were going to hide the guy. Now I can kill him in peace.”

“You still have to get through me,” Peter told him.

 “Shouldn’t be too difficult now that you’re out of costume,” Night Monkey told him. “So, you’re the famous Peter Parker.”

TO BE CONTINUED…