Okay, so what should have been an easy task has turned into a new mystery for yours truly. Flash thought one of our students was being abused, so I volunteered to check it out. Things kind of got out of hand when Flash and I got sidetracked when said student came home from trying to crash a party with bruises on him.

When we went to get to the bottom of things, we got attacked by the Vulture for what I’m assuming is because we were getting too close to something. Spider-Man managed to temporarily put the Vulture down, but he ended up escaping when I had to get Flash home to make sure he didn’t have a concussion. So now I’ve got to check out this hotel while keeping an eye out for both the Vulture and a new Hobgoblin.

Hopefully Flash can deal with whoever’s beating Drew while I try to keep two criminals from causing any more damage. At least things couldn’t get any worse. Hell, who am I kidding? Things always seem to get worse when I’m least expecting it…

SACRIFICES

Part III

By Tobias Christopher

Midtown High

“The Family Circus?” asked Flash as he sat on top of Peter’s desk before class. “Well, I hope it turns out better than that ‘Marmaduke’ movie.”

“It’s her first big break in Hollywood,” said Peter as he drank from his cup of coffee. “She’s finally made it. I hope she has a lot of success out there.”

Flash noticed the pained expression on Peter’s face and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m sure she misses you as much as you miss her.”

“It’s not just that,” replied Peter. “When we lost the baby… it’s like a little piece of both of us died. There’s still love there, but somehow, it wasn’t enough to pull us through.”

“So, what do you think we should do about Drew?” asked Flash, wanting to change the subject.

“There’s nothing we can do,” replied Peter, sighing as he looked down at his desk. “If his father’s innocent, then we have no way of finding out where his bruises came from unless he comes forward and tells us. But there’s something about that hotel that’s bugging me. I think we need to go back and—”

“Can’t tonight, my AA meeting,” interrupted Flash.

“Damn, I nearly forgot,” said Peter, mentally kicking himself. “I’m not missing this one, I swear. I’ll be there this time.”

Elsewhere in the school, Drew had Billy Connors in a headlock, as the students around them cheered on the fight.

“I told you to stop talking to my girl!” said Drew angrily, cutting off Billy’s air supply. “I guess you just like getting your ass kicked.”

“Drew, stop it!” shouted A.J. as he pushed his way through the crowd. “Let him go!”

“You want a swing at him?” asked Drew as he pushed Billy to the ground, then adding a kick to the other teen’s stomach. “Go for it.”

A.J. pushed past his brother and helped Billy up. “Drew, you can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that? He was just giving Maggie notes for Algebra, that’s all. Why are you being such a prick?”

“Whatever, just don’t let me catch him talking to Maggie again,” said Drew as he walked away, heading towards the locker room.

“Your brother’s a freak,” said Billy, trying to catch his breath as A.J. handed him a Kleenex to wipe the blood from his lip.

“Yeah, but once you get to know him, he’s a lovable freak,” said A.J. as they walked toward class.

Curt Connors was waiting outside of the school for Billy as the final bell rang. One of the first people out was Peter, who was eager to try to check out the hotel before he had to take Flash to his AA meeting.

“Doc Connors?” asked Peter as he saw his former mentor waiting by the flagpole. “I’ve been meaning to get in contact with you.”

“Peter,” said Connors, glad to see a friendly face. “I understand you’re teaching my son in your science class. How’s he doing?”

“Well, he’s a chip off the old block,” replied Peter as the two men walked away from the school. ‘He’s going to be every bit the science wiz you are, if that’s the career he goes for. He’s kind of going through a few rough patches at the moment.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen his… new look,” said Connors, disturbed by all the changes his son had gone through while he’d been away. “Peter, I know it’s wrong to ask, but—”

“You want me to put in a few good words with Billy,” answered Peter as he scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Billy needs to come around on his own. Pushing him for a reconciliation is just going to make things worse. He’s been hurt bad, Doc.”

“And its all my fault,” replied Connors as he leaned his head back against the school wall. “Every decision I make just seems to make his life worse. That’s why I have to get rid of the Lizard once and for all.”

Peter recognized the Doc’s tone, not liking what he’d just said at all. Better intervene before this turns into a job for Spider-Man.

“Doc, you’re not experimenting with cures again, are you? Because the last thing anyone needs is the Lizard running around the city,” Peter reminded him.

“This isn’t just about me, anymore, Peter. Billy’s life is at stake,” said Connors as he looked at his former student. “What happens if something triggers the Lizard DNA I put into him? I have to live with the lives I’ve destroyed because of that… monster. I won’t let my son live with that guilt.”

“At least let me help you,” suggested Peter, knowing that this was a mistake. “Two scientific minds working on this might be better.” Plus, Spider-Man being there to contain the situation if something went wrong wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.

“Thank you, Peter,” Connors said as he shook Peter’s hand, leaving his current address in his old student’s hand. “I look forward to having you help me beat this curse.”

“You’re spreading yourself too thin, Peter,” worried Aunt May as she packed him a lunch to take with him on his patrol as Spider-Man. “Helping Flash, your day job, your… night time activities, and now this? You’re going to over exert yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” replied Peter as he finished fixing the floorboard for her. He stood up and tested the floor to make he’d fixed it properly. “It’s part of the responsibility.”

“Sometimes I think you take too much after your Uncle Ben,” said May as she hugged him. “But I couldn’t be prouder, and I know Ben is, too.”

“Alright, that takes care of the last of the repairs,” replied Peter as he picked up the bagged lunch. “I should have just enough time to swing by the hotel and investigate it before I have to meet Flash. Then it’s off to see Doc Connors. Thanks for the lunch, Aunt May.”

“I have to make sure you stay fed,” replied May as Peter headed for the door. “I’m sure you get hungry after a night of swinging through the city. I’ll see you soon.”

Being compared to Uncle Ben is probably the greatest compliment I could ever receive. But maybe Aunt May’s right, I have been spreading myself thin these last few weeks. Maybe after I take down the Vulture and Hobgoblin, I should take a little vacation. It’s not like New York would be defenseless, what with the Avengers, the Fantastic 4, the X-Men, the Defenders, Howard the Duck, and… who’s protecting the rest of the country if all of us are here in New York? The Punisher?

As he headed toward the hotel, his spider-sense went off, alerting him to trouble in the opposite direction.

Figures. The hotel can wait while I go and deal with this. It’s probably one of my many superpowered enemies, ready to destroy the town with their lethal power.

“Prepare to face udder terror at the hooves of… THE MAD COW!”

The people at the Fromme family barbeque weren’t quite sure what to make of the man standing upright in the six foot imitation leather cow costume. Although some people were a little worried about the machine gun udders he was sporting.

“Prepare for revenge, meat eaters!” the obviously unstable man shouted.

“Hey, don’t have a cow,” said Spider-Man as he swung by and landed in front of the unhinged bovine. “Honestly, I was planning to say that even before I saw who I was coming to fight.”

“So, Spider-Man, we finally meet! The city’s greatest hero and the city’s greatest threat, together at last!” The man proudly said.

“Look, pal, I don’t know what your beef is, but I’m taking you in before—” Spider-Man was cut off as the Mad Cow opened fire with his machine gun udders. The hero quickly pushed the innocent bystanders out of the way while dodging the bullets that were coming at him.

“I’m going to show this city the perils of eating living creatures!” the Mad Cow said as he continued firing. “I’ll make everyone suffer like they made the creatures they eat suffer!”

“You know, I actually could go for a burger right now,” said Spidey as he held out his hands and shot the Mad Cow’s udders with webbing. “Alright, now come peacefully or—”

“Do you think that was the only trick up my sleeve?” the villain asked as he pulled out a cattle prod.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Spidey with a sigh as he shook his head.

Meanwhile, at the Parkview Hotel, Madame Borstein, the owner of the hotel, was in one of the secret chambers she’d had built upon her purchase of the building. At her side was Adrian Toomes, the Vulture.

“I love the new additions to this place,” said Adrian as he looked around. “It’s the perfect hiding place.”

“As long as we can keep Spider-Man from discovering it,” replied Madame Borstein as Adrian heard the wailing of Borstein’s captives. “Don’t mind them, darling, they’ll quiet down when it’s feeding time.”

At the Michaels home, Drew walked into his bedroom wearing a blue bathrobe, having just gotten out of the shower. He looked at his younger brother A.J. sitting on his bed with a pile of sheet music.

“We seriously need to get you a girl,” said Drew as he walked to his dresser. “You know, Maggie does know a lot of girls you could—”

“Already spoken for,” said A.J. without looking up while writing down notes.

“Really? How come I haven’t seen—”

“Because it’s not serious,” replied A.J. as he picked up his guitar and strummed the notes he’d just written. “We just fool around. No strings attached.”

Even though A.J. wanted more out of his relationship, his current love interest wanted to keep things from getting too complicated, even though he wasn’t going to admit that to Drew. The last thing he needed was his brother offering romantic advice.

“Do I get to meet—”

“No,” quickly replied A.J. “And you never will because I don’t need you interfering in my love life. By the way, what’s with the new camera?”

“It’s part of a new job I’m going for,” replied Drew as he started getting dressed. “I’m going to freelance for the Bugle.”

“The Bugle? How’d you land that?” asked A.J. in shock as Drew tossed him the paper from a few days ago. On the cover was Drew’s picture of Spider-Man fighting the Hobgoblin.

“I’m going to start getting professional shots of Spider-Man,” replied Drew as he pulled on a t-shirt. “I dug out Dad’s old police scanner from the garage. I figure if I go downtown and wait long enough, I’ll be able to follow Spider-Man to where the action is.”

“And get yourself killed in the process,” added A.J. “What is it with you and taking risks? And if you’re doing this now, does this mean you’re giving up on–”

“No, not yet, at least,” replied Drew as he combed his hair in front of the mirror. “It depends on how much money I can make off of selling pictures. Now, wish me luck…I’m going out to get some juicy shots of Spider-Man.”

The Mad Cow came swinging at Spider-Man with the red-hot cattle prod. At Spider-Man ducked, the prod burned the Mad Cow’s initials into the picnic table.

“You can move pretty fast for a man in a giant cow suit,” said the hero as he punched the Mad Cow, sending him backward.

“That’s cruelty to animals!” the villain shouted as Spidey sweep-kicked the Mad Cow, then grabbing a picnic blanket, he hog tied his opponent, leaving him in the grass.

“Someone call the police to send this guy back to the barnyard,” said Spider-Man as he looked at the grilled to perfection burgers. “May I?”

“Go right ahead,” the father of the family said. Moments later, Spider-Man was swinging off with a freshly cooked burger in his hands.

Flash was waiting outside of his apartment, looking at his watch. If Peter wasn’t there soon, he’d have to go to his meeting without him. Looking across the street at the local liquor store, Flash saw some underage kids drinking in full view of everyone. They still hadn’t fired the clerk who didn’t check I.D.’s apparently. Anyone of any age could just walk right into the place and buy beer.

Yeah, a beer sounded really good about now. Maybe just one to take the edge off… No, he couldn’t think like that. Flash had come this far, he couldn’t go back to that now. He wasn’t going to be the alcoholic monster his father was.

So much for checking out that hotel tonight. Between getting Flash to his AA meeting and helping Doc Connors put an end to the Lizard, my night’s pretty much booked. And then, of course, I have to grade papers when I get home. Yeah, I’m definitely spreading myself thin here. Maybe I should think about taking a little time off for some R&R.

Spider-Man was almost there, he’d make it just in the nick of time. He’d have just enough time to find the alley, change back into Peter Parker with the clothes inside of the bag slung over his shoulder, and meet Flash in time to catch the bus to the meeting. Everything was going to work out–

“Fire!” a woman on the street below shouted as smoke started rising from a tenement building.

Of course, said Spider-Man to himself as he swung toward the emergency to rescue anyone who was still trapped inside. As he swung closer, Spider-Man saw several people waving for help as the flames continued to consume the building. The crowd below cheered and applauded as they saw their hero head toward the blaze, crashing his way through a window.

Gathering everyone he could find, which amounted to a group of about five people, Spider-Man shot his hand out and created a net made of webbing between the light poles down on the street, carefully tossing each person into the sticky webbing, as the firefighters helped them out.

“I think that’s just about everyone,” said Spider-Man as a burning beam came crashing down towards him. The hero jumped out of the way just in time, but the sack he was carrying that contained both his civilian clothing and his lunch fell into the flames, being consumed by the fire before he could retrieve them.

After making sure the building really had been cleared, Spider-Man made his escape from the fire, leaving the dousing to the real heroes of New York as he swung as fast as he could towards Flash’s neighborhood, listening to the applause of the crowd as he left.

Watching as Spider-Man swung away was Drew, smiling from having gotten some good shots of Spider-Man saving the day. He climbed onto his bicycle, where his father’s police scanner was mounted on the handlebars and quickly headed home.

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Osborn?” asked Rhett as he stood at the front door of Norman Osborn’s penthouse.

“Come in, Rhett, I have a job for you,” said Norman as he let the young man in and closed the door.

“But you told me to leave the suit at home,” said Rhett as Norman motioned for him to have a seat. Rhett sat down, realizing how comfortable Osborn’s sofa was.

“No, the job I need for you to do doesn’t require use of your… other identity,” replied Norman as he poured himself a drink. “How’s your hospitality towards senior citizens?”

“I don’t understand,” replied Rhett nervously. He wondered what would be asked of him this time.

“I’ve rented a house for you in Queens,” said Norman as he offered Rhett a drink. Rhett accepted, if only to calm his nerves. Osborn scared him, enough so that he was thinking of telling the world the truth himself just to get out from under his thumb. “You’ll be living next door to…an old friend of mine. I want you to take care of her.”

“You mean—?” replied Rhett, fearing what ‘take care of her’ meant. “But why—”

“No, you fool, you’re not to harm this woman,” said Norman as he took a sip of his beverage. “You’ll insinuate yourself into her life. Do her yard work, carry in her groceries. Be her friend.”

“Okay,” said Rhett, feeling a little less nervous with each drink. “Is that it?”

“Yes, that’s it,” replied Norman, knowing Rhett would be dumb enough to leave it at that. “Just get to know May Parker. Get into her inner circle, that’s all I need for you to do.”

“I can do that,” said Rhett as he finished his drink. “For a minute there I thought you were going to ask me to kill someone.”

“Now, Rhett, murder isn’t something that’s on my agenda, at least, not yet,” replied Norman as he poured the young man another drink. “May Parker is just someone that I want to be watched over carefully. The poor old woman has a rather…despicable nephew, and I worry about her. You see, her nephew takes advantage of her sweet nature, rarely calls or visits, and worries the dear woman night and day. I need someone I can trust to take care of her, to be the friend that her rotten nephew obviously can’t be. And who better than an enterprising young man like yourself?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Rhett, starting to feel better about things. Making a new friend and helping someone at the same time. What could possibly go wrong?

“Good boy, now go home and pack, my men will escort you to your new home shortly,” said Norman as he escorted Rhett out. “And Rhett? Don’t disappoint me.”

After closing the door, Norman smiled to himself. Another aspect of Peter Parker’s life was about to be taken from him. Soon, Parker’s world was going to crumble around him. All Norman had to do was be patient, and soon, all the pieces would fall into place as he watched.

“You were mugged?” asked Flash as Peter stood in front of him, with only a trash can lid covering his lower body as he stood on the sidewalk in just his boxers. His costume was currently hidden in the alley next to Flash’s apartment, where he’d reclaim it later. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just need to borrow a pair of pants,” said Peter. Standing in full view of everyone in the neighborhood in his underwear was embarrassing, but it was better than revealing his secret identity to Flash. Too many people knew he was Spider-Man as it was; he didn’t need to endanger Flash’s life if he didn’t have to.

“Yeah, sure, let’s go get you some clothes, we can catch the next bus to the meeting,” said Flash as he led Peter upstairs. “I’m just glad you’re all right. But why would muggers steal your clothes? You’re not very… fashion conscious.”

“This is New York, some people will steal anything,” replied Peter as he followed Flash to his apartment. As he was led inside, he noticed how small and cramped it was. Not at all what he was expecting from the Flash Thompson he knew in high school.

“Wait here, I’ll find you something to wear,” said Flash as he went to his bedroom to get Peter some suitable attire for an AA meeting.

While he was gone, Peter’s eyes wandered around the room, realizing Flash didn’t own many things, only a few pieces of furniture, the tv, some DVDs and CDs, and way too many takeout boxes from various restaurants.

Peter himself wasn’t sitting in the lap of luxury, but his apartment at least had some space to it. That’s when Peter saw the copy of the Daily Bugle on the coffee table, depicting his battle with the Hobgoblin several days ago. The picture, despite not being high quality, looked like it was taken not too far away. But who took the picture?

“Here you go, Pete,” said Flash as he walked out of the bedroom and tossed Peter a dress shirt, some slacks, and a pair of loafers before Peter could pick up the paper to see who supplied the picture.

“Thanks,” said Peter as he quickly pulled on the clothing. “You know, you don’t seem to be very fashion conscious, either.”

“That’s why we need to get us some women,” said Flash as they headed for the door. “So they can be fashionably conscious for us.”

Dr. Connors was in his lab, working on the mixtures. He was awaiting Peter’s arrival so he could properly put an end to the Lizard. Then his son would accept his father back into his life and they’d be a family once more.

“This has to be the right mixture,” said Connors as he looked at the vial. “I just have to wait for Peter to— No, it is the right combination. Peter will see when he gets here. He’ll see that I know what I’m doing. This has to work, for Billy’s sake.”

Putting the serum into the injection gun, Connors pumped the mixture into his arm, hoping it would override the Lizard DNA and stop this nightmare once and for all.

“Please, let this work,” pleaded Connors as he felt a reaction in his body. “Yes! It’s working, it’s—”

Connor’s body was rocked with a sudden spasm, forcing him to knock the test tubes on the table to the floor. He could feel the sweat falling down his face as he fell to the floor, trying to fight off unconsciousness, fearing that his formula had failed. As Connors blacked out, he could have sworn he’d heard the Lizard laughing at him…