THE PHENOMENAL SPIDER-MAN: CHAPTER 12
With bags of money on his back and in his possession, Herman continued to 'shock hop' his way through Queens, making small cracks each time he landed on the pavement and causing people nearby to run off in a panic. All so he could make his way to a secret spot that he set up in an old, abandoned building that was a few blocks away, where he planned to sneak in, get out of the suit and change into street clothes, and have the stolen money place into a large duffel bag. Afterward, he would walk out of the building disguised as a drifter. As the cops searched the city for 'The Shocker,' he would make his apartment building, which was conveniently next to the salvage yard that had worked at and constructed his gauntlets. Afterward, he lay law as he made plans to make a newer, better suit to exact his revenge on Oscorp.Despite achieving his goal of getting the money to fund his vengeance, Herman still found himself fuming with what transpired after. "This sucks beyond words!" An infuriated Herman thought as he landed and left a crack in the road, causing scared pedestrians to run, then fired two more blasts to propel himself upward. "It's bad enough that Spider-Punk showed up and made a mess of things, but the people in the bank still treated me as a freakin' joke before I blew open the safe! I mean, for God's sake, everybody's got a colorful gimmick these days! Including that Loki guy who the Avengers fought a few years back! A scrawny guy who wore a bright green outfit and crown with horns so tall and freakin' erect, they should've been censored when he was on the news! He should've been laughed at, but people still found him scary! So why can't I, a guy dressed in yellow, get the same courtesy? Guess I need to work on redesigning the suit when I get home. Maybe a new color scheme? Purple and silver?! Nah, that'd just look even more stupid-!"Suddenly, Herman's busy thinking was halted when Peter, who had already web-zipped over three rooftops, opened his arms, grabbed Herman's waist from behind, and drove him down to the ground below. Little did both masked men know, however, was that they were on their way to crashing near…WORDS OF WISDOM BOOKSTOREEverything seemed to be typical for this small bookstore in Queens. Inside were four walls filled with many books, from different types of fiction to autobiographies or whatever was typed and put on paper. It was also a place that sold used CDs or music records from bands over the years from whatever genre. Near the front of the store was that of Mary-Jane Watson, who, now had her hair in a pony-tail and wearing black leather wrist bands, was dressed in a black short-sleeved T-shirt with the store's logo on the chest, matching black jeans and shoes, which was the required attire for all of the store's staff members. And it was here that MJ was busy setting up a display for an autobiography by J. Jonah Jameson entitled 'No crap, just facts.' At first, MJ didn't consider this job her ideal choice. But though she wouldn't admit it to anyone else, she grew to be grateful for it. Namely, since discovering her newfound passion for reporting, she saw that it had its upside. Mainly, thanks to an employee discount, she purchased and read a few books on investigative journalism and books from famous reporters to help hone her craft, not to mention a few CDs of her favorite punk bands. And it was a job that she gained thanks to the help of May Parker, a close friend of the book owner, and put in a good word for her.However, though MJ appreciated this job helping her achieve her true passion, she acknowledged that it had some downsides too. For starters, she was working on a day that was supposed to be her day off, but now she was filling in for a co-worker who called in sick. True, this associate had only a four-hour shift, but it still put a hamper on her plans for the day. But what made the work experience hard for her was seeing the cover of the book display that she was setting up. The cover had the face of the man that one of her best friends was working for and, as far as she was concerned, was taking advantage of him to discredit one superhero. All of which made her look at the book with contempt. "Gee sure convinced me to buy a copy with a title like that," thought the sarcastic MJ as she placed the book in the nearly finished display. Suddenly, MJ spotted another book from the corner of her right eye. But one that was a romance novel entitled 'Love at Twenty Thousand Feet, with the cover having the picture of a male captain and a beautiful blonde-haired woman embracing in front of a jumbo jet.But what really caught MJ's attention was that of the jet, as it reminded her of this morning when she was at…JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…just like the previous night at the hospital, Peter, MJ, and their families were all there to bid farewell to Harry Osborn. This time, they were all gathered at the gate, where a private jet was waiting for the ill young man outside.At this time, Harry was still attached to an IV and had both his female nurse and butler, Michael, with him. And this time, he was dressed in light and breathable clothing, namely a black blazer with matching pants and shoes and a white shirt underneath.And it was here that the three friends embraced one final time before Harry went off to England. Though MJ and Peter wanted to hold on to him much tighter, they could already feel that his body was much weaker than it was back at the hospital and thus only hugged him gently so as not to hurt him.Finally, the three friends pulled away from each other, and Harry smiled at the two true friends he had grown to know and loved. All with watery eyes, as deep down, he wasn't sure if this was the time he would see them alive. "Well, you guys stay out of trouble, okay?"Both Peter and MJ were beginning to tear up as well, and MJ chose this moment to speak up with a smile. "Hey, you know us."Upon hearing this statement, Harry couldn't help but give the redheaded girl a skeptically raised eyebrow. "Okay, let me rephrase that," said the ailing young man, then turned his attention to Peter. "Pete, make sure that MJ stays out of trouble.""No promises," Peter responded jokingly and truthfully, as he knew he couldn't stop MJ whenever she set her mind on something and couldn't imagine anyone who could.And as for the normal no-nonsense MJ, she just giggled and smirked at this remark, as she knew there was some truth to it.As much as Michael didn't want to interrupt his young master's time with his two friends, he knew the pilot outside couldn't wait forever. "I'm afraid it's time, Master Harold."A solemn Harry closed his eyes and gave Michael a nod before answering. "Thanks, Michael," he told his butler, then looked back at his two friends, giving them one last smile. "Well, guys, I'm off to England."At stern MJ gently touched Harry's hand to gain his attention. "The country where you will kick this illness's butt and come back to us healthy!" MJ said in a stern but supportive tone.It wasn't long before Peter joined in supporting his ailing friend. "And when you do, we'll catch up on all the times we missed hanging out together," said the cheerful Peter, whose demeanor soon changed to that of a competitive one. "Especially since you owe me a rematch for Smash Fighters! I still can't believe you beat me using a cheat code!"The memory of beating Peter at that game brought Harry's spirit back up as he answered with a laugh. "Pure skill is no cheat code, Pete, but nonetheless, challenge accepted." A smiling Harry took a deep breath to settle his nerves for the scary journey ahead and gave his friends one final wink. "Wish me luck, guys." Were his parting words as he slowly turned around and walked with Michael and the nurse to the jet waiting outside…PRESENT…And that memory had been stuck in MJ's mind since. She feared losing one of her first real friends since she and her family moved here from Pennsylvania and had to leave some of the friends she made there. And now, she feared losing another one to a life-threatening illness.And the sound of the older female voice snapped the young girl out of her funk. "So, you got a thing for airplanes, Watson?"MJ soon turned to where she heard the voice and saw that it belonged to the store's owner, Gloria Morales, a woman of Puerto Rican descent, a round body figure, and in her early sixties. She, too, dressed in the same attire that her staff members wore to show the staff underneath her that she was a hard worker who led by example and wouldn't tolerate it when she saw her team slacked off. A mindset that Gloria had since her younger days when she was a protestor in her homeland, and when she moved to New York with her husband, she set up the bookstore in hopes of using books to help educate the youth in making the world just a little bit better.This work ethic and no-nonsense attitude were something that MJ respected, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her nervous. "Oh, uh, Ms. Morales!" MJ said somewhat sheepishly, then looked back at the shelf with the romance novels on display and saw that one book was misplaced. One that was entitled 'Get rich in the worlds of business and women by Tony Stark.' And on the cover was Tony Stark, a fair-skinned man in his early forties with black hair and goatee, sunglasses, a tuxedo suit with a cocktail in his left hand, and a beautiful woman in his arm. All this made MJ immediately pick it up and hold it up to her boss. "I just saw that this was in the wrong place," MJ said quickly with a fake smile, then briefly turned it over to look at the cover and soon cringed when she got a good look at the image. "And in front of the children, no less!"Gloria didn't fully buy MJ's answer as she took the book from her and was just as aghast as she was when she looked at it. Because, unlike many people, Gloria was never a fan of Tony Stark's playboy antics, be it before or after becoming the attention-loving superhero Iron Man. "Well, you're not wrong," she said truthfully but then went back to giving MJ a stern expression. "But if you want to be a reporter, as you told me, MJ, you can't have your head in Lala Land. So why do you.!" Suddenly, their conversation is brought to an abrupt halt when they heard the sounds of people screaming and something heavy crashing into steel and glass shattering.Something which not only shocked the ten customers in the store and made MJ and Gloria exclaim this question in unison. "What the hell?!" Both ladies rushed to the front window, and what they saw didn't look promising.It was Herman, who, after being dropkicked out of the air by Peter, crash-landed chest first on top of a Lincoln Continental parked right across from the bookstore. Though the suit protected the criminal from harm, the impact destroyed the car's hood and caused the people nearby to run off in a panic. Moments later, Peter arrived and landed safely on top of a lamp post, using his clinging abilities to stick to and stay perched on the steel base that connected the lamp to the top of the post.Upon gaining sight of 'the Spider-Man,' MJ and Gloria knew that whatever was happening wasn't good. All of this caused Gloria to spring into action for the sake of everyone inside the store and thus quickly locked the front door. A split second later, she looked over her shoulders to the still confused customers. "Everyone to the back of the store! Now!" Gloria called out, then turned to MJ. "Watson, you lead the customers on the right side of the store to the back, and I'll take the left!""Got it!" MJ quickly replied, then ran to the right and began to guide the scared customers over to the rear of the store, the safest place from whatever was going on outside, or at least she hoped.Back outside, Peter looked around his surroundings on the lamppost and was both distressed and angry that he and Herman ended up in a populated area. An outcome for which Peter blamed no one but himself, as he put too much strength in that dropkick and caused Herman to land on top of the car with people nearby instead of his intended target, which was a nearby rooftop. "Way to know your strength, Parker," he thought to himself in self-disgust, then turned his attention to the people standing, utterly stunned at what they just saw. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Fortunately, Peter's loud words were enough to shock the people back to reality and cause them to run for their lives. After taking a moment to look around and seeing that no one was around, Peter turned his attention back to the fallen Herman. "This time, I'm making sure this guy doesn't get back up!" With that declaration, Peter pointed his hands at Herman and fired two web balls, intending to web the criminal's gauntlets to the car and prevent him from moving.However, it was around this time that Herman began to stir, and as he looked over his shoulder, he saw Peter shooting his webs. This prompted him to roll to the right side and narrowly dodge the webs, causing them to hit the crushed-in roof instead. It didn't take long for Herman's feet to hit the pavement; though he almost tumbled over, he managed to stand upright.Much to Peter's dismay. "Or not," he thought in annoyance, then went on to get Herman's attention through jokes. "Come on, Shock!" Peter called out, succeeding in getting Herman to look up and point his gauntlets at him. "If you were running off to where you bought that lame costume just to take it back and get a refund, you don't need the bank's money to do that!"Herman was desperate at this point and couldn't afford to waste more time shooting blasts at Peter, especially when he proved too agile to hit at point-blank range. However, he soon spotted something on the left side that looked like it could aid in his escape.And that something was someone, namely a male, a slightly overweight teenager with tanned skin, a red jacket, a grey T-shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes, who was shooting the action with his iPhone.Herman also spotted an abandoned Buick parked right in front of him, which gave him an idea that resulted in an evil grin forming behind his padded mask. "Tell you what, Web-Head, I'll give you a choice," he called out confidently. "You can either catch me or save that dumb punk over there!" Herman charged up his left gauntlet and threw an uppercut at the car while simultaneously releasing the charge button. This 'Shock Punch' sent the vehicle into the air and straight toward the teen, who was so scared, he couldn't move.A sight that didn't sit well with Peter. "Crap!" Peter exclaimed loudly, then acted by standing up, pointing his hands back at the base, and began double tapping on buttons of his web-shooters to shoot more webbing. But this time, on the second click, he pressed down on the button, which caused the web fluid to come out as a spray. As Peter held on to the button, he jumped off the post and over to the building on the left, where he soon created a 'web wall.' Once he arrived and stuck to the wall of a building that the frightened teen stood next to, Peter pulled hard on his end of the web wall, and it didn't take long for the car to hit the web, with Peter using his spider strength to hold the wall up and prevent the vehicle from crushing the teen.While Peter was busy saving the boy's life, Herman took this as an opportunity to turn around, charge up both gauntlets and blast the pavement, sending him back into the air to continue his escape.As the criminal left, Peter had just placed his end of the web wall on the side of the building that he stuck to and thus kept the car from falling and crushing the teen below. This was actually a surprise for Peter, as he did this action by pure instinct and just remembered that the end where he started from was a lamppost. As the young hero looked forward, he was surprised to see that it was still standing upright instead of tumbling over the car's weight. This made him curious to double-click a button on his left eyepiece, which activated a zoom-in system that he installed. He zeroed in on the base and saw that it, along with many other street lamps in the city, was reconstructed by Stark Industries. Something with which Peter, who had always been a fan of Stark, be it as an inventor or hero, couldn't help but be impressed. "Nothing but the best from Stark Inc."Suddenly, Peter is brought out of his admiration for his idol when he hears the overly enthusiastic screaming of the teen he just saved. "WHOOOOOOO! DUDE, THAT WAS SICK!" The teen shouted, causing Peter himself to look down at him, bewildered. "I AM SO GONNA GET A TON OF HITS FOR THIS!" Happy with the video he shot, the teen ran off so he could show it to his friends at a nearby coffee shop before posting it on the internet.As for Peter, all he could do was watch the teen leave with a look of confusion. "Seriously?! Does that kid not know how lucky he is that I saved him from getting one 'big hit' from a flying car?!" Moments later, Peter heard a booming sound from a distance and more screaming, indicating that it was the fleeing Herman. All of which made him shake his head to regain focus on the moment at hand. "You know what, forget it! This whole thing with Shocker has officially gone too far, and it needs to end now!" With that declaration, Peter jumped off the wall and continued web-zipping from one building to pursue Herman and bring him down before he caused more damage.Back in the Words of Wisdom, all the customers had gathered at the back of the store, many of whom were scared and confused. Especially one brunette woman in her mid-thirties had just lost her five-year-old daughter and was desperately searching for her."Mommy!" was the word cried out from a young girl, and it was enough to make the woman turn around, and she smiled in relief when she saw that it was her daughter being brought to her by MJ, who walked with her hand and hand.As the girl ran into the open arms of her smiling mother, MJ couldn't help but smile as she watched the two hug each other tightly, even if it put a dent in her 'tough punk' image.As for Gloria, she ran to the front of the store once the customers were safe, and through the front window, she witnessed the altercation between Peter and Herman, as well as the teen running off after foolishly recording the fight instead of running off. An act that left her just as baffled as Peter. "Dios Mio! What's that little idiot thinking?! This isn't something to make a movie of?!"Like most of her co-workers, MJ understood that her boss wasn't exactly tech-savvy. She knew that whenever Gloria said that someone was 'making movies, it was usually when someone was using their iPhones to take selfies and make videos to post on social media. However, it wasn't until MJ caught a glimpse at one male customer who had a copy of Jameson's book did her eyes grow large with fear and worry. She realized that only one person she knew would be crazy enough to put himself at risk by 'shooting movies' of Spider-Man whenever he was in situations like these, and all for a blowhard reporter who, in her mind, was just using him. "Oh my god, Peter!" With the horrible thought of her best friend being hurt or worse on her mind, MJ was about to run to the front window hoping that if she found Peter, he would be in a safe hiding place.However, as Gloria stepped away from the window, she caught a glimpse of the worried MJ running towards the door and immediately held her hand up to stop her. "No, Watson!" Gloria said sternly. "Stay with the customers!""But, what about that person you were talking about?!" MJ asked with great concern. "The one you said was shooting movies?""He ran off, but he's not important!" Gloria shot back. "Right now, just stay there!" After giving that last order, Gloria returned to the window to ensure that Peter and Herman were truly gone.All of this left MJ annoyed and let out a long sigh. Annoyed at both Gloria for calling Peter 'not important' and at Peter himself as he was once again risking his neck to record one of Spider-Man's fights. "Parker, you better not be that 'idiot' she's referring to!"
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