Post by Drake on Mar 30, 2014 11:40:20 GMT -5
Spider-Man #15: Spider War Part 5
The Meaning Behind the Mask
By Drake
The Meaning Behind the Mask
By Drake
The wind rippled over the red and blue spandex as Miles soared over the heads of New Yorkers, swinging ever faster. Miles couldn’t help but see his beloved city begin to burn, as crime surged and a gang war ravaged all ways of life. This was all because of him. He hadn’t been strong enough to stop the Goblin, to stop the war, or to stop Peter.
Oh God…Peter.
His mentor, father figure, and friend. He might be dead, like the other man who’d guided Miles…like Jefferson, his father. Thinking back on it, Miles realized this had all begun that day, the day his father died. Since then, he had experienced the worst of all his fears, everything Peter warned him about come to life. Without a doubt, these nights had been the coldest yet…the darkest nights.
It all had to end and he was the only one who could end it. The place to start: Parker Tower, where the chaos began. Green Goblin was there somewhere, with Peter in tow, and Miles’ family and friends held hostage. Harry Osborn…that bastard had to pay.
Miles landed smoothly on the ground in front of Parker Tower, already camouflaged so the civilians could not see him. He needed no opposition now.
A police barricade had been formed around the entrance to Parker Tower. Miles wasn’t sure if it was to block civilians from the still-broken upper floors, or a possible Spider infestation. God, Miles hoped Peter hadn’t gotten himself—or anyone else—hurt.
Miles doubts on the reason for the barricade dissipated when he leaped over the makeshift wall and tape to see half a dozen officers trying to free two other cops from webbed restraints. Miles actually laughed.
The young hero snuck past the guarding police officers inside the building where over a dozen men tried to tear away at a large web-coved hole. The hardened fluid wouldn’t budge. Some men got caught it in. Amateurs.
Miles de-camo’d.
“Hey, guys!” Miles put his hands in the air. Immediately all the cops who weren’t caught in webbing turned around, and when they saw who he was, they drew their firearms.
“Whoa whoa whoa! Chill! I’m here to help,” Miles explained, holding his hands up defensively.
“Spider-Man,“ one cop began, before rethinking it, “Or…whoever you are…”
“Spider-Man,” Miles admitted with a nod.
“Keep your hands up and don’t move,” the cop finished.
Miles sighed and put his hands down. He shook his head, “See, I can’t do that. What you don’t understand, what you’ve never understood, is I’m one of you guys. I’m on your side.”
“And the footage—“
“I haven’t seen the footage or whatever,” Spider-Man admitted, “But I promise you I didn’t bomb this building. I didn’t hurt anyone. Now, please…some of the people I care about most in this world are down that hole, and probably the baddest bad guy I’ve ever met is holding them at gunpoint, waiting for me. I know what’s happened. I know what I’ve done wrong, but please let me go through.” The cops began to look around at each other.
One last word, “Please.”
And then something miraculous happened. One of the officers, the very same one who first spoke up, let down his firearm and turned to the others, saying, “Put down your guns. Clear the building.”
The other officers—some reluctantly—did as they were told. Miles walked up to the leading officer, “Thank you.”
The man nodded, “Go kick whoever’s ass did this,” he motioned upwards.
And with that last word, the officers cleared out of Parker Tower. Miles tore through the webbing, leaving very few remnants to stick to his costume, and jumped into the abyss.
When he landed, he did it with grace and finesse. This wasn’t amateur hour. Everything he’d trained for and experienced had led to this.
Luckily, the first room he entered, some sort of Spidey-Goblin shrine, appeared to be empty. Miles had two options on where to go. There was a door at the front end of the room, and a door to his right. Miles went right.
The door was unlocked. No force was required. What Miles found would haunt him forever, but also relieved him to no extent that could be put in words.
His mother, Ganke, Mayday, and Mary Jane were all alive, but strapped to a large complex device. They were gagged, forced to whimper quietly as the machine hummed. Miles knew what this device was.
This was old fashioned, super villain 101. It was a bomb.
If Miles let anyone out without disarming the bomb, he was sure it would blow. Damn. And Aaron…shit. Where was Aaron?
Ganke’s eyes widened as Miles entered the room. He tried to speak, but “Mrz!” was all he managed. Everyone’s attention was drawn to Miles. Only Rio and Mayday could see by twisting their heads to the side.
Miles ran up to his trapped family and friends. Rio first…he had to ungag his mother first. He gently pulled away the leather gagging her, and threw it to the ground.
“Oh thank God!” she sobbed, tears blurring her vision, “Thank God…”
“Please, ma’am, I need to ask you something,” Miles tried to mask his voice by deepening it and doing his best Batman impersonation, “There is another man…Aaron Davis. Where is he?”
“H-he…I don’t know. He wasn’t here when I woke up,” Rio’s shuddered when she breathed, “The…the Goblin…he took us…he…oh God…”
“It’s fine. You’re fine,” Miles pattered Rio on her shoulder, “I’ll be back.”
Miles went one-by-one, removing the gags from the prisoners. Ganke came last. As soon as Miles removed his gag, he spoke up.
“M—Spider-Man, this bomb, it…”
“I know,” Miles admitted, “I know.”
“What are you going to do?” Ganke asked.
“Find the other guy,” Miles hinted, “Get him to disarm this bomb.”
“The other…oh, right,” Ganke nodded, “Go.”
Miles stood away, and looked all of the prisoners over one last time, “I will be back.”
Rio sobbed in response. Ganke smiled. Mayday seemed in shock, but also like she was contemplating something. Mary Jane was the only one to speak up.
“Go get ‘em, tiger.”
Without even being able to see MJ, Miles could feel the energy and knowingness in those words. They carried a weight. They carried a history. Miles was one of very few men that had ever heard that from her directly, he was sure. He knew now where Ganke had first heard those words. He’d said a movie. It was just a line in one of Mary Jane’s movies, but it was also more than that…it was a battle cry.
This was war.
“Enough with the day dreaming, kid,” a voice spoke up from behind Miles. The young hero spun around to come face to face with the Green Goblin.
“Goblin…” Miles growled.
“The one and only,” the villain crossed his arms, “Although technically—whoa!”
Miles lunged at Green Goblin, forcing him to leap out of the way. The villain recoiled with a laugh and a pumpkin bomb, which exploded, blasting Miles into the shrine room.
Miles forced himself up while Green Goblin entered the room, shutting the door on its broken hinges.
“Please, Miles, enough with this angry ‘let’s attack bad guy’ nonsense because I’m not the bad guy. I’m the hero here, and you can be too,” Goblin explained, walking towards Miles. The teen took a swing at him. The villain dodged back.
“Like hell,” Miles retorted.
“Miles…please, I came back for revenge. Well, and more. I came to save you,” Green Goblin explained.
“From what? Peter?” Miles demanded, allowing himself a second to catch his breath.
“Among other things. C’mon, Miles, join me. Live with me as a hero, as a rich man free from these…” Green Goblin motioned back to the bomb room, “Weak, sick people. We can stop the Scorpion, save New York. You and me, we could—“
“ENOUGH, OSBORN!” And Miles pulled the card hidden up his sleeve. In a split second, he sent a web line out to a goblin blade displayed in a broken glass case and swung it around to Green Goblin’s face, cutting across his mask. The villain had no time to dodge. However, Goblin was unharmed beyond his mask, which fell to the side in two heaps.
“Osborn? What is it with Harry Osborn? I’m Green Goblin…” the villain looked up, exposing his face. Miles gasped. This couldn’t be right…
“Miles, my man, I’m…”
…
Peter awoke with a literal shock as a taser burned into his gut. Harry Osborn stood over him in a suit, forcing the taser in deep. Peter coughed out blood, which landed on his broken mask on the ground.
“Harryyy…..” Peter growled, “I’ll kill you…”
“Oh, just shut up already,” Harry pulled the taser away and laughed, “I just wanted to wake you up so you could see the end of it all. Your little empire, your golden life, your city…”
Harry pointed to a video screen in front of him that displayed the burning New York City with Parker Tower on the skyline, and suddenly a look of pure contempt overcame his face, “Look at me win, Peter! Look at me get revenge for all the times you beat me, for all the times you took my father from me!!”
“You are a sick man, Harry, just like your father, and I’ll gladly do the same thing to you that I did to him,” Peter retorted, “So fight me like a man. None of your stupid goblin toys!”
“My goblin toys?” Harry looked Peter over, the innocent, amused expression back, “Wait, you don’t think…oh my. You do. Pete, my old friend…my greatest enemy,” the venom flashed again, “Those aren’t my toys. I’m not the Green Goblin. Not anymore.”
“What?” Peter exclaimed, “But you…”
“Oh sure, I put on the suit to kidnap your family, but that was only because he was taking soooo long. We needed to speed up our plans,” Harry explained.
“No…it can’t be…” Peter muttered, realization dawning.
“Oh yes, Petey. That traitor’s been with your little warrior, hiding in plain sight all this time.”
…
Miles couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There was no way…but yet there it was. That face. That dark, caramel-colored face. The yellow teeth. The laugh lines. He recognized it all. He should, right? After all, it was the face of his uncle—Aaron Davis!
“No…why?” Miles whispered, but Aaron heard him.
Aaron grinned, an expression that now terrified Miles, and said, “I told you: revenge. I wanted what was mine.”
“You killed my dad,” Miles realized, “You…”
“No! No, Miles,” Aaron shook his head, “I didn’t kill your father, because—I am your father!”
“What??” Miles exclaimed, “You’re not…”
“It was a long time ago. Jefferson and Rio hadn’t even gotten engaged yet. They were having troubles, issues…and I came into the picture. I had always loved Rio, and she loved me. One night, we came together. When it was all over, Rio felt guilty. She ran back to Jefferson and never told anyone. When she discovered she was pregnant, I was overjoyed…she was angry. She spat at me, yelled at me, as if our love was my fault. And then she did something awful. She forced Jefferson to marry her, and claimed you as his son. She took you away from me…so I took Jefferson from her,” Aaron’s hearty expression was all serious now, darkness creeping into his eyes. Was what he said true?
“But you’re his brother?” Miles argued, “He loved you.”
“And I hated him. He abandoned me like Rio, years before you were conceived. I was left alone to rot in prison while he…he lived life like a king, taking my woman! And then my child!!” Aaron roared, stepping towards Miles. The teen backed up, fear leaking from his eyes with the tears.
“No…you’re lying!”
“Am I??” Aaron stepped forward and grabbed the torso of his suit with his hand, “AM I? Look into my eyes, Miles, and tell me…am I lying?!?!”
And Miles could tell. Aaron was telling the truth. But he…no…he…
Miles took a deep breath, and thought. It didn’t matter what Aaron said. Whether it was the truth or not…
“JEFFERSON IS MY FATHER!” Miles slugged Aaron, sending him across the room, “And you? My uncle, Aaron, is dead. You’re nothing but a villain now. You’re nothing but another bad guy for me to kick the crap out of.”
And for the first time in his superhero career, everything clicked for Miles. He was a hero not because it was fun. No, it was hard; the hardest thing he’d ever done. And he wasn’t a hero for the glory. There was no glory. Miles was a hero, Miles was Spider-Man, because he had the power, and with great power comes great responsibility, even if that responsibility was beating the shit out of a person you once loved.
“Now, Miles,” Green Goblin stood up, his expression broken, wiping away a bloody nose, “Now, you’re dead to me too. LITERALLY! HAHAHAHA!!!!”
Green Goblin lunged at Miles, and without a thought, without hesitation, Miles leaped right back.
He was Spider-Man. This was his responsibility.
Green Goblin was going down.
NEXT TIME: The final battle! Everything ends and begins here!
Also, witness why Aaron became the Green Goblin, from the beginnings of his criminal career to his transformation into the emerald terror!