Goodwill Presents... Spider-Man!

OK first half, great second half. The Sinister Six not being extremely sinister, but not exactly good is a nice twist.
:rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon:.5 out of 5.
 
Thanks for getting around to it. You seem like the only person to read this title, but it's cool - I realize not everyone is going to read and review. I really enjoy writing this title, especially Spider-Man, which is really something else... Typically, I enjoy writing the villains better than the hero, but the way I've complicated Peter is good, I believe. The rest of the arc will show you that Peter is having a difficult time managing his life... The following arc will have that difficulty come to a head. Stay tuned!

Also, what do you think of thet Sinister Six line up? I admit I wasn't all that daring in terms of having new characters join up, but I did have some changes... Of course.
 
Goodwill said:
Also, what do you think of thet Sinister Six line up? I admit I wasn't all that daring in terms of having new characters join up, but I did have some changes... Of course.
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I like the line up, but I think I'll have to wait till the end of the arc to know whether or not it really fits the characters, plus I have to read up on Absorbing Man :D.
 
I stuck him in there because I found his powers to be fascinating. By the end of the arc, you'll see what I mean, too. I had a lot of fun writing him into a battle sequence towards the end of the arc! :) Be on the look out for Absorbing Man Vs. Spider-Man!
 
If you stopped putting issues up so often, I'd be able to catch up. Nice Sinister Six roster though.
 
Well, what'll it be then? Do you want me to hold off on putting the next issue up so that you guys can catch up on all of them? I can certainly do that... :)
 
Goodwill said:
Well, what'll it be then? Do you want me to hold off on putting the next issue up so that you guys can catch up on all of them? I can certainly do that... :)
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Either way for me, I'll read it when it comes out, but if you want to hold up on putting it out, that'll work.
 
Post it, I'll just have to catch up someday.
 
Well, I'd like to give time to those who need to catch up... I had no idea I was leaving people in the dust. I didn't think that I was posting them so fast. Ok, I'm going to hold off on the issue so that others can catch up!
 
OK, I'm finally caught up. Great stuff! Love the Sinister Six and the changes you've made to Spidey's mythos. Keep up the good work!
 
Spider-Man #8
One Man Team Part Four of Five

Peter was stunned when he found his morning copy of the Daily Bugle outside of his apartment. This time, the headline, in all of its bold and courageous glory, read "Spider-Man – At Large!" and a picture, revealing the masked identity of the web-slinger, was printed under it. Peter, modestly dressed in boxer shorts and not half awake, stood in his hallway with a sinking feeling in his stomach. How could he have let this happen? The Vulture and the Green Goblin, along with their three other lackeys, had obviously set Peter up so they could accomplish their personal objective without getting caught. That was how Peter saw it, anyway; there was no other reasonable explanation, either. Again, Peter found himself as low as he was when he first found out that his first attempt floundered, too.

His determination did not perish; however, he found it difficult to act this time. Last time, when he was labeled a criminal after defeating the Beetle, he vowed to correct what he had done wrong. This being what he thought was going to be redemption; Peter was at a loss. He thought he found valuable allies in the Green Goblin and the rest of the group; however, he had been had. Peter Parker couldn't do anything since, at the time, Peter was behind a mask. It wasn't Parker's problem and, if he were to get involved, he would only harm those he held in a high regard. That was something he wanted to avoid. As Spider-Man, Peter would have to device a plan to tear the Sinister Six apart.

Peter looked at the paper once more. It was painful, but he swallowed the flam in the back of his throat and turned inside so that he could get breakfast and put his head on straight. Unfortunately, that was the wrong idea.

Harry Osborn limped from his room donning a slab of meat over his one eye and bandages up and down his arms. He quickly made it to the kitchen table so that he could rest his head on the smooth surface. Peter could tell that he was in a lot of pain.

Peter disregarded the paper and rounded on his friend, genuinely concerned for him. "Harry, what happened?" He asked, walking into the kitchen, preparing a bowl of cereal as he anticipated an answer from his crony.

Harry struggled to answer. "I-it's nothing… Went to a show last night. The pit got outta hand."

Peter would've believed him if he wasn't trembling, however, he didn't want to press it anymore. "Listen," Peter said. "I'm off to Doctor Conner's class. If you need anything, call me up, ok?" His friend nodded sheepishly.

Peter walked into his room, pondering how Harry could get so beat up in a mosh pit. Perhaps this was another clue that the Green Goblin was truly Harry Osborn; after all, the Goblin had taken a lot of hits from the security guards last night. This was something difficult to digest with Peter. If Harry had a second identity, would he be so inclined to act criminally? Peter stubbornly disregarded such a question and got dressed.

Then, as he was walking out, he heard a faint static sound coming from under his pillow. This was where he concealed his mask when he was out the night prior. He turned and investigated. Peter found the headpiece in which the Vulture gave him for the mission. Peter put it in his pocket and moved along to class.

Peter reveled in this discovery. It was his former teammates' first mistake, he thought confidently.

* * *

Peter found a seat at the back of the auditorium, making sure not to interrupt what Dr. Conners was preaching about. As he sat down, he looked around the room for Debra Whitman, who could be found a few rows below him, with a copy of the newspaper in her lap. Peter would have a lot of explaining to do after class if he were to bump into her. He decided it best not to keep looking at her and pay attention to his science teacher.

"…So, doctors have discovered away to avoid some genetic deformities by testing while they are still in the mother's womb," Dr. Conners explained. It was a topic that Peter didn't feel was interesting. "The question is, do we play God and make the executive decision on whether or not the child should have Downs' Syndrome? You see, this is why bioethics are so touchy," Doctor Conners explained looking at Peter intensely. "There may be a scientific success that turns out too good to be true. It could be that very scientific 'success' that tears the world apart." Doctor Conners went back to pacing, but Peter could still feel his eyes on him. The paper obviously didn't do a good job of explaining the severity of Spider-Man's appearance in Stromm's lab, or, at least, compared to Doctor Conner's hidden message in his lecture. This was beginning to be too much for Peter.

* * *

Class had ended at last, and Peter was heading for the door, but couldn't manage to shake Debra. She clutched Peter's arm and, for the first time, felt his gushing muscles. Deb drew back a bit, but grabbed more firmly as she got comfortable. Peter turned and looked at her with severe eyes and started to walk away from his peers who were pouring out of the room faster than he or Debra was walking.

"Peter," Deb grumbled. "I thought you told me you weren't a criminal."

"I'm not, Deb," Peter said, fighting for his arm's freedom. "Look, I'm in a bit of a situation, alright? Spider-Man's nothing but trouble and- Wait, why do you care so much?" He fell back against a wall so that he and Debra could have it out about his alter ego.

"Peter, this is dangerous," Deb pleaded. "I can't have one of my friends, my lab partner no less, just die or get hurt because they were being stupid and wanted to celebrate Halloween a few months early! What're you doing-"

Peter put a finger up to Debra's mouth in an effort to speak. "Deb, please." This time, there was desperation in Peter's voice. He wanted to explain how his uncle passed away and how, for the longest time, he blamed himself, but now didn't because he was making an effort to correct mistakes. Peter wanted to tell her about the leap of faith he was making in both himself and his uncle but couldn't. "All I need right now is your trust, ok?" He spoke almost in a whisper. "You can't convince me to stop doing what I'm doing, but I just want you to accept the fact that I'm doing the right thing… Don't believe the paper. Don't believe Conners. Believe in me. That's all I ask."

Debra gave him a look, but not what Peter expected at first. It was a look of concern and sincerity, not a look of disappointment or anguish for her friend. Then, she simply nodded and fell into Peter's arms, sobbing silently. Peter held her warm body close and admired her for the leap of faith that she had made in that same moment.

Perhaps Debra would be more than a lab partner if things went all right, Peter thought. That's if he survived the Sinister Six after the plot he was devising, of course.

* * *
Peter walked into his apartment, which was filled with laughter and a general sense of joy. What was odd about this, though, was that Norman Osborn was present. He was on the phone with one of his employees, or so Peter thought, laughing about something and arranging a golf game the following day. He spotted Harry in the common room area, so he decided to see what the commotion was about.

"What's going on?" asked Peter, throwing down his books in exhaustion.

"Dad's happy as a clam about this Mendell Stromm thing," explained Harry. "Ever since his place went up in smokes, Oscorp has become quite popular again. They say this will destroy Mendell Stromm's career."

"Don't see why it wouldn't," Peter said, aghast. He had no intention of destroying another man's career, or giving Norman Osborn's career back, for that matter. Peter wasn't fond of Norman after all that he had said and done to his son. "He was just starting his own business and everything. It's a little coincidental, don't you think?" Peter was beginning to put potential pieces to an intricate puzzle together. Could this have been Norman Osborn's idea of payback?

"What? That dad's top competitor goes down right after he does? Yeah," Harry said in a heap of words at once. "I guess you could say that."

Peter shook his head. People were spinning more webs that were far more elaborate than even he was and he was Spider-Man. He couldn't imagine why he was making the front page and people like Norman Osborn or Mendell Stromm was not.

He listened to Norman speak on the phone blissfully. "I know. Come Monday, we'll welcome those who left us for Doctor Stromm with open arms and begin our biological monopoly!" He laughed heartily. "Mission completed, right?" He continued to laugh.

Peter's eyebrow roused in curiosity. Could Norman be the Green Goblin?

* * *

"Hello? Hello?" Peter said into the headpiece. He was on top of a church, perched on a colossal gargoyle, trying to contact his teammates. Peter had been at it for hours, but to no avail. Peter didn't mind, though, Harry was performing with the rest of his band, Aunt May was too far away to even consider spending time with, and Debra Whitman would've been an option, but not until he got his name cleared. The last thing Peter wanted to do was subject her to socializing with a criminal. He laughed; why was Debra so fixed on pegging him as a criminal. "Goblin? Vulture? Where are you guys?" All that Peter got was electric feedback. He was beginning to grow tired of waiting here.

His plan was far from full proof and could only be described as stupid, but to be completely vindicated; whether dead or alive afterwards, Peter thought it best to first talk to his teammates and then deliver them to the police for the crimes they had truly committed. He would test his capabilities out and see how devoted he was to protecting the city.

Peter would try again. "Hello, does anyone read me?"

There was more feedback, but, in the midst of it all, Peter thought he heard a voice struggling to be heard. "Ssspider-Man, do you copy?" Although it was choppy, Peter could make it out. It was a legitimate response.

"Yeah, yeah," Spider-Man responded. "Who is this?"

"This is the Vulture," the voice said, finally becoming clearer. "We're coming to pay you a visit."

"How?" Peter wondered aloud.

"There's Bluetooth technology in your headset," explained the Vulture. "The moment you first spoke into it tonight, we had you in our sights."

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you," Peter said frankly. He didn't want to give away the frustration he felt for having him set up. The reputation that he had tried to erect was torn down just as fast as he swung and he didn't appreciate that very much.

It didn't take long for Peter to spot the Vulture and the rest of the group. Vulture, donning a pair of wings the span of a hang glider swooped in off of some thermals and landed nearly on top of Spider-Man, as Electro almost did, too, coasting on an electric current up the side of the building. It took a while for the rest of the team to come up the stairs, but the church's roof soon became occupied with the entire cast of the Sinister Six.

"So," the Vulture said, pompously. "How are we this evening, Spider-Man? Did you get a chance to look at the paper this morning?"

Vulture's attitude only confirmed that there was a bit of strategy to the addition of Spider-Man on the team. They were a criminal organization looking for a scapegoat and Peter just happened to be it. He looked down the band of colorful villains and sneered at them and, although wearing a mask that hid his emotions, Peter knew that each one of them knew how he felt at that point. What was most painful to him, though, was that they didn't care. He was one man standing against five.

The five characters circled around Peter as if they were sharks gearing to feast on an insignificant, underdeveloped seal. As they closed in, Peter began to feel claustrophobic. Each person's fists were up, in Vulture's case claws, and they began to loom over the now hunched Peter, now trembling in fear.

"It's really a shame," the Vulture said to Spider-Man as he drew closer. "All of those news stories about you were really fun to read. It's too bad there won't be anymore written about you after tonight!"

"Well, what about his obituary?" asked Electro sinisterly.

Peter instinctively shot his feet into Kraven's chest and bounced from it in the same movement, landing on top of the highest perch he could find. Kraven, now crippled under him, was struggling to find movement in his stunned body. The rest of the team, on the other hand, did not hesitate to act. They closed in on Peter again, relentlessly chasing down their prey as if it were for blood.

All that Peter knew after that moment was that he wasn't going down without a fight.
 
Good issue. I like the way the realistic portrayal of Peter Parker's life blends with the amazing life of Spider-Man. Can't really say much else until I see the conclusion. :rockon::rockon::rockon::rockon:.5 out of 5,
 
Hey, man, thanks. Peter Parker is actually a very difficult character to write, however much of a regular Joe he is.
 
I think I'll be posting my next issue on the 8th of February... Next Wednesday, in other words. I hope everyone's ready for one hell of a finish on my second arc! If it's any issue that I'm most proud of writing so far, it's this one, #9... Funny, because when I wrote X-Men for this site my greatest accomplishment was #9 there, too. Must be something with that number...
 
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Goodwill said:
Ice, have you been reading up?
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I'm tryin'. But I think my ISP for at my home has been infected, so UC has not been working properly, so I haven't been staying on too much.
 
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