Spider-Man in SHOCKED!
The rain came down in buckets on a cold dreary night in the city of Manhattan. But rain or shine, night or day, Spider-Man was there to protect its citizens from the criminal forces of the city.
Spider-Man was known as the city’s unofficial protector, but he never really got the respect he deserved. He was an outcast to some and a menace to others. However, despite what others thought, Spider-Man never gave any thought to his role as a protector. He was only fulfilling a promise he gave to his late Uncle Ben, a promise to use his powers for good and to help those in need.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” his Uncle Ben had said.
And for countless years now Peter Parker aka Spider-Man had taken those words to heart. He believed in them so much in fact that he often risked his own life against those who thrived on chaos and destruction and illegal get-rich-quick schemes.
And yet, most of the time, he never gave a second thought to what he was doing. Call it fate. Call it destiny. But what Peter Parker was doing was nothing less than following his own heart, something that most people of New York would probably do if they had his powers. But who knows. Risk was part of the job description. And he often thought about that, wondering whether or not he was going to survive to see the following dawn.
This was what Spider-Man was thinking about as he sat perched high above the city streets on the head of the ugliest stone Gargoyle he had ever seen in which he comically referred to as Bruce and looked out over the skyline. He couldn’t seen much because of the heavily rain screening his vision, however, if there was anything amiss or trouble aboard he had his Spider Sense and that was sort of an earlier warning system that alerted him of anything that could be construed as troublesome, sort of like a sixth sense. So far it hadn’t gone off and that was good, but it made for a very boring night.
After making another survey of the city through the rain, he decided it was time to pack up and head home and to get into a nice warm dry bed beside the woman he loved and married only a few years ago, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, or MJ for short.
“Rain, rain, go away, won’t you come back another day?” Spider-Man sang to himself as pellets of water hit his mask and streamed down his eyepieces like rain down a car windshield; he wiped his eyes pieces and rubbed accumulated heat moisture from them. He had to wipe them a couple of times tonight because the heat his body generated inside his water tight costume fogged them up. He was dry to a certain extend, but hot has hell, like plants in a green house. “Well, at least I’m dry, and that’s the main thing. From the rain yes, but from my own sweat, no.”
He pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. “One o’clock in the morning, MJ must be worried about me, well, best be off. That‘s one thing I like about the elements, not even the criminal mind is stupid enough to work in such difficult conditions,” he said, and was about to make his way down the building when suddenly he heard an alarm go off down below. He scurried down the building since it was too wet to web-sling down, and discovered that a jewellery store was being robbed across the street. “Oh man, idiots! I guess the power of greed is more powerful than common sense.”
Spider-Man jumped down to the ground, ran across the street and stealthily crept to the front door of the jewellery store and summed up the situation as he gently peeked inside the open door. There were four of them, all wearing ski masks and carrying AK-47 rifles. A bold weapon in Spider-Man’s opinion because it was so clumsy in the hand of those not completely familiar with its operation, and from the way these guys were smashing glass display cases, making tons of noise, and in a rush, Spider-Man figured these guys were amateurs.
“Is this a private party, gentlemen, or can anyone join?” Spidey said announcing himself.
Each thief turned in unison and saw Spider-Man.
“Huh? It’s Spider-Man, get’em!” one of them said.
And they fired at him without hesitation. Spider-Man leapt out of the way of the weapons fire and with grace and poise systematically laid each of them out with precision. He then wrapped them up in a blanket of webbing and hung them from the ceiling. Then hearing sirens in the distance, he quickly vacated the building, crawled up into the roof and waited for the police to arrive.
When the police finally arrived, three cruisers screeched to a halt outside the store and with guns drawn six officers entered the store. Minutes later three police officers pulled the crooks out of the store still in the spider blanket, and Spidey chuckled.
“Don’t open ‘til X-Mas,” Spidey said smiling under his mask.
But suddenly his spider sense screamed at him and he turned around to see the glint of metal near a billboard at the back of the building and jumped out of the way as a blast of energy streaked towards him faster than lightning across the sky. The blast hit the side of the building and nearly destroyed it. Spider-Man landed safely meters away.
“Shocked, eh Wall-Crawler?” the man behind the attack said glibly, laughing. “I’d consider than a shocking experience, wouldn’t you?” The man stepped out into the open, and was illuminated by faint overhead moon light. Wearing a bright, but audacious yellow and black costume, the man pumped his shocking units for another blast. His blasters were wrist-mounted units that produced air blasts creating highly destructive vibrations in the air. But an insulated costume protected him from experiencing his own devices. “I knew this fake robbery would coax you out in the open,” Shocker said.
“What, you set up your own men just to get back at me? You’re sick, Shocker!” Spidey said.
“Acceptable loses in the game of revenge I think.”
And Shocked launched another attack against Spider-Man, sending wave after wave of vibration-energy blasts at him. At one point Spider-Man stuck to the billboard, but soon had to vacate it as a blast hit and completely obliterated it.
“You know, it’s not nice to damage private property,” Spidey said.
“Private property is just another way of saying it’s not my yet, but when I’m done with you, Wall-Crawler, I’m gonna own this town!” Shocker spat out, and launched more attacks. “You’ve interfered with my plans for wealth and riches for the last time, Spider-Man! I intend to retire a rich man, but before that happens, I want to kill you!”
“Get in line, big boy!” Spidey said. “But I have to tell you, Shocker, that you have to be the stupidest criminal I’ve ever come across, don’t you know electricity and water don’t mix? They aren‘t a favourable mixture just like putting a lit match hear gasoline. Your shock units and vest are getting wet.”
“I’ve taken care of that, coating them and my electro-suit with a water-tight sealant that prevents exposure to the elements. I’m not as dumb as I look.”
“Well, you got that right. I couldn‘t‘ve said it better myself.”
Knowing he had been tricked Shocker intensified his attack, and soon Spider-Man realized he was running out of places to go. But all of a sudden due to excessive blasts and the weakening of the super-structure, the roof gave way beneath Spider-Man and he fell through the roof of the building. Shocker laughed, and stepped to the edge of the hole. He looked down into the dark cavernous hole, but didn’t see anything.
to be continued...