Chapter 11 "Noooo," the young blonde woman screamed as she ran from her pursuers.
Five street thugs were chasing the woman. She clutched her grocery bags tightly to her green coat for only a few moments longer before discarding them in her terror while turning a corner. She found herself in an alley and to her horror it was a dead end.
"Please...god no...I have kids," the woman begged as she turned with her back against the wall. "I got a dog," said the thug with dreadlocks. "Yo, the bitch got maple syrup all over the groceries and everything," the shortest thug declared.
"Then we'll just have to see what all she's got," said the thug sporting a sleeveless wife beater and an orange beanie with a leer as he drew a switchblade.
167
"Let's just get the hell out of here. Too many people saw us," the largest of the five thugs said. "Shut up...I'm going to get a piece of this girly girl first," the switchblade wielder said threateningly.
"I don't think she would like that at all," Harry said with a menacing tone from his perch on the wall above the group.
A line of webbing surged down from the superhero's hand and connected with the wrist of the appendage holding the switch blade. The webbing controlled by the wizard was more maneuverable than a snake's body.
"It's Spider-Man," the shortest thug cried while he and the other three non-secured thugs turned and ran for the entrance to the alley.
A net of webbing secured the entrance while Harry cooed, "Stop castrating yourself...stop castrating yourself." With his mockery of the childhood game stop hitting yourself commencing the lead thug's knife surged down and sliced into his testicles, shearing them off his body.
"Look away," Gwen whispered into Jen Deidrick's ear as the young mother stared in horrified fascination as her first then second attacker were castrated with the very knife they had intended to use on her.
Jen was startled by the sound of Blend's voice in her ear. She looked up even as the blonde superheroine's hand seemed to melt into the wall. Jen heard three more screams of agony to join the first two coming from the end of the alley and saw what appeared to be three arms made from earth reaching up and clutching three ruined ball sacks.
"And that is what happens to rapists," Harry declared before shooting webbing at the groins of the five downed men. Turning back to Jen he added, "They will live. But they'll never be trying to rape again."
"Ms. Deidrick, how about you let us take you home," Gwen suggested as her boyfriend tore down the webbing blocking the alley and retrieved the young mother's groceries.
The shocked woman nodded her agreement and didn't even think to ask about needing to stay for the police report. Spider-Man's public relations office would deal with handling the police. His position with the Ultimates tended to help smooth things over. Jennifer Deidrick found herself at home making dinner for her children before she knew it. She was never hassled walking home from the grocery store again.
"Come on MJ," Gwen urged. "You can take time off from your new gig to go to a party," the blonde pointed out. "You already missed patrol today for this reporter thing."
"It wasn't like you couldn't handle all the muggers in Manhattan combined," MJ pointed out as she typed away at her laptop.
MJ had decided to join the intra-school TV news program which had recently been restarted by their school's social studies teacher.
"That is beside the point," Gwen replied.
168
"Well...Liz has been pestering me to come to the party as well," MJ mused. "Do you know anything about the party?"
The two young women were sitting in a small room which held what little personal space MJ required, mostly used for school work and other things. The entire upper floor of the Parker residence had been restructured with funds provided by Harry. Each of Harry's mates that lived in the household had their own room the size of a medium spaced office like the one MJ and Gwen were sitting in. There were three small bathrooms and a fourth large bathroom with a Jacuzzi and shower large enough to hold them all located on the west end of the house. May had her own bedroom and bathroom. Then there was the large bedroom Harry and his mates shared. May's bedroom and bathroom were actually down on the first floor. An addition had been added onto the house in the back to accommodate all of this extra living space.
"All I know is the party is being thrown by some guy from PS 44," Gwen explained.
"Alright, I'll go. But if it gets boring you and Harry will have to entertain me," MJ proclaimed.
"We'd be happy to," Gwen said suggestively.
"Not like that," the redhead replied with a laugh. "Liz is going to be there."
"She can join in," Gwen suggested. "I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind."
"I'm sure he wouldn't," MJ said with a grin. "But if Liz became addicted to his Harry-juice and got any mutant ability that is currently dormant activated she would just die of mortification."
"Yeah...that girl has serious issues with mutants," Gwen agreed. "I'm slowly working her towards being alright with them," MJ informed her friend. "Damn," was all Harry could say as he beheld what MJ and Gwen were wearing to the party.
MJ wore a black mini skirt with major emphasize on mini. A matching black leather top laid bare her toned midriff and emphasized her bust. Not much was left to the imagination. She had also decided to dye her hair black for the evening and it suited her. Of course Harry loved her red hair so wouldn't mind when she switched back the next day. Gwen's outfit was identical except in red.
"I think we broke him, Gwen," MJ declared with a smirk.
"No, that will come later after we get him back and into bed," Gwen assured as she strolled up to her lover and took one of his arms.
MJ took the other and they guided their boyfriend out to one of his cars. The trio were soon picking up Liz and heading towards the party. When they got there it was brimming with teens.
"Let's dance," MJ suggested before leading her companions to where there was a bit of clear space.
MJ listened for a moment to the tune of the music and then started shaking her hips. She ground herself up and down her lover's right thigh while letting her arms sway above her head. Gwen started doing the same and soon the crowd had split apart around them. Liz watched enviously but neither the redhead nor the
169
blonde heroine noticed. The other teens began joining in to dance. MJ brought Liz onto the dance floor and pressed the blonde between herself and her boyfriend. Liz was even starting to have fun pushing her butt against her best friend's boyfriend who had become quite the hunk in recent months. The moment was interrupted by a powerful explosion from nearby shaking the house.
The partying teens began rushing outside to see what had caused the explosion. As Harry and his three companions left the house they heard the crowd of drunken teens chanting the name Geldoff. A blonde teenager with long hair was standing in front of the burning ruins of a car. As several jocks from PS 44 egged him on Harry watched intently while Geldoff raised his right hand and sent a blast of bluish energy hurtling at a red convertible. The car exploded violently.
"Geldoff Tiberna is an orphan from Latveria. He appears to have been experimented upon while in the womb to cause mutation. His mutation creates small spheres of unstable energy much like a localized blasting curse," Lily informed her creator after scanning Geldoff with her sensor systems.
"Thank god you parked your car down the street," Liz shouted over the cheering.
Just then the sound of police sirens was heard and several cop cars came roaring up the street. The students surrounding the property began to bail out and run.
"We need to get out of here," Liz shouted in alarm. "My mom will kill me if I'm caught."
Pretending to be concerned about her parents as well for Liz's sake MJ added, "My parents will flay me alive."
The quartet took off even as the cops climbed out of their cruisers. MJ led the way through the house and out into the back yard. Harry helped her over the wall followed by Gwen and Liz. Then he simply grasped the top of the fence and hauled himself over. The quartet dashed across the street and didn't stop until they reached the B1 bus stop.
"What about your car?" Liz asked as the group stopped to catch their breath.
"I certainly can't go back for it right now or the cops will be all over me," Harry pointed out. "I'll pick it up tomorrow."
"Who was that guy and what was he doing?" Liz questioned.
"His name is Geldoff. He goes to our school," a dark skinned young woman leaning against the bus stop structure with her brunette friend interjected.
"Do you know him personally?" Gwen inquired. "No, not personally," the darker teen answered. "He's an exchange student or something."
"I don't know what is up with the exploding thing but I think it's a scam," the white teen added. "I suppose he could be a mutant but I think it's far more likely the jocks are playing a scam."
Liz looked like she wanted to say something further at the use of the word mutant but she glanced first at MJ and then at Harry. MJ had discussed mutants at length with the strawberry blonde over the past few months. Liz bit her tongue from any remarks she had been about to make concerning mutants. She didn't want to upset her best friend or the redhead's genius boyfriend. Harry and Gwen looked suitably impressed while MJ
170
smiled encouragingly at her best friend. Instead Liz inquired, "Does anybody know when the bus is coming because I have a midnight curfew?"
"Eleven I believe," Harry replied after Lily had confirmed the bus schedule. "You should make it home just fine."
The bus showed up shortly after and the teens all climbed onboard. The four teens had a fun time chatting while the bus drove on. They were soon climbing off.
"We'll walk you home first, Liz," MJ announced. Liz didn't live too far away from the other three so after a ten minute walk they were at her home.
"I had a really fun time tonight, guys," Liz said. "Hopefully we can do something similar again without the cops and the exploding vehicles."
"Count on it," Gwen agreed, somewhat warming to the strawberry blonde now that Liz wasn't spouting anti- mutant statements.
Liz gave Gwen a grateful smile before going inside.
As they turned and headed back towards the Parker residence Harry said to MJ, "Nicely done. Liz certainly seems a lot more tolerant."
"It wasn't as hard as you think. Liz is always boy crazy. She would hate to disagree with a guy she is crushing on if it's about something he is passionate about. I simply told her you were passionate about mutant rights," MJ explained.
"So you're saying Liz is crushing on me?" Harry probed.
"Any chick worth her salt is," Gwen suggested.
"What is a guy to do," Harry said with a mock-suffering tone.
"Swing home faster than us," MJ suggested before pouncing at her boyfriend.
The nimble warrior dodged the redhead even as Gwen added, "Or we'll rip his clothes off here in the middle of the street and have our way with him."
As he dodged the blonde while laughing the mage leapt into the shadows and began web-slinging towards home. He could have teleported himself and his lovers back home but the chase was more fun. The dancing had certainly gotten the redhead and the blonde hot and bothered. He could smell their arousal even as they swung after him.
The next day at school Harry found the phrase GELDOFF RULES spray painted across a row of lockers.
"So are you going to go check out what's up with this Geldoff dude?" Gwen asked as she and MJ sauntered up to their boyfriend.
171
Both females had a hard time keeping grins off their faces after the wonderful night they had experienced the previous evening and into that morning.
"I suppose I'll get around to it at some point," Harry agreed.
"Here comes Liz," MJ announced. "She looks excited about something."
Just then Lily picked up trouble on the police band.
"Dudes, listen to this," Liz called as she ran up and held out her cell phone.
The sound of screeching metal and explosions could be heard across the line for those who were familiar with such noises.
"Where's that coming from?" MJ asked her friend.
"My cousin who goes to PS 44," Liz explained. "That Geldoff dude is going crazy in the parking lot of his school."
Another explosion came across the cell phone.
"We should go over there and watch," Kong suggested.
"Not a good idea," Gwen rebutted. "That place will be swarming with cops."
"It looks like you'll be checking out Geldoff sooner rather than later," MJ whispered to her lover as Kong and Liz were distracted by the sounds coming from the cell phone.
"Do you need us to assist?" Gwen added.
"If I need your lovely assistance I'll give you a call. Until then you two need to stay in school and go to class," Harry urged.
With a pout MJ said, "Not all of us can be super-geniuses." "Naturally," Harry said with a mock-smirk. "Cover for me," he added. "Always," Gwen agreed while pecking her mate on the lips before MJ did the same. Harry slipped out of the school and headed over to PS 44.
A short while later at PS 44...
Harry arrived at the school a few blocks from his own high school to see a scene of destruction. Geldoff was standing on the sidewalk out front surrounded by the smoldering remains of cars and a group egging him on to greater heights of destruction. Harry leapt from a building across the street from PS 44 and flipped through the air. He landed in front of a surprised Geldoff and didn't even wait for the destructive teen to speak. Webbing shot from the sorcerer's hands and encased the blonde completely in a tight cocoon. Geldoff
172
screamed through the web coating, his eyes blazing in fury. But the fury was impotent because even though Geldoff activated his powers and tried to destroy the webbing his efforts proved futile.
"That isn't going to work, kid," Harry assured.
"Spider-Man, thank god you are here," said a balding man in a suit who was the Principal of PS 44 as he rushed up.
"I've got it covered, Principle Tippin," Harry informed the man. "You know my name?" Tippin asked in surprise.
Ignoring the question Spider-Man informed the administrator, "I'm taking Geldoff somewhere better suited to deal with his powers."
"Of course," Tippin immediately agreed, not wishing to upset the famous superhero.
"Principal Tippin, the next time you decide to piss off an adolescent mutant I recommend treating him as any other teenager who brought a gun or some other weapon to school. Try to defuse the situation without upsetting him further and call the S.H.I.E.L.D. hotline," Harry suggested.
The telepath had skimmed Tippin's surface thoughts and had learned the administrator had suspended the entire football team for the incident at the party with exploding cars. It would appear Geldoff was an avid football fan and hadn't taken kindly to the Principal's disciplinary techniques. Harry leapt free from the ground and over to the building he had started off from. As he landed on the roof with Geldoff over his shoulder he heard a familiar shout from a business around the corner.
"Everybody freeze!" Someone cried.
"Stupid crooks," Harry muttered disparagingly while sticking a squirming Geldoff to the top of an air conditioning unit on the building's roof.
Spider-Man leapt from the roof and shooting a web-line to the adjacent building swung through the door. There were three young men with handguns wearing masks; Batman, Iron-Man, and Captain America. Three lines of enchanted webbing shot out and covered the guns and the hands holding them. Predictably one of the gunmen, the leader, turned and fired on the superhero. His hand was hit with shrapnel from his weapon as a result.
"We surrender," the goon wearing the Batman mask announced while setting his gun down and holding up his hands.
His compatriot in the Iron-Man mask nodded agreement and followed suit. "Down on the floor," Harry ordered.
The two quickly complied and Spider-Man webbed them to the floor. Harry webbed up the leader's hand tightly to prevent the thug from bleeding out then secured him to the floor.
"Thank you, Spider-Man," the shop's owner said gratefully. "Not a problem, ma'am," Harry replied. "If you will excuse me I have business to take care of."
173
When Spider-Man had returned to the roof he went to Geldoff and was preparing to retrieve the blonde when he sensed some new arrivals to the scene. He turned and saw the X-Jet hovering behind him as it dropped its cloak. Jean, Kitty, and Storm floated out of the jet's ramp entrance.
"We thought maybe you could use a hand, lover," Jean suggested with a grin. "Plus we were in the neighborhood giving Kitty piloting lessons," Storm added.
The two telepaths present could sense Geldoff's immediate attraction. Harry couldn't blame the blonde. The three females looked especially tasty at that moment in their form fitting uniforms.
"Why Spider-Man...engaging in a little bondage with a new blonde...I didn't know you swung that way," Kitty declared her tone teasing and her eyes dancing with laughter.
Jean and Storm beamed proudly at Miss Pryde.
"You will pay for that later, Kitty," Harry assured with a mischievous grin.
"Oooh...are you going to spray me with your sticky white stuff and stick me to a wall?" Kitty challenged.
"I blame you two," Harry told Jean and Storm. "You are such a bad influence on her."
Both beauties knew their mate was joking so stuck their tongues out at him simultaneously.
"How about you release Geldoff so we can chat with him," Jean suggested.
Harry ripped away the webbing.
Geldoff stood and said, "You're mutants!"
"Wow he is a sharp one," Kitty said wryly.
The sarcasm was thick but went over Geldoff's head.
"My name is Ororo. This is Kitty," Storm introduced while gesturing towards the brown haired female. "And that is Jean."
"We wanted to talk with you because you are a mutant, Geldoff," Jean explained.
Geldoff fainted.
"Wow...I didn't see that one coming," Kitty amusedly said. "What should we do with him now?"
"Geldoff appears to have been in serious denial about his mutant nature," Jean explained after a quick scan of the blonde teen's mind. "His exact phrasing for describing mutants is 'Lucifer's children.'"
"I ran some scans earlier and it would appear Geldoff is the result of an experiment performed while he was in the womb. Someone fed mutant DNA into his placenta. His genetic structure didn't reject the material because it thought the mutant DNA came from his mother," Harry informed the trio of females.
174
"Woh...you can make a normal person a mutant like that?" Kitty asked in wonder.
"Yes, but it has two serious downsides. I think it killed Geldoff's mother. I also think it made him mentally slower. I don't know if I would call it brain damage. But his mental growth has definitely been stunted from what it likely would have been had he not been made into a mutant," Harry replied.
"What should we do with him? We can't release him back to the public. He will just go on another rampage and give mutants everywhere a bad name," Storm pointed out.
"You and I can keep him telepathically docile if he lives at the mansion," Jean suggested.
Nodding Harry said, "I agree that would probably be a good course of action. I can see if something can be done for him to either remove his powers or perhaps stimulate his mental growth to a more normal level. You three continue Kitty's lesson and I will take Geldoff back to the Institute."
"Sounds good," Jean agreed before stepping towards her boyfriend and planting a kiss on his lips.
Storm did the same after the redhead stepped back. Kitty pouted. Harry raised his palm and shot a small glob of white webbing onto the brown haired teen's chest between her breasts.
"Don't tease me, Harry," Kitty purred while rubbing the white webbing into her breasts like a porn star might with semen.
Harry smirked as the enchanted portion of the fluid kicked in. Kitty screamed and was hit with an intense orgasm. Storm and Jean caught the younger female as her knees gave out. Harry picked Geldoff up and teleported away.
"He's so bad," Kitty managed to say between gasps. "Yes, yes he is," Jean agreed with a grin. "And we like it," Storm added while taking Kitty back to the blackbird.
When Harry arrived home at the Parker residence he found Janet and Susan sitting at the kitchen table sharing a cup of tea with his Aunt May. All three women were laughing and looked to be having a good time.
"Oh boy...a guy gets frightened when females he is sleeping with are talking with a relative and laughing," Harry suggested while making himself his own cup of tea and sitting at the table.
The brew was a good blend. The tea was imported from the Middle East, Pakistan to be exact. "We actually weren't talking about you, love," Susan assured.
"May was just telling us some stories of what she got up to in her younger days back when she was a teenager," Janet explained.
"Back in the stone age," May quipped.
175
"You aren't exactly that old, Aunt May," Harry asserted. Pointing towards her head May pointed out, "The gray hair would suggest otherwise."
A look of warmth was directed at the woman from her nephew and he said, "Given all that you have lost and suffered anyone would have gray hair."
Harry reached over and took his aunt's hand and squeezed it gently. "Good point," May agreed. After several moments of silence Susan inquired, "How was your day?" "Eventful as usual," Harry replied.
"We saw what went down with that Geldoff kid at PS 44," Janet announced. "Fury was getting ready to intervene until you showed up."
"He knows I will handle the mutant problems if I can," Harry assured.
"Which I think is the only reason he waited so long. I get the impression Nick doesn't want to get on your bad side," Janet mused.
"Can you blame him?" Susan queried.
May listened in fascination as her companions carried on a conversation about one of the most powerful men in the world. Such conversations were becoming surprisingly routine. As they talked May's mind thought back on how much better her life had become since Peter had revealed to her that he was Spider-Man. Granted she worried a lot more often than she used to that he might be killed but the worry was somewhat mitigated by him granting her access to his private communications network so she could listen in if she wanted to. There was also the benefit of having so many young women around. Janet and Susan had become very good friends to May since they had moved into the Parker household. Each one of the women who shared her nephew's bed was intelligent, vivacious, caring, and beautiful. The only major complaint May had was in regards to her sexual frustration. Peter had become incredibly gorgeous and it was no secret in the house how often he slept with each of his partners. Despite the fact that they hadn't been talking about Spider-Man when he had walked into the kitchen that didn't mean the three women hadn't talked about him often when he wasn't around. He was one of their favorite topics and things often led back to sex. May was experiencing desires for her nephew that she probably shouldn't be having. But she just couldn't help herself. Sex toys and fantasies could only go so far.
May had thought about starting up something with Captain Stacy. There was some chemistry there but the man was recently split up with his wife. May didn't want to jump into that hornets' nest so soon. May had lost her partner not too long ago. Her emotions were also somewhat chaotic and turbulent but that meant her feelings for Peter were some of the only emotions she could count on to last. She had loved him long before these libido driven feelings had developed and she would love him even if they changed. As she gazed on her gorgeous nephew a warmth spread in May Parker's nether regions.
"What do you think, May?" Janet asked.
May's attention focused back on the conversation at the table and she had no idea what they had been talking about.
176
"I don't think she was paying attention. I think she was day dreaming," Susan observed with a knowing smile.
"Sorry...what were we discussing?" May asked.
"We were thinking about going down to the theater, the one where they serve that pizza we like, and seeing a movie. We wanted to know what movie you would like to watch," Harry explained before rattling off the names of the movies provided by Lily.
May thought a movie was a splendid idea and helped pick out a film to view. The quartet had a wonderful time at the theater and May had a great time afterwards with her toys in her bedroom and memories of spending the evening with her handsome favorite superhero.
Harry, Gwen, and MJ had decided to enjoy a nice patrol around the city this evening and it was fairly quiet. At about 8 PM that quiet was interrupted by the sound of a gun-shot.
"That came from near the dock," Gwen said. "Let's go check it out," MJ urged while changing direction.
Harry and his two girlfriends found the Enforcers trying to exploit other card playing criminals for money in a warehouse. The Enforcers were essentially hired muscle who worked for Wilson Fisk also known as the Kingpin. Before Harry had merged with Peter, Spider-Man had managed to turn up video evidence of Fisk killing a man on camera. Spider-Man had turned that evidence over to Ben Ulrich of the Daily Bugle and Ulrich had made good use of it. Fisk had been forced to flee the country.
Fancy Dan was aiming one of his handguns at a card player preparing to shoot the man dead as an example to those who didn't pay the Kingpin a cut of their profits when the crime-fighting trio arrived. Harry immediately webbed Dan's hand and the gun went off causing Dan to scream in pain. Harry leapt down onto the table and crushed the piece of furniture which threw the five men that had been sitting at it back and away groaning. Gwen leapt down onto the shoulders of the big black man known as the Ox and delivered a blow just hard enough to knock the man cold. Meanwhile MJ leapt down and delivered a round-house kick to the man known as Montana knocking him out cold.
"Do any of you want to attempt to fight?" Harry asked the still conscious men.
"Not us, Mr. Spider-Man sir," Ryan Rice, a small time criminal, said as he raised his hands from the remains of his chair.
"What he said," Steve Spence, another small-timer, added while raising his hands. "You're an Ultimate." MJ pouted and said, "This is just no fun. We don't even get to beat you all up."
"You look adorable when you pout," Harry said as he secured all of the prisoners with the help of his girlfriends and notified the police.
"So, Spider-Man told us you guys worked for Fisk. What are you doing operating in town?" Gwen questioned Montana who had just regained consciousness.
177
"The boss-man is back. You'll see it in the paper tomorrow," Montana answered. "This should be interesting," Harry said thoughtfully.
The next day... Harry read the newspaper headline at breakfast with no small amount of disbelief.
Kingpin Cleared Questionable Evidence Deemed Fraud/Inadmissible
"You've got to be shitting me," Harry said.
"What is it?" Susan asked as she leaned over and examined the headline. "How can they let that bastard back in the country? Fisk murdered someone on video."
"He bribed people to get the video evidence thrown out," Janet surmised while reading the article.
"We have all suspected our politicians were corrupt for years. But this seems to confirm it," Jean pointed out.
Jean, Storm, and Natasha now often came over to the Parker residence to spend breakfast with their lover and friends. The three also often spent the night. Sometimes the three women also just spent the night with one of Harry's other forms since he was able to control multiple duplicate bodies without strain.
"This does not surprise me," Natasha mused. "I have watched politicians do much worse."
Harry gestured with his hands and a holographic display appeared before him in a spectrum only he could see. Harry allowed Lily to cause the bio-net AIs in the women present to allow them to see the hologram.
"What are you doing?" Storm asked in fascination.
"I am creating a program that will send cloaked probes back in time and begin monitoring all of these back room dealings of every politician in the U.S. for the past several years and record detailed audio and video of these events," Harry explained.
"What do you plan on doing with this information?" May queried. "I'm going to filter the scum out of the U.S. government," Harry answered. "Good," MJ whispered while the others nodded agreement.
"So what do you think about this Sam Built who is running for Distract Attorney?" May asked her nephew.
It was dinner time and Harry and his companions and aunt were sitting at the dinner table. May was looking at the newspaper.
178
"Ben Ulrich interviewed him today," Harry explained. "Built has been attacking Spider-Man's public image as a major part of his campaign. He is using that incident in Russia with the attempted hate crime murder using the Molotov cocktail and my response to say I should be arrested, not awarded membership of the Ultimates. In truth he is being backed by Wilson Fisk and this is just one little way Fisk is trying to get back at me."
"Knowing Ulrich he probably found out some interesting things talking with Built," Susan mused.
"As soon as Ulrich started questioning Built's connection to Fisk things took an interesting turn," Harry confirmed. "Built threatened Ulrich and was near violence in his rage."
"Damn," MJ said after whistling in surprise. "How did Ulrich respond?"
"Not well," Harry answered. "Built crushed Ulrich's visible voice recorder but Ulrich had a backup hidden in his jacket pocket."
"Jameson was probably crushed," Gwen mused. "I would imagine he loved Built's campaign directive." "I wish you would just fire that man," Janet suggested.
"Keeping him as the Bugle's editor has somewhat restrained him after I purchased the paper. I would rather have him where I can keep a better eye on him," Harry answered.
"I understand that intellectually. I just get a bad feeling about him," Janet explained.
"Fisk's entire existence gives me bad feelings," Jean mused.
"I could take care of that for us," Natasha suggested.
"If I wanted to kill him bad enough I would just do it myself," Harry told Natasha.
"So do you think Ulrich is going to take care of the issue with Sam Built?" Ororo questioned.
"Yes. Once Ben Ulrich clearly lays out the threatening nature of Built I should think Built's campaign days are over," Harry said.
"Do you have monitoring on Ulrich to make sure of his safety?" Susan questioned.
"Yes," Harry agreed. "If Ulrich's life is in danger my sensor systems will warn me and an appropriate response can be undertaken."
From there conversation turned to other matters more pleasant. "How is Betsy doing, Jean? I have been meaning to ask," Ororo queried.
Jean and Betsy Braddock had become pretty good friends. They had bonded over their shared telepathic ability and some of the issues they faced as being young female telepaths.
"Quite well after some initial growing pains with her new unit," Jean answered. "She and I went and saw a movie the other night to just relax. Her new apartment is nice."
179
Multiple other conversations started and Harry just let them flow around him as he relaxed listening to his ladies. The diverse beauty surrounding him with all of his lovers sometimes just took his breath away. He liked to just soak it in occasionally.
Harry, Gwen, and MJ arrived in the parking garage of the Daily Bugle after Lily who was tapped into the city's camera system alerted her creator to the trouble brewing there. The Spider-Trio stayed in the shadows watching the scene play out. Harry had begun more heavily using telepathic communication between he and his mates since they all now knew he at least had telepathy.
"We just put these guys away," MJ complained.
Harry was picking up MJ's projected thoughts and relaying them to Gwen.
"Is the Kingpin's reach so strong that his men just can't be held in jail?" Gwen asked.
"The answer seems to be yes," Harry agreed as the trio listened to the Enforcers threaten Jameson in regards to Ben Ulrich's scathing article on Sam Built released that morning.
"It sounds like Jameson made some kind of deal to endorse Built before Ulrich interviewed the DA candidate," MJ pointed out after listening to the conversation.
"Jameson is such a tool. How do you want to handle this, Peter?" Gwen queried.
"Well Jameson's driver isn't dead, just knocked unconscious. If he had been dead I would suggest we just get rid of the Enforcers permanently. These guys have never killed someone when I have been involved with them. That isn't to say they haven't done it in the past. Let's make ourselves known and see what happens," Harry suggested.
The Spider-Trio jumped out of the shadows into the light.
"So who wants their ass beat?" Gwen asked, drawing attention to herself and her companions.
"You've gotta be shittin' me," Montana said in a complaining tone.
"Why are you here?" Fancy Dan demanded.
"To stop you lug-heads from doing stupid crap," MJ answered.
"So I will ask again...who wants an ass beating?" Gwen questioned.
"Not me," Montana answered while throwing down his whip. "You guys are just going to kick our asses. I would rather avoid the bruises and pain."
"Come on, Montana. Don't be a little bitch," Fancy Dan said while leveling a gun each at Gwen and MJ.
"If even one round goes out of either of those guns I will cut your fucking hands off," Harry informed Dan in a serious and calm tone.
180
Dan shivered. He could tell Spider-Man was serious. After a long moment of pause Dan carefully set his guns down.
"What about you, Tiny?" Gwen asked Ox. Ox looked back and forth between his two compatriots and the Spider-Trio. Finally he raised his hands.
"What do you know...even criminals can learn," Harry mused as he alerted the authorities to the situation via Lily and secured the three criminals. The Enforcers would be free soon enough with Fisk's reach but hopefully in the next few days Fisk's reach would vanish. Harry turned to Jameson and said, "So Jameson... do we even get a thank you from saving you from a severe beating at best?"
"Thank you," Jameson said. "Why do you hate him so much?" MJ asked the man, honestly curious.
Jameson was silent for several moments while glancing back and forth between the three members of the Spider-Trio. Then he looked at the Enforcers. It was obvious he didn't want them listening. Harry shot webbing onto their ears.
"My son was on the space shuttle Orion," Jameson said to begin his explanation. "When the shuttle burned up the government told me the cause of my son's death was classified. I didn't even get a body to bury. I was not dealing with it well. Then you Spider-Man came onto the scene wearing a mask and people called you a hero. My son was a hero. To me your wearing a mask didn't make you a hero."
"He has unmasked since then," Gwen pointed out. "Surely you realize that people want to harm those he cares about. That is why he didn't unmask initially."
"His current identity is still a mask. I have been coming to realize that it really doesn't matter. I was looking at someone to lash out at after my son's death. I'm sorry Spider-Man if I chose you," Jameson admitted. "I'm an old horse and am slow to change."
"Fair enough," Harry said. "Actions speak louder than words. We will see how you act in the future. In the meantime...I think your paper can make good use of this."
Harry handed Jameson a flash drive. "What's on this?" Jameson asked.
"All the detailed evidence of every backroom deal Fisk made with politicians to get this murder wrap off his back," Harry answered to Jameson's startled amazement. What was on the flash drive would look like incredibly detailed video recordings of the dealings where there was really no camera present. Harry's temporal probes had come back with the detailed sensor readings he had been seeking. "Nobody will want to get involved in bribes with Fisk again after this comes out. I will just get info on those bribes too. The politicians involved will be arrested after that evidence is revealed. Release the transcripts first and then release the video to your broadcast news wing."
"How did you get this?" Jameson asked, not bothering to question why it was being given to the Bugle. Spider-Man owned a large percentage of the Bugle.
181
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Jameson," MJ advised.
Then the Spider-Trio simply vanished. Jameson blinked and looked around. One instant they had been standing there and then they were just gone.
"That was so cool," Gwen declared as she enjoyed the effects of her new personal cloaking belt. "Now I totally get why Batman always loved doing that in fiction," MJ mused. Harry and his lovers waited until the police had shown up before they left.
When the news was released the next day Fisk was forced to once again flee the country. He burned a lot of cash doing so in order to bribe every official necessary to get out of the country. Those who refused the bribes were tied up and hidden away to later be found. It didn't actually take Fisk that long to get out of the country.
Harry had decided to patrol by himself tonight. Every once in a while a guy needed a bit of alone time. He happened on a woman sporting long white hair, a skin-tight black body suit which revealed some seriously gorgeous curves, and a black mask with yellow tinted eye covers along with pointy ears.
"Hello there, gorgeous," Harry greeted.
The woman's surface thoughts revealed her name to be Felicia Hardy. Felicia smiled at Spider-Man and then appeared to leap over the edge of the roof-top with no apparent means of saving herself. Harry leapt after her and was hit in the back of the head by a meteorite. Harry was thrown several hundred feet downward before he managed to stabilize his flight. His skin-surface shield had taken the brunt of that impact thankfully. He flew back up to the roof-top to find Felicia running away. Harry touched down just in front of her and she delivered a side-kick to his midsection that knocked him back a foot. She had some measure of super- strength. Her follow up roundhouse kick showed she had some agility and probably some martial arts training. Harry blocked her first two kicks and her punch only for her to manage to flip him onto his back. Something wasn't right here. Harry extended his senses out and was able to detect some kind of foreign power at work.
"You crossed a black cat, Spider-Man," Felicia said, speaking for the first time. "That's seven years of bad luck."
"It's almost like she is enjoying some minor variant on Felix Felicious potion," Lily informed her creator. "But not quite as effective."
"That would lessen the repercussions such an effect would have long term," Harry replied as he got back up while Felicia was darting away.
Felicia glanced back at him with a smile and saw that he wasn't pursuing her any longer. Harry let her get away. He waited a short while and then apparated to outside of her apartment.
"You find her attractive and intriguing," Lily observed.
182
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We will meet again. I can feel it."
Harry returned home later and spent time with his ladies.
"Peter, could both of you and Mary Jane come down here?" May requested later that night.
The lovers came down into the kitchen to find MJ's father there and the man did not look happy. MJ's mood shifted negative the moment she saw her father holding her diary.
"You read my diary?!" MJ demanded while snatching the book away from her father. Craig Watson was surprised his daughter had possessed the strength to take the book. He hadn't intended to let her have it. He was unaware of her enhanced strength. "You are such an asshole!"
"Watch what you say. You are grounded," Craig rebutted. "Explain to me what you meant in there about almost dying at the bridge and Peter being involved."
Craig was unable to remember the exact wording without the diary.
"Given your violation of privacy and you cheating on your wife making you a scumbag we don't owe you any explanation," Harry replied.
Craig's eyes widened in shock at that response and then his face reddened in rage and shame. "Why you little shit," Craig said as he stepped forward to grab Peter by the collar. "You two are through."
Suddenly Craig's attempt at manhandling the younger man resulted in Craig being shoved up against the kitchen wall with his arm twisted behind his back.
"You don't touch me, Craig," Harry snarled.
"I'll have you arrested for assault you little shit," Craig snarled as he grunted in pain.
"Yes...tell the neighborhood you got beat up by a teenager," Harry pointed out.
"You and Mary Jane are done. If you even so much as approach her at school I'll have her pulled out and put her in a nunnery," Craig threatened.
MJ couldn't stand to see the way her father was acting so fled the house. Harry released Craig. The man turned and actually tried taking a swing at Harry but the superhero ducked the swing and casually knocked Craig out without hurting the man too badly. All it took was a quick jab to the temple with Harry's strength pulled to all but a light touch and a stunner channeled through his knuckles.
"Well that didn't go so well," Harry mused. "No, it didn't," May agreed. "Are you going to go after MJ?" "I'm going to give her a little time alone. I'll take this idiot home," Harry answered.
Just then Susan came into the kitchen and barely batting an eye at the unconscious man stated, "The news just showed footage of this woman in a black outfit running away from a robbery on a roof-top and Spider-Man chasing her. Only one news agency is questioning if you are involved in the robbery."
183
"I would be willing to bet Fisk has some backing in that news agency," Harry mused. "Oh well...I'll dispute it if asked but you don't see the cops storming my company."
Harry threw Craig Watson over a shoulder and left to take the idiot home.
