Hey, here is the continuation of this great story, for me is very special because is one of the few of my favorite superhero and it was wrote by one of my favorite authors, if you want to see more of Todd’s work you can go to his Patreon, he also have some books in Amazon.
The Mask of Spider-man
By Todd Fleming
Chapter 2
New York was blanketed by the dark starry night as the City that never sleeps pulsed with the night life. One of the largest buildings in the whole city sat quietly in the business district. Oscorp was the largest business dedicated to research for military application. Even with the problems of the CEO and owner of the company, Harry Osborn, the research giant stood out from its competition.
The Mask, clad in all black, looked out at New York from the roof of the monstrous building. He looked at his watch and waited in the silent night for the signal. His plans for revenge against the hero who ruined his life were complicated, but he did not want Spider-Man to know until it was too late that he was being hunted.
In the distance a huge ball of fire exploded into the skyline. The Mask smiled as the distant sounds of alarms screamed loud enough for even him to hear it high in the sky. The signal was sounded and now he could make his move.
Disabling the alarm system, The Mask crawled through the vent on the roof and into the Oscorp building. He nearly choked at the smell of rat shit and cobwebs that cluttered the ventilation. Breathing shallowly, the villain forced himself to crawl through the ventilation stopping every so often to check his map of the building. It had cost him a pretty penny to get a copy of these plans from a disgruntled employee, but it would be worth the cost if he succeeded.
Time seemed to crawl as he slowly made his way to his destination. Time was not on his side as the distraction that he created to keep Spider-Man busy would only last so long. His skin crawled as he saw a spider creeping towards him, but the creature just reminded him how sweet his revenge would be once he finished this part of his plan.
The Mask finally reached the part of the building that he needed to go and he carefully unhinged the vent cover to the large office. Being as quiet as possible, the villain took off his black clothing inside the vent. He needed the security cameras to see what he wanted it to see. Underneath his clothing was a Spider-Man costume that he had stolen from Peter Parker earlier that day. Placing the mask on his head, the villain now looked just like the hero that ruined his life.
Dropping down out of the vent, The Mask looked around slowly making sure the security camera caught his every movement. Once he he spotted the camera, he raised his hand and shot out webbing that he also stole from the unsuspecting hero. He had spent the afternoon practicing using the webbing.
Once the security cameras were disabled, The Mask went to the table in the center of the room. A strange machine sat in the center of the table. This was the reason, he risked everything to break into Oscorp. This was an invention that was supposed to transfer DNA from one person to another. With this The Mask can utterly destroy Peter Parker once and for all and extract his revenge. He would be an unstoppable force that would bring the world to its knees.
Fortunately the machine was portable enough for the wrestler to carry as he grabbed it and climbed back on the table just as a light shone in the distance. Security must be on its way, he thought to himself. The Mask climbed back in the vent and started to make his way back to the rooftop where freedom waited.
Spider-Man leaped in the air slinging his webbing in all directions as he attacked the gangsters that circled him. He went to investigate the explosion in downtown when he found criminals looting and fighting.
The explosion was Crystal Jewelry Store, one of the most prestigious and expensive jewelry stores in Manhattan. It did not take long for looters to take advantage of this terrorist act. People ran in all directions when he arrived hauling away diamonds and jewels trying to avoid the approaching hero.
It was as soon as he landed on his feet and was about to stop the fleeing looters that the gangsters came out of the alley. Armed with guns, baseball bats, and chains, they quickly circled the hero.
“You guys don’t have anything else better to do than to pick a losing fight?” Spider-Man quipped as he somersaulted over there heads and landed on the wall of the building behind them.
The gangsters growled as they fired their guns as the hero backflipped out of the firing range. He flung himself off the wall and spun in the air avoiding all of their bullets as his webbing took the guns out of their hands.
Landing on his feet like a cat, Spider-Man slammed his foot into the head of the nearest gangster and his fist into the gangster that charged him. He danced his elaborate fighting moves until all the gangsters lay unconscious at his feet.
Looking around, he could hear the sirens of the police heading in his direction. All the looters had gotten away during the fight and the hero stood alone as the jewelry store blazed behind him.
With no other villain around to take the blame of this attack, Spider-Man knew there was a good chance the police might blame him for this attack. He quickly used his webbing to tie the gangsters up and took out his camera from it’s hiding place. He scanned the inside of the store and took as many pictures as he could before the police arrived.
When the police cars arrived on the scene, Spider-Man was already on a nearby rooftop. He need to develop his film so he could search for clues on the source of this attack. Although it could be a random robbery, Spider-Man could not help but think that this is just a small part of a larger plan.
Doctor Jeff Carson sat in the livingroom of his apartment as sipped his coffee watching the breaking news of the bombing at the jewelry store. He could not believe the nerve of some criminals. The police has no suspects but it has been confirmed that Spider-Man was at the scene.
Shaking his head in disgust, the doctor was glad that he worked for a prestigious company like Oscorp. If all went well, his newest invention would able to stop criminals like this Spider-Man and life could get back to normal for people like him.
As he took another sip of his coffee, his door suddenly slammed open. He barely got to shout when they grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall of his living room. A gun was pressed against his head as the masked man sneered.
“Make a noise and I will shoot you in the head,” the masked thug growled.
Wishing that this was a dream, Dr. Carson was led out of his apartment and downstairs where an unmarked van waited for them. The door opened up to reveal more masked men as he was shoved inside as the van sped off.
“What do you want with me?” The doctor quaked with fear.
The gun slammed against his face as the thug that kidnapped him growled. “I said keep quiet!” He demanded.
As blood poured from his nose, Dr. Carson tried to fight the urge to pass out from fear. The windows of the van were tinted and with the explosion, most of the police were occupied. The scared doctor was on his own with no hope of a rescue.
The thing that confused him the most was who would want to kidnap him. He had no dealings with criminals like Kingpin or The Vulture. He was a simple man with a job living a simple life.
After what seemed like an eternity, the van slowed to a stop and the masked men pulled the frightened scientist out of the van.
Not knowing where he was at, Dr. Carson could tell that he was in some kind a ghetto from the run down buildings and trash on the streets. He was forced into a nearby warehouse and he received his next shock.
His invention sat on a table next to the very man he hoped to use it on, Spider-Man. The criminal who proclaimed himself a hero stared at him silently as the doctor was dragged to a chair near the table.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice, Dr. Carson,” Spider-Man sneered. “I need your help learning about your wonderful invention.”
Feeling his face turn pale, the frightened doctor tried to run for it, but the masked men forced him to sit on the chair.
Spider-Man flung his webbing to secure the kidnapped man’s wrists and ankles against the arms and legs of the chair. “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave just yet. You have information that I need and until you give it to me things are going to be very unpleasant for you.”
Dr. Carson cowered in fear as his worst nightmare came to life. His screams tore from his mouth as the so called hero brought pain to him that he never thought imaginable.
Peter Parker walked into the Daily Bugle and was amazed on the frenzied activity around him. He assumed that they were trying to get information of last night’s bombing. He was about to go to his desk when Jonas stormed from his office with a huge grin on his face.
“Parker!” He shouted. “I need you to get your skinny ass to Queens and get some pictures. Spider-Man finally showed himself to be the criminal that I always knew he was. I want you there and back in two hours so we can make a special edition of today’s paper.”
Peter stood there stunned with his mouth open. What happened in Queens last night? He realized that his feelings last night were true. It was a diversion to keep him busy, but who wanted to frame him for a crime.
“Stop standing there with your mouth open and get to Queens!” Jonas shouted. “There is a car waiting for you outside.”
Rushing back outside, Peter got inside the waiting car and wished it would drive faster to get him to the scene of the crime. With his camera hanging around his neck, his mind raced to figure out what was going on. He ran the usual criminals through his head as he tried to piece the big picture together of this framing against him.
After fighting through traffic, the car finally arrived at an abandoned warehouse in Queens. Peter flung himself from the car and ran inside where he received an even bigger shock.
A bloodied man sat tied to the chair, his lifeless body mangled in the most gruesome way. The young man wanted to throw up his breakfast as he took in one of the most hideous murders he had even seen during his time as a photographer for the Daily Bugle.
Using his camera, Peter started to take pictures of the scene of the crime. Why would the police think that Spider-Man would commit this crime. As he aimed his camera, Peter felt his blood run cold. The murdered man was secured to the chair by his own webbing. How was this possible?
Whoever was behind this attack was serious about framing him for this murder. But who would have the brains to not only come up with this plot and be able to duplicate his own webbing? As Peter finished his assignment, he knew that he had little time to act before he would be blamed for a murder that he did not commit.
To be continued…
