Spider-Man/Muppets Fanfic: The Spectacular

[The Count]

Wha-wha-what? Pete, and Quentin... Dead? Oh Sean... And here I thought they'd be trapped under the rubble waiting to be rescued... There's another death from the movie I kind of know of but am not sure completely... So I'll just waitfor you to amaze us with whatever's next for this thrilling novel.

 

[JEANYLASER]

good idea!

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Sixteen​

It had taken at least thirteen police officers to calm down the hysterical Jenny, when she received the news about her father’s horrendous death upon her arrival from her date with Ronnie. She screamed…she fought…she cursed…and, most of all, she sobbed…more than she ever had before. Everything that meant something to her…that she held very dear…had all went up in flames that night. Everything except for that ridiculous catsuit and all of its accessories that she put on a day ago and slept overnight in. When the firemen approached her with that outfit and informed her that it was all that they found in the rubble, her face turned red…but not from embarrassment…from complete fury.

Out of all the things that was left to pull out from that wreckage, this garbage is all that’s left. I’d much rather it be my father’s own body! That would’ve been at least more reasonable! This thing…God! What is it? Made out of indestructible latex or something?

Jenny took the catsuit, pretending for the authorities before her that it was her most cherished possession. She felt sick to her stomach as he clutched it close to her body…the smell of ash was all over it. She just hoped to God that not a single bit of it was either her father’s or Quentin’s.

She was told that the cause of the explosion was a gas leak. That was a total lie. Her father would never have been that careless. This was no accident. Jenny knew a homicide when she saw one…and for the police to miss that completely just angered her more and more. But that was understandable, considering the fact that Captain Jerry Larkin—the lazy police officer that the Thomas siblings so often told her and the Muppets about—led the investigation.

“My advice, kid…go home and get some rest.” Larkin told her. “And try to pretend like this night never happened.”

Easy for you to say, you lazy bum! Your father wasn’t blow to dust by some maniac who you are letting get away! What kind of investigation do you think you’re handling? No one there are so many deaths out there in the streets of New York City, because lame captains like you don’t know how to crack cases anymore! Pathetic! Just pathetic!

Jenny had neither the backbone nor the breath to tell Larkin just that. Instead, she just nodded her head in understanding and allowed Ronnie to escort her to his limousine. He was just as broken up as she was about Pete’s death. It only seemed like seconds when they were talking to him, laughing and filled with joy over the marvelous event that was coming. If they had known that would be the final memory they would have of such a great man, the two would’ve cherished the moment. He was still the best man in their hearts.

To Jenny, now was not the time to dwell on the past. Some lunatic who obviously wanted something from them killed her father. But what? What was so important that her father’s life had to end so suddenly…so horrendously? Before they returned to Broadway with their new Manhattan Melodies show, they had hardly anything. But now they had enough to last them for ages…at least until the moment her father was killed.

During the journey to Ronnie’s mansion in Queens, Jenny tried her best to think up the possible suspects. Her first notion was of Nicky Holiday, the man who she learned recently had escaped from prison—he had things against the Muppets that she and Pete hardly had any involvement with…unless the friendship they shared with them became a way of making a powerful threat. Her second notion was of…

Wait a minute! Could it have been her? She did have the power to take the most treasured things away from people, like their homes and families. What if she decided one day to do that in a more violent way? And what if she and her father were the first ones on the list? Could that have been what happened? If so, was it really necessary? I mean, it was only money.

Unless…

Jenny looked long and hard at the catsuit, which she was still clutching onto, as it was draped over her lap. Indestructible latex…at first it seemed like a joke. But what if a powerful woman like Rachel Bitterman was able to hire the most brilliant scientist in the world to develop such a thing? It would take one to do it. No right-minded scientist would pull off such a phenomenon.

And then another name popped in her mind…

Krassman! Max Krassman! The man whose name came up in the news report earlier this evening as a prime suspect in the murder of Curt Connors, right next to Holiday’s. He was onto a scientific breakthrough of tissue regeneration. That would make him…Wait a sec! How did I know about that? The news never brought that fact up…and no one, not even Peter Parker, told her about it.

Images from the dream that she had earlier that day began to flash in her memory. The mechanical scorpion monster that she fought…it was no monster…it was a man…that man was Nicky Holiday…and he wore a terrifying cybernetic attack armor designed to resemble a scorpion. Obviously another creation of Krassman, whose voice she heard in her “dream” actually admit that he developed it. Sean Thomas was there as well, on the verge of dying at the hands of Nicky Holiday…until she saved him.

Everything that had happened that day in the burning science building…she was actually a part of it all. But how could she have been? She was sleeping safely in her room the whole afternoon…while wearing that catsuit…that ridiculous catsuit.

“Ronnie…” she managed to say after all the trauma she had been through that evening. “I want you to take me to the Happiness Hotel.”

Her request swirled around in his mind, wondering what reason she would have to go there. He was certain that the Muppets would soon be informed of the tragedy when it came up on the Channel Six news the next morning. They already had enough going on in their lives with Nicky Holiday on the loose. He figured rationality would convince her to continue on their course to his mansion. “Jenny, I really think we should do what Captain Larkin says and…”

“I want to go to the Happiness Hotel.” She repeated herself.

“You need rest right now,” Ronnie told her, “And that place isn’t exactly the best to be hanging around after what has happened tonight.”

She held the catsuit tighter in her hands, frustrated by the fact that her future husband couldn’t grant her that one wish. And she wanted to scream “Stop the car!” to the limo driver in front of them, but in her current state of mind and with all the chaos that had happened that evening, that seemed like an unwise move. So she didn’t make it. Instead, she just went with Ronnie’s decision to go to the mansion. Maybe a good night’s rest would get her prepared for tomorrow…

…because tomorrow was going to be a big day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

It suddenly became a big day for Peter Parker, as he had received an abrupt phone call from Mary Jane that morning, asking to meet him at a familiar section of Central Park. Even though it was a rather strange call (he told her “I love you,” but she hung up in response), he was delighted to be seeing her again. That she had called at all was enough to make him giddy with anticipation. He was going to be able to make things right. Before leaving his apartment, he picked up the engagement ring that Aunt May had given him days ago (the same one that Uncle Ben had proposed her with) and tucked it into his pocket. He was so rushed into leaving his apartment that he barely heard the news come across the radio in Ditkovich’s apartment complex about the destruction of Pete’s Diner and the result of it being the deaths of Quentin Fitzwaller and Pete himself.

Peter grabbed a subway over to Central Park, although truthfully he felt as if he could have run the entire way. When entering the park, he passed a makeshift flower stand. The roses were tempting but pricey, so he settled for a bouquet of peonies. Clutching them tightly to his chest, he made his way through a grove of trees and then spotted Mary Jane in the distance. She was achingly beautiful, the wind blowing her hair ever so gently, looking like something off the cover of a romance novel.

He approached her and drew within a few feet. Concerned somehow that he would shatter “the spell,” he didn’t want to touch her, as much as he ached to take her in his arms. “Wow. You look so beautiful,” he whispered.

No reply—she just stared at him, and he couldn’t get any sense of what was going through her mind. He held out the flowers. “Peonies,” he said, then added a bit unnecessarily, “for you.”

Still no answer. No movement or taking the flowers from him. He might have been talking to a photograph for all the interaction he was getting.

“You okay?” he asked, his concern starting to grow.

“No. There’s…something I have to tell you, Peter.” Her voice was clipped and formal, as if she were acting, only badly.

“Okay,” he said cautiously.

“It’s not working…you and me.”

He stared at her. “What?”

“I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Peter actually laughed, although it was nervous, confused. This had to be some sort of joke. If she didn’t want to see him, all she had to do was continue not to return his calls. Why would she go out of her way to contact him and bring him here to make a point of saying that they were through? It smacked of a cruelty that he wouldn’t have thought her capable of. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know,” she said, flustered. He couldn’t tell if she was admitting that she didn’t know what she was talking about, or if she was trying to toss out grievances and see if one would stick. “You aren’t there for me.”

I’m here, now! What the heck more do you want? But he bit back the more aggressive, angry response and said with labored patience. “I know that. But let’s talk about it. Maybe I was selfish. I can do better. I can change.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“But we love each other!” he said with mounting desperation. “We have problems, we work it out. We talk—”

“There’s someone else!” The words seemed to surprise her, as if they’d flown out of her mouth of their own accord. “I’ve…fallen in love with someone else.”

She turned her back and started walking quickly away. Without thinking, Peter sped around her so rapidly that to an observer, it appeared as if Peter had disappeared from one spot and rematerialized at another. He stood in front of Mary Jane, his face a question, pleading, demanding some sort of explanation.

Either she had none to give…or she had no desire to do so. Either way it made no difference. She strode past him, and this time he made no effort to stop her. He simply stood there, holding the peonies, and the ring in the pocket of his trousers now felt as if it were burning against his thigh. He thought of pursuing her, of running after her down the wooded path that she was taking to leave the area.

Oh…the h*ll with it. He had his pride. There was no way he was going to go sprinting after Mary Jane like some pathetic schoolboy. Which, as it turned out, was a tragic decision on his part. For if he had done so, he might well have spotted Harry Osborn and Rachel Bitterman stepping out of hiding in the shadows, both quietly applauding. Harry fell into step next to Mary Jane and remarking, “Bravo,” in a soft, triumphant voice.

And Rachel added with, “Two thumbs way up, darling. You’ll make it back on Broadway in no time.”

Mary Jane looked at both of them with a mix of fear and loathing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

It wasn’t until after he returned to his apartment did Peter discover that Pete’s Diner was destroyed over the radio, and the two deaths behind it. The news had been repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time to those that have been paying attention to it from six o’clock in the morning. As if the break-up between him and Mary Jane wasn’t tragic enough (as well as the news of Curt Connors death the other day), Peter was hit with another curveball. And this one was what truly shattered the portrait hanging in his mind of his world.

He didn’t want to think about food at a time when so much horrible stuff was happening, but he needed to take his mind off the stress and get some food into his stomach. He went across town to the Malibu Diner and was surprised to have found Harry there, having a blueberry pie with a cup of coffee. Believing that a small chat with his best friend could pull him out of the rut he was in, he sat across from Harry and tried to express the frustration and confusion he was feeling as he brought him up to speed about the latest turnaround with M.J.

“Things were fine,” Peter insisted. “Then, suddenly, she says there’s another guy. Gets this thing in her head, says I’m not there for her.”

“She’s been having a tough time,” Harry said, sounding more sympathetic to Mary Jane than he was to Peter…which, Peter had to admit, annoyed him slightly. “Being let go by the frog and his friends.”

Peter blinked in confusion, feeling as if he had just missed a section of the conversation. “What?”

“Well, she was fired,” Harry said matter-of-factly. “Didn’t she tell you?”

Slumping back in the chair, Peter was totally blindsided. My God, that explains so much…almost everything…but how could I have known…how could…

“She got fired?” Peter was unable to grasp it. “She told you, but she didn’t tell me? What’s going on? I don’t get it!” Trying to recapture the high ground of being the victimized half of the couple, Peter said, “You didn’t hear me, Harry! There’s another guy!”

Harry paused, drumming his fingers on the table. Then, calmly, he said, “Yeah, I know, Pete. It’s…” He waggled his head slightly, then shrugged in a “What can you do?” manner.

Peter wondered just how many shocks to the system he was supposed to endure in just one outing. “What? Wait a minute. You’re…”

“She came to me one afternoon.” Harry tried to sound saddened, but a small smile on his face belied whatever his tone might have implied. “Lost. And she was troubled. She needed someone, and I was there for her.” He made certain to emphasize the words Peter had used. “I’ve always loved her, you know that. It just…started.”

Peter laughed in incredulity. It was as if he were watching some sort of play unfold in which everyone was a stupendously bad actor. “I don’t believe this! I don’t believe you!”

“I’m sure you don’t,” said Harry, sounding sympathetic but not looking it. “I’m sorry, pal. I’m not here to convince you. I just want you to know.”

They stared at each other for a few moments, then Peter got up to leave, not waiting for the waitress to come and ask him for his order. As he did so, Rachel Bitterman appeared and sat down where Peter was, drinking her own cup of coffee and grinning at the pie. “How was the pie?”

“It was good, Auntie.” Harry grinned himself as Peter walked out. “Soooo good.”

Peter was in turmoil. His anger was getting in the way of his making sense of it all. How could Mary Jane do this to him? How could Harry? What sort of friends were they? The notion that Harry would move in, take advantage of Mary Jane if she was in that kind of state…and Mary Jane! That she would rebound from him to Harry…and why? It wasn’t as if they had even officially broken up. It was completely insane…

The two words lodged in his head, coming to the forefront of his musings.

Completely. Insane.

Peter had far too much experience with someone like that.

Standing in the street outside the coffee shop, Peter slowly turned to face Harry, who was watching him through the window with his aunt. Harry met his gaze, saw the suspicion in Peter’s eyes, and seemed to welcome it. Harry’s mouth twisted in a fierce and cruel smile. His expression no longer bore the slightest resemblance to any that Peter’s friend might have worn. But the question was moot: this wasn’t his friend, by any stretch of the imagination, who was looking at him now.

This was the face of insanity. This was the Goblin.

Before Peter could make a move, a waitress leaned in to clear the dishes from the table, blocking both Harry and Rachel from Peter’s view. When she moved aside, they were gone.

They had to have gone out the back. Peter considered vaulting over the top of the restaurant, but far too many people were around. Plus who knew what resources they might have lying in wait, or who might get hurt if another struggle broke out between him and Harry.

There was no way Peter was going to allow Harry to choose the time and place of their next battle…a battle that Peter was now eagerly anticipating. As he ran toward home and his new black costume, he pondered that he shouldn’t really be looking forward to such a conflict. But that concern was promptly shouted down by the part of him that wanted to knock that leering grin off Harry’s face once and for all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

All was quiet in the Happiness Hotel…it was the most that the Hotel had even been silence, with the exception of the previous year, when everyone had temporarily moved out for it to be remodeled. But everyone was very much there in the hotel. And they were all in mourning over the deaths of two marvelous friends: Quentin Fitzwaller and Pete. Though Quentin rarely spoke to them (he had kept somewhat of a grudge with them since their visit to Disney World), the Muppets still considered him a good friend, because he eventually learned to respect them as great performers.

And Pete…

His death was the most devastating out of the two. Pete had become the heart and soul of the Muppets, ever since he took them into his diner and gave them all food to eat, despite the fact that neither of them had any money at the time. They were just coming out of college and attempted to get their first Manhattan Melodies show out on Broadway (which proved to be harder than it sounded). Pete was always there for them, backing them up on the old show and their new one. If it were not for him, they wouldn’t be together as much as they have been over the years, seeing as how he was the one who had sent tons of letters announcing Kermit’s success in getting the show on Broadway. He was one in a million…

…and now he was gone.

When April O’Neil sadly made the report on Channel Six that evening, after several other reporters from either Channel Six or other stations gave the same one, something stood out to the Muppets that seemed a little hard to believe. “Police have said that this tragic incident occurred because of a gas leak. It was assumed that the owner of the diner, Pete, had turned the flames on his stove and accidentally allowed the gas to catch in the flames, thus setting off the explosion that killed both himself and one customer inside at the time, who was none other than Quentin Fitzwaller, former security guard at Walt Disney World.” Even as she made the report with the assistance of the notes that she had been reading from the whole time, April herself seemed rather perplexed by the information. But it wasn’t her place to question the police’s information. She was only a news reporter, not a private eye or anything.

And the Muppets knew it wasn’t in their place to make any attempts to ask what the police were thinking in their investigation either. It made no sense whatsoever. They knew Pete more than anyone else who was listening or watching the news on radio or television. He would never have been that careless. And, just like Jenny had when she was first informed, they quickly assumed that this was the work of foul play. Someone had murdered Pete and Quentin.

After the unexpected death of Curt Connors, one would have to think such a thing. And Fozzie, Kermit, and Rizzo began to ponder together over who might’ve been responsible for it. They first assumed it had to be Krassman, because he was the one who had done away with Connors. But what contradicted their allegations was the thought of Krassman blowing up a local diner for no reason whatsoever. He might’ve been insane, but even he needed a scientific purpose to his murderous actions, much like he had when he killed Curt Connors, who contained a valuable, phenomenal serum.

Then the obvious suspect came to mind next, and that was Nicky Holiday, who had been bent on revenge for days now. He must’ve found a way to really get under their skin (so to speak) and bring them out of hiding once again to try and annihilate them all, without any surprise attacks from Spider-Man. But even that assumption seemed rather improbable in a sense, because Holiday had no clue where Pete’s Diner was. And even if he had, the only person who could’ve given him the directions was Rachel Bitterman.

And that’s when she became their third assumption…and she was the largest one, considering the fact that she seemed to be the ring leader of all that had been occurring in days—from the shocking appearance of the Sandman to the frightening transformations of Nicky Holiday and the “Arla’s.” Ever since the Muppets had first encountered her, she seemed like such a harmless woman with a small plan to halt their special Christmas show at the Muppet Theatre that one year. Little would they know that she’d become such a diabolical figure, going to great lengths to ruin the lives of those that owed her a ridiculous amount of money. But they wondered even now if it was really more than money that she was coming after, with the murders of Curt Connors, Quentin Fitzwaller, and Pete.

“Ugh! This is all so frighteningly confusing.” Fozzie said. “Anybody could’ve been responsible for killing Pete and Quentin.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Rizzo exclaimed. “You can’t tell me dat dis doesn’t have Rachel Bitter-breath written all over it.” He desperately tried to compose his frustrations over Pete’s death as he discussed the topic. “Dat witch killed my best friend for somethin’ more dan money! And now she’s gotta pay!”

Kermit and Fozzie were a bit stunned by the violent attitude that the small rat seemed to be giving off. Though it was understandable, seeing as how Rizzo and Pete had gone away back (long before the Muppets even met them both), it was enough to have them worry that the rat might actually do something beyond his control.

“Rizzo, try to calm down.” Kermit begged him. “Going on a bloodthirsty rampage will not bring either Pete or Quentin back. It will only make things worse than they already are.”

“I beg to differ.” A voice outside the party gathered in the room had spoken from the direction of the doorway leading into it. The three turned their heads to see Jenny standing there, and they nearly gasped in shock over her sudden appearance. Kermit had thought about contacting her as soon as he had found out about her father’s death, but he had chosen to wait, in order for enough time to pass to heal the pain she was going through.

But even as she stood there in the doorway, she looked as if she had gotten completely pass the whole thing, which had really puzzled Kermit, Fozzie, and Rizzo. She even looked a lot different from the last time they saw her, which wasn’t that long ago. Her eyes seemed to have changed a different color—they had looked like a mixture between brown and green, giving off a bit of a hazel-type color. She also seemed a little taller, looking like she stood almost close to six-foot, which was very evident from the way she fitted in her silky, black, long-sleeve shirt and black trousers. The sleeves on both raised up a little, exposing latex fabric underneath. It was a bit obvious that she was wearing her catsuit beneath her regular clothes.

Jenny looked a little worse for wear. Her long brown hair had been undone from the usual ponytail style that it was usually in, allowing it to hang over her shoulders and part of her beautiful face. There were traces of white running through sections of it as well. Under her left eye, which was exposed along with the rest of that side of her face, there were bags there to signify how much sleep she had gotten in the previous night (which was very little).

Her voice was also a bit deep and shockingly charismatic as she said, “Keep that anger in you, Riz. You’re gonna need it when we take a visit over to Harry’s penthouse.”

Kermit knew exactly what was going through her mind—it was the same as what was going through theirs. And he began to worry if the young former waitress was getting herself into a world of trouble. “Jenny…I’m sorry about what happened to Pete, but…”

“I didn’t come here for any pep talk, Kermit.” Jenny snapped, with a hint of anger in her voice. “I needed some backup for my plan to knock some sense into that witch of a woman.” Her attitude was cold and dark—a combination of things that they never expected from such a kind, caring girl like her. They wished to see it as something completely understandable after the death of her father, but it was extremely scary and needed to be dealt with as quickly as possible. But even as they tried, she was swift to interrupt them. “So what’s it gonna be, Riz? Are ya in or are ya out?”

Rizzo wasn’t exactly certain what answer to give her. He wanted to take revenge on what happened to Pete the best way possible. But he also didn’t want to get himself exterminated in the process. Seeing the fierce look that was starting to register on the young lady’s face, he immediately blurted out the first word that came to mind, “Yes!”

Kermit looked in his direction with a mixture of fear and shock. All the rat could’ve done in reaction to his expression was shrug his shoulders and walk away from him and Fozzie, joining Jenny at her side. “You have to understand, Kermit, that Bitterman drew the first blood. She killed someone very dear to us…someone who put a roof over our heads and feed us…someone who had raised me from the moment I was born! You’d better believe that I’m taking this personal! Because she made it personal!”

“But we aren’t even certain if she was the one who killed your father!” Kermit contradicted. “Don’t jump to any conclusions that leave you regretting your decisions for the rest of your life.”

Jenny refused to say anymore to the frog, because she knew it would be pointless to convince him of her allegations that Bitterman had been behind every dreadful thing that had happened to them in the previous days. But she had only given herself enough time to listen to what Kermit had to say, she would’ve known that he was having the same thoughts. Only he had a better plan of action than just barging into Harry’s penthouse and confronting Bitterman head-on, without considering whatever counterattack she could dish out.

He watched helplessly as both Jenny and Rizzo turned and left the room. The only smart thing left for him to do was turn to Fozzie, who was looking a lot more nervous than he was that moment, and urge him to go with the two. Fozzie had done just that, dashing out of the room and leaving Kermit the only one left in there. Alone, Kermit reached behind him and pulled out his cellular phone, rapidly dialing some numbers on it and placing it at the side of his head. When he heard the greeting voice on the other line, he said, “Hello, Mickey? This is Kermit. I think it’s time I shared with you a secret that I’ve been keeping from everyone for years now. And after I’ve shared it with you, I’m gonna need you to do another huge favor for me.”

END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN​

 

[The Count]

Wow... *Draws breath after reading. The transformation of Jenny's starting to take hold over her entirely, mirroring Peter and the black suit. Peter's world's crumbling around him, the Muppets are getting into perilous situations, and most of all Kermit's secret... Oh boy, can't wait for more.

 

[muppetwriter]

Thanks, Count. This story is starting to become the very first "MARVELOUS" tale that I've written, as of 2007, which will be longer than nineteen chapters. Right now, my second/third X-Men story from last year holds the record as the longest "MARVELOUS" story. But it might seem like "The Spectacular" will shatter that record.

It might be a while 'til I have another chapter up for everyone to read. I'm right now enjoying my time off. And by tomorrow, I'll be returning to my college duties. So, yeah, it'll be a while. Haha!

 

[JEANYLASER]

good luck!

 

[theprawncracker]

Sean! My man! I'm reading! So sorry for not keeping up after every chapter, but know that I AM reading, and I LOVE it! It's fantastic, my friend! Keep it up!

 

[muppetwriter]

Thanks, prawnie. And it's alright. I know you're reading. Looking at the number of views this thread has been getting, I know people are reading.

 

[The Count]

You know... Looking back on this story now, it's somewhat ironic that it's called The Spectacular. Cause that's exactly what the new Spider-Man animated series set to debut on Kids WB in two weeks' time will be called as well.

At any rate, I'm sure hopin' updates to this story will be posted soonish.

 

[JEANYLASER]

Thanks!