Spider-Man/Muppets Fanfic: The Spectacular

Thanks, Count. But by the time the next chapter gets in, you'll find out that Stanley wasn't exactly rescued by Venom and see what really happened to the Muppet child.

And I guess you can say I was inspired by that episode from the 90s cartoon, transforming both Thomas and Krassman into their versions of "The Lizard". Wait 'til you read Krassman's unbelievable story to brainwash the amnesiac Sean Thomas. It's insane!

And thanks for the congrats. I can't remember ever writing a story so long while being a member here on MC.

I'll try to have more up soon.

Whoops! Yeah, that was a typo. I knew what you were talking about, Count.

I was pretty drowsy on the hour that message was posted. Think I need to go back to drinking coffee. Haha!

Chapter Twenty-One

The sun eventually punched through the cloud cover, but the day remained cold and dank. But that didn’t seem to bother the two cold-blooded lizard creatures that stood in the shadows of the alleyway, as one of them expressed quite a bizarre story to the other. Sean listened closely to what Krassman was telling him and seemed to have believed every word of it.

Krassman knew that he had him eating out of his hands with the highly fictional story of a clan of humanoid lizard beings like themselves that were exterminated by the “evil” that was known as the Muppets and the humans associated with them (he threw in names that sounded slightly familiar to the amnesiac Sean, such as Spider-Man, Jenny, Ronnie, Edward Morbius, Stanley Thomas, and especially Lori Thomas). He then mentioned about their only allies who tried to prevent the genocide of their people but were unsuccessful: Scorpion, Hydro-Woman, Shocktress, Electrine, The New Goblin, Sandman and The Hobgoblin. And he didn’t forget to bring up the fact that their enemies recently defeated two of those allies.

Sean was buying into every word that Krassman was uttering, and he began to feel extremely furious as he pondered over it all. Even as the evening approached and Krassman had concluded his fairy tale, Sean was just about ready to hunt down his enemies and unleash havoc upon them all. But before he could’ve attempted to do just that, he and Krassman were approached by three figures that Krassman seemed to have expected and bought enough time with Sean to wait for: Nicky Holiday, Darla, and Carla.

Holiday’s appearance had transformed horrifically in recent days. His skin a turned to a pale, greenish, scaly complexion, his eyes were green and yet bloodshot, and the teeth in his mouth had turned into sharp fangs. The helmet he wore on his head had somehow fused with his skull, just like the rest of his armor had, making him seem more like an actual scorpion than a human being. Darla and Carla could barely even recognize him and were absolutely horrified of how much he had changed. They were almost afraid to contradict him during the time they were flanking him.

Even as Holiday spoke, his voice seemed deeper than before, hissing through each and every word. “Either I’m seein’ double or we have another freak on the team.”

“It’s Sean Thomas…he transformed just this morning.” Krassman informed, and noticing the suspicion on Holiday’s grotesque face, he quickly added, “And the best part is that he doesn’t remember a thing about himself. But I rectified that situation, as I explained to him about how our people had been wiped out by our adversaries.”

Noticing how Krassman had been winking his right eye as he put emphasis on his words, it didn’t take long for Holiday to catch on with what he was trying to tell him without undoing the brainwashing that he had placed the amnesiac Thomas under. “Very nice. It’s good to know that we’ve got more assistance to depend on as our final scheme approaches.”

“What’s the plan?” Krassman asked.

“Bitterman wants us to gather at the construction site to her new plaza, but not long before we kidnap us some Muppets.” Holiday explained. “Their final performance of their little show is tonight, and we’re gonna swipe them under their feet unexpectedly, as soon as they pull up to the front of their theatre.”

Krassman grinned. “Sounds like a marvelous plan to me.” He then turned in Sean’s direction. “What do you think, brother?”

“I just want to get my hands on those murderers! Right now!”

Krassman and Holiday chuckled with enthusiasm over Thomas’s new bloodthirsty attitude, while Carla and Darla seemed very intimidated by it, terrified over the thought of there being two lizard monsters instead of just one.

“Too bad Marla and Marko couldn’t have been part of this glorious plan…they would’ve loved it.” Holiday said, while expressing mock sincerity in his horrid voice. “Oh, well. I’ll make sure Bitterman throws a memorial service for the two, as soon as we take control of this town. I’ll even see to it that little Penny Marko gets a sweet little funeral, ‘cause I doubt if she’ll live to see her father’s.”

Holiday was about to laugh over his sick joke, but was robbed of the chance by an unexpected sandstorm that had immediately come over the dark alleyway. Once the sandstorm had subsided, two separate forms had appeared at the opening. Holiday and his group could barely believe their eyes when they realized that it was Flint Marko and Marla, both in their regular forms—no longer the mud monster that they were in the underground subway tunnel.

“That’s the last time you ever talk about my daughter that way, Holiday!” Marko angrily exclaimed.

Holiday tried not to seem too shocked by his sudden appearance as he addressed him. “Marko! What a surprise! I would’ve thought you and Marla were still in the Hudson River by now.”

Carla and Darla would have approached Marla and given her a big hug, if they weren’t too cautious of being drenched by the watery surface of her skin and electrocuted to death. Darla’s curiosity brought her to ask, “How were you two able to get yourselves apart?”

“Long story.” Marla replied. “Let’s just say while we were merged together like we were, Marko and I got to know a lot about each other…me more than him, in fact.” She gazed in Marko’s direction with a saddened expression on her face that Carla and Darla instantly took notice of. The two could only assume as they noticed it that Marko’s feelings for his ailing daughter had somehow transferred to Marla and left her feeling just the same way. And, frankly, they couldn’t have blamed her for gaining a conscience over all that had been occurring in recent days, since they had as well.

The only problems they faced in getting out of it all were the three monstrous reptilian creatures that seemed to have been running the show as of late, more so than Rachel Bitterman herself. Marko and Marla felt just the same way about them as Carla and Darla had—horrified and mortified that such monsters came about as a result of bizarre, wrongful science that they couldn’t comprehend in a million years.

“Well, the important thing is that you’re back amongst the living.” Holiday stated, again expressing false authenticity. “We’re about to get our payback on those d****d Muppets and that d****d Spider-Man for the very last time.”

Marko wasn’t buying into Holiday’s sincerity for a second. “Yeah, we heard that crackpot plan of yours and Bitterman’s. Sounds like something out of a ridiculous comic book to me.”

“Really, Nicky.” Marla added. “How certain are you and Miss Bitterman that it’s going to work?”

Holiday grinned as he approached her, making loud metallic stomps as he had done so. As he was frightfully close to her, she almost felt like throwing up from the putrid smell that he had given off—the smell of a man who hadn’t bathed in days—and the gross deformity of his once-human face. “I know it’ll work, because with our two lizard pals, Bitterman juiced up with that same Goblin formula that’d powered up Harry Osborn, and you and Marko back on the team, we’ve just quadrupled our efforts.”

Marko’s glare on Holiday was soon shifted upwards toward the horizon, as he suddenly spotted a familiar figure. “Well, how ‘bout we put that theory to the test, Holiday? ‘Cause here comes the wall-crawler now!” He pointed in the direction of the figure and everyone looked up to see the dark figure swing their way. Just as he was about ten feet away from them, Marko turned his right hand into a rocky fist and extended it far enough to smack against the body of the dark figure he believed to be Spider-Man, knocking him straight to the ground.

Soon after Spider-Man landed hard on the ground, Nicky Holiday stomped towards him and forcibly grabbed both sides of his body, turning it around to face his direction. “Time for the rematch, you son of a….”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!

“WHOA!”

The horrified Nicky Holiday hurled the morbid, blackened monster across the air, far away from him and the rest of his group, who were just as shocked by whatever it was that they had thought was Spider-Man as Holiday was. The sinister creature didn’t fly too far, as it had clasped onto the wall and abruptly stopped its flight, much like Spider-Man would’ve in such a situation. But whatever this creature was that they were gazing upon, it definitely wasn’t Spider-Man. Spider-Man doesn’t have fangs and claws.

“What the h*ll happened to him?” Holiday exclaimed.

Marko took a careful glance at the monstrosity and came to a realization. “It isn’t him, Holiday.”

“No…it isn’t.” The monster uttered, with a soft and menacing voice. “I’m something more deadly, more dangerous than that web-slinger can ever fear to become. I used to be Eddie Brock…but you guys can address me as…VENOM!”

Holiday and his team exchanged doubtful, cautious looks. He then turned back to the abomination and said, “Alright…Venom. Give us one reason why we shouldn’t make you one with the pavement!”

“Because I want Spider-Man and the Muppets as dead as you all do.”

This perked up Marko’s ears just as much as it had everyone else’s. Spider-Man had massively inconvenienced him; darn near killed him, and Marla along with him. He certainly wouldn’t mind seizing the opportunity to take that punk down with his foamed friends. Whatever sympathy he’d felt for Spider-Man over his personal loss was long gone. Considering the grief that Spider-Man had caused him, returning some aggravation would be a pleasure.

“That’s why I came looking for you all.” Venom continued. “Oh, yeah, I know all about you people. Like how the Muppets kicked your butts years ago at the Mallory Gallery, prevented you from making a breakthrough in mind-wiping frogs, and…oh, yes…the fact that Spider-Man won’t let you help your poor daughter, Marko? It…just doesn’t seem right to me! None of it!” He unclasped himself from the wall and stood upright on the ground, approaching the group calmly. “That’s what I’ve come to you with a bit of leverage.”

Venom snarled ferociously as he turned to the wall again and pounded a fist against it, creating quite a tremor that nearly knocked Holiday and his team off their feet. But they kept themselves standing straight long enough to see something fall and dangle in the air, only a few feet above their heads. It was none other than a frightened Stanley Thomas, wrapped up from his neck down in what appeared to have been black webbing. Tears were streaming down from his eyes and he mumbled in fear, as he looked down at the people below him, including the “Arla’s,” who were appalled to have seen how an innocent child had been caught in the midst of all this.

“This is the cousin of two of the most annoying people I have ever met in my entire life and—if I’m correct—a Muppet…just like the ones you’ve been despising for some time now.” Venom stated. “My guess is that they’ll be looking for him, and once we get the word out about his kidnapping, they’ll undoubtedly be coming for him with Spidey in tow.” The more Holiday and Krassman listened to his idea, the more they began to appreciate this Venom character. “The perfect set-up to the perfect onslaught, if you ask me. And as a bonus…”

He slammed his fist against the wall opposite of the one that he hit before, and something else wrapped up in Venom’s black webbing fell from above and dangled above them. It was the C.O.V.N.E.T. agents that had been hunting him down, each and every one of them battered, bruised, and in an unconscious state at the time. Their black suits had nearly been ripped to shreds, signifying that they had undergone a fierce confrontation with the symbiote-powered monster.

“…I decided to throw in these idiots, seeing as how a few of them are Muppets as well, and the bald guy is an old pal to one of them. Besides, they’ve been p*****g me off ever since I landed here anyways.”

Holiday was so impressed by this bizarre stranger that he couldn’t help but to laugh out loud, as he gazed upon the webbed up Stanley and the C.O.V.N.E.T. agents. “I think we can work something out, Mister Venom. I know a certain woman who’ll be very pleased to meet you.”

Venom grinned at his new allies, unknowingly terrifying three of them (Marla, Darla, and Carla) as they were falling deeper and deeper into doubt of this master plan of theirs. Marko was slightly intimidated by him, but he didn’t appreciate how innocent children were being involved in the plan—it reminded him too much of the reason he was going along with it. And, meanwhile, the much more menacing Sean Thomas was keeping his gaze on the captured Stanley, who he slowly began to recognize as soon as Venom brought him into the picture.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Well, Krassman lost his accent because of his mutation (hence the reason why I hadn't played around with much of his dialogue) and Shego's spine was shattered by the Black-Suited Spider-Man, so unless she has her own healing factor, don't expect to see much of her in the upcoming chapters.

Well, to be honest, I had almost left Krassman and Thomas saying words that begin and end with "s" in a hissing motion like thissssss, thusssss alternating their ssssspeech entirely. But I decided to drop that idea, because it'd make them seem too much like snakes.

And dropping Krassman's accent altogether would signify the drastic change that had come over him and show how far from human he is now. Besides, a German-speaking ten-foot humanoid lizard sounds a little weird, even for this story. Haha!

This is awesome story!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Harry Osborn sat in his partially darkened apartment, something he much preferred nowadays. He was facing a wall with assorted television screens on it, each tuned to a different TV station, while his aunt was sitting nearby at her desk and injecting herself with another dosage of the same “Goblin Formula” that granted Harry and his father their strength. Even as it coursed through her bloodstream, she felt much stronger than before and the cuts and bruises she suffered at the hands of that maniac—Jenny—didn’t seem so painful anymore.

After Rachel had finished juicing herself up, she directed her attention to the television screens that Harry was focusing on, all of them focusing on the same developing story.

CBS:

“All New York is holding its breath as the hostage situation continues to unfold.”

NBC:

A clip of the Bitterman Plaza construction site showed a multidimensional latticework of what could only be described as black webbing, suspended seventy stories above the ground. Several items were snagged in the giant web: construction barrels, a shovel, an industrial Dumpster, a taxicab, and the Electric Mayhem bus. All dotting it like so many flies caught in a spider’s web.

ABC:

A SWAT team in riot gear was advancing on the construction site in armored Humvees. The sand beneath them heaved. (Rachel loved this part; it was chaotic and destructive. They’d run it twenty times, and each time was better than the last.) The vehicles were sent tumbling. Two Humvees crashed down upon the construction site. Pedestrians in the street scattered as the third vehicle tumbled toward them and crushed an empty taxi. Those pedestrians were afterwards caught by the awaiting, vicious claws of two lizard creatures—one tossing them like rag dolls and the other ripping them to shreds.

CNN:

“Every attempt by the police to rescue the hostages has been thwarted by Sandman and two lizard creatures, one of them possibly responsible for the massacre at the corner of Hunt and Nelson Street. Compounding the danger is the appearance of a metallic scorpion beast, a woman dressed in a quilt-padded costume, and two other women made entirely out of water and electricity. These people have only a moment ago been identified as the three escaped Riker’s prisoners, Nicky Holiday and his henchmen—Marla, Darla, and Carla. And they were accompanied by a strange, black-suited figure. Early reports had believed him to be the black-suited Spider-Man, but he has now been identified as something entirely different.”

Sure enough, someone in the black spider suit was leering like a jackal as the camera zoomed in on him. He swung down, dispatching members of the SWAT team with disturbing ease. Some tried to get a shot off and didn’t even come close. He tossed them aside, juggling them like plates, and showing them to be just as easily breakable. All while Nicky “Scorpion” Holiday was tearing men in half from the sharp blade of his hook. Marla, Carla, and Darla were taking down a few SWAT members as well, but not as fiercely as Holiday and the black-suited menace were.

Rachel appeared to be highly impressed at the sight of Spider-Man’s “evil twin” and the chaos he was unleashing on screen. “You’ve gotta hand it to Nicky. That man sure knows how to make the sweetest friends.”

Channel Six:

They had a helicopter. Good for them. The news camera aboard zoomed in on the taxi that was up in the webbing, and a terrified Mary Jane Watson was in the backseat.

“The hostage has been identified as Mary Jane Watson, an actor recently seen in a brief stint on the current Broadway hit, Manhattan Melodies II, featuring the well-known Muppets. And the famous puppet characters have also been discovered to be hostages in this dire situation, trapped inside of the bus owned by their Electric Mayhem band along with three yet-to-be-identified humans and a small group of what appears to be imaginary friends, possibly from the Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends service outside the city.”

The camera moved away from Mary Jane and the taxi, zooming in on the windows of the Electric Mayhem bus to reveal the mortified faces of Fozzie Bear, Robin the Frog, Miss Piggy, Camilla, the Electric Mayhem band members, a square-headed eight-year-old human boy with brown hair, a redheaded 22-year-old girl with a green sweater, a girl with braided hair and wearing yellow boots and a rainbow shirt, a tall red imaginary friend with a stubby arm and a crooked left eyestalk, a bird-airplane-palm tree imaginary friend, and a purple-haired, horned, fanged imaginary friend who seemed twice as terrified. There was another imaginary friend—a blue ghostlike one—who didn’t seem as scared as his companions were, which was obvious as he had pressed his face up against the window and made bizarre faces to the camera.

“We’re now going to take you live to the scene, right across the street in front of the Muppet Theatre, with Channel Six news reporter April O’Neil.”

The camera shifted to exactly where the news correspondent said April would be, directly at the front entrance to the Muppet Theatre, where much of the audience that had attended to see the now-canceled final performance of Manhattan Melodies II had gathered to see what was happening at the Bitterman Plaza construction site—even Statler and Waldorf figured they’d get a better deal with the action happening there than the Muppet show itself. A few of the cast and crew of the show were there as well, as April nervously gave her report. “We’re only a hundred feet away now, and…wait!”

The camera view whipped around as the black-suited figure fired black web lines up at the partially completed Bitterman Plaza. Incredibly, the web lines were creating letters.

“It seems to be some kind of message,” April announced. The camera was only picking up a few letters…a T, an O, some others…

“Pull back,” said an annoyed Rachel Bitterman to the TV. “Give us a better view, you moron!”

As if responding to her demand, the cameraman promptly pulled back, and the entire message came into view:

TRY TO STOP US IF YOU CAN

“I don’t exactly know who these monsters are addressing with this message, but if anyone were to try and stop them, it would be a suicide mission,” April declared. “For what chance would any hero, especially Spider-Man, have against such a sinister—”

Harry pushed the mute button, because he’d heard enough. While he slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes, Rachel Bitterman got up from the desk and strode over to him. She proudly said, “Can ya feel it, Harry? In just mere seconds, we’re gonna be gods and goddesses amongst everyone in this whole freakin’ city! No more will we have to worry about being opposed by some costumed freaks and their foamed friends! We can be able to do whatever we want…whenever we want…all with a marvelous price!”

Harry Osborn couldn’t really give his aunt a straight response to her question, mostly because he wasn’t certain if he was capable of feeling anything anymore. He did, however, know that this whole big scheme of hers was completely over-the-top and unnecessary in many ways. What started out as a revenge plot somehow transpired into a very clichéd take-over-the-world plot that he found no reason in being a part of, and he didn’t hesitate to let his aunt know just that.

“If you’re going to continue on with this retarded plan of yours, then you can count me out of it.”

Rachel wondered for a moment if the extra dosage of the Goblin formula was making her deaf as she tried to comprehend what her nephew just told her. “Excuse me?”

“I thought this was just supposed to be about getting back at Peter for killing my father, not trying to make it to the top of the world.” Harry stated. “Lord knows I’ve already had enough with living that kind of life with my father’s fortune all around me.”

“This still is about getting back at him, kiddo!” Rachel remarked. “But I’m not gonna waste the opportunity of getting what I’ve been desiring for years now, which is being the ‘Queen of Manhattan’! And the only way that’s gonna happen is if I take your old friend out of the mine, along with anyone else that stands in our way, especially Jenny and those Muffets!”

“Muppets.”

“Whatever! In a few moments, it won’t even matter what name they go by, because they’ll be eradicated…” She snapped her fingers, “…just like that!” She then lifted her left arm, which was bare due to the fact that she was wearing a black muscle shirt at the time, and flexed it. Her shirt seemed to be the appropriate attire for her new muscular physique—a result of the Goblin formula—and it, along with a larger pair of black slacks and some black boots, was all that she could wear because of it. “And that’ll seem very possible with our new team of terrorists and my new body.”

The more Harry listened to her, the more he began to realize just how he sounded in front of everyone. If that was the side effects of his father’s infamous Goblin formula, then he almost regretted ever allowing it to come into his body. His aunt sounded insane, cocky, sadistic, and—above all—annoying…much like he had over the past few days since regaining his memory. It was no wonder Mary Jane looked so horrified by his presence after her staged break-up with Peter, which was all his aunt’s idea.

“Now what I don’t need right now is you sitting on your butt and crying like a little baby, because half of your face has been reduced to grilled cheese.” She said while grabbing a long, black, hooded cloak off her desk and placing it over her body. “If our master plan is going to work, we need everyone in together on it.” After putting on her cloak, she then pulled out one of the desk drawers and reached into it, taking out a golden object that resembled a mask. “Your future depends on your choice, Harry. Better make it a good one, otherwise you won’t have one.”

Harry didn’t once look in her direction as she prepped herself up to leave the apartment and make her way to the action taking place at her uncompleted plaza. But if he had, then he would’ve noticed how bizarrely she had changed her appearance in just a few seconds. With a dark hooded cloak that covered eighty percent of her body and a mask that was reminiscent of the one Norman Osborn had worn as the Green Goblin (only it was golden and had red retractable lenses), she had become another new goblin…only hers was appropriately titled “The Hobgoblin,” a name that she had personally chosen herself.

“And, Harry?” She said through her intimidating mask, while standing near the doorway to the balcony, where a larger, modified version of Norman Osborn’s original glider was parked. “Don’t you dare leave us laying in the ashes on this one…or I’ll take you down with me.” With those being her last words to him, she climbed on top of the glider, which instantly activated it, and rocketed away from the building.

Harry stood up from his chair and started pacing the room. He was in a total crossroads with everything that was happening, and his aunt wasn’t making it any easier for him with her ultimatum. He thought of Mary Jane trapped, as well as the characters in that bus who had nothing to do with what was going on at that moment, and then he thought of Peter hurtling toward certain death to save them all. Because that was what Peter was going to do; Harry was positive of that. Peter was just that determined, just that “heroic,” just that reckless, and just that stupid to go in against overwhelming odds, with whatever small amount of backup he could muster, knowing that he or anyone else by his side couldn’t possibly survive.

A stiff breeze blew across his apartment from the balcony, almost as if to remind him of the decision that his aunt had demanded him to make in a short amount of time. It was hard enough not being able to concentrate with such a chilling draft, so he went to closed the newly installed glass doors. Then he stopped in his tracks.

Jenny was standing in the doorway, looking far beyond what she had been the last time Harry had seen her. White hair overshadowed her usual brown hair, green eyes replaced the brownish hue they originally had, and her small frame had become muscularly increased as she wore the provocative cat suit. She didn’t look like the same girl he knew over the years. But she did look humbled, much like the old Jenny would’ve looked.

Harry stood in the shadows for a moment, then stepped forward into the narrow sliver of light cast by the nearby lamp. It was just enough for Jenny to see his ruined face. Half of it was now hideous, grotesque, mangled from the bomb that Peter had hurled at him. Jenny was clearly shocked by the sight, taken aback.

Had it been Peter Parker standing there, Harry would’ve told him to get out in a heartbeat. But something in him forced him to just keep his mouth shut and hear what she had to say. “Just to let you know, I don’t blame you for what happened to my father. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s her.” Irony was a thing that Harry was all too familiar with, and it seemed like just the case in point as Jenny made her entrance, because the death of her father was just the thing that was about to enter into his mind before she came. “She’s been manipulating you, just like she had with everyone else who comes across her path. She’s been doing it since day one. She doesn’t love you, Harry. She doesn’t care about your father’s death, Peter Parker, or even her grudge against the Muppets. She’s using you to get power over all of New York City.”

Harry knew that much was true, but he still refused to let Jenny interfere with his big decision. “Did you come all this way to tell me that? Shouldn’t you be up there saving your friends?”

His voice sounded very snobbish, enough to trigger that side of Jenny that had been taking aggressive measures lately. But she kept herself composed long enough to try and talk some sense into it. “Listen, it’s time for you to wake up and see the big picture, Harry. I heard every word you and your aunt had said a short while ago, and it was all I needed to hear in order to know what kind of relationship you two have been having. And don’t give me that ‘tough love’ crap, because I won’t buy it for a minute.”

“My relationship with my aunt is my business…not yours!” Harry retorted.

“O.K., then fine!” Jenny exclaimed. “If you won’t believe me on that, then trust me on this…Peter Parker didn’t kill your father! I know he wouldn’t have, because he’s a decent human being, unlike Rachel Bitterman. For God’s sakes, Harry, we’ve all been friends long enough to know that none of us would intentionally hurt each other like that! That’s how I know you couldn’t have been a conspirator in my father’s death!”

“How would you know? You weren’t even there!”

“Neither were you!”

Harry wished he could’ve come with another retort, but he quickly found himself outwitted by Jenny. He buried his head in his hands and sagged against the wall, choking back a sob…then became aware of Bernard, his butler, standing in the main entranceway of the great room.

“If I may, sir,” said Bernard. “I’ve seen things in this house I’ve never spoken of, I’ve watched a darkness come over your father. A madness that cost him his life.”

Why was Bernard bringing all this up? “What are you trying to tell me?” Harry said, ghosts screaming in his ears.

Bernard took a deep breath and let it out. “The night your father died, I cleaned his wound. The blade that pierced his body came from his glider, his invention. Only he could have discharged it.”

Harry was stunned, and even Jenny slightly was herself. Bernard…knew? Here he had thought he’d managed to keep his secrets from the faithful servant. Bernard had been out visiting relatives on the night of the attack made by Peter and Jenny. Despite the severity of his wounds, Harry and his aunt had still managed to hide away the more incriminating elements of the Goblin’s equipment. When Bernard had returned, Harry and Rachel had told the appalled retainer that he’d injured himself in a chemical experiment gone terribly wrong, and had refused all pleas to go to the hospital.

But now Bernard was claiming that he’d actually known the truth, going all the way back to his father’s “original sins”? He knew what Norman Osborn had become? Known what he was capable of? Why hadn’t he said anything at the time?

The answer was obvious, really. Bernard had been with the family for as long as Harry could remember. The old butler’s peculiar code of ethics simply wouldn’t have allowed him to tell the world of his master’s wrongdoings. Plus, from a practical standpoint, if Bernard did go around and tell people, Norman might well seek him out and kill him. And since Norman had died…what point was there in letting people know?

“Jenny is right, Harry. I have just as much reason to believe that your Aunt Rachel has been manipulating you for her own demented needs. And using your father’s accidental death in the process of it is, if I may say, below a level of inhumanity that I can possibly imagine.” Bernard assured him. “I loved your father as I have loved you, Harry.” He looked in Jenny’s direction as he then said, “As your friends love you.”

Harry had nothing to say.

So Bernard turned and walked away, leaving Harry with Jenny in the darkness. He miserably turned and faced Jenny, who felt extremely thankful that Bernard was there to bring some sense back into him. All this time he had been punishing her more than he had himself, Peter, Mary Jane, and everyone else who had cared about him. The death of her father began plaguing his mind, and as he now realized the truth about his own father’s death, it horrified him knowing he was responsible for it by trusting in his sadistic aunt.

There goes that irony again. Here I was accusing Peter for the death of my father, when he actually wasn’t responsible. And because of my wrongful accusations, Jenny’s father is now dead, and she’s free to accuse me of being responsible for it. The tables have turned, and I’m just now waking up to realize it.

But, much to Harry’s surprise, Jenny didn’t show signs of hatred or vengeance towards him for what happened to her father. She showed pity. A common feeling to show someone who could relate to the situation of losing a loved one due to unrighteous circumstances.

Harry was about to tell her something, but she interrupted his chance by approaching him with a hug and saying, “Don’t worry, Harry. It’s not your fault. It’s not…your…fault.”

“I know, but…the pain will never go away.”

She let go of him and stared straight into his eyes. “It’s never too late to redeem yourself.”

Harry nodded in understanding. He then recalled exactly what his aunt had told him before departing: Your future depends on your choice. Better make it a good one, otherwise you won’t have one.

And there and then, Harry had made his choice.

END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Thanks, Count. I try my best to make these last few chapters as dramatic and powerful as I can, since they're reaching that more dynamic part of the movie when everything comes in place.

The next chapter will be the final one and split up into parts, in order for readers and me, the writer, to keep up with all the action and characters involved.

Also, don't be too surprised if the action in this last chapter strongly resemble Ryan's "Old Friends" story.

awesome story!

Chapter Twenty-Three (Part One)

“Oh, man! THIS IS SO AWESOME!”

Bloo was practically bounding around the inside of the Electric Mayhem bus, while everyone else was completely scared to even twitch. If the little blue imaginary friend were any heavier, his weight would be sure to cause the black webbing suspending the bus in the air to snap. Luckily, it didn’t. But Bloo’s constant hopping around was still making the other passengers uncomfortable.

“Bloo!” Mac (his creator) finally exclaimed, which instantly brought Bloo to a halt. “Will you cut it out? This isn’t awesome! Our lives are in danger! Don’t you realize that?”

“Well, of course I do! Why else would I be so happy right now?” Bloo remarked. “Being in a life-threatening situation is sooo far from booooring!”

Piggy looked in Bloo’s direction disbelievingly. “Good Lord! Is this guy for real?”

“Well, duh! I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t for real!” Bloo told her. “I mean, look at you. What kind of imaginary friend are you supposed to be?”

“The type that’s gonna kick your scrawny little blue butt, if ya don’t sit down and shut up!”

Back and forth, Bloo and Piggy screamed insults at each other, while everyone else just watched on in amusement—never seeing two big egos clash in such a way before. Meanwhile, Frankie and Fozzie were about to go nuts between the altercation on the bus and the perilous situation that they had suddenly become a part of.

When the stress had finally taken it toll on them both, they opened their mouths and screamed from the top of their lungs, “QUIET!” And immediately Bloo and Piggy stopped bickering.

“We have to keep ourselves calm.” Fozzie suggested.

“Yeah, someone will come and rescue us.” Robin said. “And I’m sure it will be either Uncle Kermit or Spider-Man.”

“That’s right!” Frankie exclaimed. “Spidey won’t fail us! He’ll come swooping down at any…”

CRASH!

The bus’s front windshield abruptly shattered under the might of two large black fists that had punched through it. On the hood of the bus was the group’s kidnapper, Venom, who grabbed the top frame of the shattered windshield and, using his outstanding and yet frightening strength, peeled back the rooftop of the bus like a sardine can.

When the rooftop was halfway peeled, Venom looked down at the frightened group and sneered a question. “So…who wants to be the first to ride the Coaster of Chaos?”

“Oh! I do! I do! I do!” Bloo excitedly remarked, not long before Frankie had slapped him against the head and silenced him.

Out of all who were quivering with fear at the sight of the monstrous Venom, the only one who had the courage to step forward and speak up to him was Robin the Frog. “You may scare my friends, but you don’t scare me!”

“Oh, really?” Venom remarked with interest.

“Yeah! ‘Cause I know for a fact that Spider-Man and his Web of Heroes will come and kick all of your butts!”

Venom’s laughs seemed to have come out of him like a series of muffled explosions. “Oh, I seriously doubt that, kid!” He then extended his arm out towards the tiny frog and fired a line of black webbing that had snagged him and instantaneously brought him to the vicious claws of Venom.

Fozzie and the others reacted in shock to the way Venom had snatched Robin and attempted to get him back, until the dark figure leaped away from the bus and fired another line of black webbing that carried him to the topmost section of the construction site. While he was swinging to that area with Robin in his grasps, the nearby news helicopter was capturing them both on camera, allowing everyone at home and around the world to see Venom’s sadistic plan of action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Happiness Hotel, with the exception of Pops and a few bellhop rats that were working the night shift, hardly any Muppet residents were occupying the hotel, mostly because they all were attending the final Manhattan Melodies II performance. There were, however, residents from the Foster’s mansion all gathered in the living room and watching along with Edward Morbius (who was mostly listening) and Lori Thomas at the scene that was taking place in the construction site.

Madame Foster was clinging to her imaginary friend, Mr. Herriman, as she watched the shocking footage of her granddaughter and their friends trapped in the suspending bus. Lori was reacting in fear and shock as well, watching little Robin be brought to the top of the construction site, where Venom had webbed him up to a vertically aligned girder that had appeared to already be occupied by someone else who the black-suited figure captured.

“Oh, my God!”

Lori’s hand went to her mouth upon realizing whom the other person webbed up to the girder was.

“Stanley!”

She watched him on the television set, squirming desperately to get himself free from the remarkably tight webbing that was subduing him and Robin. It was such a dreadful sight to see that she barely even gave herself the time to see that Ed Singer, Bobo Bear, Ryan, Butch, and Clyde had been restrained to a separate girder by Venom’s strong black webbing. She had pulled Edward aside, so that neither the people in the living room could hear them nor they could hear them as they talked.

“Stanley’s been kidnapped by the black-suited menace.” Lori said through a shaky voice, sounding as if she was trying to fight back tears while addressing Edward. “This is getting way out of hand, Ed. My brother’s now just as much of a monster as Krassman is and involved in all of this chaos without even knowing who he really is, and my cousin has been kidnapped by one of the guys who he has allied himself with. It’d be impossible to try and get Stanley out of there, without being shredded by Krassman, Sean, or any of those other terrorists!”

Edward had been listening closely to what she was saying and thinking carefully about it. “You’re saying that if Spider-Man or anyone else did try to stop these people that they won’t survive long enough to save all of the hostages, including Stanley?”

“What I’m saying is that I can’t just stand here and watch all h*ll break loose with my family caught in the middle of it all!” Lori remarked. “Years ago, Sean was there to save my butt when I got myself captured by the Green Goblin. I think now would be a better time than any for me to return the favor for both his sake and Stanley’s.”

“But you’ll be sacrificing yourself more than Spider-Man or any others trying to save them both.” Edward contradicted.

“I know. I know. But I at least have to try.”

She was about to make her way towards the front door, until Edward surprisingly reached up and snatched her arm, almost as if he sensed that she would try something like that. “Wait, Alissa. There’s a better and much safer way to go about rescuing them.”

“How?”

Edward’s voice seemed very silent as he said to her, “There’s a formula that I’ve been working on, long before I left the old country, which is supposed to fix visual impairment. But, judging from recent test subjects, it seems to do more than enhance eyesight.”

“Like what?”

“It gives subjects the characteristics of a vampire bat, whose blood I used in conjunction with mine to develop the formula. It makes the subject stronger and more agile in ways possibly imagined and even provides them with an unnatural ability to glide.”

A smile crept across Lori’s face—this was just what she needed to hear from her old friend. “Then what are we doing standing here? Juice me up with that formula, man!”

“I must warn you that there are side-effects to it.”

“I don’t care! I have to save my family!”

Edward just simply nodded. “Alright. Lead me back to my room, and I’ll have it ready for you in seconds.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

It appealed to Mary Jane’s morbid sense of humor that Eddie Brock had left the meter running even as he suspended the cab some seventy-five stories in the air, only a few feet above the Electric Mayhem bus. She currently owed in excess of eighty bucks and couldn’t help but think that insult was most definitely being heaped upon injury.

As the cab gently swayed in the wind, she heard what sounded like fingers gently vibrating the strings of a piano. She mulled over her predicament.

“Why do they always come after me?” she wondered aloud. “What, do I have the word ‘bait’ stamped on my forehead? Did somebody stick a ‘capture me’ sign on my back?”

A strand of webbed snapped with a sound like a banjo string coming undone. Her car dropped a few feet, then somersaulted downward. Mary Jane screamed as the taxi tore through several webs and tumbled end over end, barely missing the Electric Mayhem bus, where the group had watched in horror at the uncomfortable ride Mary Jane was in. She was slammed around inside the cab, then it snagged on another level of the massive web and halted seventy stories up.

From far, far below she thought she heard something: a distant cry of approval. They were waiting for her to fall—the sick freaks. They wanted to see a show. What were things coming to, that—

Suddenly something landed on the hood of the cab. Mary Jane jumped back, startled, assuming that it was her captor. Instead the masked face of Spider-Man peered in at her. Accompanying him was Kim Possible.

“Peter!” she gasped with a mixture of both relief and dread. “They’re never going to let you all out of here alive.”

“I…” He didn’t seem to know what to say. Finally he told her, “I’m sorry I pushed you.”

Mary Jane didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and settled for a combination of both. Here she was dangling high above certain death, and Peter was apologizing for what had happened at the Jazz Room. Kim thought it was really kind of sweet…although right now he needed to get his priorities in order.

“M.J., I’m going to see that you make it safely back to the ground, while Peter, some friends, and I take care of these terrorists.” Kim said.

Mary Jane was about to acknowledge the plan that the two had formulated, until she spotted her black-clad captor swinging straight toward both of them. Neither Peter nor Kim were reacting—especially not Peter, who seemed as if he didn’t sense the impending danger. Mary Jane let out an alarmed cry and pointed, and Spider-Man and Kim Possible turned to see. It wasn’t nearly enough time to get out of their attacker’s way as two mighty kicks knocked Spider-Man headfirst through the windshield and Kim off the hood of the cab. Mary Jane, who had left the plastic partition open between the passenger’s and the driver’s seat, instantly regretted that as she was showered with glass.

Meanwhile, Kim was freefalling through several lines of webbing, screaming madly. Her freefall didn’t last very long, as she was suddenly snagged by a large group of webbing and brought to an abrupt halt. While lying there amongst the webbing, she looked upward and realized that she had fallen twenty stories from where the cab was. Oh, crap, she thought as she tried to reach her Kimmunicator and contact Ron, who had to have at least made it to the construction site with the Tennysons, Lilo’s family, Gonzo, and Rizzo. However, that task proved difficult upon noticing how both her arms were tangled up in the webs, far away from her pockets.

Spider-Man, recovering quickly, vaulted over the rooftop and landed on the trunk, almost sliding off before getting a firm grip. Mary Jane and he looked up as the black-suited creature stood atop the hood, looming over them.

The black goo that constituted its mask receded, revealing the face of the man who’d been driving the cab and kidnapping Mary Jane in the process. His burning eyes stared down at them. Beyond that he had taken her captive, Mary Jane had no clue who he was, but from Spider-Man’s reaction she knew that Peter recognized him immediately.

“Hiya, pal, remember me?”

“Oh my God,” gasped Spider-Man. “Eddie!”

“I just want you to know, Pete, I took your advice,” he said, flicking his tongue around. “You told me if I wanted forgiveness, I should find religion, so I went to church last night and asked for it. I asked for everything that had been taken away from me. D****d if I didn’t get it. And more. I was handed power I never dreamed of, Pete. It just…poured down on me as if from heaven itself.”

“You’ve got to take off the suit!” Spider-Man told him. “It’ll—”

Venom leaped to the rear of the car and kicked Spider-Man across the face, knocking him from the vehicle.

Spider-Man fell, tearing through several strands of web, finally coming to rest about sixty stories up and close to where Kim had been tangled, in a sticky place in the web where the strands were thick enough to obscure the view from the news cameras.

But they had already managed to catch enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~

When Gwen Stacy had learned that Mary Jane Watson was the one captured in the black webbing at the construction site, nothing that her father had said or done could convince her to stay away from the scene. She knew that she wasn’t in any way responsible for Mary Jane’s predicament, but after what happened at the Jazz Room, she felt an odd kinship to her.

She’d even done some research into Mary Jane’s past and marveled at the spectacularly bad luck the girl had experienced. According to police reports, she’d been captured by Dr. Octopus shortly before that madman’s all too timely death. And before that, apparently the Green Goblin had dangled her off one of the towers of the Fifty-ninth Street Bridge, then dropped her.

Now, watching the TV monitors while her father organized the rescue efforts, Gwen saw that freakish anti-Spider-Man peel back his facemask through some odd means. She was even more shocked at what it revealed. “Eddie!” she gasped.

Her earlier belief that she had nothing to do with Mary Jane’s situation instantly vanished. She ran from the monitor and sought out her father, who was focusing on high above with a pair of binoculars. “That’s Eddie up there!” she told him.

“Gwen, step back,” Captain Stacy said. “You can’t help here.”

“I feel responsible.”

“You’re not responsible for the actions of a madman,” her father assured her, but Gwen felt that way nonetheless. Her father, though, was clearly not interested, and she had to admit she couldn’t really blame him.

“Excuse me, Captain.” Police officer Nina Valerosa was hauling a nervous-looking man forward. Nina seemed quite nervous herself as she did—possibly because her old imaginary friend, Eduardo, was one of the hostages high up above the site. Meanwhile, the man was waving some sort of I.D. that indicated he was part of a research facility. “This man, he’s a doctor. Claims to have some important information.”

“What’s this about, Dr.…” Captain Stacy glanced at the I.D. “Dr. Wallace.”

“Flint Marko.”

Captain Stacy frowned. “What about him?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” Dr. Wallace indicated a nearby news monitor that was replaying Sandman’s annihilation of the Humvees. “This Sandman creature…it’s him. Look,” he said pleadingly, “I know why he’s doing this. It might help you to stop him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sixty stories up, Spider-Man struggled in the webbing. As he started to pull free of it, Venom dropped down from overhead and webbed up Peter’s wrist, binding it to the giant black web. Before Spider-Man could move, his other wrist was webbed up as well. Pinned, his arms outstretched, Spider-Man was just as trapped as Kim was.

Nearby, Kim herself watched helplessly as Venom came down with a flying knee drop to Spider-Man’s ribs, cracking them. Spider-Man yelled in pain, and Venom reached down, yanking Spider-Man’s mask clear. Peter gasped for air and hoped that he was still out of range of the TV cameras. The prospect of Aunt May being home, watching this, and seeing Peter’s face flashing across the TV screen was unsettling.

Then again, that might turn out to be the least of his problems.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Seventy-three stories above the ground, the industrial steel Dumpster that was hanging in the top portion of the web began to shift position. Strands that held it in place were beginning to break. Stories below the Dumpster, both Mary Jane and the group trapped on the ravaged Electric Mayhem bus watched helplessly as it tilted toward them.

“You still think this is cool, Bloo?” Mac asked.

Bloo was suddenly beginning to show signs of intense fear. “Um…n-no?”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing the imminent threat to the hostages, Peter turned toward Venom and said desperately, “What do you want, Eddie?”

“I wanted to see you again, Pete,” Venom said with great cheer, as if they were two old buddies hooking up again at a school reunion. “And talk with you and, well, to be honest, I want to kill you.”

“We can find a way to settle this.”

“You’re so right. I was thinking…humiliation…just as you humiliated me…but televised. Live-action coverage.” He held his hands up as if envisioning it in a headline or on a marquee. “Spider-Man screws up, and sweet little Mary Jane dies along with Muppets and imaginary friends.” He lowered his hands and came in close to Peter. Foul breath, like burnt metal, washed over Peter, who wondered if he’d reeked like that when he’d been wearing the thing. “You made me lose my girl and…uh…whatever friends that I may’ve had. Now I’m going to make you lose yours, with the help of my sinister friends. I think you’ve met some of them, including Sandy.”

As a terrible groan of metal came from high above, Peter looked up and his heart thudded with alarm.

The Dumpster’s steel lid swung open. Cinder blocks, concrete slabs, and heavy metal brackets began to slide out. They rained down onto the Electric Mayhem bus and Mary Jane’s taxi, ricocheting off both with loud clanging and clanking sounds. Peter could see Mary Jane and the others getting low in their seats, trying to avoid the deadly impacts. He also saw that they were tearing away the webs that supported the vehicles.

As they rebounded off the cab, they hailed down upon Spider-Man, Venom, and Kim Possible, tearing through the webs around them. Venom dodged a falling slab of concrete, while a cinder block tore through the web that he and Spidey were on, freeing one of Peter’s hands. Peter reached out, grabbed Venom’s ankle, and pulled him off-balance. Venom hit the webbing right next to Peter, and the both of them swayed as Peter grappled one-handed with his tormentor while heavy objects fell all around them.

Suddenly a key support of the web was severed by a jagged piece of metal, and the two of them were in free fall. Liberated from the web restraints, Peter struggled at close quarters with Venom as they tumbled end over end.

The ground was coming up incredibly fast, and Peter fired webs at the last instant to break his fall. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Venom doing the same thing, and although the webbing slowed them down, it didn’t completely save them from violent landings as they hit the ground hard.

Peter lay there for a moment, unmoving, trying to determine whether he’d broken anything on impact. He moved his limbs and decided that he hadn’t, although his chest was still aching from where Venom had been tap-dancing on his ribs. He hauled himself to his feet and discovered that, fortunately, they were blocked from the view of the crowd by a power shovel, a bulldozer, and some other construction equipment.

His Spider-Man mask was lying a couple of feet away. He staggered toward it, picked it up, and pulled it on. As he reeled, the world spinning around him, his spider-sense warned him at the last second as Flint Marko’s rock-hard fist came swinging right into his field of vision. But he wasn’t fast enough to dodge it. It connected, hard, and Spider-Man stumbled backward, only to meet the fist of Venom, driving him back in the other direction. He fired a web upward to try to get away, but Sandman once again slammed into him. This time the impact sent Spider-Man against one of the steel uprights, knocking the wind out of him.

High up above, Kim quickly found herself untangled from the webbing and looked downward to see the fierce punishment that Spider-Man had been suffering from. With a free arm, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her Kimmunicator, activating it and contacting her other teammates. “Gonzo! Ron! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS?”

TO BE CONTINUED....

awesome!

Oh, wow, I have certainly missed a lot. I shied away from this initially because I just don't enjoy the comic book movies outside of x-men (I don't know why but they are the only ones I enjoy). But this, this is so beautifully written.

I'm really enjoying it and can't wait to see what else is in store!

Thank you, Melissa.

Yes, please check out my X-Men/Muppets saga if you loved the X-Men films. Those are just as exciting as my Spidey/Muppets trilogy.

The titles of the X-Men/Muppets stories are: "X-Men Mark The Spot", "The Great X-Muppet Caper", and "And He'll Stand With...."