(Editor's Note: This story takes place before the M2K run of Amazing Spider-Man)

Peter Parker stood amidst the deadly fumes with a scowl on his face. Of all the villains he'd ever faced and all the tedious battles he'd ever took part in, this was certainly beginning to rank up among the very worst of them.

"Parker you idiot!" screamed J. Jonah Jameson in a voice that caused Peter to grind his teeth as if he were chomping at an imaginary bit. Jonah sat a few feet from where Peter stood, but that didn't stop him from spouting his cigar smoke directly into Peter's face. Jonah had definitely switched his brand of cigar. The Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs and the musk of Kraven's body odor combined couldn't make Peter's eyes water as badly as this smoking stench was.

"How many times have you come into my office promising me quality shots of Spider-Man, only to hand me garbage like this?" Jonah let the shots that had recently been developed from Peter's camera slide deftly from the fingertips of his free hand and flutter into the waste can. Peter followed them with his eyes, mentally kicking himself for not checking in the manila envelope he had picked up from the developing place to see if they had come out correctly. This was only the umpteenth time this had happened, and every time it did Jonah would give him this same speech. Peter dreaded scenes like this as much as his continual ill-fated rendezvous with the super powered underbelly of society, although both seemed to be consistent and unchangeable parts of his existence.

"Sorry Jonah, guess when I asked the guy to please "hurry up" he must of thought I said, "make it blurry pops", it happens right? Peter tried to mold his face into the sweetest, most innocent visage he could manage but he could tell by the slow flush of crimson creeping into everyone's favorite, most esteemed publisher's face that it wasn't working all that well. Peter felt like a heel for even trying to lay the blame on the developer he'd rushed the film to, even though he didn't know the guy and he was obviously in no danger from Jonah's outburst. Still, just glancing at the pictures as Jonah held them in his hand showed Peter that his camera had been well out of focus and that the best developing job in the world wouldn't have made a lick of difference. He'd forgotten to press the auto focus button on the camera before he'd webbed it to the cornice and leapt down to confront the hoods smuggling computer equipment into their unmarked van.

He'd dispatched them easily enough and the cops had arrived promptly enough so that Peter had time for a quick developing stop and an uneventful swing to the Bugle, expecting a nice check to be lining his pocket even now. He glanced once more towards the garbage can and didn't even think twice about picking the pictures up to root through them for something salvageable. He couldn't believe that after all these years he still made rookie mistakes like this. One of these days he was going to forget to fire his web-shooter in mid-swing and go Spider splat.

Suddenly, and without warning, Jonah broke out into a beaming smile that caused Peter to flinch. A rookie on his first week of photo assignments might have been soothed by that smile and perhaps let their guard down for the killer stroke, but Peter knew Jonah too well for that and he tensed, preparing himself to weather the storm.

"You're right Parker." Jonah spat through his grin in as cheery a voice as he could muster. "You're absolutely right. It does happen, happens to everybody now and then." He continued as he got out of his swiveling, leather chair and rounded the desk to where Peter was standing.

"Sometimes I'll get a bad batch of photos, or someone will spill ink on a page of the morning edition, or maybe even my secretary will mess up and give me one too many sugars in my coffee. It's certainly understandable in most cases. But with you..." Jonah sidled over in front of his desk until he was only a few inches from Peter, the cigar tip wedged between his fetid grin a mere inch from Peter's nose. Peter instinctively held his breath and squinted his eyes, preparing for what was next.

"With you it ALWAYS happens!" Peter visibly winced as fresh cigar smoke and spittle flashed across his face, even though he'd been expecting it. He arched his back slightly to put as much distance from Jonah as possible for he knew his animated employer was far from through.

"You're always in here with one excuse or another about why you screwed up and I'm tired of it. True, you get me pictures no one else seems capable of acquiring, but the personal angst I have to go through the many times that you let me down barely makes it seem worth the effort of keeping you employed." Jonah huffed and puffed, taking massive draws on his cigar and letting every exhalation of smoke cross Peter's scrunched up face.

"Get out of my office and I don't want to see your face until you bring me some quality shots of something newsworthy." Jonah continued to rant, pacing from one corner of the front of his desk to the other.

"One more incident like this and the only job you'll be able to get will be taking baby pictures of little punks with lollipops stuck in their hair with their angry mother's glowering over your shoulder. I mean it this time Parker!" Jonah said and then turned and started away so quickly he ran his shin directly into his desk. Cursing and grimacing he shot Peter a look of purest ice that dared Peter to say one word or even crack so much as the glimmer of a smile.

The room was empty before Jonah even whipped his head around. Peter had taken his advice and not even waited for the anger at having Jonah's shin whacked to be re-directed into a fresh assault on him.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Jonah grumbled as he tenderly rubbed the sore spot on his leg. "Maybe one day that boy will learn that you can't get anywhere in this world unless you give everything you do in life your best effort." Jonah raised his eyes from his leg to his desk hoping to continue reading over the latest reports he'd typed up for improvements in production of the paper to be given to Joe Robertson, his Editor in Chief, and his face quickly deteriorated to it's familiar shade of red once more as he realized that striking his desk had spilled his morning coffee all over everything.

Peter ignored the snickers and comments from his co-workers as he made his way to the stairs of the Daily Bugle building, but the sympathetic smile and shrug of the shoulders he got from Jameson's secretary Glory Grant made him feel slightly better. All throughout most of his days in school he'd heard similar jabs and taunts from his peers and that was when he excelled at what he did. Back then it had always bothered him and he'd tried hard to fit in, but he'd learned that what most people thought about him didn't matter and that fitting in was simply being yourself and letting people know you for who you were. He knew the taunting the other employees of the Bugle were giving him was all in fun and nothing to be taken too personally.

By the time he reached the stairs and began to walk up towards the roof he was practically smiling. Thoughts of Jonah cracking his shin on his desk and spilling coffee all over the place passed the time as he traversed the numerous steps. He hoped that nobody's work was ruined and that the only person doing extra work because of that was Jonah himself. He thought it seemed pretty likely due to the way Jonah cursed and that thought had him practically beaming by the time he stepped out onto the Daily Bugle's gravel covered roof, making his way to the huge Daily Bugle sign so he could conceal the quick, practiced change of clothes he did so often.

Taking his gloves and boots from his jacket pockets and setting them down, he began shedding his clothes. Concealed beneath, as always, was the suit that had made him famous, the suit of the Amazing Spider-Man. After neatly folding his civilian clothes on the ground in front of him he made the familiar gesture with his hands, pressing a small button on his palms, releasing his patented web fluid that completely covered his clothes. Fashioning a strap from a few more strands of web fluid, he slung the "webpack" over his back and proceeded to the edge of the roof.

He glanced around quickly through the eyeholes in the mask now concealing his face and then, with a ballet dancer's grace, he leaped from the building and up into the air nearly twenty feet before he once again pressed the button on his palm to fire a line of web to the nearest building. Soon the drag from the line caught him and propelled him through the concrete canyons of the city with astonishing speed. Spider-Man was on his way home.

Lucian Iago was not a patient man. He prided himself on being a perfectionist and a loyal employee. He was always on time and the fact that some common ruffian had him waiting, a ruffian named the Scorpion no less, had him greatly disturbed. He ran his scarred hands through his thick, oily hair and glanced at his watch again. The freak was twenty minutes late. Iago's boss wasn't one to excuse tardiness so Lucian never made it an issue. Being late wasn't an option when you worked for the Kingpin of Crime. He fingered the pistol held concealed under his long black overcoat and stifled the urge to sneeze. This time of year everything was growing and to Lucian it was a plague to his sensitive sinuses. He had no idea why the Kingpin wanted the Scorpion contracted for this job but it wasn't his place to ask questions. He was just glad he'd brought the piece... you could never be too careful with super freaks.

A sudden, sharp noise from behind him caused Lucian to whirl quickly to face it, his gun already drawn and his finger slipping nervously across the trigger.

"Who's there?" He realized his voice was shaky and cursed under his breath, willing himself to calm down. He was representing the Kingpin and it wouldn't be a good idea if it got back to the main man that his boys were acting like frightened little rabbits on the street.

Lucian squinted into the inky black darkness of the warehouse he'd been told to meet the Scorpion in. The only illumination evident was from the single bulb glowing directly above Lucian Iago's head. He suddenly realized that it left him terrifyingly vulnerable and he didn't like it. As soon as he began to sidestep toward a far wall he could put his back against however, a cold, harsh voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Don't move. If you're the Kingpin's man then you're the guy I came to see and if you ain't, then you'll be dead before you get out of the range of that bulb's pretty light."

The voice was like the hissing of a snake and it made Lucian's bowels weaken. He had to resist the surprisingly strong urge to urinate in his pants as he spoke softly into the darkness that surrounded him.

"The Kingpin... he sent me with your money... and a file for you to look at." Lucian was horrified to find his voice was quivering even more than when he'd first heard the Scorpion creeping up behind him.

"I got the money right here." He said, gesturing to the briefcase near his feet. "And the file is right here in my coat pocket." Lucian quickly swept his hand into his inner jacket pocket but froze at the next words uttered from his invisible guest.

"Do it slow grease ball or I'll cut you in half right here." The Scorpion said in the vehement whisper that sent chills up and down Lucian's spine. Lucian heard the sound of footsteps and suddenly he could see him. See the silhouette of the Scorpion entering the light. The tough green armor-like hide surrounding his body, and the tail with it's razor barbed spike at the end, and worst of all, his eyes, eyes Lucian Iago knew well for he saw them in the mirror everyday, the eyes of a killer.

But there was something else there too, something else in the Scorpion's eyes, and when Lucian Iago recognized it, his dark skin turned three shades lighter and he wanted to leave as quick as he possibly could. There was madness in those eyes. A murderous rage that was barely held in check even now and Lucian Iago was rooted to the spot by fear, a fear of doing something to let that insane animal out.

"Hand me the folder and leave the money on the ground greasy, and tell the Kingpin I send my regards. His contract'll be filled soon." Lucian handed over the file and turned quickly to leave. He hoped he'd never have to do another job like this again. All he longed to do now was to go home to his family and forget he'd ever heard of the Scorpion.

Spider-Man sighed in a mixture of annoyance and dread. He'd been well on his way home when he'd just happened to glance down below and just happened to see the two guys grab her. When these two pieces of slime grabbed her she was probably on her way to lunch. Getting out of her job for an hour and never dreaming that she'd be accosted in an alley on her way. It just made him mad. And when Spider-Man got mad, Spider-Man got even.

They had her pretty well wrapped up but she was still fighting. Trying to bite the hands covering her mouth so she could scream. Spider-Man tensed as he saw a knife drawn and pressed to her belly. Even perched thirty feet above them in the busiest city in the world he could still hear the menacing whisper of one of the hoods telling her to shut up and stop struggling. The knife was his cue and he leapt down the entire thirty feet to the ground, landing cat-like on his fingertips and the balls of his feet.

"Excuse me fellas but if you want a date you're going to have to try less extreme methods. Grabbing any young female passerby off the streets is a thing of the past. It went out of style just like clubs and togas made of mammoth hide." The hoods whirled toward Spider-Man in complete shock and dropped the woman flat on her rear end. Their comic expressions of surprise made Spidey smile under his mask despite his anger towards them.

"Don't you know there are more convenient ways of dating nowadays? We're in the digital world guys. Your cyber date is but a mouse click away." Spider-Man waited patiently for the punks to react. There was no way out of the alley except through him and he knew they'd make a dash at him.

He didn't have to wait long as the guy with the knife launched himself at Spidey. Knife in hand he took a wild swipe that Spider-Man easily dodged by leaping straight into the air until his legs, tucked under him, were level with the punk's head.

"Now is this manners? You're acting just like Captain Caveman. Swinging that shiny sharp edged club isn't going to impress the ladies pal, let me tell you." As the hood's arcing swing spun his body around, Spidey whipped his leg out and connected with the back of his skull. The punk crumpled to the ground just as Spider-Man landed gently once more.

"Look what you did to Mick!" Screamed the other punk at the top of his lungs in a wail so high-pitched that it nearly made Spider-Man laugh out loud.

"I tried to warn Mr. caveman over here that the sophisticated technology of today might be a bit too much for his prehistoric little mind to handle and I guess he was just overwhelmed by the change in the times." Spidey said, fully enjoying himself now. "I guess you two ought to find a nice cave and wait for the end of the world to come so that life can proceed at your type of pace."

The jittery accomplice stood his ground, unable or just too afraid to move, so Spider-Man flicked his fingers over the buttons on his palms and simply webbed him to the wall he cowered against.

"If you can't find a suitable cave in Manhattan though, I know of a little precinct around here that I'm sure will be cold and dank enough for you." Spidey picked up the other unconscious moron and webbed him neatly beside his partner, making sure that the knife was taken from his hand first. "Maybe they'll even give you crayons and you can write symbols on the walls. Won't that be fun?"

"You're crazy man." The hood whimpered struggling in vain against the web that bound him snuggly to the wall.

"No, not crazy man, Spider-Man. I know you prehistoric types are a bit slow but get it right when the police come ok? I need some good press for a change." Spidey turned and helped the woman to her feet and walked her to the lip of the alley.

"Thank you Spider-Man, I don't even want to think about what might of happened if you hadn't been there." The woman was very pretty, but obviously distraught and the tears in her eyes made Spidey want to go back and kick those idiots around a little more.

"Just make sure you call the police and let them know that they're there so they don't hurt anyone else ok?" Spider-Man said as he began to climb the building once more. "Although I'd prefer meeting pretty girls like you in dark alleys instead of scary super villains, I'd rather not meet you like this again."

Spider-Man glanced one last time as the woman gazed up at him and she waved. He waved back just before he reached the top of the building and disappeared from sight. She seemed like a bright girl and he was pretty certain that she'd do the right thing and call the cops.

"Now maybe I can finally get my little spider butt home." He said to himself as he fired yet another web-line that clung to the flagpole of a larger building. Swinging from the roof of the building, he picked up speed and was once again on his way home with thoughts of his wife Mary Jane running through his head.

The girl he'd saved had been pretty indeed and his flirtations with her had been fun, but being a married man had its advantages too. Mary Jane was still a struggling actress and model and Peter wasn't exactly raking in the bucks as a photographer but their life was certainly blessed. Even if the occasional super villain or random street thug decided it'd be a good idea to bash his head in. At least he could get a decent paycheck or two from photographing it. If he could just learn to make sure his camera stayed in focus from now on, that is.

"Argh, how could I have forgotten?" Interrupting his thoughts and releasing his web in mid-swing, Spider-Man ricocheted down from building to building in a complex pattern designed to slow his velocity gradually until he landed gently on the nearest roof. He tore his belt from around his waist and cursed loud enough to scatter the pigeons that had come there to roost.

"Never set up my freaking camera. I can't believe it. Here I am thinking about self improvement and I don't even take one extra second to set up my camera before laying into those two man-apes back there." The low roof was perfectly flat and Spider-Man paced and hopped and raved all over its surface expressing his frustration more fluidly than any gymnast could dream.

"Mary Jane had been expecting that check. Heck, I'd been expecting that check." His hands slowly clenched into tight fists as Spidey's movements became quicker and tighter. Soon he was propelling himself from one side of the roof to the next, building speed, and mounting frustration.

"It's just not fair." Landing in front of an old brick chimney he lashed out with his fists, shattering a section into chunks and red dust that sifted down across his face. Immediately Spidey regretted what he had done. He knew that it was no one's fault but his own. His fists reluctantly unclenched and he swallowed his anger. "Way to go Parker. Keep causing property damage like this and you really will be public enemy number one, just like Jolly J.J.J. always wanted."

Spider-Man slumped his shoulders and let his breath out slowly and calmly. The anger was still there but he had a reign on it. He absentmindedly kicked at the debris. Trying to make it a neat little pile of damage was the least he could do.

The distinct sound of a crash and then a scream rang out from somewhere below him and Spider-Man turned towards the sound of it, instinctively leaping to the edge of the roof to peer down at the cityscape underneath him.

"This must be my lucky day." Spidey said as he gazed down to the scene before him. A large black luxury car had run directly into a smaller compact car parked on the side of the street. As Spidey scanned the street he saw the cause of the wreck and obviously the cause of the woman's scream as well. The Scorpion.

"If you can call an intimate rendezvous with a certain pointy tailed adversary "lucky"." Taking his automatic camera from his belt and webbing it snuggly underneath the overhanging section of the building's roof took only a few short moments. With the camera set up properly and snapping away with the auto focus button in full operation, Spidey grabbed the edges of the roof and launched himself over and downwards, aiming for the small of Scorpion's back.

The Scorpion had taken one look at the file and couldn't believe the Kingpin was paying so well for such an easy job. A simple hit on a rival mob boss who was acting a bit too cocky and ambitious wasn't the type of job the Scorpion thought needed his particular attention but he didn't want to argue. He was being paid good money and there was no way you let the Kingpin down if you wanted to keep breathing. The rival mob boss, Frederick Hellings, was about to learn that lesson the hard way.

The file was in-depth and beautifully put together. Scorpion couldn't think of one thing that'd been left out. For the past few hours he'd been tailing Hellings and watching his every move. Everything the file said Hellings would do, Hellings did. The guy was definitely not too bright. Any criminal worth their salt knew you had to switch up your routine every once in a while if you didn't want to get caught by the authorities, or an enemy. Hell, the Scorpion knew he wasn't all that bright but this was simple criminal mechanics. To have a file this detailed on somebody meant that this guy didn't care who was watching. He was either really bold or really stupid and either way, the guy was just plain careless.

Sooner or later, a guy like this working for the Kingpin was going to get caught by the authorities and he was going to make life tougher for the Kingpin to do his business. So the guy had to go. The Scorpion could respect that.

There were plenty of guys who'd made his life tougher over the years that he'd like to have taken care of. Hopefully this new job working for the Kingpin as one of the crime bosses' enforcers would pay off and the Scorpion would finally be able to get his revenge. First he'd go after that loud-mouthed publisher, J. Jonah Jameson and then he'd go after that hyperactive idiot, Spider-Man.

He followed Hellings for most of the morning, but by the time Hellings stopped his swanky luxury car at the third fancy hotel to visit his third beautiful temptress, the Scorpion was tired of following the moron around. He just wanted to get this job done with. Although it made for some good viewing - the guy didn't draw the drapes in the rooms - the Scorpion had a sense of duty and felt a need to earn his paycheck.

As Hellings finally came out of the third hotel and made some nasty verbal crack to his driver, the Scorpion decided to make his move. Maybe the Kingpin would appreciate the promptness of the hit, even if it was going to be a little sloppy.

As the car began to pull out from the curb, the Scorpion stepped out from the alley into the street blocking its way. The shock and fear etched on the driver's face as he caught sight of the Scorpion told him all he needed to know and with a quick lash of his mechanical tail, the grill of the car was shredded and the driver immediately swerved to the right, smacking forcefully into a car parked near the curb.

A woman screamed as she saw the Scorpion slowly step over to the back door of the automobile. He glanced towards the driver's compartment and saw the driver was dead or at least near death. The Scorpion smiled menacingly. This job was going to be cake.

Ten seconds later, The Scorpion was lying face down on the cold, hard street. His lip was bleeding and his ribs and back felt like he'd been hit by a truck but none of that mattered. He was pissed, more furious than he'd ever been in his entire life. This job was supposed to be his easy initiation into the ranks of the Kingpin's elite group of super powered enforcers. This was his meal ticket, his easy way out, and every time it seemed like Mac Gargan, alias: The Scorpion, was on his way to the top the same guy always had to interfere. Spider-Man.

Spidey landed directly on the Scorpion's shoulders, exhilarated to have found someone that he could use his excess anger on and even more thrilled to be able to be getting pictures of it for the Bugle. The Scorpion hit the ground hard and Spider-Man somersaulted easily off of his back and into three easy front flips before landing twenty feet from the Scorpion's prone form.

"Hey Scorpy, I didn't know you'd gotten a job as a traffic cop. No offense, it's a great line of work, but here's a little friendly advice for you, if you want to impress the boss you might not want to cause an accident on your first day." Spider-Man crouched lower to the ground as the Scorpion began to rise slowly to his feet.

Glancing over to the luxury car only took a few seconds and Spidey noted the bleeding and barely breathing driver. His frustration at not being able to deliver useable pictures to the Bugle was quickly funneled into a seething anger as he looked back at the Scorpion who seemed to have recovered from Spidey's initial assault.

"I'm only going to ask you once to get out of here, Spider-Man. My beef ain't with you, least not today. I'll give you this chance to turn tail and run but it's the only chance you'll get." The Scorpion looked pretty angry to Spider-Man too and he was talking pretty tough. Spidey wondered if maybe Scorpion had gotten some improvements added to his armor or something, as usually he'd be trying to weasel and not threaten his way out of a fight.

"I'd think a newly christened traffic officer such as yourself would appreciate having a long standing public servant watching his back." Spider-Man tensed as he observed the methodical twitching of the Scorpion's tail. He'd battled the Scorpion many times before and knew this was Scorpy's way of loosening up. "Writing tickets can be stressful, not to mention dangerous. You never know who's going to be out on the road these days. Just think of me as your web-slinging guardian angel."

"That's it you web-headed freak! I'm tired of you and your mouth!" The Scorpion's tail shot out directly for Spider-Man's head. Spidey's spider-sense sounded off in his head warning him of the Scorpion's intent a split second before it happened and using his quick, spider-like reflexes, he was able to easily dodge the jagged tail spike by ducking underneath it.

"Web-headed freak?! Why I've never been so insulted in all my life! If I didn't know you so well Scorpy I'd think you didn't want to be my friend anymore." As the tail extended over him, Spidey jumped backwards into the air and twisted his body into a compact roll.

"You're not trying to say that...that you don't want to see me anymore are you? Spidey bantered as he guided himself through the air with ease.

"Just shut up!" The Scorpion wailed as he made wild stabs at Spider-Man with the barbed talon on his tail that Spidey dodged by gyrating his body into odd pretzel-like shapes.

"Fine! Be that way. Here's web in your eye!" As Spider-Man's body twisted in mid-air he pressed the buttons on his palms sending two thick globs of webbing directly into the Scorpion's face, momentarily blinding him.

As the Scorpion tore at the webbing obscuring his view, Spider-Man set his sights on the tail that was whipping about the Scorpion wildly as a barrier while he was incapacitated. Spider-Man trusted his spider-sense and reflexes to guide him past the tail and launched himself forward, towards where the Scorpion was standing.

"Now this may hurt a bit, but I promise that when you wake up, you'll feel much better about your choice in career and hopefully this pesky tail won't get in the way ever again." Spidey's hands grasped the tail as he flew by, using his great strength to maneuver the deadly spike behind his opponent. I know it's tough to direct traffic when you've got a tail that just won't cooperate. I heard from a reliable source that Godzilla was originally only planning to come to Japan for some sushi but somebody called his name and he turned around and that pesky tail destroyed a building and, well, you know the rest."

Spider-Man, with the end of Scorpion's tail firmly gripped in his hands, thrust the spike into the Scorpion's back, the lance penetrated deep into the energy pack that powered the Scorpion's tail. Spider-Man's spider-sense blared again as the negative feedback from the energized tail barb began to disrupt the energy of the Scorpion's power source.

Spider-Man deftly leaped away just as the Scorpion's power pack exploded. Amazingly the Scorpion didn't budge an inch and remained standing there, semi-conscious. Spidey crept slowly nearer to the Scorpion's battered body until he was standing directly in front of him.

"Why do you always got to ruin everything?" The Scorpion pleaded in a weak voice as he stood there wavering in the slight breeze.

"Hey, you're the one who ruined the shiny car over there, not to mention the driver's face and probably his internal organs." Spidey argued as he clenched his fist again. "It's karma Scorpy baby. What goes around comes around."

Spider-Man hit the Scorpion directly in the jaw. The Scorpion hit the ground hard, his unconscious form lying amidst the debris of what had once been his deadly tail.

Spider-Man turned towards the luxury car and in one quick jump was by the driver's side door. He ripped the door from its frame and peered inside more closely.

"Buddy, are you ok?" He asked as he felt for the guys pulse. It was faint but it was there and Spider-Man could already hear the faint sound of sirens - hopefully an ambulance siren was thrown in for good measure - growing closer.

"My congratulations, Spider-Man, on your victory." A voice from behind Spider-Man spoke. It was smooth as silk but Spidey could sense a bit of the fear that had been there previously. As Spidey turned he noticed that the door of the passenger compartment of the automobile was open and a well-dressed man had stepped out and was looking confidently at the web-slinger.

"I see that my incompetent excuse for a driver ran us directly into a parked vehicle, how unfortunate." The man began picking at his expensive suit and smoothing out the creases in his tie. "If he recovers I'll be sure to fire him."

The man extended his hand out to Spider-Man. It was decorated with expensive rings and at least one diamond bracelet that Spidey could see, along with a platinum Rolex that seemed to dangle off his wrist. As if the man had lost weight since he'd bought it and hadn't had it re-fitted.

"My name is Hellings, Frederick Hellings. I thank you for stopping that madman and saving my life. I have no idea why he would attack me in so forceful a manner." The smooth way he talked almost made Spidey forget what he'd just said about the man near-death in the driver's cab in front of him.

"Look, I don't have time to play nice with you Mr. Hellings." Spider-Man said, ignoring the outstretched hand and walking past Hellings toward the still form of the Scorpion. "Can I trust you to wait for the authorities and let them know what happened here?"

Spider-Man glanced down the street and noticed numerous police cars and even a couple ambulances speeding their way toward the scene. Spidey breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure carrying the guy to a hospital would have been such a great idea but he was prepared to do it if there had been no medical staff on the way.

"You can certainly count on me, Spider-Man. I'll cooperate with the police and see to it that this Scorpion fellow is taken into custody for his crime." Hellings said as he watched Spider-Man bind Scorpion up tightly in a cocoon of webbing.

"Good, then all that's left is for me to tie up the garbage and I'll be on my way." Spider-Man tossed the unconscious Scorpion near the wrecked car and checked his web cartridges just to make sure he had enough loaded into his shooters to make sure he got home ok.

"Thank you again Spider-Man." Hellings offered as he eyed the approaching police cars warily. "As I said, I can't imagine why a man like this would take an interest in me, but I'm deeply gratified that you were near."

Spider-Man didn't trust anything about this man but he didn't seem to be in any hurry to run from the police or even hide his identity, although it was obvious that the Scorpion didn't pick him to harass because of a hatred for black luxury sedans.

Still, Spidey was in a hurry to get home and get his pictures developed. Delivering them tomorrow to the Bugle was a high priority, especially since Mary Jane hadn't gotten herself a modeling job in about a month.

Hellings watched as Spider-Man turned and leaped into the air, gesturing with his hand and shooting out the remarkable web that clung firmly to the building across the street from him. Soon Spider-Man was grasping to the sheer face of the building using nothing but his hands and feet, and scampered quickly upwards and out of sight.

Hellings cursed under his breath and fired a cold stare down at the Scorpion's limp form. He kicked the hired assassin once as hard as he could in the ribs before turning to face the approaching authorities.

He knew this was more than just a simple robbery by a small time super villain. He was careless in some matters, but he wasn't stupid.

"Kingpin." The words left his mouth sounding bitter and putrid. His face twisted into a grimace of rage. The Kingpin had ordered a hit on him.

Hellings knew he'd been over-stepping his bounds lately. He never dreamed that the Kingpin would take such drastic action so soon. He supposed this type of thing was a good indicator of why the Kingpin ruled the streets of New York.

"But you messed up fat man. I'm still alive." Hellings' smirk had no humor in it at all and his words were like ice. "Yeah, I'm alive and I know what you did. Whether you admit to it or not."

He began slowly strolling towards the waiting police cars and the officers and medical personnel rushing towards him.

"Maybe one of these days, when you least expect it, I'll be coming for you too." And with that Hellings' smirk transformed to a broad grin that lit up his face as the first officers reached him and began their questions. Hellings didn't mind, soon the time for questions and answers would be through and the time for action would be at hand. Until then, he could wait.

Spider-Man dropped into the apartment he shared with his wife Mary Jane, feeling good about how his day had gone. He'd taken three menaces to society off the streets and his only injury was a slightly burnt costume from the explosion that had downed the Scorpion.

"Honey, I'm home." He exclaimed as he pulled off his mask and kicked off his boots. The apartment was sparsely lit and Peter knew his lovely wife wasn't going to answer him. He just liked the sound the catch phrase made as it echoed off the walls of their apartment.

He made his way to the kitchen and checked the refrigerator door for some kind of note. Scrawled in her familiar handwriting was a note that stated that MJ had gone out dancing with friends and wouldn't be back until late.

Peter frowned as he looked inside the fridge for something to eat. There wasn't much at all and he had to settle for an old bag of chips sitting on top of the refrigerator. Mary Jane would be upset about Peter eating her snack food but he knew that with the pictures he had managed to snap today there would be a healthy enough paycheck so he could buy her plenty of snacks and maybe some regular food as well.

Reaching into his belt and withdrawing his automatic camera, Peter glanced toward his darkroom. There was no way he was going to trust the development of these pictures to anyone but himself and he was definitely curious about Hellings. The Scorpion was after him and Peter had been hearing rumors down at the Bugle that Scorpy had been recently put under contract with the Kingpin. He'd have to have a chat with Daredevil about Mr. Hellings sometime after he developed the pics.

"No time like the present." He said to no one in particular and made his way into the darkroom. Soon the red light clicked on and Peter began feverishly working towards getting all of the pictures developed.

The Kingpin was not pleased. Lucian Iago wasn't all that thrilled either. Standing in front of his portly boss and delivering bad news like some twisted version of the holy messenger wasn't his ideal picture of a Monday night. Lucian would have much rather been splayed out on the couch watching football with his wife and son.

"Spider-Man has become a nuisance to me." The Kingpin droned in his deep, baritone voice. "One day that annoying pest will find himself squashed."

Iago was practically hopping from foot to foot now. After delivering the news of the Scorpion's failure he had hoped that the Kingpin would send him on his way quickly so that he could get home, but the Kingpin seemed in the mood for musing over this most recent failure and Iago wasn't going to argue with him. His fear kept him so silent that he didn't even think to agree with the Kingpin about the wall-crawler.

"Still, the matter of Mr. Hellings remains unresolved and that will need to be attended to." The Kingpin laced his fingers beneath his chin and his eyes took on an expression of deep thoughtfulness. "I believe I have an idea on how to accomplish that very thing, sooner than Mr. Hellings might think, but first things first."

The Kingpin's steely gaze turned toward Iago and Lucian felt his blood curdle and his stomach clench. He prayed that the Kingpin wasn't planning to punish him for the mistake that super-powered; green freak had made this afternoon.

"Yes indeed Mr. Iago, first thing's first." The Kingpin gave Lucian a horrible smile that didn't seem to fit on his pudgy face at all and Iago was chilled to the bone, on the verge of passing out, waiting for the words the Kingpin of crime had to say. "Bring me my dinner."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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