Peter sat alone in his quarters again, his heart and mind racing in tandem as he thought about the trouble he’d gotten himself into. Events had recently been conspiring against him so that he, with his spider-powers, had caused quite a stir on board the good ship Enterprise, and her Captain had deemed him nothing more than a threat. He couldn’t deny that there were a few reasons that Captain Picard might feel that way, considering recent events, but still…Peter had to come up with a way to clear his name short of outing himself, and fast. Aunt May was still struggling back on their homeworld, and his career appeared to be going nowhere fast. Something had to give.
The ship was en route for Starbase four, where they were scheduled to meet with a Professor Newton, in order to transport him to a nearby nebula to implement some of his latest top-secret designs. Peter had hacked into the ship’s database under the pseudonym “Peter Palmer”--a deliberately bad pseudonym intended to make it appear as though someone else were framing him if he were ever caught--and decided to investigate Starbase Four. As his eyes skimmed the digital page, an idea struck him like a smack to the back of the head.
Of course! That’s where the Fantastic Four live and work, isn’t it? They work for Starfleet on all kinds of operations that require super powers. I’ll bet they could use a teenager with my kind of abilities! It’ll be a natural fit! The only trick is going to be getting in to meet them…
As the Enterprise approached the massive starbase, he gazed out of his viewport and watched it appear to grow larger, its details slowly filling out. It was a beautiful structure, to be sure, something enhanced by the ever-expanding genius that was Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four. It was roughly needle-shaped, with a dome-like bulb at the top, and it rotated very slowly counter-clockwise on its axis. Connected to it as a sort of hub was a rectangular building reminiscent of the skyscrapers of Earth, and at the top of this hub were four of the number 4, all connected at the edges and facing out in four different directions. That was where Peter needed to go. He spied a walkway between the Starbase and what was referred to as “Four Freedoms Plaza”, nothing more than a perfectly clear hallway where one could see the stars above, below and all around oneself.
Peter did his best to figure out what floor he’d need to go to to access it.
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The Enterprise docked at the starbase, and those who wanted to take a bit of a rest outside the vessel’s confines filtered out into its various corridors and causeways. Peter was among them, although he carefully avoided people he knew. Dr. Connors, Flash Thompson, Wesley Crusher…he steered clear of all of them and slipped off in the direction of Four Freedoms Plaza.
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Elsewhere in the starbase, a lone figure followed a Starfleet workman who’d been assigned cleaning duties on the lower levels on this particular evening. This figure had a featureless face, entirely devoid of a nose and with a slit for a mouth, and kept to the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. He slunk around the corner and, with perfect precision, hit the workman in the back of the head, knocking him efficiently to the ground. He then set about dragging him to an even more secluded area of the starbase and tying him up.
“With my multi-pocket disguise vest,” he explained to the workman as he began to stir, “it will be an easy matter for The Chameleon to become you, friend janitor…”
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Peter crept into an unoccupied bathroom one level above the target hallway and slipped into his Spider-Man costume, then came out again and crept through the maintenance tubes and shafts until he reached the door. He knocked out the door plate beneath him and dropped onto his feet, only to find himself face-to-face with a couple security guards.
Great! I didn’t think about this--of course they’ve got security! Can’t have just anybody waltzing in on them when they’ve got important superhero work to do! Oh well, a couple normal people with phasers isn’t anything I’m worried about!
He leapt at them before they had the chance to sound an alarm or draw on him, clobbering one and then the other in rapid succession. He had the element of surprise and took full advantage of it, then turned toward the security door.
It’s not opening! Must be busted. Uh-oh--I forgot! It can only be opened by one of the Four, using a special electronic beam! Well, that won’t stop Spider-Man! Forcing a couple of locked doors open is mere child’s play for someone with the proportionate strength of a spider!
Wedging his fingers in between the door plates, he shoved them open effortlessly and took a couple steps inside.
No! Wait! This isn’t the way. They’re bound to have all sorts of security measures in place just in case someone tries something like this.
Peter immediately turned around and sought out the nearest transporter room. He effortlessly subdued the guards, and then reprogrammed the transporter with his prodigious technical skills, then hopped onto the pad.
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Just then, up inside a very comfortable room known as the “ready room” of the Fantastic Four, an alarm sounded. Reed Richards, also known by the nickname “Mr. Fantastic”, used his stretching powers to extend his neck and look at the monitor across the room.
“The alarm! Someone is trying to sneak in!”
Johnny Storm, the “Human Torch”, sheathed himself in flames and balled his hands into fists. “He must be some kinda nut to think he can take us by surprise!”
Susan Storm, his older sister, who shared his blonde hair and slim build, stood and prepared herself for a fight. Susan was known as the “Invisible Girl”.
Their teammate Benjamin Grimm, “The Thing”, remained seated and read his newspaper without getting worked up. He was very large, orange, and had a body which resembled cracked rocks.
The four of them had acquired their abilities and appearances when they had ventured into a nebula in an experimental shuttlecraft that Reed had designed. They were subjected to a type of cosmic radiation which altered their physiology, with even such subtle effects as adding gray to Reed’s temples. Once changed, their importance to Starfleet had become enormously more significant, and the only way they had escaped rigorous testing at the hands of Starfleet Intelligence was to be recruited by them, at which time Reed promised that he would personally run all the tests they required.
“There’s his picture on our viewscreen! It’s Spider-Man!” Reed called to the rest of the team.
“Why didn’t he send us a comm. for an appointment like everybody else?” Johnny quipped.
The Thing finally spoke up. “Cause he’s a teenage cornball showoff just like the Torch!”
“Activate defense measure B, just to be safe!” Reed commanded.
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Wesley Crusher had come down in search of his friend Peter, and was now hopelessly lost on the lower floors of the starbase. At one point, however, he ran across a couple of unconscious guards who were covered in a sort of sticky fluid.
“Spider-Man!” he exclaimed. Spider-Man was running around somewhere on the starbase. Wesley had been admonished by his mother about his interest in the vigilante, but he knew he had to involve himself in whatever was going on…even if it meant going back upstairs and reporting it.
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Spider-Man appeared in the middle of a room he was totally unfamiliar with, yet he immediately quipped to the people he knew would be inside.
“Greetings, group! You really shouldn’t make it so easy for people to drop in on ya!”
“Got news for you, loud-mouth! It ain’t that easy!” Growled the Thing, as a force-field sprang into place all around Spider-Man.
“Wha--a force-field!” Spider-Man threw himself against it, suddenly panicked. If he were trapped and Captain Picard found out who he really was, it would be the end of his career!
“Remarkable,” Reed muttered, watching the fierce display intermittently as he consulted a readout on his tricorder. “With his strength, he might actually be able to fight his way out of there.”
“This gizmo might keep out the riff-raff, gruesome,” Spider-Man said to Thing, “but it’s a joke to me!”
With that, he pounded the ceiling and disrupted the generator, allowing himself just enough time to spring clear before the area inside the force-field was filled with gas.
“Don’t worry, rubber-face,” Thing told Reed, “this squirt’s gonna be taught some manners, right now!”
The bulky orange hero took a swing at Spider-Man, striking him in the head and knocking him off-balance. “Oww! Watch it! Who do you think you’re pushing around!” Spider-Man then picked him up and tossed him across the room. “Did you forget you’re messing with a guy who has the proportionate strength of a spider?”
“For cryin’ out--! That’s what I get for pullin’ my punch on accounta his size!”
Reed reached across the room for him by extending his arms and increasing the size of his hands in an effort to snag him.
“Now hold it, son!”
Spider-Man effortlessly jumped clear and bound Reed’s arms in webbing. It was clumsily executed, as he drowned the area in more web-fluid than necessary, and it showed his inexperience. Nonetheless, he was clear.
“We don’t want to fight with any strangers,” Reed continued. “At least, not until we know what we’re fighting about!”
At the same time, he was thinking, He caught my hand in that gunk of his! He certainly does live up to his name!
Spider-Man hadn’t noticed what the Invisible Girl had been up to all that time, nor was he paying any particular attention to Johnny Storm, but now his spider-sense alerted him to a potential threat. He turned to see a rope flying at him.
Who threw that rope? I don’t see anyone! It must have been the Invisible Girl…well I’ll just give her a whirl for her money!
He tracked the trajectory of the rope to where she was standing, crossed the distance with a mighty leap and grabbed her arm, spinning her around and knocking her on her backside.
“That’s it, you animated arachnid! Fun’s over! I’ll settle you now! Flame on!”
The Human Torch ignited once again and flew in a circle around Spider-Man, trapping him in a ring of fire.
Well I’ll just jump over that clown’s little trap, and stay out of reach until the flames die down! Then it’ll be my turn!
Spider-Man was free once again and giving Johnny a run for his money, but eventually he ran headlong into Reed, who had had enough. He’d widened his entire body into a wall and was craning his neck down to Spider-Man’s level.
“Okay--that’s it! No more fun and games! Someone might get hurt! Now suppose you tell us just what you’re here for!”
Thing, behind one of Reed’s enlarged arms, continued to posture angrily. “Get outta the way, killjoy! Gimme another crack at ‘im!”
“It’s about time someone asked me!” Spider-Man told Reed, ignoring Thing. “I came here to join up with you! I want to be a member of the Fantastic Four! So I thought I’d give you a demonstration of what I can do! So now, let’s get down to business…how much does the job pay? I figure I’m worth your top salary!”
“I knew it!” Thing groaned. “That kook has rocks in his head!”
“Afraid you made a mistake, Spider-Man,” Sue explained. “We’re an adjunct of Starfleet. We don’t make money!”
“We pay no salaries or bonuses,” Reed continued. “We get all of our equipment from Starfleet and everything we receive is put to use for the betterment of galactic civilization.”
“You came to the wrong place, pal,” Johnny added unnecessarily, “this isn’t Orion space! Besides, aren’t you the same Spider-Man who’s been wreaking havok on board the Enterprise? I might have known you’d show up here when they docked.”
“I might have known,” Spider-Man retorted as he activated his commbadge for the remote transport he’d programmed into the system before he’d left the transporter room. “You’re just like all the rest! Ready to believe the worst of anyone! Okay, keep me out of your group! I’ll make you look like fools!”
As he dematerialized, Sue called out, “Wait! Come back!” but it was too late. “Too bad he left so suddenly. Maybe we could have helped him.”
“Not a chance, Sue,” Thing said. “If a kid can grow up like that living in the middle of the damned Federation, what hope is there for him?”
“Somehow I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more from that young man, though,” Reed added somewhat cryptically.
“Should we report him?” Johnny asked, still offended and eager to lash out. Thing looked at him and at Reed expectantly, but Reed shook his head.
“He means well. If he becomes too much for Captain Picard to handle, we may need to step in. In the meantime, let’s see what he does.”
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Wesley paced back and forth, considering his options. Peter finally emerged from down the hall and stopped short, obviously very surprised to see Wes down there.
“Peter! You know you really shouldn’t be down here. This area’s off-limits and it looks like Spider-Man’s been around!”
“Yeah, well I kinda had an inkling he might show up…” Peter trailed off, then picked up a new thread. “I was a little lost, to be honest.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “I got bored hanging around the common areas and wanted to see what else there was to see, and well…” he gestured expansively and then let his arms drop back to his sides. “And what are you doing down here, Wes?”
“Well I noticed you disappeared down one of the lifts, and…I kinda followed you.” Wes looked a bit chagrined, but shook it off. “Guess we both acted like idiots, huh?”
“Nah, come on, Wes, let’s go back up and get something to eat.”
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Elsewhere on Starbase Four, The Chameleon stayed in the shadows, still in the guise of the workman. He stood with his back to a wall and peered around the corner at his next victim.
So far, so good! Disguised as the workman, it was easy to gain access to this restricted area! And now another fast change and I will take the identity of Professor Newton!
Before long, he was disguised as a man with blond hair and a goatee, wearing a Starfleet sciences uniform, while the real professor was tied up inside the maintenance tubes.
Ha! Nothing can stop The Chameleon! With the right disguise I can steal anything from anywhere, unchallenged!
With that, he absconded with a padd he found hidden in a secret compartment in the Professor’s desk.
That night, inside the Professor’s quarters, Chameleon doffed his disguise and relaxed in front of his viewscreen.
The Romulans will pay a fortune for these plans! He thought. Then a security bulletin on his screen caught his eye:
Spider-Man has been sighted on the starbase and has already attacked and restrained several security personnel. If sighted, do not approach! Repeat, do not approach! Alert security and command. He has attempted to gain access to Four Freedoms Plaza and may do so again.
Hmm…I think Spider-Man’s visit is of interest to The Chameleon as well! Yes, indeed, very interesting!
Spider-Man was the kind of threat that eventually attracted the attention of Starfleet Intelligence, among other far more secret organizations. From his reputation so far, he was thought to be capable of just about anything. He would make the perfect fall guy…when Chameleon stole the other half of the new defense grid plans, he would use Spider-Man to put starbase security off his trail…the first step in doing that would be to get Spider-Man where he wanted him, and for that to happen, he would need to send him a message. So, with some minor tinkering, he prepared his comm board to do just that.
Spider-Man has the powers and instincts of a spider. I will send him a message that only his spider-senses will be able to pick up…
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Peter spent the remainder of the day playing three-dimensional chess with Wes until he was expected to be on duty in the lab. There wasn’t anything to do in there, since they were moored at a Starbase, except for routine maintenance. He spent some of his time reading up on spiders, always eager to learn more about himself and his newfound abilities. Dr. Connors pointedly ignored him, engrossed in his own research on lizards.
Suddenly Peter’s spider-sense went off. He looked around him sharply and then realized that it wasn’t alerting him to immediate danger. It was, in fact, directing him somewhere, almost like a beacon were calling to him.
With Dr. Connors fully distracted inside his private office, Peter figured he could slip out, sneak to his quarters and change into his Spider-Man attire.
As he walked the corridors he noticed that security had been beefed up a bit. No doubt Captain Picard felt personally responsible for any damage Spider-Man might cause on board the Starbase, and was presently volunteering any help he was able to provide. Peter would have to finagle another site-to-site transport over to the Starbase from his quarters and hope that no one was able to track it.
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Dressed as the Professor once again, Chameleon walked the corridors with a spring in his step, causing some people to do a double-take, but they thought nothing of it once he was gone. He walked past a bald Captain who gave him a curt nod and a crisp “Hello,” in an English accent, and Chameleon nodded back.
“Er, Professor, when you have a moment I’d--Professor…?” The Captain was put off his stride when Chameleon didn’t stop, but Chameleon smoothed it over with a brusque, “I’m sorry, Captain, I’m very busy at the moment. Perhaps another time?”
The Captain, perplexed, nodded. “Another time.”
He stepped into a secured lift, and the lift guard didn’t do anything beyond offering a simple greeting, and then he admitted him. During the ride in the lift, Chameleon changed into the guise of Spider-Man and, upon emerging, confronted the seated scientist inside the lab.
“Spider-Man! H-how did you get in? W-what do you want?”
“Those secret defense grid plans you’re holding!” Chameleon exclaimed with a complete lack of subtlety, hoisting the gun he’d brought in and firing a fluid from it that secured the scientist to the chair.
This artificial web isn’t as strong as Spider-Man’s real one, but no one’ll notice the difference.
“I can’t believe it! You--a traitor! Wait--!”
He snagged the plans from the desk and ran for the door. He could hear the scientist breaking free and tapping his combadge, summoning security.
“I’ll be on board a shuttle and out of this sector before they even organize to chase me!” Chameleon called out, fitting the pieces together perfectly. Slipping back into his Professor disguise as he rode the lift down, he nodded to the guard again and then went down to the shuttlebay. In no time, he was commandeering a shuttle, and the guards down there thought it was just the Professor taking part in some kind of secret research.
Tweaking the shuttle’s sensors, he picked up an energy signature just within range…a Romulan vessel holding position, patiently waiting to take him and the plans to safety. As he piloted the shuttle out of the bay, he thought, That’s got to be my ship. I can’t fail now! I’ll be gone just before the real Spider-Man gets to the shuttlebay! I’m sorry I won’t be there to hear Spider-Man try to talk his way out of my trap!
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Just then, Spider-Man popped out of an access plate on the walkway above the bay. The guards immediately turned and went to draw their phasers.
“Look, there he is!”
“Freeze, Spider-Man! We want those secret plans you stole!”
His spider-sense allowed him to react before they did, spraying them with a heavy amount of webbing and sticking them to the nearby wall.
“Plans…? Stole…? I’m beginning to smell a rat! I don’t know what this is about, but nobody’s framing anything on me! That should hold you until I can get away!”
What a fool I was! That signal was a trap to pin a crime on me--and I fell for it! But who could have--wait! That shuttle! The pilot is the one they really want! If it hasn’t gone too far I can use another shuttle’s sensors to track him and then figure it out from there.
He ran down the stairs and got into the nearest shuttle, firing it up and praying that he had enough skill to fly it out of the shuttlebay without scratching anything. He was no John Jameson, but if he was very lucky, he’d get out in one piece and be able to follow the culprit.
Sure enough, he picked up the other shuttle on sensors and started closing in on it just as it came to a stop.
“Alright…”
He thought for a moment, then charged up to the transporter pad to beam over and stop the interloper.
Just then, outside his viewport, he saw a Romulan vessel decloak. Now he knew he had the best possible idea. He would be safer on board the other shuttle, with the plans they wanted.
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The Enterprise dislodged itself from station-keeping and went out to intercept the runaway shuttle. Captain Picard gripped his armrests with white-knuckled intensity, intent on bringing in Spider-Man once and for all.
“The lead shuttle is hailing us, Captain,” Worf reported.
“On screen.”
The image of Professor Newton, haggard and frightened, appeared. “You’ve got to stop him, Captain! I managed to get the plans from where he was hiding them, but entirely too late! He figured it out and then found me…”
“Romulan warbird decloaking off the starboard bow!” Worf bellowed.
“Shields up, arm weapons! Red alert! All hands to battle stations!”
“They are hailing us, sir!”
“On screen!”
The image shifted just after they caught a glimpse of Spider-Man beaming into the Professor’s shuttle.
Commander Riker stood up. “Captain, the Professor--!”
Picard silenced him with a hand motion, still facing the screen. “I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise. You are trespassing in Federation space. Why are you here?”
The Romulan commander leaned forward in his seat, smiling like a hungry hawk. “I’m sorry, Captain, but it appears that we’ve lost a spy…”
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Spider-Man lost the element of surprise as he dematerialized, and when the other cabin formed around him, he had just enough time to obey his spider-sense and avoid the phaser beam that came at him. He shot webbing back at the Professor, who was unable to dodge the wide spray.
“Who are you, and why would you want to do this to me?” Spider-Man raged. He strode over to the Professor and noticed a tiny flaw in his face which revealed red cloth beneath.
“A mask!” Spider-Man held him against the front console, then unmasked him and found himself staring at…himself.
“You lose, Spider-Man! Soon I’ll be gone from here and you’ll be in the custody of…of…”
Spider-Man looked up through the arc of the viewport and saw what brought his doppelganger up short. The Enterprise was holding position just above them and across from the Romulans.
“Well, nuts.”
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“I see!” Picard said in an almost condescending tone. “Well this is an amusing turn of events…isn’t it, Number One?” He asked, turning toward Commander Riker with a smirk.
“So what you’re telling us, Commander Kolar, is that this spy was working against you, and he only recently switched sides to come work against us, and you’ve actually got a problem with it?” Riker gave the Romulan commander a broad grin.
Commander Kolar forced a smile back at them and spoke as though he were in fact grinding his teeth. “The Romulan Empire does not condone or commit acts of spying, piracy or treason, and we take such actions very seriously, whether they are on behalf of other protectorates or our own. I again offer you my most humble apologies for any damage he may have caused. I ask only that we be allowed to collect him and be on our way.”
“So Spider-Man is a spy after all,” Picard concluded, looking at Riker with his eyebrows raised as if to say “I told you so.”
Kolar frowned in confusion. “Spider what?”
Picard’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
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Spider-Man beamed back off of the Professor’s shuttle and this time, he waited for the Enterprise’s shields to drop before he went back to the ship to change in his quarters and escape capture.
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The Romulans took The Chameleon without getting the plans. He was to be punished severely for his failure.
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Peter had left the plans in the shuttle, just out of reach. When the Enterprise returned both shuttles to the Starbase, they also returned the plans and discovered all of The spy’s victims. Knowing that the Professor was being impersonated put them on the trail of those who had fallen prey to the spy’s masterful stealth and disguise skills.
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“He’s so powerful and confused--what if he does turn his powers against the law?” Sue said, in agreement with Captain Picard and Captain Williams of Starbase Four. The two of them had called a brief meeting with the Fantastic Four to discuss Spider-Man.
“Yeah!” Thing blurted. “If a teenager can be so damn strong, how strong’ll he be when he gets older?”
“Aw, we won’t ever hafta worry about him,” Johnny scoffed.
“It’s possible that we will, Johnny,” Reed told the assemblage, “but I think his intentions are good.”
“He has already contravened several laws of the Federation, regardless of what anyone thinks,” Picard said sharply. “Mr. Richards, considering your recent encounters, I’m frankly quite surprised that you won’t pursue this with more enthusiasm.”
“You’ve told me yourself, Captain, that whenever he doesn’t want to be found, he isn’t. He’s been on your ship more than once, or is possibly even there right now,” this appeared to strike a nerve, as it brought a sour look to Picard’s face, but Reed continued, “so it would do me absolutely no good to scour your ship for him. I have the most advanced sensors in the quadrant right here in this room, and I’ve already scanned your ship--I even took the liberty of scanning those two shuttles that departed the Starbase not long ago--and I came up with nothing but ordinary human life-signs. You’re wasting your time trying to track him down.”
“He brought chaos to my Starbase,” Williams countered. “Him and that…spy. That spy was a real master of disguise, almost like his own abilities are superhuman in some way. Is this what we have to look forward to? Superhumans running amok inside our facilities, incapacitating our guards and our scientists and ending our way of life?”
“Captain Williams,” Sue replied, “Have we ever been anything but helpful to Starfleet? To the Federation?”
“Now, Susan, you know that I like and admire you four for what you bring to us as an organization, and for the altruism you embody. Naturally I’d never see you as an enemy; but if the number of superhumans in this galaxy is increasing, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes an epidemic.”
“I must agree with you,” Picard added. “He wears a mask, much like our spy must have done. Why must he wear a mask if he’s not a threat? First Q, then Spider-Man…it appears I have my work cut out for me. I’m destined to have a colorful future.”
“A four-color future at least,” Johnny quipped, but no one got it.
The meeting continued into the night, and the next day the Professor was ready once again to embark on his latest mission.
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While en route to the nebula, Peter once again returned to the drawing board, trying to figure out other ways to clear Spider-Man’s name and get some money to his aunt. He found fresh tears welling in his eyes as he read Captain Picard’s latest shipwide report regarding Spider-Man.
“Nothing ever turns out right,” he sobbed. “I wish I had never gotten my super powers!”
With no answers forthcoming, he shut down his computer screen and went to bed, silently wishing that someone would come along and guide him. Where was that “Q” person now? Did he only exist to taunt Peter and then vanish, never to be seen again? Peter dropped off to sleep, and he dreamed of Vultures…
Next time in Star Trek: Spider-Man...
Captain Picard is...The Vulture!
The ship was en route for Starbase four, where they were scheduled to meet with a Professor Newton, in order to transport him to a nearby nebula to implement some of his latest top-secret designs. Peter had hacked into the ship’s database under the pseudonym “Peter Palmer”--a deliberately bad pseudonym intended to make it appear as though someone else were framing him if he were ever caught--and decided to investigate Starbase Four. As his eyes skimmed the digital page, an idea struck him like a smack to the back of the head.
Of course! That’s where the Fantastic Four live and work, isn’t it? They work for Starfleet on all kinds of operations that require super powers. I’ll bet they could use a teenager with my kind of abilities! It’ll be a natural fit! The only trick is going to be getting in to meet them…
As the Enterprise approached the massive starbase, he gazed out of his viewport and watched it appear to grow larger, its details slowly filling out. It was a beautiful structure, to be sure, something enhanced by the ever-expanding genius that was Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four. It was roughly needle-shaped, with a dome-like bulb at the top, and it rotated very slowly counter-clockwise on its axis. Connected to it as a sort of hub was a rectangular building reminiscent of the skyscrapers of Earth, and at the top of this hub were four of the number 4, all connected at the edges and facing out in four different directions. That was where Peter needed to go. He spied a walkway between the Starbase and what was referred to as “Four Freedoms Plaza”, nothing more than a perfectly clear hallway where one could see the stars above, below and all around oneself.
Peter did his best to figure out what floor he’d need to go to to access it.
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The Enterprise docked at the starbase, and those who wanted to take a bit of a rest outside the vessel’s confines filtered out into its various corridors and causeways. Peter was among them, although he carefully avoided people he knew. Dr. Connors, Flash Thompson, Wesley Crusher…he steered clear of all of them and slipped off in the direction of Four Freedoms Plaza.
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Elsewhere in the starbase, a lone figure followed a Starfleet workman who’d been assigned cleaning duties on the lower levels on this particular evening. This figure had a featureless face, entirely devoid of a nose and with a slit for a mouth, and kept to the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. He slunk around the corner and, with perfect precision, hit the workman in the back of the head, knocking him efficiently to the ground. He then set about dragging him to an even more secluded area of the starbase and tying him up.
“With my multi-pocket disguise vest,” he explained to the workman as he began to stir, “it will be an easy matter for The Chameleon to become you, friend janitor…”
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Peter crept into an unoccupied bathroom one level above the target hallway and slipped into his Spider-Man costume, then came out again and crept through the maintenance tubes and shafts until he reached the door. He knocked out the door plate beneath him and dropped onto his feet, only to find himself face-to-face with a couple security guards.
Great! I didn’t think about this--of course they’ve got security! Can’t have just anybody waltzing in on them when they’ve got important superhero work to do! Oh well, a couple normal people with phasers isn’t anything I’m worried about!
He leapt at them before they had the chance to sound an alarm or draw on him, clobbering one and then the other in rapid succession. He had the element of surprise and took full advantage of it, then turned toward the security door.
It’s not opening! Must be busted. Uh-oh--I forgot! It can only be opened by one of the Four, using a special electronic beam! Well, that won’t stop Spider-Man! Forcing a couple of locked doors open is mere child’s play for someone with the proportionate strength of a spider!
Wedging his fingers in between the door plates, he shoved them open effortlessly and took a couple steps inside.
No! Wait! This isn’t the way. They’re bound to have all sorts of security measures in place just in case someone tries something like this.
Peter immediately turned around and sought out the nearest transporter room. He effortlessly subdued the guards, and then reprogrammed the transporter with his prodigious technical skills, then hopped onto the pad.
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Just then, up inside a very comfortable room known as the “ready room” of the Fantastic Four, an alarm sounded. Reed Richards, also known by the nickname “Mr. Fantastic”, used his stretching powers to extend his neck and look at the monitor across the room.
“The alarm! Someone is trying to sneak in!”
Johnny Storm, the “Human Torch”, sheathed himself in flames and balled his hands into fists. “He must be some kinda nut to think he can take us by surprise!”
Susan Storm, his older sister, who shared his blonde hair and slim build, stood and prepared herself for a fight. Susan was known as the “Invisible Girl”.
Their teammate Benjamin Grimm, “The Thing”, remained seated and read his newspaper without getting worked up. He was very large, orange, and had a body which resembled cracked rocks.
The four of them had acquired their abilities and appearances when they had ventured into a nebula in an experimental shuttlecraft that Reed had designed. They were subjected to a type of cosmic radiation which altered their physiology, with even such subtle effects as adding gray to Reed’s temples. Once changed, their importance to Starfleet had become enormously more significant, and the only way they had escaped rigorous testing at the hands of Starfleet Intelligence was to be recruited by them, at which time Reed promised that he would personally run all the tests they required.
“There’s his picture on our viewscreen! It’s Spider-Man!” Reed called to the rest of the team.
“Why didn’t he send us a comm. for an appointment like everybody else?” Johnny quipped.
The Thing finally spoke up. “Cause he’s a teenage cornball showoff just like the Torch!”
“Activate defense measure B, just to be safe!” Reed commanded.
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Wesley Crusher had come down in search of his friend Peter, and was now hopelessly lost on the lower floors of the starbase. At one point, however, he ran across a couple of unconscious guards who were covered in a sort of sticky fluid.
“Spider-Man!” he exclaimed. Spider-Man was running around somewhere on the starbase. Wesley had been admonished by his mother about his interest in the vigilante, but he knew he had to involve himself in whatever was going on…even if it meant going back upstairs and reporting it.
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Spider-Man appeared in the middle of a room he was totally unfamiliar with, yet he immediately quipped to the people he knew would be inside.
“Greetings, group! You really shouldn’t make it so easy for people to drop in on ya!”
“Got news for you, loud-mouth! It ain’t that easy!” Growled the Thing, as a force-field sprang into place all around Spider-Man.
“Wha--a force-field!” Spider-Man threw himself against it, suddenly panicked. If he were trapped and Captain Picard found out who he really was, it would be the end of his career!
“Remarkable,” Reed muttered, watching the fierce display intermittently as he consulted a readout on his tricorder. “With his strength, he might actually be able to fight his way out of there.”
“This gizmo might keep out the riff-raff, gruesome,” Spider-Man said to Thing, “but it’s a joke to me!”
With that, he pounded the ceiling and disrupted the generator, allowing himself just enough time to spring clear before the area inside the force-field was filled with gas.
“Don’t worry, rubber-face,” Thing told Reed, “this squirt’s gonna be taught some manners, right now!”
The bulky orange hero took a swing at Spider-Man, striking him in the head and knocking him off-balance. “Oww! Watch it! Who do you think you’re pushing around!” Spider-Man then picked him up and tossed him across the room. “Did you forget you’re messing with a guy who has the proportionate strength of a spider?”
“For cryin’ out--! That’s what I get for pullin’ my punch on accounta his size!”
Reed reached across the room for him by extending his arms and increasing the size of his hands in an effort to snag him.
“Now hold it, son!”
Spider-Man effortlessly jumped clear and bound Reed’s arms in webbing. It was clumsily executed, as he drowned the area in more web-fluid than necessary, and it showed his inexperience. Nonetheless, he was clear.
“We don’t want to fight with any strangers,” Reed continued. “At least, not until we know what we’re fighting about!”
At the same time, he was thinking, He caught my hand in that gunk of his! He certainly does live up to his name!
Spider-Man hadn’t noticed what the Invisible Girl had been up to all that time, nor was he paying any particular attention to Johnny Storm, but now his spider-sense alerted him to a potential threat. He turned to see a rope flying at him.
Who threw that rope? I don’t see anyone! It must have been the Invisible Girl…well I’ll just give her a whirl for her money!
He tracked the trajectory of the rope to where she was standing, crossed the distance with a mighty leap and grabbed her arm, spinning her around and knocking her on her backside.
“That’s it, you animated arachnid! Fun’s over! I’ll settle you now! Flame on!”
The Human Torch ignited once again and flew in a circle around Spider-Man, trapping him in a ring of fire.
Well I’ll just jump over that clown’s little trap, and stay out of reach until the flames die down! Then it’ll be my turn!
Spider-Man was free once again and giving Johnny a run for his money, but eventually he ran headlong into Reed, who had had enough. He’d widened his entire body into a wall and was craning his neck down to Spider-Man’s level.
“Okay--that’s it! No more fun and games! Someone might get hurt! Now suppose you tell us just what you’re here for!”
Thing, behind one of Reed’s enlarged arms, continued to posture angrily. “Get outta the way, killjoy! Gimme another crack at ‘im!”
“It’s about time someone asked me!” Spider-Man told Reed, ignoring Thing. “I came here to join up with you! I want to be a member of the Fantastic Four! So I thought I’d give you a demonstration of what I can do! So now, let’s get down to business…how much does the job pay? I figure I’m worth your top salary!”
“I knew it!” Thing groaned. “That kook has rocks in his head!”
“Afraid you made a mistake, Spider-Man,” Sue explained. “We’re an adjunct of Starfleet. We don’t make money!”
“We pay no salaries or bonuses,” Reed continued. “We get all of our equipment from Starfleet and everything we receive is put to use for the betterment of galactic civilization.”
“You came to the wrong place, pal,” Johnny added unnecessarily, “this isn’t Orion space! Besides, aren’t you the same Spider-Man who’s been wreaking havok on board the Enterprise? I might have known you’d show up here when they docked.”
“I might have known,” Spider-Man retorted as he activated his commbadge for the remote transport he’d programmed into the system before he’d left the transporter room. “You’re just like all the rest! Ready to believe the worst of anyone! Okay, keep me out of your group! I’ll make you look like fools!”
As he dematerialized, Sue called out, “Wait! Come back!” but it was too late. “Too bad he left so suddenly. Maybe we could have helped him.”
“Not a chance, Sue,” Thing said. “If a kid can grow up like that living in the middle of the damned Federation, what hope is there for him?”
“Somehow I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more from that young man, though,” Reed added somewhat cryptically.
“Should we report him?” Johnny asked, still offended and eager to lash out. Thing looked at him and at Reed expectantly, but Reed shook his head.
“He means well. If he becomes too much for Captain Picard to handle, we may need to step in. In the meantime, let’s see what he does.”
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Wesley paced back and forth, considering his options. Peter finally emerged from down the hall and stopped short, obviously very surprised to see Wes down there.
“Peter! You know you really shouldn’t be down here. This area’s off-limits and it looks like Spider-Man’s been around!”
“Yeah, well I kinda had an inkling he might show up…” Peter trailed off, then picked up a new thread. “I was a little lost, to be honest.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “I got bored hanging around the common areas and wanted to see what else there was to see, and well…” he gestured expansively and then let his arms drop back to his sides. “And what are you doing down here, Wes?”
“Well I noticed you disappeared down one of the lifts, and…I kinda followed you.” Wes looked a bit chagrined, but shook it off. “Guess we both acted like idiots, huh?”
“Nah, come on, Wes, let’s go back up and get something to eat.”
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Elsewhere on Starbase Four, The Chameleon stayed in the shadows, still in the guise of the workman. He stood with his back to a wall and peered around the corner at his next victim.
So far, so good! Disguised as the workman, it was easy to gain access to this restricted area! And now another fast change and I will take the identity of Professor Newton!
Before long, he was disguised as a man with blond hair and a goatee, wearing a Starfleet sciences uniform, while the real professor was tied up inside the maintenance tubes.
Ha! Nothing can stop The Chameleon! With the right disguise I can steal anything from anywhere, unchallenged!
With that, he absconded with a padd he found hidden in a secret compartment in the Professor’s desk.
That night, inside the Professor’s quarters, Chameleon doffed his disguise and relaxed in front of his viewscreen.
The Romulans will pay a fortune for these plans! He thought. Then a security bulletin on his screen caught his eye:
Spider-Man has been sighted on the starbase and has already attacked and restrained several security personnel. If sighted, do not approach! Repeat, do not approach! Alert security and command. He has attempted to gain access to Four Freedoms Plaza and may do so again.
Hmm…I think Spider-Man’s visit is of interest to The Chameleon as well! Yes, indeed, very interesting!
Spider-Man was the kind of threat that eventually attracted the attention of Starfleet Intelligence, among other far more secret organizations. From his reputation so far, he was thought to be capable of just about anything. He would make the perfect fall guy…when Chameleon stole the other half of the new defense grid plans, he would use Spider-Man to put starbase security off his trail…the first step in doing that would be to get Spider-Man where he wanted him, and for that to happen, he would need to send him a message. So, with some minor tinkering, he prepared his comm board to do just that.
Spider-Man has the powers and instincts of a spider. I will send him a message that only his spider-senses will be able to pick up…
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Peter spent the remainder of the day playing three-dimensional chess with Wes until he was expected to be on duty in the lab. There wasn’t anything to do in there, since they were moored at a Starbase, except for routine maintenance. He spent some of his time reading up on spiders, always eager to learn more about himself and his newfound abilities. Dr. Connors pointedly ignored him, engrossed in his own research on lizards.
Suddenly Peter’s spider-sense went off. He looked around him sharply and then realized that it wasn’t alerting him to immediate danger. It was, in fact, directing him somewhere, almost like a beacon were calling to him.
With Dr. Connors fully distracted inside his private office, Peter figured he could slip out, sneak to his quarters and change into his Spider-Man attire.
As he walked the corridors he noticed that security had been beefed up a bit. No doubt Captain Picard felt personally responsible for any damage Spider-Man might cause on board the Starbase, and was presently volunteering any help he was able to provide. Peter would have to finagle another site-to-site transport over to the Starbase from his quarters and hope that no one was able to track it.
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Dressed as the Professor once again, Chameleon walked the corridors with a spring in his step, causing some people to do a double-take, but they thought nothing of it once he was gone. He walked past a bald Captain who gave him a curt nod and a crisp “Hello,” in an English accent, and Chameleon nodded back.
“Er, Professor, when you have a moment I’d--Professor…?” The Captain was put off his stride when Chameleon didn’t stop, but Chameleon smoothed it over with a brusque, “I’m sorry, Captain, I’m very busy at the moment. Perhaps another time?”
The Captain, perplexed, nodded. “Another time.”
He stepped into a secured lift, and the lift guard didn’t do anything beyond offering a simple greeting, and then he admitted him. During the ride in the lift, Chameleon changed into the guise of Spider-Man and, upon emerging, confronted the seated scientist inside the lab.
“Spider-Man! H-how did you get in? W-what do you want?”
“Those secret defense grid plans you’re holding!” Chameleon exclaimed with a complete lack of subtlety, hoisting the gun he’d brought in and firing a fluid from it that secured the scientist to the chair.
This artificial web isn’t as strong as Spider-Man’s real one, but no one’ll notice the difference.
“I can’t believe it! You--a traitor! Wait--!”
He snagged the plans from the desk and ran for the door. He could hear the scientist breaking free and tapping his combadge, summoning security.
“I’ll be on board a shuttle and out of this sector before they even organize to chase me!” Chameleon called out, fitting the pieces together perfectly. Slipping back into his Professor disguise as he rode the lift down, he nodded to the guard again and then went down to the shuttlebay. In no time, he was commandeering a shuttle, and the guards down there thought it was just the Professor taking part in some kind of secret research.
Tweaking the shuttle’s sensors, he picked up an energy signature just within range…a Romulan vessel holding position, patiently waiting to take him and the plans to safety. As he piloted the shuttle out of the bay, he thought, That’s got to be my ship. I can’t fail now! I’ll be gone just before the real Spider-Man gets to the shuttlebay! I’m sorry I won’t be there to hear Spider-Man try to talk his way out of my trap!
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Just then, Spider-Man popped out of an access plate on the walkway above the bay. The guards immediately turned and went to draw their phasers.
“Look, there he is!”
“Freeze, Spider-Man! We want those secret plans you stole!”
His spider-sense allowed him to react before they did, spraying them with a heavy amount of webbing and sticking them to the nearby wall.
“Plans…? Stole…? I’m beginning to smell a rat! I don’t know what this is about, but nobody’s framing anything on me! That should hold you until I can get away!”
What a fool I was! That signal was a trap to pin a crime on me--and I fell for it! But who could have--wait! That shuttle! The pilot is the one they really want! If it hasn’t gone too far I can use another shuttle’s sensors to track him and then figure it out from there.
He ran down the stairs and got into the nearest shuttle, firing it up and praying that he had enough skill to fly it out of the shuttlebay without scratching anything. He was no John Jameson, but if he was very lucky, he’d get out in one piece and be able to follow the culprit.
Sure enough, he picked up the other shuttle on sensors and started closing in on it just as it came to a stop.
“Alright…”
He thought for a moment, then charged up to the transporter pad to beam over and stop the interloper.
Just then, outside his viewport, he saw a Romulan vessel decloak. Now he knew he had the best possible idea. He would be safer on board the other shuttle, with the plans they wanted.
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The Enterprise dislodged itself from station-keeping and went out to intercept the runaway shuttle. Captain Picard gripped his armrests with white-knuckled intensity, intent on bringing in Spider-Man once and for all.
“The lead shuttle is hailing us, Captain,” Worf reported.
“On screen.”
The image of Professor Newton, haggard and frightened, appeared. “You’ve got to stop him, Captain! I managed to get the plans from where he was hiding them, but entirely too late! He figured it out and then found me…”
“Romulan warbird decloaking off the starboard bow!” Worf bellowed.
“Shields up, arm weapons! Red alert! All hands to battle stations!”
“They are hailing us, sir!”
“On screen!”
The image shifted just after they caught a glimpse of Spider-Man beaming into the Professor’s shuttle.
Commander Riker stood up. “Captain, the Professor--!”
Picard silenced him with a hand motion, still facing the screen. “I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise. You are trespassing in Federation space. Why are you here?”
The Romulan commander leaned forward in his seat, smiling like a hungry hawk. “I’m sorry, Captain, but it appears that we’ve lost a spy…”
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Spider-Man lost the element of surprise as he dematerialized, and when the other cabin formed around him, he had just enough time to obey his spider-sense and avoid the phaser beam that came at him. He shot webbing back at the Professor, who was unable to dodge the wide spray.
“Who are you, and why would you want to do this to me?” Spider-Man raged. He strode over to the Professor and noticed a tiny flaw in his face which revealed red cloth beneath.
“A mask!” Spider-Man held him against the front console, then unmasked him and found himself staring at…himself.
“You lose, Spider-Man! Soon I’ll be gone from here and you’ll be in the custody of…of…”
Spider-Man looked up through the arc of the viewport and saw what brought his doppelganger up short. The Enterprise was holding position just above them and across from the Romulans.
“Well, nuts.”
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“I see!” Picard said in an almost condescending tone. “Well this is an amusing turn of events…isn’t it, Number One?” He asked, turning toward Commander Riker with a smirk.
“So what you’re telling us, Commander Kolar, is that this spy was working against you, and he only recently switched sides to come work against us, and you’ve actually got a problem with it?” Riker gave the Romulan commander a broad grin.
Commander Kolar forced a smile back at them and spoke as though he were in fact grinding his teeth. “The Romulan Empire does not condone or commit acts of spying, piracy or treason, and we take such actions very seriously, whether they are on behalf of other protectorates or our own. I again offer you my most humble apologies for any damage he may have caused. I ask only that we be allowed to collect him and be on our way.”
“So Spider-Man is a spy after all,” Picard concluded, looking at Riker with his eyebrows raised as if to say “I told you so.”
Kolar frowned in confusion. “Spider what?”
Picard’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
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Spider-Man beamed back off of the Professor’s shuttle and this time, he waited for the Enterprise’s shields to drop before he went back to the ship to change in his quarters and escape capture.
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The Romulans took The Chameleon without getting the plans. He was to be punished severely for his failure.
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Peter had left the plans in the shuttle, just out of reach. When the Enterprise returned both shuttles to the Starbase, they also returned the plans and discovered all of The spy’s victims. Knowing that the Professor was being impersonated put them on the trail of those who had fallen prey to the spy’s masterful stealth and disguise skills.
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“He’s so powerful and confused--what if he does turn his powers against the law?” Sue said, in agreement with Captain Picard and Captain Williams of Starbase Four. The two of them had called a brief meeting with the Fantastic Four to discuss Spider-Man.
“Yeah!” Thing blurted. “If a teenager can be so damn strong, how strong’ll he be when he gets older?”
“Aw, we won’t ever hafta worry about him,” Johnny scoffed.
“It’s possible that we will, Johnny,” Reed told the assemblage, “but I think his intentions are good.”
“He has already contravened several laws of the Federation, regardless of what anyone thinks,” Picard said sharply. “Mr. Richards, considering your recent encounters, I’m frankly quite surprised that you won’t pursue this with more enthusiasm.”
“You’ve told me yourself, Captain, that whenever he doesn’t want to be found, he isn’t. He’s been on your ship more than once, or is possibly even there right now,” this appeared to strike a nerve, as it brought a sour look to Picard’s face, but Reed continued, “so it would do me absolutely no good to scour your ship for him. I have the most advanced sensors in the quadrant right here in this room, and I’ve already scanned your ship--I even took the liberty of scanning those two shuttles that departed the Starbase not long ago--and I came up with nothing but ordinary human life-signs. You’re wasting your time trying to track him down.”
“He brought chaos to my Starbase,” Williams countered. “Him and that…spy. That spy was a real master of disguise, almost like his own abilities are superhuman in some way. Is this what we have to look forward to? Superhumans running amok inside our facilities, incapacitating our guards and our scientists and ending our way of life?”
“Captain Williams,” Sue replied, “Have we ever been anything but helpful to Starfleet? To the Federation?”
“Now, Susan, you know that I like and admire you four for what you bring to us as an organization, and for the altruism you embody. Naturally I’d never see you as an enemy; but if the number of superhumans in this galaxy is increasing, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes an epidemic.”
“I must agree with you,” Picard added. “He wears a mask, much like our spy must have done. Why must he wear a mask if he’s not a threat? First Q, then Spider-Man…it appears I have my work cut out for me. I’m destined to have a colorful future.”
“A four-color future at least,” Johnny quipped, but no one got it.
The meeting continued into the night, and the next day the Professor was ready once again to embark on his latest mission.
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While en route to the nebula, Peter once again returned to the drawing board, trying to figure out other ways to clear Spider-Man’s name and get some money to his aunt. He found fresh tears welling in his eyes as he read Captain Picard’s latest shipwide report regarding Spider-Man.
“Nothing ever turns out right,” he sobbed. “I wish I had never gotten my super powers!”
With no answers forthcoming, he shut down his computer screen and went to bed, silently wishing that someone would come along and guide him. Where was that “Q” person now? Did he only exist to taunt Peter and then vanish, never to be seen again? Peter dropped off to sleep, and he dreamed of Vultures…
Next time in Star Trek: Spider-Man...
Captain Picard is...The Vulture!