Chapter 91: Peter and Harry
“Wait wait wait wait! Hold up! Are you telling me that the Thieves Guild is…actually a part of the EPD all along!?”
Spider-Man asked in shock and confusion.
He has been a member of the EPD for a while and he also took in missions to intercept the Thieves Guild a few times.
And now he was told that the Thieves Guild was on their side all along!?
Benjamin smiled and explained.
“Well, almost. Felicia’s working inside to take over it completely. Right now, there are only a few members that haven’t been brought over to our side. Those people are the ones you and the other members of the EPD would intercept now and then.”
Hearing this explanation, Spider-Man was even more speechless.
Turns out, Benjamin has been using both groups to deal with each other…
“But…why? Is there a need to take over the Thieves Guild? Can’t we just destroy it completely and turn them into EPD members?”
“Well, it was more convenient to use the current reputation of the Thieves Guild to deal with things that the EPD doesn’t do.”
“What do you mean?”
Spider-Man still didn’t understand.
Felicia rolled her eyes at him.
“See, he’s too gullible.”
Benjamin chuckled and continued to explain.
“Think of it like this. If the EPD goes and arrests all these underground groups and gangs, what happens next?”
“They go to jail?”
“Then?”
“Uhh, isn’t that it?”
“If that was all, it would be too inefficient.”
Benjamin shook his head.
“Those underground groups and gangs all have their network of connections. By having the Thieves Guild deal with them, I meant it for them to infiltrate the groups and find out these connections. Once everything’s gathered, it would be the EPD’s turn to round them up. If we just go in there guns blazing and all, those people would hide these connections before we can get to them. And while it’s true that I can just read their minds and all, I don’t really want to go around reading everyone’s mind…as cool as it sounds, it really isn’t a pleasant feeling, you know?”
“I…see…”
Spider-Man nodded, although still feeling conflicted about it.
Benjamin smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’re still keeping a close eye on them in case they hurt anyone.”
“Well, I sort of get it with the underground groups but…I’ve also heard the Thieves Guild is stealing from various big companies!”
Spider-Man asked.
Felicia shrugged.
“We’re only stealing from those who deserved it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t you get it? Do you think Oscorp is the only company with shady dealings?”
“B-but it’s still wrong to steal!”
“What’s wrong with stealing from another thief?”
Felicia rolled her eyes.
Benjamin smiled wryly and patted Spider-Man’s back.
“Alright, don’t bother with those kinds of things. In fact, I mostly use the money from that to distribute among the various charity organizations. Like FEAST. I don’t really have much use with the money anyway. I also use it to fund the EPD. Also, if you’re really worried about it, the higher-ups are already aware of it.”
“...”
Spider-Man was speechless.
What else was there to say?
The stolen money is put into charity which even includes his Aunt’s FEAST. It’s even used to fund the EPD where he was working which meant…he was getting paid with that money as well!
Even the higher-ups already knew about it, what else was there a need for him to say then?
“Besides, most of the Thieves Guild members are just a bunch of kleptomaniacs who don’t really need money but steal for the sake of stealing. It’s our form of art. The guild is just a way for them to satisfy these urges and at the same time, control them instead of letting them loose and causing trouble.”
Felicia shrugged.
Spider-Man shook his head.
“No, you can’t do this!”
Felicia frowned and was about to say something when Spider-Man continued.
“Why didn’t you ask me to join too!? I can be very stealthy!”
“...”
“...”
Both Benjamin and Felicia fell silent.
Good guy, already ready to switch sides and become a thief after hearing it was okay…
At this moment, they could hear police sirens nearby.
Benjamin called them earlier to help deal with the aftermath.
“Alright, we’ll talk about this some other time. Spider-Man, you stay here and coordinate with the police officers.”
“Huh? But why only m-”
“Cya!”
“Later, Spider!”
Benjamin didn’t wait for Spider-Man and opened up a portal which he and Felicia went through.
Spider-Man was speechless for a moment.
A few moments later, several police officers and detectives arrived.
“Spider-Man, you’re here. I’m Detective Yuriko Watanabe. I was told you would fill us up with the situation. What happened?”
A Japanese-American woman with short black hair arrived at the scene and found Spider-Man who was still in a daze after being abandoned.
Spider-Man snapped out of it and shook her hand.
“Ah, yes. I’m Yuriko- I mean, I’m Spider-Man. But you already know that. Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You really do talk a lot. Can we start?”
Yuriko sighed and quickly got to the point.
“Right. The situation. Umm, it’s like this…”
Spider-Man began to explain from the beginning. Of course, he didn’t say anything about the Thieves Guild
Their main goal right now was to sweep the area and make sure that there were no other problems in the surroundings and also take in any statements of the employees who were still around.
Yuriko nodded. She began to issue orders and pointed to a few officers.
“I want a full sweep of the area. Tag any dangerous machines or chemicals for further inspection. You, and you, take statements from the employees. I want to know everything they know. See if there are any accomplices that were missed.”
Spider-Man felt a bit overwhelmed with her show of authority and asked.
“Umm, what should I do?”
“Go check the ceilings or other places the others can’t easily reach.”
“Sir, yes sir! I mean, Ma’am!”
Spider-Man saluted and quickly swung to the ceiling.
Yuriko shook her head then began to help the others.
After a while, they tagged some suspicious-looking tech for further investigations.
At this time, the officers in charge of taking in statements returned with another person.
Spider-Man recognized the person they brought as his very own best friend. Harry Osborn.
Harry’s face was dark as he started shouting.
“What is the meaning of this!? Where is my father!?”
Yuriko sighed but still explained.
“Mr. Osborn has been taken into custody for his crimes.”
“What crimes!? This is stupid! Get him out! We’re calling our lawyers!”
“You have that right, but-”
“A-ahem! Detective, let me handle this one.”
Spider-Man coughed and got in between the two who looked like they were about to start a fight.
Well, he doesn’t know about Yuriko but he knew that Harry was about to blow out of anger. He needed to interject before he did something he might regret.
Harry frowned when he saw Spider-Man.
“Spider-Man? Were you the one who did this!? How dare you!”
“Uhh, no no no. That’s not it. Let’s talk a little over there.”
Spider-Man grabbed his shoulders and took him to a quiet corner to talk.
“Take a look at this first before we talk.”
He then took out his EPD-issued phone and played a video. Benjamin had sent this to him earlier in case he needed it to explain some things.
Harry didn’t understand at first what Spider-Man wanted to do but as he watched the video, his face turned pale.
After all, he saw his own father turn into a green monstrosity!
“W-what happened!? What happened to my father!? What did you do!?”
“Hey, hey! Relax! Why are you blaming me!? Look, just watch.”
The video then continued to play from the moment Benjamin and them arrived right up to the conclusion.
Naturally, it didn’t include the video of them conversing about the Thieves Guild but only up to Benjamin sending Otto and Norman into jail through a portal.
Seeing his father return to normal again, Harry sighed in relief.
He fell silent for a minute before sighing.
“That notebook they found…is it real?”
“I wish it weren’t but…yes.”
Harry collapsed onto a chair.
“I can’t believe he would actually stoop so low…no. I can see him doing it…I just didn’t want to believe in it…”
Harry was well aware of how vicious and cold his father could be so he wasn’t too surprised upon hearing he was connected to such criminal organizations.
Spider-Man didn’t know what to say to him so he could only ask.
“What do you plan to do now?”
Harry thought for a moment then stood up once more. His expression was more resolute.
“I’m taking over the company.”
“You will? But…”
“I know. In this situation, it would be hard to maintain the company’s reputation. But I won’t give up. No matter how long it takes, I’ll change this company from the ground up! From now on, Oscorp will enter a new era. Whether I fail or not, I don’t know. But this way, I won’t have any more regrets.”
“Harry…”
Spider-Man could feel his resolution and determination.
He felt proud as his best friend.
Harry showed a bitter smile.
“I’ll probably have to drop out of school though. It’s too bad. I’d miss my best friend Peter.”
Spider-Man scratched his head.
“Well, it’s not like you can’t meet up every now and then right?”
“Hmm…no, you’re right! Peter’s a smart guy, I can let him intern at Oscorp and we can meet up more frequently!”
“Uhhh…y-yeah…good idea…”
Spider-Man started panicking in his mind.
What do you mean good idea!? I already have a part-time job at the EPD! I’m about to be full-time too!
When would I get the time to become an intern at Oscorp!?
However, he could only think of this and not say it. He didn’t want to dampen Harry’s mood.
Ah well, I’ll figure it out when the time comes…
Spider-Man gave up and left it to his future self to deal with…
“Ahem. I should probably go now. Good luck, Mr. Osborn.”
“...Thank you, Spider-Man. If you hadn’t stopped me earlier, I might’ve just made things worse.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Also, tell Captain Freed my thanks as well. Thanks for bringing my father back.”
“I will.”
Spider-Man nodded and left while waving his hand.
Just as he was about to leave Oscorp, Yuriko approached him.
“I must say, I was wrong about you, Spider-Man.”
“Hm? Detective Watanabe, what do you mean?”
“I thought you were just a blabbermouth but…there’s more to it than that. I’ll be expecting great things from you, Spider-Man.”
Yuriko chuckled and left.
Spider-Man was confused.
“I kinda felt like she was insulting me, and praising me at the same time…whatever. I’ll just take it as a praise. Let’s go!”
Spider-Man cheered as he swung away.
As he swung across New York, in a small alleyway, a small figure could be seen peering through the gap of the buildings and caught sight of Spider-Man.
On that figure’s hand was a newspaper of the Daily Bugle with Spider-Man on its cover.
Although Spider-Man was just one of the many heroes in the EPD, he was the most active one in this area and would appear more frequently in the newspapers.
The figure glanced at the disappearing Spider-man swinging from building to building then glanced at the cover photo of Spider-Man on the newspaper.
“Spider…Man…”
Chapter 91: Peter and Harry
“Wait wait wait wait! Hold up! Are you telling me that the Thieves Guild is…actually a part of the EPD all along!?”
Spider-Man asked in shock and confusion.
He has been a member of the EPD for a while and he also took in missions to intercept the Thieves Guild a few times.
And now he was told that the Thieves Guild was on their side all along!?
Benjamin smiled and explained.
“Well, almost. Felicia’s working inside to take over it completely. Right now, there are only a few members that haven’t been brought over to our side. Those people are the ones you and the other members of the EPD would intercept now and then.”
Hearing this explanation, Spider-Man was even more speechless.
Turns out, Benjamin has been using both groups to deal with each other…
“But…why? Is there a need to take over the Thieves Guild? Can’t we just destroy it completely and turn them into EPD members?”
“Well, it was more convenient to use the current reputation of the Thieves Guild to deal with things that the EPD doesn’t do.”
“What do you mean?”
Spider-Man still didn’t understand.
Felicia rolled her eyes at him.
“See, he’s too gullible.”
Benjamin chuckled and continued to explain.
“Think of it like this. If the EPD goes and arrests all these underground groups and gangs, what happens next?”
“They go to jail?”
“Then?”
“Uhh, isn’t that it?”
“If that was all, it would be too inefficient.”
Benjamin shook his head.
“Those underground groups and gangs all have their network of connections. By having the Thieves Guild deal with them, I meant it for them to infiltrate the groups and find out these connections. Once everything’s gathered, it would be the EPD’s turn to round them up. If we just go in there guns blazing and all, those people would hide these connections before we can get to them. And while it’s true that I can just read their minds and all, I don’t really want to go around reading everyone’s mind…as cool as it sounds, it really isn’t a pleasant feeling, you know?”
“I…see…”
Spider-Man nodded, although still feeling conflicted about it.
Benjamin smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’re still keeping a close eye on them in case they hurt anyone.”
“Well, I sort of get it with the underground groups but…I’ve also heard the Thieves Guild is stealing from various big companies!”
Spider-Man asked.
Felicia shrugged.
“We’re only stealing from those who deserved it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Don’t you get it? Do you think Oscorp is the only company with shady dealings?”
“B-but it’s still wrong to steal!”
“What’s wrong with stealing from another thief?”
Felicia rolled her eyes.
Benjamin smiled wryly and patted Spider-Man’s back.
“Alright, don’t bother with those kinds of things. In fact, I mostly use the money from that to distribute among the various charity organizations. Like FEAST. I don’t really have much use with the money anyway. I also use it to fund the EPD. Also, if you’re really worried about it, the higher-ups are already aware of it.”
“...”
Spider-Man was speechless.
What else was there to say?
The stolen money is put into charity which even includes his Aunt’s FEAST. It’s even used to fund the EPD where he was working which meant…he was getting paid with that money as well!
Even the higher-ups already knew about it, what else was there a need for him to say then?
“Besides, most of the Thieves Guild members are just a bunch of kleptomaniacs who don’t really need money but steal for the sake of stealing. It’s our form of art. The guild is just a way for them to satisfy these urges and at the same time, control them instead of letting them loose and causing trouble.”
Felicia shrugged.
Spider-Man shook his head.
“No, you can’t do this!”
Felicia frowned and was about to say something when Spider-Man continued.
“Why didn’t you ask me to join too!? I can be very stealthy!”
“...”
“...”
Both Benjamin and Felicia fell silent.
Good guy, already ready to switch sides and become a thief after hearing it was okay…
At this moment, they could hear police sirens nearby.
Benjamin called them earlier to help deal with the aftermath.
“Alright, we’ll talk about this some other time. Spider-Man, you stay here and coordinate with the police officers.”
“Huh? But why only m-”
“Cya!”
“Later, Spider!”
Benjamin didn’t wait for Spider-Man and opened up a portal which he and Felicia went through.
Spider-Man was speechless for a moment.
A few moments later, several police officers and detectives arrived.
“Spider-Man, you’re here. I’m Detective Yuriko Watanabe. I was told you would fill us up with the situation. What happened?”
A Japanese-American woman with short black hair arrived at the scene and found Spider-Man who was still in a daze after being abandoned.
Spider-Man snapped out of it and shook her hand.
“Ah, yes. I’m Yuriko- I mean, I’m Spider-Man. But you already know that. Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You really do talk a lot. Can we start?”
Yuriko sighed and quickly got to the point.
“Right. The situation. Umm, it’s like this…”
Spider-Man began to explain from the beginning. Of course, he didn’t say anything about the Thieves Guild
Their main goal right now was to sweep the area and make sure that there were no other problems in the surroundings and also take in any statements of the employees who were still around.
Yuriko nodded. She began to issue orders and pointed to a few officers.
“I want a full sweep of the area. Tag any dangerous machines or chemicals for further inspection. You, and you, take statements from the employees. I want to know everything they know. See if there are any accomplices that were missed.”
Spider-Man felt a bit overwhelmed with her show of authority and asked.
“Umm, what should I do?”
“Go check the ceilings or other places the others can’t easily reach.”
“Sir, yes sir! I mean, Ma’am!”
Spider-Man saluted and quickly swung to the ceiling.
Yuriko shook her head then began to help the others.
After a while, they tagged some suspicious-looking tech for further investigations.
At this time, the officers in charge of taking in statements returned with another person.
Spider-Man recognized the person they brought as his very own best friend. Harry Osborn.
Harry’s face was dark as he started shouting.
“What is the meaning of this!? Where is my father!?”
Yuriko sighed but still explained.
“Mr. Osborn has been taken into custody for his crimes.”
“What crimes!? This is stupid! Get him out! We’re calling our lawyers!”
“You have that right, but-”
“A-ahem! Detective, let me handle this one.”
Spider-Man coughed and got in between the two who looked like they were about to start a fight.
Well, he doesn’t know about Yuriko but he knew that Harry was about to blow out of anger. He needed to interject before he did something he might regret.
Harry frowned when he saw Spider-Man.
“Spider-Man? Were you the one who did this!? How dare you!”
“Uhh, no no no. That’s not it. Let’s talk a little over there.”
Spider-Man grabbed his shoulders and took him to a quiet corner to talk.
“Take a look at this first before we talk.”
He then took out his EPD-issued phone and played a video. Benjamin had sent this to him earlier in case he needed it to explain some things.
Harry didn’t understand at first what Spider-Man wanted to do but as he watched the video, his face turned pale.
After all, he saw his own father turn into a green monstrosity!
“W-what happened!? What happened to my father!? What did you do!?”
“Hey, hey! Relax! Why are you blaming me!? Look, just watch.”
The video then continued to play from the moment Benjamin and them arrived right up to the conclusion.
Naturally, it didn’t include the video of them conversing about the Thieves Guild but only up to Benjamin sending Otto and Norman into jail through a portal.
Seeing his father return to normal again, Harry sighed in relief.
He fell silent for a minute before sighing.
“That notebook they found…is it real?”
“I wish it weren’t but…yes.”
Harry collapsed onto a chair.
“I can’t believe he would actually stoop so low…no. I can see him doing it…I just didn’t want to believe in it…”
Harry was well aware of how vicious and cold his father could be so he wasn’t too surprised upon hearing he was connected to such criminal organizations.
Spider-Man didn’t know what to say to him so he could only ask.
“What do you plan to do now?”
Harry thought for a moment then stood up once more. His expression was more resolute.
“I’m taking over the company.”
“You will? But…”
“I know. In this situation, it would be hard to maintain the company’s reputation. But I won’t give up. No matter how long it takes, I’ll change this company from the ground up! From now on, Oscorp will enter a new era. Whether I fail or not, I don’t know. But this way, I won’t have any more regrets.”
“Harry…”
Spider-Man could feel his resolution and determination.
He felt proud as his best friend.
Harry showed a bitter smile.
“I’ll probably have to drop out of school though. It’s too bad. I’d miss my best friend Peter.”
Spider-Man scratched his head.
“Well, it’s not like you can’t meet up every now and then right?”
“Hmm…no, you’re right! Peter’s a smart guy, I can let him intern at Oscorp and we can meet up more frequently!”
“Uhhh…y-yeah…good idea…”
Spider-Man started panicking in his mind.
What do you mean good idea!? I already have a part-time job at the EPD! I’m about to be full-time too!
When would I get the time to become an intern at Oscorp!?
However, he could only think of this and not say it. He didn’t want to dampen Harry’s mood.
Ah well, I’ll figure it out when the time comes…
Spider-Man gave up and left it to his future self to deal with…
“Ahem. I should probably go now. Good luck, Mr. Osborn.”
“...Thank you, Spider-Man. If you hadn’t stopped me earlier, I might’ve just made things worse.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Also, tell Captain Freed my thanks as well. Thanks for bringing my father back.”
“I will.”
Spider-Man nodded and left while waving his hand.
Just as he was about to leave Oscorp, Yuriko approached him.
“I must say, I was wrong about you, Spider-Man.”
“Hm? Detective Watanabe, what do you mean?”
“I thought you were just a blabbermouth but…there’s more to it than that. I’ll be expecting great things from you, Spider-Man.”
Yuriko chuckled and left.
Spider-Man was confused.
“I kinda felt like she was insulting me, and praising me at the same time…whatever. I’ll just take it as a praise. Let’s go!”
Spider-Man cheered as he swung away.
As he swung across New York, in a small alleyway, a small figure could be seen peering through the gap of the buildings and caught sight of Spider-Man.
On that figure’s hand was a newspaper of the Daily Bugle with Spider-Man on its cover.
Although Spider-Man was just one of the many heroes in the EPD, he was the most active one in this area and would appear more frequently in the newspapers.
The figure glanced at the disappearing Spider-man swinging from building to building then glanced at the cover photo of Spider-Man on the newspaper.
“Spider…Man…”
