The Spider's Web: Mending Strands

[telerib]

That's just what Max, Reg, and Dr. Olsson were wondering. Max spotted the scribble in the Spider's office.

So he called it up. "Mistah Gibson's awffice," answered the secretary on the other end. Max recognized Gibson as a vice president in charge of advertising, and quickly masqueraded as a man working on one of the new ad projects he'd read about in the Business section. He got an appointment to see Gibson at 2:30 the next day. He hoped he and Reg would be able to find out what was going on, before it was too late!

The meeting was smarmy but innocent enough. Reg played the part of an ad-man, since Max recognized his own charms weren't quite up to the job. (Reg's charms were a bit on the fritz as well; trying to charm the secretary, he only garnered an annoyed stare from behind the cat's-eye glasses and a coldly professional manner!) Max used his powers of observation to glance about the room, getting a gander of the secretary's appointment book. Mr. Gibson would be working only til 5:30 tonight - a little late, but nothing unusual. Then why did the woman tell him that she'd arranged for his steak dinner to be brought over at 7:30?

Dipping into Reg's petty cash, Max dropped by the local steakhouse early and bought a uniform off of one of the delivery boys - a big delivery boy! Concealing his Scorpion outfit under it, he got ready for his part in the Plan.

Around 5pm, Reg and Dr. Olsson began a stakeout (steakout?) of the EVIL building. Nothing notable happened - office workers leaving, mostly around 5 but trickling in and out til 6 or 6:30. Then nothing, until a very large delivery boy came with a steak dinner. (Max, dipping into the petty cash again, paid the real fellow to let him do the delivery - part of a fraternity prank, he said). The security guards let him in, and he took the food upstairs.

Gibson answered his own office door. The room behind him was apparently empty, but the Scorpion's superb senses heard the telltale sounds of another person in there - faint breathing, the sound of cloth-on-cloth when weight shifts. There was a cough and a quiet murmur - enough for the Scorpion to recognize the voice of Don Bruno!

Sending the elevator back down, he forced the door to an office across the hall. The men in the other room heard something, but when they checked the hall, found nothing amiss. The Scorpion re-emerged from the office to listen at their door, but the conversation wasn't notable: "Good steak." "Yeah." "So, boss, where've you been?" "None of your goddamn business."

Finally: "We should go up. It'll be here soon." The Scorpion (now out of his delivery boy togs) hid in the office again, then followed the gangster up to the EVIL roof.

Meanwhile, Reg and Dr. Olsson watched a young woman in a trenchcoat approach the glass doors of the EVIL lobby. She knocked, rather unnecessarily, and was let in. A guard escorted her upstairs. Looking at each other, they shrugged and decided to bide their time until they either got a signal from Max or saw something wrong... and that was when Reg spotted the men on the rooftop!

Good enough for them. Dr. Olsson gunned the engine and sent the car through the glass-fronted lobby. The two remaining guards leapt away from their desk as the car rammed it, sliding across the lobby. Dr. Olsson exited (leaving the keys in the ignition at Reg's request) and started for the stairs; Reg paused (in mask and 'hero' garb) to make dramatic statements about "the Invisible Hand!" The guards, associating masked men in EVIL HQ with the Scorpion and generally not being paid all that well, took off.

The Scorpion found himself standing in a small rooftop shack, trying to hear what was going on. But the NYC wind fourteen stories up foiled even his ears. Pondering what to do, he heard a door a floor down the staircase open. "Up this way, miss," he heard the guard who let him into the building say.

After cracking the door and peering out, the Scorpion burst onto the rooftop. Don Bruno and Mr. Gibson looked up sharply and in surprise! "Scorpion!" Bruno snarled angrily.

"Gibson, I know you're in cahoots with the Spider," the masked vigilante intoned. "I'll see you go up the river."

Don Bruno, in mock wide-eyed wonder, tossed his lackey a few questions that made it clear that he already knew about this connection, and that the Scorpion had "nuttin'." Reg and Dr. Olsson reached the top of the stairs, and Bruno was shocked - shocked! - that the Scorpion would bring in sidekicks to their usually personal enmity.

About then was when the lady in the trenchcoat made it to the roof, clutching a manila envelope. The wind grabbed her hat away, and tangled her curling blonde hair. [1] "I've... I'm here with the information," she said, nerves thickening her brogue. Reg recognized her as the secretary from the Danish consulate!

"It's over for you, Scorpion!" Bruno crowed. "Now I'll know who you are behind that mask!" He strode over and plucked the envelope from the young woman's hand. The Scorpion grabbed it back. Miss O'Shea, the secretary, tried to take it from him: "Ay! Give 'at back!" but he yanked it away before her fingers could close on it. Dr. Olsson bashed Don Bruno over the back, but the gangster didn't seem to really notice.

Reg pinioned the secretary; Don Bruno reclaimed the envelope. The Scorpion grabbed the envelope back *again* and this time let Dr. Olsson take it off his hands. Bruno grabbed for her wrists but missed; that was all the opening Scorpion needed to kick him in the chest and send him staggering back. Miss O'Shea shrugged off Reg and came around with a mean right hook that made Reg very glad he'd studied so much savate. He danced out of the way. Mr. Gibson, the ad man, was halfway down the stairs at this point.

Then Dr. Olsson opened the envelope and found a piece of paper with the words, "The Scorpion is Max Carnent," typed on it. She ripped it up.

This got definite reactions. Miss O'Shea was quite concerned, breaking off her fight with Reg to implore: "Please, Mr. The Rock, sir, you've got to remember we had a deal, right? You'll leave the Spider alone now? You had the paper, it's no fault o' mine if you lost hold of it! You'll remember!"

Bruno "The Rock" Paruzzi was heading towards Dr. Olsson with murder in his eyes when Scorpion intercepted him. They traded meaty blows until Bruno threw the Scorpion almost off the building. "Who cares who you are?" he snarled. "I'll just finish this here! You're going down, Scorpion!"

He swung. The Scorpion stepped lightly aside and the ganster overbalanced. Arms cartwheeling at the edge, he hung in perfect balance long enough for the Scorpion to smirk, "No, you're going down. All the way down." Then he pitched over the side of the building.

Reg, eyeing the pretty secretary, remarked that she'd obviously fallen in with bad company and should leave. Now. She blinked, nodded, and took off for the stairs like a shot. "You're letting her go?" Scorpion howled incredulously. "She knows where the Spider is!"

There was a merry chase down the stairs - except for the Scorpion, who grabbed onto the lines of a window-washer's cart and slid down the outside of the building. He'd intercept her if she tried to run out the front!

But, conveniently for Miss O'Shea, there was a car downstairs with the keys in the ignition! Lack of driving skill did not deter her, and desperation was apparently inspiration, because she got it into reverse on the first try.

Max wasn't sure if she was trying to run him over or it was just coincidence, but he wasn't going to stand for it either way. Leaping up, he landed heavily on the trunk. Reg shot out the front tire, and the driver was just barely able to keep some sort of control. Despite the wildly jerking motion of the car, Scorpion kept his feet and caved in the rear window.

He climbed in, and she threw herself out the driver's side door, rolling with the impact. Reg ran for the car. The secretary got up as the Scorpion was diving out of the backseat after her; Dr. Olsson handily tripped her up. She was awfully quick getting to her feet, but slower than Scorpion. Grabbing the trench's collar and waist, he bodily threw the young woman through the open backseat door! He piled in after, and Dr. Olsson shoved Reg over to drive. They took off, as fast as they could on just the front rim, as police sirens started closing in on the building.

Realizing they couldn't very well go to the Smythe-Worthington Building, Reg told Dr. Olsson to go to the "undisclosed location." "Kentucky! Right!" she replied enthusiastically, and directed the car to parts as yet unknown...


[1] If you're wondering, the security guard pulled her back into the top floor hallway when he heard someone shout, "Scorpion!" on the roof. He ran away; Reg and Dr. Olsson went up the stairs; then she went back into the stairwell and up behind them.