Spider-Man #7

#7
December 2000

The Visionaries
by Chip Caroon

Peter awoke with a start. He felt his bed. It was real, still in one piece.

He looked around. He was still in his room. No one else was with him.

He felt his shirt. It was drenched with sweat. He was breathing hard. He tried to calm down.

He lay back down and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would come, without bringing nightmares.

Meanwhile, across town, the young mutant telepath known as Psylocke screamed. She had been probing the mind of young Mr. Parker as he was having his nightmare. In fact, she was partially responsible for it.

"Betsy!" Clea shouted, leaning over and grabbing her friend before she fell to the ground.

"Sp-spiders. B-b-b-b-bad," Betsy whispered.

Rift, another member of this small, select group ran in. "What happened?" he asked. "I heard a scream."

Clea turned to Rift. "It's all right. Psylocke just had a bad encounter. That's all. You may go."

Rift turned and walked out of the room, back to his own room. He was in for a shock when he walked in. Laying on his bed was another member of this group: Aron, sometimes known as the Rogue Watcher.

"Aron!" Rift exclaimed. "Why are you here?"

"I was bored," the bald man answered. He was quite small for a Watcher, the race of beings permitted to chronicle history, but not to interfere. Aron had interfered several times, most of which were in good faith, and therefore had been kicked out of the Watchers. He made the best of his time on Earth, with this group of mystics and mutants known as the Visionaries. "I figured you were the only one that would be worth talking to. I mean, Sketch has been keeping to herself of late, and the other two chicks stay in that room, trying to mess with people's minds."

"You couldn't have talked to Ryder?"

"He's never here anymore. I wonder why?"

Rift sighed, also wondering where his friend, Matthew Ryder - also known as Hourman - was.

The next morning, Peter Parker walked into the Daily Planet's city room. He walked over to Lois's desk.

"Hey," he said, leaning on the cubicle wall. "What's up?"

Lois looked up from her computer screen. "Oh! Peter, hey. Nothing much, just the normal newsday."

"One that Jay Leno would be complaining about on the Tonight Show?"

Lois smiled. "Something like that. Maybe not as bad."

Peter looked around the office. "Is Jimmy here? We were gonna develop some pictures together."

"No, Peter, I haven't seen him."

Suddenly, J. Jonah Jameson came out of Perry White's office, his face ash-white. He quickly walked to the elevator and rode up to his office on the upper level.

Peter and Lois walked over to Perry's office. He was sitting in his chair, looking out the window behind him.

"So, chief, what happened?" Peter asked.

Perry turned around, and put his hands together, resting his elbows on his desk. He sighed.

"I can't really say much, but Jameson is worried about the future of the paper," he responded.

Lois frowned. "The paper or his wallet?" she asked in a bitter tone.

"For once, both," Perry said. "All I can say is, there are some very powerful people who are interested in partial, or even full ownership of the Planet."

"Why is Jameson worried, then?" Peter asked. "If he's the owner, he can just say no."

Perry leaned back in his chair. "I'm afraid it's not so simple, Peter. You see, some of these people have the means to force a sell. But, I've probably told you too much. You should go."

Peter and Lois left the office and walked back to Lois's desk. Lois sat back down and started typing.

"So, who do you think could be pressuring Jameson?" Peter asked.

"I have my suspicions," Lois replied. "I can think of two or three right offhand."

"Mind telling me who they are?"

Lois looked up. "I don't think you really want to get involved in this mess. You're still new."

Peter was taken back. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"Oh, I didn't mean to sound mean. It's just not good for you to get into too much controversy while you're still learning the ropes here. You understand?"

"Of course," Peter replied. "I understand completely."

He quickly dropped the subject as he saw Jimmy getting off of the elevator.

"Hey, Peter!" Jimmy shouted across the room.

The two boys walked toward each other, and gave each other a high five.

"Ready to develop some pictures?" Peter asked.

"Let's go!" Jimmy smiled.

That afternoon, in the home of the Visionaries, the sextet met in the center room. They sat down in a circle, all facing the orb in the middle of the room. All of the lights were out, and the shades were drawn. Clea's powers and Psylocke's psychic knife were the only two sources of light.

Clea sat at the twelve o'clock position. On her right was Rift. Aron sat to his right, and then Hourman, Sketch, and finally Psylocke, on Clea's left.

Clea set the orb in place, and then extinguished all light.

"Tempus temporis!" she exclaimed.*

*(Can anyone guess what this means? - Chip)

Slowly, the orb began to light up. At first, the light was at the bottom, and then is gradually spread up. As it neared the middle, Clea turned to Rift.

"Rift?" she asked.

Rift knew what to do. Using his powers, he touched the side of the orb, waiting for his hand to begin glowing. When it did, he ran it across the top of the spherical orb until he touched the light on the other side. He sat down.

Hourman put his hand out, and generated a time field over the orb. That way, he could project whatever went on inside. At first the image was blurry, but it soon cleared up.

The scenes went by very fast, too fast to comprehend. Then they began to slow down. More and more, they began concentrating on one individual.

Spider-Man.

In the dark room, Peter and Jimmy were standing, admiring the great shots that they had taken during the recent incident with the Sinister Six.*

*(last issue)

"Peter, these are great shots!" Jimmy said. "I was wondering where you were, but it looks as if you were all over the place. Weren't you scared?"

"A little," Peter replied. "But I kinda figured that Spidey or Batman would save me."

"At least now we know that Batman exists."

"But do we want to ruin that urban myth image he seems to have? He relies on that quite a bit."

"True," Jimmy said. "But this is a newspaper. People will probably forget the images in a matter of days."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Peter said with a laugh. "Come on, we have to dry the rest of these pictures."

The Visionaries sat in awe at the images of Spider-Man in front of them.

Clea began elevating. "Psylocke, what do you interpret these images as?"

Psylocke closed her eyes. She allowed her powerful mind to venture into the orb. "I see, great troubles for Spider-Man. He will have very trying times ahead for him."

Meanwhile, Sketch was drawing on her pad. She copied the images down for further use later. Sketch is a mutant. Her power is to draw. Those drawings can come to life. She has proven to be a valuable member.

Aron looked and watched. With his vast knowledge, which he collected as a Watcher, he could theorize what would happen.

Rift sat back, watching. His job for the moment was done. He was merely the one to open the orb.

Hourman watched. He did not know if this would come to pass or not, and it scared him. For he had the ability to slide through time. However, he was never seen nor heard, and therefore could not interfere. Yet, there was some giant barrier that he could not cross. And it was nearing soon.

Clea analyzed, using the powers she had obtained from Doctor Strange, before she parted from him.

And then, the image became clear to all of them.

Meanwhile, back at the Daily Planet's darkroom, Peter groaned, and grabbed his head.

"Peter, what is it?" Jimmy asked.

Peter's mind exploded with images. He saw Spider-Man, swinging through the city, seeing many things happening. He saw a figure, all in black, keeping to the shadows. Then, the image shifted. He saw a lot of green. And a laugh; a crazy, hysterical laugh.

The image shifted again, and he saw armor. He was fighting it.

Another shift, and he saw the globe from the top of the Daily Planet building. It fell, and began to shatter. But before it could crumble all the way, it was surrounded by money, and was lifted up, back in once piece.

But, the largest shock was when the image shifted for the final time. He saw himself. But, he was wearing a different costume. It was the one that he saw in his flashback when he left the warehouse the night his uncle died.* And he saw two. Two Spider-Men. They were fighting. And then, they were working together. . .

*(issue #2)

And, as quickly as they came, the images left.

"Peter, you okay?" Jimmy asked.

"Yes," Peter said. "I just . . . I just felt a little sick. That's all. I'll be fine."

Jimmy looked around. "It's probably the chemicals. You should step out for a little bit."

"Okay. I'll be back."

"Of course."

The orb was closed. The Visionaries sat back, stunned.

Clea turned to Hourman. "Hourman, are those images, true?"

Hourman hesitated. "I . . . I don't know. I see a great disturbance in the timestream soon. Plus . . . I think . . . I think my own powers are fading."

"Fading?" Rift asked. "How?"

"I don't know. I'm not really sure, though," Hourman replied. "It could just be because of the disturbance. I'm sorry." He turned to Clea. "May I go to my room?"

"Of course," she said. "In fact, everyone can go. This session is done."

Peter stood outside the dark room, trying to comprehend the images that invaded his head. 'Where did they come from? Why did they happen?' he thought.

Lois walked by with some papers in her hand. When she saw Peter, she walked over.

"What's wrong, Peter?" she asked.

Peter looked down. "I . . . I had a strange feeling in the dark room. Jimmy thinks it might be the chemicals going to my head."

"Ooh. Sounds bad."

"But . . . "

"But what?"

"I don't think that's what it was." Peter looked up. "I think someone was trying to tell me something."

"Tell you what?" Lois asked.

"I . . . I don't know." Both of them stood for a moment, in silence. "Look, I better get back to developing. Anything you want me to photograph soon?"

"Not that I can think of. But I do want to look over the photos that the two of you got from the Sinister Six battle."

Peter smiled as he grabbed the door handle. "Will do."

J. Jonah Jameson sat in his top floor office, worried for once. He was always in control of his paper. But now, someone was coming in and taking over the Daily Planet.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Jonah jumped. He let it ring for about thirty more seconds before he gathered enough courage to pick it up.

"Jameson here," he said.

"Hello, Jonah. You know who it is," the voice on the other end said. "I was wondering what it would take to get you to reconsider."

Jameson pulled his collar a bit. "Well, you know, some of these decisions do have to be made by the board of trustees."

"I know. I don't care. I want a share of the Daily Planet. If you won't give it to me, I'll find a way to take it."

"How?"

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment. "Let's just say that everything that you hold dear will suffer."

Jameson worried for a second and then recomposed himself. He was tough, he wasn't going to let some outside interest take his paper away without a fight. "I'm sorry. The Planet is NOT for sale."

"You don't really expect me to believe that crap, do you?"

Jameson grunted.

"I'll make a deal with you, Jameson. I'll give you until noon tomorrow to make your decision. If I don't hear from you . . . well, I guess you'll be looking for work."

Jameson said nothing as he gathered his thoughts. "I will fight you. All the way if I have to. Even if I take down your whole company. I won't care. I just won't let you take my paper."

The voice on the other end laughed. "You think you have a snowball's chance in hell to stop me, don't you?"

"That's better than no chance!"

"In the real world, it's less than a chance."

"Stop playing mind games with me!"

The other man paused. "Like I said, Jameson. Give it up by noon, tomorrow, or I take it by force."

Jameson sighed. "The hell with you," he said right before he slammed the phone down.

Somewhere else in New York City . . .

He sat in the room. It was half dark. The only sound was that of the dial tone of the speakerphone - the only evidence of the call which had recently concluded.

"Ahh, Jameson," he said. "What will I do with you? The direct corporate takeover? Or the more subtle piece by piece crumbling of the empire, which I can then come in and take over, no questions asked?"

He thought for a moment. "Of course, the latter is more fun. Plus, it's keeps my good image. Yes, let's shatter Jameson's good newspaper. Pretty soon, it won't be worth a thing, until I buy it and rebuild it.

"First, readership shall go down. Then, ad revenue. Oh, I just love pulling the strings!" He smiled.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

A young woman stuck her head in. "There's someone to see you, Mr. Osborn."

"I'll be right there . . . "

Peter and Jimmy came out of the dark room with a large stack of pictures. Most of them wouldn't be used. So far, they were all black and white. After they got approval, then they would develop the colorized versions.

They walked into Perry's office.

"Hello, boys," Perry said. "Have a seat. Let me see those pictures."

Peter and Jimmy laid the stack on the editor's desk. He looked through them, stopping on several.

"These are excellent. A shame that we can only publish a couple," he said. He looked through the stack some more. Before he could get too far down, Jameson opened the door.

"White!" he said. "I've afraid we have a problem."

"Is it about . . . you know?"

"Yes. Come to my office when you're done."

"I'll be up in five minutes," Perry said. Jameson left, and Perry turned to the young photographers. "Boys. I'll pick out the two pictures, and you two can take off now. Take more pictures, have the day off, I don't care. I'll see you later."

Later that afternoon, Jimmy and Peter stood around Lois's desk, talking about the strange events of the day.

"So, it looks as if someone has finally spooked Jameson," Jimmy said.

"Is that difficult to do?" Peter asked.

"Well, he wasn't intimidated by Mysterio or Spider-Man," Lois answered. "But something's got him going. I almost don't wish to know."

Peter looked at his watch. "I have to get home! Aunt May should have dinner ready."

Jimmy looked up at the clock. "I have to go too. See you later, Lois."

"Bye, Lois."

"Bye, guys!"

Peter and Jimmy walked onto the nearly empty elevator.

"So, looks like the big summer adventure is nearly over, huh?" Jimmy asked. "Only a week until school!"

"Yeah. I can't wait to see what happens. I have a feeling this year is going to be exciting."

Next Issue: Well, it's been mentioned several times this month, and now it'll be time to find out - school is in session next issue. And, Peter runs into another student much like himself, Victor Cranston. And when the alter egos meet up, you know that Spidey isn't too far away from meeting The Shadow 2000. But what will be the event to pull them together? It's the beginning of the five part Spider-Man/Shadow 2000 crossover running through this title, The Shadow 2000, and Detective Comics. Plus, for more on the Visionaries, check out DCM Showcase #2. And, don't miss the next few months as the sub-plots thicken. Who is this Mr. Osborn who wants control of the paper? Why does he want control? Will he get it? Find out as the questions keep coming in Spider-Man #8!