December 21 . . . 1:01 PM
Daily Planet City Room
When Lois Lane finished typing, she looked up to see Peter Parker standing in front of her desk.
"Peter! What are you doing here? It's the middle of the afternoon, and I'm pretty sure it's the middle of the week."
"Correct on all counts," Peter replied. "But I don't have to go to school any more this year."
"What happened?"
"Oh, a little semi-religious event . . . you may have heard of it . . . an early winter celebration of life and family . . . "
"Christmas . . . " Lois muttered. "I completely forgot . . . "
"Time . . . two minutes after one, four days before Christmas!" Ben Urich exclaimed from the next cubicle.
"What are you talking about?" Lois asked, pushing her chair back, and rolling over to her co-worker's office space. She noticed the dry-erase board with the names of many staff members, as well as dates and times.
"An informal annual tradition," Ben replied. "A few years back, several of us noticed that you always seemed to forget about Christmas until the last minute. Couple years back, we started a pool." He looked at the board. "And the winner this year is . . . Peter!?"
"Don't be so surprised, Urich," Peter said. "I'm not at the top of my class for nothing. I already figured that she'd notice me being here in the middle of the day."
"I don't believe it," Lois grumbled as Peter walked over to collect the envelope of money.
"Merry Christmas to you too," Ben said with a smile. "And, only four shopping days until Christmas!"
"Shopping? Aw, crud!"
December 21 . . . 1:30 PM
Rockefeller Center, New York City
Maxwell Dillon was down on his luck. It wasn't shaping up to be a very merry Christmas. He has lost his job a few months earlier to corporate downsizing, and he had been evicted from his apartment just a week ago. He had nowhere to go. He didn't have many friends in the city, and those few he did have were unable to put him up even for a night. His parents had disowned him, thanks to a Thanksgiving travesty.
Max Dillon stood in front of the Rockefeller tree to hopefully feel better. That had always helped him when he was down at Christmas time. Just seeing the tree always put him into the Christmas spirit.
However, this year, it did not work out quite as he had hoped. He was still feeling depressed. Maybe it was because it was still daytime, and the lights could not be seen. He turned to walk away.
He walked to a mall. He didn't have enough money to buy anything - nor anybody to buy presents for - but at least it was a warm place to spend the afternoon.
Max walked around, looking at all of the various stores, just wandering to pass the time. He came upon the Santa in the middle of the mall. He smiled as he saw a little girl sitting on Santa's lap. But then the smiled turned to a frown when he thought about how much better her life must be than his right now.
Then, he looked up and saw a string of lights break loose from the ceiling. Bringing his eyes back down, he could tell that it would hit one of Santa's female elves, possibly causing serious injury.
Instantly, he sprang to action, leaping at the elf and getting her out of harm's way. The lights swung right where she had been standing.
However, the elf could not see this, and pushed Max off of her.
"Freak!" she shouted.
Max was tossed into the fountain, and the light string snapped off, falling in. The exposed wires made contact with the water and sent a charge through Max's body.
"Oh, my gosh!" the elf shouted. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know!"
Several parents tried to shield their children. Santa gave the girl on his lap to one of his helpers and rushed over.
Max tried standing up. He felt something surging through his body . . . power. Finally, he was able to kick the string out of the water. He fell to his knees.
Immediately, several people gathered around, wanting to help, but very weary of touching him.
"He might still be charged," Santa said. Max leaned over the side of the fountain, and then stood up. Suddenly, he felt fine.
"You probably shouldn't be standing, son," Santa said. "I'm sure someone is calling 911. Medical help will be here soon."
"I'm fine," Max said. "I don't need help?"
"But you were just electrocuted!"
"I said I'm fine!" Max growled. "Now let me go!" As he exclaimed, sparks of energy flew from his body. Everyone jumped back.
"Maybe I should call the cops."
"No!" Max said, getting out of the fountain, and running out of the mall.
December 21 . . . 2:35 PM, Daily Planet City Room
"We got a live one!" someone shouted. "I'm getting reports of some guy getting electrocuted at the mall, and then running out!"
"What?" Ben, Jimmy, and Peter all exclaimed at the same time. Ben got out of his chair and hurried over, reading the note.
"Yeah, says that some guys saved an elf from a string of lights that snapped. He got knocked into the water and the lights fell in. However, when some people tried to help, he got angry and ran out."
"You mean he was perfectly fine?" Jimmy asked.
"That's right," Ben replied, coming back to his desk. He looked at Peter. "You wanna go?"
"Actually, take Jimmy along. I have some contacts at the police. I want to try to get a lead on the guy, maybe find him and get some pictures."
"Good idea," Ben replied. "C'mon, Jimmy, let's go!"
December 21 . . . 3:45 PM
New York City
After scouring the city for over an hour for any trace of the electric man, Spider-Man found the NYPD staked out in front of an apartment building.
"I take it this is where the electric guy is," Spidey said.
"Yes, it is," Captain Stacy replied without turning around. "The weird thing is that it isn't even abandoned. Most of the time, these superpowered crazies go to abandoned buildings."
"Want me to scout it out?"
"Sure," Stacy replied. "Just don't do anything stupid."
"Like I ever do."
"That's what scared me."
"Funny . . . Where is he?"
"We're guessing third floor, second window from the right."
"I'm on it."
Spidey leapt up to the third floor, and crawled over to the second window. He peered in, and saw a man spewing electricity sitting in the middle of the empty apartment. He crashed through the window.
"Spider-Man!" Max exclaimed. "Stay back! I won't hesitate to hurt you!"
"So, who are you? Or should I just call you 'Electro' or something?" Spidey asked.
"Hmmm, that name has possibilities . . . "
"Look, I'm not here for a fight. I just want to help you."
"How can you help?"
"If you turn yourself into police, I'm sure that they will take you to a place that can help you. I'm sure somebody, like Tony Stark, has some sort of equipment to contain your power."
"And then they'll turn me back into the poor loser that I was? Spider-Man, do you know how bad my life was? It's Christmas, and I don't have a job, a home, or a family to go to. I had nothing. But now, I have this power."
"Which won't mean anything if you can't contain it and get it under control!"
"So? At least it's something."
Spider-Man took a step. "Electro . . . "
"Stay back!" Electro shouted, releasing a burst of electricity. It hit Spider-Man dead center in the chest, knocking him down. Electro jumped out of the window as Spider-Man's suit began to malfunction from the power overload.
Spider-Man jumped out of the apartment.
"I'm sorry, Captain Stacy, but there is no reasoning with him. I think the electricity made him lose it."
"It's okay. We'll be able to find him."
"I can't help you though. He overloaded my suit. It's barely able to stay together. I gotta go home and fix it."
"I understand. We can handle this. Take care, and merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you, too."
As Spidey ran off, he thought, I wonder what Victor is up to.
December 21 . . . 4:55 PM
Daily Planet City Room
Perry looked over the photos. "These are excellent shots of Spider-Man and Electro," he said. "How did you get them?"
"Zoom lens from across the street," Peter lied. "I kinda enhanced one that I bought."
"Nice work," Perry replied. "So, what happened after this confrontation?"
"I don't know," Peter said. "Electro ran off."
"I can fill you in," Ben added. "Apparently, this guy went to Stark to get some help. After they fitted him with a suit, he went away. No one has seen him since."
"Well, we have enough for a story. Get working on it," Perry ordered.
"Should we worry about what happens next?" Peter asked.
"No," Perry replied. "If I understand correctly, he's just some guy down on his luck. After a while, he should come to his senses. It's not like he's done anything majorly wrong anyway."
"Okay," Peter said, walking to the darkroom.
December 23, 9:57 PM
The Mall
"Oh, excuse me," Peter said as he bumped into someone.
"I'm sorry," the other person replied. She looked at Peter. "Peter?"
"Lois! What are you doing here?"
Lois held up her bags. "Last minute Christmas shopping."
"Well, tomorrow would be considered last minute."
"Not for me. I have to get my gifts to the people beforehand."
"Why don't we sit down for a while," Peter suggested. He led Lois to a bench. She put down her many shopping bags.
"Ohhh. That feels nice to not carry all of that weight. What do you have in your bag?"
"Well . . . " He pulled something out. "It's for you. Might as well give it to you now."
"Peter, thanks . . . "
"Go ahead. Open it."
Lois ripped the paper off. She saw a large picture in a beautiful frame. The picture was of Spider-Man and herself. It was one that Peter had taken. She looked down to the corner. Something was written there. "Lois, stay cool. Merry Christmas, Spider-Man."
Lois could feel a tear coming to her eye.
"I took one of my shots and had it enlarged. Just got it framed and giftwrapped twenty minutes ago." Peter pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Lois. "Here," he said. "You should have this."
She took it and looked inside. There were several dollar bills of various denominations inside. "What's this?"
"I was thinking about the bet going around the office, and realized that it probably wasn't in the spirit of Christmas. So, I took a little out for your present, and decided to give you the rest."
"Oh, Peter . . . " Lois said. She put the picture down and gave Peter a hug. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too," Peter replied. Backing away from the embrace, he asked, "So, are you doing anything tomorrow night?"
Lois shook her head. "My parents decided to go visit my sister for the holidays. Most of my friends have plans, so it's just me."
"Would you like to come to my house for dinner? I'm sure Aunt May wouldn't mind."
Lois thought for a second. "I'd love to, as long as you're sure it's fine."
"Trust me . . . Aunt May makes so much that we usually end up throwing some of it out. She'd love to have you over."
"Okay, what time should I be there?"
"How about if I call you tomorrow morning? After I can talk it over with my aunt?"
"That's fine." Lois glanced at her watch and picked up her bags. "It's getting late. I should be getting home. I have to wrap these and FedEx them to my family." She stood up.
"Do you need any help?" Peter asked as he stood.
"It would be nice," Lois said with a smile.
"How about if we call a few people from the Planet and have a little impromptu Christmas party? We can help you with your gifts and just have some fun."
"That would be nice. It seems like I've been working non-stop for a while. Come on, we can call the others during the cab ride."
December 23 . . . 10:30 PM
Lois Lane's apartment
"So glad you could come," Lois said as she taped up the last side of the present. "Even though it was short notice."
"Hey, you said party, so we came," Ben said. "And I prefer smaller groups for something like this. The four of us is perfect."
"Yeah," Jimmy said. "It also gives me a chance to wrap my mom's gifts without her spying on me."
"Maybe we could make this an annual tradition," Ben added. "Our annual Christmas wrap party."
"Whatever," Lois replied. "I'm just trying to make it through this holiday."
"Let's make a toast," Peter said, raising his bottle of Coke. "To the Christmas spirit!"
Everyone else raised their drinks. "Hear, hear!"
December 24 . . . 5:00 PM
Parker resident, Queens
Nothing was on Peter's mind as he opened the door except the upcoming Christmas dinner. Nothing Spider-Man related, not even Electro. He saw Lois standing there.
"Oh, hi!" he said. "Glad you could make it! May I take your coat?"
"Sure," Lois replied. "Here," she added, handing him a gift. "Something for your aunt."
"Thanks," Peter said. "I'll go put the coat up. Most everyone else is here, over in the kitchen. My aunt and Mrs. Watson have slaved for the past two days on this meal."
He walked over and put Lois's coat in the closest as she walked into the kitchen. He then put the present until the tree in the living room. Mary Jane was waiting on the couch.
"Must be awkward for you," she said. "Being the only guy in a house with four women."
"Hey, what can I say? It's Christmas."
MJ stood up. "Yeah. Best time of the year."
Peter walked over. They were standing in the entryway to the living room. "All sorts of special things happen," he said, his voice getting quieter. He put his hand on MJ's back. "And we're standing underneath mistletoe."
MJ looked up and giggled.
"Want to see if the myth is true?"
"Sure . . . " MJ said, closing her eyes.
Peter came closer. His lips were about to touch hers when Aunt May called from the kitchen. "Peter! Mary Jane! We need some help in here!"
Peter and MJ snapped to attention, backing away from each other.
"Yes, ma'am," they chorused. Then, they looked at each other.
"Maybe some other time?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, some other time," Mary Jane replied. "I'll be waiting, Tiger," she adding as she walked to the kitchen.
Inside, Peter was jumping for joy, but he kept all of that emotion hidden. Instead, he calmly walked to the kitchen to help his aunt. "Merry Christmas, indeed," he said to himself.
Next issue: As Spider-Man is searching the city for Electro, he runs into the Sinister Six, who are out for revenge. But this time, it's going to take more than the combined efforts of Spider-Man and Batman to stop them!