Chapter Text
10:55 AM, September 1st, 2014, Unknown, NYC...
A dim hallway is illuminated by a buzzing green light, a small amount of chatter from a TV can be heard as a man opens a door into the dingy hallway, walking down it with a tray of food.
He unlocks the bolt to a door and steps inside.
"I wanna go home. I want my mommy." A boy whimpers as the man tells him to be quiet in Russian. The man takes a bite out of an apple as he steps out of the room and locks it.
He walks into a room full of people playing a round of poker. He says something that makes someone stand up and move past him, through the door. The man in the Leather jacket closes the door and walks into the room with the TV chatter.
Unbeknownst to all of these people, The Spider-Man rounds the hallway corner with an unconscious man in his right hand dangling until Peter drops him with a thud.
Peter's breath seems to be the kind that one would have when they're about to beat the shit out of someone who pisses them off.
The black clad man walks to the door with all the chatter and listens in for a few seconds. Peter opens the door and begins fighting the men in the room.
*THWI-BANG!*
Peter redirects a bullet into the ceiling using his webs mid fight. The fight continues after the door closes. More gunshots go off until someone is thrown out of the room, knocking the metal door off it's hinges before they're webbed in place.
The fighting escalates as the men in the poker room flood out. The first one steps on the door to see what is happening, but is hit on the head with a microwave, knocking him out as well. Peter throws another man out of the room as a guy from the poker room turns to shoot the approaching masked man.
Peter grabs the barrel of the gun and slams it into the armed man's face, knocking him back, he knees him into the wall while dodging a point blank bullet. He's punched in the face before he whips a man with the shotgun that the now groaning guy, had.
Peter rolls the man currently trying to punch him, onto the ground, before webbing him in place. He throws the gun at someone a little farther away, who's trying to get up. As he's tackled by the man he Gun-Whipped, into the poker room.
Suddenly, the man is flung out of the room, the back of his head slamming into the doorframe as a web flies at him, tying him to the wall.
*THWIP!*
Peter steps out of the room and pulls a recently recovered gang member to him, punching him in the face and slamming him into the ground with his elbow. Peter spin kicks the last guy who rushes him.
*Click.*
*THWIP!*
The last man who tries to recover is slammed into the wall with an impact web. Spider-Man turns around to the locked room and unlocks it. Opening it and stumbling in to find a hyperventilating toddler.
"Hi..." Peter says a little out of breath. "I know you're scared. But I'm here to help you. Okay? I'm gonna help get you back to your parents."
"Okay. Okay." The boy cries in relief. "Let's get you home to your mom." Peter walks out of the room, carrying the kid as well.
"Did you do that to these people?" The boy asks while Peter steps over the broken door. "Yeah..."
"Why?"
"Because, I'm Spider-Man."
11:58 PM, NYU, NYC...
Peter is running through the halls of the main building, trying to find the correct room before the bell rings.
The bell starts ringing just as he gets into a class filled with people and desks. "Mister Parker, so nice of you to join us, on time. Have a seat." Peter nods at the woman while moving to sit down.
He sits down in an empty seat next to a group of girls who side-eye him as he hangs his wet coat on his seat.
He sighs before taking a notebook out, the Professor writing on the board.
‘I still wish Claire and I didn't break up, but I need some space right now, I killed someone. I can't do that shit to her.’ Peter leans back as he lets out some air, a bruise forming on his face from earlier.
He notices a muted TV playing the local news, when all of a sudden, the screen switches to him fighting the men from earlier. He continues watching until the screen turns off.
"Peter, you still with us?" Peter shakes his head. "Yeah yeah, yeah." He turns to the board. "Uhm, Mass cancels out, so it's just gravity times sine."
"Very good Peter, but please, pay attention next time, even though you may already know it." He nods. "Sure..." The professor continues as a blonde girl glances at him with a brunette friend of hers.
"He's got great arms for a nerd." The brunette whispers. "Yeah... He could give Steve Rogers a run for his money..." The blonde comments.
"We should probably stop checking the guy out so much Gwen."
"A few more minutes Liz." Liz nods her head around for a few seconds. "Why not?"
The class ends a while later, allowing Peter to grab his jacket and run to the bulletin. He steps into the lobby, finding Betty sitting down in a seat. He checks his watch and blows some air out, before walking to the girl with a messy bob-cut.
"Hey."
"Hi Pete." Peter raises an eyebrow at her tired voice. "C'mon, what's wrong Betty?" Betty looks at him, then looks back down. "Don't leave me hanging here." Betty mumbles something that Peter manages to hear what she said.
"Damn, I'm sorry... I don't know what to say." He sits down next to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Ask me for anything, anything at all, and I'll do my best." Peter walks to the elevator.
"Pete! Wait!" He turns to see her in front of him all of a sudden.
She hugs him tightly and he awkwardly pats her back.
"Thank you."
"You're like a sister to me, of course I'd help you." Betty lets go, allowing Peter to step into the elevator and wave as the doors close.
Peter steps out of the elevator, onto the main floor. And walks over to Urich’s office, finding the door open.
“Ben?” Peter steps into the office while knocking on the doorframe.
Ben looks up at his assistant/apprentice. “How’s it going Peter? How was college?” Peter looks down. “I heard about Betty’s mom.”
“Oh…”
A moment of silence goes by.
“Any idea what organization got to her?” Peter asks the seasoned man. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me, that; you won’t go after them. Understand?”
“Understood. Now who did it?”
“Hammerhead’s men. Now give me your word that you won’t go after them.”
“I promise that I won’t go after them, but I have no control over what the Spider-Man does.” Peter cheekily says, making the older man chuckle.
“Go tell your vigilante friend. Just make sure that he doesn’t kill anyone.” Peter nods his head and leans on the wall. “He didn’t want to kill the Vulture y’know.”
“I know. I get that it’s hard to keep control when a child dies… Especially to a cannibal.”
Ben claps his hands together.
“Now, shall we get to work?” Peter lets out a breath and nods.
”What’s the assignment today?”
”For you to get a suit.” Urich stands up, leaving the teen bewildered. “What?”
”You heard me. Now let’s get going, we have a party at Ozcorp in a week.” Urich says as he leads Peter away.
September 2nd, 1:36 AM, Metro General, NYC...
A room is filled with beaten up gangsters with mob looking outfits on. Most of them groaning and others knocked out. Every one of them with handcuffs on.
Claire steps out of a room, a police officer pushing out a bandaged patient. She lets out a huff and crosses a name off her clipboard, before stopping a different nurse.
"Could you take over for me?" She asks the woman, who nods. "Yeah, sure Claire, what do ya need?"
She hands the nurse the clipboard of names in her hands. "A break." She smiles before walking off.
On the roof of the hospital, she breathes in the polluted but non sterile air. She takes out a pack of cigarettes and lights one, taking a drag.
*Thud.*
"GAH! JESUS CHRIST!" Claire flings the nicotine off the building while turning around, finding the popular spider-themed vigilante on the roof as well.
"What do you want Peter?" She deadpans before lighting another stick of tobacco.
In a rough-whispery voice Peter says sorry. "Sorry for giving you extra patients."
"Yeah, well, you did." She takes another drag. "Why are you talking like that?" Peter slumps his shoulders a little before walking to the ledge near her.
"Trying to make a vigilante voice so people don't recognize it on the street. It's pretty ridiculous, isn't it?" He takes off his mask.
"Hey, you do you. It's not like we're dating." Peter lets out a breath. "I told you why I broke up with you."
"Yeah well, maybe I didn't care that you killed a cannibalistic child murderer!"
"Maybe I didn't want to be an angry wreck around you for a full month!" Peter yells back. "Maybe I'm sick and tired of all these people, these good people dying to the evil who walk scot free!" He takes a step forward.
"Maybe I'm afraid of what'll happen if I lose it again! Maybe I'm afraid of how fucking powerful I am!" Peter places his gloved hand on his head.
"The other day, I didn't hold back when I punched a wall, and it shattered into dust! That's not even scientifically possible!" He grabs her shoulders and thins his lips.
He relaxes his hold on her with a sigh. "I just don't want another person I care about to die again."
He finally lets go of her. "I didn't come here to fight." He raises his hands in surrender.
"Let me guess, you found another one of those people on your list." It's not a question that she says.
"The hammerhead. The man has an adamantium plate in his head. And has a penchant for the craziest guns. So yeah, no skull caving this time..."
"You're going to need another patch up, aren't you."
Peter nods. "I have all the evidence I need to take him in, but he moves out of the city tonight. So-"
"You have one shot at this." Claire sighs as Peter puts his mask on.
He gets ready to jump off the building, but Claire stops him.
"Wait."
"Yeah?"
Claire takes a breath. "Don't get yourself killed." Peter smiles at her under his mask. "I'll try."
Peter jumps off the ledge.
*THWIP!*
1:50 AM, The Tracks, NYC...
*Thud...*
Peter lands on a lamppost looking above a group of police and SWAT vehicles. He looks over to see his uncle's old partner.
He drops down behind him while he's taking something out of his cruiser. The blonde man turns around and recoils while drawing his issued pistol. Causing all the other officers to aim their guns at Peter.
"Relax. I'm here to help." Peter says in his whisper-like voice. "Yeah? Well, why are you here?"
"Because the Hammerhead had a hand in the cannibalization of Ben Parker." Spider-Man lets that hang in the air for a moment.
The blonde man lowers his gun, causing the others to do the same.
"What do you get out of this?"
"A safer city for the people I care about, Detective Stacy... You all do what you do. I'm going after the Hammerhead, I've got a bad feeling of what he has in store for me."
*THWIP!*
Peter launches onto the top of a lamppost, overlooking the Hammerhead and his goons on the tracks. Overhearing the end part of an order that he gives.
"-Keep your eyes peeled. You see somethin', shoot first, ask questions... Never." He wildly looks at the men. "We're not takin' any chances, read me?"
Loud and clear boss.” The non-mute goon says in affirmative, to the man with the malformed forehead.
Hammerhead walks off to an undisclosed location while a different set of goons bring in hostages.
‘Shit! Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.’
Peter forcefully activates his Spider-Sense in order to focus on where each of the people in danger are, then isolate where each of their captors are.
Peter hops to a raised rail that’s used for guiding train cars to the proper location, and overlooks a man pointing a gun at the worker’s head…
Conveniently under a perch of a tiny lamppost.
Peter zips to the post and pulls the man’s feet from under him, slamming his head into the ground and pulling him up. Then webbing his body into a cocoon.
“Nighty night, jackass.” Peter drops down and pulls his uncle’s knife from a holster on his ankle.
”Don’t hurt me! Please!” Peter shushes him. “Quiet down, if I let you go, will you open the gate for me?”
”The gate’s a two man switch.” The scared engineer stutters as Peter sighs. “Let me guess; key activated?” The man nods as Peter cuts the man’s bindings.
“Hide, and go situate yourself, I’ll deal with the goons and save your co-worker.”
The Engineer nods and runs off as rain begins pouring down.
Peter jumps to the top of the surrounding wall and looks over the first section of the tracks.
Peter dives down and slams into the thug currently pointing a .45 at the second night worker's head. Instantly knocking him out and likely breaking his back.
*SPAK! SPAK!*
Peter webs the other guard's weapon out of his hands and pulls his left foot out from under him, making him slam into the ground. He handsprings over to the downed man before he lands feet first on his face. Knocking him out.
*THWIP!*
Peter webs the downed men to the ground, making sure that the waiting police will find them.
Peter unbinds the worker as the roar of thunder occurs.
”Your co-worker is fine. Go open the gate so the police can come through when I’m done with these sons of bitches.” The woman nods and runs through quickly forming puddles to the control panel.
Spider-Man walks over to the now open gate and steps into the shadows.
’I would’ve been spotted by now if I’d gone with the red and blue.’ He thinks as he clings to the wall.
A spotlight moves by the next gate’s entrance before Peter quickly crawls along the shadowy surface. He stops as another light passes.
He moves away from the shine before it reveals his dark clad body to the enemy.
He keeps his breathing steady before pressing onward to the snipers nest on the top of the building.