Note: This is a reboot of my old story, Spider-Man: Black and Blue. I was younger when I started that and pretty inexperienced. A few years later, I like to think I am a lot better at writing. I still loved my idea, my characters, and my plans for this story, but I just didn't like the old one. Lately, I've been very motivated to work on this as a side project, and I've done so much working and planning ahead for this. Anyway, without further ado, here is the new Spider-Man: Black and Blue.
Cooper Cale waved goodbye to his mother, Amanda, as she drove out of the driveway and off to her job at one of the many banks in Grand City. His father, James, who was a police officer, had left earlier that morning.
Cooper walked to the bus top at the end of the street and waited. It was the first day of school, and Cooper, along with his friends, were going to be high school juniors. He was somewhat excited, but he was kind of nervous, like he was every first day of school.
The yellow school bus pulled up to the stop, letting Cooper, who was the only one at the stop, in. Cooper saw one of his two best friends already sitting down. He walked over to Kate, who smiled once she saw him, which he returned.
"Hey, Cooper," Kate said, scooting over so he could sit.
"Ms. McCallister," Cooper replied with a tip of his imaginary hat. Kate rolled her eyes with a smirk. "It's been a while since we hung out," Cooper said. "When was it? Fourth of July?"
Kate nodded. "Yep. Did you do anything else this summer? Besides the beach?"
"We went and saw both pairs of grandparents a few weeks back. Took Dad forever to get some time off. Did you do anything new?"
"We went camping upstate for a few days, and we visited the Falls while we were there. We went to Funland, AGAIN," Kate said with an annoyed expression. "And we went fishing last weekend."
"Damn," Cooper said, chuckling. "You've been busy. At least, more than me."
Kate giggled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. It was a pretty fun summer."
By then, the bus had stopped again. A few students got onto the bus, one of them being Cooper's other best friend, Seth. He saw the two and immediately ran over to them. He slid in beside Cooper, squeezing the others. They were used to this, as this was how they always sat, even if there were other seats.
"What's up, nerds?" Seth asked, adjusting himself to give more room. "How's it been?"
"It's been good," Cooper chuckled.
"Fantastic," Kate smiled.
"Anyway… BOOM!" Seth exclaimed, sticking his feet in front of him. "Peep the new Yeezys! Sick, right?"
Cooper nodded. "Definitely, man." Seth liked to wear "designer" clothes and such. It was how he expressed himself. And if he could afford it, which Seth could, Cooper was all about it. If his friend was happy, that was good with him.
"How many pairs of those do you have now?" Kate asked, bewildered.
"Not enough," Seth smirked.
Cooper laughed. "So, Seth. How was L.A.?"
"Man, it was the bomb. Santa Monica Pier was the shit. So dope. And I got this hella cute girl's number while I was there."
Cooper chuckled, while Kate rolled her eyes.
"Nah, I'm joking. I did talk to her some, though."
The three quickly caught up, as it had been a while since they had all been together. They quickly arrived at the high school. Inside, the three split up to find their respective lockers. Once Cooper found his locker, #62, he started dumping his extra books and supplies inside. While he was doing so, a voice called out from behind him.
"Crash landing!"
A second later, something poked the back of Cooper's head. He watched a paper airplane fall to his feet. He sighed. He already knew who had thrown it. He turned around and smiled, "Good to see ya, Chase."
Chase Miller stood among his friends, a couple of their girlfriends thrown in there. While he wasn't so much a bully anymore, he was still quite a nuisance, picking on others, especially Cooper and Seth. Nobody messed with Kate though, as she didn't put up with it at all. Chase stood with a smirk on his face. "Cale," was all he said back.
Cooper put his books for his first class in his backpack and shut his locker. "Paper airplane. Real mature. Didn't you do that last year?" Cooper asked before walking away.
"Suck it, you prick," Chase called out.
Cooper didn't turn around. He just flipped Chase off, hoping no teachers were watching.
When Cooper arrived to his first class, English, he was pleasantly surprised to see Kate, an open seat next to her. He quickly got to it, sitting down. "Hey again," he said.
Kate chuckled. "Hey."
"This teacher supposed to be any good?" Cooper asked as he took his stuff out of his backpack.
Kate nodded. "Yeah, supposed to. At least from what I've heard."
The teacher then walked in, their first class underway. The rest of the day went pretty well. After school, the three were outside talking.
"Anyway, Dad asked me to stop by PT after school, so I gotta do that. You two wanna come?" Seth asked.
"I would, seriously, but I've gotta stay and talk to Coach. She asked us girls on the volleyball team to stay behind for a little bit," Kate replied.
"Oh shit! Think you're gonna be promoted to team captain?" Seth asked.
Kate laughed. "I doubt it. Ashlyn is so good and so sweet. I wouldn't want to anyway."
"She's super hot, too. She's in my Geography class," Seth said. Kate shook her head as Cooper tried to hold in a laugh from Seth's comment. "Anyway… Coop? Can you go?"
Cooper composed himself and replied, "Yeah, sure."
"Alright, well, we'll see you later, Ms. Volleyball," Seth said to Kate.
Kate laughed, "And hey! You two better come to some of my games this year!"
Cooper shrugged. "I don't know, I've got quite a busy schedule this year," he replied sarcastically.
Kate giggled as she went back into the school building.
Seth laughed as well. "Alright, lets go, man," he said, as the two boys left.
At Phillips Tech, Seth's dad's company, Cooper was observing the place while Seth was off talking to his dad. It had been a good while since Cooper had last been in this place, and there was a lot of new stuff. Cooper had always been into technology, and he was really fascinated with everything there. He was currently watching machines from behind glass, as they experimented with all kinds of chemicals and formulas. There were several glass cases in the room, where several types of insects and even some arachnids were held.
Unbeknownst to Cooper, an escaped spider was lowering itself from the ceiling. It climbed onto Cooper's backpack, hiding in the crevices.
Seth quickly came back, his father behind him. "Thank, God. I thought I lost you," Seth joked. The truth was, Cooper had barely moved since they got there.
Cooper chuckled. He quickly stuck out his hand as Seth's dad approached him. "Good to see you, Mr. Phillips," he said.
"Cooper, please. Wayne. I have to tell you every time," Wayne smiled as he shook Cooper's hand.
"Just trying to be respectful, sir," Cooper replied.
"Good man. I had to come this way anyway, so I thought I would just come with Seth," Wayne turned towards the window that Cooper had been watching. "Anyway, pretty cool, isn't it? You know what they're doing?"
"Not if I'm being honest," Cooper replied, watching the machines once again.
"This part of the building is employees only, so we're keeping it locked down right now. We don't want the press, and our competition, learning about it right now. But basically, we're learning to modify genetics. Upgrade them, even."
"Wait, do you mean like—?"
"Like superpowers? Like a super soldier?" Seth interrupted. Even he was looking interested.
Wayne chuckled and shook his head. "In theory, I suppose. We're just testing it right now. But in the future, who knows?"
"Wow, Dad. That is super cool," Seth said, peering into the window, though he quickly pulled away. "Anyway, wanna get going, Coop?"
"Sure," Cooper replied, finally looking away from the window. "I gotta do a couple chores before my folks get home anyway. It was good talking to you, Mr. Phillips. Thanks for showing us this."
Wayne shook Cooper's hand once more. "Of course, don't mention it. Stop by the house anytime you want."
"He knows that, Dad," Seth said, rolling his eyes. He had heard that line a million times.
Wayne chuckled. "I know. Anyway, see you boys later," Wayne said as he started to walk away.
"See you at home, Dad!" Seth called out as the two started to leave in a different direction.
"See you, son!"
Cooper and Seth caught an Uber, which Seth most graciously paid for, and Cooper was dropped off at his house. He grabbed the mail from the mailbox before heading inside. He quickly took out the trash and changed a load of laundry before grabbing a drink from the fridge. As he shut the refrigerator door, something pricked the back of his neck. Cooper instinctively slapped the back of his neck with his free hand. He turned around and looked down, finding a very small, black and blue spider laying on the floor. Freaked out, he rubbed the back of his neck, where the spider had bit him. Suddenly, his vision went blurry, and Cooper passed out, collapsing onto the floor.
Cooper was jolted awake sometime later by his mom pulling into the driveway. The sound of her brakes, more specifically. He looked down at the spider, which was still right where it had fallen, in the exact same position. He swiped it away, so his mom wouldn't see it. He quickly stood up as Amanda walked in the front door.
"Hey, bud. How was your first day?" Amanda asked as she walked into the kitchen, putting a few groceries away.
"Uh, it was good. Yeah, it was good," Cooper replied, trying to focus. He was freaking out internally. "I, uh, stopped by Phillips Tech with Seth after school."
"Oh, yeah? Was it fun?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it was pretty fun, I guess."
Amanda walked into the living room to put a couple of things away. When she returned, she stared at her son. "Are you feeling ok?"
Cooper nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"You just look a little pale. Don't need you getting sick right after your first day," Amanda said as she went back into the kitchen and started to work on dinner.
"Nah, I'm fine. I mean, I guess I'm kinda tired, but that's it," Cooper replied. Fatigue was starting to rapidly fill his body.
"Anxious night, huh?"
"Yeah. For sure," Cooper could barely keep his eyes open. "I'm gonna go take a nap, that ok?"
"Oh, sure, honey. I'll wake you when it's ready."
Cooper nodded and retreated to his room. He kicked off his shoes and took his shirt and pants off. As he did, his stomach started to cramp. Barely able to walk, he climbed in bed. The spider bite on his neck started to burn, as if it was on fire. But it didn't matter. Cooper was out within seconds.
Cooper suddenly woke up, covered in a cold sweat. He was breathing incredibly hard, as if he had just run a marathon. His vision was blurry, but it quickly fixed itself. But something was still wrong. Everything was upside down.
Cooper was sticking to the ceiling! He started to panic, and he fell. He instinctively twisted his body, landing on the floor below without a sound. Cooper continued to panic as he fell backwards, this time not as quiet.
"What the actual hell is going on? Am I dreaming?" Cooper asked himself. He slapped himself, but it was very real. "What's happening?" He asked himself. He took several heavy breaths and calmed himself down.
Cooper had been sticking to the ceiling. That was something that he and no other normal human should be able to do. That was something like a superhero would be able to do, and Cooper wasn't a superhero.
Cooper's mind drifted to the spider. He rubbed his neck where it had bitten him. Something clicked. Did he have abilities? If so, was it the spider that had given them to him? It made no sense, but complete sense at the same time.
His mind then drifted to Phillips Tech, where Cooper had seen the insects and arachnids being experimented on. How Mr. Phillips had said that they were modifying their genetics. And how, maybe in the future, it could be used on humans. What if they had accidentally did it? And nobody knew? Maybe the spider hitched a ride from there because of Cooper. It was a huge stretch, but it was the only thing Cooper could think of.
Cooper looked down at his bare chest. He had always been average when it came to his body. He was never too big or too small. Just average. But now, his muscles were defined. He could actually see them clearly. He wasn't ripped, but he was much more muscular than he had been. Was this because of the spider, too? Because he definitely hadn't been working out.
Cooper looked at his hands. He had been sticking to the ceiling. He stood up and pressed his hand against the wall. He could feel the suction between the wall and his hand. It was a very strange feeling. Not to mention the strange acrobatics he had performed as he had fallen.
Cooper quietly opened his bedroom door and walked out. He passed by his parents room, where he could see them both asleep. He moved to the kitchen, where the clock on the oven read 3:38 AM. He got down on his hands and knees and looked for where he had swiped the spider away. But it was gone. Nowhere in sight.
Cooper sighed. This had been the craziest night of his life. Had he been given superpowers? The answer was most likely yes. Was this some crazy kind of fate?
Cooper thought of the possibilities of him having superpowers, being a superhero. He already had a lot of respect for people who fought for the good of the law, with his dad being a police officer. Not to mention all the other superheroes out there. Maybe Cooper could do the same thing. He could use his powers for good and help fight crime. Help the innocent, defend those who can't defend themselves. He could be a hero.
