A/N: Hate that this took so long to make, but it's here!
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"WHOOOOOHOOOOOO!" Spiderman shouted as he swung through Manhattan.
The wallcrawler had been making his rounds that day, taking down bank robbers, stopping a mugging, webbing up a car-jacker.
As activity began to calm down in the city, he was beginning to make his way back home.
Swinging from the tall Manhattan buildings, he caught something out of the corner of his eye that deserved his attention. It was in front of a school building.
"Give it back!" A kid shouted at a group of boys bigger than him. One of the boys had the kid restrained while the other two teased him with his notebook,
"Awww, little Stephen King gettin' mad?" The ringleader teased as he dangled the notebook in front of his victim.
"Ooh ooh, careful Dax," the ringleaders friend warned mockingly, "you wouldn't want the dweeb to-"
"Ahem!"
All four of the boys looked to their left to see Spiderman standing with his arms folded, "Three on one's not a fair game in my book boys, whadya' say I join in and even it up?" he cracked his knuckles.
The ringleader dropped the boys notebook as the larger boy released his hold on the kid, "N-N-No Mr, uh, Spiderman-sir, it's okay, we'll go!" the three bullies ran away.
Peter got a good look at the kid who sniffled and tried to fix his ruffed up clothes. The hero grabbed the boys notebook for him, "I don't think those chumps are gonna be bothering you again any time soon." he handed the notebook to the kid who took it back.
"Th-Thank you Spiderman." the boy said as he adjusted his thick glasses.
Peter eyed the kid, seeing a lot of himself in this boy.
"Want a lift, kid?" The wallcrawler asked.
The kids eyes widened in surprise, "You mean you'd really-?"
The hero pointed to his back, signaling the kid to hop on.
When he did, Spidey shot off.
The two sat on a building rooftop, overlooking the sunset over the Manhattan skyline.
"You lovin' the view?" Spidey asked.
"It's amazing!" the boy shouted in awe as the city lights shined off his glasses.
Sitting down next to each other, Spiderman asked, "So, you know why those goofs were giving you a hard time?"
The kid shrugged and adjusted his glasses, "They've always been like that. The reason they messed with me today was because they found out what my dream was."
"Oh really, what's that?" the hero asked.
The boy smiled and opened his journal, "I wanna be a writer!" he said, showing the web-head a collection of characters he'd made up, with various lines of dialogue coming from them.
"That's pretty good!" Spiderman said encouragingly.
"Thanks!" the boy said shyly, though he slumped his shoulders, "It's kinda hard having a dream when all everyone does is put you down."
Spidey put a hand on the youths shoulder, "Well, believe it or not, I had a dream too. I wanted to be a scientist."
"A scientist? Really?" the kid asked, "I mean, why can't you be one? I know you're a superhero, but you could be both, right?"
"Yeah," Spiderman nodded, "but, with these powers, no matter how great they are," he looked at his red gloved hands, "come responsibilities greater than my wants." he looked the boy in the eye, "Life's never without its challenges, kid. It's how we overcome those challenges that make us super. If you can follow your dreams while handling your responsibilities, you'll be even more super than me."
The boy looked at the hero in wonder.
"Can you do that for me?" Spiderman asked.
The kid nodded his head and smiled.
Spiderman stood, "Did you grow up in this city?"
"Born and raised in Manhattan!" the kid said with pride.
"Then you should know the motto." Peter Parker said, "Excelsior?"
"I heard it," he said, "never really knew what it meant" the boy admitted,
"It means 'upward and onward'." Spiderman said, pointing to his back for the kid to hop on, "That's what you're gonna tell yourself when things get rough."
"Excelsior, upward and onward…" the kid mumbled as he grabbed onto his heroes back.
With a shooting of his web, Spiderman made to take the kid home.
He dropped the kid off at his families brownstone,
"Thanks for the lift Mr. Spiderman!" the boy said
"No problem kid -ooh!" Spiderman flinched when he saw a woman rush out of the brownstone door,
"Stan! Stanley!" an older woman called out as she approached the boy,
"Mom!" the kid shouted,
"Do you know how late it is?!" she yelled,
"Don't be mad at him Miss," Spiderman said, coming to Stanley's defense, "I like to take the scenic route." He gave a small wave to the two before turning away, "Remember what I said Stan!" He fired off a web and swung off into the streets,
"Excelsior!" Stan called out,
"Upward and onward!" Spiderman called back, his voice an echo in the distance.
Stan's mom turned to him in question, "What were doing with Spiderman?"
Stan blushed, "He helped me out at school." he shrugged as the two headed back inside, "He taught me something I'll treasure always!"
"Oh really?" Stan's mom said, "Well, I've got dinner made, you can tell me about it at the table." she said as she stopped to check the mailbox.
A mailbox with the family name 'Lieberman' inscribed on its side.
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"I guess one person, can make a difference… nuff said." -Stan Lee
Thank you for the memories old timer. Rest in Peace.