SPIDER-MAN : A Different Path
CHAPTER 1: APPROACHING STORM
In a dark alley, deep within Manhattan, a middle-aged woman is being harassed by two masked men. One is holding her tight by her arms and the other held a knife on her throat while cackling like a jackal. The woman screamed at the top of her lungs, but those screams were drowned by the raging thunder and hard rain that poured down from the dark and gloomy sky. The man holding the knife reached for the woman's hairs and began cutting them bit by bit. The two men laughed menacingly as they tortured the poor woman. The woman continued to scream for help and tried to free herself but the one holding her was far more stronger than she was herself. As the masked man with knife reached for the woman's shirt, something shoved the knife out of his hand with a tremendous force.
The two men, now fearful and alert, looked around but saw nothing but the empty street and there was nothing else in that alley. "Hey, Brad. Go look," the one holding the woman down said to his partner. "Me, you go," said the other man known as Brad. "Hell no. Besides, someone has to prevent her from gettin' away, now go." Brad, his heart pounding hard and he can feel it, took little steps towards the deeper end of the alley which was pitch black. The woman and the man holding her stood motionless as he made his way into the alley, tears trickling down woman's cheeks. Few moments later he disappeared into the darkness. A couple of minutes passed before his partner started to get worried. "Hey man, what's taking you so long?" he asked. "C'mon man, answer." There was complete silence now except for the sound of thundering clouds and falling rain splattering against hard ground. Then suddenly, out of the dark, a body came flying across and dropped right in front of the masked man and his hostage. It was the body of his partner and it lay motionless.
The man jerked the woman aside and darted outwards from the alley. But before he could get out, a single thread line shot out of the dark portion of the alley and glued itself to the shirt of the masked man. The man was pulled back with great force and was sent flying back into the dankness from whence the thread came. The woman heard something crack and fall to the ground with a loud thudding noise. The woman was frozen with fear. The darkness that seemed to cover the alleyway appeared to have moved, or at least part of it. A dark figure stepped out. Even in the dim light that was available from a street lamp across the road from the alley, the figure still appeared to be fully clothed in a black suit. As it made its way towards the woman, her expression was even more fearful than it was when she was tormented by the masked men, who she gathered might possibly be dead now.
The black suited Spider-Man approached the woman. "You know better to come in a place like this at this time of night," he told her with an authoritative tone. The woman couldn't say word out of fear, but did manage to mumble out scrambled words. "If I see you walking down this alley again..." the woman interrupted him before he could finish, "Please, I just...just use it as a short-cut... I won't come down here again I promise... please just let me go," as she said that, she fell down on her knees crying, pleading for her life. Spider-Man stood tall, his shadow looming over hers. He jerked his head, motioning her to go away. The woman ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Spider-Man wasting no more time, shoots a web-line on a nearby building and swings out of the alley.
Landing on top of an old, worn down apartment building, Spider-Man sits down on the edge of the roof. The rain continues to pour down, but soft. He looks down at the city for a few seconds and then looks up at the sky, which is covered with thick, dark clouds. He then looks down on himself and sees that he, too, is wearing a black suit. The mask reverts itself and reveals the face of Peter Parker. The look of disgust and hate present on his face. Peter continues to stare at his hand, which is all wrapped around some alien being that resembles his Spider-Man costume but all clad in black. He remembers back to the day when his life took a turn for the worse or in Peter's mind, for better. The day he lost and gained everything. The day he ended a life by his own two hands. But Peter was just doing his job, at least that is what he thought and that is what he was taught; With Great Powers, Comes Great Responsibility, and it was his, Peter's and Spider-Man's, responsibility to rid the world of those who prey on the innocent.