So this is a collaboration between me and my friends
Every Month, I'm attempting to put a Spider-Man related story (both in script and short story format for those who don't feel like reading a script), while my other friends will be doing cover art and editing the stories.
For this first month, it's all unedited and I only have one cover artist, but starting next month, editors and a minmum of two cover artists will become the norm for this.
An Amazing Cover by Madison Vasquez, can be found by viewing kaoruhasunama's profile on DeviantArt.
Issue 648: Rude Awakening
Story by: Shaun Martineau
Cover Art by: Madison Vasquez
Desired Artist(Panels): Chris Bachalo
Page One
Top Left Panel: A torn Spider-Man mask resides by a pool of dirty water. The sky is cloudy, indicating an incoming storm. The pages are drawn gritty, blending colors together, roughly to give it the gritty and ugly look.
The remainder of the page: An unconscious man (Peter Parker) is lying on his side, half in the pool of dirty water from the previous panel. Peter has long unkempt hair (reminiscent of Peter Petrelli from season one of Heroes). His clothes are casual and torn. The only indication of Spider-Man is the torn mask from the first panel.
In the bottom left, there are the following captions: Amazing Spider-Man 648, Rough Beginnings (Part one of Four): Rude Awakening
Page Two
Top Left Panel: The entire panel is narrow and long, and is black, filled with white narration.
Peter(Narration): Imagine, if you will, waking up with no idea where you are. We've all been there. But eventually, you remember and reality sets in…
Top Right Panel: A close up of Peter's face, with his eye opening.
The Middle Panel: Peter is rising up out of the puddle, his hands in the murky shallows. Above him is another narration box.
Peter(Narration): But what if reality never sets in?
Peter: Where am I?
Bottom Panel: Peter is looking into the murky water and staring at a distorted reflection of himself in the water. A caption box is once again above this.
Peter(Narration): What if you can't even remember yourself?
Peter: Who am I?
Page Three
Top/Middle Left Panel: Peter has now risen to his feet and is looking up to the skies.
Peter(Narration): I don't remember anything at all. Who I am, how old, where I live, and yet I can tell those are storm clouds rolling in and I should find shelter soon…
Top/Middle Middle Panel: This panel is simply Peter looking down at the torn Spider-Man mask.
Top/Middle Right Panel: Peter looks behind him and sees skyscrapers standing like giants in the background, while there is a group of homeless people scurrying around in front of him.
Peter(Narration): I also know this is a bad part of… wherever I am. These men before me are homeless and sadly some are better clothed than myself. But I know one thing for sure…
Bottom Panel: Peter is walking toward the homeless folks, leaving the mask behind (emphasis on the mask)
Peter(Narration): … The answer to who I am isn't here.
Page Four
Top Panel: The homeless are running away as Peter approaches them. There is a makeshift fire (a burning garbage can) they all abandon.
Peter(Narration): I bet this bodes well for me…
Middle/Bottom Left Panel: This one is shot over Peter's shoulder and he is yelling at the homeless, who are fading away into the distance.
Peter: "Hey! Hold up!"
Middle Right Panel: Peter is standing by the fire, apparently alone. (There is a faint outline of someone on the other end of the fire, barely noticeable through the flames)
Peter(Narration): So much for answers here… What happened to unity among the homeless brotherhood?
Bottom Right Panel: Peter spots a slumbering homeless man, using a newspaper as a blanket and moves toward him.
Peter(Narration): Got'cha
Page Five
Top Panel: Peter is reaching toward the drunk. He is wearing a battered red toque with Rolland stitched in green on it. He seems to be asleep and has a grizzled dirty white beard.
Peter(Narration): What the hell do I say?
Peter: Umm…
Bottom Left Panel: The homeless man grabs Peter's hand
Bottom Middle Panel: The homeless man pulls Peter forward with surprising strength.
Bottom Right Panel: A close-up of the homeless man's face. He is clear out of his mind, with bloodshot veins, grizzled white beard, several wrinkles and yellow teeth covered in grim. Spit is spraying out of his mouth, as he is yelling something
Rolland: *Random Spanish*
Page Six
Top Panel: Peter tries to break free of Rolland's grasp, but only succeeds in pulling him up.
Middle Left: Peter succeeds in pushing the man off him and back into the ground.
Peter(Narration): This guy is insane!
Middle Middle Panel: Peter turns away and proceeds to move away from Rolland.
Middle Right Panel: Rolland continues to scream Spanish, emphasis on the word El Diablo. We also see Peter's face as he recognizes this word.
Bottom Left Panel: This one is narrow and takes up a large portion of the bottom of the page. Peter is standing over the homeless man, who is holding up his newspaper to Peter.
Peter: "Did you just call me the devil?"
Peter(Narration): Wait, how did I know that?
Bottom Right Panel: We do a close up of the newspaper. It's a memorial of Nightcrawler, but we focus mainly on the image of Nightcrawler on the front page.
Page Seven
Top Panel: Behind Peter, we see a group of men moving towards a pier in the background. One of them has a suitcase in his hand and is shouting.
Suitcase: "Hey you Mooks! Let's get a move on!"
Middle Left Panel: Peter turns away from Rolland, still holding the paper, and heads toward the men.
Peter(Narration): Maybe these guys will have an answer. At the very least, they seem sane.
Middle Right: We see a close up of one of the men walking and his jacket hooks behind his holstered gun.
Bottom Panel: Peter is nearing the group of men and one of them points him to the suitcase holding one.
Page Eight
Top Panel: The Suitcase guy is now approaching Peter and addressing him. Peter slides the newspaper into the back pocket of his torn jeans and slides his hair back.
Suitcase: "Yo Buddy, can we help you? Because unless it's important, you better scram."
Peter(Narration): Don't sound stupid now…
Peter: "I'm kind of lost…"
Middle Panel Left: The suitcase man is laughing now
Peter(Narration): Good job… now you look like an idiot.
Middle Panel Right: Suitcase has turned to address his men now
Suitcase: "Did you hear that boys? Our buddy here is lost, probably forgot to hold his Momma's hand or sumthing."
Peter: "Buddy? Do we know each other?"
Last Panel: Suitcase is staring incredulously at Peter, who has a hopeful expression on. We can see the others gathering closer to Suitcase.
Guy in background: "Yo, Is this guy for real?"
Suitcase: "Look here chump, we don't know each other. In fact, you never saw us here. Why don't you go run back to where you belong and pretend like none of this ever happened.
Peter (Narration): I wish I could.
Page Nine
The entire page is Peter standing next to Suitcase and is one big conversation between them. The others have encircled them, but we don't see an entire person in the panel, aside from Peter and Donnie
Peter: "Look, I can't remember who I am…"
Suitcase: "Not my problem, now scram…"
Peter: "And I just had a homeless man attack me and…"
Random Guy (left): "Yo Donnie, think he's working for the coppers?"
Donnie: "Scram Chump, before I get mad."
Random Guy(Right): "Check him for a wire Donnie!"
Peter: "I have nowhere to go though…"
Page Ten
Top/Middle Panel Left: We see Peter and Donnie in the same pose as last picture, but Donnie is clearly pissed now.
Peter: "Please…"
Top/Middle Panel Middle: Donnie beckons Peter forth and we see him reach down to his hip.
Donnie: "Obviously you won't listen to logic."
Top/Middle Panel Right: There is a tingling sense going on in the back of Peter's head (shown on the page in some fashion) and we no longer see Donnie in the panel.
Bottom Panel: Peter is now knocked flat on the ground and we see Donnie standing up, holding a gun backwards in his hand, having just pistol whipped Peter.
Peter(Narration): What the hell was that tingling sensation? Was it trying to warn me…
Page Eleven
The entire page is Donnie standing over Peter with his gun pointed down at Peter's head, as it starts to rain.
Donnie: "Should have minded your own business. Got any last words?"
Peter (Narration): Well this went from good to great… Seriously, I'm going to die and I'm thinking sarcastic thoughts?
Page Twelve
Top Left Panel: We see the bullet load into the chamber
Top Middle Panel: The bullet exits the gun
Top Right Panel: We see a shot of Peter's face and the tingling sense going off
Peter (Narration): Move it!
Middle Panel: Peter does a cartwheel backwards, faster than any man should be able to, and the bullet slams into the ground where he just was.
Bottom Panel: Peter grabs Donnie by his arm with one hand and the gun by the other and flips him onto the ground behind him.
Peter (Narration): Oh my god… How did I do that?
Page Thirteen
Top Panel: We see Peter looking shocked and the gun is on the ground beside him.
Middle Panel Left: We see Donnie rising slowly, brushing dirt of his clothes and reaching into his pocket.
Middle Panel Right: We see a close up of Donnie's hand, clutching a knife and a look of anger on his face.
Bottom Panel: Peter, with his back still to Donnie has moved the upper half of his body to the left, while Donnie's knife is plunged to the right. We can see the Spider-sense indication from before.
Page Fourteen
Top Panel: Peter faces Donnie and Donnie continue to stab Peter, who dodges with ease.
Bottom, Left Panel: Peter punches Donnie in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Bottom, Right Panel: We see Donnie clutching his eye in pain.
Donnie: "What are you chumps waiting for? Shoot this %^$!"
Page Fifteen
Top Panel: The men all proceed to pull out handguns and circle around Peter, leaving a single opening behind him.
Peter (Narration): Oh Come on…
Donnie (Caption Box): "Shoot that mother#%$#$!"
Middle Panel: Peter back flips behind him and rolls to the side, as bullets tear up the ground.
Peter (Narration): Oh my god, oh my god, don't stop moving.
Bottom Panel: Peter rolls toward the enemies, catching them off guard, and there is a brief stand still in the firing of bullets.
Page Sixteen
Top Left Panel: Peter grabs the nearest crook by the collar and lifts him up off the guard. Their hair is plastered to their foreheads from the rain and the man looks scared.
Top Middle Panel: The man tries to smack him with his pistol, but Peter dodges with ease. Peter raises his fist…
Donnie (Caption Box): "I said shoot him!"
Top Right Panel: Peter throws the guy to the side, out of the bullet's path and leaps toward the next guy.
Peter (Narration): They'd really kill one of their own to get me? What is wrong with these people!
Bottom panel: Peter is leaping from man to man, punching and elbowing them and knocking them down (Silhouettes of Peter attacking them, save for the final guy, who is he currently taking out). There are seven of them total on the page, plus Peter.
Peter (Narration): This feels… Amazing.
Page Seventeen
Top Panel: We see Peter looking over the men he has just taken down and he is actually half grinning.
Middle Panel: There are still plenty of men present and Peter turns to face them. We see indications of heavy breathing from Peter, who is growing tired.
Peter (Narration): I can't keep this up forever. I need to get out now.
Bottom Panel: We cut to Donnie, who is being helped up, while Peter (Who has just back flipped a great distance) is running away in the distance. Donnie now has a black eye thanks to Peter.
Thug 1: "Want us to go after him boss?"
Thug 2: "He took down seven guys with no sweat. He has to be one of those super freaks you hear about all over the TV these days."
Donnie: "Nah boys, we've still a got a deal to make. We'll get the man another day."
Page Eighteen
Top Panel: We're introduced to a new character, which is clean shaven and very well dressed, standing on a platform inside a warehouse. Below him, Donnie and the others are coming in and he notices some of them are pretty beat up.
Bottom Left Panel: We see Donnie going up the stairs to the previous character, who is waiting at the top of the staircase.
Bottom Right Panel: We zoom on Donnie's face. Donnie is looking very nervous and his right eye is black and wincing.
Page Nineteen
Top Panel: James Ventmiligia and Donald 'Donnie' Pierce are sitting in a room. Smoke fills the area, originating from a cigar in Donnie's mouth. James is sitting with his head on his hands and seems thoughtful.
Donnie (Caption Box): "Umm… you're not going to believe this boss."
James: "So, you're telling me that one man took down seven of our men, eight if you include yourself, with little ease?"
Donnie: "That's what my eyes saw and they don't tell lies like the snitches down on 3rd. One of the boys thought he was one of them super-powered people."
Bottom Left: Close up on James, whose index finger is curled beneath his bottom lip and he seems deep in thought
James: "I'm inclined to not believe you Donnie."
Bottom Middle Panel: Donnie now looks frightened and the cigar comes to a finish in his mouth.
Bottom Right Panel: James is now smiling and has lowered his hands from his face.
James: "But you came back with both the drugs and money, so I trust you. Plus, we've been pals since grade school Donnie. Back when I was the one who needed protection and you offered it."
Page Twenty
Entire Page: James has risen from his seat and is heading toward the door, his back turned to Donnie. His hand is on the door.
James: "Take it easy Donnie, you've earned it. I've got some errands to run, but you get that eye looked at. I'll be seeing you around."
Donnie: "What'cha up to James?"
James: "This and that… you said that guy had amnesia, right?"
Page Twenty One
Top Panel: We open on a make-shift shelter consisting of a sheet of metal over two broken foundations. The camera is far away and looking at the rough shelter and the rain pouring down on it.
Peter (Narration): I don't get it. I still don't get what the old man was trying to say!
Middle Panel: We are now inside the makeshift shelter and looking at a drenched Peter, who is reviewing the newspaper in his hands.
Peter(Narration): I've read over this article time and time again! The only thing I've figured out is that he didn't mean I was blue and furry. He compared me to this Nightcrawler Mutant, but why? Did he mean I teleported here?
Bottom Panel: We're back outside the makeshift shelter, but this time we see three men in fancy cloaks approaching the shelter
Donnie(Caption Box): Yeah, I believe so… why?
James (Caption Box): Then we can use this to our advantage
Next Issue: Peter Parker, The Amazing… Criminal? Not only that, but a name from his past will return! Stay Tuned for Issue 649: The Wrong Crowd, part two of the four part Rough Beginnings Arch!
Amazing Spider-Man: Rude Awakening
A four Part Arch that removes Peter Parker from the Brandnewverse, taking place after Origins of Species (Or Before Dan Slott's Big Time)
Issue One: Rude Awakening
"Imagine if you will, waking up with no idea where you are. We've all been there and eventually you remember and reality sets back in. But what if reality doesn't set in? What if you can't even remember your own name?"
The first sensation he felt upon awakening is a damp coldness numbing the left side of his head. It invites him back to rest, but he musters the strength to open his eyes. Filthy water floods his left eye and he jolts upright, removing his face from the puddle he had been partially resting in. Damp hair clings to forehead and he parts it back with a shivering hand.
A husky voice calls out, "Where am I?" and for a moment, it startles him. The voice came from his lips, but he can't recall sounding like that. Still, an even more frightening thought follows that; I can't recall what my own voice sounds like. The confusion continues, as he can't recall anything about himself; neither name nor address, family or friends. Yet, he can recall what each of these things is and as he looks to the sky he can tell that the clouds rolling in are storm clouds, and that he should find some sort of shelter before the rain falls.
Observing the surroundings, he can clearly tell this is a bad part of town. Homeless people move to and from alleys that all seem to lead to this open space in front of the water line where he awoke. Slowly rising to his feet, he gets a first look at the man in the water.
His face is skinny with malnourishment and long bands frame the narrow features of his face. The left side of his face is dripping wet and the brunette hair is clumped to his head in a dark mess, bangs brushed back behind his ears. He realizes quickly this is himself, but as those hazel eyes stare up at him, distorted by the murky waters, he feels more afraid than ever; I don't recognize the reflection looking back at me.
"Who am I?"
All he knows is that he won't find answers here alone and decides to take a chance with the homeless, silently hoping they have at least some sort of answer. As he turns to leave, a torn mask on the ground next to where he was lying catches his eye.
It is a red piece, with a web design on it, originating from the center and expanding outwards. There is two large eye pieces in it, but both the lenses are missing from it and there is large slash marks through the mask itself.
"Whoever I am, the answers aren't here," He thinks, as he turns his back on the mask and advance toward the homeless. As soon as he nears a group of them resting near a fire place, they all scatter and run off in different directions. Yelling for them to stop is useless, and he slumps down beside the makeshift fire pit; a burning trash can. The warmth feels nice, but his confusion is a much larger distraction and he kicks the trash can in anger, scolding his foot in the process. Cursing quietly, he hears something shuffle on the other side and spots a shaking pile of newspapers. He rises to his feet and approaches the newspaper stack, noticing various limbs sticking out of it. He grabs the newspaper, ripping it off of the slumbering man.
Reaching out to wake the man, the grizzled man grabs his hand and drags him down, bringing them face to face. His eyes are bloodshot and almost hazy, with a grizzly white beard and a dirty red toque on his head, the name Rolland sown on it. Unsure what else to do, he utters, "Umm… Hi?"
Almost instantly Rolland starts yelling gibberish, spraying his face with spit. It is clear Rolland is stoned out of his mind and he tries to push Rolland off him. However, his hand becomes glued to Rolland and as he rises up, he brings Rolland up with him. Now he is freaking out too and uses the brute of his strength to push the Rolland off him, removing the invisible bond between them.
"Sorry, I uh..." He mutters as he turns and begins to move away from the yelling homeless man. As he begins to put ground between them, he makes out one word amongst the gibberish; "El Diablo" or in English, "The Devil." The man quickly realizes he is speaking Spanish and turns to face him.
"Did you just call me the devil?" asked the man and Rolland grabs one of the newspapers he had been resting with. It's battered and looks fairly old, but he can still make out the picture and title on the front page; A furry blue creature with an arm through it and the caption, "The devil returns home or the fallen messiah?"
He snatched the newspaper away from Rolland, keeping the actual man at bay. He scanned it quickly, picking out key words "Night Crawler", "Transportation", and "X-men".
"Hey you tools, get into place. The shipment is coming in soon and if anything goes wrong, Big Man will have our heads." The voice of a person not insane caught the man's attention and he turned to observe a group of 'average Joe' looking men moving towards the pier by the water front.
"Finally," mutters the man and still clutching the newspaper, heads toward the men. The man from before is yelling orders at the other men, who begin scrambling around and trying to look professional. The man, clearly in charge, holds a suit case and continues to yell about, "How hard it is to get good help these days! You're all worthless mooks!"
"Yo Donnie, someone's coming," points out one of the other men as the man draws close and Donnie turns to face him, looking around nervously first.
"Yo buddy, what you doing here? Scram!" shouts Donnie, getting closer to the man and the man freezes, unsure what to do or say.
"I'm kind of… really lost... any chance you could help me?"
"Yo Donnie, you think he's working for the Coppers?"
"Timothy, one more word out of you and you'll be sleeping with the fishes tonight. Now keep an eye out for the dealers and I'll deal with this chump!" threatens Donnie and the man is unsure whether he should flee or try and talk sense with these guys.
In the end, desperation wins out and the man asks, "Please, I can't remember anything…"
"Now buddy, why don't you scram before you get more than lost out here," warns Donnie and he reaches into his coat pocket. The man nearly wavers, but the nagging voice in the back of his head tells him to keep trying.
"Please, I need help..."
"The boy don't listen do he?" As Donnie addresses the crowd, something in the back of the man's head tingles and then he feels extreme pain as Donnie pistol whips the side of his face with a golden gun. The man falls to his knees, clutching the side of his face.
"We tried to warn yea, didn't we?" Donnie stands over the fallen man and aims his gun down. In that moment, the world seems to slow down.
The man can see Donnie's finger curling around the trigger, but it's moving at such a slow pace, that he is able to rise and push the gun to the side. Almost immediately after the threat is gone, time resumes to normal speed and a bullet goes into the ground.
"How'd he do that?"
Donnie attempts to shoot the man again and although things don't go quite as slowly as last time, he is still able to dodge with ease. The more Donnie attempts to shoot the man, the faster things go until it's reflex for the man to use the tingling in the back of his head to help warn him in advance, and allow him to twist head and body out of the way of the bullets.
Donnie's gun clicks dry and the man instinctively grabs it and whips it out of his hand. He then lands a single blow to the Donnie's face, knocking him flat on his back.
"Boys, waste this chump!" shouts Donnie and all around the man, the Average Joes begin pulling out handguns.
"Not cool," is all the man has time to mutter, before he begins leaping and jumping out of the way of the bullets. His body is more flexible than any regular man's and he is able to leap higher than any normal man should. He is a constant blur as he dodges the path of the bullets desiring to claim his life. Throughout the fire fight, the man feels a thrill over take his body and he begins to punch out the thugs closest to him. Yet, he knows he can't keep this up forever and as the rain begins to fall, he quickly flees the scene and leaves the thugs to nurse their injured and wallow in defeat.
"Pierce, what the hell happened?" James Ventmiligia watched as his right hand man, Donald 'Donnie' Pierce, brought in seven unconscious men back from the drug deal he was overseeing; Donnie himself had a nice black eye.
James had known Donald from school years and it was through that means that Donald had gotten the position he had today; James knew he wasn't the most competent man around, but good help is hard to find these days.
"They jump us?" asked James and Donnie just looked at him and sighs, before replying, "You're never going to believe this boss."
"You're telling me that one man knocked out seven of our men and dodged 15 clips worth of bullets without taking a single hit?" James has trouble believing Donnie's story, but has no other choice than to take his word for it; he came back with both the money and the drugs, meaning the deal had gone perfectly despite the intervention by the crazed Superman Donnie keeps telling James about.
"You said he was suffering from amnesia or something right?" asks James and Donnie nodded his head in agreement, before asking,
"Why?"
"Because we may be able to use this to our advantage."
He had read over the newspaper article almost fifty times now and he was still as confused as ever. The piece was a memorial for the X-Man Nightcrawler, who was part of a mutant lead superhero group in San Francisco. He was a mutant who was able to teleport over great distances and had a demonic appearance despite his Christian views. The piece was actually touching, but he was trying to draw links between Nightcrawler and himself.
"Is he saying I teleported here?"
The thought scared him and he wondered if he was a mutant or something; it would explain his abilities from earlier. He was suddenly tempted to go test his 'powers' out again, but the downpour of rain was enough to discourage him for the moment.
He was currently holed up in a make-shift shelter, consisting of a large sheet of metal over top two broken foundations, not far from where he was earlier. It wasn't much, but it kept the rain off him, even though he was drenched before he had time to construct his shelter and his hair still stuck to the side of his face. Not to mention all he had was a pair of ragged jeans and a t-shirt; not exactly storm material. In fact, he was shivering in his makeshift shelter when three men approached him, rain dripping down the sides of their black cloaks.
"I think that's him James," said one of the cloaked men and the one he seemed to be addressing took a step forward.
"You wouldn't happen to be a super powered amnesiac would you?" asked James and he instinctively rolled out the back of his shelter and rose, fists raised. Rain began to pelt him and he asked, "What do you want?"
"Calm down, we're not here to hurt you," said James and he slowly lowered his fists, still poised for attack though.
"Then what do you want?"
"Would you like a job?"
Next Issue: Peter Parker, The Amazing… Criminal? Not only that, but a name from his past will return! Stay Tuned for Issue 2: The Wrong Crowd, Part Two of the four part Rough Beginnings Arch!