Author's note: Hey, everyone! This is the start of the hopefully long story of my incarnation of Spiderman. Couple of things: First, while Peter's still a nerd he isn't disliked because of that since nowadays it's not really relevant but because he is (or was) socially awkward. Also New York is a bit darker place than in real life so expect some unpleasantries, hence the M rating. Also again, my story will mostly be centered around Spiderman and his supporting cast with a few exceptions here and there but don't expect other major marvel heroes anytime soon, if ever. I mostly took inspiration from the ultimate comics and the Spectacular Spiderman cartoon. And finally this is my first fanfiction so please be nice and if you don't like something then help me improve my writing. That's it, now on with the fic!
Disclaimer: I do not own Spiderman or any other characters from Marvel!
Chapter one: End of Summer
Honestly, what was she thinking? That she'd hop on a boat, escape and be free of them? Or she'd find someone who would help her get back to her homeland, wherever that is, and live happily ever after. Schultz marveled at the stupidity of desperate people and sighed as he and three of his colleagues cornered the woman in an alley near the docks.
"Alright, it's over. Don't make this any harder and just come back with us." He said.
"Please just let me go, I can't take it anymore" Pleaded the woman with heavy eastern European accent. "Just me. You can let one go…"
"No can't do hon'" Said Schultz' colleague Jackson Brice, otherwise known as Montana, with his annoying southern accent. Actually it wouldn't be really annoying if he didn't spoke too much. And didn't force it either. "You know how it goes, we let one slip and then all the others come beggin'. Besides you've been workin' for only a short time, it can't be that bad. If you come nice an' easy then maybe I'll pay a visit soon…"
"ENOUGH! If you scare the cyka then it will be harder to get her back." That was Alex O'Hirn, born as Aleksei Sytsevich, ex bratva and currently very angry. Maybe because he has a short temper. Or maybe because he was very busy with another prostitute when the call came that this one escaped. Probably both. He had just a hint of Russian accent but he only said word in his native tongue when he lost his temper. The only other person without an accent, except for Schultz, was Flint Marko but he probably won't say a word. He was only in it for the money and didn't find this kind of job very amusing. Sometimes Herman Schultz wished his other friends would follow the same kind of street professionalism.
"Oh come on I wasn't scaring you sugar, now was I?" Said Montana while walking over to the escapade. " I was just makin' an offer an' I think she kinda likes what she… AH YOU FUCKIN' BITCH! "
She slapped him! Why would she make it this hard for herself? Honestly how stupid she is? Just to see his point proven he watched as Montana gave her a backhanded slap then just before she could collapse he grabbed her by the throat.
"You think you can play hard on me, sugar?" And he hit her right in her guts. Now that was overboard.
"HEY, calm down and stop damaging the product!" ordered Schultz
"Easy there, I heard some costumers like their gal a little bruised" Said Montana sending a significant glance at Alex.
"Yes, but we like to hurt them ourselves, idiot." Replied O'Hirn. Schultz saw Flint flinch at that and his jaw tightened but only for a moment before his face shifted back to neutrality. Just one more like him would be enough, he thought.
"Alright Montana let go of her throat" He started" and tie her hands up. O'Hirn stuff this little silk cloth in her mouth so she wouldn't scream and then let's get going. I have other matters to attend to this evening."
"Me too" replied Alex, and then did as he was ordered to. Flint already got the car keys when Montana spoke up
"Hey why won't you finish up with this one? " He asked and smiled at the girl. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"Why won't you ask her that? "Asked a new voice. All of them tensed up and looked around but saw no-one else in the alley. Suddenly something shot down from above and ripped the silk cloth out of the woman's mouth who started begging as soon as she could.
"Please, I…I'll… I'll do anything just don't hurt me…"
"SHUT UP, BITCH" Roared Alex while still holding her hands behind her back.
"Now-now, I thought we would hear out what she thinks of your offer, and I'm afraid it looks like she's not interested" Said the voice mockingly. He sounded very young." And how can you speak like that, gentlemen, in presence of a lady no less. Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"
"Listen kid, I don't know who you think you are" replied cockily Montana but there was a little uncertainty in his voice too." But if you think you can go aroun' messin' with us then…"
"Shut it, Montana and draw your gun!" Ordered Schultz. He had a feeling that the enemy was in a whole other league. But which one? he thought as he saw Montana grab his gun. But before he could take it out the shadows moved and suddenly his legs were pulled out from under him. The next moment he was hanging upside down from a lamppost.
"Woah seriously, Montana? I was just about to ask where you got that stupid accent of yours but never mind" The voice laughed.
Those look like webs. So not the Goblin. The Spider! Well at least we'd make it out of here alive thought Schultz if what I heard is true.
"Show yourself or I'll break the bitch's neck" growled Alex, his accent getting thicker.
"Again with the name calling. Do you kiss your Mother Russia with that mouth?" The newcomer asked and then a figure fell down right next to O'Hirn and before he could do anything he was knocked out cold. Flint threw himself at the attacker without hesitation but the newcomer was too fast and with less than a blink of an eye kicked Flint away took the woman in his arms and jumped up high in the air swallowed by the night. If it wasn't for the hooker's screaming Schultz might have thought that he simply just disappeared. Then the screaming stopped, the woman probably calmed by her savior. Or he webbed up her mouth to shut her up. Probably the latter. He saw Flint trying to stand up and hurried over to help him.
"We need to get to the car "he whispered" Do you still have the keys?"
He nodded and so the two of them started to run for it. They were only a couple of feet away when Flint was pulled back and stuck to the wall. Schultz tried to aim his gun but he found no target.
"You know, that toy is for big boys only mister" the Spider said" Do you have a license for that?"
"So you're a cop?" asked Schultz while turning around.
"Only on Halloween" came the answer from right behind him "Peekaboo"
He turned and saw his opponent hanging upside down lit from above by the light of a lamp. He was wearing a red and blue suit with the exception of the eyes of his mask that were white. He aimed and shot without hesitation but the Spider pulled himself up faster than the bullet. The two fired shots hit their car instead, one somewhere near the engine the other right in the front right tier causing the air to leak from it. Suddenly his gun was jerked out of his hands and then his opponent appeared to his left side leaned on his shoulder and started shaking his head.
"It's a damn shame about your car" he said" Oh well, accidents happen, am I right?"
Schultz tried to punch him but his arm was grabbed and forced behind his back with incredible strength. Than before he could think of anything he was webbed to the wall right next to Flint. Sirens were heard from the distance probably because the gunshots.
"Ah that's my cue to leave" said the Spider and turned to do just that when he abruptly stopped and turned to Schultz" Oh would you mind asking the policemen if they could lend me a uniform for Halloween. I'm sure you will be talking a lot with'em"
Schultz just grunted and rumbled something inaudible.
"Just think about it, would you?" he said" I'm sure you'll have tons of time to do just that. It'd be the first step to cross you off of my naughty list." And with that he jumped up high in the air and swinged off to the distance.
Schultz tried to escape from the webs but they wouldn't break. He turned his head to Flint who probably thought the same thing. The Boss won't be happy about this.
It was very tricky to swing above the streets of Queens. Peter had to rely mostly on street lamps but if you jump more than shoot webs then it's manageable. Plus it probably looks really cool, he thought as he saw his aunt's house. He made sure nobody was looking, which at one a.m. was pretty much guaranteed, and landed silently on the roof. He opened his window, climbed in then shut it immediately just to be safe and stripped out of his costume. It's not as difficult as one would think since Peter designed it to be easily removable. With my macho sawing skills, no less! He thought sarcastically. He lay down on his bed wearing only his boxers and thought about tomorrow. Or today, technically. Come the morning he would start his second year of high school, only this time with a secret life and superpowers. And without Uncle Ben… he thought sadly. He wasn't sure what he should feel about tomorrow. Fear, excitement or maybe a bit of both. He mostly felt tired.
During last year's field trip to Oscorp laboratories, courtesy of the only person he could maybe call friend Harry Osborn, Peter was bit by a spider that probably went under some pretty illegal experiments and thus gained superpowers. Speed, strength, super-senses, sticking to walls and a weird spider-sense-warning-system-thing that only worked according to its own whim. So mostly he gained anything starting with an 's' letter. Peter still wasn't sure how he gained all these powers in the span of a night. Maybe he was a mutant and the spider only activated his mutation. But the existence of mutants was very hush-hush publicly so it was pretty hard to get any information on them. Regardless he had them so he might as well use them. Some might think of getting women or money or fame but Peter had other plans. He always felt that everyday life was dull and boring. He never quite fit in the real world and preferred the bounder less world of movies and video games where anything could happen. So when the real world became like that, he wasted no time enjoying it, going skydiving in the middle of the night from the highest buildings of New York or participating in underground boxing under the name of Spider-man. He created a costume just for that, with colors of red and blue honoring the spider's colors that changed his life and also created a sticky web-like substance that could be made with chemicals that are easily accessible to anyone. The receipt is secret. Since his behavior had changed drastically his foster parents, Uncle Ben and Aunt May thought that it was just a phase in puberty and decided to have a talk with him. Ben used his favorite motte that said with great power comes great responsibility, so just a boring, cliché quote the likes of which you can find tons of on Facebook. Rich people have tons of power and only a very few feels responsible for their actions, much like Harry or his father, Norman Osborn. Well, it turns out that it's not quite how it works. During one of his late night escapes, Ben found out that he wasn't home and started looking for him in the city. Apparently he was caught in the crossfire during a robbery and was killed on the spot. That's when the feeling of responsibility hit Peter. He could have saved him or talked to him about it or stopped the robbery in the first place instead of beating up the local champion of a no-name bar near Hell's Kitchen. That very feeling was what his uncle meant with his motto but that understanding came too late to save him. But not too late for anyone else. And so during the rest of the summer his nights were spent above the streets of New York looking for criminals, listening to police broadcasts or doing some other vigilante stuff as the Amazing Spider-man. He was pretty hush-hush in the media too but word spread through the criminals that there was something out there that was out of their league. Tonight was like that too. A damsel in distress rescued and taken to safe location from where she could escape this city and go home and the bad guys beaten, probably in police custody by now. Oh yeah, and that woman won't be bothered ever again and those criminals will spend the rest of their lives in jail and not be out by the end of the week. Thought cynically Peter as he was trying to sleep. Changing how the world works was turning out to be quite difficult, surprisingly. Regardless, I have to try he thought because as far as I know I'm the only one who can. And with that he fell asleep.
It was his third "one phone call" by six a.m. and it started to get on his nerves. It should have been settled hours ago thought Schultz angrily.
"If you call me one more fucking time I swear I'm gonna make you a cripple and take the money away the state gives you every month!" Growled his Boss on the other end of the line." I told you that we're doing everything we can to get you out of there. But it takes time."
It never took this long for you Schultz thought. He suspected that they were being punished because that whore escaped. It wasn't like we could have stopped that freak from saving her! But that wasn't exactly why he called his Boss this time.
"The captain is here and wants to speak with me" he said with fake calmness "I just wanted to ask how to proceed"
That one second hesitation told him that this was new information to his Boss. That's what you get for trying to detain us!
"I see. Well, keep everything vague and try not to let any information slip away about our operations. I'll try to speed things up" and with that he hung up.
I'm sure you will now! Thought Schultz as he put the phone back to its place. And thanks for the ingenious advice! I'd have never thought of that! He only asked for advice because that was the only way he could alert him about the interrogation without indicating that his Boss didn't know about it in the first place. His ego was enormous. Probably why he had such a big head he thought and chuckled at his own joke. Mostly because he was tired. He hadn't slept since he was brought in and now he had to face one of the most bizarre things in New York City.
"Sir, if you're finished Captain George Stacy would like to speak with you now."
Despite everything the media said New York was ruled by criminals. They infiltrated every level of power that could be used and that included the police too. There were lots of crooked policemen from every rank who were paid to overlook certain "incidents". Most of those who weren't overlooked it anyway for fear of being reported by the others. And then there was Captain Stacy… He was a paradox, someone who shouldn't exist. He never received any extra money, never overlooked any crime and somehow managed to climb to the rank of captain AND keep said rank for over a decade by now. There were many theories about why that could happen. Some said that it was to keep up the appearance of the police's integrity, others said that it's because even the crime lords found respect for his persistence. Some cruel ones said that he simply amused those in power and they wanted to see him struggle. Regardless, he was a captain and Schultz was about to have an unpleasant chat with him. As he entered the interrogation room he saw the captain sitting in the opposite chair, his hair light blonde, his eyes pale blue like a glacier and his posture very firm despite the look of tiredness on his face. That was until he spoke with strong but calm voice.
"Thank you, Jean. You can go and have some rest now."
"Thank you, Captain."
The policewoman exited the room and the captain's icy gaze fixed on Schultz.
"You can sit."
"I don't plan to"
"Expecting to go somewhere? So soon?
"Been here long enough"
"On that we disagree" The captain said and pulled out folder from under the table filled with documents. About Schultz!
"Herman Schultz, suspected in dozens of crime including but not limited to homicide, arson, blackmailing, human trafficking and embezzlement to mention just the last couple of months."
"None of those were ever proven."
"Yes, sadly somehow most of the evidence got corrupted in the process. But I find it quite interesting that a man in your profession can afford such expensive lawyers. Maybe I should have become a janitor."
"Maybe you should have. You might actually like it."
"I doubt that"
"Suit yourself"
To that the captain smirked "Speaking of suits, you said in your statement that you and your friends, while walking in an alley in the middle of the night, were attacked by a costumed freak wearing a red and blue spandex suit. Is that statement true?"
"Oh, I'd never dare lie to the police"
"So it is also true that your attacker and I quote 'shot a white sticky substance all over your bodies'?"
"Ah, come on captain I'm sure you have heard of guys like that before. There must be some gay policemen too"
The captain's gaze never wavered. Maybe he didn't get it.
"The officers who found you said they heard gunshots…"
"Yeah he was shooting, too. You know I can't have a gun."
"They also said they heard a woman scream"
"Oh, that was just O'Hirn, he got scared. He might look tough on the outside but inside…" Schultz smirked but the captain's face still showed no emotion. It was almost impressive.
"Do you have any idea why he attacked you and your friends of all people?"
"Seeing how he dresses, he's probably crazy so there is no reason to look for whys"
"That's for me to decide" Captain Stacy said as his gaze hardened. Suddenly the door opened and Jean returned.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Captain, but Mister Schultz' lawyer has arrived"
The captain sighed and nodded. As Schultz was going through the door he abruptly stopped and turned his head to the captain. Even he wasn't sure why he did what he did. Maybe the captain really could inspire respect for his persistence from anyone.
"I'm sure you don't believe me but that guy is real and he was there. And I heard from someone that they call him … Spider-man"
Peter just got on the school bus, a little disappointment showing on his face. Given his powers he shouldn't use the bus to get to school but today he took it anyway in the off chance of meeting his part-time neighbor. Right next to their house lived his Aunt's best friend, Anna Watson. They knew each other since they were little girls. And sometimes, when things at home weren't really good Anna's niece, Mary Jane Watson came over and spent the night there. She also happened to be Peter's classmate and one of the very few people who could be considered interesting in their school, in Peter's opinion. Mary Jane was a born model and not just because her physical appearance although that shouldn't be overlooked either. Her hair was a very unique shade of red, dancing like blazing fire if the wind got hold of it. Her eyes were emerald green, so strong one would expect them to glow in the night. And there was a little star shape around her pupils completing the otherworldly look of her face. Her body looked like it was shaped and formed to make the perfect teenage girl with long legs and intriguing curves in all the right places. But what really made her stand out in a crowd was her personality. She was laid back, calm, free spirited and always smiling. She knew she was hot and didn't pretend that she wasn't but she wasn't full of herself either. She didn't really care about the social statuses of their high school and treated everyone at first equally and then according to their actions, including the teachers. They weren't happy about that but since she also cared little of what other people thought of her it didn't bother her. That carefree attitude of hers was what made Peter so interested in her since most other teenagers were mostly occupied by what society thought of them. So sometimes they shared a bus ride, talking about particularly anything except for gossips. But sadly today wouldn't be such a day since apparently she stayed home last night. Peter wasn't sure why sometimes she stayed at her Aunt's house and she never talked about it but he suspected that things weren't really optimal with her parents. So Peter sat alone and counted how many times he could have made it to school by swinging. He got bored at five. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long as Midtown High appeared in front of him.
As Peter approached the entrance he came across a group of friends he knew all too well. They pointedly ignored him which suited him just fine because he never really got along the group's leader, Flash Thompson. Flash was a classic cool high-school student, with big muscles, barely average grades and a hot girlfriend. He mostly cared about social status, played football, went to all kinds of parties a teenager wouldn't be allowed to go, got drunk, and otherwise enjoyed his high school years. He wasn't a bully exactly but Peter had seen, and a few times experienced, some of his mean pranks that got as much cries as it did laughs. Since Peter didn't really show any reaction to these pranks, apart from some eye-rolling, he was mostly left alone but got labeled as the school weirdo in return. Next to him was his girlfriend Elizabeth Allen whom apparently they managed to persuade to join the cheerleaders. Her black hair and light-brown skin was a good contrast to Flash's dirty-blond hair and pale skin. Peter didn't really know much about her, apart from being Puerto Rican in origin. Oh and smoking hot much like her blond friend Sally Avril and if Flash was the perfect cool guy than she was the perfect high school cheerleader with an insanely hot body for a teenager, blonde hair, vibrant blue eyes, little to no shame when it came to clothing and a smug, condescending attitude. Oh, and an ear-piercingly loud voice which came in handy for a cheerleader. Her giant black boyfriend, Randy Robertson was a direct opposite having a cool and deep voice which he barely used since he mostly said only a word or sometimes a short sentence. Those were extremes. He was the only guy in the group whom Peter liked somewhat. Plus his name is alliteration like mine so plus points there too. The last one in the group was Kong who probably got his nickname from the giant gorilla. He was slightly overweight and slow both physically and mentally. Weirdly enough he was also one of the more interesting part of the group or more accurately him being part of it was. By all accounts the guy should have been bullied but since Flash befriended him on day-one nobody dared to say anything to him. As far as Peter could tell the group itself treated him as an equal too. As Peter watched them talk with each other, most likely about how they've spent their summer a sudden feeling of jealousy hit him. There is no-one I can tell I've spent my summer he thought morosely
"If you're going to keep staring at them I might have to accept the rumors that you're actually just a sociopath. And then I should explain my dad why I brought one home so many times." Said a voice behind him but it didn't scare him because he already heard him arrive. Peter turned around and smiled. Harry Osborn was a long haired, skinny, brooding-looking guy with clothes as expensive as cars. He was also Peter's only friend mostly because he helped Harry with his studies and they got along pretty well during that. But it wasn't the deep heart to heart kind of friendship.
"Hey Harry. I'm still pretty sure he thinks we're secretly dating" replied Peter sarcastically.
"I'm not. He would have talked to me about that by now. He'd rather wish I brought a sociopath home." Answered Harry Osborn lazily.
"Come on, now. The great progressive Norman Osborn a bigot? I don't buy that."
"Oh, he's not, not at all. A group could announce that they, from now on, want to marry chickens and he'd be like 'sure why not'. But not his own son." Harry said his voice getting angry at the last statement. Peter knew his relationship with his dad was an itchy subject so he tried to change it.
"Soo… done anything fun during the summer?" he asked fast. Subtle Peter.
"Been around the Caribbean's watching hot models bathing in the sea. Can't complain."
"Yeah sure and I'm the sociopath…"
"And you? I can see you've been working out. How the hell did that happen?"
"Oh, ohm you know, just working off stress and stuff…"
"What kind of stress did you have to work in Queens…" Harry suddenly stopped his face turning serious and guilty" Holy shit, Peter I'm sorry, I just forgot that your Uncle…"
"It's alright… I mean don't worry about it" his voice sounded very deep despite himself. They stood in silence for a couple of seconds before Harry, just like Peter did, changed the subject.
"Look, I've got the new Osberry! Wanna check it out? It got a holographic display!"
"Woah, seriously? How much does it cost?"
"It's not out in the stores yet. I'm sort of the test subject since we're the most likely target audience."
"Okay, then let's test the shit out of it"
"I hoped you'd say that" Harry said and with that they entered the school building. They walked through the hall while they watched a little 3D holographic New York City appear before them above the phone screen. That could come in handy Peter thought when suddenly someone bumped into him. Or more accurately off of him as his was barely moved by the sudden collision. He quickly held out his hand took hold of the falling girls waist before pulling her up. She was wearing a black tank top that revealed her naval and the piercing in it and a rather short black skirt and long black boots with fishnets that showed off some impressive legs. Her hair was pale blond with some blue dyes at the end of it and her eyes were icy blue.
"Could you watch where you're going, psycho, instead of your phone" Said an irritated Gwen Stacy. Much like Mary Jane she also treated everyone equally but that only meant that she was a jerk to anyone who got close to her. That also included the teachers which made his father's visits, the police captain of New York, very frequent. Both of them realized that Peter was still holding her so he quickly let go receiving an icy stare. Feeling awkward, his adrenalin kicked in and he did what he usually did when that happened.
"But then how else can a psycho like me find his next target?" He said and smiled a crazy smile. A joke, a freaking joke, why do I always do that? From the corner of his eyes he could see Harry stiffen up and look bewildered. Gwen's icy eyes widened in surprise.
"Woah since when are you such a joker, Parker?" She asked
"Ate the right kind of people, I guess" Peter replied with a smile showing his teeth this time. And since when did my humor become so dark? Her eyes widened again and she looked really confused before shaking her head and, surprisingly, she gave a little chuckle.
"Alright, just be a bit more careful with your targets. My dad's a cop"
"I'll keep that in mind" And with that she left.
When Peter turned to Harry he still had a shocked expression on his face.
"Dude, what the hell was that?"
Peter was probably as surprised as he was but only forced a little smirk on his face and said:
"Duh, I'm the school sociopath. I guess you're gonna have to tell your dad before it's too late"
It's already too late Adrian Toomes thought as he entered his home, a dusty old place with a living room used as a workshop. Those fucking scavengers at Oscorp think I'm already a half-living corpse and they can just take what they want from me. Well, not this one! He thought as looked at his prototype, stolen and somewhat modified glider. He was pushing his fifties and he couldn't really stand up on the glider thus he modified it so he could wear it on his back with a few extra features. A truly maniac smile spread across his face
"Well, let's see who's gonna feast on whose corpse now!"
