The Brilliant Spiderman #1
This story takes place while Peter his teaching at his old High school and is married to Mary Jane. He is also still selling photos of Spider-man for the Bugle.
Peter heard it. It woke him up. He quickly turned it over in his bed and saw what was making the noise. He shot out of bed and turned his alarm off. He was late for work. His new job as a teacher was treating him well but getting up early was awful, and after setting his alarm for a later time on Saturday so he could get down to the bugle for his interview with J.J on Sunday but still have a lie-in was a problem. He was annoyed with himself that he did not remember to set it back. Now he was late.
MJ was fast asleep on the couch. The movie they had rented out was still in the DVD player and they had to return it that day. The shop was just two blocks away but it would have to be returned later, it would still be on time. Peter grabbed his coat and ran out of the front door and down the many steps to get out of the apartment building. He just ran towards Midtown High School as fast as he could. He had web shooters with him and the good old costume under his clothes just in case.
"NO!" He had forgot to pack his lunch and he had no money on him for the canteen. Too late now so he ignored it and just kept running. He was starting to get tired but he had to just keep going and then everything would be fine.
Move To: On the other side of New York in a casual bank, people drew money out of their accounts and money was handled. Everything was fine. Nothing was wrong. That changed. Everything was wrong. Nothing was fine. The glass windows shattered as no other then Doctor Octopus jumped through.
"And as the old saying goes. I'm here to make a withdrawal. Put the money on the counters and just let me be on my way. Do that and nobody will get hurt." But this was not Doctor Octopus. He saw the money coming forward and he let the arms fall to the floor. They were fake. He pulled off a mask. He let a huge padded costume fall to the floor. It was just a regular looking guy. He was around twenty-five years old and he had blonde hair. He was white and average height for his age. He took out a bag and a gun as he started to scoop the money off of the counters and into the bag.
"Goodbye Suckers!" The man started to run towards the doors and saw a guard come out in front of him. The guard grabbed the man and tackled him to the floor. The thief pointed his gun towards the guard but another guard grabbed it off of him and ran away. The first guard stood up, ready for a fistfight. The thief then did something extraordinary. He had no weapons. The only item he had now was the bag with the money inside, and most of the money was cash instead of coins. That was when he sprayed the guard with webbing from his wrist. Two cops came through the doors of the bank and three guards started running towards the thief from the other direction. The only way to escape now was through the window but it was quite high up. So he crawled up, just like a spider and jumped out into the street to make his escape. Move To: The next day Peter woke up. He was ahead of time. His alarm had not gone off yet. He was not tired though, so that was quite a good sign. Then it hit him. He had not returned the movie that him and MJ had rented out. After getting changed and ready for the day, as Peter went into the lounge to grab his tie he never saw the DVD on the table or anywhere for that matter. He heard his wife in the bedroom, getting up.
"MJ, we forgot to take that movie back", he said in an annoyed way. Everything was getting him down and if it carried on that way it would affect his skills as Spiderman and also how good a teacher he was.
"No, it's alright" She replied, "I did it yesterday while you were at work."
"Oh, cool. That makes everything that little bit easier then." Peter said as he kissed Mary Jane on the cheek and grabbed his briefcase. It was different all of a sudden. It was not stressful because now with that one thing he thought was in his way actually out of the way he could relax and be happy again. He started walking towards the school at a normal pace and everything was fine. Well, that was what he thought anyway but he was wrong. It was hard for Peter because something was always just around the corner and getting ready to strike him down. But for now he was happy and he thought that things were perfectly fine.
Someone watched as he walked along the street. They started to follow as they muttered under their breath "Spiderman, thank you for letting me know it all. Your identity and your home. And you probably just think that everything is fine. Well, there is no way for you to find out anything is wrong until you get back home". But in this day, it was not only Peter who was wrong.
Peter kept walking. The stalker realised what a mistake he had made as Peter unexpectedly walked into a corner shop. Peter decided to buy the copy of the Bugle for that day. He did not know why. It was just something in his spider-sense told him he had to. It was not until after he came out of the shop he looked at it and saw the Headline: 'UNMASKED SPIDER FREAK ROBS BANK!' Peter gulped and felt his spider-sense tingling.
"Damn, everything was going fi..Ughhhh". Peter went flying to the floor. The man who had previously robbed the bank was standing over him and kept kicking him.
"Well, your precious 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary' will soon be dead. And guess what? I'm not scared to steal cars or anything to get there fast. My guess is that the only way you will be able to catch up with me and save Mary is to web swing. But be careful, everyone will think it was you who robbed the bank if they see you acting like a spider."
Peter changed into Spider-man and followed the man by web swinging and running. He followed the man through the doors and as they ran, Peter saw drugs fall out of the man's pockets all over the place, wrapped up in bags. Peter took the mask off as he followed the man through the door to Peter and MJ's apartment. MJ screamed and jumped out of the way as Peter simply grabbed the man by the waist and tackled him to the ground.
"What do you want? Didn't you think I might be all right if I wore the costume. And why do they think you're me? Talk or I'll throw you straight out of that window and you'll be to beaten up to swing to safety."
"That's where you're wrong. I have no web swingers. Just the ability to crawl on walls. And it's 'cos I got bitten by a radioactive Spider when I was fifteen." The crook said.
"What kind of sick joke is this?" MJ said as she stood rigid in the corner of the room.
Peter picked the man up by his shirt while they were still on the floor and then pushed him back down hard. "Answer her question.".
"Now!"
"You'll never know," he said as he pushed Peter away and stood up.
Peter grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What was your plan then?" Peter asked.
"I wanted to take your place as Spider-man and try to change the menace image so that people would respect me.
"Why?"
"I was an outcast at school and I still am. I'm useless and I wanted some respect for the first time in my life. I bought drugs off a dealer that were supposed to make me braver but they just made me a liar and.I don't know what is going on. Please man you have to."
MJ and Peter gasped as the man closed his eyes and went limp with a trail of blood pouring out of his mouth. He was dead.
"He's dead. It was the drugs. There's nothing we can do. It was his own fault. He would still be alive. When you think about it, if people had tried to understand him he would not have been an outcast. He would not have to try to do what he did and he would still be alive." Peter said as he dialled the phone to ask for an ambulance and tried to think up an excuse as to why a the body of a man was dead in the apartment of him and his wife due to the results of drugs.
"It just proves", Peter concluded, "when you do that kind of thing you never know what it could be and it will cause you a painful death in the end."
In the next issue of The Brilliant Spiderman: Peter has to make a choice between being Spiderman or staying with Mary Jane, but that is not his only problem. Black Cat wants him as he teams up with her to save New York from both Doctor Octopus and The Green Goblin.
This story takes place while Peter his teaching at his old High school and is married to Mary Jane. He is also still selling photos of Spider-man for the Bugle.
Peter heard it. It woke him up. He quickly turned it over in his bed and saw what was making the noise. He shot out of bed and turned his alarm off. He was late for work. His new job as a teacher was treating him well but getting up early was awful, and after setting his alarm for a later time on Saturday so he could get down to the bugle for his interview with J.J on Sunday but still have a lie-in was a problem. He was annoyed with himself that he did not remember to set it back. Now he was late.
MJ was fast asleep on the couch. The movie they had rented out was still in the DVD player and they had to return it that day. The shop was just two blocks away but it would have to be returned later, it would still be on time. Peter grabbed his coat and ran out of the front door and down the many steps to get out of the apartment building. He just ran towards Midtown High School as fast as he could. He had web shooters with him and the good old costume under his clothes just in case.
"NO!" He had forgot to pack his lunch and he had no money on him for the canteen. Too late now so he ignored it and just kept running. He was starting to get tired but he had to just keep going and then everything would be fine.
Move To: On the other side of New York in a casual bank, people drew money out of their accounts and money was handled. Everything was fine. Nothing was wrong. That changed. Everything was wrong. Nothing was fine. The glass windows shattered as no other then Doctor Octopus jumped through.
"And as the old saying goes. I'm here to make a withdrawal. Put the money on the counters and just let me be on my way. Do that and nobody will get hurt." But this was not Doctor Octopus. He saw the money coming forward and he let the arms fall to the floor. They were fake. He pulled off a mask. He let a huge padded costume fall to the floor. It was just a regular looking guy. He was around twenty-five years old and he had blonde hair. He was white and average height for his age. He took out a bag and a gun as he started to scoop the money off of the counters and into the bag.
"Goodbye Suckers!" The man started to run towards the doors and saw a guard come out in front of him. The guard grabbed the man and tackled him to the floor. The thief pointed his gun towards the guard but another guard grabbed it off of him and ran away. The first guard stood up, ready for a fistfight. The thief then did something extraordinary. He had no weapons. The only item he had now was the bag with the money inside, and most of the money was cash instead of coins. That was when he sprayed the guard with webbing from his wrist. Two cops came through the doors of the bank and three guards started running towards the thief from the other direction. The only way to escape now was through the window but it was quite high up. So he crawled up, just like a spider and jumped out into the street to make his escape. Move To: The next day Peter woke up. He was ahead of time. His alarm had not gone off yet. He was not tired though, so that was quite a good sign. Then it hit him. He had not returned the movie that him and MJ had rented out. After getting changed and ready for the day, as Peter went into the lounge to grab his tie he never saw the DVD on the table or anywhere for that matter. He heard his wife in the bedroom, getting up.
"MJ, we forgot to take that movie back", he said in an annoyed way. Everything was getting him down and if it carried on that way it would affect his skills as Spiderman and also how good a teacher he was.
"No, it's alright" She replied, "I did it yesterday while you were at work."
"Oh, cool. That makes everything that little bit easier then." Peter said as he kissed Mary Jane on the cheek and grabbed his briefcase. It was different all of a sudden. It was not stressful because now with that one thing he thought was in his way actually out of the way he could relax and be happy again. He started walking towards the school at a normal pace and everything was fine. Well, that was what he thought anyway but he was wrong. It was hard for Peter because something was always just around the corner and getting ready to strike him down. But for now he was happy and he thought that things were perfectly fine.
Someone watched as he walked along the street. They started to follow as they muttered under their breath "Spiderman, thank you for letting me know it all. Your identity and your home. And you probably just think that everything is fine. Well, there is no way for you to find out anything is wrong until you get back home". But in this day, it was not only Peter who was wrong.
Peter kept walking. The stalker realised what a mistake he had made as Peter unexpectedly walked into a corner shop. Peter decided to buy the copy of the Bugle for that day. He did not know why. It was just something in his spider-sense told him he had to. It was not until after he came out of the shop he looked at it and saw the Headline: 'UNMASKED SPIDER FREAK ROBS BANK!' Peter gulped and felt his spider-sense tingling.
"Damn, everything was going fi..Ughhhh". Peter went flying to the floor. The man who had previously robbed the bank was standing over him and kept kicking him.
"Well, your precious 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary' will soon be dead. And guess what? I'm not scared to steal cars or anything to get there fast. My guess is that the only way you will be able to catch up with me and save Mary is to web swing. But be careful, everyone will think it was you who robbed the bank if they see you acting like a spider."
Peter changed into Spider-man and followed the man by web swinging and running. He followed the man through the doors and as they ran, Peter saw drugs fall out of the man's pockets all over the place, wrapped up in bags. Peter took the mask off as he followed the man through the door to Peter and MJ's apartment. MJ screamed and jumped out of the way as Peter simply grabbed the man by the waist and tackled him to the ground.
"What do you want? Didn't you think I might be all right if I wore the costume. And why do they think you're me? Talk or I'll throw you straight out of that window and you'll be to beaten up to swing to safety."
"That's where you're wrong. I have no web swingers. Just the ability to crawl on walls. And it's 'cos I got bitten by a radioactive Spider when I was fifteen." The crook said.
"What kind of sick joke is this?" MJ said as she stood rigid in the corner of the room.
Peter picked the man up by his shirt while they were still on the floor and then pushed him back down hard. "Answer her question.".
"Now!"
"You'll never know," he said as he pushed Peter away and stood up.
Peter grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What was your plan then?" Peter asked.
"I wanted to take your place as Spider-man and try to change the menace image so that people would respect me.
"Why?"
"I was an outcast at school and I still am. I'm useless and I wanted some respect for the first time in my life. I bought drugs off a dealer that were supposed to make me braver but they just made me a liar and.I don't know what is going on. Please man you have to."
MJ and Peter gasped as the man closed his eyes and went limp with a trail of blood pouring out of his mouth. He was dead.
"He's dead. It was the drugs. There's nothing we can do. It was his own fault. He would still be alive. When you think about it, if people had tried to understand him he would not have been an outcast. He would not have to try to do what he did and he would still be alive." Peter said as he dialled the phone to ask for an ambulance and tried to think up an excuse as to why a the body of a man was dead in the apartment of him and his wife due to the results of drugs.
"It just proves", Peter concluded, "when you do that kind of thing you never know what it could be and it will cause you a painful death in the end."
In the next issue of The Brilliant Spiderman: Peter has to make a choice between being Spiderman or staying with Mary Jane, but that is not his only problem. Black Cat wants him as he teams up with her to save New York from both Doctor Octopus and The Green Goblin.
