Chapter 1-Straight-Edged
"Living on the edge, fighting crime and spinning webs. There's a ringing in my head and I might as well be dead", I sang woozily as I swung over the city. Everything was aching. I could feel a bump growing on the back of my head. My entire right sleeve was ripped off. My body was covered in cuts and scratches from my latest fight with the Shocker and his gang. Herman may be a bit of a schmuck, but his gauntlets could still pack a punch.
"Villains en masse, ganging up to kick my ass. I am super late to class and I can't...think of..anymore...rhymes, god, I'm tired.", I mumbled, trying to keep my focus. I nearly hit a building on the way to Midtown High, which would have made it the fifth one today.
I landed on the school's roof and quickly changed out of my suit. When I finally slipped into some normal clothes, I looked over at my uniform, or what was left of it. Every hero I knew had some kick-ass uniforms. Mr. Stark had his armor. Bobby and his X-buddies had their own customized suits. Dr. Richards and his family had their "unstable molecules" thing going on.
Me? I have a red hoodie and mask with some webs and a spider sharpied on them. Not exactly top-of-the-line.
My friend MJ tried to help me with the design. It was her idea to add webs under the armpits of my suit. They were completely useless, but she thought it looked cool.
Before I could continue moaning on about my awful fashion sense, I heard the bell ring and the sound of students walking out of their classes.
"AW CRAP!", I shouted. I swiftly shoved my suit into my backpack and ran across the roof, firing a strand of web onto the edge of the building. I jumped off, swinging around the back of the building. I landed on the ground and quickly hid my web-shooters under the sleeves of my jacket.
I barged in through the back entrance where students were clogging up the halls like a school bathroom. I tried getting a sense of what class I needed to get to and what BS excuse I needed to give to my teachers. As I scanned the halls looking for a clock, a familiar voice spoke up.
"Well, you look like total crap. No offense."
I turned around to see the smiling face of Mary Jane Watson, or MJ as she liked to be called. She had caramel skin and her hair was dyed a bright red. Her bright green hoodie matched her bright green eyes, which had an element of mischief in them.
"MJ, thank god!", I smiled, "You got the time? Been trying to find a clock around here and I don't want to be late to Mr. Martinez's class for the third time in a row!"
She shrugged, "Pete, hate to tell you this, but-"
"Aw, geez, don't tell me", I sighed, "Well, hopefully I can make it to Mrs. Walters-"
"You missed that one too."
"...Mr. Harrington?"
"Peter, it's lunch."
"DAMMIT!", I shouted. With great power, comes great tardiness, I guess. This has always been a problem since I started this whole thing, but lately, it's been getting worse. "I really need to schedule these fights with the bad guys. Find a good time and place for an ass-kicking", I joked, trying to ignore the issue.
We picked up our food at the cafeteria and walked outside to the courtyard to join the other seniors.
"Saw the video on my phone", she smirked, "Three years and Shocker can still beat you around the block."
"Hey, keep it down!", I shushed her. MJ was the only one who knew about my "activities" and even that wasn't on purpose. She just saw me slink through my apartment window one night and put two and two together. Now, she's kind of like my partner in crime-busting.
"You know, one day, you're gonna get a beating so bad, no crappy excuse is gonna cover for it,'' she pointed out.
"Yeah, I know", I looked down. It was a bit funny hearing party-girl MJ talk about being careful, but she was right. Sooner or later, this was all going to catch up with me. All the excuses and villains and punches to the face, it was all going to come back and bite me in the ass one day.
Oh, well. I'm at school now. At least here no one is going to try and kill me or anything.
"PETER!"
You know, sometimes I need to learn to shut my trap.
I turned to see the only thing that could scare me more than a flaming pumpkin bomb. Gwen Stacy AKA my girlfriend AKA the blonde woman with murder in my eyes marching towards me.
"Welp, you're a goner", MJ bluntly stated, leaving me to wallow in my nervous sweat and fear.
"Heeey, Gwen, how-how you doing, sweetie?", I gulped.
"Don't 'sweetie' me, Peter", Gwen snarled, "I had to do that entire Spanish presentation on my own, you jerk! Where were you?!"
"Umm..", I gulped, looking to MJ for an assist. She merely shrugged, clearly at a loss for a good excuse as I was. Partner in crime-busting, everyone. "There was a...fight! There was another superhuman fight down at the bank! Shocker versus Spider-Man! Some debris almost crushed me! Would've died if it wasn't for the webhead!"
My red-headed friend gave me a thumbs-up, but Gwen didn't seem entirely convinced.
"I mean, I've got the scratches to prove it!", I quickly stuttered, tugging down my jacket to show some of the injuries from my fight. Gwen gasped, clearly shocked to find me telling the truth to her.
"Oh my god, Peter! Are you okay?!`` she gasped, pulling me into a hug.
"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine, nothing broken!", I quickly tried to calm her down, a bit surprised that my excuse actually worked. I turned to MJ, who looked about as amazed as I was.
Before I was hugged to death, Gwen finally let go and sat down next to us. She shook her head in disbelief.
"Sorry, it's just…", she sighed, "This city's getting crazier every day and...I just don't want to see any of you guys get hurt."
I frowned, nodding solemnly. A year ago, Gwen lost her father in the middle of a supervillain attack. I caught the guy behind it, but it was too late. George Stacy was a great man, a hero. I won't lie, I idolized him. Ever since then, I've been trying to find ways to update my suit, find new ways of taking down the supervillains.
Unfortunately, even with all of the friends I've made over the course of my time as Spider-Man, none of them were 100% willing to help me advance my tech. They thought I was "too young" to handle their tech or "too reckless".
Anyway, the three of us talked about basic high-schooler stuff, the subject of superheroes and Spider-Man being pushed out of our heads. Suddenly, spidey-sense kicked in. On instinct, I quickly caught a football that would've crashed into the back of my head.
I looked over and saw the one responsible for throwing it. Good ol' Flash Thompson. Young hispanic kid, captain of the football team, got all the girls, basically the quintessential jock stereotype.
"Damn, Parker!", he chuckled like the total dick he was, "Gotta admit, that was a nice throw!"
"Asshole", Gwen muttered under her breath.
A part of me has always been tempted to just beat the crap out of him. One punch from me could knock him across the courtyard. If it wasn't for what little self-control I had, that dude would've been put into the ground. Thankfully, before I could attack him, someone else decided to step in.
"Hey, jackass, you mind laying off the guy before I take that football and shove it down your throat", spoke my good friend and apparently, now my guardian angel, Harry Osborn. I'd recognize that redhead anywhere. Dude's been my friend since we were kids. He's one of those guys who you could tell just by looking at him that his family has money.
Flash scoffed, "Well, lookie here! Parker's little bodyguard, right on time!"
"C'mon, Eugene, you like throwing footballs at people? Aim one at me. Right now!", Harry begged the jock to try something.
"Oh, damn, he pulled the 'Eugene' card!", MJ stifled a laugh, enjoying watching people in crisis.
Flash chuckled before the bell started to ring, signaling us to walk back into the school. Him and his friends decided to back off and go back to class, while we decided to do the same.
"Four years and you're still unable to fight back," Harry pointed out, "Maybe you like getting hit in the head with footballs?"
"Hardy har, Harry", I snarked. Harry may be my best friend, but he of all people can't know I'm Spider-Man. Mainly because of his...family. For years, I've been pretending that I was just some helpless nerd, with him being my protector. I know, I'm a dick friend, but it's the safe thing to do. Though it is annoying having to act useless.
"Just doing my daily community service. Only I can prevent Peter Parker catching hands from Flash Thompson", Harry joked in a Smokey the Bear voice.
"You really should just fight him off, Pete", MJ spoke up, "I'm sure you could take him."
"What? And leave Harry out of a job", I sneered.
Gwen looked at me, concerned, "You really do have to stand up for yourself sometimes, Peter. Harry's not going to be around forever."
"True, but hopefully, you'll be, right?", I smiled, hoping my stupid charm can convine her that everything was fine.
As we shared a nice kiss, I began to think about what life will be like after graduation. We only had a month until we could leave Midtown and head off into the real world. Gwen had her internship with Dr. Warren at Oscorp and I had my photography job at the Daily Bugle. We both got into Empire State University and we were planning on looking over places to stay together.
Speaking of the Bugle, right after school ended, I had to rush over to Manhattan for a job I had there. On the way out, MJ quickly rushed up to catch me before I left.
"A-yo, Pete", MJ called out, "Heading off to the Bugle?"
"Yeah, I got a job over at the Baxter Building. I meeting with Mr. Brock over there", I explained.
"Chill. Look, I know you're all about that 'can't let the people I love know I'm a superhero' thing, but I think letting Gwen and Harry in on this could help you."
"We've been over this, MJ. No one can know. Gwen already lost one person person she cared about in the line of duty and Harry, well...you know how things are with his dad."
MJ sighed, "Yeah, yeah, but c'mon, it would be nice having a little Spidey team. All the best heroes have teams!"
"Yeah, teams filled with other superheroes", I commented, "Look, I gotta go. Catch you later, man!"
As I walked away, I looked around to make sure no one was watching. I quickly pulled up my sleeve to reveal my web-shooters and fired a strand at one of the buildings in front of me. Is it stupid to go swinging around town without my suit. Abso-friggin'-lutely. Is it fun and very convenient? Definitely.
It took me about five minutes to get to the Baxter Building. Thankfully, I eventually found a way down, where I met my partner for the report.
"Well, it's about damn time, kid," said Eddie Brock. He had blondish-brown hair and a muscular physique, as well as an engagement ring on his hand. Mr. Brock's been my coworker for three years and he's helped me a lot during my time with the Bugle. Always helped keep Mr. Jameson off my back. We typically partner up to work on the Eddie Brock Report, an online series we've been releasing on the Bugle's website to get more people onto our brand.
"Sorry, I'm not late, am I, Mr. Brock?", I stammered.
"Nah, kid, you arrived just in time," he assured me, "Get that camera ready, Parker."
Now, if you're like me, your first time walking into the Baxter Building would be filled with awe and amazement. Scientists hustling back on forth, talking about projects that wouldn't be out of place in a sci-fi novel. Holograms displaying events from the building's past and the Fantastic Four's many adventures. If one were to look up, they would see soooo many floors above their heads.
"Holy hell," Mr. Brock nodded with approval, "Parker, you better be getting some pics of this joint."
I started scoping the area for nice things to take photos of. Jameson made a specific point that my work had to be "eye-popping", but here, everything was "eye-popping". Even the bathrooms looked like something out of a Star Trek episode.
A voice shouted out from ahead of us, "Mr. Brock! Mr. Parker! So nice of you to arrive."
We turned to see the main man himself, the leader of the Fantastic Four and my personal buddy: Dr. Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic.
His brown hair was beginning to grey and his wrinkles were beginning to become noticeable. He wore a white lab coat over his blue uniform, the classic four logo shining on his chest. See, he knew the power of branding and he had the stuff he needed to make badass suits.
Mr. Brock walked up with a smile on his face and a confidence I wish I had, "Dr. Richards, it's an honor to have you on the Eddie Brock Report. I honestly didn't think a guy like you would have the time for someone like me."
"Well, you can thank Mr. Parker for that", Dr. Richards smiled, "He helped convince to agree to the interview and I'm always happy to aid a companion."
A look of surprise flashed across my partner's face as he turned to me, confused. I merely shrugged at him, but on the inside, all I could think about was Mister Fantastic calling me a companion. Doesn't sound like much to some, but for me, my inner nerd was screaming.
"Now, come along, I'm sure you have much to ask me," Dr. Richards beckoned us to follow him.
As we walked behind him, Mr. Brock leaned over next to me and whispered, "Mind filling me in, kid?"
My mind was racing, trying to figure out what excuse I should draw out from the hat, "Uh, I'm friends with his brother-in-law, well, not really friends, but tutor-I tutor for the-ahem-Human Torch."
The look on his face shouted, 'Your lies are bad and you should feel bad', but we kept on walking. I set my camera to record the interview as Mr. Brock began asking Dr. Richards questions. The conversation consisted of what you'd expect. Whether or not rumors of the Stark-Baxter merger were true, how the Four reacted to Von Doom's latest comments against them, the typical stuff.
Eventually, the interview took us into the elevator, which carried us up the building to where Dr. Richards was going to show us some of his latest work. Obviously, he wasn't going to show us the high-level, secret stuff, but he was willing to show us some ideas he was working on.
Once the elevator stopped, we walked out to see a room filled with scientific instruments, some of Dr. Richard's H.E.R.B.I.E. drones flying around, carrying equipment, and what looked like a few spaceships and teleporters under construction.
"Now, could you tell us about some of these, uh, contraptions here, Mr. Richards?", Mr. Brock asked, clearly astonished by what he was seeing.
"This, Mr. Brock, is my latest project," the hero explained, "I've been trying to find a way to access the jump-gate technology that some of my extraterrestrial colleagues have. Unfortunately, I'm having difficulty harnessing the ability to pinpoint a destination for when I jump across the vast cosmos. My most recent tests have appeared fruitful, but the places my family and I ended up in were not exactly...safe."
"Do you plan on sending this technology to the government or..?"
"No", Dr. Richards said adamantly, "Even if we were to find success, I'd rather be cautious regarding who I allow to use my technology."
It wasn't just me that the Four had difficulty trusting their tech to. The government's been asking the Baxter Building to hand over some of their gadgets, but Dr. Richards always had some reason why he couldn't do it. 'It's too dangerous, Peter, it could destroy the economy, Peter, put down that nuclear bomb, Peter.'...Okay, that last one was a stupid idea, my bad.
Before I could dwell on my thoughts, I heard a tapping noise coming from behind me. I turned around to see a flask on the lab table behind me. In it was some sort of black liquid. Confused, I walked closer towards it, wondering what weird thing the Four have created this time. I set down my opened-up backpack to look closer at the inky-black substance, fascinated. Of course, reality had to drag me out of it.
"PARKER!", Mr. Brock shouted.
I jumped, bumping my back into the lab table with surprise, "Um, sorry, Mr. Brock, sir!"
"Keep the camera focused, buddy, we're almost done here", Mr. Brock confirmed.
Eventually, the interview ended and we headed towards the exit. I was about to leave the building when Dr. Richards quickly called out for me, "Mr. Parker!"
"Hey, Dr. Richards, what's up?"
"I just wanted to let you know that the Fantastic Four are planning to go on an expedition this Friday to deal with business," the scientist explained, "We thought you should know this."
"Oh, cool," I commented, "Don't worry, I can handle New York while you guys are gone."
"That was never in question," Dr. Richards nodded, "I should see you in less than a week."
I waved goodbye and walked out to find Mr. Brock waiting for me, sitting on his motorcycle.
"Got the film, Parker?," he asked.
"Yep, got everything!", I gave a thumb's up.
"Perfect. Jameson's gonna pay us a pretty penny for this one", the reporter smiled, "Hop on, kid."
I nodded, sitting down behind him. Looking back on it, I wish I'd just swung to the Bugle instead of getting on this death-trap. I wish I'd actually had a bike helmet on me.
And most of all, I wish I actually checked to see what fell into my backpack.
So, for those wondering, this is set in an AU that takes inspiration from the 616-universe and the MCU, but is its own world with its own history. I hope you guys like this! Reviews and comments are highly appreciated. More to come soon!