Spider-Man: Throne of Atlantis
Chapter II: A Day in New York City
Peter knew that he worried too much sometimes. Okay, that was probably an understatement. From rent money and the safety of his loved ones to meeting his deadlines at work and keeping his superhero identity a secret, Peter couldn't stop himself from worrying all the time. So maybe he was a little paranoid. But, that didn't change the fact that his secret identity was currently on the top of his 'things to worry about' priority list.
Arriving at Central Park after foiling a heist earlier in the morning, Peter thought back to last night when he rather hastily revealed his secret identity to Mera. It was a reckless decision if he was being honest to himself. He had literally just met her!
A change of clothes and a minute later, Peter was now dressed in civilian attire, wearing a green checkered shirt with a pair of blue jeans. Walking absentmindedly past a group of tourists, Peter recalled his reasons for revealing his identity to the Atlantean princess:
For one, she helped in taking down Octavius. Then he learned about Atlantis and how they were planning for an invasion. She had asked for his help, and for him to trust her so that she could convince Atlantis that waging war against the surface world was unjustified. Peter believed Mera was telling the truth given the look in her eyes, eight years of crime-fighting had taught him a thing or two when it came to reading facial expressions. And the fact that she was beautiful might have helped. Maybe he did have a thing for redheads. Okay, that last reason was probably not part of why he revealed his secret identity to her, Peter joked to himself.
Checking his wristwatch, which also functioned as a web-shooter, Peter was glad to see that he was on time for once. Maybe his days of being late for classes, work, meetings, gatherings, and dates were finally over.
Still lost in his thoughts, Peter wondered how he was going to find the Atlantean redhead. He wandered aimlessly along one of the park's trails when his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, feminine voice. "I've been looking for you."
Peter looked to the side to see Mera, who was walking towards him. She was wearing a white button-down shirt and white baggy pants, along with a greyish green coat that contrasted her fiery red locks.
"Hey, Mera," he gave her a friendly wave which she returned.
They greeted each other before making their way across a winding path that was alongside the lake and several trees. For the next couple of minutes or so, they made small talk, which mostly consisted of Mera asking questions related to the surface world which Peter eagerly answered. Peter himself learned more about Atlantis, including how it was King Orm of Atlantis himself who had initiated the idea of an invasion against the surface world.
Mera's attention was drawn away when she spotted a blue jay, a lavender-blue colored bird, which was perched on a tree branch not far away. The Atlantean redhead eyed the bird curiously. Having spent her entire life underwater, Mera had never seen, let alone heard of a bird before.
Peter was smiling at her antics as the bird chirped a beautiful melody. "That's a blue jay."
Nodding appreciatively to Peter, Mera made her way towards a field of flowers and admired the many colors and different shaped flowers, from red to pink to yellow to lavender.
"This is beautiful," she said as she breathed in the fragrance of the many different flowers that littered the field.
'And so are you,' Peter thought to himself only to mentally slap himself in the head. 'Focus, Parker!'
They soon made their way to the Bethesda Fountain, which was one of the largest fountains in New York and a highlight of Central Park. At the fountain's center stood an intricately designed eight-foot bronze angel also known as the Angels of Waters.
Peter reached into his pocket and handed Mera a coin. Noticing a little girl standing beside them, Mera kindly offered the coin to the young girl instead, who gingerly accepted the gift with a bright smile on her face. The little girl then tossed the coin into the fountain and closed her eyes to make a wish.
A faint bluish glow appeared over Mera's hand as she used her hydrokinetic powers to create several miniature dolphins with water from the fountain to the little girl's surprise.
"Mommy, mommy!" the little girl happily called after as she watched the dolphins twist and jump out of the water. After a while, she stepped away from the fountain and went to her parents, who were several feet away talking to each other, and asked them for something.
"As a child, I was raised by my father to believe the surface world was an unforgiving place. I was taught that humans were responsible for much of the ocean's suffering," Mera revealed to Peter as she dipped her hand into the fountain to feel the water rushing against her fingers. "But now that I'm here, I'm beginning to think my father was wrong."
"I'm starting to think you like it here," Peter said with a smile on his face.
"It would be wrong to judge a place I've never seen before," Mera said with a smile of her own. Just then, the little girl from before came up to her with a gift which Mera gladly accepted after thanking the girl. It was a comic book titled Amazing Fantasy which featured Spider-Man.
"You're on a comic book?" Mera asked in astonishment as she flipped through a couple of the colorful pages.
"And a cereal box, a Christmas album, a theme song," Peter listed with his fingers as the pair made their way from the fountain to another park trail. "Aaand a so-so popsicle."
"Wow, you're quite the popular man," Mera teased.
"Well not exactly... These companies just see Spider-Man as a cash grab y'know?" Peter said, running his hand through his hair.
As they were walking, Peter suddenly felt a faint buzzing at the back of his head.
"What a sweet couple of lovebirds." The pair turned around to see a man standing there. He looked like every other regular person, well except for the pocket knife in his right hand. "Hand over your wallets."
"Trust me, you don't want to do this pal," Peter said calmly. "Just put down the knife and walk away. You can still turn your life around."
"Don't tell me how to live my—" That was as far as he got because Mera punched the man in the stomach so hard that he doubled over and dropped the pocket knife.
"Told you so," Peter said with a grin on his face.
"I wouldn't have reasoned with him," Mera said as she watched Peter scooped up the knife, closed it, and threw it accurately into a recycling can twenty feet away.
"Well, I usually like to give people a second chance to—" Peter was interrupted when a nearby security alarm went off. 'Great. Thanks, Parker luck,' he sighed inwardly to himself as he looked over to Mera.
"You have to go," she said.
"I'm really sorry," Peter said as he headed for the exit. "We'll catch up later, I promise."
"It can wait," she said understandingly. "Now go and be a hero."
He nodded and then dashed off like a speeding bullet toward the crime scene.
A quick costume change and a minute later, Peter was now in his Spider-Man suit as he swung towards the crime scene. Peter thought back to his exchange with Mera and wondered if he should have offered her to join him in taking down the soon-to-be in jail criminals. But, given her intention to remain a secret which she made clear last night, Peter doubted she would have joined him and risked exposing herself as an Atlantean to the public.
Then again, maybe he was just finding an excuse not to put her at risk. Peter knew that she could handle herself, but he was never one to let others put themselves in danger. So maybe he was a little overprotective, Peter thought. Okay, that was probably an understatement too.
In no time, he arrived at the source of the commotion. It was yet another break-in at a bank. He clung to the side of the building on the second floor to gain a better vantage point and to avoid alerting the assailants. The glass windows were shattered as debris littered around the area.
A moment later, an uncanny trio stepped out of the multi-storied building. It was none other than the ragtag team known as the Enforcers. They were a trio of high profile criminals that Peter encountered back in the day. However, they quickly lost prominence when Fisk established himself as the Kingpin of Crime.
Peter liked to think that he was past dealing with the Enforcers, after their sudden disappearance a year ago when Fisk returned to New York. But here he was, having to deal with them yet again.
The leader of the gang was Montanna, who always dressed like a cowboy and was highly-skilled in the use of the lariat. He had a lime green coat this time around and wore a fancy cowboy hat. More concerning was an all-new electrified whip in his hand that crackled dangerously with red electricity.
Next up was Fancy Dan. Despite his short stature, Fancy Dan was a highly adept martial artist and marksman. He wore a purple tuxedo vest over a casual white dress suit and had a revolver on each side of his shoulder holster.
Last but certainly not least was Ox, who was the muscle of the team. He wore a white cotton shirt with a yellow hoodie and blue sweatpants. In his hands were two bags stuffed full with stolen money from the bank.
"Hey, fellas, ready to head back to prison?" Peter quipped as he took the trio by surprise. Landing behind them, he yanked away Fancy Dan's revolvers using two web-lines before any of them could even react.
"Webs, it has been a while, but we won't go easy on ya," Montanna remarked. He drew back his hand which caused Peter's spider-sense to tingle.
With a slight step to the side, Peter dipped out of the way of the whip aimed at his head.
"Stupid bug, why can't you leave us alone!" yelled Ox. Without thinking, he threw one of the stolen sack of money straight at Spider-Man with superhuman strength.
"Ox, you idiot! You just gave the blasted webhead our money!" Montanna angrily berated. He watched as the wall-crawler caught the bag and secured it snuggly inside a web net.
"Thanks for the assist, Ox. You're a real great team player." Peter mocked. He vaulted over Ox who had attempted to run him down. Landing behind Ox, Peter delivered a rapid succession of punches that quickly took out the bigger man and caused him to fall onto the ground.
"Dammit, take him down, now!" ordered Montanna who managed to snag one of the wall-crawler's arms with his whip. Holding onto Fancy Dan's arm, Montanna hurled the smaller man into the air, who used the added momentum to deliver a flying kick to the hero.
Peter used his superhuman strength to snap free of the electrified whip, despite the searing pain. He raised his left arm up in time and blocked Fancy Dan's kick.
"Okay, time to wrap this up." Grabbing Fancy Dan by the ankle, Peter swung the man headfirst into Montanna, which left both criminals dazed and with a bloodied nose. A final well-placed kick was all it took as he sent both men into the realm of unconsciousness.
Securing the three Enforcers in a web cocoon on the side of a wall, Peter sent a message to Yuri to inform her of the incident. He was about to web-swing away to resume his date— ahem, he meant day out with Mera, when he caught a camera flash at the corner of his eye.
He spun his head to the source of the flash. To his surprise, it was Mera. She was holding onto a futuristic-looking device which Peter assumed was Atlantean tech, and was busy snapping pictures of him and the crime scene.
"Smile for the camera, Spidey!" she hollered.
He gave her a thumbs up and proceeded to do a few exaggerated poses, which earned him a few laughs from Mera. Soon after, the sound of approaching police sirens could be heard which was their cue to exit the scene.
"Wow, these photos are incredible," complimented Peter, who was once again in his civilian attire as he viewed a couple of the pictures Mera took on her device.
They were now walking along a crowded street in downtown Manhattan while eating ice cream.
"Mhm," she said, half-agreeing with Peter while enjoying the sweet taste of the cold desert. Despite her short time here, she could tell the surface-dwellers had a way with food.
"You should totally consider applying for the Bugle," Peter said. "They would love to have a photographer like you. That is if you decide on staying here for a while."
Nodding her head in agreement, Mera added, "It would be a good way for me to blend in and learn more about the surface world from a different perspective."
"That's awesome," he said.
"Yeah," Mera absentmindedly replied. She had a slightly troubled look on her face which Peter caught on after a while.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.
"I've been thinking, Peter. The places we've been today have been wonderful. Yet, it is difficult to learn and accept that so much crime happens in this city all the time."
Peter looked at her, encouraging her to go on.
"What if the bad outweighs the good? What if— the surface world isn't worth saving?" she asked, hoping that he had an answer.
"Look, you're right that there's a ton of crime in the city and its something that I'm working on improving," Peter said. "But there's also a lot of good. Everyday New Yorkers are a good bunch of people, and there's a place I'd like to bring you to that might just change your mind."
This piqued the redhead's interest.
"In fact, we're right around the corner," he said.
True to his word, they turned around the corner and were greeted to the sight of a long two-story building. The building had large window panels and a signboard that read F.E.A.S.T. with the words "Food Emergency And Shelter Training" written under it.
"Welcome to F.E.A.S.T," Peter said as he held the door open for Mera to enter first, which she thanked him for.
"Here at F.E.A.S.T, anyone and everyone can come by to volunteer and help the homeless and those who are truly in need," he continued as they entered the main hall.
"Those who come here for help get to learn new life skills too. When they leave this place, they can support themselves and contribute back to society."
"Hmm," Mera hummed as she took in the surroundings of the homeless shelter. There were rows of beds, tables, and chairs that lined the main hall. Despite the somewhat messy and cluttered appearance of the place, she could tell the people were happy here, as evident as she watched a man and woman happily playing chess together.
Continuing past the hall, Peter introduced Mera to the different facilities the shelter had to offer. Just then, an elderly man approached them.
"Hey, Peter, what's up?" greeted the elderly man.
"Hey, Ernie, just showing a friend around," Peter replied as they entered the canteen. There were two photo portraits framed on one side of the wall.
The first was a picture of Martin Li, the founder of F.E.A.S.T. He secretly turned out to be the supervillain the Bugle dubbed as Mister Negative. Li was plagued with a personality disorder due to illegal experiments conducted by Oscorp and unfortunately allowed his desire for vengeance to consume him. Despite this, Peter and much of those who benefitted from F.E.A.S.T. believed that there was still a good part in Li, with Li having once said F.E.A.S.T. was his greatest accomplishment.
The second portrait was a picture of his Aunt May, with the words "In memory of May Parker and her enduring spirit" written under it. While Peter understood the choice he had to make to save the city, part of him wished he could go back in time and thank May for everything, she had done.
"Peter, nobody here will ever forget what May did for us," said a homeless man who had recognized him.
"Thank you," Peter said as Mera placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
She gave him a knowing look, telling him she understood how he felt.
Peter gave her an appreciative nod as he said, "My Aunt always told me: When you help someone, you help everyone."
"Come on," he then said, inviting Mera to join him and a couple of other volunteers to help out at the shelter.
"Thank you for bringing me here, Peter," Mera said, as the two of them exited the F.E.A.S.T. shelter.
They had spent the better part of the afternoon helping out at the homeless shelter, and it was an eye-opening experience for her, to say the least.
"It's the least I could do," Peter said. "Although I wouldn't mind if you gave me a tour of Atlantis for a change," he added jokingly.
"Maybe when you're ready," she said, "In the meantime, I could give you a tour of my sub," she offered, causing Peter's eyes to lit up like a Christmas tree.
"I'll take you up on that. Buuut first, there's one last place we have to visit for today," he said, pointing towards a massive skyscraper that was about a hundred feet away from them.
The skyscraper's design consisted of simple symmetries that were shaped into eight tall interlocking isosceles triangles. Large, luminous glass panels sheathed the building on all sides giving it a bluish color due to the reflection from the late afternoon sky. On its top, was a long spire that completed the design. The skyscraper was none other than the One World Trade Center, which was one of the tallest buildings in the world and also went by the name of Freedom Tower.
A quick costume change once again, and a minute later, Peter scaled up the skyscraper with Mera, who had wrapped her arms around his neck. They snuck up onto the rooftop and were greeted with a panoramic view of the city. Peter had offered to take Mera on a web-swinging ride so that she could experience New York from his perspective, which she gladly accepted.
"I've never been so high up before," she said, admiring the city skyline.
"Well, I like to come up here sometimes for the view," Peter revealed, doing a quick check to see if his web-shooters were fully refilled.
"I can see why," she said.
"Are you ready?" he then asked, walking to the edge of the building as Mera followed suit.
"Yes," she said, with a hint of mischief in her voice. Before Peter had time to think about it, the redhead jumped off the building, without warning.
"Mera!" Peter called after worriedly. With blazing speed, he dived down to catch up to her. She had literally just jumped off a skyscraper, without a parachute! Using his webs, he hurled himself forward towards her.
"You are crazy!" he exclaimed, having swung forward in a pendulum arc motion to catch her.
"And you're amazing," she laughed, holding onto him. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of the rushing wind against her face.
"Hold tight," he said, allowing himself a few moments of free-fall before firing his web-shooter at another skyscraper up ahead.
Mera felt a wild rush of elation built up inside her, as Peter released a second strand of webbing that caused them to swing forward at incredible speeds. This was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. It was breathtaking.
Peter shot his webs onto the side of a building and hurled himself forward, again, and again. It was as close as he could get to flying and was an experience he always enjoyed. And from the look of it, Mera was definitely having the time of her life.
Encourage by Mera's cheering, Peter flipped, twisted, and spun through the air as they swung through a maze of skyscrapers, and into the orange-hued evening sky.
A/N: First up, thank you to everyone who has read/followed/favorited/reviewed the story, I hoped you all enjoyed this 'slice of life' styled chapter. I wanted to give the story some space to take things slowly and let Peter and Mera get the time to know/interact with each other. For anyone who's wondering, the Enforcers are mainly based on their appearance in Amazing Spider-Man LGY #812. Do leave a review and let me know what you all think. Stay tuned for more!
Answers to reviewers questions:
Spawn Hades: Thanks for the review! As much as I would like to have Tony appear in the story, I don't think I'll go that route as Peter will be more of a self-made man in this universe compared to the MCU version. Tony might get a mention or two but that as far as I'll go since the focus is more on the DC side of things. Expect a twist, but Peter certainly won't secretly turn out to be half-Atlantean in this story.
cabrera1234: Yep! In fact, Peter will be facing Black Manta very soon.
treyalexander63917: Arthur will definitely be making an appearance down the line, but not anytime soon since the start of this story is meant to take place six months before most of the events in Aquaman. Not too sure about Miles as of now. I might wait to see how Insomniac develops his character before deciding whether to include him.
Marveldcfan: As of now I have no plans to make Peter the King, but the story is always subject to change.