(NOTE: This chapter was mainly inspired by the Spider-Man vs. Vulture battle from Spider-Man: The Movie Game and The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series episode Survival of the Fittest.)
Peter was swinging about, trying to find the Vulture.
"He couldn't have gotten far... I hope!" thinks Peter to himself.
Peter then begins to swing back towards the location where he first spotted Toomes at, near the Townsville Clock Tower. Peter had studied up on various animals in middle school. He learned that birds of prey, primarily vultures, preferred to reside in dark, high areas. Peter knew that Toomes would be hiding somewhere high up and devoid of light.
"The clock tower is the only place I can think of where Toomes would want to hide. I've already ruined his plans for revenge, so he's got to be hiding, waiting, planning. I've got to trust my spider-sense on this one!" says Peter out loud to himself, referring to his sixth sense which warned him of danger.
Peter then squeezes his middle finger into his palm, squirting out a long, thick line of webbing. The webline sticks itself to one of the gargoyles on the tower. Peter then begins swinging towards the tower, eventually reaching the tower. Peter then sticks his fingers and toes to the wall of the tower and begins climbing. He then begins climbing upwards, towards the clock.
"If I'm right, Vulture should be hiding inside of the clock itself. There's a room behind the clock which reveals the mechanism, and it allows workers to fix it from the inside if there's something wrong." thinks Peter to himself.
Peter then reaches the top, near the door which leads to the inside. Peter then approaches the door, sweat dripping underneath his mask.
"Okay, Pete. You can do this. Your spider-sense will steer you in the right direction. Vulture won't know what hit him!" thinks Peter to himself, trying to prepare him for the inevitable battle with Toomes.
Peter then pushes open the door, entering the clock tower's upper floor. Peter then shuts the door. The room was dark, almost black, only illuminated by the light coming from the outside. Peter, sweating in fear, then begins to walk into the darkness, relying only on his spider-sense as a guide.
"Okay, Toomes has got to be up here somewhere." thinks Peter to himself.
As Peter begins to pass a corner, however, his spider-sense begins buzzing at the base of his skull, alerting him of danger from above.
"What the... ?!" yelps Peter out loud to himself.
However, before Peter can react, a loud, eagle-like shriek fills the silence of the darkness as a black figure with large, green wings begins sweeping down towards him.
"Toomes!" yells Peter out loud.
"You!" screams Toomes, shocked that Peter had found his location.
Toomes then reaches outwards, preparing to grab Peter. At the last second, however, Peter narrowly dodges out of the way, allowing Toomes to sink his talons into the wooden ground. Peter then performs a double-somersault and attaches himself to one of the wooden beams holding the clock's structure together.
"How did you find me?!" demands Toomes, now standing upright, wanting to know how the teenage super hero had found him.
"I just followed the yellow-brick road!" teases Peter, trying to distract Toomes with quippage and banter.
"Do you ever shut up?!" yells Toomes, wanting Peter to be quiet during their fight, lunging towards Peter.
Peter then starts to leap out of the way, trying to avoid Toomes' reach. However, in an unexpected twist of fate, Toomes actually manages to snag Peter's ankle by jolting his arm in the direction of Peter's jump.
"Uh oh!" says Peter to himself.
"HA!" yells Toomes, finally having Spider-Man in his grip and at his mercy.
Toomes then begins to circle back around towards the glass covering of the clock.
"Let's see how you like going into free fall! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" yells Toomes manically.
Toomes then jolts his arm forwards, letting go of Peter's ankle, throwing the teenager at the clock.
"Oh, come on!" shouts Peter just as he makes contact and impacts the glass, shattering it with a loud CRSHHHH!
Peter then flies outwards from the impact point he had made on the clock and began descending as gravity drew him back towards the ground. He could see the windows of all of the buildings as he descended downwards from the heavens. Just then, Toomes follows Peter out of the window and starts to skydive after him. Eventually, Toomes becomes leveled with Peter and grabs the teenager's shoulders with his talons.
"Going down?!" asks Toomes, smirking.
Peter then looks back up at the villain and smiles beneath his mask.
"Are you?" asks Peter.
Just then, Toomes looks downwards, past Peter's head, and sees that the two of them were descending towards the ground at a great speed. Without thinking, Toomes manages to lift himself back up into the air. However, while doing all of this, he suddenly drops Peter several stories above the ground.
"Say hello to the ground for me, will you, Spider-Man? HAHAHAHAHA!" yells Toomes.
As Peter once again begins to descend towards the ground, he looks at all of the surrounding buildings. He then gets an idea. Peter then presses his middle finger into his right hand, ejecting a long rope of thick webbing, which attaches itself to an apartment building, and the boy swings off.
"God, I hope this plan works. 'Cause if it doesn't, I might never get the chance to tell Blossom I'm sorry!" thinks Peter to himself.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs of Townsville, specifically at the Utonium household, Professor Utonium is still recovering from being caught in the midst of the battle between Spider-Man and Vulture.
"Professor, are you sure you're alright?" asks Bubbles, concerned for her father's safety.
"I-I'm fine. I-It's just that after our last meeting before today, I never expected to see Adrian ever again." says the Professor.
Over in the living room, Blossom sits alone on the couch, wondering why a sick psychopath like Adrian Toomes would want to murder her father.
"I... I know what the Professor said, but I just don't believe it." thinks Blossom to herself.
However, just then, Blossom's mind flashes back to her would-be-boyfriend Peter Parker. She kissed him, but was rejected. He said that the Professor would disapprove. But disapprove of what exactly? As she and her sisters grew into adolescence, the Professor told them to always follow their hearts. If anything, the Professor might have applauded her interest in a guy. Especially one who mirrored her both in personality and intelligence. Otto Octavius was one of her icons, and Peter himself was taught by Otto Octavius.
"Let's see if it's on the news!" shouts Buttercup from the other room.
Bubbles and Buttercup then come floating into the room, wanting to follow the story on the news.
Bubbles then swipes the remote from off of the television set and presses the power button. The TV then flashes on, luckily on the local news channel.
"...and now we go to our top story today; A giant "birdman" in Townsville! According to eyewitnesses from on the street, a giant "birdman", as it's being referred to as, abducted renowned scientist Professor Utonium around 9:30 this morning from in front of the Townsville Radiology Department." says the anchorwoman, explaining the initial kidnapping earlier that day.
"My, god..." mutters Blossom.
"The "birdman" then flew approximately 450 feet into the air, near the Townsville Clock Tower, seemingly holding the Professor hostage. However, the "birdman" soon became engaged in battle with Spider-Man, who, after an intense mid-air battle, managed to get the Professor away from the individual, saving his life, as shown on this captured cell phone footage." announces the anchorwoman, showing the amateur filming of Spider-Man's battle with the Vulture.
"Oh. Spider-Man..." mutters Buttercup coldly under her breath at the sound of the new hero's name.
"Buttercup! Didn't you just hear? Spider-Man saved the Professor's life!" says Blossom, raising her voice slightly higher than normal.
"Well excuse me, princess! Can't we all be entitled to our opinions? Plus, if I recall correctly from what happened the other night, you were skeptical of that flying freak as well!" says Buttercup, trying to make a point.
"Well... can't opinions change as well? I now think that Spidey's trying to bring some justice to this city. After all, he saved the Professor's life." says Blossom, trying to protect her point.
Instead of countering or insulting her redheaded sister's opinion, however, Buttercup lets out a huge snort and begins to giggle intensely, eventually breaking out into full-blown belly laughs.
"What's so funny?" asks Blossom, confused.
"What you called him! Haha! 'Spidey'! HA!" laughs Buttercup, mocking her sister's new nickname for Spider-Man.
"So what? I just called him by a slightly different name. That's all." says Blossom, slightly raising her voice again.
"Looks like someone's got a crush on Spidey!" teases Buttercup.
"Shut up, Buttercup!" shouts Blossom, now reddening in her cheeks.
"What about your other crush, Peter Parker? Haha!" teases Buttercup again, trying to rile her sister up by reminding her about her broken love for Peter.
Blossom then leaps off of the couch and trounces on top of Buttercup, sending her to the floor.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" screams Blossom, now enraged.
"Blossom!" shouts Bubbles, who is now grabbing at her redheaded sister's shirt.
Bubbles then manages to pull Blossom off of Buttercup, throwing her on the floor behind her.
"Ow!" shouts Blossom, wincing in pain.
Buttercup then stumbles to her feet, her heart pounding from the sudden attack.
"Bloss... what was... that?" says Buttercup in-between coughs.
"Just... stop talking about Peter Parker and Spider-Man, okay?" asks Blossom, huffing and puffing from the attack.
Professor Utonium then rushes into the room, having overheard the fight from the kitchen.
"Girls! What happened? Are you all right?" asks Utonium, frantic.
Blossom and Buttercup then look at each other and then back at the Professor.
"N-nothing, Professor." says Blossom sheepishly.
"Y-yeah, we were just... horsing around." says Buttercup nervously.
The Professor then looks at both of his daughters, then at Bubbles, then back towards the TV.
"Hmm. Must have been the fight that's got me so rattled." says the Professor.
The Professor then goes into a closet next to the doorway and opens the door. He then reaches inside and pulls out a jacket.
"Professor, what are you doing?" asks Bubbles curiously.
"I'm going over... to May Parker's house... for a cup of coffee." says the Professor in-between slight struggles to put his coat on.
The Professor then turns the knob to the front door and pushes it, opening the door.
"I'll be back in a little while, girls. Call me if you need anything. Love you!" says the Professor as he leaves.
The Professor then steps outside of the doorway, pulling the door shut. The girls then look back towards the TV, watching the replaying footage of Spider-Man's fight with the Vulture in the sky. Blossom then looks at the red and blue image of Spider-Man just as he is being kicked in the face by the red, black, and green image of the Vulture when he grabs the villain's ankle. She winces at the hero's pain. She continues to stare at the screen, watching the battle unfold. Her sisters watch in concern and worry.
"I... I hope she's not... falling for that costumed creep." whispers Buttercup to Bubbles.
Bubbles then jabs her elbow into Buttercup's stomach, trying to get her to shut up before she hurts Blossom's feelings.
"Be nice!" whispers Bubbles, giving her sister a glare.
Blossom continues to be mesmerized by the flashing image of Spider-Man's body moving across the screen, saving her father's life from the sharp talons of the Vulture.
Meanwhile, back in the city, Peter is swinging around City Hall, trying to lure out Toomes.
"I hope that this plan works. If it doesn't, then I'm back to square one." thinks Peter to himself.
Peter then lands on the side of an apartment building and aims his left arm at the top of a lamppost. He then presses his middle fingers into the palm of his hand and out shoots a long, thick stream of webbing. The web then strikes the top of the lamppost. Peter then sticks his end of the web to the wall and jumps to the opposing apartment building across from him. Peter then looks down at the other lamppost before shooting a webline at the top of that one, repeating the process over and over again until a gigantic web has been stretched over the whole end of the street.
"Oh, man. I really hope that this works." says Peter out loud to himself.
Peter then presses his middle finger into his right hand and shoots a web, which attaches itself to a tall office building. Peter then pushes himself off the apartment he's currently attached to and swings off, prepared to look for the Vulture.
Elsewhere, Toomes is flying around the Townsville skyline, trying to avoid the unwanted attention of Spider-Man, at least until he can regroup and formulate a proper plan in order to get his revenge on Professor Utonium and squash out the friendly neighborhood super hero.
"Bah! Cursed Spider-Man! Getting in the way of my revenge on that old, senile fool! How dare he?!" yells Toomes inside his head.
However, before Toomes could think of anything else, there was a loud thwip in the air. Toomes then feels something stick to the bottom of his talon-like boot. Toomes then turns back towards the ground and notices Peter, having shot a web at his foot from his hand, standing on a nearby rooftop and holding him away from flying.
"Wha... ?! You! How on Earth did you find me?!" demands Toomes, now severely annoyed by the fact that his newfound enemy keeps on finding him.
"You'd think that it would be difficult to find a high flying vulture in the middle of what I could basically sum up to be Manhattan II, but nope. You're as easy to spot as you are to fight, Vulture. Or should I call you by your more popular alias of 'Birdman'?" teases Peter, trying to distract Toomes.
"Shut up! SHUT UP!" yells Toomes, flapping his wings in effort to shake Peter off of his trail.
Toomes then lifts off into the air, dragging Peter along with him. Toomes then performs a 360 degree dive back towards the ground. Peter then presses his middle and ring fingers into the palm of his right hand and shoots a long web at a newspaper building. He then lets go of the web currently attached to Toomes' foot.
"Vulture, wait!" shouts Peter, loud enough for Toomes to hear him.
Toomes then solemnly turns around and faces Peter, who is now attached to the wall of the newspaper building.
"What is it, Spider-Man?! Aren't we supposed to be fighting?!" yells Toomes, frustrated at the teenager.
"I have seen the light now. No hard feelings with you for what happened back there between us over that old fool Utonium's life. If you want, I can help you break into City Hall. I know a way we can get in undetected." says Peter, trying to get Toomes to listen to him.
"You. A teenager. The same teenager who fought me less than an hour ago. The one who tried to stop my revenge. First you want to fight with me, now you want to help me! Can't you costumed vigilantes make up your darned minds?!" yells an enraged Toomes.
"Well, if you're not very interested in taking over the city, I guess I can always just find another like-minded super villain in order to help me conquer the city." says Peter, trying to get Toomes to reconsider.
"Wait, WAIT! Alright! You've got yourself a deal, Spider-Man. But try anything funny, and I'll slice you to pieces!" warns Toomes, not wanting to be double-crossed.
Back towards City Hall, Peter is swinging in front of Toomes as the villain stays a few feet behind the fledgling super hero. The two don't converse throughout the entire trip to the Mayor's office. Peter then looks towards the edge of the street, hoping that the Vulture wouldn't see through his plan to bait and trap him. Peter then stops suddenly, causing Toomes to stop with him.
"What is it?" asks Toomes in a concerned tone.
"Wait here. I've got an idea that'll take the Mayor by surprise for sure." says Peter, lying.
Peter then begins to swing into the nearby alleyway, away from Toomes.
"WHEN I GIVE YOU THE SIGNAL, I WANT YOU TO FOLLOW ME THROUGH HERE! UNDERSTAND?!" shouts Peter back at Toomes as he swings further and further away from the criminal into the alleyway.
"ALRIGHT! I HEAR YOU, BOY!" shouts Toomes back at Peter, confirming his understanding.
In the alleyway right next to the web, Peter prepares to trap Toomes in the erected structure.
"All right, the coast is clear!" thinks Peter to himself.
Peter then leans back to where Toomes should be and sees a very annoyed Vulture floating in the air.
"VULTURE! COME ON! THE COAST IS CLEAR!" shouts Peter.
"Finally..." mutters an annoyed Toomes under his breath.
Toomes then begins gliding silently through the alleyway towards Peter. Peter then jumps to the other side, the part where Toomes couldn't see him, and lies in wait.
"That's it, Vulch! Follow the sound of my voice. It's over here!" shouts Peter softly.
Toomes then inches nearer and nearer to the origin to the sound of his "former" enemy's voice. He then turns the corner to the exit of the alley, only to see nothing except for... a giant web.
"What the... ?!" shouts Toomes in surprise.
However, before Toomes can say anything else, he is swiftly kicked in the back by a foot.
"Ha ha! PSYCH!" laughs Peter.
Toomes is then shoved into the giant web by the force of Peter's blow to his back.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!" screams Toomes as he collides with the gigantic blanket, finally entrapping him.
"Well, looks like this spider has caught a fly in his web. Only thing though is that I seem to have caught a hummingbird." cracks Peter. now scaling the web as well, trying to rile up Toomes.
"Argghhh! I was a fool to trust you! Once I get out, both you and the Professor will pay for you insolen-" warns Toomes before being cut off by the motion of one of Peter's weblines covering up his mouth.
"You know, now that I think of it, you villains sure to have one thing in common, Toomsie..." says Peter.
Peter then leans down so that his face is right near Toomes.
"... y'all talk too much." says Peter, finishing his joke.
Peter then turns around, presses his middle and ring fingers into his right hand, which shoots out a thick webline, and swings away into the afternoon sun.
Later that evening, Peter is walking home, wearing a jacket and some khakis in order to conceal his costume, exhausted from his fight with the Vulture. He is still thinking about what to say to Blossom. He had multiple conflicting feelings about her. On the one hand, he still loved Mary Jane. She was his childhood friend, and then some. But on the other hand, Blossom, if she ever found out his identity, could be kept safe from the attentions of Spider-Man's enemies. To be honest, Peter had begun to develop a bit of a crush on the redheaded Powerpuff leader as well.
"What do I say? What do I say?!" thinks Peter to himself.
He then walks up the pathway to the Utonium household, it's three windows to the girls' room peering down at him. Peter then steps up to the red door with the one peephole in it. Peter then takes a deep breath.
"It's okay, Pete. If you can talk to her like a costumed bozo dressing like a spider, then you can do this as well." thinks Peter to himself, trying to ready himself for what he was going to say.
Peter then gently places three knocks on the door. He then waits for a few seconds before the doorknob begins turning and the door itself opens. Peter is then met face to face with Bubbles looking right at him.
"Peter... ?" says Bubbles, confused.
"Hey, Bubs. Listen, can I talk to Blossom for a moment? It's really important." says Peter.
"Um... sure. Come right in." says Bubbles, welcoming Peter inside.
Peter then takes a few steps inside the house. He was marveled by it's appearance. It looked so much like something from the 1960s, yet... it was modern. The kitchen was on the right side of the front door, with the living room taking up the middle and left sides of the structure. There was a staircase in the living room, which led up to a balcony which overlooked the entire living room.
"Um... wow. This is, uh... quite the place you guys have." says Peter, surprised.
"You like?" asks Bubbles, smirking.
"I mean, yeah." says Peter.
"Blossom's in our room right now. Buttercup's helping out with an experiment downstairs." says Bubbles, affirming to her sisters' locations at the moment.
Peter then begins walking up the steps to the second floor. As he reaches the balcony, he looks back at Bubbles from downstairs.
"Which way is your guys's room?" asks Peter from upstairs.
"Down the hall and to the left. The first door you'll see." says Bubbles.
Peter then begins walking left towards the girls' room. He then stops and turns to the sight of the first door which he sees. It was a pink door with a heart on it for decoration. Peter then huffs for a moment.
"It's okay, it's okay..." thinks Peter to himself.
He then reaches out with his right hand and begins gently tapping on the door with his fist.
"'sniff' Yeah? Who is it?" asks Blossom from the other side of the door.
"Uh... Bloss? It's me. Peter. Can I come in? I... wanted to tell you something." says Peter.
There is an awkward silence for a few seconds before Blossom finally replies.
"Y-yeah, come in, Pete." says Blossom, softly.
Peter then reaches down to the doorknob and slowly turns it. He then pushes open the door. He then sees Blossom, sitting at the dresser with her head in her fingerless hands.
"Hey, Bloss. Are you alright? Can I... can I get you anything?" asks Peter, gently.
"I-I'm fine, Peter." squeaks Blossom.
Peter then goes over and sits on the girls' queen-sized bed. There is another awkward silence for a few seconds, which feel more like hours to the two teens.
"I... uh... I heard about what happened to your father today, with the whole fight between Spider-Man and the Vulture." says Peter after a decade or two.
"Yeah..." says Blossom.
There is another silence for what feels like an eternity.
"Listen. About what happened that night. I..." starts Peter, breaking the monotony after a century or three,
Blossom then turns and looks at Peter. Peter then moves back on the bed a few inches at the sight of Blossom's eyes. Her normally bright, pink eyes were now tinted red and were bloodshot from the excess crying.
"What is it, Peter?" asks Blossom with a soft tone.
"...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I hurt you. You didn't deserve that. That wasn't right of me." says Peter.
Blossom then looks down at the floor, taking the words her friend was giving her.
"I..." starts Blossom.
Blossom then looks back at the mirror for a minute, then at Peter.
"I forgive you, Peter." says Blossom.
"And, hey. I was wondering... if you're up to it, would you, uh... ?" starts Peter.
"If I would what, Peter?" asks Blossom, now looking at him and beaming with hope.
"I was wondering if... you wanted to, uh... go out... sometime? Maybe?" says Peter, stuttering over the words in nervousness.
Blossom then looks at Peter, her eyes widened. Her frown then turns into a smile.