"My name is Peter Parker, and after being bitten by a strange spider, my life changed forever. I was no longer an ordinary person. I gained power . . . and the responsibility to use that power to help make the world a better place. When I failed to uphold that responsibility, my Uncle Ben paid the price with his life. Now, to honor his memory, I can't be the selfish child I once was. I must be someone better than that. Someone amazing. Someone spectacular. I am...Spidey..."
During the events of that day in his personal gym Hammerhead was furiously punching a punching bag in a red sleeveless shirt, using his brass knuckles to hammer down on the punching bag. Turk then entered the room and Hammerhead faced him with a grunt, "I have been in this business for a long time Barret, ever since I was a young man." Hammerhead told him in a softer tone than he would usually talk. "It was during the days of Don Rigoletto running this operation, he was pretty much the King of Hell's Kitchen but he got too old and after his death... that was when Wilson Fisk took over becoming New York's Kingpin, the empire that he created even gave the Stokes and Manfredi crime families pause. Now I have taken over from Fisk..."
Turk took a step back as Hammerhead furiously punched the punching bag so hard it broke off and was sent into the wall, "for some time I have been trying to keep together and rule over the criminal gangs here in New York but it seems the crime world that I rule is a house divided. Freaks like Spider-Man and Jameson's son are meddling in my operations halting my attempts to bring them all together; whats worse is that I don't even think that they even know they are facing me! The Devil that Fisk fought actively challenged him but my opponents don't even know they are opposing me!" Hammerhead shouted in agitation and Turk was fearful not to face Hammerhead's wrath. "Prove you still have worth to me Barret, do you have anyone of use in your gang?" Hammerhead demanded and Turk nodded.
"Of course Mr Hammerhead sir, I have just the people for the job. I have in my services three of the best assassins the crime world of New York has had in years: Fancy Dan, Montana and Ox have the talents for the job." Turk told him nervously and Hammerhead looked at him, "plus we still have some leftover junk that Mason left before he ran away, we give them the junk and then they are more than a match for any masked freak out there." Turk told him trying to placate his boss.
"I want you to lead these men personally in hunting our foes down and should they survive your first encounter, make sure that they know that Hammerhead is after them." Hammerhead told him sternly and Turk was about to argue before deciding it was unwise when his eyes drifted to the broken off punching bag. Turk gave him a bow and was excused; on the way out he was grunting that soon Hammerhead would be out of the way.
*S*
That Monday Morning Peter had gotten dressed and was ready to go to school but Aunt May stopped him saying she wanted to talk to him. Peter was nervous about this as Aunt May told him "your teachers called me about the past week about something up with you during the week, what is it Peter? Is you thinking about Ben or is something going on?" May asked in a concerned tone of voice and Peter knew he could very well not tell her that during the last week he was pretty much blackmailed by a superhero.
"...don't really remember Aunt May but I am over it now, trust me I will be fine from now on but thanks for your concern." Peter told her with a smile but she kept her stern face that showed she was not buying it. "Aunt May I am fine, I promise if something's up I will tell you." Peter told her, trying to keep a straight face and feeling guilty about having to lie to his Aunt like this. But he knew she would freak out if she knew the truth.
Aunt May did not really look that convinced but told him "alright but I hope you are fine now but if your teachers or myself see that something is wrong with you them I think we should talk to your school's guidance counsellor." Peter nodded as he left with his backpack to go to school.
Later in the class before lunch which was Physics, Peter was in his seat as their Physics teacher a short grey haired woman in a yellow cardigan and long black skirt called Mrs Feeser was giving the class a lesson on gravity. Peter could not help but look to where Clayton was sitting and wondering how he would deal with Clayton as Clash. "Mr Parker, if you would drop a cement block and a brick down at the same, which would land first?" Mrs Feeser asked Peter catching him out of his stupor.
Peter answered that they would land at the same time due to having the same gravity, "Glad to see you are paying attention Mr Parker and nice to see you have recovered from whatever was happening last week." Mrs Feeser told her making Peter sigh a bit before the bell for lunch ran.
As always Peter and Hobie were sitting together eating their taco lunches, "Got your message Pete, so we have Cindy in on this like we wondered if she suspected about it." Hobie asked and Peter gave him a slight nod as Cindy came to sit next to Peter. "Speak of the devil, so you are officially part of Team Spidey now?" Hobie whispered and Peter looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them.
"Yes I am but I could not help but noticed you were looking at Clayton during the lesson, any reason for it? Is it because that we know that Clayton is Clash since we saw his drawing of that costume." Cindy asked thinking she needed to ask this seriously since it would be involving Peter as Spider-Man.
"Yeah we know that Clayton is Clash but the thing is after confronting him on the phone about it, he destroyed all evidence of it so we don't have any proof." Peter told her with a big sigh. "I don't know what to do, I wouldn't mind having a partner but Clayton doesn't really have any powers or real protection besides his costume, I am worried he might get too reckless." Peter told her putting his hands ones on his head.
"Hey I bet things will turn out but don't get worried if he tries to steal your thunder, after all you have a bit more experience and are a lot cuter in or out of the mask." Cindy told him going back to her five words a minute speech and gave him a flirty smile which made Hobie laugh. Peter gave her a small smile as he looked at Clayton who was walking towards Mary Jane.
"So Spider-Man is back but another new guy called Clash who has some musical tastes, I actually dig his rock music." Mary Jane told some of the girls who was in her band the Mary Janes. Mary Jane then noticed and asked him "is there something I can help you with?"
"Heard you talking about Clash and I think he looks awesome and I like his music too." Clayton told her and she batted an eye wondering where this is going. "I am into rock music too; I have plans to be the world's first superstar rock star scientist." Clayton told her making a guitar pose and she gave a laugh. "I hope I can open for the Mary Janes or something, or do you want to meet at the Coffee Bean after school tomorrow?" Clayton asked her and she shrugged saying she did not see why not. Clayton then left in glee thinking of a plan to impress Mary Jane and get more attention for Clash...
*S*
The Coffee Bean was a popular hangout in New York for teenagers but it was not one that Peter and Hobie themselves went to themselves, mostly hanging out at stores, at their homes or going to the movies every once in a while.
The next day after school Mary Jane waited a bit impatiently at the table for Clayton to arrive, "he agreed to come here at this time but he's late..." Mary Jane muttered to herself drinking her coffee before Cindy sat down next to her. "Hey you're Parker's girlfriend, aren't you?" Mary Jane asked as Cindy blushed but shook her head.
"Oh no, though Peter had always been nice to me when we first in third grade and he is super cute and super smart..." Cindy rambled on with a blush on her cheek to Mary Jane's amusement. "I came here to keep myself awake after a long day at school, so are you here for the same reason or are you on a date?" Cindy asked rambling again as Mary Jane sighed.
"Clayton Cole said he would meet me here but he has not arrived here yet..." Mary Jane said only to feel the ground rumbling and the ceiling seeming like it was going to fall apart. "What the-" Mary Jane yelled as she and Cindy ran along with everyone else to the entrance but there was support beam broken off that was blocking their exit...
*S*
Peter was now swinging about New York looking for anything that would need the attention of Spider-Man, civilians around were being a bit more appreciative of him returning but he did not doubt there were supporters of Jameson in thinking he was a menace but he read in a news article that John was recovering fine at the hospital so that was good to know. Nothing much happened so far today or yesterday. He had not seen any sign of Clayton as Clash yet but he had a feeling that might change.
He stopped on top of a building, and noticed a stone gargoyle next to him, "Hey, mind if I call you Bruce or something?" Peter asked the stone gargoyle but then heard vibration sounds. He looked to the Coffee Bean store and saw there was something going on inside. "Wait a minute..." Peter said noticing something on the roof. Using the lenses of his mask he zoomed in to see a figure dressed in a white and black costume doing something to the top of the building to Peter's horror.
"Clayton, please tell me that's not you..." Peter muttered before grinding his teeth in irritation. "Possibly putting himself at risk is one thing but intentionally putting civilians in danger is another, it's official I have to stop Clayton..." Peter said web slinging to the Coffee Bean after saying goodbye to Bruce.
*S*
At the time Aunt May was at Anna Watson's house and they sat on the couch watching their favourite soap opera drama Secret Hospital, "I can never stand that Sybil Shane..." Anna muttered shaking her head as they watched the show but May's thoughts drifted elsewhere. "Still her actress Miranda Wilson is a lovely lady from the interviews I have seen, that husband of hers Quentin Beck was in that action show Age of the Sentry..." Anna then noticed May's mood and asked in a concerned tone of voice what was wrong.
"Sorry Anna, it's just Peter, he said he has recovered from whatever got him down last week and if something's the wrong he will tell me but I don't know..."May told her with a sigh. "I am wondering if was Ben's death finally taking its toll on him but he had seemed fine before and seems fine right now..." May told her taking a sip of tea.
"Peter seems like a nice boy and if something is up you can always confront him when he is ready to talk about it." Anna told her in a comforting tone of voice which lifted May's spirits up a bit as they continued to enjoy their show. Anna chuckled and said "I bet he is probably off doing something productive just now..."
*S*
Peter had then managed to clear away all the debris that was blocking the entrance allowing the people inside to get out, Mary Jane and Cindy both gave him a hug and Peter was flustered at the smile Cindy gave him as she ran out. Peter's faced glared up at the sky when he heard the familiar theme music of Clash as Clayton in full costume was now hovering in the air.
"Don't fret people; the Spectacular Sultan of Sound is here to save the day..." Clayton yelled to the crowd only to pause when he saw that Spider-Man was there and he had already gotten Mary Jane out foiling his plan to make a big rescue and impression of her. One of the civilians yelled that he saw him causing the incident using his devices and even showed everyone a video on his cell phone that he captured of Clash doing it.
Then everyone began booing at Clayton who was panicking that it was not supposed to go down like this, he just thought an engineered rescue or two (with a suitable damsel in distress) would help him on the road to being a superhero. He then was caught off guard as Peter web slinged both of his arms and pulled him towards the ground. "You think this is what a superhero does, engineer his own heroics to show off?" Peter asked with a harsh tone as he walked up to him wishing he had done more to discourage Clayton if he knew he was going to do this!
"Just who is this idiot anyway?" Mary Jane asked rushing to Clayton as he got up and before he could notice her, she then ripped off his mask to reveal his face to everyone and his eyes widened when he realised this and there was camera phones taking pictures making him further panic. "Did you invite me here just so that you could murder me or something?" Mary Jane asked furiously as Clayton was too shocked to speak. Mary Jane then threw his mask away and ran away in disgust.
Clayton's eyes then turned to Peter and yelled out "you ruined my big moment, you will pay for this!" Clayton yelled aiming his hands at Peter but before he could he saw police officers arriving so he quickly made a break for it by flying away. The police officers began taking statements as Peter began web slinging away sighing as he could not help but feel bad for what will happen to Clayton now.
Speaking of Clayton he made it to his secret headquarters in the abandoned park and began checking his phone and saw to his horror tweets of what happened as well as the phone videos of him causing Coffee Bean to collapse as well as videos of him being unmasked. There were tweets of him being called a bad guy when he was not going to hurt anyone, he would have saved everyone anyway!
"Spider-Man will pay for this!" Clayton yelled furiously knowing he could not go home now with the police undoubtfully going to go to his house. Well if they think he is a villain, then a villain he shall be, but then he noticed something on the desk. Worrying someone had already found him he looked and saw it was a note from Doctor Otto Octavius saying he had a proposition for him. There was a phone number to call and thinking he had nothing left to lose, he then began calling it...
*S*
At the Triskellion, Nick Fury walked through the corridors being greeted by the many agents wearing business suits or the dark blue bodysuits that were the uniforms of the field agents. He came across a brown haired man in a business suit and sun glasses. "Director Fury." The man told Fury with a salute.
"At Ease Coulson, I have a special job for you and your team." Fury told Coulson who looked serious as he listened to the director's words. "I want you to examine and make an evaluation with a candidate for the Avengers Initiative, a new guy that popped up recently." Fury told him and Coulson nodded, even though there were less than ten members of the official Avengers roster there were other Reserve Avengers who could team up with the main team or replace one if one quit or was made unavailable.
"Who is it sir; Hercules, Colonel Jameson, Nighthawk?" Coulson asked and Fury laughed as he shook his head.
"No, I think Zeus's son is a bit too boisterous for the team, more than Thor. Sources told me Jameson has lost his powers and as for Nighthawk; ignoring the fact that he decided to be inspired by Batman I don't think someone like Daredevil with the technology to be like Batman but the methods of Frank Castle is a good mix to the Avengers. No this is the guy I want you to evaluate." Fury told him passing him a Daily Bugle newspaper talking about the return of Spider-Man. Coulson's eyes widened as he looked back at the Director.
"With all due respect sir, are you sure you want him on the program?" Coulson asked to which Fury batted his eye. Coulson continued saying "from what I know he is quite unpopular with a portion of New York as well as the Daily Bugle, he may not be as brutal as Daredevil or Nighthawk but I doubt he takes it seriously. Plus what I heard he might be a kid and I suspect that Stark knows as much. I thought that we would be recruiting Colonel Jameson when the Bugle was hailing him as New York's protector." Coulson said protesting this decision by his director.
"Just because he could be young and have some bad press doesn't mean he can't be an Avenger, plus with Colonel Jameson I planned to wait a while if he continued and have a meeting to discuss his thoughts as I would rather have an Avenger who was not doing it out of pressure from his old man." Fury told him before he went serious. "You take your team to New York and evaluate Spider-Man, consider this your official direct order." Fury told him sternly and Coulson gave a slight nod before Fury left.
Coulson then got out his phone and dialled a number and once it answered he said "May, have the team ready to meet me at the Triskellion and tell them we are spending a while in New York evaluating a possible Avenger..."