Battle With the Beetle Part 1

Peter pushed his ring and middle fingers against the small pressure pad on his palm, causing a webline to shoot out from his wrist. It attached to the corner of a building, and his momentum carried him forward with speed similar to that of a jet.

"YEEEHAWWW!" Peter screamed under his Spider-Man mask.

He had been Spider-Man for a little over two months now, and ever since his meeting with Nick Fury he'd been trying to protect the city as often as he possibly could. Yesterday he stopped a convenience store robbery, and around three weeks ago he saved two people from being killed in a helicopter crash. He was finally getting into the groove of being a superhero.

Man, life is good!

He was at the peak of his swing, so he let go of the web and let himself free fall for a bit before shooting another webline. Again, he was carried forward by his momentum at incredible speed. He smiled under his mask and landed on a lamppost. He got comfortable and lifted his mask up just far enough to reveal his mouth. He took off his backpack, opened it, and pulled out a sandwich Aunt May made for him.

"Mmmmm... ham and cheese... can't beat a classic." he said to himself before taking a huge bite. He chewed ferociously for a few minutes before there was nothing left but the zip-lock bag. He pulled the mask back down, jumped up, and started swinging again.

Suddenly, he felt a small buzzing at the back of his skull.

Uh-oh. Spider sense? Where's the danger?

BOOM!

Peter was thrown back by an explosion of some sort. He didn't know what caused it, but he knew it was loud.

What the hell was that?!

He looked down at the people below, who were scrambling around in a panic due to the explosion. They were all pointing and screaming at a mysterious, metallic figure hovering above Peter's head. The figure's costume was green and purple, and his mask had four yellow ovals on it, making the man look like he had four eyes. Finally, he had a jet pack on and four purple wings sticking out from his back.

"Is that a beetle?" Peter asked himself. He shot a web up at the man, which attached to his foot. Peter yanked down as hard as he could, but the man took out a knife and cut the web. "Don't screw with me. You don't need to get involved." the man said.

"No can do, beetle guy." Peter replied. He again shot a web at the beetle-looking man, but the man retaliated. He pulled a gun off of his leg and started shooting. Peter dodged all of the shots before clinging to a wall. The man stopped shooting.

"I said don't screw with me." the beetle man repeated before taking off. A sonic boom shattered all of the windows around Peter, who was confused.

What was that guy doing?

Suddenly, his spider sense started buzzing again. He looked around for the danger, but he didn't see any. Then another explosion occurred, and Peter looked up at the building across the street. It was on fire and about to crumble to the ground.

"Are you almost done with our devices, old man?"

The Tinkerer looked up at Herman Schultz, who stood in front of him with clenched fists.

"Don't talk down to me like that, Schultz. They'll be done soon. I just need a few more things for Adrian's wings and your gauntlets."

Herman unclenched his fists. "You better not be lying, old man. Remember who you're building these for."

The Tinkerer laughed. "Yeah, a wannabe bank robber who got caught robbing a coffee shop. Why did you tell Adrian you got sent here for bank robbery anyway?"

"Shut the hell up and get back to work." Herman replied. "If I were you, I would just do as I say. Unless you have a deathwish or something."

The Tinkerer sighed and turned around to continue working. Suddenly, he whipped back around with a pistol in his hand. He pointed it right at Herman's head. Herman's eyes bulged and he threw his hands up.

"Hey, man! Hey! Hey! Don't... don't do it!"

Tinkerer grunted. "It would be so easy to kill you right now. It really would." Then he put the gun away and started unrolling some blueprints. "Look here."

Herman, who was shaking uncontrollably, looked down at the blueprints. "What is this?"

"A layout of the prison. You need a good escape plan, don't you?"

"I guess."

"Then let's get to it." Tinkerer said before going over an escape plan with Herman.

J. Jonah Jameson was sitting at his desk when suddenly his office shook due to an explosion. His window had shattered and dust fell from his ceiling. He ran over to the shattered window and looked down to see the side of his building on fire.

"Jonah!"

J.J.J. looked over at his friend and co-worker Robbie Robertson, who was standing in his doorway with a terrified expression on his face.

"Jonah! What the hell was that?!"

"The building is on fire, Robbie!" Jonah looked out of his window again to see a blue-and-red clad man stuck to the side of the building across the street. Robbie ran over to his side and looked out the window as well.

"Hey look! It's the Spider-Man!" Robbie exclaimed.

"WHO?!" Jonah yelled in Fury.

"Spider-Man!" repeated Robbie. "We've been getting sightings of him from all over the city. People are calling him a hero!"

Jonah couldn't believe what he was hearing. The only person around was this 'Spider-Man' and that meant only he could have blown up the building.

"He's no hero! He just blew up our building!" screamed Jonah.

Suddenly, Jonah saw Spider-Man shooting ropes of some sort at the flames down below, which seemed to be calming the inferno. Soon enough, firemen showed up, and the flames were put out.

"Well great. Now there's a hole in the side of my building!" Jonah cried out. A web shot up through the window and attached to the ceiling, and Spider-Man followed soon after.

"Are you men okay?" asked the masked figure.

"Yeah, we're fine." replied Robbie. Jonah stood in silence.

"Alright, well I need to ask you men to come with me, just in case the building collapses." said Spider-Man. They wrapped their arms around his neck, and he swung down with ease.

"Well, I'm glad you gentlemen are alright. See you around!" Spider-Man jumped up, shot another web, and swung away with people cheering him on.

"Damn, he's strong!" exclaimed Robbie. He looked over at Jonah, who was red in the face. "Hey, man, you okay?" asked Robbie.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, SPIDER-MAN!" screamed Jonah.

Author's Note:

The Beetle! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Beetle is Spider-Man's first adversary! He will have a different alter ego and different origin, but he will play a key role in shaping Peter into the hero he is. That's all I'll say for now... anyways, until next time!