Paul Porter has done a well job being Spider-Man. Ever since he brought down White Streak, Goldberg, and Master, some of the bigger threats of New York have gone down. It might have turned to every man for themselves, but Paul has done a well job as Spider-Man.
"Nothing appears out of the ordinary." Paul said as he scouted the city as he sat on the edge of a ledge.
"You should keep your guard up at all times. You never know when some criminal is going to come out." Peter said.
"You know, some of my old enemies are still roaming around New York, but I've heard some of the more common thugs have dropped lately." Paul said.
"Yeah. I heard about that." Peter said. "There've been some reports where some of those more common thugs seem to disappear. In fact, there's been reports that some have been reported….dead."
"Whoa! What do you think happened?" Paul said.
"I'm not entirely sure." Peter said.
"Well, something better happen soon. I'm freezing just sitting here." Paul said as the cold air blew against him. He soon got his answer as he heard an alarm go off and saw some thugs behind a store trying to get in a car as quickly as possible.
"Sounds like you got your answer." Peter said.
"This never gets old." Paul said as he shot out a line and swung down. The thugs were moving as quickly as they could with the stolen goods.
"Hurry up. We got to get out of here before the police show up or you know who."
"Do you mean me?" Paul said as he stuck to a wall.
"Spider-Man!" All three of them shouted.
"You're too kind. You actually remember me." Paul said. One pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him, but Paul acted faster. He shot out a web line and pulled it out of his hands. Paul dropped down from the wall and kicked him in the head with him webbing the thug to ground.
"Get him!" The other two tried to attack Paul, but Paul jumped over the two of them and kicked them both in the backs.
"I'll crush you, bug."
"You know we're actually arachnids. There's a difference." Paul said. One of the thugs tried to hit him, but Paul moved out of the way and gave him an uppercut. He grabbed the thug's arm and lifted the gut on the shoulders. "Watch our head." He walked backwards and right into the brick wall with him tossing the goon into a dumpster.
"You're dead!" The last one tried to attack, but Paul jumped in the air. Paul shot a web on the thug and flipped with the guy being lifted off the ground and slammed him to the ground.
"Sometimes it's almost too easy." Paul said. He heard the door open up and saw it was one more.
"What? Spider-Man!"
"One more isn't going to change a thing." Paul said as he shot a web at him and got a hold of the guy.
"Let me go." The thug said as he tried to get out. He took off his coat and got himself free.
"It won't help because…" Paul didn't stop because he saw something with the guy. He had a blonde mullet and had a green snake tattoo around his left arm. Paul couldn't believe it was him.
"Paul? Paul, what's the matter?" Peter asked.
"You!" Paul said as he could never forget who this man was.
…
Flashback
Paul was on his way as the day was coming to an end. Paul was acting like nothing happened, but he was surprised that he saw police in front of his house.
"Oh no." Paul said and he ran to check it out.
"I'm sorry, son. This is a crime scene. You need to stay back." The officer said.
"Crime scene? I live here. Is my family okay?" Paul asked. He heard a horn and saw his Mom pulled up with Mark in the car. Trisha stepped out as Mark stayed behind.
"Paul, what's going on?" Trisha said as she was acting scared.
"I don't know. I just got here." Paul said.
"Officer, what's this about?" Trisha asked.
"Your neighbors reported a break in and the one who did it got away." The officer said. "There was also a casualty. I'm sorry, ma'am. Your husband has been shot." That information was a shocker to Paul and Trisha.
"No." Trisha said and was in tears.
"Who did this?" Paul said as he demanded to know.
"We have a description. The guy appeared to be in his thirties. Had blonde mullet hair and had a snake tattooed around his left arm." The officer said.
End of Flashback
…
"You!" Paul said. This was the very same man who took his father from around the time he first got his powers.
"Paul? Paul, what's the matter?" Peter asked. The thug acted quickly and pulled out a gun as he tried to shoot him. Paul jumped up the walls and avoided the gun shots.
"Trying to kill me like you did to him?" Paul said. The thug got in the car and started it up with him driving off. "You're not getting away from me this time."
"Paul, wait." Peter said.
"What?!" Paul said with anger as he doesn't want to wait around.
"What's going on? You seem more upset than usual." Peter said.
"Peter, he was the guy! The guy that that took my father from me." Paul said and Peter began to understand. "I'm not letting him get away from me this time. It's time for him to pay for what he did." Paul refused to wait around as he started swinging after that car.
"Paul, I understand how angry you must be. How do you think I feel about the man who took my Uncle Ben from me?" Peter said. "You have every right to be angry, but don't do something you're going to regret."
"No promises!" Paul said. "Part of the reason I agreed to be Spider-Man was so that I could track him down and make him pay for what he's done. It's payback time and I'm not letting him go."
"Paul, I'm telling you this for your own good. Don't let revenge get the better of you or you're going to end up doing something you will regret." Peter said.
"I know what I'm doing." Paul said. He saw the car was right in his sight and he's not letting it go. Paul swung as hard as he could and landed right on the car up front. "You're not going anywhere."
"Get off!" The guy said as he tried to shake him off.
"I'm not letting you escape. You took someone precious to me away and I'm going to make you pay." Paul said. He smashed his fist through the windshield and tried to get a hold of him. The guy took a hard turn and it was enough to shake Paul off the car, but Paul shot a web and was still sticking with him. "I said you're not getting away!" Paul heard sirens going off and saw the police were starting to catch up to them.
"You're kidding me." The criminal said as he saw them coming.
"No way. You're mine." Paul said.
"Paul, think about what you're doing, what you're saying." Peter said.
"I am." Paul said. Paul shot a web and had it to stick to one of the wheels and was having it slow down and affect the car's steering. Paul wasn't done there as he pulled with all his might and tore the wheel off. The car spiraled out of control and Paul couldn't hold on as he was flung down the street. Paul used the momentum and shot out a line for him to swing on and almost did a one-eighty swing. Paul swung back down and landed on the ground. He saw the car crashed near an alley with the police surrounding the area. Paul headed over to the area with a lady cop noticing him.
"That was a little crazy, don't you think?" The cop said.
"Where is he?" Paul asked.
"He went down that alley. We've got another squad having the other end cut off. He's no going anywhere." The cop said.
"Good. I'll take it from here. He's mine." Paul said with some vengeance in his voice and it didn't go unnoticed by the cop as she stopped him from going in.
"I don't think so. I don't think I like that tone." The cop said.
"I have a score to settle with him. Someone important to me is gone because of him." Paul said.
"So this is about getting revenge? That might be a criminal in there, but I can't let you take things too far." The cop said. Paul was all set to just force his way past the cops if it means getting to that man, but he didn't get the chance. Before anyone could do anything, they all heard a sinister laugh coming from inside. "What was that?"
"I'm going in." Paul said as he went to investigate.
"I'm going with you." The lady cop said as she followed him. Both of them went inside to try and find the source of that laughter.
"I don't see anything and my spider senses aren't alerting me of anything." Paul said.
"I don't see anything eith…what?!" The lady said. Paul took a look at what she saw and he was quite shocked as well. On the wall were was "C.K." and it appeared to be written in blood.
"Are you seeing this?" Paul whispered to Peter.
"Yeah. That doesn't look too friendly." Peter said.
"Wait. What happened to that guy?" Paul said as he looked around and he saw something just as bad. "Oh my god!" He found the guy, but he was on the ground and he wasn't moving. The lady cop noticed it as well and the condition his body was in did not look good. "You better report a dead body."
"Good call." The cop said and alerted the other police officers. Paul couldn't believe that he had the chance to avenge his father and now it's gone. He's also concerned that some random person just killed this guy and was now worried about what he would have done.
…..
Paul's Home
Paul decided to head home after what he saw. He told his mother and Marc what happened and it was a little hard for them to believe. The news was on and they were wall watching about this story.
"That's him. That's the guy that killed, Dad." Paul said.
"In other news, one of New York's most wanted, Kale Kruiser, has been murdered earlier today." The newsman said. "There have been no witnesses of the act in progress. The only known clue are the initials "C.K." written on the wall. Recent events show that this is not the first act that has happened. The initials were found in several other scenes, but there is no further evidence as to who is truly behind this. All murdered scenes have in common is that each victim took part in a crime and people hearing a sinister laughter. Officials have decided to label this felon the Craze Killer. While the victims have taken part in criminal activity, it is unclear if the Craze Killer is friend or foe. More to come on this story." Trisha turned the television off after hearing what they needed to hear.
"So that guy is really gone? The guy that killed, Dad?" Marc asked.
"He is, honey. Maybe now we can finally move on." Trisha said. She took notice that something was bothering Paul. "Marc, how about you go play with some of your toys." Marc could tell this wasn't something to argue about and just went ahead. "Paul, are you okay?"
"I don't know." Paul said. "I should be glad that the guy who shot Dad is gone, but I'm not."
"I bet a part of you wished it was you who took on that man. You wanted revenge." Trisha said and she could see that she was right. "Paul, your father wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted us to move on and continue to live with us trying to be the people he knew we could be." Paul didn't think about it like that. He just kept blaming himself for it happening in the first place.
"So how are you feeling, Mom?" Paul asked.
"I'm still missing my husband, but I still have you and your brother." Trisha said. "I'll be fine knowing I still have the two of you. I'm just hoping your father will be able to rest in peace now."
"Maybe." Paul said and stood up. "I'm going up in my room. I just need to be alone for a bit." Paul went upstairs, but Trisha was still worried he was hurting. Paul laid on his bed and he kept thinking what he could have done. Now that he was thinking with a clear head, he was seeing that Peter was right. He heard his phone going off and saw it was Harris. "Hey, Harris. What's up?"
"I just saw on the news. The guy who killed your dad is now dead." Harris said. "Are you doing okay?"
"It's hard to believe, but I'm doing fine." Paul said.
"So do you think it's a good thing he's gone?" Harris asked.
"I wouldn't say that." Paul said as he got up and stared out his window. "He might have been a criminal, but he didn't deserve to be killed."
"I suppose you're right. The guy was human." Harris said.
"Look, you don't need to worry about me. I'm doing fine." Paul said.
"If you say so. I'll see you later." Harris said and he ended the call. It was just then that Paul noticed he also had a message from Peter.
"Just checking on you." The message said. Soon, his phone was flowing with messages from his other friends.
"Jean: Pauli, I heard what happened. I hope you're doing okay."
"Lindsay: Hey, Paul. You must be relieved. Your old man can rest in peace. Hope you're doing well."
"Monica: Hey, Paul. I heard that the man that killed your father is gone. Are you doing okay?"
"I'll be fine." Paul said and he believes he really will be for a while, but he kept thinking about this Craze Killer and what he did. "This Craze Killer must be who was behind all those dropped in criminals. If he's really targeting criminals, he's going at it the wrong way. They don't deserve to die just because they've committed a few crimes." He also kept thinking about his father and what he would do now that the man who killed him is gone. 'I thought I would have to avenge my father by taking down the man who took him away from me. Now, someone else got to him before I did. I still feel like I need to avenge my father and since this Craze Killer took away the only way I thought I could, I'll have to find him." Paul still holds the passion to avenge his father and now he has to find the Craze Killer to do it. Just who is the Craze Killer and what will happen when he and Paul cross paths?