"They say that with great power comes great responsibility. I learned that the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. I ended up learning all that the hard way when I lost my father and the person that was the closest to a father. I was given great power, but I couldn't use it to save either of them. New York City became my responsibility. It became my job to watch over those in this city. My life went on and I still uphold the responsibility as best as I can."

The morning sun shined through the windows of an apartment. It woke up a man in bed and woke up. This is Paul Porter, also known as the new Spider-Man. When he was fifteen, he was bitten by a mutated spider and was given spider powers. He was trained to be Spider-Man by the original: Peter Parker. That was eight years ago and New York has been entrusted to him.

"Don't tell me its morning already." A woman said as she was asleep right next to him.

"Time to wake up. Aren't reporters suppose to get up early?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, but after last night, I was hoping to get some extra sleep." She said as she sat up and held the covers close to her.

"Oh, Monica…" Paul said. Monica Whitney, a dear friend to Paul, or should I say more than friends. Monica was in high school with Paul and the two have been together for these eight years. "Let's not forget that you begged me with a tough of seduction."

"Don't turn it around on me when you're irresistible." Monica said. "Speaking of which." Monica pulled Paul closer and the two of them kissed. However, their little moment was ruined when they heard sirens go off in the streets below. "Really? This early in the morning?"

"What can you do?" Paul said as he got out of bed and grabbed his costume. He got dressed and hanged out a window. "I'll see you later, today."

"Yeah. Sure…" Monica said, but something seemed off about that, but he didn't even noticed. Paul just spun a line and swung off. Peter Parker is gone, but Paul is upholding the legacy that is Spider-Man.

"I took the role of Spider-Man years ago." Paul narrated. "However, ever since my battle with Green Goblin and Peter's death, my identity was revealed. Now, everyone knows I'm Spider-Man. That means I have to work twice as hard to keep the people close to me safe. Although, sometimes I do wonder if I have what it takes to really be Spider-Man."

…

Ryker's

Of course, Paul does a splendid job of helping out around the city. He puts all the low lives behind bars. Ryker's is a prison on an island in the river. It's where all criminals are sent and some of the supervillains that Paul has beaten is sent to a special area of it called the Raft.

"Man, this stinks." One prisoner said as he was playing cards with three others. "I was this close to getting those jewels and that lousy spider showed up and ruined everything."

"You said it brother."

"I was in the clear with a bag full of money, but that spider showed up at the last minute."

"Well, I actually tried going for that lady friend of his. Sadly, she kicked me good just before that spider showed up. Should have known anyone dating that arachnid would be able to fight back."

"What's the spider's name again? I thought I read it in the news."

"Paul something. I don't know or care. To guys like us, he's always known as that spider. He's also got those two buddies of his helping him out."

"Everyone in here would love to get at him. Especially some of the top dogs around here."

"You mean some of those villains? Some of them aren't so bad since some don't really have powers. They just use some fancy equipment."

"It doesn't matter. That bug will get what's coming to him. Those guys have a bigger grudge against him than most of us. I would love to see them in action." Once he said that, the alarm was going off with some of the police getting ready for action.

"Red alert! Tricker has escaped!" The prisoners cheered whenever someone manages that because it means a chance for someone to bring down Spider-Man.

…..

New York Streets

Tricker was just one of the many villains that Paul has faced. He's a mentally unstable person with an unhealthy infatuation for Halloween acting like it's every day of the year. The fact that he managed to escape is impressive as he climbed out of the sewers.

"Goodbye, Ryker…" Tricker said as he tossed off a restriction jacket. "….Hello, New York!"

….

Paul

Paul just got done with another group of criminals. All of them have been webbed together and is left hanging.

"Illegal drug dealing. At least you guys are trying to be more original." Paul said and swung up a building. Paul's been doing pretty well as Spider-Man and people thank him for that. Paul was about to keep swinging through the city, but stopped when he heard his phone go off and saw it was his best friend: Harris Harper. "Hey, Harris. Yeah, I can swing by. I know you heard that one before, but it's not like I'm doing it on purpose." Paul ended his call and started swinging to meet up with his old friend. Life sure has changed for some people since Paul started as Spider-Man. Paul changed into his regular clothes and headed up to Harris' apartment with Paul knocking on the door and his oldest friend answering.

"Hey, Paul." Harris said as he allowed Paul to come in.

"Hey, Harris. Place looks great as always." Paul said. "So what did you call me over for?"

"What? I'm not allowed to invite my best friend to come over just to talk?" Harris said. "Just because we're adults doesn't mean we can't hang together like old times."

"I suppose not." Paul said as Harris started working on his computer.

"Hey, Paul." Paul looked across the apartment and saw another old friend of his. Monica's best friend Jessica. "What are you doing here?"

"Harris asked me over." Paul said. "It's been a while, Jessica. How's teaching at an elementary school? You haven't been at for very long."

"Honestly, some of them are little monsters." Jessica said. "So I tell them that if they don't behave, Spider-Man might have something to say about it."

"Lovely. Drag me into it." Paul complained with Jessica giggling.

"Sorry. I need to get going and grab a few things for my next class." Jessica said as she walked over and gave Harris a peck.

"Later, honey." Harris said as Jessica let herself out.

"It's great Jessica's a teacher. What about you?" Paul said. "What have you been up to?"

"Still working on being a business lawyer." Harris said. "It's tough. Half of the people don't even pass being lawyers. In the meantime, I have a part time job helping out. Can't let my wife handle all of it."

"I guess not." Paul said.

"Of course, it's easy for you to say." Harris said. "The city pays you for protecting the city. You were able to get a nice looking apartment, almost a penthouse."

"You know I don't do this for the money." Paul said. "I tried to talk to the people to stop, but they insist on it. I suppose it is helpful, but I do this without the money."

"Yeah. I know. I suppose it's just their way of saying thank you or such since people know you're Spider-Man. Speaking of that, when are you going to pop the question to Monica?" Harris asked, but Paul wasn't really sure how to answer it.

"To be honest, I haven't really thought about it." Paul said.

"Seriously?" Harris said. "You and her have been together for eight years. That's impressive."

"Come on. You and Jessica started dating before us." Paul said.

"Yes, but we broke up for a while. Then, after dating for another year, we got married when she was done with college." Harris said. "You and Monica have been dating through the rest of high school. You told me you held off on marrying her so she can focus on college. She graduated about a year ago. Now she's a reporter and you're the protector of New York. You both have steady jobs that pay well. So what's holding you back now?"

"I don't know…." Paul said as he hasn't really put that much thought into it.

"Well, you may have attracted girls, but you always had trouble with them." Harris said. That was when he saw an alert come on his computer. "It looks like Tricker has escaped from jail."

"He has?" Paul said.

"Yeah. Looks like he was last seen near the canal by Hudson River." Harris said. He turned to Paul, but he could see that Paul was already gone. "Of course. Always sneaking off when he doesn't need to."

….

Tricker

Tricker kept running from the cops as he up the canal. He ducked under a tunnel and heard the sirens pass him by.

"There's the trick. Now to give them their treats as soon as I get a hold of them." Tricker said. He started running off, but he felt himself being tossed back and hit the ground. He looked up and was faced with Spider-Man.

"Shouldn't you be wearing a restraint jacket with that?" Paul said.

"Spidey!" Tricker said as he jumped up. "Always nice to see you. Sadly, I'm afraid I don't have many treats to give."

"You are a cruel and twisted bastard. You know that, don't you?" Paul said. "Who actually turns weapons to have a candy-theme?"

"You know what they say. Trick or treat!" Tricker said as he pulled out what little "treats" he had and tossed gumball-shaped bombs at Paul. Paul jumped back as they exploded. Tricker jumped through the smoke and kicked him in the chest and knocked him down with Tricker running off.

"Freak show." Paul said as he got up and went after him. Tricker tried running as far as he can, but Paul shot another web and it him in the legs with him getting knocked down. "Your glider and other freaky equipment is still locked up. Without it, you're not much of a threat."

"Is that so?" Tricker said as he stood back up with Paul charging in. Paul threw in a couple punches in Tricker's face and one right in his chest. Tricker tried to fight back as he threw a punch of his own, but Paul ducked down and gave him and uppercut.

"Just give it up, Tricker. You know you can't beat me." Paul said.

"Okay. Okay. No more." Tricker said as it appeared he was really giving up. Paul walked over to him to take him in, but Tricker grinned. "Trick!" He socked Paul right across the face. "Hahahaha. Halloween is a time for fun and tricks."

"It's not Halloween, you lunatic." Paul said.

"But you're in costume as well." Tricker said.

"Yeah, but that's…. It's because…. Shut up!" Paul said as he stood back up. Tricker went at him again and tried to get in a few good hits, but Paul was avoiding each of his attacks. Paul was able to land a few strikes himself. "Time to end this." Paul shot a couple lines and connected them to Tricker. "Up we go!" Paul used his strength and tossed Tricker up in the air. "What comes up must come down with a butt kick." Tricker came down and Paul landed a spin kick right in Tricker's back with him hitting the concrete. Paul shot some more webbing and kept Tricker in place. "That should keep you there until the police get back here."

"Oh….gumdrops." Tricker said.

…

Later

The police got word about Tricker's whereabouts. Once they arrived at the canal, they saw Tricker still webbed down and couldn't escape.

"We know who he is now. Why does he keep disappearing?"

"I guess he's just shy or something. As long as this guy gets back behind bars, I'm not complaining." Paul keeps stopping criminals and takes each one of them down. At the moment, Paul rested at the top of a building and removed his mask as he looked up to the sky.

"Tricker's stopped again, but these damn bastards keep coming." Paul said. "Does it ever stop? Do they keep coming because they know I'm not capable of upholding your legacy? I wish you were still here to talk me through this. I'm not sure if I can really do this without you, Peter." Paul seems to have done a fine job as Spider-Man, but he has doubts that he can uphold it. He's been able to hold his own for the past eight years, but sometimes he wonders if he can keep it up, if he's really upholding the Spider-Man legacy. Can he really be the Spider-Man that Peter was? Without Peter around to answer all that, how can he really know?

…..

Of course, things don't stay the same. That includes the criminals. New ones rise all the time. Someone looked over a desk with photos of New York, some dangerous criminals, and other things.

"Soon. Soon and no one will standing my way!" A mysterious man drove a knife right into the photo of Spider-Man. "It's time to step out and take this city from them." A strange energy travelled through the knife and it caused the photo to burn like it was caught in some sort of black and white explosion. Almost like it was corrupting or such. Evil and crime never rests and doubt is something Paul can't really afford.