Alpha Male
The next day had arrived and the team were sitting at the table except for Kaldur and Peter who were with Batman.
Green Arrow was handing them a bowl of pretzels. "Thanks, but no thanks." Wally said bitterly.
"Yeah," Robin said, "What we want are answers about Red Tornado and his siblings!"
"I agree," Harry who was in his Hobgoblin armor, agreed to Robin.
"Exactly." Wally soon noticed Green Arrow trying to take the bowl so he stopped him and at the pretzels. "Leave the bowl."
Superboy was standing off to the side with Harry beside him and he noticed Superboy was listening in on Peter's and Kaldur's conversation."
"It was during the Taipei mission with Red Arrow," Kaldur said. "I have told Peter that Sportsmaster revealed the possibility of a mole within the team in light of last night's attack, Tornado appeared to be the traitor. Whether he betrayed us willingly or was preprogrammed to still—"
"You both knew?!"
Superboy ran at Peter and picked him up by the collar.
"That android and his maniac family nearly killed M'gann!" Superboy yelled at Peter.
"Connor, what are you doing?" M'gann asked.
"Kaldur and Peter knew we had a traitor among us and said NOTHING!" Superboy yelled who still had a stone cold expression.
"You both knew and didn't tell us?" Barbara asked in disbelief.
"I did it to protect you guys," Peter said.
"Protect us from what?" Artemis asked, "Knowledge that might've saved our lives."
"You almost died!" Superboy said to M'gann.
"Enough."
They all looked to Batman who narrowed his eyes, Superboy let go of Peter and they all approached Batman.
"With the Red Tornado missing, the team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors." Batman explained. "Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift."
A man who wore a red getup with a massive lightning bolt on his chest arrived. He also wore a white cape and had blue eyes, Peter knew this was a 10 year-old Billy Batson.
"I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys," Captain Marvel said.
Superboy later looked to Peter with a glare. "After we dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are gonna—"
"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League," Batman said, sternly. "That makes him a League responsibility. You will leave him to us."
He later turned around and showed the team of teenagers a newspaper. "I have another assignment for this team."
The page flipped later to show the Mayor of Gotham who was attacked by a gorilla. "Gotham Mayor attacked by Guerilla Gorilla." Wally said in disbelief.
"Is this the only thing he could find to distract us?" Connor asked M'gann telepathically. Before M'gann could say anything, Robin went up to his mentor.
"Batman please!" Robin said, "Tell me you're not sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase."
"I never joke about the mission," Batman said darkly. "I've checked sources. I've checked the patterns, Mayor Hill's encounter is the latest in a series of incidents." He later looked to Peter, "Spider-Man, your team will depart for India to check this out."
Peter scoffed, "My team?"
He later looked to see that all of them except for Harry and Aqualad were giving him glares. "I don't know, it looks like they don't want me on this team." Peter said bitterly. He looked to Kaldur, "This will be your team, good luck."
This made all of the teens look at Peter with shock, he just ditched them just like that.
"Wait, Peter!" Harry called for his best friend. Before Peter could walk away he looked at Harry. "I was looking forward to doing our first mission together, man." Harry said.
Peter later looked at the rest of the team who were still glaring at him, "Me too."
Peter tried walking away from him, but he felt a hand on his shoulder, so he looked back to see Artemis who had a begging expression for him not to go. He looked back to see the apologetic expressions on some of the other's except for Superboy's who still thought he was in the right. It made Peter mad, now they want to apologize? Peter looked at Artemis with a glare and violently shrugged off her hand.
Peter barked out a cynical laugh. "Maybe I shouldn't have been in charge of this team or maybe I shouldn't have been friends with you all in the first place. This was a mistake…" Peter said, entering the zeta-tube to go back to the apartment.
*RECOGNIZED*
*SPIDER-MAN B-03*
When Peter left, they all looked to Aqualad and then walked away, except for Harry who stayed. The two started walking behind the rest of the team.
"Harry, you've known Peter for years, right?"
Harry nodded to Kaldur's question.
"Has Peter always displayed this much hostility when things don't go as planned?" he asked.
Harry slowly nodded, "Ever since that spider bit him, not only did he change physically, it changed his way of thinking both good and bad. What I mean is that he is more instinctual and has more grace and tact than before, but the bad is that he has been prone to violence and aggression at times."
"What do you mean?" Kaldur asked.
"Hear about how he became Spider-Man?" Harry asked.
Kaldur nodded, "Only that his uncle was shot because of the criminal he let go."
"Well… there's more to it." Harry said.
'Flashback - 3 years ago in New York'
The 13 year-old Peter was in his red and blue spandex suit. It was a suit he made before he received his current suit. He got to the big buildings, jumped up to the side of one and started jumping from building to building. "Ok next time... I am heading to the city... I will finish the formula... and what I have planned for it... to swing across the city... I mean for real... this is getting tiring." Peter said to himself as he was breathing in and out hard as he kept jumping across buildings.
Once he got to the location, he started climbing down and jumped off the wall into the alley in which nobody was in and headed to the place where they were having the fight, he got in the line, but each time somebody came out he started having second thoughts, third thoughts and fourth thoughts for every person that came out was on a stretcher. "Ok I can do this, I can do this." He said to himself as he saw the person in front of him go in front of the curtain and into the ring.
The bell rang making both circle each other and the unknown man went up to Crusher Dorrance, sure of himself only for Crusher Dorrance to dodge his fist pick him up and throw him backwards off the ring onto the judges' table, breaking the sixth one of the night. It only made Peter gulp, but he wasn't about to walk away, his aunt and uncle depend on him, that money could be a lot of help, so not only is he going to last one minute, he's going to defeat him.
As the guy was taken out by another stretcher, the man that was by the curtain was making Peter sign a contract saying that whatever damage he received wasn't the responsibility of the wrestling program and he wouldn't be allowed to sue them for any injury. He signed, if Peter said anything he'd say that this is probably what suicide is like... signing your own death.
"What's your name, kid?" The announcer asked him.
Peter didn't think about it before so he just said the first thing that came to his mind. "The Spider."
"You sure about that?" The announcer asked him, not sure if he wanted that type of name.
"Yeah." Was Peter's simple answer.
"Ugh." The announcer grunted as he rolled his eyes and walked to the ring to call him up. "Up next against Crusher Dorrance is the terrible, the deadly, the amazing Spider-Man!" The announcer said with enthusiasm trying to better the name of the scrawny guy behind him, after all, even if he hated the name, for sure he liked his job and the money he got out of it.
Peter started running by the walkway a little annoyed the announcer changed his name and when he got to the part where he needed to get into the ring, he jumped right off the ground jumping over the ropes and landing inside, shutting up everybody's booing as they were impressed and wondering how he was able to do what he did.
The only person not surprised was Dorrance, who just looked at him with a grin. "I hope you are ready for your bones to be crushed." He said to Peter as he flexed his muscles.
"Uhm when I want to commit suicide I'll call you... don't hold your breath." Peter said making people chuckle at his remark, and making Dorrance to get angry as he totally pushed his threat aside like it was nothing.
"Ok ladies and gentlemen, this fight is special, we are having this fight to be caged!" The announcer called out as the cage was starting to form around the ring.
"Perfect, a cage fight. Yo I didn't sign up for this." Peter said to himself at first, but then turned around to face the announcer, but since he just shrugged, Peter just gulped. "Ok Peter, next time, try to shut up, because you're Parker luck just makes you get in worse situations." He also said to himself as he turned back around as he was also now nervous to fight Dorrance.
Peter started jumping up and down shaking his body to let loose. The bell rang and Crusher Dorrance was happy for that because he wasn't going to wait for him to attack after his remark. So he just started running forward trying to slam his head at the target which was Peter's body. Thanks to Peter's newly acquired powers though he was able to jump up, do a front flip in the air and land his feet on his shoulders and pushing off of them causing Dorrance to be pushed into the metal cage... hard, as Peter landed safely on the floor of the ring.
"You are an amazing fighter, have you ever heard the saying 'don't rush head first into your problems'? You're good at that." Peter quipped as Dorrance got up with even more hatred towards him.
"Oh you're gonna get it." He said as this time you could hear a Mexican accent. People in the arena were shouting "kill" him over and over. As Dorrance was walking towards him he started swinging and kicking, but Spider-Man dodged and countered every hit, causing Dorrance to get on one knee. Peter seeing this opportunity using the momentum of a backflip he kicked his chin actually causing him to go up in the air somewhat and making him land on his back hard against the ground.
As he slowly stood up one of his followers that was close to the ring went up and gave him his chair. He was able to use the chair as his advantage as Peter wasn't able to dodge it making him go into the ground, as he was on the ground Crusher Dorrance wasn't going to give him a chance to come up so he kept hitting him over and over with the chair as Spider-Man kept trying to get up.
"Do you not know the meaning of a squashed Spider!?" Dorrance asked him loudly as Spider-Man wouldn't give up so he threw aside the chair and grabbed him, and started throwing him against the cage, then letting him go as he flung him into the floor of the ring.
"It's alright, it's just your bones, your muscles, and your organs, you can fight it. Man I don't understand the meaning of shutting up." Peter said to himself as he got picked up one more time and thrown again, but expecting it Peter flipped his body making his feet land on the cage and pushed himself back at Dorrance.
"Here come the ten toes of knockouts!" Peter quipped as he flipped his body in the air to hit Dorrance with his feet knocking him back into the cage again, and this time when he fell he was already knocked out. The announcer called it.
"And the winner is... Spider-Man!" He said as he raised one of Spider-Man's hands in the air. Looking at the time Peter saw that the whole fight lasted 38 seconds. Happy with the turn out he smiled to himself.
…
"Amazing, that is what you are, I don't know how you were able to move the way that you moved, but you have agility my friend. Well here you go." The Announcer said as he gave Peter one thousand dollars. Peter frowned.
"The ad said that I'd get five thousand dollars, why I'm I just getting one fifth of that?" Peter justified and asked the announcer.
"The fight didn't last a whole minute, but I have a deal for you, sign a contract with me, come in every Tuesday night and you'll get double of this amount every week." The announcer said to Peter, which was very tempting to him, but he didn't want to call attention to himself, and the announcer found a way to not pay him completely now, Peter was also not sure if he should trust him with that deal.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept that, I still deserve the five thousand dollars." Peter said hoping to get it out of him.
"Sorry kid, not my problem." The announcer said to him only making Peter more furious, he went out of the room and in the direction of the elevator that would take him upstairs.
Then out of nowhere he heard yelling.
"Hey somebody stop that man, he took the money from the vault!" It was the announcer, and the guy was headed to the elevator, Peter just stepped aside and let him through to the elevator in which the guy clicked the button, when the door was almost shut he looked at Peter.
"Thanks." Was all the man said as the elevator closed.
"Why didn't you stop him?! He had all the money I received from today's special! All you had to do was get in his way!" The announcer shouted at him.
"Not my problem." He said to the announcer with an angered look that you could even see even with his mask on, seeing how he didn't pay the poor kid as he should have, he felt that he deserved it and went away guiltily before turning around to say his final words.
"I'm sorry I didn't give you all the money you deserved, I guess I did deserve that, after all, the saying is 'what goes around comes around'." And the announcer left, making Peter regret not stopping the man, but didn't think too much into it, after all, what is done is done. Something his uncle taught him as well.
…
Peter was turning on the corner that would take him to another street as he was heading home slowly as he wasn't in a rush this time, but when he turned he saw lights... red and blue lights, which were coming from the direction ahead of him, and when he finally paid full attention to them he realized that the lights were coming from the police cars, wondering what was up he went to check it out, only to see a familiar face in the ground. He started running pushing any cops that were coming his way.
"I'm his nephew!" Peter shouted, making the cops let him by and gave him faces of pity as they felt bad for what the poor boy was facing right now.
"Uncle Ben, no-o, Uncle Ben!" Peter shouted as he kept trying to make the bleeding stop from the bullet wound that was on his side.
"What happened?" Peter asked.
"Carjacker he's been shot." The officer said.
"Peter... promise me you'll remember... that with great power... comes great responsibility." Was Ben's words as he was slowly losing consciousness.
"I promise, I promise, oh Uncle Ben don't die! Keep your eyes open! Keep fighting! Me and Aunt May need you! Please, Uncle Ben!" Peter kept repeating as he held on to his hand, which slowly went limp and when Peter looked at his eyes he saw them roll slowly up.
"The car is located where?" The officer asked, Peter heard this and listened to the officer. "On it, all units, find the suspect located in Midtown East!"
As Peter heard this he ran off into an allway and suited up.
…
Peter Parker who was trying to find the killer. He had managed to chase him down into an abandoned warehouse. Peter used the shadows to crawl around the walls and the ceiling, just anywhere that had shadows so he could blend in. When Peter confronted Uncle Ben's murderer, the man tried to shoot Peter who dodged the bullets and later tackled the man.
When Peter had a better view of the man, his eyes widened and his rage took over him as he proceeded to punch the murderer in the face and again and again and again. He didn't hear the murderer's plea to stop and just kept beating him to a bloody pulp. Peter's knuckles were filled with blood and the man's face was now messed up and bloodied to the point he has now died from bleeding out. When Peter brutally killed the murderer he then started to tear up and screamed in rage at the top of his lungs.
'Flashback Ends'
After hearing Harry's story, Aqualad was now shocked. The Peter Parker he knew as a comrade and a friend has killed before.
"It took him quite some time before he actually became Spider-Man." Harry said. "I was the first person whom he told about his secrets and it's sad."
Aqualad looked at Harry who looked down in sadness, "He has never been the same ever since he killed that man."
"I see," Aqualad said.
Meanwhile, Robin, KF, Batgirl, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Captain Marvel were walking to the bioship. The atmosphere was full of sadness and shame as their leader had just bailed out on them just like that. Artemis, Batgirl, Miss Martian, and Superboy already got in, but Robin, KF, Captain Marvel, Hobgoblin, and Aqualad have yet to enter.
"You're coming with us?" Robin asked.
"Sure! We'll have a blast!" Captain Marvel said innocently.
"Translation: He blames us for Red Fiasco, he doesn't trust us." Robin said he saw Aqualad and Harry approach them.
"It's a big club." KF said bitterly.
Aqualad and Harry looked ahead in sadness as the other two walked into the bioship. Harry sighed as Aqualad's eyebrows began to furrow.
When they had landed in Northern India, Robin, Batgirl, and Artemis were the first to exit the bioship. Next came Captain Marvel, KF, and Aqualad and the last group was M'gann, Harry, and Superboy.
"All clear." Robin said.
"Switch to stealth," Aqualad commanded, "and we'll review mission parameters."
"Parameters, we don't need no stinkin' parameters." Wally said.
"It's recon, we know what to do," Batgirl said. She later ran off with Robin and KF.
"You guys…" Kaldur called out for the team.
"The three of us with Peter started this team because the league was keeping secrets from us," Robin said.
"Or did you forget that like you and Peter forget to tell us about the mole," Wally said. The three later ran off with Harry glaring at them.
"I can see why Peter no longer wants to be the leader." Harry said. "Maybe after this I'll leave as well."
Everyone stopped as they looked at Harry who was giving his opinions. "You know, I was really looking forward to being friends with you guys, but you guys never have thought 'oh why did Peter and Kaldur keep this away from us?' but no, you all decided to jump the wagon and feel betrayed. You know, Peter has carried a lot of emotional baggage, surely none of you had killed out of joy, right?"
Their eyes widened as Harry sighed, "If I told Kaldur about how Peter became Spider-Man then I should tell you all."
They all stopped as Harry told them all about how Peter has become the hardened hero he is today.
After they heard the story, they all looked down in shame, they didn't know Peter was trying to still move on from the killing of his uncle's murderer.
"Man, I guess we went overboard huh?" Robin said.
"Don't make a joke about this Grayson?" Harry said.
"Sorry."
"I think we all should apologize to Peter." Artemis said.
"I don't know," Harry said, "That look he gave, it will take a lot for you guys to have him accept your apologies."
"We'll deal with that later, but Kaldur," Robin looked to Aqualad. "Why did you and Peter decide to keep the mole thing a secret? We have a right to know."
"The source of the tip was Sprotsmaster," Kaldur said.
"What?" Artemis was in shock, "You can't trust him!"
"I don't." Kaldur said, "It seemed possible, even likely he was attempting to divide the team with false information."
"And given the situation he already had one member leave," Robin said. "But you had to consider that it might be true."
"Yes, Peter and I agreed to fear the worst," Kaldur said. "Peter told me not to spread word as it will alert the traitor."
"I hate to say it, but it makes sense," Robin said, he sighed and properly faced Kaldur. "Look I'm sorry for jumping into conclusions."
"We all are," Wally said. The rest of the team nodded in agreement, "And we should apologize to Peter as well."
"We'll do that after the mission," Harry said, "We need to focus on the mission at hand."
Peter was alone in his apartment, playing some video games with Harry. Aunt May was out of the house going to get some groceries and he was minding his own business until he heard the doorbell ring.
Peter sighed as he got up. "I'll get the door," he said. He walked out of his bedroom and opened the door. His eyes first were widened with surprise and then narrowed with annoyance.
"I assume you came back from your mission. What do you want from me? Here to tell me how bad of a leader I am?" Peter asked in a bitter tone. M'gann, Connor, Dick, Wally, Artemis, and Barbara who were all wearing civilian clothing, stood there in silence with Kaldur standing behind them. Peter scoffed, "Of course you have nothing to say. Well get the hell out before I call the cops for trespassing."
Before Peter slammed the door on them, Dick spoke out, "Kaldur and Harry told us everything."
Peter stopped and opened the door, motioning for them to come inside. As they got inside they all sat on the couch in the living room.
"Did they tell you everything?"
"Everything…" Superboy said.
"From how you became Spider-Man to why you had Kaldur keep the mole incident a secret from us." Barbara said, "and I just want to say I'm really sorry Peter, I had a lapse in judgement and didn't think before jumping to conclusions."
"We all are." Wally said.
Peter looked around and saw the others who looked ashamed.
"The truth is, Peter," Robin said, "I think you are a better leader than I ever will be. You are able to make decisions without a second thought and you are an amazing guy to be around. We didn't know something like this is what it would take for you to pull the plug on us."
"And for what it's worth," M'gann added, "We're sorry."
"So can you please come back to us?" Artemis asked.
Peter looked off for a second before asking, "Be honest, did Harry have you all come here?"
"I didn't ask them to come here," Harry said.
Peter thought about it, they did have sincerity in their voice and they did look sorry. Peter sighed and looked at all of them, "Alright. I accept your apology."
Artemis beamed up with happiness and was the first to hug him, the rest of the team proceeded to join in with the two for a group hug and Peter chuckled as he patted whoever's backs he was touching.
A/N: So here is some info about Peter's spider, like in canon is changed his physique, but I decide to make it that it also changes him in a sense that he more strategic and that he is also more prone to aggression, since it's DC I have made a desicion to make Peter a bit more aggressive, his way of thinking, and can be prone to violence at times. Also, the reason for B2B chapters is because I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I thought why not.
Also I have thought about doing on about an OC who is a Splinter Cell, let me know your thoughts via PMs!
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