DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Worm and Ward are productions written and owned by John C. "Wildbow" McCrae.

Spider-Man (Comics) is owned by Marvel.

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Chapter 1: There's never a break from work

A yawn. The world wasn't exploding, but something dreadful was happening.

Despite the fact that he was fighting some angry jerk, Spider-Man was hardly giving too much attention to the fight. While many of his superhero peers would've called it a terrible mistake during work, there was plenty of reasons to be distracted away from the enraged thug in front of him.

First thing first, this wasn't home. It wasn't the Big Apple, and he could tell from the fact that these weren't his streets. This wasn't even his world as far as he was concerned. The very issue stemmed from the fact that he knew something had happened while fighting Hood to stop the crime-lord from robbing some banks by the center.

The caped villain had been a pain in the butt after what had happened with the Skrulls, with him trying to capitalize as much as possible the weakened state of the city's law enforcement. Once an ally against the invasion, now back to be the crime lord that Peter was more than happy to greet with some precise punches.

And so he did, getting through most of the thugs and villains working under the dangerous boss. Then Peter was hit by magic and… things happened. He expected something mediocre, maybe a stun spell through Dormammu-fueled power, or even a little migraine to his spider-sense.

Yet much to his surprise, the world changed around him. It warped in a mere blink of an eye. He couldn't see any skyscrapers, or at least not as big as New York's. His body tensed, the leftover effects of his adrenaline still there to offer him the kick he needed to push through the surprise.

Confusion swelled, but there wasn't time to actually stay there in that unknown place and ponder about what the hell had happened there. Something something an explosion ripping the silence off mere moments he had arrived.

His first thought had been teleportation. It wouldn't be the first time that Hood used small-scale magics to distract his opponents, knowing well enough by now that going for a fair fight wasn't convenient.

Without wasting too much time about it, Peter soared through the air thanks to his web, slinging around quickly and in a rush. Whatever was going on, he needed to be there to help. His instincts had kicked in, and his confusion was replaced by simple but undeniable focus over the predicament in his sight.

A young girl. He could see the long hair flowing through the dark-themed costume. He thought she was just a copycat, someone trying to 'borrow' his style to make some good deeds. Yet his initial disappointment melted the very instant Spider-Man took notice of the various bugs and small insects swarming the burning man. He looked quite scary, not the worst he had seen, but to just look at someone on fire like that and not be called 'Johnny Storm'… yep, it was flinch-worthy.

A roar, pretty humane. It wasn't anything close to something demonic as one would expected from that unholy sight. Still, the development wasn't soothing. Not at all. Peter stuck by one of the nearby walls, staring at the scene and pondering at the odd sight. He might be strong and armed with sturdy webs, but fire was a big no-no for his costume.

And he wasn't fire-proof as proved by several 'fun' encounters with the fiery member of the Fantastic Four. He needed a plan, something that could actually work on some fire-angry guy that looked threatening and… staggering.

A blink, then two.

Yep, it looked like he was really staggering. The man was actually having trouble keeping up with the fire distracting his sight. Wearing some mask was surely making things difficult to see. Peter now had an interesting flaw there that could be exploited, and he just had the silliest but most efficient way to solve that man's burning fury.

The superhero jumped up, well above the two fighters. Then he dived down with his legs aimed at the back of the unaware villain. The impact was satisfying as the fire-guy slammed to the ground, but the little sizzling and painful sensation at his feet was enough to dissuade Peter to keep a cheerful look.

After landing a couple of meters away from the steamy and recoiling thug, a quick check on his soles was a must. The cloth had darkened, but he couldn't feel anything else other than a stinging sensation that was now going away. With this little situation finished, Spider-Man glanced to the side, right at the girl staring at him with a tense posture as her glance was alternating between the recovering shirtless man and the new 'caped hero'.

"Are you alright, kid?" A quick query, the younger hero had her attention shifting prominently at him.

She didn't reply at first, her silence was taken as a moment of panic. Peter recognized the rush of the moment and the awkwardness of the situation was slowing down her thought process, having been there himself when he had been younger.

In the end, the girl offered a quick nod, and he smiled behind the mask at the small gesture. At least she wasn't hyperventilating. His little moment of relief was squashed away as a certain thug managed to stand up and glare at him with undeniable irritation.

"You fucking bastard!"

The exclamation had him let out a theatrical gasp. "Look man, you shouldn't be swearing in front of kids."

The jerk snarled back. "As if I fucking care for that little bitch. Once I'm done with you, I will get going and-"

"H-He plans to kill children."

The sudden interjection of 'Bug-Girl' was enough to get some alarms going in Spidey's mind. He had thought up until now that fire-guy was just a low-tier criminal, but going after kids was kind of unforgivable.

The shirtless man didn't seem to mind the interruption, preferring to act in that very moment by rushing the 'greater threat'. Another furious roar. But before the fire could spread all over his body again, his concentration was shattered by some sticky web reaching his mask and covering his sight.

The disruption worked well in keeping him from using his abilities, but the man still rushed and tried to take a swing at the red-blue superhero. Spider-sense and high reactivity played an important role in making this little one-sided brawl more humiliating. The man could feel that none of his hits was landing. Spider-man yawned as he continued to dodge the various, but aimless attacks. Then he saw the thug pull out a sizzling knife. The edge was heated.

Once again, the rush resumed, but there was no progress for the fire-guy's effort. Finally, the man looked winded, enough for Peter to actually put an end to this 'fight'. A punch followed by an uppercut.

The two attacks had some moderation, but the result was a quick and sudden 'thud' as the villain fell on the ground, unconscious. Not the worst enemy he had faced, but he was certainly a step-up from the usual grunt. Silence resumed, but the situation was far from over. Sparing a passing glance and a quick 'I will be back' to the confused girl, Spider-Man took the unconscious body of the fire-guy and properly prepared him for the police to pick up.

He had seen some people staring by the windows of the buildings nearby, and he knew that the explosions had to have alarmed more than a few of them to actually call the local law enforcement. With the web carefully lifting the now head-down masked man from the sidewalk, the little package was now ready to be picked up by the cops.

Reaching back the roof where the younger hero was waiting in a moment of shock and nervousness, his attention was now directed at her form. She tensed up again, taking a brief step back at his careful approach.

"I don't want to hurt you. Just wanted to check on you after what happened," He tried to sound as calm as possible. Kind of difficult when you're supposed to soothe a frightened girl in a costume. "How are you holding?"

A simple question again, this time she didn't have a reason to hesitate for too long.

"I'm- fine. I think."

Incredibly nervous, there was plenty of stress in display within her composure. He merely nodded, waiting a couple of moments so that she could ease up even more. After about a full minute of silence, the girl decided to be the one to break the ice.

"W-Who are you?" She blurted out, her mind having yet to digest the entirety of the situation that had happened. "I mean, I don't want to sound rude or-"

"Ah, no problem," Peter interrupted with a kind tone. "I should've been the one to say my name first. Still, here we go- I'm the friendly neighbor Spider-Man."

He made sure to bow theatrically to ease up the tense situation. The girl's head tilted a little bit to the side at the sight, but she didn't seem to recognize him at all. This… this was the confirmation he needed to be sure this wasn't just home. While his work was mostly restricted to NY, his 'presence' was well-known to the States, mostly thanks to his tenure in the Avenger and his actions during the Civil War.

Hopefully someone was going to notice his disappearance and make some efforts to get him out of this new city. Probably Dr. Strange with the fact that he had been approaching the general area of the fight when he was struck by the spell. If this was truly the result of some hocus pocus used by Hood, surely the Supreme Sorcerer was going to give a look for any oddities about the situation.

Hopefully it wasn't someone under Ozborn's paycheck. He really didn't need to face Norman anytime soon, especially with how dangerous he got now with his little stunt after the invasion.

"What about you? Do you have a name or-"

There was a muffled whisper, causing the super-hero to stop. He waited for a while to see if it was truly an answer or a noise coming from nearby. At the lack of further interactions from the girl, he pressed on again.

"Can you repeat? I think I didn't catch that."

She sighed. "I... didn't pick any…"

He blinked, then he smiled again. "I suppose you want to be alone to think about it or-"

"I-I want to go home," The girl confessed without restraint. "This… this is difficult. I almost- this is-"

She shivered a little bit, a mix of fright and panic at the dangerous situation she had been put through. A very concerning sight that got him to stare at the poor kid. One that got Peter to approach the uneasy-looking girl and go for a pat both her shoulders. Her attention lifted up at him, seemingly noticing just now that he had gotten closer.

Yet she didn't recoil from the touch as he tried to offer some encouraging speech to her shivering self. Couldn't leave a rookie shaking on her first night as a hero.

"Bah, don't say that! You held well against your first super-villain," Spider-Man commented determinedly. "And I can assure you that your presence here helped a lot against him. You delayed him, and while you're still far from picking up this pace, you still ended up saving children tonight, kid. And you did it thanks to your powers."

The words shook the teen out of her uneasy composure, and surprise made her tense up at the legitimate praise. Peter knew perfectly how compliments about the job were needed early on, and he could still remember how dreadful it had been to keep up with the slander thrown at him in his early days.

Pity that JJ isn't here. Kinda missing his daily whining about my 'heinous deeds'.

Still, while the girl looked to have recovered, there was still an issue that lingered in that precise moment. She noticed it first, her stare locking onto the metallic ladder that looked to be the only way to get to ground-level. Blinking at the sight, Spider-Man sighed and decided to help her out one last time for today.

"I can get you down to the sidewalk if you want to. But you need me to trust me since I have to hold you to-"

"Y-Yes."

He didn't get to finish that sentence that the girl answered. It was still awkward, but her tone sounded better than a couple of minutes ago. Without lingering too much over the quick consent to his half-question, he approached her a little more, just enough to lift her up a little bit. She was lighter than he had expected her to be. Slim, incredibly frail to his hold…

This was starting to bring up some unpleasant memories from his time at High School, back when he was still targeted by Flash Thompson. The jock had long abandoned his old ways, especially when he decided to join the US Army, but certain bits of the past still persisted to the mind… especially his jolly old nickname. Puny Parker.

Then he had his experience as a teacher to help remind him that bully victims weren't something difficult to spot. Lack of self-esteem, sudden submission before kindness, the worst trail of thoughts at doing anything whatsoever. It was just blatant by now

The procedure to reach ground-level was quick and quiet, with the girl's hair fluttering in the descent while Spider-Man's web lessened the fall's speed. Once they were there, he let the younger hero detach from him, her frame cowing at the awkward silence.

"One last thing before you go get some sleep going, kid," Peter mentioned, stopping the teen from actually leaving the proximity. She looked at him with a curious and… eager stance. "I can't offer you lots of advice right now since our powers are similar but different. I'm not going to lie, this line of work is tough and fairly unforgiving because of how people's perception can actually side against your good deeds."

The girl deflated at the unpleasant truth, but the seasoned hero was far from over with his speech.

"Still," He continued, this time his tone growing lighter and encouraging. "The only thing that matter is that you did a good thing by being there. Some will contest it, but the truth is undeniable."

"B-But what if… What if I wanted a little more?"

The query was offered with a soft and dissatisfied tone, which prompted a snort from Peter.

"Well, then you should strive and do more good deeds," He replied. "It's going to be time-consuming. Sometimes it will also sound fairly useless. But the more heroic actions you try to achieve, the more people will start to see you like one of the best individuals in this world."

The girl nodded, but now… it was time to bring an end to this pep-talk. And to impart the most important of lessons to this new hero. Peter smiled behind his mask and nodded.

"Which is why I want you to know this: From great power, comes great responsibility. Life is tough, you want to lash out… but the only way you can be better than those that are there to drag you down is to have your chin up, your mind steeled and follow your own goodness through it all."

She tensed up again, this time momentarily as she digested these final words. Her stare turning to the cemented floor… and then she nodded. "I understand," The girl commented with a shaky tone.

Peter nodded back at the kid, waving at her as he turned to leave the area. The police was surely going to arrive soon and… he needed to get started with the whole 'where the heck am I' plan he had sorted out from the very moment he confirmed he wasn't in Manhattan.

Swinging away while the teen jogged away to make her way back home, Peter failed to take notice of the group of people staring at the retreating duo. Their leader was giving a fixed glance at the gift left about by the spider-themed vigilante, pondering quietly over the delightful development and interesting discovery made all in a single 'normal' night.

"What should we do now?" Bitch inquired with a hint of annoyance. The woman was still irked by the fact they hadn't moved in as Grue had wanted, but the rest of the group was still glad that they had avoided some deadly confrontations with the now unconscious Lung.

"Well… I guess we go forward," Tattletail mused quietly, surprising the rest of the team. "I can't help but wonder what hides behind that interesting web..."

Cryptic as usual, Grue couldn't help but contemplate himself what kind of Vigilante had entered the big game.

AN

Yayayay! Spidey in Brockton Bay… this isn't truly a novelty. Admittedly there are a couple of ongoing stories about the superhero being there to either balance, clash or even get in a relationship with Taylor…

But this idea? This is a little bit more complicated.

The introduction page before this chapter contains all the info about the story's basis, or what kind of 'Spider-Man' I'm bringing up here.

I've some plans. Expects a careful approach to defuse the angsty bomb that is Taylor's mind with how her life is going to take a complicated turn. While Pete was there to prevent her encounter with the Undersiders, I can assure you all the group will still have some prominence. Especially when Grue and a blonde wants to study more who this 'Spider-Man' is.

Explanations over the Timelines from where the story begins:

Worm: Gestation 1.4 (In the middle of Lung's fight with Taylor);

The Amazing Spider-Man: A month after the end of Secret Invasion (Post-Civil War Skrull Assault on Earth);