Chapter 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Goodwitch
Spidey swung from rooftop to rooftop across Vale as the sun began to set. It had been a day since he met Blake, and now he was looking for a man named Junior, who Blake told him about. He wanted to get out early, but Peter was tired the previous day and decided to 'sleep in' He spelt within an abandoned apartment, which surprisingly had clean running water. He was lucky that no crimes were committed while he recharged his batteries. But now he was back on the move, with help from F.R.I.D.A.Y. Spidey located where Junior was: a nightclub he personally owned in Vale. But he was currently having some trouble.
Two bullheads owned by the VNN, Vale's main news network were chasing him like maniacs across Vale, trying to get an interview with him. Apparently, his recent actions in Vale made him incredibly popular with both the people and media. Spidey however found the VNN to be very annoying, but not like the Daily Bugle that he did part-time work with on Earth. Rather than be run by a single grumpy old man with a mustache that hates you for no reason whatsoever, the VNN kept on chasing him like moths to a light. They just won't stop following him. All they wanted was to bombard him with question after question.
"Hey! Watch it where you fly fellas!" Spidey shouted as he swung across the city as two VNN bullhead pursued him
It wasn't until he noticed a third bullhead had arrived at the scene and cut him off, forcing him to land on its side.
"Really?" Spidey groaned, "You're this desperate."
Several cameramen and reporters began to bombard Spidey with questions. But he had another idea.
"You want my response?" he said to him while grabbing the straps on his backpack, before having it morph into his Iron-Spider suit. It was still slightly damaged, but still usable.
"I have an armored suit, and you don't." he quipped before flying off, leaving the press behind. He began to fly above the clouds so no one could see him before arriving at Junior's club. He morphed out of his armored suit before heading towards the club.
"This must be the place." he muttered as he approached the club's entrance. To his surprise, the entire place looked like three bar fights had occurred in a row. Several men with similar attire to the thugs he fought at the bank the other day were lying on the ground unconscious. Eventually, he noticed a man that had to be Junior.
"Yo buddy." Spidey said as he got the man on his feet, "Are you Junior?"
"Wha-?" Uh...yeah I'm Junior." he replied, "Wait...you're that Spider-guy aren't you?"
"That's me." Spidey quipped, "What happened here?"
Junior looked around his club before speaking, "Oh this? Just business as usual...I guess."
"Your men…" Spidey continued, "You haven't happened to have sent them to rob a faunus-operated bank by any chance?"
"Of course not." Junior replied, "You're thinking of one of my business associates: Roman Torchwick. He came by earlier today, asked if I could loan some of my men. They were heading for the business district."
"Business district…" Spidey muttered, "That's all I need, thanks Junior."
"One more thing!" Junior shouted as Spidey was about to leave, "If a blonde girl ever shows up here, mind if I give you a call?"
"Sure!" Spidey replied before swinging away
"Alright, Vale's business district! That's where we gotta go!" said Spidey, as he swung across the city, "Hey MW! You there!?"
"Yes Peter, I'm here." Julia replied
"Great!" Spidey shouted, "So, I gotta question about my mission!"
"What do you want to know?" she asked
"It's about Blake." Spidey explained, "Who else will be considered an ally in this upcoming crisis?"
"A excellent question, Peter." Julia replied, "And perfect timing, the next phase of your time here has begun. I sense that you are bound to meet several new allies very soon."
"Great, the sooner that I meet them. The sooner I can stop whatevers gonna happen and get home." Spidey replied
"However...I cannot stay with you forever." MW continued, "The few days you'll have to make your own decisions Peter. But don't worry, I check in on you now and then."
"Yeah, something tells me you just wanna get away from my antics." Spidey muttered
"Maybe…" Julia chuckled, "Goodbye Peter."
"Bye Julia." Spidey replied as he continued swinging. Then the three bullheads returned, continuing their pursuit of the superhero.
"And the press is back." Spidey groaned, "Just great, I don't want to use the armor again. I don't know how much power is left given its current state."
Suddenly, the bullheads pulled away. An act that caught Spidey's attention quickly.
"Looks like you guys gave up." Spidey quipped, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on your gu- Spidey-sense."
Spidey felt his spider-sense go off right before something hit him in the back, knocking onto a nearby building. He rolled across the rooftop before getting back on his feet.
"Well that was new…" Spidey muttered
A woman with blonde hair tied in a bun floated down on the other side of the roof. She held a riding crop firmly in her hand, while her face bared an expression of stoic and neutralism. All while sneering slightly.
"You're the second person to disturb me swinging across the city." Spidey said to her, "If you want to talk, you could've just asked."
The woman said nothing, and simply flicked her crop, which caused a nearby AC unit to float up in the air and move towards Spidey. But the superhero simply flipped through the air, dodging the unit. Before catching it with a web line and throwing it himself back in the woman's direction. She managed to stop it with her crop, but as she did so, Spider took the time to flee. The woman then noticed him swinging away, and quickly followed. Summoning a purple aura over her feet that levitated her as she pursued the webhead.
"Hey! Quit it, will you!" Spidey shouted at her, "This isn't funny!"
The woman didn't say anything yet again, and fired hues of purple energy at Spidey, which he managed to dodge. Getting annoyed at her attempts, Spidey decided to play dirty. He fired a web at the woman which she caught in a telekinetic bubble. But before she could throw it away, the web suddenly dispersed a bright light that took her completely off guard, which caused her to lose her balance and fall to the city streets. Though she did manage to break her fall, she had to rest to overcome the blinding light of the web-flash grenade Spidey used on her.
"Haha! Nice try, lady!" Spidey shouted, "Better luck next time!"
Spidey landed in his signature pose on a rooftop overlooking a dust store named From Dust Till Dawn. Suddenly, the window to the shop shattered as two figures crashed through it. The first was one of Junior's henchmen, while the second was different. It was a young girl with short black hair that was red at the tips. She wore a black long-sleeved blouse with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, over which is a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, and a matching skirt with red lining. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces, red trims around the top, and red soles. In her hands was a large scythe, that seemed too heavy to carry. But not for her apparently.
"Looks like I made it for the party." Spidey muttered, "Little Red Riding Hood was invited to."
Several more thugs emerged from the dust shop, along with a man with reddish hair and a bowler hat on his head, and a cigar firmly in his mouth. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small gray scarf, and black gloves with buckled sleeves. A cane was firmly in his grasp as well.
"Okayyy...Get her." he said to the thugs
The henchmen headed out of the shop and ran at the girl, who spun around on top of her scythe and kicked the first approaching criminal in the face. She gets her scythe out of the ground and fires it off to hit another one with the butt of her weapon, sending him flying. She fires again and brings the side down on one attacker and dodges the next's gunfire with her rifle's speed, getting close enough to knock him into the air and follow him upwards so she can beat him away to the leader's feet.
"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." he said to her as he took the cigar out of his mouth before dropping it on the ground, and crushing it with his cane, "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around...I'm afraid this is where we part ways."
The man then lifted his cane and revealed it to be a hidden weapon. He fired a red blast at the girl, but before the blast could hit her, Spidey came to the rescue by grabbing her and pulled her out of the way. He then grabbed a nearby mailbox with his web shooters and threw it at the man, knocking him to the ground.
"You good kid?" Spidey asked her
The girl stared at Spidey, and instead of responding, her silver eyes widened and she began to screech with joy. It was then that Spidey felt that odd feeling he had when he met Blake, and saw that white girl the other day.
"Uuuhhh...you ok?" he asked her
"YOUR SPIDER-MAN!" she shouted, "I'VE HEARD ABOUT YOU! YOU ARE AWESOME!"
"Hehe, it's always good to meet a fan." Spidey replied, "But why don't we stop the bad guy first."
"Team up with Spider-Man? Yes please! Lets-"
The duo realized that the man was gone.
"Where'd he go?" she muttered
"Up there!" Spidey shouted, pointing up to a nearby building where the man was climbing a ladder. Spidey swung up to the rooftop while the girl got up another way. Once they arrived, the man was at the other side of the roof.
"Hey!" the girl shouted at him
The man turned around, "Look what we have here! The one whose changed this city in less than a week! You must be the Spider-Man I've heard about."
"And you must be Roman Torchwick." Spidey replied, "Wanted criminal and con artist."
"In the flesh." Torchwick replied, "How persistent you two are."
Suddenly, a bullhead appeared right behind Torchwick, and the hatch to it opened up to allow him inside.
"Well Webhead and Red." he said to them as he held up a red dust gem, "Looks like the end of the line."
He threw the gem at Spidey and the girl's feet, and aimed his cane at it. As he did this, Spidey grabbed the gem and threw it back in his direction, which then collided with the lone bullet that emerged from Torchwick's cane. Spidey then proceeded to cover the girl from the blast, while the blast flung Torchwick into the bullhead.
"Ow…" Torchwick muttered before standing back up and looked in the direction of his adversaries. Spidey and the girl were now joined by none other than the woman that attacked Spidey before. She shielded them with a telekinetic-like shield.
"You again." Spidey quipped, "I knew there had to be some good in you."
The woman said nothing and fired purple streaks at the bullhead. Roman was thrown around in the back until he went to the cockpit, where a woman in red, her face unseen, was struggling with the controls.
"We got a huntress!" he said to her before she got up quickly, leaving Torchwick to deal with the controls.
The woman appears before Spidey and his two allies. Her face was completely obscured by darkness, save for her eyes.
Spidey looked at the blonde woman next to him, "After you."
The woman raised her wand in thair, and several storm clouds appeared in the air.
"The hell.." Torchwick muttered
With a flick of her wand, large jagged hail started to fall that pummels the jet and even breaks through the window, narrowly missing Roman's head.
"Man, Thor would love you right now." Spidey muttered quietly
The woman in the bullhead reached the back and her arms and chest lit up like fire, aiming a burst of energy at the blonde. She managed to block it, but the flame splattered behind her and glows hot with the enemy's raised hand. The blonde back-flipped out of the explosion, which destroys part of the roof, and magically gathers the shards to create a large arrow, which she throws at the craft. The fiery woman shattered the arrow with several blasts, but it reforms just in time to hit the side of the jet due to Roman's quick aerial lean. The wreckage separates and reshapes into more arrows that encircle the jet.
Spidey, finally deciding to join the fray, webbed the wreckage and threw it back in the fiery woman's direction, but she managed to grab it and reshape it into more arrows that circle the jet. Once more, Spidey grabs one and the arrow ends up detonating near him, knocking him out.
"Spidey!" the girl shouted as she ran over to him, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm good." Spidey replied as he got up off the ground
The two then notice the bullhead fly off while the blonde watched nearby before turning to the duo.
"While I'm a little upset that attacked me earlier." Spidey said to her, "Thanks."
"What?" the girl muttered
"Don't ask." Spidey replied
The blonde on the other hand sighed before finally speaking, "I need both of you to come with me."
Spidey and the girl looked at one another before looking back at the blonde.
"One more thing." Spidey added, "You haven't happened to trash a nigh club earlier, have you?"
Some time later, the girl sat glumly as the blonde paced through the dark room with only one bright light hanging from the ceiling. Spider-Man on the other hand, was hanging from the ceiling as well in his signature upside down pose.
The blonde began to scold them both, "I hope you two realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You both put yourselves and others in great danger."
"They started it!" the girl protested
The woman on the other hand continued, "If it were up to me, you'd both be sent home...With a pat on the back...And a slap on the wrist."
The woman slapped her crop near the girls' hand, but before she could do so. The red, web-lined hand of Spider-Man grabbed it.
"Sheesh, what the hell?" he said to her, "You do this to every person you meet? She was doing her best!"
The girl smiled at the superhero defending her actions. But the woman had a different reaction.
"Don't give me that!" she retorted, "You are just as bad as she is! Ever since you showed up in Vale, the White Fang, and every other criminal organization has been sending their bigger and badder goons to perform their robberies. Now the huntsmen and local authorities have to work harder, all thanks to you."
"Oh give me a break!" Spidey replied, "I've been at this for over four years. I've fought people and things that are ten times worse than faunus with robust weapons and normal criminals. So I won't be judged by some blonde dominatrix, who wields a riding crop for a weapon!"
The woman sneered and raised her crop, but stopped mid-way as Spidey raised his web-shooter at her.
"You wanna go again?" he challenged her, "I've got more of those flash grenades in here if you'd like to see."
The woman sighed in frustration as she lowered her weapon, "But...there is someone who would like to meet both of you."
The woman stepped out of the way as a man with messy silver hair and spectacles entered the room. He carried a mug and a tray full of cookies in his hands.
"Ruby Rose…" he said to the girl as he sat down, "You...have silver eyes."
The now identified Ruby stared at the man in confusion, while Spidey was the one to talk.
"What?" he said out loud
"Will you be quiet!" the woman hissed
"Now Glynda." the man said to her, "Don't interrupt him."
Spidey nodded in agreement before the man continued, "So! Where did you learn to do this?"
Glynda held up a holographic tablet that displayed Ruby fighting Torchwick's thugs.
"Si-Signal Academy." Ruby replied
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he questioned
"Well...one teacher in particular."
The man then put the plate of cookies on the table. Ruby hesitantly took one and ate it, before beginning to scarf them down like a maniac.
'She could probably beat the Hulk in a cookie-eating contest.' Spidey muttered in his head
"I see…" the man continued, "It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow…"
That last comment caught Ruby's attention, "Oh! That's my uncle!" she said with a mouthful before swallowing, "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!"
"So I've noticed." the man chuckled as he sat down, placing his mug on the table, "How about you Spider-Man. Where have you learned to fight with such expertise?"
"Well, like I told you grouchy assistant, I've been Spider-Man for the last four years." Spidey explained, "I trained myself at first until I joined a secret organization that helped me master my abilities...also pure luck if that helps as well."
The man then went back to Ruby, "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"
"Well...I want to be a huntress." Ruby replied
"You want to slay monsters?" he questioned
"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" Ruby explained, while enthusiasm grew. You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!"
"Not bad." Spidey said to her, "You should write a book on it."
"Maybe after my first mission." she replied
"Do you know who I am?" the man then asked her
"You're Professor Ozpin." Ruby replied, "The headmaster of Beacon."
Ozpin smiled at her, "Hello."
"Nice to meet you." Ruby replied
"You want to come to my school?" Ozpin asked her
Ruby smiled, "More than anything."
Ozpin looked back at Glynda, who simply made a 'hmph' showing that she disagreed with him. Ozpin then turned back to Ruby.
"Well, ok."
Ruby's eyes widened in excitement. Her dream had come true.
"Not bad kid." Spidey said to her, "Congrats."
"Now, Glynda." Ozpin said to his colleague, "Escort Ms. Rose out of the room, while I speak with Spider-Man."
Ozpin turned to watch Glynda and Ruby leave the room. But as he turned around, he saw Spidey sticking to the side of the wall with his web-shooters aimed at him.
"You're not gonna scold me like she did to me earlier...right?" he asked him
Ozpin chuckled, "Of course not. I apologize for Glynda's actions, her...unique personality has already butt heads with both students and staff."
"I can see that." Spidey replied, "So what is it that you want?"
"Well, first I would like to personally thank you for your service Spider-Man." Ozpin said to him, "Your help stopping the White Fang and other robberies in Vale, along with your loyalty to both humans and faunus have been helpful."
"I do what I have to do." Spidey replied
"And I'm grateful for that...Peter is it?"
Spidey fell off the wall upon hearing his real identity, landing face first onto the floor. Once he got up, Glynda was now in the room as well.
"...Who's Peter?" Spidey muttered, but all he got was silence from the two.
Spidey then sighed before having his backpack morph into the Iron-Spider armor and he held up his palms, charging his repulsor beams at the two. Glynda, taking this as a threat, was about to hold up her riding crop, but was pinned to the wall by one of the Iron-Spider's retractable arms.
"Who are you, and what do you want from me!?" Spidey demanded
Ozpin held his hands up slightly, "No one to fear, I haven't told anyone. Only Glynda and I know...and Ms. Belladonna as well."
Spidey lowered his hands and put Glynda down after Ozpin's response. He then morphed his armor back into his backpack before taking it off, and putting it on the ground.
"Go on." he said to them
Ozpin then had Glynda hold up a tablet that displayed Spidey crashing into the forest several days ago, along with video footage of him at the bank robbery, the SDC facility, and his confrontation with Blake where he revealed his identity.
"Have you been stalking me?" Spidey jokingly asked, "'Cause that's illegal where I come from."
"I apologize." Ozpin replied, "It's just that I've never seen nor met someone with...abilities and equipment like that before."
"The armor." Glynda spoke up, "Where did you get? Did you steal it from Atlas?"
"I don't even know who Atlas is." Spidey said to her, "And no, I didn't steal it. I made it. Along with help from a fellow scientist, and friend."
"You're a scientist?" Ozpin questioned
"I have an IQ of over 270." Peter replied, "I'm an expert in biology, robotics, etc."
"270!?" Glynda shouted, "That is absurd! Professor, this boy is lying to us! We should just turn him over to the authorities at once!"
"Glynda." Ozpin hissed at her before turning back to Spidey, "Please continue."
Spidey proceeded to take off his mask, "I guess it's best bet that I give you my back story."
He removed his mask, revealing his face to the two huntsmen.
"Let's do this one more time." her muttered, "My name is Peter Parker, I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last four years I have been the Amazing, Spectacular, Astounding, and Sensational, Spider-Man. And the rest of the story is history, you see I saved the city more times than I ate breakfast, fell in love, I saved the city some more, lost my parents and uncle, leaving just me and my aunt, I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., worked with the Avengers and X-Men, started training a protege, etc. I got a comic book, my own cereal brand, I did a Christmas album, I got a sick theme song, and uh... so-so popsicle...I mean it looked worse. But after all these years, I'm...kinda done with my job. Maybe retire, have a normal life, and then I was brought here to this world."
"This world?" Glynda questioned
"I'm not from Remnant." Peter said bluntly, "Specifically this Earth. I'm from Earth-616, this Earth or Remnant, has no designation number...for unknown reasons."
Glynda scoffed, "What's the real story you brat."
"That is my story lady." Peter replied, "Whether you believe or not is not my problem."
Ozpin then spoke up, "You said you were brought here, how exactly?"
Peter reached into his backpack and revealed the watch he had when on the Tri-Carrier, "This watch is capable of interdimensional travel. Its power comes from an object called the Tesseract, Otto Octavius an old adversary of mine wanted to harness its power, while working with an organization called Hydra. I don't know why or how, but its dangerous to say the least. We were both sucked into a portal along with the Tesseract and two of the watches he created."
"And what happened to Octavius?" Ozpin asked
"I don't know." Peter replied "He could've been killed for all I care, and the Tesseract could be lost and far from his reach."
"Why were you sent here?" Ozpin then asked him
"To stop a crisis." Peter replied, "I've been given a task by an ally of mine. Her name is Julia Carpenter, better known as Madame Webb. Only I can talk to her, as of now at least."
"A crisis you say?" Ozpn muttered, "Does it involve Otto?"
"I don't know." Peter answered, "MW said that I would find answers during my time here."
Ozpin scratched his chin, "Hmm, then I have a proposition for you."
"Professor, I object to this id-" Glynda said before Ozpin cut her off by raising his hand.
"I'm listening." said Peter
"Attend Beacon Academy as a student." Ozpin proposed, "There you can know more about Remnant, and what it has to offer. You will have food, and a place to stay dry, as I'm currently guessing that you're considered homeless now. In secret I will help you in what you do to prepare for this crisis that is to unfold."
Peter thought for a few moments, remembering something MW said before leaving.
"You'll have to make your own decisions Peter."
"If I accept." Peter said to him, "I do have a few requests if that's ok."
"Of course." Ozpin replied, "What did you have in mind?"
"First, my identity and job as Spider-Man must be kept a secret at all times. No one must know who I am, and what I do. If someone needs to know who I am, I must come to the decision of revealing myself. Second, I'd like to continue my job as Spider-Man as well. Even if that means I miss classes or something. Lastly, does Beacon have a lab?"
"Why yes." Ozpin replied, "Beacon has several scientific laboratories for both educational and private use."
"Then I ask if I could use one while fixing the watch, my suit, and produce more web fluid." Spidey added, "Is that ok?"
Ozpin hummed quietly before turning to Glynda. She grit her teeth and shook her head in complete disapproval. He then turned back to Peter and smiled, holding out his hand.
"Welcome to Beacon, Mr. Parker." he said before Peter shook it