In for a Shock
Nick was pretty nervous about now. He's taken down muggers, Jokerz, biker gangs, and professional hit men, but this was the thing that made him nervous.
He was standing in front of the Gotham Gazette news building. Once upon a time it was the most popular newspaper distributor in all of Gotham, but when newspapers started dying out it now delivers online news, but it was still the most popular place to work if you wanted to be a reporter.
About three days ago Nick submitted his article to the Gazette to apply for a freelance reporter. It wasn't until he got up from bed this morning that he received an email asking for him to come on by.
He entered the building and made his way to the front desk. "Yes, can I help you?" The secretary lady asked.
"Uh, hi. My name is Nick Styles, I got a message to come by here?" Nick said nervously.
"Oh, that's right." The secretary said with realization as she handed him a key card. "Use this key card on the elevator, it'll take you to your destination."
Nick nodded in appreciation and made his way to the elevator. He used the card and was then being sent up. After stopping the elevator opened and Nick could see a lot of people either on computers, going over notes, and proof-reading stories that haven't been published yet.
"Can I help you?" Asked a man with short blonde hair, walking up to Nick.
"Uh yeah, I'm here to meet a guy named Ned Leeds?" Nick asked.
The man smiled. "That's me, you must be Nick Styles. Come on over to my desk where we can talk." Ned then led Nick to a small desk over by the side of the room with a divider around them for privacy. "Alright kid, I wanted to talk to you about that story you submitted to us."
Nick sighed; he had a feeling what this was about. "Yeah, I know it's bad. It was my first time doing this and I know I'm just an amateur."
That caught and by surprise. "Kid, if that was your first time making an article like that, then maybe you should be running this place."
"Wait, what?" Nick said in surprise.
"Kid, your article on Spider-Man taking on the Enforcers was something else. Our Publisher thought we were pulling his leg when we showed this to him. You should have seen his face when we said that it came from just a high school kid." Ned compliments.
Nick was feeling pretty good about the praise. "Wow, thanks."
"No problem, anyway here's your cash card." Ned said as he handed Nick a plastic card. "That's got at least two hundred credits on it, use them wisely."
"Thank you, sir." Nick said as he took the card.
"Oh please, call me Ned." Ned said with a dismissive wave. "Now, our boss would like to have a word with you."
"Wait, really?" Nick said in surprise.
Nick was led to an office where a man with orange hair, wearing a business suit, was sitting by a computer. He smiled when he saw who entered his office. "Ned good to see you. I assume this is the young man right here.'
"Yes sir, this is Nick Styles." Ned said as Nick entered. "I'll leave you to it." With that said, Ned left.
"It's nice to meet you, sir." Nick said as he shook the man's hand.
"It's nice to meet you to young man, my name is Thomas Fireheart, I'm the publisher and owner of the Gotham Gazette. Please have a seat." Thomas said kindly as Nick took a seat, not feeling as nervous as he was before. "Kid, I'm going to level with you, that article you submitted to us was impressive. How would you like to continue sending articles to us?" Thomas asked.
That caught Nick by surprise. "You mean it, sir?"
"That's right, but since you're still in high school I can't hire you full time just yet. How would you like to be our own personal freelance reporter?" Thomas asked as he held his hand out.
Nick happily shook his hand. "I'd be honored, sir!"
"That's the spirit." Thomas said. "Keep sending us great stories like that and you may have a future here after you graduate."
"I really appreciate that sir." Nick said as he left the office and made his way out. 'Wow, my first pay and I've technically got a job? This is turning out to be a great day.'
/
"What are we going to do Shreeve?" The one who said that was a man with brown hair, had a yellow shirt and brown pants. This was Herman Schultz and he was currently talking to his boss, Walter Shreeve.
Currently they were in the laboratory of their old building. Walter just delivered the bad news that the company that he owns was going out of business and they might not last longer.
"We'll think of something. I could try and take out a loan in the bank." Walter suggested.
"They'll tear us apart when they get the chance." Herman countered. He then looked down in thought as an idea popped in his head. "Why not show the board the prototype suit. One look at that and we'll be swimming in cash."
"It's called a prototype for a reason, Herman." Shreeve denied the suggestion. "It has too many problems and we haven't done any proper testing."
"Who cares about testing, we are going to lose everything we've worked towards." Herman argued. "I designed it, so I know that it's going to work."
Shreeve sighed at his assistant's impatience. Herman has always been a hothead and always believed that rushing it is the best way to go about solving a problem.
"Look Herman, it's been a long day. Go home and get some rest, because we've got a lot to think about." Walter said as he left the lab.
Herman looked down in anger. He contributed too much hard work into his work here and he was not going to let some blowhards at the bank ruin everything for him.
In anger, Herman went right up to a metal cabinet and punched in a code. When the cabinet opened, he pulled out a metal container. He opened it up and smiled with what was inside which were two large metal gauntlets.
'Shreeve may be too afraid to go the distance with this stuff, but I'm not.'
/
Nick was currently hanging out with Terry at the food court in the mall. They sat down in the food court having a couple burgers in celebration of Nick getting paid over his article.
"See, I told you didn't need to worry about it." Terry said, taking a bit of some fries.
"Yeah, but it still was a bit of a nerve-racking experience." Nick said sheepishly.
"So, what are you going to do with your money?" Terry asked.
"I don't know, I'll probably just save up until I think of something." Nick answered, but he already knew what he was going to do with it. 'What I'm really going to do is buy more supplies for my web fluid.'
"So how are things with living with your grandfather?" Terry asked.
"It's been going good. We've been helping each other get through it all; what about you? I know things haven't been easy lately." Nick said referring to the separation between his friend's parents.
Terry sighed at that. "I don't know man. I get that my dad is trying, but it seems he's getting more and more focused on his work lately."
"Well, you gotta understand man, he's at least trying." Nick looked down in slight sadness. "At least you still have both parents around."
Terry looked at his friend in understanding. "I'm sorry man."
"It's alright. What I'm saying is that you should cherish the family you have." Nick said with a smile.
Not that far away from the food court was a nice little jewelry store. A lot of people were inspecting different diamond necklaces and couples were looking at wedding rings.
A man wearing a brown trench coat walked into the store with his head covered in a hood. The security guard saw this guy walk in and he did not like the looks of it. He walked towards the hooded figure and stopped him before he could go any further.
"Sir, I'm going to need to see some I.D." The security said as he placed his hand on the guy's chest, stopping him.
The man didn't say anything at first, but them he took one of his hands out of his pocket. The security guard saw that the guy had on a strange gauntlet that was pulsing with power. It didn't take long for the security guard to realize that it was a weapon and he tried reaching for his own. The man in the hood punched the security guard before he could, however that one punch sent him flying right through the wall. All of the customers screamed in surprise.
Herman smirked with satisfaction when he punched the guy right through a wall. He looked down at his gauntlet and knew that this was just perfect. He removed his trench coat to reveal him wearing a heavy yellow jacket under a brown vest. He reached into his vest and pulled out a yellow mask that he pulled over his head.
He walked towards the counter where the jeweler was cowering. "Give me the diamonds!" He held out one of the gauntlets to the jeweler's face. "Or things are going to get messy!"
Nick and Terry heard the commotion and looked to see a lot of people running away screaming. "What the heck is that?" Terry said in surprise.
"I'm not sure." Nick said as he got up from his seat. "I'm going to call the cops, you stay here." Nick then ran off out of the building.
"Hey, wait!" Terry called out, but Nick was already gone. He looked in the direction the people ran from and started running in that direction.
Nick meanwhile slipped into an alley and pulled out his mask from his backpack. Looks like Spider-Man was needed again.
Herman walked out of the store and had bags of jewels in both his hands. He should have done this in the first place, now he can prove to Shreeve that his methods are far superior. Forget about the risks, the rewards are all that mattered.
Terry ran right in front of him and put up his fists. "Drop the bags!" Terry demanded.
Herman chuckled as he did put the bags down. "You want to make something of it, kid? Come on, give it your best shot." Herman said, gesturing for Terry to make the first strike.
Terry wasted no time and delivered a nasty right hook to Herman's face. Terry went for another punch, but Herman hit Terry in the stomach with his gauntlet, sending him crashing into a table in the food court.
"Nice hit kid, but if that's your best then you're out of luck." Herman taunted. He then charged up both his gauntlets and fired a vibrational beam of energy out of them.
Terry had no time to dodge as the blast came closer and closer to him. Luckily, he didn't have to dodge as Spider-Man came swinging by and grabbed Terry before the blast could hit him.
Spider-Man landed over by the side of the mall. "You alright man."
Terry nodded as he took in some deep breaths of relief. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"Nice hook by the way." Spider-Man complimented.
"Thanks, nice swing." Terry said in appreciation.
Spider-Man looked and saw Herman charging up his gauntlets again. "Listen, you got to get out of here. Something tells me that things are about to get ugly." Terry nodded and made his way out the exit.
Spider-Man's spider sense tingled as he jumped out of the way to avoid another vibration blast from Herman. He launched a web line and started swinging around all the while avoiding a blast from Herman.
Spider-Man landed on the wall as he addressed the villain. "So, what do they call you, Quilt Man? Cause let me tell ya, you look like a walking blanket."
"Not that it's any of your business, but you can call me...the Shocker!" Herman, now called Shocker exclaimed as he fired another blast at the hero.
Spider-Man swung away to avoid getting hit, and then maneuvered himself to deliver a swing kick at Shocker, sending crashing into the wall. Shocker got up just as Spider-Man landed in front of him, and delivered a powerful punch to his face. Shocker staggered a bit, but countered with an energized punch of his own, sending the hero crashing into a stone pillar.
"You know, I was hoping I'd run into you." Shocker said sinisterly.
"Oh really, I'm flattered." Spider-Man said sarcastically.
"Imagine the rep I'd get if I took down the Spider-Man? I'd be the toughest man in Gotham, and then everyone will take my tech seriously!" Shocker exclaimed as he fired another blast at the hero, which he dodged out of the way.
"Yeah, good luck with that!" Spider-Man said as he launched a web line at Shocker's chest and swung him into another wall. He was about to get up, but Spider-Man shot some web at him to stick him to it. "But you'll have to wait for a couple decades before any of that."
Shocker managed to force his gauntlets pointing down and fired a concussive blast, creating a shockwave that pushed Spider-Man far away. Shocker got up and went to the bags of jewels he left lying down.
Spider-Man got up and made his way towards him, which Shocker noticed. He then spotted some innocent bystanders standing away in the distance in fear.
"You can go after me, or you can save them!" Shocker exclaimed as he fired another blast at the roof above the people.
"No!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he swiping towards the people.
There were too many people to carry and the rubble was coming down faster and faster, so he needed to think of a plan fast. He shot out multiple web lines and made a makeshift web net and it thankfully catches the rubble before it could hit them.
Spider-Man landed in front of the people to check on them. "Is everyone okay?" Spider-Man asked. Everyone gave him a nod, signaling that they were alright. He looked to where shocker was, but was unable to find him anywhere, along with the bags of jewels.
'Great, my first super villain and he got away.' Spider-Man inwardly groaned at the scenario.
/
"The fugitive wearing the strange devices on his wrist made his escape before police could arrive at the scene. According to witnesses at the scene, the elusive Spider-Man arrived to fight off the mysterious assailant, but even he was unable to stop him."
Shreeve was fuming as he was watching TV in the laboratory. He saw an image of a man wearing the same prototype gauntlets he and Herman created. If the police managed to trace that technology to his company, then they really will shut them down, or worse send them to prison!
Herman came bursting into the lab with a big smile on his face. "Woo! You will not believe the day I've had today!"
Shreeve stormed right up to him with anger on his face. "Of all the idiotic stunts you could have pulled, this was the most idiotic!"
Herman gave a nonchalant wave. "You said that the gauntlets needed more tests, so I went and did my own test run, and I solved our problem." Herman placed the bags on the table and the jewels fell out of them.
"Where did you get all this?" Shreeve said cautiously.
"I just went out shopping." Herman said dully as he took a seat to inspect his loot.
Shreeve got even more angry at this. "You stole this?! If they traced this technology back to us then they'll see this and send us to prison! You are a complete idiot!"
That made Herman angry as he got up from his seat. "I just proved that this tech is all that we need! We show this to the board and we'll make it big!"
"You've jeopardized all of my life's work because of your impatience!" Shreeve exclaimed angrily.
Herman growled at his boss, before seeing a picture of Spider-Man on screen. He then smirked cruelly as an idea came into his head. "Looks like you need more proof that what we have here works."
Herman made to leave, but Shreeve stood in his way. "You're not going anywhere with my technology."
Herman smirked as he charged up one of the gauntlets and punched Shreeve, sending crashing into one of the lab tables. "Sorry Shreeve, but I guess one of us has to go the distance."
/
Later that night, Spider-Man swung around the city trying to search for Shocker. After changing out of his costume he met up with Terry so he can explain his whereabouts. When night finally came, he went out to see if he could find the guy, but he was also trying to think of a way to beat the guy.
'Those gauntlets of him sure pack one heck of a wallop, but they can't be invincible. I just need to find him before he does any more harm to the people.' Spider-Man thought as he continued swinging.
"All units, all units, we have a bank in progress. Suspect is said to be yellow and brown and wearing strange metal gloves."
Nick smirked when his police scanner gave that report. "Bingo."
/
Shocker walked right up to the closed doors of the bank and punched them clean off with his gauntlets. The people inside screamed at the display and backed away to avoid confrontation.
Two security guards ran up to him and pulled out their firearms. "On the ground now!" One of the security guards said.
Shocker smirked under his mash and fired a vibrational blast from both his gauntlets, hitting both the security guards and sending them crashing to the wall. He walked right up to one of the employees and pointed his gauntlet to her face.
"I want all your cash cards in this bag." Shocker said as he placed a bag on the counter. "And don't try and swindle me, or else." To further his point, his gauntlet charged with power, getting the woman to shake in fear.
Spider-Man swung in just in time and landed on the wall. "You know, if you wanted to open a checking account you could've asked nicely."
Shocker smirked as he turned around to face the hero. "Glad you could make it; I was hoping you'd show up."
"Aw, you did all this to get my attention? I'm flattered." Spider-Man quipped.
Shocker smirked as he fired a blast t the hero, which he dodged out of the way. Shocker continued to fire, but Spider-Man launched a web line at a fallen chair and swung it right at him. Shocker brought his gauntlets up to protect him, which gave Spider-Man the distraction to swing towards him and land in front of him.
The hero delivered a couple punches and then a kick to the villain's midsection, sending him to the ground. Shocker shakily got up as this kid somehow hits like truck. He charged his gauntlet again and punched the hero, sending him crashing into the wall.
"Nice hit kid, but you'll have to do better." Shocker mocked.
To prove his point, Shocker pointed his gauntlets down and created a shockwave that pushed Spider-Man and everything around him away. Spider-Man groaned as he got up, but Shocker capitalized on the hero's pain and fired another blast at him.
Shocker laughed as he could see he was winning this bout. "When I take you down, everyone is going to give this tech the recognition it deserved."
Shocker charged right at the hero and tried to punch the hero, but he swerved out of the way. Shocker continued to try and hit the hero, but Spider-Man continued to dodge. The hero then delivered a punch of his own, but Shocker raised his gauntlet to block it. The force of Spider-Man's hit caused some sparks to come out of the gauntlet. Shocker was surprised by this and didn't have enough time to avoid and uppercut delivered by the hero.
Spider-Man saw the sparks and an idea sprang into his head. 'His gauntlets may look tough, but they're a lot less durable than he thinks.'
Spider-Man charged back at the villain and jumped up to deliver a round house kick to Shocker's second gauntlet. That gauntlet started to spark up as well.
Shocker fiddled with his gauntlet for a bit, but he couldn't stop the sparks coming. He looked angrily at the hero and he brought his gauntlets up. "You're going to pay for that!"
Spider-Man saw this and tried to stop him. "Don't shoot, it's busted!"
Shocker didn't listen as he charged up his gauntlet to fire, but the damaged gauntlets exploded and sent the guy flying and had him crash into the wall.
Shocker got with a groan of pain and, much to his shock, he saw that both his gauntlets were smoking and were completely damaged. He growled in anger as he got up and glared at Spider-Man.
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to build this?!" Shocker exclaimed in anger. "You're going to pay for this!"
Shocker tried to punch the hero, but Spider-Man effortlessly caught the fist and punched the criminal, knocking him out. "Yeah, yeah, send me the bill when you're in prison."
Spider-Man webbed the criminal up and left before the cops could arrive. He watched from a roof across the bank and saw the police arresting Herman with his mask off and placing the gauntlets.
"Another day, another crime stopped." Spider-Man said to himself.
'I guess it kind of makes sense that I had to go up against a guy like that. Batman had his fair share of enemies so it makes sense that I'd get my own rogue's gallery. Let's just hope I don't get anything stupid like a guy whose only power is standing on stilts.'
/
Shreeve walked towards his lab all the while looking at his data pad that showed today's news article. It showed a picture of Spider-Man taking on his assistant Herman at the bank. He read the article as the title said 'Spider-Man vs. The Shocker.'
Shreeve sighed in disappointment as it has been two days since his assistant was arrested. While both he and Shreeve weren't technically friends, he was still upset that his gifted mind won't be working with him anymore.
As soon as Shreeve entered his lab, he was surprised to see someone sitting at his desk. "Can I help you?" Shreeve said warily as he couldn't see the guy at first due to only seeing his back.
The man turned around and was revealed to be Derek Powers himself, smiling at him. "Hello there Shreeve."
"Mr. Powers?" Shreeve said in surprise.
"I hope you don't mind, but I let myself in." Powers said as he got up from his seat.
"What can do for you, sir?" Shreeve asked as he was confused why the owner of a big-time corporation would want to speak with him.
Powers smirked when Shreeve asked him that. "Well, I saw on the news about that man with vibrational gauntlets committing crimes throughout Gotham." Shreeve became nervous when he said that, but Powers waved his hands dismissively. "Relax, I'm not here to reprimand you, I'm actually here for something else."
"Like what?" Shreeve asked.
Powers smirked and held out his hand. "I heard your having problems with your company, so how would like to work for me?"
/
Hey everyone, and here is the next chapter!
I hope you guys enjoyed it as I felt like it could have been a bit stronger. I don't know, I'm glad I did this chapter, but I still felt like it could have been better.
Well at least we've got our first villain. Shocker is an okay villain and I felt like he'd be the perfect villain to test out our hero and get him to realize that with becoming a hero you're bound to attract some villains.
And I know that some of you are probably shocked that I didn't have good old Jameson as the head of the Gotham Gazette and be Nick's boss, but don't you worry all you J.J. fans, good old Jameson will appear in this story. You can't have Spider-Man without him. J.K. Simmons is one of my favorite J. Jonah Jameson's, who's yours?
Well, that's all I have to say for that everyone. I hope you enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to your response. See you next time everybody!