A/N: Hey ya'll, so here's Issue #2 of my Spider-Man story. I'm drawing from all Era's of Spider-Man comics and movies and games. I'm mixing in everything I know about Spider-Man into this story. I'm not the most knowledgeable on Spidey comics, so forgive me if I don't know every backstory and such. That being said, I am mostly making up my own backstory for these characters, as you might see with the Kingpin here. I'll have the story itself expand on that. The one thing I did want to talk about was the shipping. I'm debating on making this a harem/multi fanfiction or having Peter here with only one person. I'm ok with both those options, but I would like to hear from you. Anyway, sorry for this long Author's Note, I'll go away now.
"Great, instead of getting some answers all I got was more questions," sighed Peter as he lay his head against his desk at home. Peter had just returned from his little investigation and after a wonderful dinner with Aunt May, decided to try to figure out what had just happened. Grabbing his Spidey-book, he tried to connect events and times, faces to names, but all he had were loose threads.
"Okay, so a massive fire burns down a whole block and after everything settles down, a super-powered guy named Overdrive goes looking for something - a hard drive - which he manages to find. Apparently, someone named Kingpin was also looking for that drive." Peter sighed and leaned back on his chair while he toyed with a pen by sticking it to his finger and pointing it down.
"Kingpin… I haven't heard of him before. A new thug that thinks he's the next Maggia wannabe? Wait, the Maggia! I bet they know something, they run the streets after all. I'll go round up some crooks I know that work for them, maybe they can tell me something…".
Turning to look out his window, Peter yawned and stretched out his arms. "Eh, I'll go tomorrow, I need to catch up on some sleep." Peter stood up and as he reached to close his Spidey-book, he remembered what he had been working on recently. He flipped over to the pages that contained one of his many ideas and sat back down.
"This could've really helped me with that Overdrive guy back there. If I see him again, I wouldn't even have to chase after him. Hmm, maybe I should finish the design…".
It wasn't until 2:00 A.M that Peter finally went to sleep with a satisfied smile. On the desk, the finished prototype of his new Spidey-Tracker lay, waiting to be used.
The next morning, Peter surprised himself by actually catching the bus in time. He had forgotten the feeling of sitting in a crowded vehicle as teens talked and threw things at each other (more often in the direction of Peter than not), but it sure did beat wasting precious Spider-Fluid to get to school. As Peter stepped off the bus his phone vibrated. Checking his phone, Peter was surprised to see that Harry had messaged him.
'He's coming back three days earlier? Nice, but I wonder what happened? Mr. Osborn isn't the type to change his mind.' Thought Peter as a small smile graced his face.
"You should smile more."
Peter jumped as a sweet voice called out next to him. Peter turned to see his crush, Gwen Stacy, standing right next to him with her arms crossed over her chest.
'Eyes up! Eyes up!'
Peter gulped before giving out a weak "Hey…" and put his phone away. Gwen smiled and turned to walk ahead, signaling him to walk with her. Peter stumbled a bit (stupid spider-balance, where'd you go?) before catching up to walk slightly behind her. Peter's eyebrows rose in confusion. They had never talked before and even though Peter was all too happy to talk with her, he was still confused on why she would talk with him. They walked in silence for the next minute until Gwen finally stopped at her locker. She opened it and took out a sheet of paper from her folder.
Turning to face Peter, she handed the folder to him and said, "I'm starting a tutoring club and I want you to be in it. Inside you'll find the club form."
Peter accepted the folder and opened it. It was exactly as she said, a form to sign up as a tutor after school for those who needed it. "Wait, why do you want me?" asked Peter.
"Well, considering you're at the top of our school in grades, I figured you'd make a great addition to the team. Besides, this will be reflected in our transcript when we go to college and Dr. Otto said that it's a pretty good thing to have".
Peter thought about the offer. It would only be two times a week for three hours according to the form. It wasn't bad, but…
"But what? I see that look on your face. Think about it Pete, it's a great opportunity!" Gwen said as she finished putting stuff from her bag into her locker. Seeing that Peter was still hesitating, she went for the finishing move.
Leaning forward a bit, she made sure she had his attention, before continuing "Plus, we'll get to spend a lot of time together. I've always wanted to meet the guy whose keeping me from that #1 spot in grades."
Peter blushed as his eyes wandered towards her cleavage. Was she doing this on purpose? His eyes darted back towards hers as Peter blushed. "Sure!" he finally squeezed out after a brief pause.
"Yes! Thank you, trust me you won't regret it." Squealed Gwen as she gave Peter a hug. Realizing that she may have gone a bit too far, she backed away with a blush of her own.
"Make sure to turn that in to Dr. Otto, he'll be our supervisor. Thanks again Pete, see you around!"
Peter watched dumbstruck as Gwen waved bye, his blood still rushing to his head (both of them!).
"What did I just get myself into?"
By the time school was over, Peter was exhausted. He had gone ahead and turned in his application to Dr. Octavius who accepted him immediately. For the rest of the day, people were giving him weird looks and Peter just couldn't figure out why. Even Flash of all people avoided him today. If Harry were there, he would explain to Peter why everybody was acting strange, but he wasn't and Peter didn't have any other friends. Well, maybe Gwen was one. Maybe. But the only time he saw her was during lunch and she was with her group of friends, so Peter decided not to bother them.
The tutoring business wouldn't start until the next week so Peter decided to go on patrol before going home. It wasn't for long, he stopped two muggings and helped an old lady cross the street. Peter smiled and waved at onlookers taking pictures with their phones. The real sight-seeing would start after dark.
Peter changed to his normal clothes on a small rooftop near his home and walked the rest of the way. He soon reached his house but something made him pause. A moving truck was parked on his neighbors drive-way. Mrs. Anne Watson's house, and old friend of his Aunt. Shrugging his shoulders, Peter opened the door and greeted his Aunt, who was preparing something delicious. Peter kissed her cheek before asking, "What's with the moving truck at Aunt Anne's place?".
Aunt May kissed him back before giving him a secretive smile. "Oh it's nothing my dear. Anne's niece is moving in with her. She'll get here tomorrow night. I'm going to prepare a large welcome party, so make sure you're here by 8."
Peter rolled his eyes. He knew that tone of voice. His Aunt was playing matchmaker again. "I'll be sure to give her a good surprise then. I'm going upstairs to study, call me if you need anything."
"Dinner will be ready in an hour!" Peter heard as he climbed up the stairs. He entered his room and made sure to close and lock his door. Knowing that he would only be able to sneak out after eating dinner, Peter spent the next hour fabricating another Spidey-Tracker, bringing his total up to two. After a delicious dinner, Peter jumped out his bedroom window his iconic blue and red suit.
Most nights Spider-Man would swing throughout the city, stopping crime when he heard or saw something. However, tonight he was looking for specific criminals. The Maggia was an international crime syndicate, usually headed by families who vied for control over their regions. In New York, there were five families that dominated the scene. The Fortunato Family, the Nobili Family, the Rigoletto Family, the Silvermane Family, and the Nefaria Family. While not hostile with each other, the families rarely worked together and would deploy shadow wars with each other to quietly take control of each other's territories.
"While the heads of Families enjoy a life of luxury, it's the innocent families that face the consequences." Spat out Peter as he swung from building to building. He was headed to Hell's Kitchen, an area controlled by the Fortunato Family.
"I'll look around, see if I can catch any members of the Fortunato's, see if they know what's going on."
Five minutes later, Spider-Man was perched on a rooftop overlooking a decent chunk of Hell's Kitchen. He scanned the surrounding area for another few minutes before deciding to go to a different spot. Spider-Man would continue doing so for the next hour as he tried to find his next targets.
Matt Murdock was not having a good day. Things at his law firm Nelson and Murdock were not going well. Trying to start a law firm with no reputation in New York was a difficult thing to do, especially so since Matt nor Foggy (the Nelson in the name) had connections. Still, they had been trying their best and had even recruited a pretty assistant called Karen.
However, business was dry and Matt had been spending the entire day going door to door, offering his business card to whoever accepted it. It was late at night when Matt ran into trouble. He had just finished eating at a local restaurant and was heading back to his office when he was jumped.
The two thugs thought him easy prey, considering that he was walking around with a cane and red glasses at night. This allowed Matt to escape into an alley where he could beat them up without anyone in sight.
He stopped at the dead end, pretending to be scared. He heard them stop near him and slowly approach him.
"C'mon man, just give us all your stuff and you can walk away pain-free." Said the thug in the front. Matt scoffed in his head, he could "see" the crowbar in the man's hand. Meanwhile, the other thug was lagging behind, making sure that no one entered the same alley.
Matt decided to stay quiet and prepared to take down the thug in front of him. Just as he was about to launch himself to the man in front of him, he heard another heart-beat above them. A figure was hanging above them, watching. Next thing Matt "saw" was the man push out his arm and extend back towards himself. Surprisingly, the thug watching the alley-way was pulled into the air without making a sound. The figure then wrapped the thug in a cocoon of something on a light post, all without making a sound.
"Well, what's your choice blind man?" Said the thug in front of him, unaware that his partner had been incapacitated.
Seeing the figure above move in, Matt gave the man a smirk. "See you in court buddy."
The thug gave out a "huh?" before he was hoisted up into the air by non other than our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Spider-Man set the goon on the roof and webbed him to the floor before going back towards Matt.
"You alright there? Oh, you're blind right? Sorry, my name's Spider-Man, I can walk you out of here if you need help." Spidey said as he retracted his hand.
"Spider-Man? I've heard of you before. Thanks for the save and for the offer, but I can handle myself just fine."
Spider-Man gave a nod of acknowledgment, realized that he couldn't see the gesture, and gave an embarrassed "No problem". Right before he zipped away to the tied up goon above, he was stopped by Matt.
"Hey… Why do you do it? This hero business I mean?". Inside the mask, Peter blushed at being called a hero. As Spider-Man, he thought for a moment before giving an answer.
"Because it's my responsibility. One day I woke up with these powers and did nothing with them. I was selfish and arrogant and it cost me a loved one. That's when I realized that with great power, comes great responsibility. I could've prevented my uncle's death, but I wasn't there for him. So now, I vow to all people of New York that I will be there for them. That there is someone out there looking out for the small guys. It's my responsibility."
Matt listened to the surprisingly young voice and was secretly admiring this Spider-Man. He couldn't have been more than 18, not even an adult yet he was out here, fighting criminals. Matt gave Spider-Man a smile and reached into his pocket.
"Take this. It's my business card. If you ever run into any legal trouble, give us a call. I promise to to everything my team and I can to help you out."
Spider-Man accept the card before swinging away. Matt gave out a sigh as he thought about the young hero.
"Doing everything I can, am I? With great power… Comes great responsibility…"
Up above, Spider-Man finished interrogating the thug. He wasn't part of the Maggia, but he did know something worthwhile. Apparently the Maggia families were shaken up about something that happened recently. The five Maggia territories were going on the defensive. Most Maggia goons were told to wait for orders.
Finally, the thug said that someone called the Kingpin was gathering criminals. No one knew who he was and most didn't take him seriously, but perhaps he had something to do the Maggia's strange behavior. Spider thanked the man by not knocking him out cold, before webbing him up with his other goon. He called the cops to report a crime and left a note with the captured criminals - a smiling Spider-Man face - before heading home. It had been a long night.
On the way, Spider-Man saw a few cop cars heading to the same direction. "Weird, I wonder what's going on? My Spidey-Sense hasn't warned me of anything… I'll go check it out before turning in for the night."
So he followed the cop cars to what seemed like a scene of a crime. He perched on a nearby lamp as he tried to figure out what happened.
"Captain Stacy, nearby security camera's are all offline. Unfortunately, we have no idea who did this." A pretty Asian officer approached the so called Captain Stacy.
'Wait, Stacy? Blond hair, last named Stacy, couldn't be right?'
Captain Stacy nodded, "Understood Watanabe. Make sure the zone is cordoned off. I don't want any media inside until we figure out what happened." Watanabe gave her affirmative before running to check on the other officers. Captain Stacy sighed before he turned around and stared directly at our resident Spider-Man. Spidey froze at being caught and waved hello.
"Spider-Man, glad you could join us. Why don't you come down here, I have an offer for you."
Spider-Man stared at Captain Stacy in confusion. A member of the police offering to work with a known vigilante? 'It's a trap!' thought Peter. 'But my Spidey-Sense isn't going off… Maybe it's legit?'
Peter hesitated for a second before jumping down to the floor.
"What can this friendly neighborhood Spider do for ya Mr. Officer Sir?"
Captain Stacy chuckled before putting on a serious face. "We got a complaint about a foul smell coming from this house. My officers arrived on the scene and found the body of Abraham Brown. His body… well let's just say it was hard to identify him. Brown was let out of prison early two days ago on good behavior. We tried to contact his last remaining relative Hobbie Brown but we couldn't fin him."
Peter grimaced at the thought. "Well, what do you want me to do?".
"On the scene we found a card with the name Kingpin on it. I'm guessing that whoever this Kingpin is will give us answers. The only problem is we don't know who that is. Hell, we've never heard of a Kingpin before. I'm worried that this is another wannabe gangster who thinks he can bring back the good old Maggia glory days. Find this Kingpin, that's all we ask. We'll take care of the rest."
'Kingpin again. He sounds like a tough guy. Should I actually go looking for someone this dangerous? Sounds like I'm in over my head.' Peter debated over the decision in his mind. 'No, I have to do this. Just like I told that blind guy, with great power…'
"I'll do it. I'll find this Kingpin."
Captain Stacy gave a smile, one that seemed truly genuine to Peter. "You're a good person Spider-Man. No matter what the media says, know that some in the police force support you."
Peter smiled though his mask, feeling truly touched. Peter nodded and gave a salute. Stacy nodded and gave one back. Captain Stacy then turned around and yelled, "Watanabe, bring me the phone!". Watanabe came from out of no where and handed Captain Stacy a phone, which he then handed to Spider-Man.
"Take this, it's an untraceable phone. Corporal Watanabe here will be our liaison to you. If you find out anything, contact her."
Peter stared at Watanabe. She was an Asian-American lady, about 25 years old from what he could see. Peter thought she was quite beautiful, and was suddenly glad that she couldn't see his roaming eyes behind the mask.
Peter coughed and waved at her. "Nice to meet you Miss Watanabe, name's Spider-Man."
She ignored him and turned to Captain Stacy. "You sure this is a good idea? If the media or the police find out that we're working with a vigilante, a vigilante with pajamas no less ("Hey!"), they'll have us both fired."
Captain Stacy gave a smirk, "That's why they won't find out, right Yuri?". Yuri Watanabe sighed and nodded. "Yes sir.".
Turning back to Spider-Man, Stacy said, "I think it's best you go. Don't want to many people to see you talking to us. Take care Spider-Man, and thank you."
With that, Spider-Man zipped away with conflicting thoughts. Times are changing, the tides are shifting, and Peter didn't know if he was ready for the waves.
