Kuri handed Peter a box of his possessions. "You'll do great living with Harry."
"You really think I can do this...moving out?" Peter said.
"I've known you for years Peter. You're awesome." Kuri kissed his cheek.
Peter blushed and went downstairs.
"Are you sure about this, Peter?" Aunt May said. "College, a job, your own place...You're not Superman, you know."
Peter and Kuri laughed together.
Xxx
A cop was beating a teenager with his nightstick hard. His partner watched and smoked a cigarette.
Two web strands flew out and grabbed the nightstick and yanked it out of his hand.
The Cop whirled around. Spider-Man clung to the side of a building behind him, upside down.
"Stop it I'm a cop!" Cop said.
Webbing hit his mouth.
"In the world of good cop, bad cop, you are definitely a bad cop." Spider-Man said.
The Cop fumbled for his gun, Spider-Man turned, crawled up the building. The Cop fired, two shots that chinked off the brick where Spider-Man was, but he was already swinging off into the darkness.
In the moment of distraction, the Teenager got to his feet and started to run.
He was caught by Miko.
"Now now dear. Let's see to those injuries." Miko leaned in and kissed the teen's cheek. A spiraling glow of silver light surrounded him and his bruises and bumps were healed by her sacred energy.
Xxx
The Daily Bugle showed a front page picture of the angry Cop, next to the headline: "SPIDER-MAN AND MIKO HELP CROOK ESCAPE!"
Jonah Jameson lowered the paper, saw Robbie glaring at him.
"You know that isn't true." Robbie said.
"That's why we put quotes around it!" Jameson said.
Other staffers glowered at him. They didn't like it either.
"If you all love him so much, GET ME A PICTURE!" Jameson said.
Xxx
Kuri helped Peter move into his apartment. Harry and Reiko were fixing up his room, and Kuri looked over and smiled as she caught them making eyes at each other.
"Look there." Kuri said to Peter.
"You think they're..." Peter said.
"Sure enough." Kuri laughed.
Peter looked at her and chuckled.
Kuri put a camera on the table and fiddled with it. "There we go. Now it'll be perfect for your new job."
"Thanks to you." Peter said.
"Don't mention it." Kuri stuck her tongue out.
Xxx
Up on a rooftop, a web strand shoots into the corner of a building cornice, holding the camera in place.
A red and blue webbed glove reaches into the frame and selected a shutter setting.
Through the viewfinder, a camera's eye view of the rooftop, looking slightly down over the city. The word "automatic" flashed in red in the corner of the frame.
Suddenly Spider-Man came swinging into frame, and Miko shimmered into view, right toward the camera, dangling dramatically from a web strand. The shutter clicked.
"You owe me one." Miko said disdainfully, shimmering away.
Xxx
The resultant photograph was an action shot of Spider-Man and Miko. A hand flipped past it, to another, and another- all good shots, swinging shots, flying shots, web-shooting shots.
Jonah Jameson looked up, trying to hide his enthusiasm. Peter stood across his desk.
"Good shots right?" Kuri grinned at Peter.
"They sure are." Peter grinned
"Where'd you get these?" Jameson said.
"If I tell you that, you'll send your own photographer next time. This is my job." Peter said.
"No jobs! Free lance, Perky, best thing in the world for a man your age, don't get tied down! I'll give you a hundred bucks for the lot." Jameson said.
He turned and left his office. Peter followed.
"A thousand or we walk!" Kuri demanded.
Peter looked at her gratefully.
"Dammit Kuri! Fine, Fine. You win. Hoffman. HOFFMAN!" Jameson said.
Hoffman, a tired guy, looked up from his cubicle.
"Cut a check to Peter Porker for a thousands dollars, less taxes-" Jameson said.
Peter turned to Hoffman. "It's Parker, P-A-R-"
"-social security, and voluntary contribution to that charity my wife likes." Jameson said.
"Sir, if you could just put me on the payroll, see, I really need the insurance I'd get with a full-time job, my aunt has this condition she-" Peter said.
"Insurance?! What are you, a photographer or a claims adjuster?! What happened to hard drinking and Australian bush hats and lying to foreign women? Stick around, Kid, I'll make a journalist out of you, hell, HOFFMAN!, remind me to send him some Christmas meat, NOW GET ME MORE PICTURES!" Jameson said.
The Daily Bugle displayed one of Peter's dramatic shots of Spider-Man and Miko, over the
headline: SPIDER-MAN AND MIKO: HERO OR MENACE?! exclusive photos!
Xxx
Three police cars screeched around a corner and squealed to a stop outside a jewelry store in the diamond district. An alarm bell rang, the front window of the store was smashed-and three thieves were suspended above the doorway, trapped, squirming in a web-net that dangled from a lamppost.
The first cops leapt out along with Kuri and stood underneath, staring up in amazement. As they entered the scene, the window repaired itself and the money flew from the thieves pockets back into the registers.
The image was in the The Daily Bugle, Next to the headline: WHO RUNS THIS TOWN?! Cops Powerless Against Spider-Man and Miko
Xxx
Robbie looked at Jonah. "How come you hate him so much?"
"Because he's a vigilante! Thinks he's above the law! What if he turns against us someday?! It's just a matter of time! Look at him! Look at those eyes!" Jameson said.
They looked up at a picture of Spider-Man and Miko, a grainy blow up of their faces, his wicked white jack o'lantern eyes staring straight out at them, and her Mardi Gras mask mocking them.
"Is there a man alive who could give those lunatics a fight?" Jameson said