"So the tree was over there, so the hill should be around here." Peter said to himself as he walked the streets of Manhattan.
He was trying to track down whatever Logan had left him, following the cryptic words he heard from Nightcrawler.
The spot where we became brothers.
That could only mean one thing. Awhile back, the two of them got caught in some time travel headache. Thugs with time diamonds, Mojo filming everything, and the Phoenix Force. It was a long, annoying ride, but they managed to pull out of it, and they thought they were going to settle in the cowboy period.
"Hmm. Where would this thing be?" Peter looks at the buildings up and down.
They've been enemies, allies, and pains in each other's rear for years. But at that point, with the old style of slitting palms and shaking hands, they became brothers.
That little trip had been erased shortly after, along with the memories of the woman who he thought he could have spent the rest of his life with. Only him and Logan remembered.
There was a small pain in his chest. They never talked about it afterward. He wondered if Logan still thought of him as a brother.
Taking a small alley, he left his senses on high alert.
What would be so important that he had left Peter Parker AND Spider-Man individual letters?
He suddenly came to a stop and cocks an eyebrow in amusement. "The Little Folk Pub? I believe I found the location."
In front of him, tucked in a little alley, a small watering hole. Just the kind of place Logan would hide a secret message. Shaking his head with a grin, Peter steps through the door.
The inside was dark with minimal light and a bit musty. Someone was asleep at a table in the corner. The rough looking bartender wiping out a mug with a dirty rag. All in all, fairly stereotypical.
The bar keep eyes Peter as he walks up to the bar and puts down the mug and rag.
"What do ya want?"
Peter flinches at the gruff voice and asks in an awkward tone, "a coke?"
The tender glares at him in silence until Peter changes his order to a light beer. In a bottle preferably.
As he gets the beer, Peter starts to try and get information out of him.
"Interesting place you got here."
"Been in my family for generations." He responds placing the beer in front of the younger man.
"Little Folk? Strange name."
"My gear great grandfather got the name from a strange friend of his."
"I bet," Peter says under his breath and takes a sip of his drink. "This might sound a bit strange but, did anyone leave-"
Peter was interrupted by the server putting a package in front of him. He gave the man a confused look.
"Logan told me to expect you if anything happened to him. Sorry to hear about that business, he was a good man."
Picking up the package he looks it over. "Told you to expect me?"
"Some dorky kid that sticks out in here like a sore thumb and would probably order anything but a beer." The bartender picks up his mug and rag and starts wiping again.
"Ah", Peter responds. Taking another sip and placing the mostly full drink down, he picks up the package. "Thanks for the beer." Peter leaves some cash and a bit extra for him and heads out.
The bartender takes the cash and puts it up. Turning back to his mug and rag, he notices the place is completely empty except for himself.
Peter walks with a package under his arm and grabs his new phone out of his pocket. His Spider-Sense tingle slightly, but he figured it was warning him of the rushing crowd around him.
Finding a number, he dials and puts it to his ear.
"Hey Matt. Ya I found it. No, I haven't opened it yet. Figured I'd wait till I was home, just in case. No, haven't heard anything from Laura yet."
The familiar tingle in the back of his head was starting to pick up. Maybe there was more than the lunch rush to be concerned about out here?
"Does anyone know where she is? Oh. Did Misty hear from her recently? Ah. Ok then, not much we can do besides wait."
The tingle was getting stronger. Time to make a move. Picking up speed, he headed for the next alley.
"Ya, I'm on my way straight home. Going to use a shortcut."
Off the sidewalk, Peter breaks out into a quick jog. The tingle was constant, so the mystery danger was still on his tail.
"Ok Matt, I'll see you there."
He hung up and, putting on a little extra speed, Peter zips around a corner.
The source of the danger breaks out into a run to catch up and turns the corner. At the sight of an empty alley, the figure stands and looks around. They look up and scan the rooftops around them. Finding nothing, the figure puts their hands in their pockets and casually leaves the alley.
Peter watches the figure, a rather successful looking business man in a designer suit, walk away. The improved Spider-Tracer scuttled back around the corner of the building it was on, and into the hand of Peter Parker. It shuts down and folds back into a half dollar shape. Peter pockets it and closes the app on his phone that let him look through the tiny camera on the tracer. The maiden run on his new tech seemed to be a success.
Hoping down off the wall, Peter turns in the opposite direction and makes his way home.
Whoever that was, they were fairly experienced. Most people don't tend to scan the rooftops. Either they knew who they were chasing after, or they're used to people making quick rooftop exits.
He'll have to keep a better eye out now.
Peter makes his way home, with no more extra tingles.
Why would a suit try and chase him down? Or was it not him they were after?
Peter holds the package a little more securely as he makes his way up the stairs.
After the long walk to the top, Peter pulls his keys out and goes to unlock the door. He's been around long enough to focus on his Spider-Sense in these situations. Don't want anyone ambushing him, especially since he gave that suit the slip.
He slips inside and locks the door back. Elektra greets him from the kitchen table, where she appears to be doing some maintenence on Daredevil's equipment. The "devil" himself is seen nearby, running his fingers over some papers, using his increased sense of touch to make out the letters and words the ink spells out.
"Hey Peter", Matt says, putting the papers back into a folder. They looked like some kind of legal work. "Any trouble?"
"It was weird", Peter begins his story. "I got this package from a bar where Logan stashed it. I was on my way back here, when I got some tingles. I ducked into an alley and gave them the slip. Looked like some corporate guy in a fancy suit tried to roll me or something."
"Think they were after the package?" Elektra adds get opinion while putting a billy club back together.
"I don't see what else they were after." Peter paused in remembrance. "He did look up and check the rooftops after I disappeared."
"Strange", Matt shared Peter's sentiment. "Normal people usually don't check above them."
Waving his hands above him in the air, Peter exclaimed, "I know! What's up with that?"
Elektra walked up and took a closer look at the package. "Matt?"
Nodding, Matt took the package from Peter and flipped it around, examining it with hightened senses.
Elektra turns to Peter. "So they didn't see you watching them?"
"Nope", Peter answered, taking out the folded tracer and his phone.
Putting the tracer on a table, Peter activates an app on his phone. The tracer unfolds into a mechanical spider. With another swipe on his phone, a small camera extends from the back of the little robot and aims at Elektra.
She turns from watching the robot to see her roommate holding his phone to her, with an image of herself looking away from the screen.
"Impressive", Elektra comments, watching Peter pack away the small device.
"Thanks. I used some of the tech I got from Pym. Guy has some interesting stuff." Matt had brought a box of random junk he got from Hank Pym, and Peter has been making use of it. No telling why he suddenly gave this stuff away. Maybe I'll drop in and have a talk with him soon, Peter thought.
"Hmm. Interesting", Matt said getting the attention from the other two. "It's a dense metal box. I can't determine what's inside it. But there seems to be some kind of lock on this side. It should be safe for you to open it Pete."
"Alrighty." Peter took it from Matt and peeled the paper and tape away. Sure enough, there was a metal box inside. On one side, there looked like some kind of strange lock that took some sort of triangular key.
Peter gave the lock some consideration, then gripped the box and tried to pull it apart. It was tough, so he applied a little more of his strength to it. Soon he was giving it everything he could while his roommates looked in amusement.
"Dang", Peter put the box on a table and stared at it. "Must be adamantium or something."
Elektra went to the bedroom she shared with Matt and brought back a small lock picking set. "I will try, but we will most likely need the key to this."
Peter turned to Matt for his opinion. "You think you can pick it?"
"I doubt it." The lawyer rubs his chin in thought. "The density of the metal prevents me from getting an accurate picture of the inside. If Elektra can't do it, then we'll need to find the key to this."
"A key then." Peter nods and checks the time on his phone. "It's almost time for Ems to get here. I'll ask her if she's seen Laura. My money is on her at least knowing where I can find the key to this. If Logan wanted me to talk to her, she might even have it."
"Good", Matt motions to his friend to follow him and let Elektra work. Matt walks into the kitchen and hauls himself up. Peter jumps straight up through it to land next to his friend, a bemused look on his face.
"Hiding secrets now Matt? That could be dangerous buddy", Peter tells him with a smirk.
"Just wanted to talk to you a bit." Matt takes a breath and begins. "So, you had some kind of mind tick?"
"Um, yeah. Something like that."
"And that's what's been behind your behavior over the year?"
"Some of it, yes. I'm not gonna lie Matt. I know I have problems, and I'm trying to work them out but-"
"Whoa whoa buddy, I'm not jumping on you or anything. I'm glad to have SOME kind of answer for all of this. It's just... a little strange don't you think?"
"Not really. Doc explained the where's and why's to me. By giving up a portion of my powers I pretty much rang the dinner bell for it."
"Ok, but who set the plate?"
Peter just watched his friend in confusion. After a few moments of silence, Matt continued on. "Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't attracting soul sucking magic monsters from another plane of existence sound a little outrageous, even for you?"
"Easy Red, you're drinking a little too much from the paranoia well."
"It's how I've stayed alive so long Pete." Matt replies with a grin. "I'm not saying there's someone out to get you Peter, but-"
"But I'd be an idiot not to consider it", Peter finished him with a sigh. And he had considered it.
But was he paranoid enough to think that someone sent that soul tick thing on him? If Uncle Ben hadn't shaken him out of his funk... had he come to him in his dream to warn him? Or to set him on the right path to get help? Maybe he'll talk to Emma about this. And maybe he can get the parts to finish another special project of his...
"Ok Matt, I get ya. I'll keep an eye out for more trouble."
"We both will Peter." Matt told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "And Elektra too. We're friends Peter. Friends have each other's back."
Peter let a smile cross his face. He DID have some good friends.
"And you're starting that new job next week, that'll add a little extra backup."
Peter thought of that. The special police extension of street based superheroes. The mayor wanted to call them the Knights of New York or something.
First step will be to work on the name.
"Yeah, they need to finish converting some old building into a headquarters for us." Peter couldn't wait. Actual WORK. And he'd be helping keep villains off the street.
"Yeah", Matt said trailing off at the end. He took another breath and looked seriously at Peter. "Actually Peter, there was another reason I led you up here."
Peter looked at his friend and waited for whatever he had on his mind.
"I need a favor."
-Abandoned Apartment-
"You can't do this." A redhead trapped in thick webs weakly told the figure in front of her. "You shouldn't have this kind of power."
"I have this power," the figure gestured to the large masses of spiders around him. "And more."
"The Spider will stop th-"
She was interrupted by the figure back handing her.
"I AM THE SPIDER!" The figure shouted at her. "HE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS POWER!" He grabs the sides of her head and forces her to look at him. "You know what that nerd did to us."
Through a bruised eye she follows a glinting light through the spiders coming toward them. "He will do what's right." A tear drops from a blue eye. "He always does." More tears are shed as she gets lost in her past.
A particularly large spider crawls up the leg of the figure, and over the doctor's cost he wore. Stopping on his shoulder, the glinting light is shown to be a scalpel it was carrying. Reaching up, the doctor figure grabs the blade and trails it against his captives face.
He leans in to whisper to her. "After I'm done, I'll be the only Spider. And you can be my queen. You'll have your pick of flesh sacks to have your children in."
He leans back and smiles a hideous smile at her. "And that nerd Parker will be taken care of."
-On the Street-
Wolverine stops her running to examine the scents of a random alley, ignoring the gawking faces of the people around her.
Walking further in, she takes several deep breathes through her nose and let's out a deep growl.
She was here. And so was he. But they left out of opposite ends. Why? Did she talk to him and leave? Did she get what she was after?
She pauses in thought.
Follow her and finally get some answers? Or track him down and maybe be able to give some instead?
She was too close now to give up. She follows the scent of the dangerous woman.
-A movie set-
A woman puffs out smoke and grinds the butt of her cigarette under her heel. She had quit them awhile back, but picked up the habit again recently.
"I blame him", she says to herself. It was easy to blame all her problems on him.
"Excuse me", her thoughts are interrupted by a feminine voice behind her.
"I don't give autogra-" She stops herself as the locks eyes with the statuesque blonde as she turns.
"Can I talk to you?" The blonde asks in a slightly nervous tone.
The smoker narrows her eyes at the woman. "Whatever he's done, I don't know and I don't want to know."
"Actually", the blonde stops her from walking away. "It's more like, what I haven't done yet. What i haven't told him"
The smoker eyes the other woman and adjusts her robe, showing entirely too much skin to her visitor.
"Well?" She prompts the blonde to continue. "Out with it. My "co-star" won't wait forever."
-Somewhere?-
The brunette man wakes up in a cold sweat. He hadn't had a dream like that since his body stopped breaking apart, cell by cell.
Looking around, he almost panics when he doesn't see the others he's picked up since trying to get back home.
He remembers where they are. Separate rooms, provided by the beautiful blonde he never thought he'd see again. In a mansion he'd never thought someone like him, (or someone he was like?) would ever be able to afford.
He almost wanted to stay. They were good to him. They understood where he, where all of them came from, and opened their arms to them. And when the little boy, their son Richard, came and called him uncle, he almost lost it.
But this wasn't his world. And as much as it hurt, they weren't his family.
And this dream. It changed things.
His Spider-Sense was supposed to be gone, along with the nightmare glimpses in the future. But what he saw, couldn't have been anything else but a warning.
His family, all of them were in trouble. Just because they were connected to his brother.
This abomination of the weird Spider-Totem thing they were connected to, will track down everyone and devour their lives.
"Not on my watch." He says to himself. He looks over at the clock beside him. Almost breakfast. Time for one more family meal before he gets to work.
Protecting his "little brother" was a responsibility he picked up some time back. Back when he wasn't in his right mind. But, even if his brother admitted it or not, he needed help.
"Hmph." He let out a small chuckle over a memory that popped into his head. He grabs a shirt that was given to him and heads for the door.
"Parker Bros, away..."