Parker Residence, Forest Hills, Queens
Peter's view when he opened his eyes was a very strange one. The beige carpet in his room was under his head below him while he sat on the pale blue ceiling. His biology book was stuck to his hand although it hung limply. It took Peter a few blinks to realize he had actually fallen asleep on the ceiling. After consoling his aunt and pondering on Richard Fisk's offer, Peter ascended to his room and had spent the night studying. He found it to be more comfortable to study and read upside down. And somehow, he fallen asleep up here.
Weird...Peter thought to himself.
Peter heard the door to his aunt's room squeal softly as it opened and he flipped from the ceiling. He landed like a feather onto the ground and pretended to be making his bed as his dear aunt knocked on his door and then cracked it open.
"Peter?" she said. Peter peered over his shoulder.
"Yes?" he said as innocently as he could muster. Aunt Mae gave him a questioning look and then glanced up at the clock. Peter followed her eyes and then his own widened. He was almost an hour behind schedule. He had only half an hour to get to school in time for his midterms. Aunt Mae moved out of his way as Peter rushed out of the room with his towel in hand.
Peter's shower was flourish of water and soap, quickly scrubbing every part of his body that he could in five minutes. As he leapt out of the shower, he webbed his towel over into his hand and dried himself off. When he got to his room, he piled layers of clothes on his body, paying no attention to whether or not the colors matched or not. He stuffed his books into his bag and whirled around the room quickly to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. After his quick assessment, he slid down the railings. Aunt Mae reached out to hug him and Peter gave a quick one-armed hug before he ran out.
"Have a good day..." Aunt Mae said, her voice fading behind Peter as he sprinted down the street. He almost forgot how weird he looked racing down the street at nearly seventy miles an hour and slowed up as he approached downtown. Peter glanced down at his watch and sucked his teeth. At this rate, he'd never make it. Looking around quickly, the young man ran into an alley and scaled the wall in a single jump, flipping elegantly onto the roof. Up here, his identity would be safe. Even with Spider-Man in New York, nobody ever bothered to look up.
Peter raced across the rooftops, pushing himself to maximize his speed. The world became a blur of colors and the wind screeched in his ears as he sailed through the air. The adrenaline pumped through Peter's body as he leapt across a gap between the buildings that was the width of an entire avenue. Peter almost would've yelled out in excitement if he hadn't been so stressed out about making it to class on time.
Peter landed on his feet and rolled, never breaking his stride as he continued to race across the rooftops, spurting out webs to propel him forward. The sound of a car's wheels screeching down the street drew Peter's attention down to the avenue. A man ran screaming after the car, waving his hands for someone to help him. Peter sighed and shook his head. You've got to be kidding me...
Peter glanced down at his watch. He had about five minutes left. Peter had no time to play around with a car thief, especially not at seven-thirty in the damn morning. He'd stop the car, but he'd do it quickly and rather sloppily. He hoped that the street cleaners would be ready. Peter leapt forward over several buildings and sprayed a web line down onto the rear bumper of the speeding car. Peter felt himself getting jerked forward by the car so he wrapped the webs around his hand pulled the car back as hard as he could. With his other hand, Peter sprayed another thick web line and pulled, tying the two webs in his hand together before spraying another line. After those had been tied together, Peter dove down from the building, attaching the webs to the side.
Peter dove out of the sight of the curious audience and leapt across to the Midtown High rooftop, landing elegantly. He looked over onto the football field to make sure nobody would see him as he jumped down. Peter didn't really have much time to be careful though. He flipped down to the ground and raced inside of the back door. As Peter hit the halls, he was shocked. Even this close to class time, the hallways were crowded with students trying their hardest to get to class on time. All of them were failing miserably. Peter looked up at the clock on the wall. He had a minute at the most. Peter sighed.
He gathered as much strength as he could reasonably muster in this situation and pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the cries of "Watch it, asshole!" and "What the shit!?" as fought his way to the stairwell. Peter slipped through the door and ran up the steps, taking massive bounds upwards until he reached the second floor. A well-practiced move, Peter almost slid down to his classroom door and shoved his hand into the crack of the door as it began to close. Miles Warren's bespectacled face met Peter's and the black boy grinned awkwardly.
"You're late." Mr. Warren said coldly.
"It is really crowded downstairs. You start your exams earlier than any other teacher in the school." Peter said. Mr. Warren's face looked like he was straining. It had just occurred to Peter that Warren was trying to close the door in his face. Peter smirked as his Biology teacher finally realized that he was losing and pushed his glasses up. Exhaling sharply, Mr. Warren relented and Peter entered the classroom. Mary Jane sat to his left, a white smile gently shining on her face. Peter quickly went for his seat next to his girlfriend while Mr. Warren closed the door.
The look Warren gave Peter spoke volumes. I genuinely despise you, you little prick. Peter felt uncomfortable under his gaze, much more so when he realized Warren wasn't the only one staring at him. Across the room, another pair of eyes watched him with the predatory intent of a feline. Felicia Hardy's emerald green eyes spat flames at Peter and he had to look away. She was still hurt by what he had said to her. How couldn't she be? Peter wondered what she was thinking now as she glared at him.
"Alright, now that everyone is finally here...your mid-term will encompass every piece of material you've learned in class and should've read on your own. The exam is fifty short answer questions with an essay at the end. You have an hour and thirty minutes." Mr. Warren said as he began to pass out the exam. Groans slowly started to rise around the class with silent prayers being lifted to heavens as the exam papers made their way around the class. Peter glanced over at MJ. She shot him a thumbs up and Peter let out a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to cheat for her. The biology exam settled itself on Peter's desk and he stared down at the first question...
FiskTech Headquarters, Head Office
Richard Fisk's morning usually consisted of a quick workout, a massage from one of his male assistants and perhaps more if the mood was correct. Today, however, Richard's morning had been nothing but research and phone calls. Azuma Gōda had laid down the gauntlet and now, every second that ticked by could be Richard's last. The Hand worked quickly and absolutely. Whenever Azuma gave the kill order, Richard knew his life would be over. He had to strike first.
Every shred of information Richard could find on the history of the Hand was consumed, absorbed and rehearsed inside his mind while he formulated a plan of attack. All around the city, he had people working to locate any members and where they might be going. His success had seemed to diminish hourly. His informants either found nothing or never reported. This game Richard found himself caught up in was becoming progressively more dangerous and closer to home than he'd like. Every plan that he found himself creating was reckless. His options were dwindling with every dead informant. It'd only be a matter of time before Azuma Gōda made his way back here to rip New York from Fisk's hand.
Richard slammed his fist onto his desk, causing the cleaner in his office to raise her head in alarm. Richard smiled politely, despite his frustration.
"Didn't mean to startle you." he said apologetically. The cleaner nodded and grinned.
"You seem stressed." the cleaner said. Richard sighed and rested his face on his hand.
"More than you'd believe." Richard replied.
The cleaner continued to grin widely, dumping trash into the larger bin and sweeping some dust into a corner. For the first time, however, Richard noticed something. He didn't know this woman. Richard had made a point of meeting everyone that worked in his building, even waiting until night shifts. He knew their faces and names. He had that attention to detail that his father lacked. Richard narrowed his eyes.
"Excuse me." he called to the cleaner. The woman turned her head to face him. Richard kept his polite smile while he started to reach under his desk for his Beretta, Rose. "I don't think we've met before. What's your name?" The woman held Richard's gaze and her grin widened while her expression darkened. The woman licked her lips.
"Te...de...shi..." she said. The woman drew a straight steel sword from inside of the broom shaft and leapt across the room. Richard Fisk drew Rose from under his desk and fired two silenced shots at the woman. The assassin rolled in the air to avoid the gunfire that tore through the ceiling. Fisk spat as the woman landed on her feet and ran towards him, swinging her sword down. The blade sliced into the wooden desk and Fisk frowned. Thousand dollar mahogany wasted.
Fisk fired another point-blank shot at the woman but she moved her head in time enough to yield her shoulder. The bullet ripped through her, but no sign of pain showed on her face. Just that eerie grin she possessed. The woman's sword rose out of the desk, sending splinters flying. Richard attempted to kick the desk forward into the woman's chest, only to push himself backwards. His damn father must've had it nailed down. The female assassin smirked as she launched herself towards Richard, driving her sword downwards.
Fisk leapt from his chair as the assassin's sword plunged into it and then kicked the chair as hard as he could. The sword was snatched away from the woman and she turned on Richard with an odd look of amusement. She wouldn't be finding any of this funny when Richard put a bullet in her head. Richard fired more shots from Rose, but the woman was too fast. She ducked behind the desk and then rose again and jumped over to Richard.
The woman was surprisingly strongly and she easily managed to pin Richard's wrists to the ground with her hand and foot. Her grin grew wider as she stared down at Richard. Richard tried his best to remain calm and think. There had to be a way out of this. Even as the assassin began to whisper the words that she had muttered when he asked for her name, Richard remained calm.
"Te de shi. Te de shi. Te de shi. Kemono ni teikyō." she said as her hand slipped behind her back to draw a long, serrated knife from its sheathe. Richard almost laughed. As sloppy as this broad daylight assassination attempt had been, he had still not be smart enough to avoid it.
The glass window behind Richard shattered and the woman on top of him was thrown off. Richard laid on the ground as he listened to the fighting that was occurring in his office. The female assassin was screaming obscenities in Japanese while whatever had flung itself into the room fought her. Richard grinned. It must've been Spider-Man. The young man under the mask probably placed some kind of device in his office to monitor sound and spy on him in case he needed to keep him alive or stop his "nefarious" plans. He had made a great move in that case. He had just saved his life.
There was a slight squeal from the female assassin followed by a sickening crack and Richard sat up on the floor quickly. A cloaked figure stood in the room, completely shielded from the soft gray light of the winter sky that entered the room. In his hand was the female assassin, her head twisted with several of her vertebrae jutting from the side of her neck. With a form of the contempt, the figure tossed the woman's body to the ground. Richard frowned. This was most definitely not Spider-Man. Richard's disappointment was only tempered by the fact that this figure had just saved his life.
"Thank you." Richard breathed. The figure didn't turn. He just grunted.
"You're alive. Good." the figure's voice was deep and guttural...also crazed. Richard heard the figure exhale. "I need you to do something...for me." Richard Fisk sighed.
Of course you do. Richard thought. The red-haired man shook his head. "I need something from you as well. Answers to some questions that happen to be buzzing around in my head right now. First, who are you? Second, how'd you come to my office at just the right time?" The giant figure twitched and Richard could hear whispers as if this cloaked individual was talking to himself.
"My name...is Mr. Nogg. I suspected that the Hand would...be here to kill you. You're their only competition." Nogg growled.
"Then why save me?" Richard Fisk asked. Nogg twitched again, whispered to himself and then spoke.
"Because I hoped that you...would be more willing than the Hand. I went to Gōda with the proposition that I'm...going to present to you." Nogg said. Richard Fisk raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of proposition? Considering you just saved my life..." Richard Fisk asked. This time, Nogg didn't whisper to himself or twitch. In fact, his words had never been more clear.
"I need Spider-Man to be brought to me. I have a particular stake in his life. I know where to find him and how to get him to come." Nogg said.
"If you know all of that...why not simply get to him on your own?" Richard asked. Nogg turned his head fractionally and Richard could see the glowing golden eyes under the shadow of his hood.
"My plan for him...only works if he's unprepared for what he will face. Which he will not be." Nogg said, half cackling.
"And if I refuse?" Richard asked.
"You don't want to. With or without you, I will get to him. But, if you help me, I won't kill you when I'm finished with him." Nogg said. Richard chuckled. This was an offer he couldn't refuse.
"Alright...I'll help you. But, there's one thing that I need for you to do for me." Richard stood up and dusted off his suit coat. "The Hand organization's expansion into New York is a problem. I do realize that searching for every Hand agent would be too much to ask...but Gōda managed to get an agent in my organization and in my office. I need him dead." Richard said. "Do that...and I'll help you with your plan for Spider-Man." Nogg's chuckle turned into a cackle before it settled down.
"Very well, Fisk. You will have their heads." Nogg growled as he leapt through the same hole in the glass window that he had appeared from. Richard Fisk crossed his arms and rubbed his head. It wasn't even noon yet and already he was surrounded by an enormous mess.
New Midtown High School, Cafeteria
"I swear to God I nerved the hell out of that test." Peter said as he rubbed his temples. Mary Jane sat at his side rubbing his shoulder while Peter felt like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He had completed three tests today but Dr. Warren's had been troubling him since he finished it.
"Sweetheart, I'm pretty sure that's not even possible. Science is your strongest subject." Mary Jane said calmly. Peter shook his head.
"No, no. I know. That's why I couldn't have done as badly as I did. Hell, now Warren will really be on my ass about my tardiness. It's like I can just ignore the assholes that crime in the morning. Like who decides to steal a car at seven in the morning? Who tries to rape a woman in an alley at seven in the morning? Don't these people have to wipe rheum out of their eyes first before they go around harassing people?" Peter said. Mary Jane reared away from him. Peter turned and saw her hazel eyes looking down at him.
"Peter...what in the world is 'rheum'?" she asked.
"Oh, sorry. Uh, rheum is the thin mucus that's discharged from your eye, mouth or nose during sleep. It'll become crust as it dries. We call it 'sleep' for some reason." Peter said. Mary Jane looked at him with a strange mixture of confusion and attraction. Peter could only look back at her and watch as she smiled.
"You are such a nerd." she said as she shook her head and then kissed Peter on his forehead. "I'm sure you did fine on the exam. What questions did you think you missed?" Mary Jane asked. Peter hunched his shoulders.
"Just one." he said sheepishly.
"Peter...you're sitting here having a nervous breakdown over one question?" Mary Jane asked. Peter looked up and nodded.
"Yeah. I never feel unsure about a question. I don't even know if that was something we studied or was in the book." Peter said. Mary Jane looked down at him and then suddenly, she nodded, mouthing 'Oh." Peter heard her giggle and he frowned. "What's so funny?" Peter asked her. MJ held her hand over her mouth and sighed.
"Peter...you missed a random extra credit question that had absolutely nothing to do with biology. It was about Dr. Warren's life." Mary Jane said. Peter stared forward and then slapped his forehead.
"Well, of course I wouldn't know that crap. When did he ever talk about his life?" Peter asked. Mary Jane shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe before a giant lizard smashed a hole into the side of the school and had a battle with Spider-Man in the gym and football field." Mary Jane said.
Peter nodded. He remembered that day quite well. The big game bounty hunter Sergei Kravinoff had tracked Peter to his school and was about to capture him only for Connors to ambush them. The three of them then barreled through the wall into the gym. After that, it had been a hard fought battle against the giant reptilian until he had beaten him down to the point where his reptile physiology won over. He and Sergei had been taken by Peter's godfather, Nick Fury, to a S.H.I.E.L.D prison. He hadn't spoken to Fury since.
Mary Jane rested her head on Peter's shoulder and rubbed his chest. "You know after this, we get to go home." she said softly. Peter sighed.
"What the hell is wrong with Midtown's midterm schedule? At this rate, we'll still be in school come Christmas." Peter said. Mary Jane shrugged.
"Well, tomorrow will probably be our last day. Just three more exams and we'll be free for the Winter Break." MJ smiled. Peter nodded. Though he loved learning, he hated the high school experience. Being free for a few weeks would make his heart glad. Peter looked down at MJ and grinned.
"So, do you want to come over and study when we leave?" Peter asked. Mary Jane smirked, a twinkle flickering in her eye.
"Study or 'study'?" she asked. Peter felt the shiver of arousal.
"Either one. As long as you're there with me." Peter said. Mary Jane smiled at him and kissed him. For a moment, Peter almost forgot that they were sitting in the cafeteria at school. Only when he finally opened his eyes to look into Mary Jane's did he remember where exactly he was. Peter reluctantly pulled away from Mary Jane and the beautiful redhead smiled at him, flipping her bangs to the side. Peter continued to stare in awe at her until a flash of platinum blonde caught his eye.
Felicia Hardy was speed walking out of the cafeteria and Peter felt a pang in the pit of his stomach. She must've saw them. Peter sighed. He hadn't seen Felicia in a couple of days and now, he was once again reminded of how he had hurt her. No matter how morally right his decision had been to reject Felicia's advances, he had still ended up hurting someone he considered close to him. Guilt plagued him and it must've clearly shown on his face.
"Peter?" Mary Jane said softly. "Are you okay?" Peter glanced over at her and shook his head. As he stood up, Mary Jane looked up at him.
"I...I'll be right back." Peter said. He didn't wait for her to try and protest. His feet led him after Felicia and through the cafeteria doors. He saw her standing at her locker, perusing through whatever contents were inside. Peter took in a deep breath. He didn't know how she'd react to him approaching her. Hopefully, she wouldn't cause too much of a scene.
Before Peter could even close the distance between them, Felicia whirled around on him. Peter hadn't seen such contempt in her emerald green eyes since they took down Fisk together only days prior. Peter felt a cold shiver down his spine as she stared him down. For a brief moment, Peter was lost for words. He didn't need to speak. Felicia's actions answered every question he could've thought to ask.
From around the corner, Peter saw the familiar face of Flash, grinning from ear to ear as he strode between Felicia and Peter. He casually bumped Peter to the side and walked away with his arms wrapped around the platinum blonde girl. Quickly though, the jock turned around and flashed a smile at Peter. When he had turned his head, Felicia turned hers. Her eyes said it all. It was almost the exact same message that Warren's eyes had given.
Fuck you. I hate you.
Unknown Location
Azuma Gōda sat with his legs kicked up on the arms of his chair he had imported from Japan. He smirked. It had been the best couple of months for him. The coup against the former leader of the Hand, Junzo Muto, had gone well, propelling Gōda upwards to the prestigious leader of the organization. Bloody revolutionary takeovers were common in the history of the Hand. Almost every leader and deposed when his leadership was questioned. In Gōda's mind, Muto had been leader for far too long. Several Hand agents had sided with Muto and escaped. Gōda's agents and informants had tracked some of them to this illustrious city of New York. It was full of crime. Scum roamed the streets doing whatever they pleased. There were hurt people everywhere desperate to get revenge...and the Hand would be here just for that. Gōda's plan was simple. If they could pay the price, he'd deal with their problems. If they couldn't, they'd pledge lifelong loyalty to his organization. He'd make more money and increase his army.
However, Gōda had absolutely no mind to compete and that's where Richard Fisk presented a problem. Richard Fisk was not like his father. Wilson had relied on the Hand in the past to do his dirty work. Richard, however, proved to be more hands on. If his take down of the Enforcers that betrayed his father and the rat Foswell that snitched was any indication, the young Fisk wasted no time and played no games. As polite and sweet as the man was, when it was time to move, he moved. The man had been amassing some kind of armed guard force the size of a private military corporation. It was under the nose of the public and kept off the books, but the agent Gōda had placed in FiskTech had gathered all the information that he needed. He'd kill Fisk before he had the chance to extend his range across the city. His agent would see to that.
Azuma's eyes caught movement in the darkness near the entrance to his throne room. He frowned and narrowed his eyes.
"Come out, intruder. You can either walk out or pieces of you will roll out." Azuma said nonchalantly. There was silence and Gōda waved his hand. Instantly, eight assassins appeared out of the shadows with swords drawn. Azuma pointed to the location of the sound and the eight assassins flashed forward. Almost on cue, whatever had moved near the entrance of the room burst forward.
The shape was as black as the shadows that surrounded it and Azuma's assassin's rushed forward to deal with him. To Gōda's horror, the silhouette was faster than his assassins. The first two that approached it were grabbed and killed while they screamed, the sound of their bones breaking echoing through the throne room. Even Azuma's eyes struggled to catch up. But his ears heard everything. All around him, his assassins were being snuffed up. Heard shouts of "Obake! Obake!" coming from around the room.
Monster, they shouted. Monster.
Azuma Gōda slowly unsheathed his own sword, although he almost instantly realized how futile his attempt to fight and save himself would be. The figure left the shadows, his dark cloak colored purple by the moonlight. The massive figure, clearly a male humanoid, stepped forward with his golden eyes gleaming under his hood. Azuma's mouth dropped.
"You." he hissed. The figure grinned, revealing sharpened teeth between his lips.
"I told you...what would happen if you refused. You die." the figure growled, jumping forward. Azuma attempted to unsheathe his sword and bisect the monster. But he was much too late. The figure grabbed him up by his neck and lifted him into the air. The monster's golden eyes bore into Azuma and the Japanese man closed his eyes as he accepted his fate. He felt the grip around his neck tighten until the breaking of bones and the tearing of skin ended in abrupt silence.
Next, Attack The Heart