The police were closing in, so it was time for him to get out of there.
"Don't worry, fellas! It's just a couple of medium-time drug dealers, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" Really, he ought to just get that printed on a card. He swung off the pavement into the air, gliding through the spaces between buildings, leaving the police to deal with the criminals webbed to the seats of their car, the illegal substances they sold for profit waiting in the trunk to be collected as evidence.
For the first time in a while, Peter felt genuinely happy. He was helping the police, he was actively making New York City a better place, he had paid the rent on his apartment for the next three months, his kitchen was filled with groceries, and he had remembered to clean out his refrigerator. Life was good, and he couldn't help but grin beneath his mask as he sailed through the open air.
Wait. Were those gunshots in the parking lot below him?
He lowered his webbing when he took aim this time, swinging down for a closer look.
A parking lot with several shiny cars, one in the process of being dismantled. A man projecting a circle of flames to surround two figures. Two others, a man with silver skin and one who was normal, stood by the one with the fire.
What was going on?
"Hey!" Peter shouted, swinging closer to the ground and delivering a forceful kick to the stomach of the one manipulating the fire. But the instant he did, he found himself tackled to the ground so quickly that the air rushed out of his lungs, his head smacking against the hard surface. The impact left him dazed and wheezing as he was forced to the pavement, held down by firm foot on his back.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the flames fizzle out, and the two men who had been trapped by the fire ran off, shouting obscenities.
The remaining allies of the fire fiend hastened to Peter and his captor.
"God, J.P.!" The normal one exclaimed. "You can't just attack superheroes! People will think that you're a terrorist!"
"He was attacking Sin," Peter heard a low but clear voice say with an undercurrent of impatience.
"Yeah, but what gives you the right?" The first voice persisted.
The weight from his back was removed, and Peter found himself being assisted to stand. The man with the metallic skin was helping him.
"I am sorry about this mess," the metallic man said in a deep voice with a Russian accent. His face shifted, and his skin abruptly transformed into that of a regular human, revealing that he was actually a normal teenager, if a bit larger and more muscular than average. "This was a misunderstanding. Please accept our apology."
Peter had mostly recovered by now, and he could see that the two in front of him were young teenagers. "Yeah, sure, buddy. You want to explain what's going on?" His spider-sense wasn't alerting him to any danger at the moment, but he needed an explanation for this. His apprehension increased when the fire-projector joined their little group.
"So here's what happened," the always-normal teen began. "We were trying to take a shortcut, and we saw a couple delinquents trying to break into a car. We stopped them."
"By using my fire," said . . . the one who had used fire. He had blonde and wore charming smile. "I think you thought I was terrorizing them, though."
"Well, yeah," Peter said pointedly. "You had them enclosed by a wall of flames.
"It was necessary," said final member of the group.
Peter blinked. Though it was the voice of the one who had tackled him, Peter didn't remember when he had joined their little huddle. He was a teenager like the rest of them, but was strangely beautiful in a manner that struck Peter as more than a little bit eerie.
"How exactly do you have superpowers?" Peter questioned.
"We're mutants," said the blonde.
"No way," Peter said, impressed. "I always thought that was just an urban legend."
"I had the same thought about you," the pretty one returned, with a smile that may have been intended as friendly but was reminiscent of a shark just before it devoured a cute, little baby seal.
This comment earned him exasperated looks from his three compatriots, but he seemed unabashed.
"Jean-Paul is totally sorry about tackling you," the always-normal teenager told Peter. He was nudging the pretty one, apparently Jean-Paul, with his elbow, though this produced little effect beyond bringing an annoyed expression to Jean-Paul's face. "He only did it to protect us."
"Yes, that's all good and well," Peter said. "But shouldn't you kids be in school?"
"We ditched," Jean-Paul said flatly. This statement alarmed the others, and wary expressions descended upon their faces.
The more Jean-Paul spoke, the more Peter was reminded of Mr. Spock, who he resembled in appearance and manner, with all the warmth and personality of Seven of Nine. Perhaps he was an illegitimate lovechild of the two.
Peter shook his head and decided to go with a few stock phrases. He really didn't know how to talk to teenagers these days, with their weird techno music and sparkly vampires. "That's not a good idea. Education is very important. You need to do well in school in order to get to a good college. Besides, school teaches you the value of hard work- "
His Fantastic Four communicator beeped, cutting him off. Someone else needed his help now. "Listen I have to go. But stay in school, don't ditch, don't take shortcuts down alleyways, and leave crime-fighting to the professionals, you hear?"
"Loud and clear," Jean-Paul answered, his tone slightly bitter.
"Okay, then skedaddle. Get to a better part of town, one with a lot of people," Peter told them. "And stay there for the rest of the day." He raised his arm and shot webbing at billboard some thirty feet away.
"See you," said the always-normal one as they cleared away to allow him space.
"Don't do drugs or drink and drive," Peter advised, remembering a few of the most important warnings an adult could give a kid just in time before he swung off to help Johnny Storm battle villains. "And be respectful to your elders!"
If he had stuck around for a little bit longer, he would've seen the three of them send Jean-Paul pointed looks at his departing words.
Author's Note: Sorry about Spider-Man. I didn't quite know how to write him because I'm not very familiar with the character. Plus, that one time when he sold his marriage to the Devil really confused me. I still don't quite know what to think about him, but I wanted him in the fic because his character is so iconic.
BTW, in this story's AU, not everybody is aware that mutants exist yet.
And Jean-Paul a.k.a. Northstar features prominently alongside Bobby in my story "Speechless", in case anybody's interested.