Spider-Man: Year One- A Spider-Man Fanfiction

Summary: Lonely sophomore Peter Parker was the most gifted student at Midtown High, until one day when a bite from a genetically modified spider turned him into something else. Now, he's just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Follow his journey. Rated Teen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man or Disney's Haunted Mansion ride.

Chapter Seven

Peter was quite glad for his webs at the moment, not only because he could avoid the panicked rush away from the crime scene, but he could get an aerial view of the conflict before he got there. Settling down onto a roof over looking the scene, he was able to place his camera in a good position to get some pictures and survey the area. He was glad for the aerial view, because this may have been one of the strangest things he had ever seen.

New York was a hub for the weird, Peter noted, but this quite honestly took him by surprise. He had seen alien attacks, mole people, and a giant rage monster, but this was strange. Standing in the middle of Time Square, laughing manically, was man in a black tuxedo, red cape, and what seemed to be a fish bowl on his head. Ignoring the practical reasons, or lack thereof, of the fishbowl, Peter approached the man.

The figure had a large section of Time Square to himself as the police had sectioned off the area, but were keeping a safe distance. The figure, seemingly unperturbed, conducted his arms in a strange fashion and seemed to be muttering to himself. Above, in the sky and circling the area, were what appeared to be dragons or wyverns.

"Dragons, really?" Peter gaped. "And the Avengers are where exactly? Nowhere, right. Just leave it up to Spider-Man, he can handle the freaking fantasy creatures by himself. No biggie."

Steeling his nerves and reminding himself that he was supposed to be a super hero, Peter leapt down from his position on the roof and swung forward into the sectioned area.

"So, I gotta ask. The fishbowl, is it functional or just stylish?" he asked, landing in front of the figure in a crouch. "Because I have to say, it's throwing me of a bit and I really don't know how seriously I should take you. Is this a crime or do you just really want someone to compliment your wardrobe?"

"Ah, Spider-Man, you gift for witty banter proceeds you. Mysterio is glad you accepted his challenge. This way, the entirety of New York can se what will happen to those who oppose Mysterio."

"Look, uh... Mysterio, we just met. I haven't opposed you or anything really."

"Mysterio knows that you fool, but it is your destiny. You are a hero and Mysterio is a villain. A villain who will cement his legacy by killing you for all of New York to see. You may be powerful Spider-Man, but you are nothing against the master of the arcane arts," Mysterio replied with a flourish of his arms, sparks shooting forward from the white gloves he was wearing.

"Master of the arcane arts?" Peter questioned, raising an eyebrow. "It seems to me that Mysterio is only a master of talking in the third-person."

"A non-believer," sighed Mysterio in a dramatic fashion. "Very well, Mysterio knows how to deal with those. You will believe when Mysterio has drained every pint of blood from your body."

Mysterio conducted his arms in a circular motion above his head, chanting as he did so. "Fatigo!"

As soon as Mysterio said the word, Peter felt dizzy. The world around him spun and his head throbbed. Suddenly, he felt the energy drain from his body and he dropped hard to his knees, yet he didn't feel the scrape against the pavement. In fact, he didn't feel anything at all.

"Okay, was not expecting some mystical whammy. That's new," he groaned, though he could barely hear himself. Slowly, his sense of touch returned, but the world still spun.

Mysterio thrust his arms forward. "Serpens!"

A cloud of black smoke surrounded Mysterio, cloaking him for a moment. When it cleared, a large boa constrictor was slithering forward from his position. Struggling, Peter managed to get to his feat and assess the situation.

"And he's a Parselmouth... great," Peter grumbled, eyeing the serpent as it advanced. Peter could feel the strength slowly returning to his body and prepared to dodge the serpent as it attacked. Just as he jumped, the serpent did as well, passing harmlessly through Peter, who turned around to make sense of what happened.

"An illusion?" he queried, whipping back around only to come face-to-face with Mysterio who had covered the distance between them faster than Peter expected.

"That's right, you fool," Mysterio responded cocking a fist back and smashing said fist into Peter's temple, sending a disoriented Peter tumbling across the ground.

Landing in a heap ten or so feet away from Mysterio, another "fatigo" kept him pinned to the ground on his stomach in agony.

"I don't get it, my Spider-Sense should be alerting me to when he plans on attacking, but since his first whammy it feels as if it's been shut off. Actually, it feels like all my senses have been jarred. Whenever he uses that... whatever it is, I lose all my senses for a minute."

"You know, Spider-Man, Mysterio was expecting a much better fight from you. You may have the advantage when fighting simple thugs, but a master of the arcane arts is out of your depth it seems," Mysterio gloated, kicking Peter in the ribs hard enough that he flipped Peter over onto his back.

Mysterio pressed his advantage kicking Peter again, laughing manically as the young hero skidded across the pavement and landed with a satisfying thump a few more feet away. He followed up with a few blows to Peter's ribs, each landing with a sickening crunch and a groan admitted.

"This is Mysterio's greatest work yet. Look on New York and witness the death of this hero. Only then shall you understand the greatness of Mysterio!" He yelled into the sky with a gleeful passion, stoping only to see Peter struggling to get up again.

"No more shall you rise Spider-Man. Mysterio shall make sure this simple slab of pavement serves not only as your tombstone, but as a monument to Mysterio, soon to be king of New York!"

With all his remaining strength, Peter caught Mysterio's foot as it came racing toward his chest. Grunting with exertion, he threw the villain backwards enough to make it back to his feet.

Cracking his neck, Peter could once again feel his senses returning to normal and the full amount of his prodigious strength return. "Round two then?"

...

Ned Leeds hadn't planned on being near Time Square that evening. In fact, he never wished to be near Time Square if he could avoid it. It was always crowded and packed with tourists and, quite frankly, made his job almost impossible. Ned lived under the idea that a reporter should be able to move in and out freely, without being seen if possible. It was how he was able to uncover his greatest stories and, in all honestly, probably how he was able to win his Pulitzer.

But even though he had clout now with Jameson and the ability to chase whatever story he wanted, some things demanded Jameson's attention and that meant Ned's as well. And a superhero slugfest in the middle of the city demanded Jameson's attention. The fact that it dealt with Spider-Man... well, Ned was surprised the entire staff of the Bugle wasn't down here.

But even if Ned's interest was piqued seeing Spider-Man face off against someone other than a street thug for the first time, he had more pressing concerns to deal with. This was the sort of situation that derailed any serious investigation into the most dangerous aspects of New York. Sure, it was flashy and fun, but even the dumbest criminals were opportunistic and were not willing to let this situation pass without making their move. And that worried Ned.

Every time the Avengers fought some intergalactic threat, the crime bosses in the city were free to make whatever move best fit their interest. They didn't need to stick to Hell's Kitchen or the seedier parts of town, they could move with impunity in the Upper East Side if they wanted. And they did. They knew that Daredevil wouldn't be bothered with some super villain menace and would instead be focused on the gang movement. And even though Ned hated the Punisher, he was useful in curbing actual crime as well. If only for the fear factor. Ned had the same hope for Spider-Man. When he first appeared over the summer, he was dedicated to stopping street crime. But now, if he's getting entangled with the super villain community, the actual citizens of New York lose another hero.

It wasn't as if Ned didn't understand the need to fight these ultimate menaces. Nor did he think the Avengers were a waste of time. But stopping planet-sized threats was not an everyday issue. And during their rest couldn't they take a look at the street crime in the city? Ned doubted very much that a stick-up artist would dare to make any further move when confronted by Captain America.

The reason Ned was out tonight, though, could not have less to do with Spider-Man fighting some magician in what appeared to be a fishbowl helmet. He was on the trail of the elusive crime boss Tombstone, the only boss since Silvermane himself to rival the Kingpin for power in New York. Ned didn't have all the answers yet, but he was getting close.

This Tombstone came out of nowhere, suddenly rising to the forefront of the criminal world in New York and had already disrupted a few of the Kingpin's dealings. He seemed to be ruthless and acted with a bit more impunity than the Kingpin ever would. This was both a good thing and a bad thing to Ned. On the plus side, it would make Ned's job a lot easier. It was a testament to the abilities of the Kingpin that nobody had even seen his face in the ten or so years he had been active. Hell, not many people even knew he existed. He was a bigger urban legend than Daredevil or the Punisher. If this Tombstone is willing to be more public in his actions, then Ned will have an easier time tracing him. But, on the other hand, it ay mean that Tombstone simply doesn't care if anyone finds out who he is or what his motives are. A man with that little to lose was always dangerous.

Ned's phone rang suddenly, and he sighed, immediately knowing who was on the other line.

"Yeah boss?" he answered.

"Are you down there yet Leeds?" yelled Jameson, forcing Ned to move the phone a few inches away from his ear.

"Yeah, I'm here. But I really think this could be handled by anybody. Send a stringer J.J. I'm working on a bigger story."

"Are you my best reporter or not?"

"Yes, boss."

"Then do your job or go apply for something down at the Bulletin. I'm sure Urich is close to death and Ellison would need a new investigative journalist."

"Anything else, boss?"

"While you're down there find Parker. He takes good pictures, but I don't want him near anything too dangerous. He's still just a kid."

"Will do."

Well, Jameson had a point. As long as he was forced down here he wold do his job and, hopefully, find Peter before he got in any sort of trouble. Most of the staff at the Bugle were convinced the kid was gonna get himself into trouble trying to get these pictures.

He pushed his way through the crowd, trained eyes surveying the details around him. He could make out the figure of Spider-Man being knocked down and cringed for a minute. Just because he felt these battles often took away from the serious work, he didn't wish ill toward Spider-Man. Jameson may have thought the hero a loose cannon, but Ned would easily prefer Spider-Man victorious over this megalomaniac.

But the question still remained as he watched the fight: Where was Parker? From what Robbie had said about the kid he was quite intelligent. Therefore, it was unlikely that Parker had gotten close enough to the fight to be injured. But he couldn't shake the idea that something bad may have happened.

Skulking through the outskirts of a rapidly-forming police line looking for a teenager was becoming Ned's least favorite activity. After twenty minutes of searching fruitlessly, he was ready to give up when a flash of light went off above his head. Normal people, those who hadn't spent the last ten years in the journalism industry, would probably not have noticed. But for Ned, it might as well have been a beacon calling out to him. He glanced upward in the direction of the light, realizing it must have come from a rooftop. He had to give Parker more credit, that was a great place to get some shots.

Finding an access point wasn't difficult, there was a fire escape just off the side of the building, but getting up the fire escape proved to be more of a challenge then Ned would have thought. For starters, the stairs to the escape were at least ten feet off the ground and not in the best condition. When he was finally able to hoist himself up, using a nearby garbage bin as leverage, he had to be incredibly careful not to misplace one of his feet and fall through a crack on the dilapidated escape.

"Parker must be a freaking' acrobat or something," he grumbled after reaching the highest point on the fire escape and still finding he had to jump to reach the ledge of the roof.

When he was finally done shimmying his way onto the roof, and swearing he would renew his gym membership, he was surprised to see Parker nowhere in sight. Looking around the roof, he quickly realized that Parker couldn't have been roof hopping, most of buildings in the area were newer and separated by billboards or skyscrapers. In fact, he may have done some damage himself to the theater he was on top of during his climb.

Glancing around again, he was able to catch another flash going off at the edge of the roof. Quickly moving over, he found Parker's camera incased in what looked to be Spider-Man's webbing.

Removing his phone from his jacket, Ned snapped a few pictures of the camera and walked away. This would require some more investigation, but, for now at least, he needed to finish this piece on Spider-Man and this new foe.

…

Peter assessed the villain in front of him. He hadn't yet figured out how Mysterio was able to disorient all his senses, but he was working on a plan. But, for starters, he needed to move the arena for their fight. There were two many people around and there was too much traffic for have of his usual moved to be successful. Plus, if he could put some distance between himself and Mysterio and get some more time to think that would be wonderful.

"Hey, Crystal Ball," he shouted firing a web off into the distance. "What do you say we take this dance someplace a bit more private?"

Peter swung away, turning his head enough to see if Mysterio was going to give chase. And, to his immense displeasure, Mysterio began laughing.

"As you wish Spider-Man. I will simply have to bring your corpse back here when I am done with it."

With those words, Mysterio pointed his hands toward the ground and clenched his fists, a white cloud forming around his feat as he levitated off the ground and followed after Peter.

Peter picked up the pace as he swung, hoping to get a good distance away from the crowd and give himself even a moment to think clearly.

"And of course he can fly," Peter sighed. "This is not my day."

As he moved through the town, Peter spotted a decent enough roof to land on and wait for Mysterio, his mind rapidly going through the highlights of the fight so far.

"Whenever he uses one of his spells, he makes some sort of hand movement. I bet if I can web up his hands, I can buy myself some time to figure out how to best his mystic powers. "

Peter landed on the roof and turned to face his enemy, who followed suit shortly after.

"Okay, Parker. You've got one possible shot at this. The moment he raises his hand to do something, anything, shoot some webs. If I can aim this correctly I can pin his arms down and hopefully end this quick. Once his arms are taken out of the picture, I should be able to wrap him up just like any other criminal I've run up against. Best to be thorough though. This guys is gunning for my life. I can always make more webs."

"Will this be the place where Spider-Man finds his death at the hands of Mysterio?"

"Honestly, it just felt like a good place to see the city. But, sure, if you want... I guess," Peter shrugged.

"Enough talk, hero. This fight begins anew," Mysterio proclaimed.

As Mysterio raised his hands in the air, to begin another attack, Peter made his move. He shot himself forward in a dead sprint, pushing himself faster than he had ever ran before and shot forward two webs. The webs connected with Mysterio's arms and Peter smirked, a success. Mysterio tried to raise his arms, but couldn't budge the more than the few centimeters Peter's webbing allowed.

"What is this vile trick you have played on Mysterio?"

"Nothing but a taste of my amazing spider powers. Neat, huh?"

Peter shot more webs forward, doubling down on the pressure on Mysterio's arms. For an added benefit, he covered his hands in webs as well. As Peter wasn't still sure what caused Mysterio's powers, he wasn't going to take any chances.

"For my next trick, I shall make Mysterio's magic no more," Peter chortled, putting on an exaggerated stage voice to further mock his opponent.

Peter moved in, sticking himself to Mysterio with three more webs. As he clung to the villain, he used his superior agility to circle Mysterio's body, covering him head to toe in webbing. Once done, Peter dislodged himself from Mysterio and jumped back to admire his handy work.

"Now, I gotta say the webbing helps with the whole fishbowl thing. I think it gives you more of a Madame Leota vibe. Come on now, repeat after me: Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat; call in the spirits, wherever they're at."

Peter waited for a moment, and when Mysterio didn't respond, he sighed. "You know, it's no fun when you don't play along. Do you want me to repeat the words again?"

In response, Mysterio just chuckled. "Mysterio may have underestimated you Spider-Man. These webs of yours are quite vexing to Mysterio, but not the debilitating problem you imagined."

Peter tensed. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"It's quite simple, really, for one of Mysterio's talent to cast spells without the movement of his arms. For example: fatigo!"

Again, Peter felt the drain on his senses and his energy. He dropped down to one knee and stared up at the villain.

"Just what do I have to do to this guy?"

"But, alas, it also seems as if Mysterio cannot break free of your webbing. Quite an impasse."

Both Peter and Mysterio stared at each other for a few solid moments, neither able to break the other's actions. Though Peter could feel his strength returning, he was hesitant to attack if he was only going to be drained again.

"The classic stalemate. You have proven yourself more of a foe to Mysterio than Mysterio would have figured and, on that, you should be congratulated. As it stands now, Mysterio will not grant your death today. It shall come after Mysterio knows all of your weaknesses. Goodbye, for now Spider-Man!"

A white mist formed from under Mysterio, soon clouding Peter's vision, dispersing only when it was apparent that the villain was gone.

Peter pulled himself up off his knees and slowly made his way to the edge of the roof. As he expected, there wasn't a trace of the villain anywhere.

One question was prevalent in Peter's mind as he surveyed the New York skyline: Why him?

…

Quentin Beck sat at the worn down bench Phineas preferred to work from with a scowl on his face, allowing the older man to tear the webs away from his costume.

"Whoever this Spider-Man is, I have to give him credit. He has a great scientific mind. This webbing is pure genius."

"As nice it is know my enemy's scientific aptitude, Phineas, I was embarrassed out there today," Quentin grumbled, crossing his now free arms in annoyance.

"But you said that Spider-Man couldn't do anything against the gasses I put in your costume."

Quentin huffed. "He came awfully close to figuring out how it worked. Or, by accident, knew to go after my hands."

Phineas leveled an even stare at Quentin. "Maybe if you weren't so insistent on waving your arms around like a magician, then he wouldn't have picked anything up about your hands. But judging from where he aimed his webs, I'd say were safe for now. I very much doubt that he has any idea how my tech works, let alone where you control it from."

For emphasis, Phineas turned one of his gloves over showing Quentin the various controls on the palm of the white garment.

"My tech is brilliant. Any flaw today was in your execution."

Quentin nodded. "I have to admit, I believe you are right. If that is the case, then I will simply have to step up my game. Mysterio will return and, this time, finish off Spider-Man for good."

…

It had been a couple of days since Peter had fought Mysterio. And in that time, the villain hadn't been far from his mind. Too many chance occurrences were never random in Peter's opinion. He had to have been targeted. But, by who?

To the best of Peter's knowledge, he had not crossed anybody overtly powerful. Not for lack of trying, of course, but the only crime he seemed to find was of the street variety. Smaller robberies or grand theft auto were not the usual activities of some of the bigger players in the criminal underworld. At least not that he knew of. Was it possible that he pissed off a crime boss? Of course.

Another possibility was that Mysterio was working for a more powerful super villain. This was a long shot. Mysterio was directly targeting Peter and Peter had no dealings with any of the super criminals in the world. If Mysterio was working for one of those types of people, he would have probably been after the Avengers. Peter was not an Avenger.

The final possibility was Mysterio was simply a new player who wanted attention. This possibility worried Peter the most. A new player meant a shift in the delicate balance of power in the city. That could spell disaster.

Not one of these scenarios pleased Peter. The next time he went up against Mysterio he would have to be prepared. And that meant he would have to remember each and every moment of his fight with Mysterio and try to discern a weakness. But he couldn't do it tonight.

No, tonight was Homecoming and he had a date. After much cajoling, Aunt May had finally convinced Peter to call Mary Jane and ask her to the dance. To his immense surprise, she agreed rather readily and was set to be here in an hour. Harry, Eddie, and their dates would be arriving shortly before that with the limo that Harry had gotten for the occasion. Peter was surprised that Norman Osborn had forked over the cash for the event, but Harry had made it known that this date could not go badly or there would be trouble in the Osborn house.

Peter turned to the mirror and began to adjust the tie he was wearing. It was his uncle's from the eighties, but the skinny design worked well with Peter's style. He had his normally unkempt hair fixed somewhat and his glasses were polished. On the whole, Peter thought he looked good, but he knew he would expect some sort of crack from Eddie about what a hipster he looked like.

"Peter!" Aunt May called. "Harry, Eddie, and the girls are here!"

Throwing his suit jacket over his shoulder, Peter left his room and descended down the stairs.

"Even in a suit, you still manage to look like a hipster Pete," Eddie said with a friendly chuckle.

"At least I don't my date to make me look good Brock," Peter responded. "How are you Felicia?"

"I'm doing well Peter, thank you for asking," she responded a bit more stiffly than Eddie would have liked. But Peter understood, the two of them had never really gotten along. But he was honest, at least, she did look incredible.

It was often noted that Felicia was the best looking girl at school and tonight may have proved why. She wore a short, sequined green dress that matched her eyes to the shade and black high heels. Her blonde hair was done up with impeccable precision. In essence, no part of her was out of place. The quintessential, rich cheerleader.

Eddie on the other hand, looked far from kept. He had his jacket swung over his shoulder like Peter, but that was where the resemblance ended. His white shirt was a bit wrinkled and his bow tie was undone and resting casually under his collar. In effect, it looked as though Eddie had already left the dance they were about to attend. Wouldn't stop him from winning Homecoming King though. He and Felicia were practically guaranteed the victory.

"Hey Pete," Harry called nervously from the couch. He was wringing his hands together and Peter could tell he was sweating from a few feet away. Even decked out in a suit Peter swore cost more than his rent, Harry still didn't have any confidence to him. Though, to be fair, that could be because of the girl sitting next to him.

She was pretty, but intimidating, Peter noted. Her chestnut brown hair was up in a loose ponytail and she wore a bored expression on her face. The dress she wore was in two pieces, purple, and exposing a bit of her midriff. It probably did't help that she hand't taken her eyes off her phone since Peter came downstairs.

"Hey Harry," Peter responded with a nod. "And Kate, right?"

She looked up at him briefly. "Yeah."

"And you said this wasn't going to be awkward Eddie," Peter claimed with a chuckle.

The tension in the room seemed broken as Eddie and Harry both broke out laughing at Peter's joke, while even Felicia chuckled a bit. Kate just looked annoyed.

"Yeah," she said. "Not awkward at all."

Peter turned his attention back to her. "What are you in to Kate?"

"Archery."

"As a way to get exercise, right?"

"No, as a way to stop criminals," she replied in a deadpan voice.

"Seems safe," Peter responded in the same tone. The girl may be sarcastic, but he was the master and was not about to be outdone.

To his surprise, she smiled a bit. "I like your friend, Osborn, he's funny."

Harry seemed startled that she was even speaking to him. "Uh... yeah, Pete's a riot."

The five teens fell into a somewhat comfortable silence for a moment, until the doorbell rang.

"Peter, go answer the door for Mary Jane," Aunt May called from the kitchen.

Ignoring the 'moo' that he was sure came from Eddie, Peter walked quickly to the door reminding himself that this was only one date. Even if the girl was a total cow, he would still be a gentleman and treat her with respect. There was no reason to potentially cause a problem between Aunt May and Anna Watson because of his behavior. And, if he really didn't like her, they could always be friends. Peter was always looking for more friends.

Peter opened the door and was simply shocked by what he saw.

On her feet were a pair of Converse high tops, that connected to long and slender legs. Those legs led up to a sinfully short, black dress that seemed to enhance every amazing curve of her body. Her hair was cut short in a pixie style and a fiery red. But what struck Peter the most was her face. In his, admittedly short, life, he had never seen such a beautiful girl. From her sea foam green eyes to her angular features, she was nothing short of model material.

"Uh... hi, Ma-Mary Jane?"

"Face it Tiger," she smirked. "You just hit the jackpot."

End of Chapter Seven

A/N: So, the fated appearance of May Jane. I hope she lived up to everyone's expectations. And, I hope the fight with Mysterio wasn't too bad. Next chapter will focus on the dance. Until then.