SPIDER-MAN: DARK WOUNDS

THE UNDER BELLY:

December 22nd, 8:01 PM.

Hand, foot, hand, foot.

The constant pattern to keep myself on the side of the wall was echoing through my head. I reached the top of the building, vaulting myself over the low edge. The hair on my neck stood up suddenly, and my brain shook. My spider-sense.

Two speeding cars raced down the street.

I took a running jump off the building and snagged a web onto the building next to me forcing me to make a sharp turn towards the cars. I held onto the web for a while and let go at the top of my swing, propelling myself upwards. With an extended arm, I latched onto the building in front of me and continued my swing.

Swinging provided a sense of peace few people experience. I absolutely loved it.

xXx

I had been following the cars for about ten minutes now. They didn't seem necessarily dangerous, but I wasn't taking a chance. Suddenly, both cars came to a screeching halt and turned into a nearby alleyway.

I made a quick left and perched myself on top of a nearby building. Three men emerged from each car, and gathered in the center. The look on their faces told me something was up.

I crawled down the building slowly, not wanting to be noticed. That's when I noticed that all these guy were huge. Either they all came from a body-building contest or they needed the muscle for something.

The men finished talking and took their positions. Two of them guarded the cars, one of them checked street level, one of them leaned against the building I was crawling on, and the last two began talking near the dumpster. None of them were armed which told me these guys were confident in their own abilities.

Another car arrived before I had a chance to strike. This one was more "professional" looking than the others. Two men emerged from this car. One looked just like the other men; tall and built. The other was shroud in a black trench-coat. The presence of these men drew the attention of the others.

"Dammit" I cursed under my breath. I no longer had the chance to take these guys out without running out into the open.

The men began to talk to one another. Something serious was going on, I was right.

I desperately searched for someway to hear their conversation. I looked up and found a wire crossing the alley way. I could hang-out up there unseen. Provided none of the Hulk-wannabe's decided to go star-gazing. My web-line stuck to the wire with no problem. I leaned my body backwards and jumped, my body launching upwards with the web acting like a zip-line. Eventually I made my way to my eavesdrop point.

"Interested?" I heard the man in the coat ask.

"Uh, I dunno, man." one of the thugs asked wearily. "How do we know you're not just playin' with us?"

"So, you're not as stupid as you look…" the hidden man smiled. The voice was familiar somehow, but no one I knew was this…sinister sounding. "I'll give you a…demo. Free of charge."

He reached into his pocket and took out a syringe. Heroin? Without warning he stabbed the man standing next to him with it, the poison running through his veins.

The man fell down on his hands and knees, shaking. Whatever was in that stuff was vile. The man puked and fell into a seizure. The other guys began backing away but the dealer was unfazed.

Who was this guy?

The subject stopped moving and lay still, his breath slow, steady. His arms were twice the size as before and his height had increased by a good foot. He towered over the other men. All of them. Suddenly, these steroid-junkies weren't so tough.

"Holy shit!" one of the guys laughed. "This…this is-is real! I had no idea."

"Fifteen." the man in the trench-coat snapped.

"Oh, yeah." the junkie reached into his pocket and took out a twenty. "Here."

The dealer looked at the twenty. It had a single red circle stamped to the top right.

"You really are that stupid, aren't you." the man chuckled. "I said fifteen…as in fifteen thousand!"

"You're outta your damn mind."

"Am I?"

The beast of a man snorted and took a step forward.

"You?" the man laughed nervously, leaning back. "Never."

"Good."

"Uh, how's bout a check?"

"I'll let it slide…this time." the man in the coat bargained, snatching the check from the man's hand.

"What about my twenty?"

"What about it?"

This guy was serious. I've seen drug-dealers before, but this guy was sinister. I wanted to take him in now. No telling what would happen if he started selling this stuff to every bum, low-life and druggie on the streets. He turned to walk away, pleased with his deal. I leapt from the wire, my body colliding with the test subject, knocking him over. Not the most subtle move, but I was in a hurry. One hand held him by the neck while the other let loose on his face. I wasn't sure what it would take to knock this guy out so I hit him seven or eight times, just incase.

It was a huge mistake. I looked up only to find the bastard already in his car. I had a chance if I went after him now, but I lost that chance when the hulking man, I thought I had put down, grabbed me by the head and threw me into one of the escaping buyers. The lucky part? It was the guy with the drugs. The unlucky part? The monster was charging.

I grabbed the drug-holder by the back of the shirt and took to the sky, leaping upwards, my free-hand grabbing onto the wire. The beast slid to a halt, tearing up the pavement. His yellow eyes burning holes in my forehead.

"Nice mug." I commented, still holding the screaming thug in my hand.

The test subject twisted and contorted, holding into his chest. Was my joke really that insulting? Without warning, the man-beast screamed and fell backwards. Lifeless. Dead. I looked at the guy holding the drugs.

"Maybe you should give that back to me…" I chimed.

With a shaky hand he gave me the vile and passed out. At least I wouldn't have to hit him.

"OK, New York…What surprises do you have in store for me?" I stared at the oozing, green liquid within the glass container. What prick would inject themselves with this crap…?

"Shit!" I sneered. I had completely forgotten about the dealer. "Dammit." That bastard had his fun. Just wait until I have mine.

xXx

December 23rd.

I sat in my room. Held up like a prisoner. I was mesmerized by this poison, this drug. It turned a normal man into a monster, a super-human. But at what cost? Your life? I stashed it under my pants. The sight of it was making me sick. At least it was almost Christmas. I had that going for me.

"No…shit." I stammered. I wanted to call Gwen. I shot a look over at my clock.

9:12 PM

That's not too late, right? No matter. I was gonna call anyway.

Bring, bring, bring.

"Hello?" a voice on the other end answered. It was Gwen, thank God.

"Gw-gwen. It's Peter…Parker." My last name? Dumbass.

"I know who you are Peter. Now excuse me, but-"

"Wait!" I interrupted. She didn't want to talk to me, it was obvious. "I need to clear things up."

"Why don't you 'clear things up' with Liz…?"

"It's not like that…" I said sheeply.

"Oh really? Then why the hell were you kissing her, Peter?" The anger in her voice pierced my ears. Jealousy?

"Gwen…I didn't kiss her. She-she kissed me…first." I muttered. I had no intention in turning this ugly. I needed to get the truth out there first.

My spider-sense erupted. I snapped my head to the left, to the window of my bedroom. At first I didn't see anything, but then it hit me like a cannon ball. The building next door had just lit fire. It was a slow fire, but it wasn't letting up.

"Gwen…" No answer. "Gwen!"

"Oh, I thought you had left me." She bitched.

"Shut up and get your Dad."

"What?"

"I said get your Dad! There's a fire next to my building!"

"But Peter-"

"Go!" I hung up. My head was exploding with confusion. What the hell was going on? I snatched up my costume and leapt out the window, sticking to the side. The building fire had gathered the attention of most of the people on the block. I stuck my camera to the building with my webbing and jumped over the street. The people below began to notice me. How could you not? It's not like you see a man leap an entire street everyday. Well, maybe in New York.

I stuck to the building instantly, my hands and feet acting like suction-cups. The window next to me burst open, flames enveloping the stray pieces of wood.

"Spider!" a voice above me cried. It was a thick Australian accent.

I cocked my head up to see who was calling me. There stood a man, a grizzled, beaten man. He had messy black hair in a pony-tail and a thick goatee. He was dressed in lion-fur and cargo-pants.

"What are you doing on the roof?" I yelled.

He didn't answer, he took a rope off his belt and lassoed it around me. He was fast. With super-human strength he yanked me up the building and onto the roof.

"Oof!" I gasped as I landed on my side, my arm crushing into my ribs.

My attacker picked me up by the collar and pinned me against the air-conditioning unit.

"I…" he began, but was distracted quickly. He sniffed me over a couple of times, perplexed.

"Uh, excuse me, but in America this counts as…creepy." I joked.

"How old are you? Sixteen?"

"I know my humor is a little immat-"

"You smell sixteen." he interrupted.

"You can smell my age?" I asked, at a loss for words.

"This should be easier than I thought." he smiled, slowly pulling a wooden dagger from his pocket.

"I'm in no mood to be stabbed, mate." I responded in a bad Australian accent. I twisted my hand around and shot out a strand of line webbing, grabbing onto the weapon. I yanked, best I could, but he didn't let go. He doubled over, his face next to my knee.

Pop!

My knee colliding with his cheek-bone made an interesting sound as he stumbled backwards, holding his face. I landed on my feet and ripped myself free of his rope.

"I approve the originality though. You don't see many weapons in twenty-first century New York that don't shoot."

"You are a formidable opponent, Spider-man." he coughed, gathering his posture back. "I will enjoy killing you." He charged at me, swinging wildly.

Duck, left, jump, duck, right, right. His attacks were going in slow-motion, but they were still a bitch to dodge. I ducked again and landed a jab to his stomach, revealing his neck. I landed a shot with the side of my hand there and finished off with a left-hook. The Australian hit the ground hard. I caught my breath and began to go for the burning building when my attacker began to get up again.

"You're breaking every cliche in the book, Mr…" I opened for a name.

"Kravinoff…" he wiped his lip. "Sergei Kravinoff, but you can call me Kraven the Hunter." He dropped the dagger, and pulled put a bow-and-arrow.

"You have got to be freaking' kidding me!" I laughed, diving to the left to avoid his first arrow. "You are really going for that whole 'Jungle-Man' vibe, aren't you?" The next arrow skimmed my arm, cutting deep.

"Ow!" I sneered. The pain reminded me of the burning building beneath. I could hear the fire department in the distance. "You do realize there is a burning building beneath us?" I yelled, the next arrow just missing my neck. I dove backwards,twisting my body so my head was facing the ground. My hands landed on the ground, and pushed me backwards onto my feet. I took cover behind the air-conditioning unit and caught my breath.

Kraven approached my position carefully, not wanting to chase me away. He treated me like an animal. He turned the corner fiercely, swiping at air. I had escaped to the top of the air-conditioning unit when he was out of sight. I extended my arm and let out a web-line, smothering Kraven's head. With all my strength I yanked his 210 pound frame towards me. I pinned him to the ground with my fist and got two hits to the head in before he rammed his shoulder into my stomach and landed another punch to my face, sending me back to the edge of the roof. I peeked over the edge to see the fire department had taken care of the fire already.

"Don't you worry." Kraven assured, leaping towards me, pinning me in place. "It was a simple paper-and-match fire. Took no time to start."

"You started this fire?" I gurgled. He had his hands around my throat. "How did you know I was nearby?"

"I didn't. This was my fourth fire today." He wasn't joking. His face remained strong. Intent on killing me. I had managed to rid him of all his weapons aside from the bow-staff across his back, but I saw no use in that. Neither did he as he was focusing on strangling me. He had forgotten about my hands. I reached my arms above my head and stuck my web to the building across the street and pulled. I slid out of Kraven's grip and across the street to the building I had attached my web to.

"Coward!" Kraven screamed as he backed up a few steps. He was gonna jump.

"You're kidding me. You're never-" He jumped. He was gonna make it except for the fact that he can't stick to walls. He hit the building and fell.

Shit. I caught his feet with my webbing and crawled down the wall towards Kraven. Taking caution, I webbed up his arms too.

"You were to be my greatest prize." Kraven reveled.

"Cut the crap. Why did you attack me?" I questioned. Changing my attitude from bright and cheery to dark and cold.

"I honor the hunt, Spider. I would tell you under any other circumstances."

I picked him up the neck and yelled. "Tell me you Australian prick! What would be so important that you needed to burn five buildings?" His face showed no sign of emotion.

"You saw my leap-of-faith." Kraven began. "Yet you still think about interrogating me. Do you really think you're scarier than death? Do you, Spider?"

He was right. Kraven was impermeable. Like stone. Even the police weren't going to get an answer out of him. I would need to do this myself. I put Kraven in a sleeper hold, rendering him unconscious. I looked down at street level to make sure they didn't need me. Everything looked fine, when I noticed that George Stacy had showed up. He was off the clock. Gwen had to have told him. At least she still trusted me.

I rounded the corner and picked up my camera, the shots had come out nice. I knew I would have to sell them tomorrow if I was to buy presents for anyone. My schedule tomorrow would be packed.

12:00 PM-Daily Bugle

1:30 PM-Mall

5:00 PM-Call Gwen

8:30 PM-Go to Harry's

11:00 PM-Head home.

I don't manage my Spider-Man time within my schedules. That was unpredictable.