I DON'T OWN THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN OR STOKED.
-Parker-
There was light streaming in through the window and I stretched up in bed. I threw my hands in the air and yawned. Before I could, though I felt my back muscles cramp up on me. Right, that beam from yesterday must have strained my muscles. Some cold water should help me get over the strain. Barely awake I opened the door. On the other side was a girl with brown hair that turned in my direction at the sound of the door. She grabbed the shower curtain to cover herself and screamed. That shook me out of my daze and I slammed the door yelling, "Sorry. I didn't see anything." The second part was a lie but I don't need Spider-sense to know that saying "Dang!" Would just fan the flame. As of right now I might have to rely on my spider senses to not be smothered in my sleep.
The girl came out in yellow and I recognized her from the Marvin's explosion. "Enjoy the show pervert?" She said. She took a second glance and said, "You're that jerk that blasted me with that junk."
"What's going on?" Fin asked as she and all the summer staff had arrived with annoyed expressions for being waken up so early.
"This pervert walked in while I was showering." The new girl said before I could answer the question.
"Dude, nice." Reef said putting his fist out.
"It was an accident. I didn't know anyone was in there. And besides what's she doing here. I saw her in the hotel yesterday." I said gesturing crazily. I realized the mistake as I felt my stiff muscles send a wave of pain running all through my arms. Fin's face softened so she must have seen me wince.
"I believe him when he said it was an accident. Hey how about you guys go give Lo a tour." She said waving them off. They left and Fin turned to me, "Did you go to the bathroom for the first aid pack?" She asked with less of an edge in her voice.
"No. I just need a shower." I replied.
"Take your shirt off." She commanded.
"Here, in the hallway? Don't you think that'd be weird?" To myself I thought 'have a shift and forget about this'.
She didn't receive the memo and with the edge returning she said, "Peter." I knew there was no fighting it and slid my night shirt off for her to see my back. "What happened to your back?!"
A part of me wanted to tell her the truth but Eddie Brock, one of the people who discovered my secret, had come after me and I really don't want to make another enemy. "Yesterday, I was exploring the town and I found Spider-Man rescuing people from a burning building. I guess I got too close when the building collapsed."
"Why didn't you tell me. You might need that checked out." She said trying to pull me out of the employee house.
"Are you kidding? I used to get caught too close to the action and was always ok with basic first aid. Compared to that this burn needs nothing more than some cold water." I said. "Oh and remember-"
"This stays between us. I know." Fin finished in a defeated tone. I left her outside and started pouring the cold water on my back. Until I got used to the opposing temperatures I had to clamp my teeth to prevent a loud scream from ripping out my throat. After drying off I rethought Fin's insistence for me to get the burn checked out. Of course I couldn't go to the hospital since one, it'd scare Aunt May and second, people would be suspicious when my back healed faster than usual.
Still, applying some first aid wouldn't hurt. Gently I applied the aloe Vera and slipped the shirt back over my head. Things fell into an almost comfortable pace. I would go work my shift, take to the fiberglass board, and a few hours before my self-imposed curfew I would suit up as Spider-Man and protected the Canadians as I did the citizens of New York.
Most of the time I would be able to come back with nothing more than a bad case of fatigue but there was one time when I stopped an attempted jewelry store robbery. That night I walked in with a bruise on my shoulder from where the criminal shot went wide and caused a heavy tile to fall on me.
Before I went to sleep I would send the bugle some pictures of my alter-ego. Might as well get some extra payment. It was uncomfortable how two of the girls were looking at me. Lauren "Lo" Ridgemount gave me a look that could go against the ones Spider-Man got from the Sinister Six. Turns out her father made her work after the party. But to be honest I was surprised she got away with that. I mean she had a jeep in the pool for crying out loud.
Her daggers paled in comparison when I saw Fin. Whenever she saw me she would scan me; looking for any sign of a new injury. And if she spotted a new injury her face would drop. At the weeks end Aunt May announced she had to fly back to New York to meet the publisher of her cookbooks. Together she, the kahuna, and I were able to muster up enough money to send her back. As we stood at the gate she instructed me to behave.
Between all that the week flew by and Bummer announced that a few of the employees were leaving but the people I became friends with had passed the evaluations. I had barely passed and somehow so did Emma. She squealed and hugged me. "Thank you for helping me. If it wasn't for you then I would have gotten the third strike." As she left I noticed a tore up face appear on Front Desk Guy, before he slid an excited mask on.
"Except that wasn't her score. Was it Johnny?" I asked.
"What? That's ridiculous. Of course it's hers." He responded with his eyes darting side to side.
"I'm from New York. Do you really think I haven't learned how to tell when a person is lying?"
"Fine. Yeah I switched her score with that goth girl. Please don't tell anyone."
Truth be told I didn't much like the goth girl. She gave me a bad feeling. Not Spider-sense bad but I still felt on edge when I saw her. "I won't. But you better make your move on her."
"Emma and I are friends. That's it."
"I'm speaking from experience. If you don't do anything about it then you'll regret it when she starts going out with someone."
"That happened to you?" He asked.
"Kind of. You see there was a girl named Gwen. I thought she was just my friend but she had a crush on me. By the time I realized that she might be the love of my life and I was going to do something about it, she was with my best friend."
"I'll talk to her, just not now." He said. Bringing up the past I felt a pang of depression. Making sure there was no one around I jumped on the ceiling and opened the door to the spider-lair. Quickly dawning the Spider-Man persona I jumped on the roof and again used the hotels lightning rod to slingshot into town.
"Come on. Let's see some action." I said to myself. Almost as an answer to my plea I heard the sirens that come from under me. I saw a car zooming through the street. I ran on the roofs, following the car I jumped from the small fall and landed square on the hood of the card.
"Spider-Man?!" The criminals cried out.
"Huh. I've been here for almost a week and the criminals are still surprised." The guy in the passenger seat recovered and pulled out a gun. I jumped into the air as the muzzle flashed. I webbed onto the roof and was nearly sent for a ride when the roof came off the car. I pivoted my body and webbed the roof to the side of a building. Approaching the ground I webbed back to a wall and used it to propel myself at the car. I was coming up short and attached a web to the hood. Landing back on the car the secondary thug pulled out his gun and aimed. Before he could fire I shot a web and disarmed him.
"Dude, prove your not as dumb as I think. And maybe I'll pull my punches."
"Hold on I'll lose him." The driver said as he jerked the wheel side to side.
"So much for finding smarter crooks." I said as I punched the driver out cold and drove the car into a building. I jumped out of the way as the car crashed and the remaining crook was pinned by his airbag. My emotions were control and I swung in between two buildings. Jumping off one building into the space between the two I shot webs onto both buildings. With the slingshot formed I shot another web into the ground and pulled. The elasticity of the web slingshot sent me flying into the direction of the hotel. I managed to land an anchor point onto the hotel. I changed my path for the employee house when I saw a familiar green blast shoot into the sky. It came from the Dining room. Using the same tactic from getting into town I was sent flying in the direction of the pirate ship.
-Fin-
I can't believe the way that Peter was behaving. The only thing I hate worse is how I have been acting. The third day he was here I saw a bad burn on his shoulder and he acted as if it was nothing more than a sunburn. Like an idiot I didn't send him to a hospital. After that day every morning I would check to make sure there was no more new injuries.
Most of the week I didn't see any new injuries but I did see him try to hide a bruise on his shoulder. His only response was that he wanted to try skateboarding and tripped, but I didn't buy it. Not for one second. My brothers had been skating for years and have gotten their fair share of bruises. Not once did they get a bruise like his.
The probation week came to an end and all of us managed to get past. Emma told me how Peter had stopped her from getting her last strike and be sent home. I left to congratulate Parker on getting in and heard him telling Front Desk Guy about how he lost a girl in New York. I don't know why but that had seriously ticked me off. By this time the kooks have probably taken over the beach and decided to go inland to talk with Emma and Lo.
"Finally someone sees the real face of that pervert." Lo said as we were talking in the kitchen.
"He said it was an accident. I believe him."
"You like him!" Emma said.
"No! I like him as a friend. He pulls good pranks and is a good guy but I get the feeling he's hiding something." I said
There was a warbling sound followed by screaming. We were all frozen by the sudden sound and Kelly came in with a face as blank as a ghost and pulled a still shocked Lo out through the door. I followed behind with Emma closing behind us. We saw two men standing in the middle of the room, one standing in front of the other. The guy in back was easily six or seven feet tall with a strange helmet on his head and wearing a blue and red suit. He was holding a guest in his arms. The guest looked like the guy in blue was squeezing hard enough to liquify the guests organs. Despite the persons build, it was obvious the guy in front of him was the leader. In front of the bigger one was a guy I'd place around 6"1' at tallest. He was wearing a yellow and red costume with strange gauntlets over his arms.
"Ridgemount come here." The leader said in a Texan accent. Lo was still frozen and after a few seconds the leader aimed his hand at the ceiling. The gauntlet shot out a green wave of energy that had the same warbling sound as the sound we heard earlier. "Get your butt over now. If you do then maybe I'll leave you in one piece. Run and I make no promises." She walked up to the group. The guy in yellow turned to the one in blue and said, "Get her Ox." The blue one, Ox, dropped the guest and picked Lo up. She screamed as he tightened his grip.
"Lo!" I heard Emma and myself yell.
"Careful Ox. We need her alive."
Something zipped through the air and blinded Ox. The disabled person dropped Lo. Before she could be picked up by the yellow one a red and blue blur picked Lo up and zipped behind us. "I get that she's pretty but I think she needs her space." I saw the blur was someone I had thought was just a hoax. Holding a terrified Lo was Spider-Man.
"Do you have some kind of sixth sense to know when to get in my way?!" The Texan said blasting at the web slinger.
"No. It's mostly luck." The Spider-Man said as he dodged all the green blasts. He was moving with agility that no human could possibly have.
"Why. Won't. You. Just. Die?!" The Texan said. Each word he yelled was punctuated with a blast of the green energy.
"Huh. You ask an interesting question. Oh I know. Because I don't want to." While the two were going against each other Ox was chasing Lo. Ox got closer to the scared girl and a line of web attached to the back of the colossal villain. "Why don't you join the party." The super hero said as he pulled hard on the white rope, forcing the villain to soar at him. In the background there was the sound of sirens approaching.
The Texan fired at a support beam and said, "your choice, hero." The roof was collapsing. Spider-Man jumped up to the roof and at first sign of weakness the hero shot out a rope and stabilized the roof while all us were out. After we all escaped he jumped out the door in enough time to not be crushed by the falling ceiling. Lo broke down and began crying. The hero approached and Lo threw herself at Spider-Man.
He returned the hug and asked, "There someplace I can drop you off?"
In the smallest voice I ever heard from her Lo said, "I just want to go home." Spider-Man looked at us and I pointed out her penthouse. He picked her up. I was close enough to see him to fold his middle and ring finger into his hand. A web shot out to a nearby tree and I stopped him.
"She needs a friend. I think I should tag along." I said.
"Grab a shoulder and hang on tight. I'll try to be gentle." He said.
"Emma go get the others and have them meet us at her house." I instructed her.
"Sure thing." She replied. I grabbed onto a shoulder and as he jumped off the ground we zipped through the air at high speed. The ropes were pulling us through the sky and I could tell Spider-Man was putting effort into slowing us down and not scaring Lo further. A few minutes later we were at the base of the hotel and he was using the trees close to the hotel to elevate us until he was balancing on the tree top. He crouched down and leapt at the hotel. As we closed in to the penthouse balcony I could feel Lo's arms squeeze harder on Spider-Man and saw she dug her face in the red material covering his neck. As soon as we landed Spider-Man loosened his grip on both of us and Lo ran inside.
"Daddy!" She yelled as she ran in. Mr. Ridgemount came out with daughter under his arm. "Thank you Spider-Man. Because of you my daughter is safe."
"That's why I put on this costume. That and the girls love uniforms. Hey, Lo was it? After all that has happened why don't you go inside and relax." Spider-Man said. As soon as she was gone the masked hero said, "She might be safe for now, but Shocker will be back."
"You think those people will come back for my daughter?"
"Shocker is persistent. He'll keep coming until he gets what he wants."
"Then I'll just have Lauren surrounded by security."
"Except that will only delay him." Spider-Man said.
"So, what does that mean. That she'll have to look over her shoulder for the rest of her life?!" I yelled.
"Not if we can find Shockers reason for trying to take her."
"Why would he?" Mr. R said.
"Shocker is a mercenary. Someone probably paid him to capture her."
"She's only 15. Who would want her?" I asked.
"Theories? I think shocker would have went after any Ridgemount. It's likely that he targeted her because she was the easiest to get to."
"It's-it's my fault." Mr. Ridgemount said as he visibly sunk.
"No, it's not. He would have come after any of you. It's the person who hired shocker."
"Hey daddy, the rest of them are here. Can I let them in?" Lo called from the living room.
"Sure pumpkin." He responded.
"Aren't you going out there to be with them?" Spider-Man asked.
"Lo's my friend. If she is in danger then I want to know about it." I said.
Spider-Man looked at Mr. Ridgemount and Mr. R said I could stay. "Like I said Shocker is a professional; making him someone only the richer people can hire. If he wanted to kill her he could have inflicted some serious damage on her before I arrived. But he didn't, making me think they wanted a ransom." Spider-Man paused and said, "know anybody who doesn't like you and is very wealthy?"
"Of course. Captain Ron. We've been rivals longer than I can remember. I wouldn't put it past him to have sent someone after my family. Did you know he's not a real captain. He only wears a captains hat."
"Possible, but unlikely. If this Ron guy had done it shocker would've come after you." Spider-Man said. It was disturbing to see the masks eyes move with the face underneath. I could tell he had his eyes closed.
"Something on your mind?" I asked.
"Yeah. This attack didn't match shockers style."
"Oh. You mean random destruction isn't the style of a villain?" I asked getting angry.
"Exactly. That was random destruction. Shocker plans his attacks better."
"You think this was a diversion?" Mr. R asked.
"Doubt it. If it was then he would have done something to throw people off that trail. I think he may have a time limit." At that moment all the others had came out of the living room.
"Hey where's Parker?" I asked.
"Peter Parker?" Spider-Man asked.
"You know him?"
"Yeah. Guy is smart. I called him when I saw Shockers energy blast through the sky. Right now he's trying to figure out who hired and sent Shocker."
"If that's the case then I'll give him time off to research further and give him a team to work with." Mr. R said.
"I wouldn't. He works better solo. And tends to think better when performing medial tasks. But due to the way his mind works he might leave on a moments notice to follow up on something." Spider-Man stood on the edge of the balcony and said, "Parker and my connection needs to stay hidden. Enough villains have come after him already just for taking my pictures." He said as he swung off.
-Finish-
I hope everyone likes this story. Whether you do or not input is highly valued.