NOVEMBER 30, 2003
In the past month or so, Peter Parker's life has changed a lot. He got superpowers, thinking that he was invincible, he started to get cocky and then he lost the person dearest to him. However, since then Peter Parker has found a new purpose in life, using his powers to protect the ones who can't protect themselves.
"Good Morning Everyone! Rick Langtry here! Host of the Langtry show! Today we have a returning guest, editor and publisher of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson!"
"Always great to be on your show Rick."
"And it's always great to have you back. Now, question for ya, you heard about the new vigilante in town?"
"Hell yeah I have! And let me tell you this, HE'S A MENACE!"
Peter lept from rooftop to rooftop following a car speeding down the street. With his super speed he kept up with it but he wasn't going fast enough.
"C'mon Pete! Pick up the pace!" Peter said to himself out loud, he sped up and caught up to it and leapt towards the roof of the car landing on it.
"Heya guys!" Peter exclaimed, The thugs in the vehicle looked at the boy and their eyes widened.
"It's the freak!" One of them shouted.
"Aw, don't you think that's a little mean? I think I'm normal! Well, other than having weird spider powers." Peter jeered, he then ripped the back seat car door and entered swiftly. Peter punched the guy in the face beside him knocking him out, he then grabbed the guy in the passenger's seat and chopped the back of his head putting him to sleep.
The driver then turned around and fired the bullets from his gun at the masked brunette, Peter dodged effortlessly, he then grabbed the man by his collar and slapped him, knocking him out as well. Peter then removed the driver from the driver's seat and placed him in the back with the other two. The car started to swerve out of control due to having no driver, Peter then got the driver's seat and slammed down on the brakes, stopping the vehicle.
"Well, that was a bit harder than I expected. Maybe I should get some kinda grappling hook to travel faster or something." Peter said to himself, but was snapped out of it by the sound of police sirens.
A police car stopped in front of him, with two cops stepping out from the car. They immediately pointed their guns at him.
"You! Put your hands in the air!" One of them exclaimed, Peter quirked his eyebrows up and sighed whilst raising his hand in the air.
"You know I just helped you right?" Peter expressed dryly. The officer scowled.
"Be quiet! You have the right to remain silent, whatever you do or say can be used in court against you kid. Now remove your hoodie, mask and sunglasses." The officer ordered. Peter rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, that's something I won't be doing." Peter stated, as he moved fast enough to be a blur, he picked up a soda can on the ground and threw it at the officer who was just talking to him. The can smacked the officer in the face.
"Sir! Are you okay!" The other exclaimed, checking on his superior in concern. Peter took his chance to escape by leaping onto a rooftop.
"Don't worry about me! Get him!" The officer exclaimed, pointing at Peter. The other took out his gun and started to fire, but Peter just ran faster to avoid them. Peter turned back to the officers and waved.
"Smell ya later New York's finest!" Peter taunted as he ran away, unaware of the drone watching him from the shadows.
Norman watched over the footage of Peter's altercation with the cops, he examined the boy's physical features, movements, mannerisms and even the way he spoke. Ever since Peter's first few appearances Norman has been watching.
"Alright, let's go over what I know so far." Norman stated as he started to record his voice on his audio device.
"From his skin tone, he is of caucasian descent, he has brown wavy hair and he more than likely has blue eyes, square face and a strong jawline. His voice, although deep, still has frequent cracks, indicating his age range of being between thirteen to eighteen." He explained.
"But now that I think about it, this vigilante's voice did sound familiar." Norman pondered, with Peter Parker coming to mind, "Well, they do sound similar, and they have the same body type, but the vigilante was a bit bigger and slightly taller. Although, whatever he got his powers from may have altered his body a bit." He thought to himself, but then he thought about it more, there was too much evidence pointing to Parker.
"Wait! Didn't one of my employees tell me about one of the experimental spiders being missing? And both Harry and Peter were at the exhibit that day!" Norman exclaimed, he laughed sinisterly as he, after a month of research, finally found the person who he was looking for.
"This is wonderful! All I need is direct evidence." Norman vocalised.
Peter, after hours of jumping, finally got to Forest Hills. Spotting his home he dived into the bush of his backyard, landing in it with the sound rustling leaves filling the area. After a few minutes Peter exited out of the bush with his regular clothes on, wincing in pain a little.
"Looked like that one hurt." A familiar feminine voice jeered, Peter turned to see Mary-Jane leaning on the fence that separates their backyards.
"A little, but nothing I can't handle." Peter retorted smugly.
"Anyway, how was patrol for today?" Mary-Jane asked.
"It was the usual mostly, some muggings, drug dealings and the attempted murder with a firearm. But…" Peter mumbled
"But what?" Mary-Jane questioned with a hint of concern in her voice.
"I almost let a car escape, well not really, I just sped up a bit to catch up to it. But what if I wasn't
fast enough? They would escape and cause more people to get hurt." Peter expressed.
"Well, this might just be me being an optimist but, I think someone would've caught them eventually, whether it be the police or another vigilante like Daredevil." Mary-Jane explained.
"Yeah but…"
"You can make mistakes sometimes, you should avoid them obviously but don't hurt yourself because of something you couldn't control." Mary-Jane expressed.
"Yeah, you're right. But I should make something to help with that. Have any ideas MJ?" Peter questioned.
"You and Harry are the smart ones, you both can figure that out yourselves. I'm just here for moral support." Mary-Jane joked as she waved him off, Peter laughed at the joke.
"I get ya, see you at school tomorrow MJ."
"You too Pete."
DECEMBER 1, 2003
Ah, the first day of the last month of the year. While Christmas break was only two weeks away, they still had to get through two weeks of school. Peter groaned groggily as he got up out of bed, the scent of chocolate pancakes filled his nose, he got himself dressed and allowed the smell to guide him downstairs.
On the dining table sat his breakfast, Peter sat around the table and started eating.
"Excuse me young man, didn't I teach you proper manners?" May taunted from behind Peter, the boy nearly choked on the food in his mouth as he turned to face the middle aged woman with a smirk on her face. He swallowed and smiled at his aunt.
"Sorry May the food smelled so good I couldn't focus on anything else." He explained sheepishly, May chuckled.
"Alright dear, just make sure you don't choke like you did two seconds ago." May joked.
"I did not." Peter retorted.
"Yes you did, I saw it with my own two eyes. Also, hurry up and eat. The bus is coming in an hour." May expressed, Peter smiled at the woman's cheery demeanour. For the past month, the woman had been quite depressed, which was understandable as her husband had died. But now, she was somewhat back to her old self. She'd get sad sometimes, but it was natural for a widow.
Their landline phone started to ring, May walked over and answered the smile still on her face.
"Hello?" May asked cheerfully, but when the person on the other side started talking, the smile on her face faded. Peter frowned as he knew what was happening, ever since Ben died it's been hard for May to pay the bills, her job didn't help her pay enough so she had to work longer hours to compensate.
Peter wished he could help, but no one wanted to hire him due to his little experience in having a job. May finished talking on the phone, she sighed as she went to sit around the table with Peter.
"They're pestering you again aren't they?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, I might have to work more hours." May expressed.
"I'm still trying to find a job you know." Peter voiced in an attempt to reassure her, May smiled.
"Oh Peter you don't have to." She replied.
"I know, but I want to." Peter stated. May's eyes widened at Peter, that was something Ben always used to say. The woman started to tear up a little.
"Gosh darn you Parkers, always trying to help." She expressed.
"Well, it's what we do isn't it?" Peter asked, May wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You're right, it is what we do."
Just like everything else in the boy's life, school has changed as well. First of all, after the whole scuffle with Flash, the two have been avoiding each other, which Peter was thankful for, but another challenge presented itself…
Teenage Hormones.
Recently, a new student started to attend Midtown Highschool, her name was Elizabeth Allan.
Elizabeth however, was the one that got Peter's attention. She was of Hispanic descent, her eyes were a beautiful hazel colour and was accompanied by deep brown long straight hair that stopped at the middle part of her back with some of it on her shoulders and her skin was of a darker complexion.
Since she and Peter were in the same chemistry class, he would just stare at her sometimes, not for too long or it would be weird. From his behaviour, it was obvious to tell that he had a crush on her.
"So, when are you gonna ask her out man?" Harry asked.
"Ask who out? I-I don't like anyone." Peter sputtered nervously. Harry smirked.
"C'mon Pete, stop acting like you don't have a crush on the new girl." Harry explained.
"What are you talking about! I don't like Liz!" Peter exclaimed. Harry deadpanned.
"Dude you even have a nickname for her, you are absolutely smitten my friend." Harry responded. Peter sighed.
"Alright you got me, but I dunno. She's like a goddess, and I'm a loser." Peter expressed dejectedly. Harry looked at his friend with a very clear 'Are you serious right now' look on his face, Peter noticed this and looked back at the ginger in confusion.
"What? Am I wrong?" Peter asked honestly. Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh, oh wow. You're completely serious." Harry mumbled.
"What's wrong with what I said?" Peter questioned.
"Let me list some positives, you're a nice guy, responsible and you're relatively handsome and…" The sentence came to a stop as Harry started to think. Peter rolled his eyes.
"I mean you have powers, but you can't tell her that." Harry muttered.
"Are you done yet?" Peter groused.
"... Yeah I'm done, can't really think of anything else." Harry said simply.
"Anyway, I gotta go. We can hangout Saturday." Peter orated.
"Alright, see you later." Harry responded as he got up, but he stopped in his tracks.
"Seriously man, just ask her. You're just a great person to be around, the worst she can say is no."
"I… I'll think about it. See ya."
Peter and Mary-Jane were peacefully walking home, having casual conversations about their day.
"I guess you're right, but I don't know. What do you guys even see in me anyway?" Peter asked with genuine curiosity.
"Do you want me to repeat what Harry said or…" Mary-Jane expressed.
"Well, no… but I just want to be more specific about it. What makes me a 'cool person' to you guys?" Peter questioned.
"Um okay, well you're nice, dependable, responsible and funny." Mary-Jane expressed.
"Okay, I can see that." Peter thought to himself.
"You have nice hair, really pretty eyes, you're kinda tall, but that's if she's into tall dudes. You also… nevermind, that's it." Mary-Jane finished. Peter scratched his head sheepishly with a blush on his face.
"W-wow you had a lot to say. Thanks for the perspective I guess?" Peter stammered. Mary-Jane immediately blushed after all the things she said, she started to twirl her hair nervously.
"Yeah, y-you're welcome." Mary-Jane stuttered, after that, their walk home had become awkward, but unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.
"We have the target in sight sir." A man with sunglasses observed.
"Good, what's he doing?" Norman asked. The men in the car discreetly followed the two teenagers watching their every move.
"He's walking with a girl, she's a redhead sir." He mentions.
"Ah, that must be Mary-Jane, ignore her, she's not important. Try to get Parker to use his powers." Norman expressed
"Yes sir." The man stated simply, he turned to his accomplice.
"Take out the silencer, aim for the girl." He ordered, the other man nodded and took out his pistol and aimed for Mary-Jane.
The tingle sensation that Peter knew all too well came back swinging, time slowed and Peter started to look around the street. He then saw the source of the danger, and his eyes widened.
"NO!" Peter screamed out, and the man fired his gun. The brunette grabbed the redhead and leapt into the air, not caring about using his powers in public.
He fortunately dodged the bullets and landed on a rooftop.
"Looks like we got evidence sir." The man expressed.
Peter watched as the car drove away. He narrowed his eyes in anger at the vehicle, "Who the hell were those guys. Why did they try to kill MJ? Do they know about my powers?" He thought, but for now, he dispelled them, they were questions for later.
"MJ, you okay?" He asked with genuine concern.
"I-I'm fine, just a little shaken up is all." Mary-Jane trembled.
"Oh thank god." Peter breathed in relief.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Some dipshits shot at you and I grabbed you and jumped out of the way." He explained.
"Holy shit, but why? Do you think they know?" She questioned.
"God I hope not, but knowing the odds, they probably do."
After the incident, the two agreed that Peter would have to bring her home for her own safety. A few hours later Peter sits on a rooftop, deep in thought.
"Who the hell were those guys?" Peter said to himself. Who were they indeed, Peter knew that if someone knew who he was, his whole life could be in danger.
But his thoughts were cut off by someone screaming in joy? He turned to the source of the noise and saw something that caused the eyes behind his sunglasses to widen.
A flying girl. Peter was absolutely mesmerised with what he was seeing, she was zooming in the air having the time of her life.
Peter got up and started running towards the girl. As he got closer, her features became more clear. She was of African descent, with a pink aura surrounding her body, her eyes like the energy around her was also pink, she wasn't particularly tall, from what he could see she was around the average height of an American woman. On her head she wore a backwards cap, which covered her long curly black hair.
"She's pretty." Peter thought to himself, still enamoured by the girl in front of him, but he shook his head out of the thought and got to the matter at hand.
"Hey!" Peter called out, the girl stopped after hearing his voice. She turned to face him.
"Are you talking to me?" She asked.
"Is there anyone else here?" Peter retorted, the girl then looked around, she then scratched her head sheepishly after realising she embarrassed herself.
"Anyway, who the hell are you?" He asked. The girl landed on the ground and leaned on the wall.
"I could ask you the same… wait aren't you that spider guy?" She asked.
"Spider guy?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah, you stop crimes and shit. Never thought I'd see a mutant helping humans.
"Well, I'm not a mutant and the X-men exists." Peter replied.
"First of all, do you really think that Charles cares about mutant kind? Him and his goons are a bunch of pushovers, Magneto is cooler anyway." The girl said.
"Alright let's stop changing the subject, what's your name?" Peter asked.
"Name's Josephine, but you can call me Joey. Your turn." Josephine stated.
"My turn?"
"Yeah, your turn."
"But… why?"
"The hell do you mean why? I told you who I am, so you should too." Josephine expressed. Peter deadpanned, well she wasn't wrong, but can he trust her? She's a random girl who he just met, so should he do this?
"My answer is still no."
"Alright fine Mr. Mysterious, I'll leave it alone, for now. But, I want something else."
"And that would be?"
"A race."
"What?"
"If I win, you're gonna buy me some pizza, and if you win, I'll leave it alone." Josephine explained. Peter thought about it, it could be fun, but if he loses he'll have to spend the little money he has.
"Eh, I bet I could beat her."
Oh, how wrong he was.
Peter had returned home after he lost miserably to Josephine, and thus upholded his part of the deal.
"How in the hell was she so fast!" He exasperated in disbelief. If there's anyone else like her with more malicious intentions they would escape from him in the blink of an eye. He needed something to make him faster.
"What the hell could even help me with that!?' He exclaimed in frustration. Peter then started to ponder, and ponder, and ponder even more, then it clicked.
"Wait, I have spider powers don't I? But I can't make webs. Maybe, I can make web shooters or something!" Peter shouted.
Looks like he had something to do this weekend.
DECEMBER 6, 2003
"Are you sure I can use it?" Peter questioned whilst holding the phone to his ears.
"Yeah, I'm sure my old man won't mind." Harry expressed, Peter was still sceptical however.
"Can you just ask your dad if I can do this? I really don't wanna inconvenience him in any way." Peter begged.
"You know what? Why don't you ask him?" Harry sneered, Peter's eyes widened at the comment.
"Wait what."
"Hey Dad! Someone on the phone wants to speak with you!" Harry exclaimed cheerfully.
"No wait, stop! What are you doing?!" Peter squalled, then there was silence, Peter gulped in fear of embarrassing himself.
"Hello?" Questioned Norman's voice, Peter quivered in his boots.
"U-um, hi Mr Osborn." Peter greeted.
"Ah! Peter, wonderful to hear from you again! How's it been?" Norman replied.
"I-I'm fine sir! B-but I wanted to use something that is in your possession." Peter stuttered, "What kind of wording is that?! Now he's gonna think you're a weirdo!" Peter slapped himself on his forehead to shut himself up.
"And that would be?" Norman asked.
"C-can I borrow one of your laboratories?" Peter requested, there was silence. Peter stood there for a few seconds, if he couldn't get the lab to use then he wouldn't be able to make his idea come into fruition.
"Alright then, but only for three hours." Norman responded, Peter let out a silent "YES!".
"All the time I need! Thank you sir." Peter thanked.
"One more thing, what do you need this for?" Norman asked. Peter's face went blank, he needed to think of an excuse and he needed one fast!
"I-I need it for an assignment I'm doing and the school labs are shut down at the moment." Peter lied.
"I see, well hurry on then." Norman expressed. Peter hung up the phone and went to get dressed, meanwhile Norman sat in his office after the phone call.
"Can't wait to see what you make, young hero."
Peter rushed inside Oscorp and made his way inside the oscorp building.
"Which lab was it again? Oh yeah lab four!" Peter exclaimed as he ran, whilst doing so he was not aware of his surroundings and bumped into someone causing them both to fall.
"Ouch! Oh my god! I am so sorry, I didn't see you there!" exclaimed a feminie voice, Peter got up and dusted off his bottom.
"You don't need to apologise! I bumped into…" Peter stopped himself when he realised who it was.
"...you." He finished, and after that he just stared because he didn't believe it. He didn't know how long but he stared, and he would have continued if it weren't for the person in question to snap him out of it.
"Are you okay? You're just staring at me." Elizabeth said out of concern.
"O-oh yeah! I'm fine." Peter responded as he scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well alright then, wait a sec. I know you." She expressed, Peter looked at her with confusion.
"You know me?" Peter questioned.
"Of course I know you! You're Peter Parker right?" She asked.
"Yeah, you got me. You're Liz Allan." Peter adds. Her eyebrows squirmed and her lips went into a light smirk.
"Liz? Already have a nickname for me?" Liz jeered. Peter blushed at the joke, embarrassed.
"W-well, I-I, um. I'm s-sorry, I can't speak english." Peter stuttered. Liz laughed.
"Didn't expect to find you here though. You interested in science?" Peter asked.
"Yeah I am, I think that it's pretty cool discovering the inner complexities of the universe. Although most of the general populace doesn't agree with us." Liz replied.
"Well you can't fault them for that, some people just don't find that interesting." Peter expressed.
"I guess you can say that. Anyway, I'm here at Oscorp because my mom works here and I just come to visit sometimes. What about you?" The girl questioned.
"Well, I'm looking for a Lab four to build a personal project of mine." Peter responded.
"Woah, you got a whole Lab to yourself? What kinda connections do you have?" Liz asked.
"Um, well my best friend is Harold Osborn." Peter replied sheepishly. The girl's eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"Holy Shit! That's so cool!" Liz exclaimed.
"Well, it's not that cool, he can be a douche sometimes." Peter jeered. Liz Laughed.
"I like you Peter. Wanna hang out sometime?" Liz asked. Peter's mind went blank.
"Um, uh. W-what?" Peter stammered.
"I said, do you wanna hang out sometime?" Liz repeated.
"O-oh, alright then. When?" Peter asked.
"Is next Saturday good for you?" Liz suggested.
"Yeah, yeah. That's good." Peter replied. The girl then kissed the boy on his cheek and sped past him.
"See ya Parker." Liz whispered as she walked away. Peter stood there absolutely frozen.
"What. The. Hell just happened." Peter stated.
Somewhere in New York City, Joey stood in a payphone booth. She shuffled through her pockets to find some spare change. Once she found some she put them in the machine, dialled a number and placed the phone to her ears.
The phone rang for a bit, and then someone answered.
"Hello Josephine." A man from the other side of the phone greeted.
"H-hello. Do you have a job for me?" Joey questioned.
"Why yes I do. We want you to kill the new vigilante in town." The man expressed. Joey's eyes widened.
"W-wait what." She stammered.
"Did I stutter?"
"N-no sir. I'll do it."
"Good Girl. We'll be expecting much from you, Josephine."
Later that day, Peter was back in costume. He had spent the last few hours building his web shooters, although gruelling he made it remarkably fast, and he likes to think that it was because he's got a date with Liz.
The device in question was like a bracelet with holding areas to place his experimental web fluid he made along with the web shooter, on his palm there was a button and if he pressed it the nozzle just above it would fire the web fluid and it would hopefully harden as it made contact with the oxygen in the air.
But he shook those thoughts out of his head and focused on the task at hand. He placed two cans on top of a mannequin he found in the trash.
"Alright Jerry, let's hope this thing works." Peter stated. Peter aimed his web shooter as the mannequin and fired, the web fluid flew out the nozzle through the air and landed on the dummy. Said dummy was launched into the air from the force and crashed onto a wall.
Fortunately, the web fluid hardened immediately. Seeing this the teenager jumped for joy.
"YES! Oh god I would've cried if that didn't work, I spent so long on it." Peter expressed as he breathed a sigh of relief. And now to do the thing he wanted to try. He walked towards the edge of the rooftop. You see Peter had a theory…
"If I hold down on the button, instead of firing a ball it should fire something like a webline and then with enough structural support…" He drifted off, he aimed towards the crane that was in front of him.
"...I should be able to swing." He finished. He then pressed down on the button and held it, as he predicted, a thin line of web came out.
"Alright, that's one step of the process." He breathed. Peter then took a deep breath and ran. He then jumped off the rooftop and then…
He swung, he swung indeed. He spun across the crane, once he reached the apex of the swing he let go and did multiple spins in the air and landed on his feet on the rooftop on the other side of the crane.
He panted, and turned around to see the roof he was just on, was on the other side. He then threw his fist in the air and skipped around the roof.
"I'M A GENIUS!" He exclaimed in pure and utter joy.
After the web shooter test evening rolled in and Peter returned home. Before he got home he decided to check on Mary-Jane to see how she was doing.
"Look at you Pete. The sad skinny nerd finally got a girlfriend." Mary-Jane teased.
"Shut up." Peter mumbled with a blush on his face, clearly embarrassed. The redhead laughed at the boy's reaction, she playfully punched him on the shoulder.
"I knew you could do it, you're like a total ladies man." Mary-Jane expressed.
"I still don't see it." Peter deadpanned.
"Although it doesn't seem like it, girls love nerds." Mary-Jane stated, Peter smirked.
"Well, does my nerdy charms work on a woman as pretty as you Ms. Watson?" Peter boasted, she chuckled at Peter's attempts at flirtation.
"Nope, I could never like someone as dorky as you." Mary-Jane jeered.
"I dunno, earlier this week you gave me a very detailed description about myself, so I'd say they do." Peter taunted back, the girl froze and her face nearly became the same colour as her hair.
"Y-you still remember that!?" Mary-Jane yelped.
"Of course I do, it was super memorable. Your face was the same colour back then too." Peter spoofed.
"Peter Parker, if you keep going, I'm gonna smack you." Mary-Jane threatened.
"Alright, alright I'm done. Anyway, did anything happen in the theatre club today?" Peter asked. The redhead's eyes lit up.
"OH MY GOD YES! WE ARE GONNA HAVE A PLAY ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!" Mary-Jane exclaimed as she skipped across her bedroom. During her time at the school, students were encouraged to do some extracurricular activities, and Mary-Jane decided to do something she liked doing, acting.
"Nice! At what time? I wanna see if I can make it." Peter asked.
"It starts at three, If you can't make it I won't be mad, I know that you have some more important things to do than see my stupid play." Mary-Jane expressed, Peter then walked up to her and clasped his hands against her's.
"Are you kidding? This is your dream, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Peter declared. And for the second time that night, Mary-Jane blushed.
Peter's hazel eyes met with her green ones. He never noticed it before, but the girl before him was extremely beautiful. Realising that they were staring at each other for a little too long, they both backed off.
"Um, I gotta go home, see ya later?" Peter breathed. Mary-Jane nodded in agreement.
"Y-yeah, see you later." Mary-Jane stammered. Peter went to the girl's window and started to exit, But he was stopped by the redhead placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Good luck on your date four eyes." Mary-Jane jeered.
"Good luck with your play, ginger." Peter taunted back, and with that Peter exited the window. As she watched the brunette leave, the girl couldn't help but smile.
"Tiger, why do you have to be such a big dork?" She praised.
DECEMBER 7, 2003
Sunday, a day of rest for most people before they went back to their mundane working lives. However, for Peter he had no luxury.
Peter had now been using his web shooters for the past day, and they have worked like a damn charm. He was faster, way faster, car chases were nothing but an inconvenience now. Speaking of crime, a kid was being mugged in an alleyway.
Peter landed in front of the group of dudes harassing the boy.
"Why does it take five dudes to rob a thirteen year old?" Peter jeered.
"It's that damn vigilante!" One of the men shouted.
"The one and only my friend." Peter stated. Just as the men were about to jump him, they were stopped by a pink aura enveloping their bodies.
"Wha-what the hell!" One of them shouted, Peter looked up to see Josephine extending out her hand, stopping them in place. She then threw her hand to the left, causing them to crash into walls knocking them all out.
After the men were knocked out, Peter approached the boy.
"You alright?" Peter asked. The boy nodded and ran off, Peter then turned to the girl on the roof.
"Wassup, want another race or something." Peter asked.
"No, not today. Follow me." Joey ordered. Peter's eyebrow quirked behind his sunglasses.
"Okay?" Peter muttered, suspicious of the girl's behaviour but he followed nonetheless. Peter followed the girl, Joey suddenly bursted into flight and started to fly at top speed, Peter leapt into the air, shot out a webline and started swinging after her.
"Joey! You alright? What's going on?" Peter questioned. Joey however, ignored him.
"Alright, that's suspicious. What the hell is going on, and where am I going by following her?" Peter questioned himself in his head.
"Ya know, you're usually not this quiet. Where are we going?" Peter asked. Joey was now starting to get annoyed.
"Just shut up and keep up! If you can." Joey stated.
"Looks like it's time to use the web shooters for what they're made for!" Peter exclaimed as he shot out two weblines onto opposite buildings, he then pulled himself backwards and launched himself like a slingshot. He flew through the air catching right up to Joey, he then shot a web onto her foot, attaching himself to her.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Joey shouted. Peter barely heard her due to how fast she was going.
"I-I'm following you! What else do you think this is?" He stammered out. The girl kissed her teeth and looked toward her destination.
Although it was hard to even move them, Peter managed to pry his eyes open. His eyes were greeted with an abandoned warehouse and he was cut off by flying off his webline once Joey stopped flying at supersonic speeds. He crashed into the building landing right on his face.
"Ow. Anyway, why did you bring me here?" Peter asked as he dusted himself off. Joey levitated into the building and stared Peter down.
"I never told you this, but I have employers, and they're not the good kind." Joey expressed.
"So, like most of them?" Peter joked. Joey chuckled.
"Funny joke, but it will be the last one you make." Joey declared sinsterly. Peter looked at her with confusion.
"Excuse m-" Peter was cut off by Josephine moving so fast she looked like a blur, she then appeared behind him and slammed her fist into his back. This sent Peter flying into a wall, he crashed into it and slowly slid off but before he could, his opponent tackled him through the wall sending them both into another section of the warehouse.
Josephine then walked up to the downed hero. She grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie, Peter then shot a web into the girl's face causing her to let go of him. Peter backflipped away from her, the boy's costume was in tatters, his sunglasses were broken and discarded somewhere else, his mask was still intact but his hoodie was torn to shreds exposing his bare skin.
"The hell's gotten into you? Can't we just talk this out!?" Peter exclaimed, Josephine then ripped the web off her face.
"Sorry dude, either I kill you or they kill me!" Josephine exclaimed as she sped towards Peter again. However, his enhanced senses kicked in and he swiftly side stepped her incoming uppercut, he then ducked and delivered a devastating gut punch. Josephine's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Peter was about to punch her again but she put up a forcefield stopping the attack, she then surrounded Peter in a pink aura and threw him to the other side of the building. Whilst flying, Peter's head crashed into a crate and then into a wall, causing blood to start spilling from his skull.
Josephine was on the ground panting heavily, and soon after started to vomit. Peter at this point was panicking.
"Shit! This is bad! Holy crap she's fast! I don't wanna hurt her, she's being used by her 'employers'! I need to talk her out of it." Peter thought to himself.
"Joey! Please listen to me! You're being used!" Peter explained.
"Don't you think I know that?! These are bad guys dude! I need to listen to them!" She retorted.
"But why!? You're a mutant aren't you? Xavier's school would welcome you with open arms!" Peter argued back.
"I told you already! Xavier's a fucking phony! He'll exploit me the same way the tombstone is!" Josephine exclaimed, but then she covered her mouth.
"Tombstone? Who's that!?" Peter asked. Josephine was panicking, she looked around the room in a frantic manner. Then suddenly speakers appeared inside the room.
"Josephine. It seems as if you're failing the task I have given you." A voice on the other side of the speaker.
"No! That's not what's happening at all!" Josephine shouted.
"And you have also revealed my name to the enemy. You must surely know what happens now?" The man explained.
"N-no! Please wait!" Josephine shouted tearfully.
"What the hell is going on!? Who the hell are you!?" Peter exclaimed.
"Didn't you hear what your companion said? Names Tombstone, pleasure doing business with you." Tombstone orated before the speakers turned off. Josephine then fell to her knees.
"Joey, let's get out of here!" Peter exclaimed, but the girl didn't budge. He started to run over to her but she stopped him with her powers, putting a bubble shield over the boy's body.
"I'm sorry." She voiced, absolutely defeated. Peter was confused, but then the ringing sensation came rushing in, he looked around and saw that the whole building was filled with bombs.
Then an explosion rocked the surrounding area.
Peter awoke… somewhere. He couldn't for the life of him remember why he was washed somewhere near the Hudson river so he looked around in the hopes to find some kind of clue. After looking for a few moments, he found the source of his predicament.
"Joey." He breathed weakly, he limped over to her. The girl did not look well to say the least, she didn't even look like herself anymore, she was more like a charred corpse. Peter started shaking her in an attempt to wake her up, but she wouldn't budge.
"Joey. Joey!" He called out, she still wouldn't awaken. He put his ears to her mouth and nose in the hopes that she would be breathing. But that's when he realised, her well being matched her appearance.
"No. NO! NOT AGAIN!" Peter shouted as he slammed his fist into the dirt. He failed to save someone again, even after he vowed that he wouldn't let it happen again. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Joey." Peter sobbed, he looked to the left to see the burning warehouse they both came out of, he then remembered. Tombstone.
"He used Joey and then when she was no use to him anymore, he killed her. This bastard's officially on my shit list." Peter hissed. Peter then turned to the girl's body, he dug a hole and placed the girl inside and buried it.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you Joey, but I can promise you that I'll seek justice for you and every single person he has hurt." Peter declared, He then leapt into the air, and swung away.
DECEMBER 10, 2003
"Damn." was all Harry could say. Peter, Mary-Jane and Harry stood on the school rooftop and the warm sunset loomed over.
"And she had no family, so she also has no one to remember her? That's horrible." Mary-Jane lamented. Peter had told the two people closest to him about what happened between him and Joey.
"I also think that's the reason he was using her to do his dirty work." Peter stated. Harry's face contorted in disgust.
"That's evil." Harry voices.
"We have to stop this guy! Well you mostly, but you can use our help if you need us." Mary-Jane adds.
"Thanks guys. I need all the help I can get." Peter expressed. Harry placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.
"You sure as hell do, you're gonna take on a literal mob boss." Harry stated a matter of factly. Peter sighed and turned to the city that he called home.
His gaze was determined, as he had a new goal in mind.