TWO DAYS PRIOR TO CLASH'S ARREST, DECEMBER 14, 2003

Peter sat in his local library scouring the internet to find clues, he took the information given to him and investigated them. Doing this he was able to conclude that:

The C.E.O of Tricorp is Lincoln and the company was more than likely a front as it entirely earned income from supermarkets and hardware stores. So, nothing much to be honest. He was making progress but it was miniscule and he was starting to get impatient.

"Ugh! This sucks, how the hell am I gonna get this guy arrested?" Peter questioned himself, then he got an idea, a stupid one, but an idea nonetheless.

"Screw it. I'm gonna break into Tricorp and try and find some data on the guy, hope the crapsack criminal bastard wasn't lying." Peter said to himself as he turned off the computer and made his way out the library.

THREE DAYS LATER, DECEMBER 17, 2003

"Alright I've been putting this off for way too long." Spider-Man said to himself. His mask lenses stared up at the building ahead of him, he took a deep breath and jumped towards Tricorp. He landed on the roof, he found a vent and opened it he then jumped inside.

After proclaiming who he was, things haven't changed all that much. The people of New York were still on the fence about him with it teetering on dislike. But it didn't matter anyway, as long as the people who live here are safe and sound.

Peter crawled through the vents searching for the rooms where data should be stored. After a bit of searching, he found the storage rooms, he exited out the vent and began to crawl around on the ceiling.

"Alright, I should take out the cameras surveying the rooms." Spidey said as he shot webballs at the cameras obscuring their vision. Before going down he looked around to see if there were any guards walking around, but there were none.

Spider-Man then planted himself on the ground and began to look around for a main computer where he could get incriminating data from. He had soon found what he was looking for and began to get to work.

He pulled out a flash drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer. Spider-Man began to look through the files to find anything, and those files had everything he needed. They had the locations of where they drug deal and his previous guess that the stores were innocent was wrong, in fact they were used to launder money.

"Holy shit! This has all I need!" Spider-Man whispered to himself. He then pulled out the drive and placed it in his pocket, but then his senses began to tingle. He turned around and saw a very tall muscular bald Russian man with a scar going across his right eye. Spider-Man was startled and thus couldn't notice and dodge the baseball bat that was about to slam into his skull.

Spider- Man awoke hours later from a smack to the face with a crowbar. The Russian man stood before him with said crowbar in hand.

"Dobryy vecher, pauk." He greeted in russian, the teen looked up at him with a scowl. Another set of footsteps came in, it was Mac.

"Pleasure to finally meet ya kid. We have a lot of things to discuss." He stated, Peter felt dizzy, he was sure he had a head injury of some kind.

"Now, since you were looking for boss for a while, how about you meet him?" Mac mentions, he then stepped to the side revealing Lincoln aka The Tombstone. Spider-Man and Tombstone stared each other down. Tombstone smirked.

"Hello again, Spider-Man." He greeted, Spider-Man scowled at the man ahead of him. He placed his hand on the boy's head and patted it causing the teen to shiver.

"Do you know the kind of situation you're in?" The man asked, Peter remained silent. Tombstone smacked him across the face causing him to whimper in pain.

"I could rip off that stupid mask of yours and expose who you are, but that would be to tame." He monologued as he paced around the boy.

"I could just kill you right now, throw you in a ditch somewhere and kill everyone you love." He added, he then grabbed Peter's head and forcefully put it towards his own.

"But we can avoid that, if you accept my offer." Tombstones suggested.

"You can take that deal and shove it up your own damn ass! You killed a friend of mine, and you think I'm gonna listen to you!?" Spider-Man hissed.

"Josephine? You barely even knew her. In fact, her death was your fault. If you didn't come to be, she would still be here now." Tombstone argued.

"Yeah, she would be. But in a life she doesn't want to live in! At Least she'd be happy that she isn't your lapdog anymore." Peter stated. Tombstone laughed.

"Fine then, Mac and Aleksi, beat him until his corpse is unrecognizable." Tombstone declared, the two men smiled. They then started to beat on him, Peter tried to escape but he saw that his arms and legs were binded. Each slam to his torso and face was starting to become less painful and he was sure that wasn't a good sign. Using his strength, Spider-Man managed to snap the cuffs on his legs and kicked Mac with all his might.

What he didn't realize was that he used a bit too much strength as he along with the chair he was sitting in crashed through the wall and he began to fall from six story height. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, and it came quick. His body became electrified with pain as his already injured figure received even more abuse. He cried out in pain and wallowed in it for a little too long.

Knowing he couldn't be on the ground for long he got up and began to limp away. He turned to see Aleksi running towards him, Spider-Man then shot a webline towards a building and pulled himself towards it. Once he landed on it, he started to run as fast as he could without looking back.

After hearing the commotion Tombstone ran inside to see a hole in the wall and a severely injured Mac Gargan bleeding out on the floor. Tombstone stared through the hole and the boy that swung away.

"Run now little pig, you won't get far." he declared with a sinister smile adorning his face.

DECEMBER 18, 2003

MJ plopped herself on her bed letting out a sigh. The first semester of school was ending tomorrow and thus the day of her play was extremely close, but she wasn't thinking about that now. She hasn't seen Peter since yesterday and once Ms Parker came earlier today in a panic asking if he was staying with them. Her worries would soon be answered however.

A knock on her window, she looked to see a severely injured Spider-Man stuck to her window.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, she ran and opened the window. Once he entered, she saw how absolutely horrible he looked. The mask was tearing apart and the lenses were cracked, his eyes were bloodshot, his costume was darker than usual around the head and chest area and he walked with a noticeable limp.

"Mary-Jane…" He called out before he collapsed on the floor, MJ rushed to take his costume off, once she did she took a box from her closet and placed the suit in and shoved it back into her closet.

"Aunt Anna! I found Peter, call an ambulance!" She yelled in panic.

DECEMBER 19, 2003

Peter awoke to a hospital room, the lights blinded him as he shielded them. Once his vision became adjusted to it, he started to look around, May was by his side. Peter smiled upon seeing her, he tapped her head and the woman sprung up.

"Peter!" She exclaimed as she gave him a tight hug.

"Ow." Peter managed to squeeze out. May let him go and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Dear god, where do I even start! Where were you and how did this happen!" She yelled. Peter finally looked down at himself, his torso area was covered in bandages, he placed his hand on his head to see that there were bandages there was one wrapped around his head, he tried to move his left arm but he was met with extreme pain. It was broken so it was in a cast, he must've landed wrong from the fall.

He couldn't tell May he was Spider-Man, it would give her more stress than this situation already has and she also had serious heart problems. So, he lied.

"Some thugs beat me up in an alley and took everything. Sorry for worrying you." Peter replied as he scratched his head with his uninjured arm.

"Don't apologize for that honey! As long as you're safe Peter." She said as she planted a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm gonna call the doctors, I love you." May added before she left.

"Love you too May." Peter replied, the doctors came a short while later. They checked up on him and told him that even though his injuries were severe, he mostly healed them extremely quickly and that he would be discharged by tomorrow evening.

"Just be sure to make your aunt check you up with us often alright?" The doctor asked, Peter nodded. A while later, MJ, Harry and came to visit, Peter's eyes widened at the man.

"Mr. Osborn! You got released from the hospital?" Peter asked the man.

"Yes, I got released yesterday. But I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you. I swear the police aren't doing their jobs, how could they allow a teenager to get hurt like this?" Norman cursed.

"It's fine, I was ganged up on in an alleyway, there was nothing that they could've done." Peter mentions, Norman sighed.

"I'll be leaving now, please Mr. Parker get well soon." Norman said as he turned to leave. As he left Harry and MJ sat beside him.

"Hey Pete." Mary-Jane greeted.

"Great to see you doing okay man." Harry added.

"Thanks for visiting guys, but gotta ask what day it is?" Peter questioned, MJ's face contorted into sadness.

"December nineteenth." She expressed.

"The last day of school and the day of Red's play." Harry mentioned, Peter's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Aw crap! Sorry I missed it." Peter lamented.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, it happens. All that matters is that you're okay." MJ expressed.

"Was it at least recorded?" Peter asked.

"Yeah it was, you can go check it out after school starts. And I gotta say, she kicked that Play's ass." Harry praised, Peter smiled.

"Wouldn't expect anything less from MJ." Peter complimented, MJ blushed at her friends' praise.

"Okay, okay, let's move to more important matters please. What the hell happened to you?" MJ questioned.

"Alright, let me explain." Peter responded, after two minutes the two teens got the full story.

"Holy shit, the C.E.O of those supermarkets is a crime boss? That's like, so surreal." MJ mummered.

"What a wild world we live in man." Harry added.

"Can't wait to get outta here and catch'em, they've been getting away with this for too long." Peter stated, MJ proceeded to pull on his ear.

"Ow! What was that for?" He howled in pain.

"I'm all for you kicking that bastard's ass, but you are not gonna do anything Spider-Man related until you're fully healed, understand?" MJ beseeched. Peter rolled his eyes.

"Is this really necessary?" Peter asked

"I agree honestly, you almost died Pete." Harry added.

"But…"

"Peter Benjamin Parker do you understand?" MJ repeated in a much more threatening tone. Peter nervously nodded in affirmation.

"Good, now get some rest, You do have a date this Sunday." Mary-Jane mentioned. Peter's eyes widened as he heard the sentence leave her mouth.

"Wait, What?!"

Mac Gargan had experienced pain, he was a crook after all, broken bones were a part of the job. But this, this is different.

He was awake but he could not move, speak, or even scream. Spider-Man kicked him, and it absolutely destroyed his body. Practically every bone in his body was broken, he had severe brain damage and worst of all his spine was fractured, which means he'll never walk again.

"How… unfortunate." Tombstone said, looking over his enforcer's broken body. Mac hated it, he hated how his boss looked at him with pity and he hated feeling so weak, so helpless.

Another man entered the hospital room.

"Ahh, Mr Linclon. Is this the candidate?" The man asked the crime lord.

"Why yes it is. Will this suit really work?" Tombstone questioned. The man chuckled.

"Is that doubt I hear? I could never engineer a faulty product." The man boasted.

"I should hope so, pleasure working with you, Mr. Osborn." Tombstone said as he shook the man's hand.

"The same I could say about you Mr. Lincoln, if you can uphold your deal." Norman stated as he left the room. Tombstone then turned to Mac.

"Well, didn't you hear? You're getting back to work." Tombstone voiced to his subordinate, Mac couldn't care less, as long as he wasn't weak again, he didn't care about what happened to him.

DECEMBER 21, 2003

Peter never would've thought that he'd be in a situation like this, he is on a date, with a pretty girl, his mind literally can't comprehend it. He and Liz were walking around chatting about school, life and other various things teenagers talk about with two cones of ice cream.

"So, did you see the paper on Tony Stark's Nanotechnology?" Liz asked him.

"I mean, who hasn't? It sounds pretty revolutionary, I hope the Avengers can use it in some way to protect the earth." Peter responded.

"I'm pretty sure they are using it to make more durable suits and armor. Can't wait to see what more could be done with it though." Liz gushed, Peter chuckled at it. After a while there wasn't all too much to talk about, until Liz got an idea.

"Hey, Peter. Wanna go to the arcade." She asked.

"I mean, I would love to, but I have no cash cuz of the ice cream I bought us." Peter explained.

"I'll pay then."

"But, you don't have to."

"C'mon, please? You bought me some banging ice cream so I gotta repay you." Liz pleaded, Peter sighed.

"Fine." Peter responded.

After thirty minutes of walking the two finally made it. Liz practically dragged the boy in, and went towards a particular game.

"Dance, Dance Revolution?" Peter said quizzically.

"Yup, wanna go a round?" Liz asked.

"I don't know how to play the game, so, no not really." Peter responded, Liz chuckled.

"C'mon, it's easy. When the arrow shows up on the screen you just place your foot on the arrow on the touchpad." Liz explained, Peter shrugged.

"Okidoki, but if I embarrass myself, it's on you." Peter joked while pointing at her, Liz gave him a small giggle. The two put the money in the machine and stepped up on the platform. They picked a song and began playing.

Peter wondered if he should hold back, but then he decided that he wanted to impress his date, so he used a bit of his true power.

The two teens were relatively even, they both stepped on each arrow almost perfectly, until the song got faster and Liz started to fall behind, however Peter kept up easily. Actually, it was overkill. The boy hit everything perfectly, Peter had won by a landslide.

"Holy crap, you were great! You sure you haven't played before?" Liz asked.

"Nope, completely new to this. Just goes to show how absolutely cool I am" Peter boasted. Liz laughed, until her phone rang.

"Oh shoot, I gotta take this." Liz left to answer her phone, a few minutes later she came back.

"Sorry, but I gotta go. This was fun. I'd like to do this again sometime." Liz stated. Peter smiled.

"Me too. Want me to walk you home?" Peter asked. Liz walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Nah, I'll be fine. See' ya Pete." Liz expressed as she left the arcade, smirking while doing so. Peter smiled, he could get used to this.

"Well, well. If ain't the person I wanted to see!" A familiar voice called out, Peter turned to see who it was, and when he did his face contorted in annoyance.

"Flash." Peter bleated, Flash and Peter haven't really been at much odds anymore. They pretty much ignored each other after in the month following their fight and Ben's death, in fact Flash offered his longtime victim condolences during the event.

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd be on a date. Guess you stopped being a pansy." Flash joked, Peter rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want?" Peter asked, already wanting to be done with this conversation.

"I need your help with something."

"And that is?"

"Could you, uhh… be my tutor?"

"Huh?" Was all Peter could say.

"Don't look so confused man… you're embarrassing me." He voiced sheepishly. Peter laughed.

"You want me to help you? Why the hell should I do that?" Peter scorned, Flash scratched his head sheepishly.

"I know I did some shitty things in past but-"

"Some?"

"Okay, a lot, but please. I wanna be better, do better in school and all that jazz."

"Well you can do that with some else. Now piss off." Peter hissed. Flash sighed.

"Alright, alright, I get ya. Thanks for hearing me out anyway." Flash mumbled. At the back of Peter's mind, he did feel bad for the blonde boy in front of him, but all that was washed away by the anger that was at the forefront of it.

The two boys went their separate ways.

Peter entered his home feeling quite happy. He got a girlfriend, but in the back of his mind the conversation with Flash was still gnawing on him. He sighed, and sat down on the couch and turned on the Television hoping to take his mind off of it, but alas, that didn't work.

"Oh, Peter! Didn't know you came back already." May called out, Peter turned to greet his aunt.

"Hey Aunt May. What's for dinner?" Peter asked.

"Oh, you're gonna love it! It's something I haven't made in a long time." May expressed. Peter's eyes widened in elation.

"Chocolate muffins!?" Peter all but screamed out. May laughed at Peter's excitement. She then went to the kitchen and grabbed a plate with five muffins on it.

"Enjoy sweetie." May said, Peter dug in. While he was enjoying his dinner, his behavior from before still soured his mood.

"Um, Aunt May, if someone who was a jerk before, and now they're trying to change. Do you think that they still deserve a second chance?" He asked. May thought about what he said.

"Well, if they're trying to be better, of course you should give them a chance. Everyone deserves second chances." May responded. Peter sighed.

"I guess, you're right." Peter said, he guess he can try to befriend the boy.

Gargan awoke to being suspended in a tube, he looked around confused. Where the hell was he?

"Good Day, Mr. Gargan." Mac looked to see who called out to him, it was Norman Osborn, Mac tried to ask him what was going on, but then he discovered a gag was blocking his mouth.

"Your boss said that you'd be a fine candidate. Let's see if his word holds true." Norman stated, he then pressed a button that was on his monitor. Multiple wires and needles came about, the wires held him down and the needles injected a serum into his body. Mac began to give out muffled screams as his body started to convulse violently.

"Don't scream or cry, my child, as soon as this procedure is over…" Norman mumbled, he then pressed another button. A green suit of armor was being lowered into the tube.

"You will be born anew." Norman finished. Mac continued screaming into the night.

DECEMBER 23, 2003

"Hello New York!" Spider-Man shouted, he swung through city block after block. He landed on a rooftop and leapt onto a next one, after he got between two buildings she shot out two weblines, held onto them, pulled back and flung himself forward into the sky.

He landed onto a wall, and took a deep breath.

"Ahh, web swinging is the best. Thankfully, there hasn't been anything going on." Spider-Man said, suddenly his police scanner started ringing.

"Spoke too damn soon I guess, at least I know this scanner works." He expressed as he put it to his ears.

"All units, a man in a suit of armor resembling a scorpion is wreaking havoc across Times Square. If you are nearby please engage." The operator voiced. Spider-Man put away the scanner and made his way there.

Meanwhile in Time Square. A police officer was hiding behind a truck, until suddenly the truck was flipped over. The officer turned to face his aggressor, It was Mac and he was way taller, the hispanic man towered over the officer, his suit was a muddy and grimey green, his tail was extremely long, segmented, and had a large stinger on the end. His helmet had multiple eyes, and the mouthpiece covering his mouth was transparent showing his maniacal grin.

"E-eat lead Freak!" The Officer shouted, he fired the gun multiple times, but it had no effect. Gargan grabbed him and raised him into the air, choking him out, he raised his stinger to the man's eyes.

"Prepare to die Pig!" He shouted. As he was about to stab him, a webline connected to the man's chest, he was confused until a foot slammed into his face sending him flying, the police officer dropped to the ground gasping for air.

"Never thought I'd say this, but thanks Spider-Man." The officer said, Spider-Man waved him off.

"Don't mention it, just get outta here. I'll handle him." He expressed, the officer got up and left the area. Spider-Man looked around and saw the destruction around him, Many cops and civilians were dead, with many also injured. As he was about to help them, a green substance blew past his face. It landed on the wall and began to melt it.

"Acid?" He turned to see Mac arising from the wall he put him in.

"If it ain't the boy fucking wonder." Mac shouted, the teen looked at him in confusion.

"Do I know you?"

"Aw, you don't remember the guy who almost caved your chest in with a crowbar?" He said feigning being hurt, Memories flooded his brain as he tried to remember who the heck this guy was.

"Wait, are you that hispanic guy?" Spider-Man questioned.

"CORRECT! And for what you did to me, you're gonna pay!" Mac yelled as he charged towards Spider-Man. He jumped into the air to avoid the tackle and webbed the back of the man's head and pulled, causing the man to fall backwards and onto the ground.

"Listen Scorpio, I know you're angry, but you need to hear this, green looks terrible on you and so does revenge, so I gotta suggest that you stop and calm down." He quipped, Mac got up and swung his tail at the boy, Spider-Man barely dodged it by ducking.

"Holy crap, this guy's fast, better be careful." He thought to himself, Mac then charged again, but at blisteringly fast speeds, he smashed into Spider-Man's midsection and the both crashed into a building.

Spider-Man flew into a wall, and began to breathe heavily, the air was quite literally knocked out of his lungs.

"The hell? W-when did you get so strong? And fast?" Peter questioned. Mac smiled.

"I got a few upgrades since we last met, sucks ass that I can't kill you though, gotta bring you alive or else the fucker'll kill me." Gargan expressed, Peter looked at the man in confusion, who the hell was he talking about? Who the hell wants to capture him?

"Alright Scorpion, I ain't about to let that happen. Hey', Scorpion fits! I'm gonna call you that forever now." Peter joked.

"Shut up rat!" Scorpion exclaimed, He then thrusted his tail towards the boy, but Spider-Man sidestepped it. He then ran towards the green behemoth and leapt on top of him, he then proceeded to pummel his green dome.

"Get offa ME!" Scorpion screamed, before he grabbed Peter's head and slammed his skull into the ground. Spider-Man kicked the man in his face causing Scorpion to smash into a wall a great deal away.

Spider-Man got up and dusted himself off, his spider-sense went off, he moved to his left narrowly dodging the strike, however the stinger then swung back and slammed Peter into a wall.

"HAHAHA! YES! YOU'RE DONE FOR PUNK!" Scorpion shouted. Peter chuckled.

"You must have a black belt in stupid if you think that can keep me down." He boasted, suddenly his body started to feel weak? He looked down to his chest where the pain was coming from, his eyes widened as he realized what happened, when the tail smacked him, it cut him and poisoned him. Peter's body started to feel like mush.

"Ahh shi- '' Spider-Man was cut off by a fist smashing into his face and another and another and another and… Well you get the point. The beating the teenager was receiving was brutal, a series of punches were being riddled over the teen's body. Mac then lifted the boy into the air, and began to choke him out.

Peter struggled to break free, but to no avail. The air was beginning to leave his lungs and his vision began to darken, until a flash bang was thrown into the room the two combatants were in. An explosion rang throughout the room, and a brilliant shine of light lit it up, Gargan took this chance to escape, so he let Peter go and ran off.

After the explosion, Spider-Man was left on the ground gasping for air.

"Spider-Man, you're under arrest!" One of the cops shouted. Spider-Man through his cracked mask gave them an annoyed expression, got up, and sprinted towards the exit. Luckily, the boy escaped.

MJ had been sitting on her bed, reading a book and enjoying her peaceful evening. Well that is until her best friend knocked on her window with severe beating written all over his body and now she is stitching his chest wound.

"Okay, so are you gonna tell me what happened or…?" She asked, Peter winced from the pain.

"Uh, some guy in a scorpion suit kicked my butt in, and now I'm reeling from the super powered ass beating." Peter joked.

"Where the hell did he even get something like that from?"

"No idea, that's what I'm trying to figure out." Peter responded, MJ looked up at the boy, he looked troubled.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Honestly, no. The guy was just as fast as me and probably stronger too. How the hell am I gonna beat that? Sometimes this thought comes into my brain, that I'm the same weak kid." Peter expressed.

"What makes you think that?"

"When getting tortured, I felt helpless, like when Flash and his jock friends used to kick my shit in whenever they got the chance."

"But you kicked his ass back didn't you?"

"Yeah, and I thought I would never feel that way again. Until today, this guy comes outta nowhere, beats me up and once he was done he just got up and left. I'm still weak, even with these powers."

"Peter you're not weak, you've never been weak. Sure this bucko is making you feel this way, but you're stronger than he will ever be because you're using your powers to help and protect people not hurt them." Mary-Jane stated.

"But…" Peter was about to start talking but MJ cut him off.

"No buts, you've always been strong. You just refused to see it." She finished, Peter thought about her words and smiled.

"Thanks for the kind words, MJ."

"That's what friends are for aren't they? Now hush, while I stitch your chest closed." MJ said.

"Yes ma'am." Peter chuckled.

DECEMBER 24, 2003

Christmas Eve, the day just before christmas and the day everyone rushes to get presents, however Libraries are still forever quiet. A familiar dark skinned jock sat on one of the tables struggling to understand the contents inside.

"Dammit! This shit sucks!" Flash yelled, with the librarian's infamous "shh!" coming soon after. The boy groaned.

"Wow, never thought I'd see the day." Another familiar voice called out. Flash looked up to MJ standing over him, he rolled his eyes.

"You here to insult me or somethin?" He bleated.

"I already did doofus." MJ mocked with a smirk.

"Can you piss off already?" Flash spat.

"Nah, so sparkie, what inspired the change?" MJ asked.

"Nunya."

"Nunya damn business I presume?"

"Exactly." Flash said, MJ rolled her eyes.

"I'm just telling you now sparkie, I ain't leaving until you answer my question. " She stated.

"Tch, fine. I just… I just wanna be a better person, I've been a dick to a whole lot of people even to my friends and I wanna change, be like Spider-Man." Flash explained, MJ's eyes widened, she was sure she just had an epiphany. Eugene "Flash" Thompson looked up to his biggest victim.

"Huh, I guess you could say we're pretty similar in that regard." MJ replied, Flash looked at her confused.

"The Spider-Man part, not the being a dick part."

"Oh, okay."

"Anyway, I look up to Spider-Man too. He protects the weak, kicks ass and most of all, he's like a real nice guy." She expressed, Flash's face lit up.

"Exactly! Finally, someone who won't laugh at my interests, wait is this how you guys felt when we laughed at you?" Flash questioned, MJ nodded.

"Damn, I feel even more terrible now. Gotta say sorry to Harry and Puny Parker when I see them." Flash expressed.

"If you're gonna apologize to someone, then maybe don't call them the harmful nickname you gave them." MJ stated, Flash scratched his head sheepishly.

"Yeah, you're right." He replied.

"Anyway, I gotta go. See ya later Sparkie." MJ said.

"Wait!" Flash called out, MJ turned to face him.

"Do you think that Parker's gonna ever forgive me?" Flash asked. MJ looked at the boy and smiled.

"Sure it may take a bit but yeah, Pete's not the kinda guy to hold grudges. Just give him some time." MJ explained, Flash breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for letting me know Mary-Jane." Flash expressed.

"You're welcome, and by the way? My friends call me MJ." MJ grinned. Flash chuckled.

"Alright then, see ya later MJ." Flash said, Mary-Jane smirked as she walked away, leaving the library.

NEW SCORPION SUPER VILLAIN ON THE LOOSE.

COULD HE AND SPIDER-MAN BE WORKING TOGETHER?

"Honestly, the fact you are contributing to your own slander is really funny." Harry chuckled as he read the new bugle paper. Peter slugged him on the shoulder.

"Can you stop making fun of me and help make this anti-venom, please and thank you. Also the pictures help me pay for May's bills." Peter explained.

"So just to get by, you have to get exploited by the ones who are supposed to help you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Peter replied.

"Wow, that is pretty sad." Harry expressed. The room was filled with silence in response to the dark subject matter their conversation had gone to.

"Anyway, how's having a girlfriend Pete?" Harry questioned.

"Um, fine I guess? Liz is great, but we haven't really clarified anything really." Peter responded.

"Okay… have guys talked at all since your last date?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Yeah we have over the phone. And thanks for having faith in me numbskull." Peter belated, Harry laughed nervously.

"C'mon man, I just had to be sure my best friend wasn't being ghosted or something." Harry explained.

"Nice to know you have little faith in Liz too." Peter added.

"Nothing I say will make this misunderstanding any better ain't it." Harry expressed.

"Eyup."

"Okay then, so, you almost done with what you're doing or…" Harry asked.

"Almost… and done! Now I just gotta find Mr jade jaws and kick his ass." Peter said.

"What was the anti-venom even for?" Harry questioned.

"It's just in case I get poisoned by him, I can cure myself." Peter explained, suddenly the phone in the lab started ringing.

"Ayo Pete, answer the phone."

"I got it, I got it." Peter said, he then got up and answered.

"Oh hey MJ… WAIT WHAT?!" Peter exclaimed. Harry jumped at the outburst.

"The hell? What happened?" Harry asked

"Gotta go! Scorpion's attacking my job!" Peter yelled as he grabbed the anti-venom and bolted out the lab.

"Giant Scorpion man attacks newspaper publishing company, absolutely wild world we live in." Harry stated.

"I won't ask again! Who the fuck takes Spider-Man's pictures?!" Scorpion yelled.

"I don't know who it is! T-there stuff comes in the mail!" Jonah shouted back. Scorpion choked him harder.

"DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING LIE TO ME!" Scorpion roared, every single person in the room flinched from his voice. Jonah then spat in his face.

"Damn mask wearing bastards! All of you are the damn same!" Jonah hissed. Scorpion then raised his tail into the air and aimed it at the man's face.

"Shut your fucking trap, you're useless so I'm gonna kill you now." Scorpion said. Suddenly a web line attached to his arm, pulling him back and making him let go of Jonah.

"Oh no you don't!" Spider-Man yelled, Scorpion smiled upon seeing him.

"There he is! The boy wonder!" Scorpion shouted. Jonah scowled at the both of them.

"I KNEW YOU TWO WERE WORKING TOGETHER! WHERE'S PARKER WHEN YOU NEED HI-" Jonah was interrupted by his mouth being covered with webs.

"I am saving your life, so could you do me a favor and shut up." Spider-Man interjected.

"Come back for a rematch?" Scorpion asked

"Yeah, but this time you're gonna end up in jail cell Jade Jaws!" Spider-Man quipped. The two combatants rushed towards each other, Scorpion swung his tail, Spider-Man leapt over and webbed his eyes, allowing him to land a flurry of punches and kicks to the green giant's abdomen.

Scorpion removed the webbing and just as quickly slammed his fist into the teen's shoulder. Spider-Man grunted in pain before swinging back with an uppercut sending the bigger arachnid flying through the window of the building. Spider-Man turned to the building's inhabitants.

"Everyone okay?" He asked.

"Yup all of us are just fine, thanks for the save Spidey." Betty called out. He then gave them a thumbs up and leapt out the window following his adversary.

Jonah finally removed the webbing from his mouth and screamed…

"CURSE YOU SPIDER-MAN! CURSE YOU!"

Scorpion landed onto a vehicle, crushing it under his weight. He groaned in pain and slowly got out of the crater he created under his body.

"Fucking brat!" He shouted, and said brat landed in front of him.

"Hey there bud, how's life treating ya?" He quipped. Scorpion picked up the destroyed car.

"Shut up!" He yelled as he threw it at the boy, Spider-Man grabbed the vehicle and placed it back in the ground, Scorpion used this distraction to tackle the young hero through a building wall.

He then threw him, but Spider-Man landed on his feet.

"You know, I don't know what that bastard sees in you." Scorpion mentions, Spider-Man scowled.

"Tombstone I presume?" He asked irritably.

"Oh my employer is none of your damn business, but he's the scientist type who wants to experiment on you. But he's gonna have to do it with your corpse when I'm done with you." Scorpion threatened.

"If it ain't him, who the hell could it be?" Spider-Man said to himself, but suddenly his head began tingling, he narrowly dodged the stinger coming towards his face.

"Enough chit chat! FIGHT!" Scorpion shouted as he rushed him, Spider-Man dodged his attacks narrowly until… the stinger scraped the hero across his arm.

"Aha! N-now you can finally s-stay still!" Scorpion panted, he then tried to hit the teen but he sloppily dodged outta the way.

He then pulled out the anti-venom and injected himself with it.

"The hell was t-that?!" Scorpion shouted.

"As this fight went on I noticed something about you." Spider-Man noted, Scorpion scowled.

"And the hell would t-that be!?" He shouted, the teen smirked and cracked his neck.

"You can't handle the weight of your armor for long, and thus your stamina is complete dogwater." He stated as he began to trek towards his opponent. Scorpion tried to walk towards him but stumbled over his footing.

"W-What?!" He hissed.

"All I had to do was outlast you!" Spider-Man shouted as he sprinted towards him and smashed his fist into the man's armored skull and followed up with a thunderous sucker punch to his stomach. Scorpion fell to his knees, holding his belly, groaning in pain.

"This fight's over, so how about you take a nice…", Spider-Man then webbed Scorpion's face and pulled the man towards him.

"NAP!" He shouted as he clotheslined the man, finally knocking him out. Spider-Man then walked over to him and webbed up his unconscious form.

"And for the love of god, please stay down." He quipped, before swinging away into the sunset.

DECEMBER 25, 2003

"Merry Christmas Aunt May!" Peter exclaimed, the boy then gave her a tight hug. She laughed.

"Oh Peter, Merry Christmas to you too dear." May said. Peter let her go and placed himself on the couch.

"So, um… Are we doing anything for Christmas this year?" Peter asked nervously, May sighed.

"No, not this time, it just… wouldn't feel the same without Ben." She lamented, Peter became saddened by her words.

"Ah, I get ya, it really wouldn't." Peter mentioned. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, May went ahead to answer it.

"Oh why hello. What brings you here?" May greeted, Peter's eyebrows quirked up.

"Well alright then. Peter, an unexpected guest has come to see you!" May called out, Peter got up from the couch and made his way over, what greeted him greatly shocked him as on his doorstep stood Flash.

"Uh, hey Peter." He greeted. Peter looked in confusion.

"Hi?" He said, May then gave the two an awkward smile.

"I'll leave you two to it, Flash dear you can come inside when you want." May stated as she walked away.

"So, what brings you here dude?" Peter asked. Flash fidgeted nervously.

"I… I just came to say sorry, for everything. I was and have been a dick since kindergarten and I'm sorry.", Peter stared at the boy as he spoke.

"I was just jealous of you I guess, My dad ain't the greatest and seeing you and your Uncle just reminded me of it. What I said in the arcade was true, I wanna change, to be better and if you don't forgive then that's fine I'll understand." Flash explained, Peter chuckled and placed his hand on the taller boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry too, for what I said in the arcade. I could tell you were genuine even back then, and I was a dick for shitting on your efforts." Peter responded.

"So, you forgive me?" Flash asked.

"Ehh… Forgive is a strong word, giving you a chance is what I'll do. So, here's to having second chances." Peter replied as he raised his fist into the air.

"Fist bump?" He asked, the blonde boy laughed.

"Yeah, fistbump." Flash said. The two boys smiled at each other.

"To a new start." Peter stated

"To a new start." Flash repeated. Peter then gestured to his new acquaintance to come inside.

"Let's not keep May waiting shall we." Peter said, they then went inside to have a wonderful Christmas day.