Content Warning: it gets a bit dark at the end with vicious violence.
It was now early in the new year in January and things seemed to be going back to a degree of normalcy despite all the escaped criminals still at large; however after everything that had went down with Doc Ock and the Sinister Six the previous year just about anything could feel normal after those events.
In the hideout that was serving as the base of the Kingpin's slowly rebuilt empire and the fugitive at large who had been known as New York's feared Kingpin; Wilson Fisk was in his office stoically looking at a news report of Spider-Man having come across a smuggling operation at the docks. They were smuggling into the city a gum that was banned in the country due to addictive ingredients and Spider-Man's interference caused so much noise that it attracted the police and civilians with some taping the events as they transpired.
The phone footage was shown on the news report with Spider-Man easily making a mockery out of Schultz who was put there as a guard; "Shocker; this is like our 3rd go at this and do you really think that this is going to turn out any better for you? I mean; you only barely make the top 10 list of biggest threats that I have fought but the Sinister Six all beat you out and topping White Rabbit and Leap Frog isn't really an accomplishment to write home about. Plus how emabrassing; fighting for the Heavyweight title one day and now you are guarding illegal gum... Shouldn't you be thinking your life choices now?" Spider-Man was quipping and used his dodging to trick Schultz into knocking out the other men there before Spider-Man went to take him out.
It was captured on fotoage as when he was unmasked and handcuffed; Schultz instantly began pleading to make a deal and would tell them everything that he knows. Schultz even ignored the others telling him to be quiet and actually shouted out that he was working for Wilson Fisk the Kingpin. One of the men there shouted that Fisk was going to have them all killed and Spider-Man just laughed.
"While losing the gum smuggling will be a blow sir; I wouldn't worry about Schultz talking as what we let him know was limited. He wasn't even allowed to know where we are." assured a bald headed black man in a business suit; 'Big' Ben Donovan a crooked lawyer involved with one of the organised crime groups that allowed themselves into Fisk's service once he made himself known after escaping. He was now serving as his main assistant in his day to deal dealings building and leading his empire from scratch.
"Plus; something to note is that several small time goons under our payroll have been found to be brutally murdered but some upper levels have had their corpses identified as well. So far no one has been taking credit but it could just be some vigilante." Donovan then informed him and Fisk shook his head; building himself back up was hard enough without a possible Punisher copycat on the loose. He would be a prime suspect for these attacks if he wasn't still locked away in a super maximum security cell in a specialised prison.
"How about the Demons in Chinatown?" Fisk asked not really responding to what Donovan had said; he had caught wind of the Demons' activities under their new leader and monopoly on crime in New York's Chinatown area.
"They are still refusing any pleas or deals offered; threats made are laughed off and men sent to set an example have yet to return or even be contacted..." Donovan reluctantly informed him as Fisk shook his head.
"All these super powered types and everything that has happened since I was locked up; my city has forgotten how to fear the Kingpin. Back in the old days we could silence witnesses with no problem and those who wouldn't be silent or tried to testify against my operations would be permanently silenced before they even made it to the courthouse. My men feared to even speak my name... What happened to those days..." Fisk remarked putting his hands together onto his cane and shaking his head some more.
"I am afraid that things have changed while you were locked up Mr Fisk; the fear of the of the power that you held has been replaced by the fear of physical power. We now have people who can climb up walls and swing on webs, people who can fly and throw fire and let's not forget that the Gentleman had been able to run his operations without getting caught for decades and was able to break away and run his own empire after you were arrested. Yet; Doctor Octavius was able to effortlessly to end his life and claim command of his resources for himself." Donovan replied and Fisk grew angry.
"Contact Prowler; I have a job for him." Fisk said getting up from his seat starting to make plans. "Plus I want a meeting arranged with a representative of the Demons." Fisk then said stopping himself from punching his desk in frustration.
School was now back in session at Midtown Magnet High School and in the hallways there were students who heard about the fact that an escaped crime boss was now trying to rebuild his operations. "Why is this even news worthy? Last year we had six supervillains running amok at the same time... Who cares about some bald headed criminal?" asked one student out in the hallways.
"My cousin's a cop and she said that back in the day he was a slippery one; it was hard to trace anything back to him before Daredevil finally got him down." said another student.
Peter heard the students talking about Fisk as he was out in the hallways with Harry and joined by Harry's popular friends including Flash and Sally. "Hey Osborn; didn't your old man work with him?" Flash asked as Harry coughed behind his hand as eyes were on him.
"My father had no idea about Fisk's less than legal activities and thought that he was just an upstanding philanthropist. I don't need you spreading any rumors Flash especially as my father's work was attacked last year by that terrorist Octavius and he had to do a lot of work to fix the Tower back up." Harry retorted to the jock as Flash was taken aback and put up his hands defensively.
"Calm down Osborn; I was just asking a question..." Flash said as Harry just shook his head and Peter concerned went to check on him as they went to the direction of their class.
"How is things with your dad anyway Harry? Have you both been?" Peter asked as Harry calmed down to answer his friend and classmate.
"Well dad has been able to fix any damage to the Tower and his company's reputation that Octavius had his little group of friends do and he has actually been doing a lot better. He has sorted out an agreement with business partners and he has had sorted out health problems, he has been working out at a gym and I never saw him better." Harry said and Peter thought that it was good news.
Peter noticed Liz walk by as she joined Sally going to their own classes and they both each shared a smile and a wave to eachother.
A black ooze like substance had been sneaking its way through the lesser areas of this city ever since it had arrived on this planet months ago going by the planet's calendar. The Klyntar the powerful and mighty creations of their god who they know only as 'the King in Black' created them in his waged war against the deities of the universe as well as Celestials; all of them descended from his mighty Necrosword.
They would travel the universe in search of strong enough hosts to bond with; increase their strength and bloodlust. However this one particular Klyntar was weaker than the others and considered a runt or a loser; so much so that it was left to rot on its own on the planet Jupiter after all of the native species had been made extinct by their forces. It was now forced to stay in a rock filled with spores that was affected by the Klyntar's presence.
Now it was free and it will not rest until it finds a suitable host.
It was after school and Peter walked out of the gates laughing hand in hand with Liz and he found Debra and Grady urgently running up to them with great concern and dread on their face. The couple were taken aback by their faces and Peter had gotten a text saying that they needed to talk after school.
"What's up guys? Is there a fire or something?" Peter joked but saw that they didn't react to his joke so it must be serious.
"Peter listen... Someone from juvie got off on parole and came back to the school... Surrounded by officers and handcuffed, Not allowed to go near the students and was sent to his own private classroom surrounded by his parole officers, taking part in the classes by video call with the officers to read out answers he writes down if asked a question." Debra explained slowly as Liz was perplexed.
"Seriously, this is hard to believe as what kid could warrant something like this..." Liz asked as Peter thought about it and the colour drained from his face as he went to face them and they slowly nodded.
"Don't worry Pete; it was explained that he would be driven back to his apartment and he was only allowed so few feet outside his stain of a home. He is on strict instructions to leave his victims alone and that includes you; we are just warning you that Carl King is back in town." Grady told him as assuringly as he could as a host of bad memories came to Peter.
"Carl King?" Liz asked looking towards her boyfriend who sighed.
"The most vicious bully that you could ever imagine; using his size to intimidate and assault smaller kids just because he could. I was his favourite target..." Peter explained trying to look away from the memories in the head as if he was looking away from an unpleasant horror film only for Liz to squeeze his hand.
"Don't worry Peter; like they said this guy can't come near you and he's not a pathetic loser. Put him out of your mind." Liz told him and Peter smiled wondering what could Carl possibly do to him now that he has powers and have faced through dangerous villains. Perhaps a Spider-Man patrol was what he needed that night.
That night Peter was indeed out as Spider-Man web slinging as Daredevil was calling him warning him about the Kingpin; "Don't underestimate Fisk too much Spider-Man as his ruthlessness, cunning and reputation would still make him a threat. He has gone from a street thug who got himself a job as Don Rigoletto's bodyguard to taking over not only his operation but all of organised crime in New York. The front company that he was put in charge of; Fisk was able to transform it into a powerful business to create his public image which was mostly squeaky clean until he was finally brought down." Daredevil was telling him as Peter took this in.
Peter then managed to spot Aaron as the Prowler sneaking his way at warehouse and Peter told Daredevil "I got it teech but I will have to call you back; I see the Prowler and perhaps i could get him this time!" He then ended the call and web slinged to get the drop onto Prowler webbing him up but he used spikes on his arms to break the web and began firing grappling cables at Peter along with firing bullets from his gauntlets. Peter managed to dodge them and get some good hits in but Aaron ended up going to the fire escape and went in.
Peter felt his Spider-Sense blare off but while hesitant; felt that he could take whatever the Prowler has in store for him. He made his way in through the window but ended up being hit by a smoke bomb and could barely dodge the gunfire heading his way. He ended up seeing that on the ground and all over the air there were Ptereodax goons armed with guns.
"Remember when we were teaming up against these goons Prowler? Now you seemed to have done the same for this set up!" Peter snarked not too happy that he walked right into this trap but Aaron shook his head as he went to go away.
"What can I say Spider-Man? My employer is old friends with the higher ups at Ptereodax and sometimes you have to leave the water under the bridge." Aaron replied as Peter did his best to disarm and punch but there was so many of them. Plus no chance of Colonel Jupiter coming in to help; hopefully somehow this could get Firestar's attention.
"End of the road Spider-Man!" smirked one of them as they were all ready to just fire at him at the same time with Peter feeling tired; not noticing a black ooze coming towards him and crawling onto his leg...
Yes; it had found it's new host! It could read his thoughts and new his name as Peter Parker secretly Spider-Man and wanted to use great power to help save people and stop criminals. He really wanted to be able to get out of there alive and so it helped him. Those Ptereodax criminals will not be able to harm him or anyone else again.
It helped Peter out but found his ally Firestar up in the air; it didn't want her close due to her fire powers as the Klyntar were weak to fire. It retreated hidden for now...
Peter groaned as he got up seeing that he lying on top of a building still in his suit and there was Liz as Firestar helping him up. "Firestar; what happened? Did you help against the Ptereodax guys?" Peter asked as Liz blinked and shook her head.
"Sorry Spider-Man but I honestly have no idea what you are talking about; I was just flying past this building and spotted you passed out on this building. I was afraid that I would have to try CPR and it would feel like cheating on my boyfriend as all I know is that it's mouth to mouth." Liz replied as Peter gathered his senses struggling to remember what had happened. "Are you alright? I was wondering if you could tell me what had happened." Liz asked concerned as Peter felt his strength return.
"Nothing really, I think i am just going to call it a night and get my strength back..." Peter replied as Liz smiled and said that she would see him later. Peter thought that a good sleep was just what he needed so he could gather his thoughts...
Harry was up in the morning at the family penthouse waiting for his father to finish his business call so he could join him for breakfast; the morning news were commented on terrorist mercenaries from Ptereodax were found beaten to death in a warehouse and they could barely say anything other than that they were faced with a monster. The faces of terror behind those helmets; Harry after all that the Sinister Six had done to their city and almost destroyed his father's company and could have killed his father... He hoped that whatever this monster was would be taken care of quickly.
Harry decided he was a little impatient and got upstairs and found that his father was in his personal bedroom angrily on the phone telling whoever he was calling that they had to be persuasive to get the Allans to agree to this merger; about how valuable work of Allan Chemicals were to the future of Oscorp's projects.
Harry froze as he ran downstairs feeling that he had an idea of what his father was doing; he was trying to buy Allan Chemicals from Liz's parents...
Peter went through school alright after finding out the news of what happened to the found Ptereodax goons; so far none of them managed to say anything about Spider-Man but most of what was gleamed was that there was some 'venomous monster'. Peter was kind of worried and wondered if this monster had saved him for some reason.
He decided to have a walk around the city on his own to get a clear head and forget all about this; he didn't realise he was coming to this old neighbourhood of crummy houses with it getting dark. He was starting to wonder if he should change into being Spider-Man for a patrol as he had called his friends and Aunt May to let them know that he wanted some alone time to contemplate.
"Well; here comes my old pal Puny Parker..." said a smug looking voice and Peter was tensed as he realised he was outside the home of Carl King the obtuse dirty blonde haired boy with poor clothes who easily towered over him. "What's the matter Parker; why don't you come here and we can catch up on old times. I still remember when you ratted me out to your aunt and uncle... I made a promise of what I would do when I got out and I always keep my word..." Carl said threateningly cracking his knuckles and Peter's growing fear quickly disappeared.
Why was he scared of this little nobody?
"I guess that means you never promised to clean yourself up or work on improving yourself." Peter snapped back with Carl being shocked as he never expected Peter to have ever be able to talk back to him. "Look Carl; I know you are not allowed to go near me and you are on strict probation. I forgot all about you and you're not really a concern." Peter said walking off as Carl was now furious.
"What was that? Come and say that to my face... You are not allowed to walk away from me!" Carl shouted out as Peter kept walking. "Are you going to rat me out to your aunt and uncle again? Oh that's right, I heard your uncle got himself killed. Serves the useless guy right for thinking there was any value in you and that aunt of yours'; she would be better off dying due to that sickness..." Carl shouted back and Peter stopped with a dark look on his face.
Carl smirked as Peter turned around and walked up to him slowly; "Well at least my aunt and uncle loves me and I don't have parents that wish my father was shooting blanks when you were conceived. I bet they are just waiting for you to inevitably break your probation so you can get your useless ass back to juvie and they can stop pretending to care about you." Peter said and Carl was furious but Peter actually went and grabbed him by the collar off his shirt and pulled him over to the gate and went to the back of Carl's home.
Carl was taken aback by the strength and was only able to scream as Peter slammed him to the ground and began pummelling his stomach and face. "Please... Parke... Peter, I am sorry... Please stop..." Carl pleaded as Peter smirked at him.
"You are begging for mercy; funny, I remember when I did the same when the positions were switched and I will show you the same mercy that you showed me..." Peter bragged as he continued on and then grabbed his hands and began squeezing with Carl yelling in pain. "You are a pathetic useless little bitch; I want to hear you admit it..." Peter demanded as Carl's yells continued.
"I am a pathetic little bitch..." Carl screamed out when Peter let go of his hands and picked him up by the collar of his shirt again as Carl was terrified with Peter looking down for a second to notice the ankle monitor on his leg.
"You admit it; you see Carl, you had no friends in school... No one respected you... No one even liked you... You were a useless bully who could only pick on someone much smaller than you... I will show some mercy and not break your ankle monitor as it would be so easy to do so... But you will never pick on someone again because if you do..." Peter said as black ooze came over him and increased his size and bulk so he would tower over most men. There was white slits where his eyes should with an open mouthed showing a long tongue along with fanged teeth.
"I will break your limbs so you will never be able to walk again and I will leave you in pain for the rest of your miserable life so you could do nothing but plead for someone to end you! Now all that there is left for me to do at the moment is take out the trash!" this new form of Peter said as he picked up Carl and slammed him down at the trash cans.
Peter then went back to normal and walked back on the streets with a big smirk on his face as he decided to just go home. It took a while before it fully sink in what happened and he wasn't exactly sure, he thought to himself thinking "What just happened... What did I just do... What happened to me... Why does it feel so good..."
