Chapter #1: Shocking!

(Present day...)

The sun shone from a bright, blue sky upon Queens, the largest borough in New York City. Vehicles and pedestrians filled the crowded road. Everyone minded their own business; some were on their way to their workplace or school, others were simply having a casual conversation. The day seemed usual for Queens' residents, but not the exact normal kind of usual...

*THWIP! THWIP!*

That very sound caught people's attention. Some would just be awed while others took out their phones to take a video.

"It's Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider!" one of the pedestrians pointed at the masked figures above them swinging from building to building while greeting them all.

Everything used to be pretty normal...until around a month ago. Two mysterious figures were swinging around the neighbourhood, giving the first glimpse of real superheroes to the world. One, who helped and protected people, was called Spider-Man by the Daily Bugle. And the other, who was not exactly a hero and used his powers to hunt the killer of Ben Parker, was Scarlet Spider. As if life was breathed into the pages of superhero comics, the world changed into one that existed in comic books. And since a few weeks ago, they had been patrolling the neighbourhood together, stopping the bad guys.

After passing the pedestrians, the two masked heroes stopped at a nearby rooftop. They sat down on the ground and let out a sigh of relief, taking a little break. Both carried tactical sling backpacks with tumblers on their water bottle holders. They pulled up their mask a bit to reveal their mouth and drank.

"Okay. So far, so good. No bad guys found during this patrol," said Peter Parker, or Spider-Man, before taking a few more sips from his tumbler.

"Yeah... At least no one is killing anyone around..." Kaine answered, also known as Scarlet Spider, in a gloomy tone. He lowered his head and sighed, remembering how his father Ben lost his life at the hands of a carjacker... Peter got closer to his older cousin and patted him on the shoulder gently.

"You know...this is pretty ironic and funny," Kaine chuckled, "I used to hate my dad a lot for being a terrible father. But now? I keep missing him." His face didn't seem very happy. "Like, I just wanted to patch things up with him... I know what he did when I was a kid is inexcusable but he's still my father..."

"Must've been hard for you," the younger Parker soothed.

"Yup... It's like a hole I can't ever fix nor close in my life," he replied. "Peter, do you think it's weird to miss someone like him? Because I do."

"Well, no? I guess it's understandable to miss a parent, no matter if they are bad or not... But hey, you have us, Coz. A family. So don't worry, okay?"

They both shared a smile and looked at the buildings before them for a few moments.

During the break, Kaine pulled out his phone of his jeans' pocket and looked at the time, before checking his chat with Annabelle. When he looked up to Peter again, he asked, "What do you think we should do? We have like an hour left before we meet Anna. End the patrol or continue it for a bit just to make sure? I'd end it, since I don't want to disappoint Anna again..."

Taking a moment to consider his choice, Peter recalled the times he and Kaine got late to their meetings with Annabelle before. They had messed up three times so far and she hadn't been happy. But if they ended the patrol today, what if something else came up?

"...Enough for today," he decided with a heavy heart, "I agree with you, Kaine. Besides, we planned to do the physics homework later."

Peter and Kaine pulled their masks down and put the tumblers back to the bottle holders. Now that they were ready, they shot a webline to a building, jumped off the rooftop, and started swinging again. On their way to a café to meet Anna, Peter and Kaine's eyes scanned their surroundings, still making sure that no bad guys were present. Deep down, they wanted things to go smooth...

*BANG!*

Both exchanged looks. One remembered about the responsibility of using his power to help others while the other didn't want anyone to get hurt or worse...die. Realizing what the two should do, they changed their direction to the source of the explosion to investigate.

"Sorry, Anna..." Kaine sighed in regret.

--

(Meanwhile...)

Outside the recently-bombed building, shots were fired between two opposing groups. A group of six men was retreating to the parking lot, carrying a case full of enemy intel. Another group of five was trying to retrieve it back.

"Get to cover!" a masked man with goggles in red suit with yellow quilt, known to his fellow criminals and to the authorities as Shocker, ordered his henchmen. Everyone got behind vehicles as soon as possible. One of them didn't make it though. He got shot in the leg and screamed.

"AH! Fuck!"

"Shit. Boss, James is down!" one of his companions shouted.

"No man gets left behind! Cover me!" ordered the leader as he got out of his cover to his injured henchman. The men provided covering fire at the best of their ability, enabling Shocker to drag James out of danger.

"S-Sorry, Boss," James grimaced in pain, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. You already did a good job, okay?" Shocker assured the man, "I need a medic here!"

As one of his henchmen tended to the injured James, Shocker pressed down the buttons on his respective gauntlets, charging them. The gauntlets made a continuous beeping sound, and a red indicator blinked on each of them. "This oughta do the job." He exited his cover and aimed at the opposing group. The light changed to green, prompting the man to let go of the buttons. At that moment, a furious, devastating blast was unleashed and destroyed everything and everyone on its path.

The result was... messy. Some of the opponents were killed in an instant. They wouldn't be recognizable anymore. Others got broken bones and were screaming in pain. Shocker in contrast was perfectly fine, thanks to the quilt patches on his suit, which absorbed the shock

For a brief moment, he inspected his gauntlets, smiling in satisfaction under his mask.

"That'll send a message to Hammerhead. Let's get back to base now!"

From afar, Peter and Kaine were observing from a rooftop. This was terrible! The criminals they had faced were simply normal crooks. But these? These were something else...

Kaine quickly pulled his smartphone out and sent a message to Anna to notify her that they would be late, knowing this would take some time. While Peter just stared, shocked by what he saw.

"Okay... Okay. We're gonna make it," he breathed heavily, his hands shaking and sweating. "This is gonna be a piece of cake. Heh. No worries! No worries... We can handle them." Peter laughed nervously to himself.

The older Parker noticed it and shoved his phone back into his pocket, placing a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "Hey, hey..." he patted it softly in reassurance, "You're not alone. I'm scared too. We're in this together, okay? I got your back."

"Okay... Thanks, Coz."

"Don't mention it, Webs. Now, shall we?"

Peter nodded and both masked heroes shot their respective web lines and descended to the parking lot.

"Hang on," Shocker said to James, who was carried into the van, "You'll be alright."

That moment he heard two thuds. He turned around and his men quickly followed, shifting their attention to the masked figures who suddenly appeared.

"Sheesh. The boys had a party and we weren't invited? Geez guys, what a bummer," Spider-Man joked, making Scarlet smile underneath the mask. He tried hard to resist laughing out loud. Spider-Man frowned when he noticed a briefcase in the hands of one of the men present. "Interesting... They're not robbing money. Are they after information?" he thought.

Shocker looked annoyed at the red and blue hero. His men aimed their weapons at Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider, only for the guns to get yanked away by the masked heroes' webbing.

"Nah uh uh! No guns!"

One of the henchmen turned to Shocker, waiting for his orders, "Boss?"

"If it's a fight these bozos want, then let's give it to 'em," Shocker replied with determination and confidence, not even the tiniest bit scared by his chances with the two.

"Alright. Who wants who?" Peter asked Kaine.

"I think I'll go for the leader and a couple of his henchmen."

"And I got the rest? Pfft, that's no fun."

Kaine just laughed cheekily, earning an eyeroll from his cousin. "Hey... You still afraid?" he whispered to Peter.

"Just a little. Humor helps me ease up." He shrugged.

"That's good then... You ready?" Kaine tilted his head in question.

"Not really. But eh, ready as I'll ever be," Peter smirked.

The Parkers readied themselves and rushed at their enemies. Kaine shot a web to tie Shocker up, preventing him from interfering and delivered light punches and kicks to two of his henchmen. They managed to block some attacks and one held Scarlet Spider while the other threw hooks to the hero's stomach. Scarlet yelped and kicked him back much stronger and less controlled, making the man cough and stumble backwards. Then, he hurled the other henchman over against his partner. They both fell, groaning in pain as Scarlet webbed them to the ground.

In the meantime, Spider-Man blinded two of his opponents with his web splats. This gave him an opening, allowing the masked hero to shoot a web line to the briefcase and yanked it toward him. Next, he shot two more lines from his fingertips to the two men. He pulled them down to the ground and webbed them up.

"Well that was easy," he chuckled.

Seeing all of his men down, Shocker tapped the button on one of his gauntlets, activating an energized battering ram attachment. The heat of the energy melted Scarlet's webbing. He freed himself and aimed his other gauntlet at Spider-Man. Shocker pressed the button and a light blast was fired.

All of a sudden, Spider-Man felt a tingling sensation in his skull. "What in the- AH!" Before he could turn around, the blast sent him flying into a nearby car, crashing it. Groaning slightly, he got up. His head was spinning, his ears were ringing too.

Shocker shot another light blast, which didn't make Spider-Man feel any better.

"Spidey, no!" Scarlet rushed toward Shocker, already clutching his fist and ready to throw a punch at the man. He managed to hit him in the face, but Shocker returned the favor with the energized battering ram. Scarlet went flying to the ground away, almost like a ragdoll. Coughing, he tried to stand up, hissed then and extruded a stinger from his wrist.

"Wanna kill the Shocker?" the criminal mocked and held down the button on his gauntlet, charging it and aiming at a downed Spider-Man. "Go ahead and I will crush your partner like a little spider. One funny thing and he won't look good anymore."

Fear spreaded in Scarlet Spider's guts and replaced the burning anger. He wanted to stop this bastard but he couldn't risk it. Kaine glanced at Peter and a memory flashed in his mind... The time he held his dead father and sobbed. Cornered, he retracted the stinger reluctantly...

"Good," said Shocker, proceeding to unleash the furious blast to the sky instead, "Now stay there." He shot another light blast in Scarlet's direction just to make sure.

Kaine kept coughing as he recovered, helplessly watching as Shocker freed his men, regained the briefcase, and finally escaped. As soon as the criminals disappeared, he rushed to Peter and checked his condition.

"Pete? Pete..?"

His cousin just gave a thumbs up as he rose. "He got us good, Coz... At least he didn't call me a bug. I would be pretty offended if he did."

Kaine chuckled and pulled Peter to his embrace.

"Whoa, whoa. What is?-"

"Shush. Just shush..."

"Uh okay?" Peter returned the hug confusedly, "What's wrong..?"

"He threatened me that he would kill you... I'm sorry I let him go. I couldn't lose someone again..."

The younger Parker gave a gentle pat on the shoulder to comfort and reassure him. After a few moments, they let go of each other. They shared a look, shame painted on their faces, then closed their eyes, trying to deal with the humiliating defeat they had just faced from an experienced opponent.

"Who was that guy really..?" Peter wondered.

"I don't know. But I'll make sure he gets a taste of my revenge." Kaine closed his fist, tightening it to the point that his hand started to shake. He silently promised himself to exact his vengeance on the man, whatever it took.