A/N: Hey everybody! I hope to deliver both a longer and more action-packed chapter than the last one.
I do not own Spider-Man or Transformers Prime. They are works of Marvel and Hasbro.
Spider's Rising: Part Four:
Miko Nakadai was always a thrill seeker.
She jumped at the chance to experience the next big adventure. So when she got the chance to transfer to Jasper, Nevada, the so-called "Entertainment Capital of the World" she jumped at the opportunity.
Only to be met with disappointment when she quickly learned the brochure lied. She was so upset that she was determined to leave as soon as the semester at school was done.
But then, the last couple of days happened. She met giant transforming robots! Got one to be her protector! And even met a real-life superhero! It was a dream come true! If only that last one didn't sour the dream.
Miko had nothing against Jack Darby. He was a good kid, a little awkward and nerdy, but he had a fairly handsome face for a foreigner and an impressive body. Those abs. You could grate cheese on them.
But the guy was a serious wet blanket. I mean, he found out about alien robots, and he just wants to be as far away from them as possible. The guy even didn't want to use his powers. Man, what Miko wouldn't give to do half the stuff he could do?
Oh well, he may try to deny it, but she saw it in his eyes. There was something inside him. Something that was just festering beneath the surface, waiting to burst into something spectacular. And she wanted to see what he could become.
Which was part of the reason why she was here now, not that she would ever admit it. Here, with Bulkhead, with the Decepticon Warship right in front of them, having nearly died more times in the last 5 minutes than she had before in her entire life. Sure she mainly wanted to get an adrenaline rush from the experience, but she knew all Jack needed was a little push to get that spark going so that it can catch fire.
And nothing spurned a hero into action like a damsel in distress. Keep in mind, the damsel in this situation is Fowler, not her. No way would she ever refer to herself with such a pathetic trope.
However, it was taking too long for him, or even the other bots Bulkhead radioed for. At this rate Fowler will squeal long before the other bots get here.
As she thought that, the sound of a Groundbridge portal opening caught her attention. At first, she, like Bulkhead, thought it would be Arcee and Bumblebee. But, to her delightful surprise, it was Jack!
… and Raf?
She blinked.
Why would Raf come along? Sure, the kid could hack, given how he managed to find Fowler, but compared to Jack who had superpowers, she couldn't just seem to see how he could help. A thought then came to her.
Did they… Did they come to get her? As that thought circulated in her mind, Miko couldn't hello but felt incredibly touched by such an action. She never thought that a couple of boys she'd met only yesterday would risk so much for her, especially after she forcibly roped them into a band.
Man, these boys were something else.
She hid her joy underneath a disappointed scowl as she said, "Why can't those two hang with their own bots? This is our one-on-one time." She smirked as she heard Bulkhead groan at her comment. Guess he didn't know her well enough when she put on a facade, good, she didn't want to have her true feelings shown just yet.
She stared intently at the two boys, more so at Jack. She was surprised her ploy worked. Guess he wasn't as much of a stick in the mud as she thought. She looked at him in anticipation, dying to see what he could come up with next.
That anticipation soon turned to fear as she saw Decepticons on the warship turn their weapons on the two boys. She paled.
"Scrap!" She and Bulkhead said at the same time.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?
As the two boys exited the portal, Jack landed without much issue while Raf looked to be a little wobbly. That… was a strange experience.
"Whoa-oh," Raf said as he felt all over his body, the weird sensation from teleportation still lingering with him after transport. He looked over to Jack, who didn't seem to be having any problems, which prompted him to ask, "Are you're bones vibrating?"
"Not really," Jack said with a shrug. He did feel a little weird upon entering the portal, but his boy soon adjusted to it. Must've been his powers, probably the ones having to do with his equilibrium. Another nice perk of his powers.
Both boys stopped dead at the sight of the Decepticon warship.
"Hey, Raf."
"Yeah?"
"Did Ratchet ever say anything about experiencing hallucinations upon exiting the Groundbridge?"
"I don't think so?"
"Just to be clear you're seeing the same thing I am right?"
"That being…?"
"A giant alien warship with a bunch of robot Nazis aiming their blasters down on us."
"Yes. Yes, I can."
"Oh good, then I'm not crazy."
…
'Who am I kidding?! Of course, I'm crazy!' Jack screamed in his mind. What was he thinking?! Coming here without a plan, without backup, or even calling Arcee and Bumblebee?! Why had he let Raf go with him anyway?! That was beyond irresponsible!
He just got caught up in the moment of it all and the fantasy of being a hero, that he didn't really stop to think about what he was doing. This is exactly what his mom warned him about.
The hail storm of blaster fire soon pulled Jack from his thoughts. The spider teen dodged and weaved his way around the death beams, relying on his spider-sense and reflexes to survive.
A yelp pulled him out of his concentration and he turned to see a blast sent Raf flying. In a split second, Jack moved to cover him with his body, hoping to tank and blaster shots. He wasn't sure he could survive any direct hits, but he wasn't about to let Raf pay for his mistakes.
Thankfully, neither of them had to pay, because the next thing they knew, Bulkhead in his vehicle mode pulled up in front of them and opened the door. "Get in! Now!"
Not needing to be told twice, the two boys jumped inside as Bulkhead took off, dodging his way around the blaster fire raining down on them.
"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack said as he moved to buckle his seatbelt. ("They save lives. Buckle up every time!" His mother always said).
"Yeah, thanks," Raf said, having already buckled up.
"Wh-What are you doing here?" Bulkhead asked frantically.
"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Jack asked. He didn't see her when they entered the car, so he was even more worried than before. If she wasn't with Bulkhead…
"What's she look like?"
Both boys jumped at the familiar voice as they turned around to see Miko in the backseat, without her seatbelt on mind you, looking far too pleased with herself. Jack was about to tell her to buckle up when Bulkhead pulled to a stop behind a large boulder to shield them from the blaster fire.
"Everyone out!" He ordered as he opened his doors. The humans moved to follow his commands with Jack being the first one out, with Raf following. "And this time, please wait here!"
Bulkhead soon took off out from the boulder and drove across the desert ground. He then climbed his way up the canyon wall and made it onto the ship. He then took out a squad of Decepticons before looking back down at the boys.
It was at that moment, that all three of them realized something.
"Where's Miko?" Jack asked, looking around for the crazy girl they came to save. He then looked back up at Bulkhead, and with his enhanced eyesight, saw that Miko emerged from a compartment in the Autobot's chest, looking a little green.
Jack cringed in disgust. She must've vomited. That's not pretty. Hopefully, the Autobots have a way to clean the inside of them. That or they could go to a car wash if the workers were scared that there was no one driving the car.
Eventually, both Bulkhead and Miko disappeared into the ship, prompting Raf to ask, "Think they forgot about us?"
Jack was about to say something, but his spider sense went off, turning around, he gasped when he saw two Decepticons looming over the boys. Getting in front of Raf to protect him, Jack readied himself for a fight.
It wasn't looking very good. To start, Jack still wasn't used to fighting with his powers. The environment was also bad too, unlike the drain canel where he could run and bounce off nearby walls to surprise the Decepticon, he was in a wide-open area with walls too far away for him to reach. That, and he was facing two instead of just one.
But still, he wasn't about to let that stop him. Not when Raf needed to be protected. So taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and got ready for a fight.
When lead Decepticon moved to grab them, Jack pushed Raf out of reach and jumped on the Con's arm. Running up the metallic limb, he jumped again and delivered a drop kick that sent the Con staggering back.
Landing on the ground, he turned to see the other one aiming its blaster at him. He moved before it opened fire. His speed and reflexes allowed him to stay one step ahead of the bolts before sliding between the Con's legs, and taking aim at its back.
THWIP!
Firing off two strands of webbing, Jack pulled with all his might, and the Decepticon came tumbling down. Jumping onto the chest, Jack charged up his right fist with a venom blast, ready to finish off the Con, when a surprised yelp stopped him.
Turning, he saw Raf was in the clutches of the other Decepticon, a blaster pointed at the boy's terrified face.
"Surrender human! Or the smaller one gets it!" The Con threatened, and Jack could tell it was no bluff. So, with a defeated sigh, he stepped off the Decepticon and raised his hands in surrender.
Soon after, the boys were literally held in the clutches of one of the Decepticons, walking in the hallway of the warship. Jack could probably bust them out, but he didn't want to endanger them more than they already were.
"Bring them to the brig." The Decepticon not holding them ordered. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."
That caused Jack and Raf to look at each other knowingly. They must mean Agent Fowler. Looks like they found the agent. Now how to rescue both him and themselves?
Turns out they didn't need to worry about the latter, as the sound of engines running came from down a four-way junction. Turning the two boys smiled at the familiar yellow and black muscle car that sweep the Cons' feet right under them, causing the Con holding them to throw them up in the air.
Jack was about to move to catch the both of them, when Arcee, drove up, transformed, and caught them both. Jack yelped in surprise as she set them down and had a relieved smile on her face.
"Bumblebee!" Raf yelled in relief as the yellow bot looked down at his partner in relief if the buzzing was anything to go by.
"Appreciate you clearing the front door for us," Jack's own partner said in gratitude before becoming stern in a way that reminded Jack of his mom, "But storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list."
"What can I say? We finished everything else on the list, so we needed something new and exciting." Jack's attempt at a joke to lighten the mood managed to work.
The four took off down the halls, searching for Bulkhead and Miko. They came to a junction where Acree stopped behind a corner, drawing her blaster. She emerged from the corner and aimed her rifle only to shout, "Friendly!"
"Hello!" The voice of Bulkhead said in greeting as both bots put away their weapons.
"Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asked Bulkhead in disappointment.
"You try getting them to stay behind," Bulkhead whined.
Jack frowned slightly, the way the Autobots were talking, made it seem like they were complaining about looking after wild babies.
"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Acree stated. At that point, Jack and Raf decided to speak up.
"He's in the brig."
After fighting their way through the warship for some time, the Autobots and humans finally made it to what seemed like a command room. They made swift work of clearing it out of Decepticons before saying the kids could come inside.
"Wait in here," Arcee told them, shocking the three.
Bumblebee buzzed what sounded like protest but Arcee put his worries to bed as she explained. "They're slowing us down, and they're easy targets." While Jack was slightly offended, he couldn't exactly argue with her, not much they can do, besides him. "They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put."
There was no argument from Jack. After that last firefight, he wasn't keen on seeing any more action for the rest of the day, if not his life. His senses went into overdrive in that last shootout, trying to keep himself, Miko, and Raf from getting crushed by any falling Vehicon or Autobot. He was pretty sure he'd never fired more webs before in a single moment since getting his powers, yanking himself and the others out of harm's way.
The three Autobots soon left the room, having the door shut behind them, leaving the humans inside.
"That… was intense!" Miko said with a big smile on her face.
"Was?" Raf asked, still feeling his heartbeat over a mile a minute.
"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity," Jack said as he pointed an accusatory finger at the girl. "What were you thinking, Miko?"
"Did I ask you to follow me?" She shot back. Though deep down, she hoped he would, not that she would admit it.
"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that mean involving us to play together? And besides, aren't you the one always saying I'm a superhero?"
"Well looks like momma's boy over here decided to put on the big boy pants."
"Don't bring my mom into this. And to think I was actually worried about you."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you dressed in red and blue and is your name 'Optimus'? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead thank you very much!"
"AHH! Stop it! Both of you!" Raf cried, stopping the argument between the two older teens. Seriously, the way they were arguing, it was almost like an old married couple! He did what most kids did when their parents fought and ran away to hide.
Raf moved to a nearby ledge (which was actually a large set of stairs for Cybertronians) and kneeled down, burying his nearly crying face in his hands. Seeing as they had clearly upset the youngest human, both Jack and Miko shot each other an apologetic look and moved to stand beside him.
"Oh, hey, hey, Raf, Raf, it's okay," Jack said as they all took a seat, him placing a comforting hand on the boy's back.
"Yeah. We're gonna be fine." Miko said, adding her two cents, and rubbing his back.
"Our bots will come back for us," Jack assured the boy trying to sound confident.
"Yeah. They're gonna take us home." Miko agreed.
"How do you know?" Raf asked doubtfully.
Seeing as nothing they seemed to say helped, both Jack and Miko struggled to come up with something to make the boy feel better. Then, Jack saw something that pricked the scientist within him, and he knew it would for Raf too.
"Hey, Raf," He got the young boy's attention, gesturing to the wall, "What do you make of that?"
Raf looked where Jack was gesturing and saw a large screen with symbols and alien language on it. The boy stood up and walked down the giant staircase, closer to the screen, staring intently at the symbols and language. To a normal person, this may seem like a bunch of random gibberish.
But to Raf…
"It's important." He said with certainty. "Real important. We got to get this to Optimus."
"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko asks skeptically.
"Yeah, and if it is, which part contains the guacamole?" Miko and Raf cast a sideways glance at Jack for his joke. He rubbed the back of his head. "I make jokes in tense situations. We already established this."
Ignoring him, Raf explained. "I know math when I see it, and that," He gestured to the screen, "Is one serious equation."
"Can you…" Jack struggled to come up with the right phrase, "Download it?"
Raf took a moment to think before setting his backpack down and reaching inside. "I got a flash drive." He said as he pulled out said object, before looking all around the room. "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."
"Yeah, because it was made by aliens." Jack pointed out before his spider sense went off. Turning around he gasped when he saw a lone Vehicon enter the room. It took know of the metal corpse of its fellow soldiers.
Acting fast, Jack took Raf by the hand, being careful not to rip his arm off with his super strength, and ran to hide in a corner with Miko right behind them. He let go of Raf, but that proved to be a mistake as the boy soon made a U-turn to grab his backpack that he left behind.
At that moment, the Vehicon turned in his direction and aimed his blaster at the startled boy, causing him to yelp in fear. The Vehicon walked toward Raf, charging up its blaster.
Acting fast, Jack aimed his arm and motioned his hands to fire a web.
CLICK! CLICK!
Only nothing came out. He and Miko panicked as he quickly checked his web fluid supply. His heart froze when he saw it was empty in both shooters. He must've used it all trying to keep the three of them from getting crushed and didn't realize it. And he didn't have any more on hand. How could be so stupid as to not realize?! Or even pack extra?!
POW! POW!
He looked back up to see Raf running from the Con's blaster fire. Without thinking, Jack moved to save him, but in the back of his mind, he knew that even at his speed, he wouldn't make it. But he couldn't let Raf die!
This desire to save his friend spurred something inside of the spider. Something powerful. It felt like when he used his Venom Blasts, but different. Jack didn't know how he was doing it, but he instinctively moved the Energon in his bloodstream from his arms down to his legs.
Just when Raf was about to be hit, Jack exploded into a burst of speed, a trail of blue electricity leaving followed him as he dashed towards his friend. He made it just in time as he tackled his friend out of a blast and to the other side of the room next to an offline Decepticon.
Both the Con and Miko looked at him in awe, the former more for the power that the human had, and the latter at the heroic instinct Jack had in him. He may not believe it, but Miko knew that Jack Darby was a hero.
Recovering from the use of his new power, and in slight awe of it, Jack managed to get him and Raf to hide behind the Con. Knowing that they wouldn't have the opportunity to download anything, he came up with the next best alternative.
"Miko!" He called to the girl. "Take a picture!"
"Great idea!" Miko said as she pulled out her phone and ran up to the live Decepticon who aimed its weapon at the boys. "Hey, you!" She called, getting its attention as she took a quick snap with her phone, confusing the Con.
"Not of him!" Jack criticized as he pointed at Con before pointing at the screen they were looking at earlier. "Of that!"
"Oh," Miko uttered in realization as she quickly snapped a picture of the screen with the Cybertronian equation.
Taking this as their cue to leave, Jack managed to use his strength to tear off the limb from the downed Decepticon and throw it towards the live one, knocking it down. The three then exited the room with the Vehicon on their trail.
"Go! Go! GO!" Jack called as they ran down the hall.
"We are, but not everyone has speed like you do Spider-boy!" Miko said as they ran.
HONK! HONK!
The sound of a car horn blaring and headlights ahead, caused the three kids to stop as Bulkhead drove at them at full speed before transforming and laying the smackdown on the Vehicon.
Arcee and Bumblebee soon pulled up, the latter opening its car doors for Raf and Miko.
"I told you to stay put!" Arcee yelled.
"Yeah well, circumstances forced our hand!" Jack argued as he got hopped on and they took off down the halls of the ship. "What about Fowler?"
His enhanced hearing then managed to pick up a familiar yet drowsy voice from the backseat of Bumblebee. "I like pie. Can we stop for pie?"
"Never mind," Jack said as they continued their escape.
However, as they did, Jack couldn't help but look down in thought. This wasn't what he sighed up for, in fact, he wasn't even sure he sighed up for anything. All he did was accept the bodyguard since he didn't want Cons showing up at his doorstep one day looking for him and his mom.
But if this is what an average day looks like… Then he didn't want any part of this.
Sometime after they returned to the base, Optimus and Ratchet returned, the latter appearing injured. Optimus had managed to put his arm into a robotic cast. They had spent the time telling them about Fowler's rescue, who was currently resting on a gurney.
"What happened to you guys, anyway?" Miko asked, concerned as she saw Ratchet's injury.
"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered.
…
Jack's brain shut down for a moment. Did Ratchet seriously just say, nonplussed he might add, that he and Optimus fought an army of–
"Zombies?" Miko said aloud. "You fought zombies and I missed it?!"
'That's what she's upset about!' Jack thought as his brain was still trying to process the information. Alien Robots were one thing, but Alien Robot Zombies?! Seriously, what is up with this franchise?
"Bulkhead," Optimus spoke up, sounding disappointed. "You exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the humans to accompany you."
Bulkhead looked down in shame. "I-It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise." He said, shame filling his voice.
Jack looked at the bot with pity. It really wasn't his fault, it was his. He was the oldest, and strongest human, so it was his responsibility to look after all of them. And he failed in that regard. He was about to speak up when someone else beat him to it.
"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault," Miko said, speaking up in her partner's defense.
"Miko, please!" Bulkhead begged.
"And check it out." Miko then pulled out her phone and flashed Optimus a picture of those schematics Jack told her to take a picture of. "Recon."
Optimus kneeled down to get a closer look. Sadly he wasn't an engineer or scientist of any kind, so he couldn't decipher what it meant. He turned to his medical officer. "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."
"Whoa! Megatron's back?!" Jack asked, his tone full of fear and worry, recalling all the terrible things the bots have told them about the leader of the Decepticons. "That's really bad news, right?"
Ratchet kneeled down to get a closer look at Miko's phone. "I don't understand." He said, not seeing the importance. That's when Miko brought her phone around and saw it was a picture of the Con that she took before the plans. Must've accidentally switched between photos.
"Oops," Miko said. "That's the Con who tried to blow Raf away. At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill."
POW!
Everyone jumped at the loud noise of metal bending in on itself. They all turned to the source to see Jack with his fist against a very dented metal wall, his hand not injured in the slightest. His hair was covering his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression.
"Miko," He said in a cold voice, something that sent a chill down the girl's spine and all the others. They'd never seen him like this. "Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?! When someone dies?! Or when you die?!"
Miko backed away slightly in fear. She knew he had super strength, but seeing him use it while he was angry, something about that seemed scarier than what they went through today.
Eventually, she managed to find her voice again, trying to come off as confident. "We were all almost killed, Jack: You, me, Raf, even them." She said pointing to the Autobots.
Jack seemed to calm down as he let that fact set in, seemingly coming to a decision. "Well, if this is some average day for the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it… not anymore."
"Jack," Optimus spoke up, "Putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
As soon as he finished, the Groundbridge opened. "No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door." Ratchet said quickly. Jack rolled his eyes. Man, he really didn't like having them around.
He turned to his friend, the one he was sure would come with him. "Come on Raf."
The boy looked towards Jack, then to his partner Bumblebee, who was looking down in sadness. He then turned back to Jack and said, "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."
Jack was disappointed Raf wouldn't join in, but it's not like he can force the kid to do what he wants so he accepted. "Sure thing." He then turned and made his way to the portal, walking down the staircase.
He stopped when he caught sight of Arcee looking down at him with her arms crossed, an unreadable expression on her face. "I know, you don't exist." He said before he continued walking.
"Don't make me hunt you down." She said as he walked past her, sighing.
He didn't stop or look back as he walked into the portal. This wasn't his fight. He wanted no part in this. All he wanted, was to live his normal life.
Hours later, night had fallen, and Jack was currently sitting at the workbench in his garage at home, the door was opened so he could let the fall breeze cool down the garage. His mom had a late night shift so she wouldn't be home till later.
Currently, the spider was working on making his web fluid. After what nearly happened today, he decided to stock up and make as many batches as possible. Raf almost died because he ran out of webs. If he didn't somehow manage to unlock that new power… he didn't want to think about it.
As he continued working, a pair of headlights shined down on him. At first, he thought it was his mom and moved to hide his stuff, only to sigh in both relief and exhaustion when he saw it was Bulkhead in his vehicle form.
He really didn't want to talk to Miko. It wasn't because he was still mad at her, if anything, he felt guilty for how he acted. He hadn't meant to scare her like that with his super strength. Sure she annoyed him with her thrill-seeker personality, but that was no excuse.
The headlights shut off as the girl hopped out of the car and closed the door behind her. "Now I understand why you had to rush home." She said jokingly.
"Don't you have something more exciting to do Miko?" He asked, not looking up at her as he continued working.
"So, this is where you hang, huh?" She asked, looking around the garage and fiddling with some of the stuff, thankfully not touching anything related to his web fluid. "Back home in Tokyo, I have loving parents and two purebred cats, Chi-Chi and Ding-Dong. I went to the best school, took piano lessons since I was three…"
"How nice for you," Jack said as he continued working.
"No. How boring." Her statement caused Jack to stop what he was doing and look at her in surprise. "It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance to transfer here?"
Jack scoffed. He knew that one. "To Jasper, Nevada, the entertainment capital of the world?"
"Yeah, well, the brochure lied." Miko chuckled as she walked up to him. "Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good, in fact. But then, the last couple of days happened."
"Do you have a point?" Jack asked.
"You bet." She said with a spark in her eyes. "I saw what you did today, when you saved Raf when you came to save me. When you got off your high horse and acted like a hero."
'Again with the hero nonsense.' Jack thought in agitation. "I've been raised to be responsible," He said aloud as he picked up a beaker full of web fluid and poured it into his cartridges. "To my school work, to my mom, my job."
"Dude, hear me out," Miko said as she stood behind him. "You're no fry cook. You're a superhero!" She did a pose. "Stop trying to pretend you're normal Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more."
There was a time when Jack yearned to hear those words from someone other than his mother, and at the time, it may have worked. But now. "Thanks, Miko, but I think 'normal' suits me fine." He said with finality.
Miko seemed ready to give up, but then she asked, "If 'normal' does suit you, then why are you building those?" She gestured to his web shooters.
Jack stopped working, the question had caught him off guard.
"Those web shooters you have, definitely seem like something a superhero would have for gadgets. And you were working on them long before we met the Bots." Miko pointed out. "If you're so dead set on not being a superhero, why are you spending so much time and money on something that screams superhero?"
Jack… didn't have an answer for her.
Seeing that she caught him off guard, Miko smiled. "Just think about it. Alright?" She was about to leave but stopped. "Ooh! One more thing!"
Jack sighed. What else did she have to say?
Turns out, she didn't have anything more to say, rather, something she did. Walking up to him, she leaned her head down and pressed her lips against his cheek.
The whole world stopped moving for the human spider. Was this really happening? Was a girl giving him a kiss for the first time in his life?!
Miko soon pulled back. Jack looked at her with shock, bewilderment, and embarrassment riddled across his face, along with a massive blush and a mouth so wide open, a colony of bees could fit inside. Miko's cheeks were also red as she brushed her pink highlights back.
"A little thank you for the hero who came to save me." She said as she turned and walked to Bulkhead, Jack never looking away from her. The door opened and she was about to enter before she called out, "See you around… Spider-Man."
And with that, she entered the Alien SUV and drove off into the night.
Jack just continued to look at the place where they were in shock, her last comment barely registering in his mind. Subconsciously, he brought a hand to his cheek and trailed his fingers around the spot where her lips touched.
'What just happened?' He thought.
BOOM!
Unfortunately, at that moment, one of his cartridges exploded, covering his whole face in webbing, some even got into his wide-open mouth. He spit out the substance and moved to tear it off.
He looked down and frowned. "Great, and that was the last of the chemicals I need to make the fluid." He sighed as he ran a hand down his face. "Looks like I need to go to the store."
"Okay looks like I got everything I need, though it took a bit more out of my savings than I would like," Jack muttered as he walked out of the store and over to his bike. As he began to ride home, he couldn't help but think about what Miko said regarding his web shooters.
If he had no desire to be a hero, then why was he spending so much time and money on building these things? Time and money he could devote to buy his dream motorcycle, one that wasn't a transforming robot?
He could argue that he was building them as a way to help people in construction, or even the police with capturing criminals, or even as children's toys. But none of them felt like the truth. But what was the truth? He just remembered waking up several days after getting his powers and wanting to build these shooters. That was it, the prompting just came to him out of nowhere.
What was he doing? Where was he going with his life? As he pondered these questions, he looked at the bag that held the items he needed to make more web fluid. Should he just throw this stuff away and give up on the webs, at least that way he could leave this hero stuff behind.
His spider sense went off. He turned to the direction he felt it was pointing him towards, and saw smoke rising in the air.
He thought about leaving it to the fire department, telling himself that he was already breaking curfew. "It's not my problem." He muttered to himself.
As soon as he said those words, a pang of guilt hit him square in the gut. Why did that bother him so much? What was it about that phrase that made him feel so much guilt? He tried to ignore it, but the guilt was gnawing at him, begging him to move. As he thought about this, the words of his mother returned, but this time, he looked at them from a different point of view.
"With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility."
"Scrap it!" He yelled as he took off in the direction of the smoke, not noticing a red and blue semi truck following him.
What started as a small kitchen fire had soon grown to consume the entire apartment complex. Thankfully most of the residents had been out since it was a Saturday night. A large crowd had begun to gather outside the burning building.
"Holy crap! Is anyone still in there?!"
"Someone call the fire department!"
"What are you doing? I have to get my daughter!" One man shouted as he was held back by two bystanders, a hysterical look on his face as his clothes were covered in burns and ash.
"Are you crazy?!" One of his captors yelled.
"Please stop! We have to wait for the fire department!" The other said.
"I have to go save her!" The father cried, tears streaming down his face. "Please! Somebody!"
He raised his head and cried to the heavens.
"SAVE HER!"
"Look! Up there!"
All at once, the crowd looked up and saw a figure leaping from the building across the street from the burning one, crashing into the second-floor window!
"Did someone just jump in there?!"
"From the building across the street? How is that possible?!"
The father didn't know or care. Someone had just answered his pleas and jumped into that fire to save his daughter. "Please, save my daughter!"
The heat.
That was the first thing Jack felt when he entered the burning building.
It was unbearable. And Jasper was in the middle of a desert, so the summers could get hot, but this was insane. His first instinct was to jump out as soon as he jumped in, but he reminded himself why he was here
As soon as he saw how bad it was, he was going to turn around, thinking there was nothing he could do to help. But when he heard that father cry for someone to save his daughter, he acted before he had the chance to think, climbing up the wall of the building across the street and jumping into the inferno.
Though he wished he had a plan before charging in.
"Hello!" He called out over the roaring flames! There was no response. "HELLO!"
His senses then picked up on the sound of a child crying. He moved in the direction of the sound, coming across a locked door. "I coming!" He shouted as he raised his foot.
CRASH!
The door caved under his strength as he entered the room, looking around. His spider-sense flared and he looked up. The ceiling floor above him came crashing down, but he rolled out of the way just in time. He then heard crying coming from the closet.
Opening it up, he saw the young girl, tears streaming down her face. "Hey! Hey! It's okay! It's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here." He reached for her, but she backed away in fear. Realizing why, he mentally slapped himself when he recalled he grabbed a piece of clothing from a trash can and wrapped it around his face so that people wouldn't recognize him.
He took off the clothing, showing the girl his face. "See. I'm a normal guy." 'Kinda.' That seem to do the trick as the girl calmed down enough for him to grab her and get out of the room, after putting the cloth around his face again. And just in time cause the ceiling came crashing down the second they were out.
Jack moved to go down the stairs but stopped as he saw it was covered in fire. He then tried to make his way to the window where he made his entrance, but that too was blocked off by the wall of flames. That left only one option.
'The high ground.' He thought as he made his way upstairs with the girl in his arms. They made it to the third floor when he heard something.
"Help! My glasses are all fogged up!"
There was someone else in the building!
Following the source he kicked down another door and came into a room separated by a wall of fire. On the other side was an elderly man kneeling down on the ground.
Jack grimaced. He may be able to jump through those flames, but not without some serious burns. Plus, the girl in his arms wouldn't survive. He needed a way to put out those fires.
He looked around before looking conveniently above the wall of fire was a water pipe. Checking his shooters, he saw that he had a little bit of web fluid from the amount he made before Miko showed up and made him accidentally blow himself up.
THWIP!
The web line attached to the pipe and he pulled. A shower of water dosed the wall of fire. It wouldn't be enough to cleanse the room but for this, it was all Jack needed.
"Are you okay?" He asked the elderly man as he used his free hand to lift him over his shoulder.
"Yeah," The old man, with white hair and a bushy mustache replied, coughing due to the smoke.
Jack smiled as he was about to leave when his spider sense went off like crazy. Turning to the source, his eyes widened when he saw the flames touching a gas canister.
"Oh scrap."
BOOM!
Everyone screamed as the explosion went off on the third floor of the apartment building.
The father felt his heart freeze as he stared at the building in distraught. He fell to his knees in despair as any will to live was snuffed out in an instant.
"Look there!" A bystander shouted.
The father looked and his eyes widened with hope as a figure emerged from the smoke cloud on the third floor, landing in the middle of the street with no injury. His clothes were torn and covered in ash, his face mostly covered with some loose rags, and there were burn marks on his body.
But more importantly, in his arms were a young girl and an old man, both alive, if slightly less for wear.
"It's okay! You're both safe now!" The savior said as he carefully set them both down.
"Oof! Thanks, true believer!" The old man said, who Jack recognized as his school's janitor, Stan, with a big smile on his face.
He then felt something collide with him and wrap arms around him! "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" The little girl said with a big smile on her face.
Jack took a moment to study her smile, he felt a warm bubbly feeling in his chest as he looked at her and Stan. He saved them. He used his powers, and he was able to save them. And… he liked it.
He then looked out to the crowd and all of their eyes were on him, some even had their phones out to take pictures. All of them had looks of awe and amazement as they looked at him.
"Who is he?"
"I don't know."
"Holy crap, that was awesome!"
"Did you see that jump?! How is he still alive?!"
"Maybe he's a mutant?"
"Or an alien?"
As the crowd continued to wonder who this mysterious savior was, one man, in particular, came running toward the three. "Sweetie!"
"Daddy!" The girl cried as she let go of Jack and ran to her father. The man scooped her up and clung to her as if his life depended on it.
"Thank god!" He cried as he held her in his arms. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
As he watched father and daughter embrace, Jack couldn't stop the smile from forming on his face behind the mask. The warm feeling intensified.
"Thank you!" The father said to him directly, catching Jack off guard. He wasn't used to people expressing such great thanks to him, not that it ever happened before.
"Y-You don't have to thank me." Jack tried to play it off.
"I do! I do!" The man yelled with enthusiasm, causing Jack to step back. The father then gave him a look of wonder as he asked, "Who are you?"
Before Jack could answer, his daughter spoke up, "It's obvious Daddy! He's a superhero!" She shouted with a bright smile.
Jack was about to correct her, feeling as if he was dealing with Miko, but stopped as he saw her face. She was just radiating so much joy and relief, which was the complete opposite of when he first saw her, scared and alone. Who was he to rob a young girl of her fantasy?
"Yeah, I am." He said, knowing that if Miko heard him, he would never hear the end of it.
The girl's eyes widened further with sparkles in them. "What's you're superhero name?!"
Jack froze.
He didn't think playing along with her would go this far!
What does he do?!
Give her his real name. But who has Jack in their superhero name? (Somewhere in the Multiverse, a number of individuals sneezed).
What about Web Face? He has no webs on his face. Daddy Long Legs? He's not a dad. Tarantula? Too scary. Scarlet Spider? He's not wearing red. Human Spider? That sounds like a wrestler.
Then one name caught his attention, something he saw used as an insult, or maybe a pet name. But as he thought about it more, it did sound kinda catchy.
So, with a smile, not that she could see, he told the girl he saved, and all those who were listening, his superhero name.
"I'm Spider-Man."
A/N: Done!
Really hope you guys enjoyed this longer chapter. I was originally gonna end this with a scene involving Optimus driving Jack home and they have a brief talk. However, I'm still trying to figure out how that conversation should go, and I figured now would be a good place to stop for now.
I really hope you guys like how I'm approaching Jack. I'm trying to keep him true to his canon self for the first couple of episodes, where he's hesitant and unwilling to involve himself in the Autobot conflict. It's really hard to keep someone like Spider-Man out of the action for long, but don't worry, next chapter Jack will finally break out of his shell and into the red and blue threads of Spider-Man.
And here's the preview for the Finale of Spider's Rising.
Spider's Rising Part Five:
With the whole world in danger from an army of the undead, Jack must embrace his destiny and help the Autobots to save the planet.
